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Where Are The Christians?
This article was written in 1993.
At my home congregation, we recently viewed the video series
called "Children At Risk" by Dr. James Dobson and Gary L. Bauer.
There is a companion book by the same title which is available
at local Christian book stores. The subtitle is "The Battle for
the Hearts and Minds of Our Kids." I highly recommend this book
and video series to anyone who has the same concerns for our
nation as I do. As I set there and listened to Dr. Dobson and
Mr. Bauer talk about the excesses which are so prevalent in our
nation today, I kept asking myself, "Where are the Christians?"
When I was growing up in Ohio in the 50's, I can remember going
to school as a first grader and listening to my teacher read a
Bible story each morning. I know for sure that my first, second,
third and fourth grade teachers read Bible stories each morning.
We also recited the Lord's prayer as part of our opening
exercises. I can remember Thanksgiving programs, Christmas
programs, and Easter programs all having Christian themes. I
recall as a high school student in the early 60's my English
teacher reading from the Bible as part of the class. I became a
teacher myself in 1969, and I too had the students recite the
Lord's prayer in the opening exercises. The United States
Supreme Court decided that to have prayer in the classroom was a
violation of the separation of church and state. And since then,
things have gotten exceedingly worse. Today, in 1993, it is
evident that the humanists are determined to eradicate all
evidence of Christian values and practice in both public
education and government. Every time a new attack is made on the
church by the humanists, I wonder, "Where are the Christians?"
I recall when I was a youngster one never heard profanity on
television. Nudity on television was simply unheard of. The
television programs in the 50's and early 60's were wholesome.
Programs like "Leave It To Beaver," "Ozzie & Harriet," and "Mr.
Ed" were the norm. Now you can not turn on the television
without being exposed to profanity of the grossest nature and
nudity is commonplace. Extra martial affairs are promoted every
day on the "soaps." Violence of every kind is exhibited night
after night on almost every channel. The talk shows which are on
every evening exploit the most bizarre subjects, all in the name
of educating the public. Again, as I set in my family room and
flip through the channels with my remote control trying to find
something decent to watch I wonder, "Where are the Christians?"
When I was a teenager and learned what homosexual meant, it was
something that was scorned as a perverted life style. I can
recall how people would talk about various movie stars that were
reported to be homosexual, and how terrible it was that a person
that was looked up to by so many would live like that. I did not
personally know anyone who was homosexual. Now it seems that
homosexuality is not only openly accepted by the
"establishment," it seems as if it is being promoted daily.
Program after program on television is designed to tell us that
homosexual behavior is just an alternative life style. The
I Pity NigeriaFear grips my heart when I see a crowd of people trekking home from a corner of a street. They are all moving towards my direction. I ..... President of the United States is promoting homosexual behavior
by attempting to force the armed forces to openly accept
homosexuals. "Gay Rights" groups are being treated by the media
and many in government as the "good guys" while Christian
opponents are painted as the "bad guys." Whenever I get the
opportunity, as an educator, I speak out against homosexual
behavior, and I find that these comments are received with
contempt more and more often. Again I wonder, "Where are the
Christians?"
Pornography is known to cause serious psychological problems
later in life when it is available to and used by children. Yet
these books and films are extremely easy to get, even by
children. Not only are women exploited in this perverse
material, but children as well. It is truly a sick mind that
will take innocent children and photograph them in this manner,
and an equally sick mind that gets pleasure from seeing those
photographs. Need we ask, "Where are the Christians?"
Sex education is now being taught in almost every school
district in the United States. In many cases the "education"
that the children are getting is promoting "safe sex" as the
appropriate way to guard against life-threatening diseases such
as aids. Children in elementary school are being taught how to
put condoms on. Condoms are being distributed in high schools
all across America under the guise of "protecting our youth." I
have even heard that different methods of sexual activity are
being taught. And if all this is not bad enough, our children
are being taught that homosexual and bisexual conduct is normal
and just an alternative to heterosexual conduct. Are you
beginning to wonder, "Where are the Christians?"
