It's A Great Day

[ThePilgrim]

Merry Christmas

In the Year of Our Lord 2014, Christianity is under attack all over the glOBe. Tens of thousands of Christians have been murdered for their faith in the East and Middle East. In the West, what was once Christendom is under assault from a godless elite who fear and resent the threat that Christianity has always posed to secular authority. In the South, Christianity is growing, but it is as devoid of understanding as it is full of enthusiasm.

 

No ruler who is not himself a Christian will ever be entirely comfortable with subjects who do not view him as the highest and most legitimate authority. Most will be varying degrees of hostile, as we see across a broad spectrum from totalitarian dictators to democratically elected politicians. Augustus Caesar was the first, but was by no means the last, to insist that Christians accept his word as divine fiat, and future efforts in similar veins will be equally unsuccessful.

 

Predictions of Christianity's eventual demise tend to strike me as little more than either fearful or wishful thinking; as the Church's most serious enemies know, even the merest glow of an ember of faith is sufficient for the Lord God Almighty to turn it into a wildfire that scours the world. And one never knows when the winds of revival will again begin to blow.

 

A Time of Testing is upon us. Jesus said the world would hate us, as it hated him, but too many Christians, comfortable in the ruins of Christendom, still believe that it is possible to befriend the world, to be of it in good standing as well as in it. Soon enough, they will discover that just as tolerance of evil is not a virtue in God's eyes, even a nominal Christian identity will be sufficient to damn them in the world's eyes.

 

So choose this day, of all days, whom you will serve. If it seem to you that the world is good, a place of certain progress towards eventual human perfection, then serve those who are of the synagogue of Satan, the government, the elites, the world. Build your great glOBal temple to Man, consecrate yourself as a human brick in the Pyramid of Progress.

 

But if instead you see the world as a place of evil, of corrupt men and fallen women, of darkness growing darker, of nihilism, of human liberty constrained where it is not twisted into libertinism, then the symbol of the child born in the manger will serve as a light against the darkness, a beacon of God's Love and Man's Hope.

 

Once, there was only darkness. But ever since the Star of Bethlehem shone in the night sky, the Light has been winning. That is what we celebrate today.

 

Merry Christmas.

[John81]

For the most part American Christians are soft and think they are deserving of special rights and privileges. Now that the secular veneer of Christianity is falling away American Christians think themselves facing persecution because someone says "happy holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" or because people don't appreciate their Christian faith or think highly of them because they attend church.

 

Meanwhile, in India Christians face constant abuse and even murder. In Africa, the Middle East and elsewhere Christians face severe persecution on a continuing basis. For the most part, believers in these areas count themselves blessed to suffer for Christ and use their persecution as a testimony of God's goodness. Lost souls in these places are born again in Christ and choose to boldly live for Him and proclaim the Gospel knowing their families will disown them (which is permanent over there), they will be kicked out of their homes, sometimes out of their villages or towns, they will certainly face much verbal abuse, often physical abuse, sometimes even imprisonment, torture and even murder. These faithful men and women willingly accept these things believing living for Christ is worth the cost.

 

What will become of us when such persecution comes to our land? Will we stand for Christ in the face of such persecution? Will we refuse to forsake Christ when they drag our spouse or children from us? Will we declare our faith in Christ knowing a mOB will beat us to death if we do?

 

Now is the time to draw ever closer to the Lord for we know not what tomorrow may bring. Praise God for the peace and freedom we have to do so at this time. May we use this time well to grow in the Lord and spread the Gospel of Christ.