Christian persecution in America is becoming a greater and greater issue. Now, for followers in Christ living in Africa, the Middle East, or China, they have to be thinking “Persecution? You call this persecution?? Americans have no idea what persecution is!!!”
Fortunately for us in the United States, they would be correct by a huge margin. In America, we don’t imprison Christians simply because they preach the gospel on our streets (though some have been cited or even arrested for street preaching in some cities), nor set on fire entire towns of Christians nor crucify Christians because they won't submit to Islam. Persecution of this magnitude does not happen, and I believe it’s mainly because of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, founded by a mostly Christian body almost 230 years ago, makes such actions illegal. Even the state and local governments cannot “prohibit the free exercise of any religion”
The problem has been, for over 50 years, Christianity has been under attack, and the Christian body in the US has been strangely silent. Christians have been told so many times that “this world is not our home”, Christians have not only stopped voting, we have stopped participating in the government process. As a result, us Christians, in the name of tolerance, are allowing ourselves to be overrun in society by anti God, atheistic principles that want nothing to do with God or Christ, and want to silence any believer in Christ by any means possible, including accusing them of being “intolerant”. Go figure.
To date, Christian organizations wanting to achieve non profit status are being delayed or even denied such status by the IRS. Liberal, anti Christian organizations get rapid approval. Conservative, Christian individuals starting such groups are being investigated, harassed and intimidated into withdrawing their applications for non profit status by these government agencies. But that is about to end.
There is a “new Sheriff” in Washington DC. Put in place by many people in America who are fed up with the status quo being shoved down our throats by a few elitists, Donald Trump may be a man, put in place by God, to lead us out of our mediocrity and encourage us to put God first in the way we live, work and govern ourselves. (I say this with caution: he may also be just another bully and tyrant; only time will tell)
As Christians in the United States, we need to stand up to these “bullies”. We need to proclaim to all that the United States of America was in fact founded by Christians, to be a Christian nation, showing no prejudice against any religion including islam and atheism. The challenge is, that followers of these other religions need to know and understand this; that if they want to live in the freest society on earth, they need to live within these Judeo - Christian rules, and assimilate into this culture. This has not been happening over the last 50 years, all in the names of tolerance, equality, multiculturalism and for the benefit of the global community. Anything short of this will result in a one world, global communistic dictatorship. A dictatorship the rest of the world seems to desire.
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
Showing posts with label America. Show all posts
December 25, 2016
November 14, 2011
Jesus Calls All - 74
When was the last time you prayed for courage?
1 Samuel 23:3,4 But David's men said to him, "Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?" Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand."
On a daily basis, I hear about followers of Christ being persecuted simply for sharing Jesus with others. These reports create the impression that it’s getting more difficult to share the gospel with others without intimidation from others.
Yet at the same time, I have never been encouraged more by others to share my faith. At my workplace, I keep a bible out (inconspicuously) and have Christian music softly playing on the radio. And since I have started this policy, I receive positive feedback several times a week, a couple of inquiries as well, and I have yet to hear one complaint or negative comment!
I have come to the conclusion the following:
1. People of the United States of America and Canada are still primarily Christian. At the very least, they are not strongly anti-Christian. If they are not, they are curious enough to ask.
2. The media (regardless of political persuasion) is overplaying an anti Christian message to the point where we believe it, thus sending us and our faith unnecessarily into a prayer closet. Sure, there are atheist groups out there that will give you some grief, but even they can and will be polite about it. And you can always stop.
3. People want to hear about God. If you publicly display your faith, the curious and the inquisitive will ask you questions, for which you should have a ready reply. Even if the reply is, “I can’t explain it, all I know is when I put Christ first in my life, everything goes all right! I know someone who can answer your questions, though”. You can post these questions in the Christian FB groups will surely get you some answers. (Warning: you may get multiple opinions. Three theologians usually means four opinions.)
Fear not! The Lord will be with you whenever you do the Lord’s work. The Holy Spirit will be with you and guide your words. (Mark 13:11) And Christ said he will be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). One thing I have learned is when you are worried about what others will think about you and your faith in Christ, lift up a simple prayer for courage to the Lord
1 Samuel 23:3,4 But David's men said to him, "Look, we are afraid here in Judah. How much more then if we go to Keilah against the armies of the Philistines?" Then David inquired of the LORD once again. And the LORD answered him and said, "Arise, go down to Keilah. For I will deliver the Philistines into your hand."
On a daily basis, I hear about followers of Christ being persecuted simply for sharing Jesus with others. These reports create the impression that it’s getting more difficult to share the gospel with others without intimidation from others.
Yet at the same time, I have never been encouraged more by others to share my faith. At my workplace, I keep a bible out (inconspicuously) and have Christian music softly playing on the radio. And since I have started this policy, I receive positive feedback several times a week, a couple of inquiries as well, and I have yet to hear one complaint or negative comment!
