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The American Church Series – Will your house be left unto you desolate?

Posted by :admin On : July 10, 2015
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Category: American Church, Archives, Christianity, Truth

[This is the 125th article I have written over the past 125 weeks. I feel it is time for a short sabbatical. This article will be the last for about eight weeks and serve as an introduction for a series of articles beginning in September on the plight of the American church. Given the significant moral decline of America over the last half decade, it is necessary to examine the symptoms and root causes that have been present for well over a century. In this series of articles we shall briefly survey the history of the church since its inception two thousand years ago. Understanding the central themes of its history is important and will give insight and perspective to the issues faced by today’s Christian church. More importantly, we shall extensively examine the afflictions and failings of the modern American church that have led to its demise as a moral force necessary to stem the decline of American culture.]
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The modern American church is in great distress and suffering attack from within and without. The forces of attack include secular humanism and false religions. But the greatest threat to the church comes from within and can be described as nothing less than the diminution and for some the abandonment of biblical truth.

This series of articles focuses on the American church and its role in the nation’s moral decline. However, regardless of how dark the future may appear for the church, we must always know that God is still on His throne and born-again Christians are ultimately on the side of victory. I was reminded of this by a sermon preached this last Wednesday night by our associate pastor at the church I attend. The text for his sermon was taken from Isaiah.

Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. [Isiah 60:1-2. RSV]

Matthew 5:14-15 tells us that, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house.” And even the “thick darkness” that covers the people of this age can be driven out by the light of God’s people. But if His people fail to be the light of the world and do not remember their first love, God will remove their lampstand unless they repent. [See: Revelation 2:4-5.] The lampstands of many American churches have been removed or are in danger of removal because they have let the light of God’s truth be dimmed if not completely extinguished which has resulted in the deterioration of American moral culture.

In his letter to the Ephesian church, the Apostle Paul described the nature of the enemy and the Christian’s preparation for battle.

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints. [Ephesians 6:10-18. KJV]

The church’s first essential in putting on the armor of God is girding its loins about with truth. To gird means to surround, enclose, and prepare oneself for action. Writing three hundred years ago, Matthew Henry describes the importance and centrality of biblical truth in the Christian’s armor.

The apostle specifies the particulars of this armour, both offensive and defensive. The military girdle or belt, the breastplate, the greaves (or soldier’s shoes), the shield, the helmet, and the sword. It is observable that, among them all, there is none for the back; if we turn our back upon the enemy, we are exposed. Truth is our girdle. This is the strength of our loins; and it girds on all other pieces of our amour, and therefore is the first mentioned. I know no religion without security.[1] [emphasis added]

It appears that the majority of modern American churches are failing to gird themselves with the truth of the Word of God. Through compromise, adding to, taking away, misinterpretation, disregard, ignorance, perversion, or complete abandonment of biblical truth, they have little or nothing on which to hang the other pieces of their armor. To varying degrees this diminution and/or abandonment of the teachings and prophecies of the Bible as the infallible and inerrant truth of God has occurred in substantially all Protestant denominations, fellowships, and associations and the Catholic Church as well.

Not only has the church diminished or abandoned biblical truth, it has turned its back on the enemy and lies exposed. The modern church has not stood against the onslaught of the enemy in the public arena but fled in silence all the while trading away America’s Christian heritage of virtue, morality, justice, and decency through accommodation, compromise, and even abject surrender. Unless there is repentance by the church for its apostasy and cowardice in its failure to stand against the wiles of the devil, the glory of God will depart America, and its shame shall be a byword unto the entire world as “Ichabod”[2] is written above the door of its house.

Although this series of articles focuses on the dire straits of the church in America, it is not a time for Christians to run and hide in a cave as Elijah did following death threats from Jezebel after he had the 450 prophets of Baal put to death. In great fear Elijah fled for his life into the wilderness and eventually to Mount Horeb where he hid in a cave. God asked Elijah, “What are you doing here?” Elijah complained to God that although he had been faithful to Him, “…the people of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thy altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.” [1 Kings 19:13-14. RSV] But God told Elijah that He had seven thousand faithful servants in Israel who had not bowed to Baal.

Many in the church have the fearful mindset of Elijah. But faithful American Christians are not a small remnant that must cower in fear and silence in the face of enemy attacks. There are millions of God-fearing, born-again Christians in thousands of churches across America that unflinchingly stand for the truth of His word and who shine forth His glory. They are the hope of the church. But they must not be silent but speak the truth of God’s word so that their churches “…may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”

Larry G. Johnson

Sources:

[1] Larry G. Johnson, Ye shall be as gods – Humanism and Christianity – The Battle for Supremacy in the American Cultural Vision, (Owasso, Oklahoma: Anvil House Press, 2011), pp. 123-124.
[2] Ichabod was the grandson of Eli and son of Phineas. When Phineas’ pregnant wife heard the news that the Ark of the Covenant was taken during a battle with the Philistines and that her father-in-law and her husband were killed, her travail caused her to give birth to a son. “And she named the child Ichabod, saying, The glory is departed from Israel: because the ark of God was taken, and because of her father-in-law and her husband. And she said. The glory is departed from Israel, for the ark of God is taken.” [1 Samuel 4:21-22. KJV] Christ also portrayed the glory of God departing Israel as He left the Temple for the last time following his warnings to the Jewish religious establishment. “Behold your house is left unto you desolate. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.” [Matthew 23: 38-39. KJV]

No war on Christianity? Count the casualties and read history.

