Posted on 06/26/2014 5:40:23 AM PDT by Gamecock
The nation’s capital is filled with huge, sanctuaries waving rainbow-colored banners outside proclaiming the congregations’ affirmation of homosexual lifestyles. Yet they are, largely, empty on Sunday mornings. On the other hand, new conservative churches-some with liturgy and others with praise bands-are busting at the seams with Millennial attendants. Trying to uncover the reason for this disconnect between affirming liberal churches and welcoming conservative churches, IRD is interviewing pastors of these new conservative churches. Our biggest question raised to each pastor is, “How do you balance traditional Christian teaching with a youth culture?”
In case you missed it, there is a hilarious Tumblr blog floating the web that depicts “Why Millennials Don’t Go to Church” in LOLCat format. One picture featured twirling cats and the words, “We can haz liturgical dance to attract the youngz” and another showed a cat lounging on top of a guitar asking, “Maybe u would like a praise band?”
OK, I realize that you might not be laughing, but I sure was. While some might consider the format utterly ridiculous, it is undeniable that these silly pictures’ messages capture a hunk of truth. Christian denominations are trying to crack the code when it comes to attracting Millennials to their congregations. But as recent news suggests, the successful formula has little to do with popular Christian trends.
This week I learned that the church denomination I was raised in, Assemblies of God, is booming. According to an Assemblies of God (AG) press release, denominational membership increased 1.4 percent to 1,805,381 and major worship service attendance grew 2.0 percent to 1,918,686. More hopeful is that Millennials encompass of 21 percent of growth over the last decade.
Keep in mind the Assemblies of God tradition is not known for bending conviction to culture for the sake of attendance. Believe me, the AG is anything but squishy on hot topic issues like same-sex “marriage” and abortion.
Many liberals among the Religious elite would prescribe the AG denomination to that harsh “fundamentalist” category. Remember back in the spring when World Vision made its flippant choice to embrace employee’s same-sex “marriages” and later reversing the decision after contributors expressed their outrage? It was the Assemblies of God General Superintendent, George O. Wood, who encouraged AG members to “begin gradually shifting their support…to Assemblies of God World Missions, and other Pentecostal and evangelical charities that maintain biblical standards of sexual morality.”
No one knows the day or the hour.
And I don’t think you understood my post. In real numbers, as other countries are taken over by non-Christian ideologies, all Western countries could return to Christianity and have full churches, and still be outnumbered globally. It’s the full churches in our countries that should matter to us. So we should continue to spread the gospel.
Continue spreading the word of the Gospel from the Bible ... but in doing so just realize you’re not going to have those full churches anymore (across the board), because people here are not accepting it. The acceptance is waning, and that fits right into what is coming soon, with the Anti-Christ.
What you see in Europe with the churches is coming here. A lot of churches will be repurposed into “who knows what.”
You continue to insist that you know the day and the hour. Open your mind and don’t give up now. You are not in charge of when the anti-Christ will arrive.
I’m not pinning down a time, but I am certainly pinning down the “signs of the time”. In the same manner as those people in Jesus’ day were held responsible to know that the time of their visitation was at hand, we are going to be held responsible for knowing the time of our visitation is at hand.
Luke 19:41-44
41 Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it,
42 saying, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 For days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment around you, surround you and close you in on every side,
44 and level you, and your children within you, to the ground; and they will not leave in you one stone upon another, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”
Matthew 24:32-34
32 “Now learn this parable from the fig tree: When its branch has already become tender and puts forth leaves, you know that summer is near.
33 So you also, when you see all these things, know that it is near—at the doors!
34 Assuredly, I say to you, this generation will by no means pass away till all these things take place.
We will NOT be given any special sign like the Pharisees and Saddicees asked for - but we will be expected to recognize the “signs of the times” ...
Matthew 16:1-4
1 Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.
2 He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’;
3 and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites! You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times.
4 A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.
— — — — —
Here in Oklahoma, we know a thunderstorm is coming (much of the time, anyway) - but we don’t always know exactly when.
What we do know is that it’s not coming next month or next year ... LOL ...
SO ... we recognize it’s coming, because we can read the signs ... and we know it’s not coming ten years from now — BUT SOON ... we just don’t know “exactly” how soon ... :-) ...
That’s why Jesus used the example of the weather for recognizing the time of his coming — in Oklahoma we know exactly what Jesus was talking about!
The earliest Christians who lived in the Middle East who received letters from Saint Paul thought He would come again in their lifetimes. The signs were cited during the American Civil War, the two World Wars, and probably all large wars before that. No one knows. Be humble. You don’t know, either. Stop telling people, boo hoo, it’s no use.
Well, sorry I can’t accommodate you, in shutting up ... LOL ...
And, unfortunately, I think you’re going to have trouble convincing others who see the same “signs of the times” to shut up ... :-) ...
One of the reasons that you’re finding so many saying that is because how Dr. David Reagan explains it (at Lamb and Lion Ministries) — that although various different signs have appeared in the past, what is unique about the present is the “convergence” of a large number of signs. And then, of course, one of the key signs is Israel being gathered back in the land - which has been progressing since 1948.
We are certainly living in very unique times and people should be very excited - because they are going to see the Lord returning soon!
If you would like to check out Dr. David Reagan (or if anyone else would like to) he has a website at ...
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