I have come to the conclusion the following:
1. People of the United States of America and Canada are still primarily Christian. At the very least, they are not strongly anti-Christian. If they are not, they are curious enough to ask.
2. The media (regardless of political persuasion) is overplaying an anti Christian message to the point where we believe it, thus sending us and our faith unnecessarily into a prayer closet. Sure, there are atheist groups out there that will give you some grief, but even they can and will be polite about it. And you can always stop.
3. People want to hear about God. If you publicly display your faith, the curious and the inquisitive will ask you questions, for which you should have a ready reply. Even if the reply is, “I can’t explain it, all I know is when I put Christ first in my life, everything goes all right! I know someone who can answer your questions, though”. You can post these questions in the Christian FB groups will surely get you some answers. (Warning: you may get multiple opinions. Three theologians usually means four opinions.)
Fear not! The Lord will be with you whenever you do the Lord’s work. The Holy Spirit will be with you and guide your words. (Mark 13:11) And Christ said he will be with us always, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). One thing I have learned is when you are worried about what others will think about you and your faith in Christ, lift up a simple prayer for courage to the Lord
December 28, 2010
Is it the beginning of the end?
Or is it the end of the beginning?
In the spring of 2008, I could see the beginning of my company’s demise. But I had no idea what that would mean to myself, my wife, family and friends. Neighboring retail stores were closing up shop; many to retire, others relocated, and more just shut down. In total, seventeen stores would close down in a three block stretch of this downtown over a two year period. Ours was the 14th of 17.
The seeds of this demise started before we started our business. They were sewn before I was born. These seeds were planted in the early 20th century, when a few key people decided we didn’t need God anymore, man is now intelligent enough to solve all of man’s problems. Man can create a perfect paradise right here on earth.
Meanwhile, while God is watching all of this, He orchestrates the return of a remnant of His people, the Jews; Israelites scattered from 2000 years prior; to return to their native land, Israel. (No, not Palestine. Palestine was only a name given to the area by Rome.) As other nations went to war against this tiny country, they have always been soundly defeated. God promised He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. As you can see, God is still keeping this promise.
These same intellectuals who tell us we evolved from apes are preventing us from praying in public or displaying anything Christian in nature (in the name of separation of church and state); while we spend millions of taxpayer dollars funding an Islamic (trophy) center near the World Trade Center (in the name of freedom of religion). Do you see a pattern?
Since God got kicked out of our schools, crime has skyrocketed, we went from being the largest creditor nation to being the largest debtor nation, selling our children and grandchildren into a state of bondage where we will work for other’s prosperity and receive crumbs for our efforts. Our largest exports are frivolous entertainment, computer software and printed, paper dollars. We import 70 of our energy in spite of having all the resources we need within our boundaries. Our very government who has created these energy shortages will not permit us to access them, due to their “Environmentally sensitive nature”. We produce half of the world’s food yet we import more food than any other country in the world. This reversal of fortune has taken place in less than 50 years. Abandon God, and He abandons us. (Read Deuteronomy 28 for a list of rewards for following as well as the list of curses for abandoning God.)
But I too, thought I had it all figured out. I believed, like the bankers, a huge inflation was on its way, not a recession/ depression. I used as much of other peoples’ money as I could, thinking I could pay it all back in diluted dollars. So while I leveraged my finances 8 fold, the banks leveraged themselves 80 fold! And we all fell like the house of cards we were. It was only when I realized how much of our wealth has been being sucked out of the United States did I figure out why things happened the way they did.
1. We abandoned our Lord and our God and we are now paying the price for it.
2. No money left. We wasted it all. We borrowed more, and wasted it too. We print even more and waste that as well.
3. Our arrogance and self pride have given every two bit dictator the challenge to “take pot shots” at us, in order to knock us down a notch or two. And they’re succeeding. In many instances we actually pay them for their efforts at “taking pot shots” at us!
There are actually multiple solutions to this predicament we face ourselves with. God is in the miracle business. He is also in the blessing business. Our Lord and our God will return to us, if we return to Him. He will bless us as we bless Him, and His nation Israel. The other alternative is the United States will come to an end, very soon. If this is what happens, we should all pray that he blesses and protects all of us who honor and love Him in all we do. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
In the spring of 2008, I could see the beginning of my company’s demise. But I had no idea what that would mean to myself, my wife, family and friends. Neighboring retail stores were closing up shop; many to retire, others relocated, and more just shut down. In total, seventeen stores would close down in a three block stretch of this downtown over a two year period. Ours was the 14th of 17.
The seeds of this demise started before we started our business. They were sewn before I was born. These seeds were planted in the early 20th century, when a few key people decided we didn’t need God anymore, man is now intelligent enough to solve all of man’s problems. Man can create a perfect paradise right here on earth.