Posted by :admin On : July 3, 2015
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Category: Archives, Christianity, Constitution

On January 30, 1933, Adolf Hitler became the democratically elected chancellor of Germany. Almost immediately Herman Goring began reordering society along National Socialists (Nazi) lines. By fall of that year the Jewish community would understand the full scope of what Goring called “merely an administrative change.” Jewish businesses were boycotted. Jews could not hold civil service jobs or be patent lawyers, and doctors, dentists, and dental technicians were not allowed to practice in hospitals or offices connected with state-run insurance. Anti-Jewish laws were expanded to include university professors and lecturers. By October Jews were banned from journalism and all entertainment and cultural activities including literature, the arts, theater, and film.[1]

Given hindsight, Tulsa World associate editor Mike Jones (“War talk”)[2] would probably consider these actions a war on Judaism. However, Jones insists there is not a war on Christianity in spite of a vast amount of media coverage reporting similar restrictions on Christians throughout America because their beliefs and practices of their faith.

Christian-owned business are being boycotted, fined, and/or driven out of business because of their owners’ faith. Because of their Christian beliefs, university students have been expelled or blocked from entering certain professions, professors have been denied jobs or promotions, health care professionals are being fired, public employees are being fired, media professionals have been fired or denied jobs, and military chaplains are being demoted or dismissed from the armed services. Pastors have been threatened with criminal prosecution because of the content of their sermons. The political and cultural parallels of the assault on Judaism in 1933 Germany and Christianity in 2015 America are exact and undeniable. And these attacks on Christians and their faith are not just isolated incidents but are occurring by the thousands in every sphere of American life.

Jones labels the alleged war on Christianity as merely a vote-getting ploy and that “those who insist on the Founders’ Christianity are sorely unaware of history or have simply chosen to ignore it.” According to Jones, only a handful of the Founders were really followers of the Christian faith and only one of the seven key Founders was an orthodox Christian. Jones claims the others were deists who did not believed in a providential God but a God that did not meddle in the affairs of men.[3] Were they really deists? The Founders’ own words expose the falseness of the allegations of their deism.

George Washington: “The hand of providence has been so conspicuous in all this (the course of the war) that he must be worse than an infidel that lacks faith…”[4] James Madison: “It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of revolution.”[5] Benjamin Franklin speaking during the Continental Convention: “…the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth—that God Governs in the affairs of men.”[6] Thomas Jefferson in the Declaration of Independence: “And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”[7] John Adams proclaiming a national day of fasting spoke of, “…of a deep sense and due acknowledgement of the growing providence of a Supreme Being…”[8]

What “providence” meant to the Founders was “Foresight, timely care; particularly active foresight…the care and superintendence which God exercises over his creatures.”[9]

Jones implies that the war on Christianity is nothing more than standing up for the rights of all Americans and quotes Washington to justify his views.

If I could conceive that the general government might ever be so administered as to render the liberty of conscience insecure, I beg you will be persuaded that no one would be more zealous than myself to establish effectual barriers against the horrors of spiritual tyranny, and every species of religious persecution.[10]

Rather than supporting Jones’ contention that there is no war on Christianity in America, Washington’s words condemn those whom Jones’ attempts to defend and are a perfect descriptor of a government in league with the spiritual tyranny of the religion of humanism which seeks to render the Christians’ liberty of conscience insecure. Humanism has become the de facto official religion of the nation at whose altar all other faiths must bow.

Jones’ article fails on two counts. There is a fanatical war on Christianity in America, and no amount of historical revisionism will demolish the indisputable Christian foundations of this nation.

Larry G. Johnson

Sources:

[1] Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer, (Nashville, Tennessee: Thomas Nelson, 2010), pp. 156, 160.
[2] Mike Jones, “War talk,” Tulsa World, May 31, 2015, G-1.
[3] Ibid.
[4] William J. Federer, America’s God and Country, (Coppell, Texas: Fame Publishing, Inc., 1996), p. 643.
[5] W. Cleon Skousen, The 5000 Year Leap, www.nccs.net: National Center for Constitutional Studies, 1981, p. iii.
[6] Federer, p. 248.
[7] Ibid., p. 200.
[8] Sherwood Eddy, The Kingdom of God and the American Dream, (New York: Harper & Brothers, 1941), p. 77.
[9] Noah Webster, “providence,” American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828, Facsimile Edition, (San Francisco, California: Foundation for American Christian Education, 1995).
[10] Jones.