Friday, October 4, 2019

The Ongoing And Growing Persecution


HATRED AND DISCRIMINATION OF CHRISTIANS



Then you will be handed over to be persecuted and put to death, and you will be hated by all nations because of me. At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved. [Matthew 24:9-13]

Because we have allowed the censorship of our public officials, our teachers, our elected representatives and our judges of expressing their faith in public, the predictable is happening: a generation of young people growing up with very little understanding of the spiritual principles on which our country was founded.

Cultural Marxism has crept into the mainstream and now our culture teaches our children and many adults that right and wrong are arbitrary – subjective – changing.
Many people today have willfully and philosophically turned away from the covenantal vision and biblical principles of our Founders and have been promoting as ‘constitutional’ those things which God condemns (Matt. 24:10). 
 This nation has changed from one honoring God to one that has forsaken God and as a result, we can see in our families, our schools, the inner-cities, our government, our national security, our Constitutional rights, indeed in all areas of our lives, the removal of Gods blessing.


The demise of morality, the loss of our freedom, the crime in our streets, increased drug use, the poverty in the inner-cities, the war zones in our homes and the violence of our children is a result of our disobedience to the Word of God and will not improve until we take responsibility for our actions.


Across our country today and indeed around the world, there is a battle being waged by those who hate Christ and the truth contained in the Bible (Matt. 24:9). The scheme is a propaganda campaign that depersonalizes and minimizes Christians. Depersonalization makes it easier for people to accept negative stereotypes, pigeonholed, and, in the extreme, tolerate abuse and persecution of the people who have been depersonalized. The historical precedent for this can be found in Nero’s treatment of Christians, racism in all forms, and Hitler’s treatment of the Jews.



Secularists appear to have agreed upon three specific mechanisms to complete the task of immobilizing and silencing Christians. You can find evidence of these strategies in your own communities and schools.
1. Deny our Judeo-Christian roots and rewrite our historical record.
Children in public schools never hear the expressions of faith made by the founders of our country. They celebrate the pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving but are not told to whom those early settlers were thankful. Christ and His church have been banned and any mention of Christianity is forbidden.
2. Convince the American people that Christians are in violation of the Constitution.
Liberal activists would have us believe our founding fathers were terrified at the prospect of Christians participating in the political process. This led them, we’re told, to establish a wall of separation between church and state. But no such provision appears in the Constitution or any of the foundational documents. The principle of separation of church and state is found only in one of Jefferson’s letters, and referred, not to the exclusion of religious people from government, but to the protection of religion from governmental interference.
“[The religious right] are demanding their rightful seat at the table, and that is what the American people fear the most.
Liberals in Congress formed a so-called “Radical Right Task Force” in 1994, paid for with American tax dollars. This “Task Force” met in the U.S. Capitol to plan how to intimidate Christians from going to the polls and to deny churches tax-exempt status if they distribute Christian voter education literature. They have focused on “non-profit groups vs. Advocacy groups” and “when do non-profits cross the line and become advocacy groups?” The proposed laws that provide tax exemptions for non-profit groups but not for advocacy groups.
“People of traditional faith have become effective, and this makes the left quake.” 
3. Embarrass, insult, shout down and mischaracterize Christians, hoping to intimidate them into silence.
Those who reject Jesus will also shun Christians, for faithful believers carry the presence of the Holy Spirit who brings conviction of sin as well as God’s love. Any mention of sin grates against today’s relativistic values and the kind of “freedom” where anything goes. That’s why Christians, who are “the aroma of Christ” to believers, are also “the smell of death to those who are perishing.” They hate the true Jesus.
The bombings in Sri Lanka have once again put a spotlight on the rising tide of violence against Christians all over the world.  According to Open Doors USA, an average of 105 churches and/or Christian buildings are burned or attacked every month.  That is more than three per day, and almost all of those attacks get ignored by the mainstream media in the western world.  In addition, an average of 345 Christians are killed for faith-related reasons every single month.  Of course, these numbers will soon be out of date, because violence against Christians continues to escalate all over the globe, and the horrifying attacks that we just witnessed in Sri Lanka are a perfect example.  The following comes from CBS News

A series of eight bombings in Sri Lanka targeting Christian churches and hotels in three cities killed at least 207 people and wounded up to 450 others on Easter Sunday. Defense Minister Ruwan Wijewardene described the coordinated blasts as a terrorist attack by religious extremists.

More specifically, the attackers were Muslim extremists.
Why does the mainstream media have to be so politically correct all the time?
Of course, this comes right on the heels of the fire that almost destroyed the Notre Dame Cathedral.  Authorities are still attempting to determine the cause of that fire, but we do know that many other churches have been hit by vandals and arsonists in France since the beginning of February


Vandals and arsonists have targeted French churches in a wave of attacks that has lasted nearly two months.
More than 10 churches have been hit since the beginning of February, with some set on fire while others were severely desecrated or damaged.
In an apparent attempt to copy what happened at Notre Dame, a deranged philosophy professor was caught bringing gas cans and lighter fluid to St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York
There is no doubt that persecution is a stark reality of living the Christian life. Christian persecution is to be expected: the apostle Paul warned that “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Timothy 3:12). Jesus said that, if they persecuted Him, they will also persecute His followers (John 15:20). Jesus made it clear that those of the world will hate Christians because the world hates Christ. If Christians were like the world—vain, earthly, sensual, and given to pleasure, wealth, and ambition—the world would not oppose us. But Christians do not belong to the world, which is why the world engages in Christian persecution (see John 15:18–19). Christians are influenced by different principles from those of the world. We are motivated by the love of God and holiness, while the world is driven by the love of sin. It is our very separation from the world that arouses the world’s animosity (1 Peter 4:3–4).


Christians must learn to recognize the value of persecution and even to rejoice in it, not in an ostentatious way but quietly and humbly because persecution has great spiritual value. First, the persecution of Christians allows them to share in a unique fellowship with the Lord. Paul outlined a number of things he had surrendered for the cause of Christ. Such losses, however, he viewed as “rubbish” (Philippians 3:8) or “dung” (KJV) that he might share in the “fellowship of [Christ’s] sufferings” (Philippians 3:10). The noble apostle even counted his chains as a grace (favor) that God had bestowed upon him (Philippians 1:7).

Christian persecution enables believers to better value the support of true friends. Conflict can bring faithful children of God together in an encouraging and supportive way they might not have known otherwise. Hardship can stimulate the Lord’s people toward a greater resolve to love and comfort one another and lift one another to the throne of grace in prayer. There’s nothing like an unpleasant incident to help us reach a greater level of brotherly love.


Even in the face of Christian persecution, we can press on. We can thank God for His grace and patience with us. We can express gratitude for those whom we love in the Lord and who stand with us in times of distress. And we can pray for those who would accuse, misuse, or abuse us (2 Corinthians 11:24Romans 10:1).


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