Have you listened to the music that many of our children are
listening to? The "hard rock" music which is being fed to
today's youth in mega-doses is laced with devil worship, death
and suicide messages, suggestions that killing police officers
is good, and drug use as a desirable form of recreation. Without
sounding redundant, "Where are the Christians?"
I have just about run out of room for this article and I have
not even touched on abortion as a form of birth control, the
decline of the family, dropping church attendance, the abuses of
America's institutions of higher education, media bias,
government bias, and euthanasia. To give each of these topics
just the cursory mention that I have given the other topics
would take more space than I have left in this article. I wonder
if Jesus is asking, "Where are the Christians?"
After reading all of this, I hope that you are as angry as I am
at the shape our country is in. How did we let this happen?
Where have we, the Christians, been during the last thirty years
while all this has been developing? Could it be that we have
become so complacent that we won't even make an effort to
complain about this mess? Or is it that we have been so busy
making all that money that we have been blinded to reality? Or
is it that we now put party politics (Republican or Democrat)
before our Christianity? And here is the clincher: How much
worse does it have to get before we wake up and start doing
something about it? For the last time, I ask YOU, "Where are the
Christians?"
You may be thinking that there is not much, if anything, that
one person can do to correct this mess. However, that is not
true. Especially when we consider the millions of people who
claim to be Christian. So, what can you and I do?
The Town Of ToursTours is a French town located within the area of Loire Valley, surrounded by the Cher River and the Loire River, at .....
First, we need to start immediately praying for our nation, its
problems, its leaders, and its Christians each and every day.
God hears and answers prayer! What if millions of people went to
God every day and prayed as I have indicated? Great things would
certainly have to happen. Remember, "The effective, fervent
prayer of a righteous man avails much." (James 5:16b)
Second, it time to get serious by making our voices heard with
the "powers that be." We should be continually writing our U.S.
Congressmen and Senators and speaking out on the issues that
concern us. We need to continually be writing letters to the
news media that support the perverse life styles of the
homosexuals and the like. We need to write letters to sponsors
of programs which we feel are inappropriate to be broadcast
during family viewing times. We should refuse to purchase goods
from companies that refuse to listen to our concerns. We should
refuse to support any candidate for any office that holds views
that are anti- Christian or conducts themselves in a manner
which is not consistent with our Christian beliefs. If there are
no candidates from either major political party which we can
support, then it is time to get Christians to run for office and
go all out to support them.
And third, it is time to start putting pressure on our Christian
friends, family, and neighbors to join in this fight. It is time
to hold the leaders of our congregations responsible for
organizing our churches in this effort to bring Christ back to a
position of honor and glory in America.
KillologyLife is Cheap' Terry Dashner''Faith Fellowship Church PO Box 1586 Broken Arrow, OK ..... And finally, it time for each one of us that claim Christ as our
Lord and Savior to stand and be counted in this effort. Let's
look at some of what the Scriptures have to say about this: "He
who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather
with Me scatters abroad." (Matthew 12:30); "Every kingdom
divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city
or house divided against itself will not stand." (Matthew
12:25b); "if My people who are called by My name will humble
themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their
wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive
their sin and heal their land." (II Chronicles 7:14); and one of
my favorite Scriptures, "...choose for yourselves this day whom
you will serve... But as for me and my house, we will serve the
Lord." (Joshua 24:15).
Brothers and sisters in Christ, if the Christians in America do
not take a stand and start fighting for what we believe, America
as we know it (or have known it) will soon cease to exist. We
must start today, NOW, and not quit until we have taken back our
country from the humanists. Do we have the courage to be like
Isaiah? "Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: 'Whom shall
I send, and who will go for Us?' Then I said, 'Here am I! Send
me.'" (Isaiah 6:8)
All scriptures quoted are from the New King James Version unless
otherwise noted.
About the author:
Stephen Kingery is an author, preacher, teacher and founder of
The Home Bible Study Institute.
Visit our site at http://www.james1-22.org
Permission to use is granted if attributed to author and his
website.
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