On the morning of June 5, 1967 the Israel Defense Forces launched bombing raids against Egyptian air fields. The action began what came to be known as the six day war. When the fighting ended Israel had won a decisive land war, including but not limited to control of the city of Jerusalem.
"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
- Luke 21:24b
The conquest of Jerusalem marked the first time in thousands of years that the city would be under the sovereign control of a Jewish state. It was a unique date in modern history, one that was predicted by Jesus over two thousand years before.
Our Lord also predicted something else....something of dire consequences to the church. He predicted that it would deny God and His precepts.
"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin revealed, the son of perdition."
- 2 Thess 2:3
In the first quarter of the twenty first century, the church is in a state of moral, spiritual and theological collapse. Beset on all sides by disrespect, corruption in its own ranks, rejection of the Bible as the word of God and an acceptance of a corrupt gospel the church no longer stands as the moral bulwark of western civilization. In fact, it doesn't stand for much of anything. Christendom is in retreat on all fronts.
On the other hand Islam is on the ascendency. If current trends continue, Islam will be the largest religion on the planet within a few years. Many new Muslim converts are former Christians. In the United States alone between 500,000 and 700,000 new converts have made the shahada in major cities.
Oddly, after experiencing almost miraculous beginnings Islam entered a period of dormancy. Muslim theologians had to grapple with failure of growth - a failure they did not understand or welcome. Today they enjoy the heady brew of explosive growth. Islam is the future.
What of the church? Despite inflated and unsubstantiated claims of global growth, Christianity is in decline. Europe, once the bedrock of Christendom, is now completely secularized. Many believe that England will soon be a Muslim state. Church growth figures from China are bogus. A secret church does not publish its attendance or donation figures for review of its government or anyone else. I personally know that in Central and South America, the people are returning to their pagan ways as are many in Africa and the Asian sub-continent. While the predominant religion in America is still Christian, the nation has embraced secular hedonism as a moral choice - and rejected God in almost violent fashion.
The role of the church for the next fifty years will be that which once afflicted Islam. How can one justify a religion in decline? Today it isn't justified or explained or identified in any significant way. Its denied. Christian soldiers are no longer marching onward. Many of the social trends can be traced back to 1967 when the IDF entered Jerusalem. The times of the gentiles ended in that first week of June 1967.
The question for the remnant church is what sort of theological basis will we adopt? Denial? A retreat into religious fantasy such as rapturism and popular books of religious fiction such as the Late Great Planet Earth series? Or will we become introverted - conditioned by ourselves and our leaders into preserving our religious clubhouse as long as possible?
The trends are clearly obvious for anyone to see. My question is, how will we deal with our shrinking influence in the world?
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
"Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.”
- Luke 21:24b
The conquest of Jerusalem marked the first time in thousands of years that the city would be under the sovereign control of a Jewish state. It was a unique date in modern history, one that was predicted by Jesus over two thousand years before.
Our Lord also predicted something else....something of dire consequences to the church. He predicted that it would deny God and His precepts.
"Let no man deceive you by any means; for that day shall come, except there be a falling away first, and that man of sin revealed, the son of perdition."
- 2 Thess 2:3
In the first quarter of the twenty first century, the church is in a state of moral, spiritual and theological collapse. Beset on all sides by disrespect, corruption in its own ranks, rejection of the Bible as the word of God and an acceptance of a corrupt gospel the church no longer stands as the moral bulwark of western civilization. In fact, it doesn't stand for much of anything. Christendom is in retreat on all fronts.
On the other hand Islam is on the ascendency. If current trends continue, Islam will be the largest religion on the planet within a few years. Many new Muslim converts are former Christians. In the United States alone between 500,000 and 700,000 new converts have made the shahada in major cities.
Oddly, after experiencing almost miraculous beginnings Islam entered a period of dormancy. Muslim theologians had to grapple with failure of growth - a failure they did not understand or welcome. Today they enjoy the heady brew of explosive growth. Islam is the future.
What of the church? Despite inflated and unsubstantiated claims of global growth, Christianity is in decline. Europe, once the bedrock of Christendom, is now completely secularized. Many believe that England will soon be a Muslim state. Church growth figures from China are bogus. A secret church does not publish its attendance or donation figures for review of its government or anyone else. I personally know that in Central and South America, the people are returning to their pagan ways as are many in Africa and the Asian sub-continent. While the predominant religion in America is still Christian, the nation has embraced secular hedonism as a moral choice - and rejected God in almost violent fashion.
The role of the church for the next fifty years will be that which once afflicted Islam. How can one justify a religion in decline? Today it isn't justified or explained or identified in any significant way. Its denied. Christian soldiers are no longer marching onward. Many of the social trends can be traced back to 1967 when the IDF entered Jerusalem. The times of the gentiles ended in that first week of June 1967.
The question for the remnant church is what sort of theological basis will we adopt? Denial? A retreat into religious fantasy such as rapturism and popular books of religious fiction such as the Late Great Planet Earth series? Or will we become introverted - conditioned by ourselves and our leaders into preserving our religious clubhouse as long as possible?
The trends are clearly obvious for anyone to see. My question is, how will we deal with our shrinking influence in the world?
but that's just me, hollering from the choir loft...
