Showing posts with label churches. Show all posts
Showing posts with label churches. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

ISIS Has a New Focus: Killing Christians and Bombing Churches Wherever They Can Find Them - MICHAEL SNYDER CHARISMA NEWS



Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fire a shell at Islamic State fighters' positions in Sirte, Libya
Libyan forces allied with the U.N.-backed government fire a shell at Islamic State fighters' positions in Sirte, Libya (REUTERS/Ismail Zitouny)

ISIS Has a New Focus: Killing Christians and Bombing Churches Wherever They Can Find Them

MICHAEL SNYDER  CHARISMA NEWS
If you are a Christian, ISIS wants to kill you.
Our politicians keep telling us that our battle with ISIS is not a "religious war," but to ISIS it most certainly is. As you will see below, ISIS has a new focus. They are very clear about the fact that they intend to kill as many "citizens of the cross" as they possibly can, and they plan to bomb churches wherever they can find them. In a previous article, I explained how an entire church in the U.S. ended up on an ISIS kill list, and we just saw in France that they are willing to strike anywhere and at any time. Religious targets now appear to be a top priority for ISIS, and that means that every church and every Christian in the Western world needs to start thinking differently about security.
Let's start by taking a look at what is happening in Africa. Boko Haram's brutality has made headlines all over the planet, and the infamous terror organization has pledged complete loyalty to ISIS at this point. In the past, Boko Haram has hit both Christian and Muslim targets, but now the new leader of Boko Haram is promising to following ISIS guidelines and to focus primarily on bombing churches and killing Christians.
Earlier this month, a man named Abu Musab al-Barnawi announced that he had taken over the infamous Boko Haram organization. And his first message as Boko Haram's leader was as clear as it was concise—on his watch, the group's main focus will be killing Christians.
According to an interview published this month by the self-proclaimed Islamic State group (ISIS), al-Barnawi threatened to bomb churches and kill Christians, but will no longer attack places used by Muslims.
During the interview, Abu Musab al-Barnawi went on to say that his organization will be "booby-trapping and blowing up every church that we are able to reach, and killing all of those who we find from the citizens of the cross."
There are millions upon millions of Christians in Nigeria and in other African nations where Boko Haram is active. Let us hope and pray that Boko Haram is not able to carry out the types of attacks that they are now promising.
And of course it isn't just in Africa that Christians need to be concerned. The latest issue of the official ISIS magazine called Dabiq is urging Muslims in the western world to copy the recent church attack in France.
On the day he was announced as Boko Haram's new leader, ISIS used the latest issue of Dabiq to paint Christianity as a "false" religion and Christians as "cross worshippers." It encouraged Muslims to attack churches in a ways similar to the atrocity in France last month, where two men entered a Catholic church in small town Normandy, slit the throat of an 86-year-old priest, and gravely wounded a nun.
We need to understand that ISIS is not necessarily looking to hit political or military targets.
They are openly telling us that religious targets are now a priority, and they could literally strike anywhere in the entire country.
Thousands of American Christians have already been put on ISIS kill lists, and ISIS has already instructed their operatives to kill those that they can. The following comes from an excellent article by Bethany Blankley:
According to a report recently made public, early this year, ISIS specifically identified 15,000 Christian Americans for death and instructed jihadis already in America to begin widespread murder.
The Kill List report comes in the wake of ISIS already publicly warning American and British Christians that "they were next." British police last week publicly warned its 5.4 million Christians to be on alert and in some areas increased security.
And there have already been some very close calls. In fact, if the authorities had not intervened in time earlier this year, a church up in Michigan could have been the scene of the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.
In February, Khial Abu-Rayyan, 21, of Dearborn Heights, Mich., was arrested after he told an undercover FBI agent he was preparing to "shoot up" a major church near his home on behalf of ISIS. A month earlier, the Rev. Roger Spradlin of Valley Baptist Church – one of the biggest congregations in Bakersfield, Calif. – told attendees that they had received a threat written in Arabic.
Today, churches all over America are hiring armed security guards and are holding self-defense classes. When I was a child, I never would have imagined in my wildest dreams that someone would come in and start shooting during a church service, but times have changed. To an Islamic terrorist, a church is a target that will bring you a lot of glory, and here in the Western world, we need to understand that.
And of course, it isn't just Islamic terror we have to contend with these days. Everywhere you look, traces of the Christian faith are being removed from public life, and those who want to freely exercise their faith are being suppressed.
"There are children being prohibited from writing Merry Christmas to the soldiers, senior citizens being banned from praying over their meals in the Senior Center, the VA banning the mention of God in military funerals, numerous attempts to have veterans memorials torn down if they have any religious symbols, such as a cross, and I could go on and on," said Liberty Institute Founder Kelly Shackleford.
As I was writing this article, my internet suddenly went out. One moment it was working, and then the next moment it was not.
In the same way, we need to realize that a single moment can change everything. Even moments before the attacks, nobody suspected that anyone would strike the Pulse nightclub in Orlando or a sleepy little church in the French countryside.
But those attacks did happen, and without a doubt there will be even more horrific Islamic terror attacks here in the United States in the months and years to come.
We need to be vigilant, and we need to be on guard, because times have changed and there really are people out there that intend to kill us if they can.
Michael Snyder is the founder and publisher of End Of The American Dream. Michael’s controversial new book about Bible prophecy entitled "The Rapture Verdict"is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com.
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Thursday, July 14, 2016

