Friday, October 29, 2004

Will They Ever Outlaw Christianity in America?

With the recent story on WorldNetDaily about the IRS trying to keep churches from praying for political candidates, and the news stories about the push for "hate crimes" to include any speech against homosexuality, one has to wonder if they will ever outlaw Christianity in America.

I have thought about this for years, and have come to the conclusion that Christianity will never be outlawed in America, it will simply become more and more regulated. The government will dictate to the churches and ministries what they can and can not say and do. The churches and ministries who have built million dollar empires will have to decide whether they want to keep their millions and follow the government regulations, or follow the Lord and risk losing their earthly treasures.

You have to admit, Christianity has become a very lucrative business in America in recent years. Most of the big name Christian recording artists are now on the "Christian label" of a secular record company. Many Christian authors are now being published by secular publishing companies, or with Christian publishing companies who have partnered with secular companies to "cross promote" the books.

Many Christian leaders have acquired so much wealth that it's hard to tell them apart from any other multi-millionaire; private jets, multiple million dollar vacation homes and more expensive clothing and jewelry than most will see in their lifetime.

Will they ever outlaw Christianity in America? I don't think they will, but I do believe there will be many churches and ministries who won't have a problem compromising biblical principles in order to comply with the coming government regulations, so they can keep their treasures on earth.

If the Antichrist were to come on the scene offering the latest "church growth" program, or promising millions in "properity", would he be able to attract and decieve even the elect?

Monday, October 04, 2004

Is the Church Radical Enough?

Dave Black wants to know, "Is the church of Jesus Christ radical enough?"

In his latest post to his Web site, Mr. Black explains that if "there has been a transformation taking place, it has been the work which the culture has had on transforming the church, not the other way around. The redemptive effect which the modern church – and here I am speaking of the modern 'evangelical,' Bible-believing church – has had on the culture has been practically nil."

He goes on to explain, "The point is simple. Politics will not bring the kingdom of God closer. Politics should lead men to despair and, ultimately, to the cross. The Christian responsibility is always more than politics, and rarely less. But even in the midst of our engaging the culture for Christ our plea is always for men to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God – whether they be presidents or princes or ploughboys."

Click here to read the rest of Dave Black's article, "Seizing the Root".