[twigs]

A well-read man in my church has been telling me that he thinks that one reason our society is in the shape it's in today, allowing in such influences as post-modernism, for example, is because the church didn't do its job and speak out against the heresies that came to displace Christianianity as the bedrock of our thought and society in the second half of the 19th century. One reason our society is coming to be so fractured today is that the church, at least the Bible-believing church, IS doing so. As a result, belief in theories like evolution are being challenged by beliefs like intelligent design. The church is taking back some ground, but because we lost so much of it last century and the beginning of this one, we're coming up square against the enemy and he's fighting us tooth and nail, ready to take down our entire culture. I think there's truth in this. I think your observations are spot on, too, and this money issue is another tool the enemy is using to fight for the territory he's been winning awhile.

[Terriergal]

I agree with your post entirely.

The thing is, even if the church 'loses' -- the true church will always win. We don't need material things, and if they are taken away it will only serve as a witness of the fact that God's kingdom is not made of the things humans generally value. (money, power, material possessions).