The church has not failed - organized religion has failed - as it should. The doctrines of man has failed. Jesus said the gates of hell shall not prevail against My church. The church, IMHO, is not Baptist, Methodist, Catholic, etc. Jesus' church is the body of believers that are committed to HIM first and foremost. Organized religion of all denominations are full of churchianity, not Christianity. But, in those vast congregations of churchianity, Christianity is alive and well - in some churches more so than others. And, the gates of hell will not prevail against THAT church.
What I believe is that when judgement comes, it begins with the house of God (I think I read that somewhere).
Yes, you are correct. It's in Isaiah but for the life of me I can't find the chapter and verse right now - even with a concordance! If my understanding of Scripture is correct, the Lord will first judge the "shepherds" - the pastors and preachers, then He will judge those that call themselves Christians yet do not live their lives in accordance with the teachings of Christ. Then He will judge the non-believers.
I believe the church in America needs to repent before we can ask non-believers to repent. When the world starts seeing us live right, they may be attracted to the gospel and we may see rightousness grow once again in our nation.
Right on the mark here! The church has to repent and live in righteousness. We have to not only "talk the talk", we have to "walk the walk" every waking minute of our lives. Until we Christians do that, our witness will not and cannot be taken seriously by non-believers. Why would a non-believer believe when she/he hears Christians preaching one thing and doing exactly the opposite? Not gonna happen!
I believe the judgement we should anticipate is judgement and persecution on God's people the church, to wake us up to do our job in this nation we have been entrusted with.
Absolutely! The persecution of the church will test everyone that professes to be a Christian. Those whose hearts and minds are not totally committed to Christ will have to make a choice - Christ above all even if it means immediate death or the wide road. Through this persecution, the true church will grow, the riff-raff will fall away - chosing safety over Liberty in Christ. Jesus' church will become more righteous - walking the walk - and it will be a powerful witness to the Lord. This is happening now. People that have been ho-hum about their life in Christ (myself included!) are taking stock and rededicating their lives to Christ. They are turning away from the world and grabbing on to the promises. And their witness is strong - they are bringing people into the Lord's fold. A lot of churches are going through some big changes now - many people are leaving non PC churches in search of those churches that give them a wide berth. The churches that do not accept the PC doctines and compromise are growing by leaps and bounds. I think the TRUE church is being prepared now for what is to come. When that time comes, our witness will be powerful and a great many non-believers will believe.
That is why I reject the idea that the WTC was a judgement from God on our nation.
I am not wise enough to figure out if the WTC was a judgement or not. Some days I think it is, other days I ask the same questions as OWK and others and totally reject that is was a judgement. I just don't know.
I do know that God is Sovereign and can do anything He determines to do in order to accomplish His purpose - the rest I have yet to figure out.
In the same way that President Bush called this moment in time an "opportunity" for our nation, even though he is repulsed by the evil--I believe this moment in time provides an opportunity for God's people to first seach our own hearts, then help people who are suddenly finding themselves open to spiritual things and a re-examination of their own values to find the right way.