Meanwhile, while God is watching all of this, He orchestrates the return of a remnant of His people, the Jews; Israelites scattered from 2000 years prior; to return to their native land, Israel. (No, not Palestine. Palestine was only a name given to the area by Rome.) As other nations went to war against this tiny country, they have always been soundly defeated. God promised He would bless those who bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel. As you can see, God is still keeping this promise.
These same intellectuals who tell us we evolved from apes are preventing us from praying in public or displaying anything Christian in nature (in the name of separation of church and state); while we spend millions of taxpayer dollars funding an Islamic (trophy) center near the World Trade Center (in the name of freedom of religion). Do you see a pattern?
Since God got kicked out of our schools, crime has skyrocketed, we went from being the largest creditor nation to being the largest debtor nation, selling our children and grandchildren into a state of bondage where we will work for other’s prosperity and receive crumbs for our efforts. Our largest exports are frivolous entertainment, computer software and printed, paper dollars. We import 70 of our energy in spite of having all the resources we need within our boundaries. Our very government who has created these energy shortages will not permit us to access them, due to their “Environmentally sensitive nature”. We produce half of the world’s food yet we import more food than any other country in the world. This reversal of fortune has taken place in less than 50 years. Abandon God, and He abandons us. (Read Deuteronomy 28 for a list of rewards for following as well as the list of curses for abandoning God.)
But I too, thought I had it all figured out. I believed, like the bankers, a huge inflation was on its way, not a recession/ depression. I used as much of other peoples’ money as I could, thinking I could pay it all back in diluted dollars. So while I leveraged my finances 8 fold, the banks leveraged themselves 80 fold! And we all fell like the house of cards we were. It was only when I realized how much of our wealth has been being sucked out of the United States did I figure out why things happened the way they did.
1. We abandoned our Lord and our God and we are now paying the price for it.
2. No money left. We wasted it all. We borrowed more, and wasted it too. We print even more and waste that as well.
3. Our arrogance and self pride have given every two bit dictator the challenge to “take pot shots” at us, in order to knock us down a notch or two. And they’re succeeding. In many instances we actually pay them for their efforts at “taking pot shots” at us!
There are actually multiple solutions to this predicament we face ourselves with. God is in the miracle business. He is also in the blessing business. Our Lord and our God will return to us, if we return to Him. He will bless us as we bless Him, and His nation Israel. The other alternative is the United States will come to an end, very soon. If this is what happens, we should all pray that he blesses and protects all of us who honor and love Him in all we do. Come quickly, Lord Jesus.
October 9, 2010
Have You Prayed for America Today?
In 1962, the Supreme Court Ruling of Engle vs. Vitale struck down voluntary prayer in schools. With this, the first amendment phrase, “…nor prohibit the free exercise thereof, the establishment of any religion”, was replaced with “separation of church and state,” a phrase which has Marxist roots. Almost immediately, the decline of the United States of America began.
The War on Poverty soon began, extracting more wealth from our successful industries in order to create a better life for those impoverished, not through faith in God, but through the efforts of man, and government. Later, a health care plan for Senior Citizens was created, placing a larger burden on society to support the retired. More works of man to replace faith in God.
What followed was a sexual revolution of the young, resulting in increased disease, unwanted pregnancies, unwed, single mothers with no fathers in the household, and a greater burden on the government. Less God, more man.
David Barton’s 1988 report entitled, “America: To Pray? or Not to Pray?” illustrates increases in illiteracy, crime, premarital sex, and venereal disease. It also documented the increases in depression, hopelessness, suicide, drug use, government corruption and a slew of other social ills since the Supreme Court ruling that ended up replacing God with government.
Fifty-eight years later, without fathers in the house, we now have a huge criminal class, three generations of families permanently on welfare, 50 million aborted babies, and a government that has spent 13 trillion ($13,000,000,000,000) dollars on what it has described as an assortment of “crisises” and has obligated itself to spend an additional 100 trillion (that’s $100,000,000,000,000) more over the next 40 or so years. All Man, No god.
$100,000,000,000,000 is more than all the wealth in the world in 2010. It is more than the wealth of 3,000 Bill Gates. It is more than $300,000 of debt for each US resident, which should be enough for all of us to abandon the land once blessed by God Almighty; and now abandoned by God, for we abandoned Him first.
At the very least, we should abandon our government. And return to God. Return to the foundations that made the United States of America the greatest nation ever on planet earth. It appears at the time of this writing Americans could potentially abandon the very government that two years ago offered up this false hope for real, positive change. May each of us humble themselves and pray, and turn from their Godless ways, and in turn may the God of Heaven, hear these prayers from earth reaching Heaven, forgive them their sins and heal this land. All God, no man.
