Posted on 09/18/2022 8:12:56 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
America’s Christian majority has been declining for years and if the trend continues, Christians could make up less than half the U.S. population within decades, a study from the Pew Research Center shows.
The religion’s demographic has reportedly been dwindling since the 1990s, as many adults embrace an identity of atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular.”
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
We will be similar to many European nations within a generation, regarding religion. In many European countries, people simply don’t go to church anymore.
And given the migration patterns in some European countries, the dominant religion may be Islam.
When the Communists took over Russia in the early 1900's, they first targeted their enemies, then the press, and then the churches. The persecution of the church drove attendance from 300 to 15 on average. That is a 95% falling away.
Expect the same here.
There is a rise in occult interest, particularly by young people.
Religion itself is not at fault, the corrupted people within the organized religions are to blame. The government is not the controller either, religious people have held up under much worse governments than we experience today.
Keep the faith and prosper spiritually. That’s the seed of all happiness.
“Keep the faith and prosper spiritually. That’s the seed of all happiness.”
Amen.
They were never REAL Christians anyway. So “FEW” are.
Matthew 7:13-14 NIV
13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14“For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
What per cent would you value “few” at?
3%, 5%, certainly no more than 10%.
Matthew 21 NIV
“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. 22“Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ 23“And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.’
So to all those PHONY Christians, good riddance, ‘He never knew you’.
Abusive priests being protected by the Church. The Ten Commandments being downgraded to the Ten Suggestions. Pure plain scripture being ignored for political reasons. Corrupt preachers with private jets.
Hard to blame people who turn their back on it.
Not a huge surprise, considering if you are in a ‘non-supportive environment’ and express the core beliefs of most Christian Faiths, you stand a good chance of at very least, being viewed as radical or stuck in the past, at very most, losing your job or being overlooked for future promotions.
Here lately, some Christian individuals are pushing back and suing employers who operate this way. Most of us were not brought up thinking we would need to defend our faith in any court of law or judgement of our peers.
The government continues it’s disregard of personal faith as being a valid reason not to do certain things, such as getting a questionable vaccine or assisting in abortions.
That used to be a sufficient reason.
I submit there is so little Christianity left in America that kids have no faith leaders to follow.
Mega churches operated as money making schools and social clubs have diluted the meaning of the Christian church.
The South has lots of little churches, which is great, but there are so many of them that few have any community involvement or connections. They, too, are merely social clubs for people who feel excluded from larger churches.
Churches have been converted to political and liberal outlets, rock bands, and other activities most people do not associate with a church.
Like all those people on On Patrol Live, being arrested yet having a cross (or two) around their necks.
Real Christians? I doubt it. But hey, its not up to me. Its up to the “Big Guy” and I don’t mean Branden.
I also love all “those people” (people being arrested) with tattoos of crosses or “Jesus” on their bodies.
Leviticus 19:28 NIV
Do not cut your bodies for the dead or put tattoo marks on yourselves. I am the LORD.
Matthew 5:17-18 NIV
17Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets. I have not come to abolish them, but to fulfill them. 18For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.
The same thing won't happen in America. It's a good thing there are very few truly beautiful churches in America, so when the attendance drops off and the churches are converted into mosques or night clubs or torn down to make room for parking lots it will be no great tragedy.
Christians used to get all upset when someone used the Lord's name in vain. But now that Jesus is irrelevant to more and more people, is this something to be happy about?
It’s not the government, it’s the parents. They think soccer games are more important than Sunday school. This includes many so-called conservatives.
They control the schools where degeneracy is part of the curriculum.
The Bible did say in the end times folks would fall away.
Last week I went to the local Walgreen's to buy a Rosh Hashanah card. (Jewish New Year.) To my surprise, I found very few. Instead, there were shelves and shelves of Halloween cards.
Since when did Halloween, a minor kid's holiday, get so popular? Part of it has to do with the interest in the occult, which replaced conventional religion among the young. (In late 19th-century Europe, occult-mania took over the upper and middle classes, who also also largely abandoned the Judeo-Christian framework.)
The gay culture has a lot to do with it, too, as Halloween allows them the opportunity for dress-up and perversion.
It is too bad that soccer games seem to be always on Sunday mornings. I’ve often attended churches that offer a Sat evening service that helps big families (like mine) with lots of weekend sports and activities.