The War on Poverty soon began, extracting more wealth from our successful industries in order to create a better life for those impoverished, not through faith in God, but through the efforts of man, and government. Later, a health care plan for Senior Citizens was created, placing a larger burden on society to support the retired. More works of man to replace faith in God.
What followed was a sexual revolution of the young, resulting in increased disease, unwanted pregnancies, unwed, single mothers with no fathers in the household, and a greater burden on the government. Less God, more man.
David Barton’s 1988 report entitled, “America: To Pray? or Not to Pray?” illustrates increases in illiteracy, crime, premarital sex, and venereal disease. It also documented the increases in depression, hopelessness, suicide, drug use, government corruption and a slew of other social ills since the Supreme Court ruling that ended up replacing God with government.
Fifty-eight years later, without fathers in the house, we now have a huge criminal class, three generations of families permanently on welfare, 50 million aborted babies, and a government that has spent 13 trillion ($13,000,000,000,000) dollars on what it has described as an assortment of “crisises” and has obligated itself to spend an additional 100 trillion (that’s $100,000,000,000,000) more over the next 40 or so years. All Man, No god.
$100,000,000,000,000 is more than all the wealth in the world in 2010. It is more than the wealth of 3,000 Bill Gates. It is more than $300,000 of debt for each US resident, which should be enough for all of us to abandon the land once blessed by God Almighty; and now abandoned by God, for we abandoned Him first.
At the very least, we should abandon our government. And return to God. Return to the foundations that made the United States of America the greatest nation ever on planet earth. It appears at the time of this writing Americans could potentially abandon the very government that two years ago offered up this false hope for real, positive change. May each of us humble themselves and pray, and turn from their Godless ways, and in turn may the God of Heaven, hear these prayers from earth reaching Heaven, forgive them their sins and heal this land. All God, no man.
January 3, 2010
Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 10
…Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." - Matthew 6:10
I was reminded of this phrase earlier this week. Imagine: God’s will, being done on earth, as it already has been done in heaven.
No pain or suffering, no scarcity, no difficulties, no ugliness. Not just the good things in life, but only the better than the best things in life. In great abundance, as well.
That’s heaven. That’s God’s kingdom, God’s will. That eternal place where most of us reading this will enter. The eternal place where God wants all to enter, but He understands that’s our individual choice, not His to make.
There will come a day when America will become irrelevant, and a new world order will replace it. That may be this year, 100 years from now, or some other time. It's not for any of us to know, except it will happen in God’s perfect time. We can pray all we want for God to heal our land – and pray we should – but we all must understand God’s answer may be “No, not this time, I have something bigger and better for you”.
When we pray for America, let’s also pray for our Lord’s return, and His will be done, under His terms, not ours. The latter is greater than the former.
© 2009 David Etenburn. Non - commercial reproduction permitted
November 15, 2009
Have You Prayed for your Country Today? 3
But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you: Cursed shall you be in the city, and cursed shall you be in the country. Cursed shall be your basket and your kneading bowl. Cursed shall be the fruit of your body and the produce of your land, the increase of your cattle and the offspring of your flocks. Cursed shall you be when you come in, and cursed shall you be when you go out. The LORD will send on you cursing, confusion, and rebuke in all that you set your hand to do, until you are destroyed and until you perish quickly, because of the wickedness of your doings in which you have forsaken Me. Deuteronomy 28:15-20 New King James Version.
The curse list here has been condensed from 54 verses of curses. It follows 14 verses of blessings onto those who follow the Lord’s Commandments. It represents a balanced combination or reward or punishments, and gives the reader a choice.
Yes we are not under the law, we are under grace (Romans 6:14). But if the 613 laws in the Old Testament can be condensed into these two; love the Lord with all your heart, and love your neighbor as yourself; where has America gone wrong? And why are most of the curses listed here, originally focused on the ancient Israelites, befalling America?
First, our love for one another has grown cold, just as it was prophesied by Jesus regarding end times (Matt. 24:12). In addition, many have fallen from the faith, as evidenced by many Christians converting to other religions, or walking away altogether. Finally, we have tolerated the hedonistic lifestyles of sinners. It is one thing to love the sinner and hate the sin, it’s another to tell them, “It’s all right, Jesus will forgive you”. Sinners need to be encouraged to repent. They will usually rebel when threatened.
We need to return to our first love. We need to return to Jesus as individuals first, then as a nation. We need to lead weak believers and non believers alike to the cross. God does love the sinner, but He will not tolerate the sinner who continues to sin and sin willingly, and openly. (I Cor. 6:9,10)
Pray for the sinners who surround you in your life: at work, in your family and circle of friends, in your business. Pray they repent and that God can use you to encourage them. Pray that our leaders repent and seek the Lord with all their heart in these end times.
© 2009 David Etenburn
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