Russian Orthodox Church was always a tool of the state anyway. Still is.
What did The Lord Himself thinks of the churches at the time?
Revelation 1
Prologue
1This is the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave Him to show His servants what must soon come to pass. He made it known by sending His angel to His servant John, 2who testifies to everything he saw. This is the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Revelation 2
To the Church in Ephesus
1“To the angel of the church in Ephesus write:
These are the words of Him who holds the seven stars in His right hand and walks among the seven golden lampstands.
2 I know your deeds, your labor, and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate those who are evil, and you have tested and exposed as liars those who falsely claim to be apostles. 3Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.
4But I have this against you: You have abandoned your first love. 5Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.
6But you have this to your credit: You hate the works of the Nicolaitans, which I also hate.
7He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to eat from the tree of life in the Paradise of God.
To the Church in Smyrna
8To the angel of the church in Smyrna write:
These are the words of the First and the Last, who died and returned to life.
9I know your affliction and your poverty—though you are rich! And I am aware of the slander of those who falsely claim to be Jews, but are in fact a synagogue of Satan.
10Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Look, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison to test you, and you will suffer tribulation for ten days. Be faithful even unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.
11He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. The one who overcomes will not be harmed by the second death.
To the Church in Pergamum
12To the angel of the church in Pergamum write:
These are the words of the One who holds the sharp, double-edged sword.
13I know where you live, where the throne of Satan sits. Yet you have held fast to My name and have not denied your faith in Me, even in the day when My faithful witness Antipas was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
14But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality. 15In the same way, some of you also hold to the teaching of the Nicolaitans. 16Therefore repent! Otherwise I will come to you shortly and wage war against them with the sword of My mouth.
17He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who overcomes, I will give the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone inscribed with a new name, known only to the one who receives it.
To the Church in Thyatira
18To the angel of the church in Thyatira write:
These are the words of the Son of God, whose eyes are like a blazing fire and whose feet are like polished bronze.
19I know your deeds—your love, your faith, your service, your perseverance—and your latter deeds are greater than your first.
20But I have this against you: You tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess. By her teaching she misleads My servants to be sexually immoral and to eat food sacrificed to idols. 21Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
22Behold, I will cast her onto a bed of sickness, and those who commit adultery with her will suffer great tribulation unless they repent of her deeds. 23Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
24But I say to the rest of you in Thyatira, who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned the so-called deep things of Satan: I will place no further burden upon you. 25Nevertheless, hold fast to what you have until I come. 26And to the one who overcomes and continues in My work until the end, I will give authority over the nations. 27He will rule them with an iron scepter and shatter them like potterya —just as I have received authority from My Father. 28And I will give him the morning star.
29He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
Revelation 3
To the Church in Sardis
1“To the angel of the church in Sardis write:
These are the words of the One who holds the seven Spiritsa of God and the seven stars.
I know your deeds; you have a reputation for being alive, yet you are dead. 2Wake up and strengthen what remains, which was about to die; for I have found your deeds incomplete in the sight of My God. 3Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.
4But you do have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their garments, and because they are worthy, they will walk with Me in white. 5Like them, he who overcomes will be dressed in white. And I will never blot out his name from the Book of Life, but I will confess his name before My Father and His angels.
6He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the Church in Philadelphia
7To the angel of the church in Philadelphia write:
These are the words of the One who is holy and true, who holds the key of David. What He opens no one can shut, and what He shuts no one can open.
8I know your deeds. See, I have placed before you an open door, which no one can shut. For you have only a little strength, yet you have kept My word and have not denied My name. 9Look at those who belong to the synagogue of Satan, who claim to be Jews but are liars instead. I will make them come and bow down at your feet, and they will know that I love you.
10Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth. 11I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. 12The one who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will never again leave it. Upon him I will write the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God (the new Jerusalem that comes down out of heaven from My God), and My new name.
13He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.
To the Church in Laodicea
14To the angel of the church in Laodicea write:
These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.
15I know your deeds; you are neither cold nor hot. How I wish you were one or the other! 16So because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to vomit you out of My mouth!
17You say, ‘I am rich; I have grown wealthy and need nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. 18I counsel you to buy from Me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich, white garments so that you may be clothed and your shameful nakedness not exposed, and salve to anoint your eyes so that you may see. 19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
20Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and dine with him, and he with Me. 21To the one who overcomes, I will grant the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.
22He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.”
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