New Shocking Poll Released on Evangelical Pastors' Involvement in Politics - BOB ESCHLIMAN CHARISMA NEWS

Rob McCoy
Pastor Rob McCoy of Calvary Chapel in Thousand Oaks, Calif., not only encourages his congregates to be politically engaged, he's run for office twice himself. He's currently a local city councilman, but according to a recent survey, he is in a very small minority of conservative evangelical pastors. (Reuters photo)

New Shocking Poll Released on Evangelical Pastors' Involvement in Politics

BOB ESCHLIMAN  CHARISMA NEWS
Our religious liberty and foundational freedoms are at stake, biblical marriage is under constant attack, the LGBT agenda is advancing at a worrying pace and evangelical pastors are backing away from politics?
That was the findings of a new survey conducted by the Barna Group on behalf of the American Culture & Faith Institute. Barna called the results "nothing short of astounding," and he didn't hold back in his critical analysis of the findings.
"In an election year where nothing has been normal so far, the apparent choices of conservative pastors may be the most abnormal thing of all," he said. "This is clearly a time when Christian and conservative voters need their spiritual leaders to help them make sense of what is happening and how to respond biblically to the chaos and uncertainty.
"The fact that tens of thousands of conservative pastors—even more than during the mid-term election cycle—are planning to ignore this crucial election and have followers of Christ play little-to-no role in the electoral process is shocking. The message that conservative pastors are sending to congregants is their Christian faith should have no influence on this election and therefore they should be passive bystanders while people with opposing worldviews and values make critical governance choices for Christians.
"With all due respect, that is both a mind-boggling lack of leadership and a startlingly bold example of poor citizenship."
First, the not-so-surprising findings:
  • By a two-to-one margin (44-22 percent), the conservative pastors interviewed felt that Republican nominee-in-waiting Donald Trump is likely to defeat his likely Democratic counterpart, Hillary Clinton.
  • However, more than one-third (35 percent) said they did not know who is most likely to win.
  • As for their personal preference, they preferred Trump over Clinton by a 6-to-1 ratio (60 to 10 percent), while the remainder preferred someone else (13 percent), refused to vote (6 percent), or were still undecided (11 percent).
These perceptions of the current state of the 2016 presidential election were the basis for responses to questions about how these pastors were specifically taking action to prepare their congregations for November. This would be the shocking part of the findings.
Each pastor was asked about eight specific courses of action they may have taken during the 2014 mid-term election, and could take during the 2016 cycle. They indicated "limited" activity in 2014, and even less of each activity in 2016:
  • Sponsor a voter registration drive at your church—21% in 2014, 12% in 2016
  • Actively encourage get-out-the-vote efforts—9% in 2014, 7% in 2016
  • Invite candidates to speak at your church prior to the election—5% in 2014, 3% in 2016
  • Preach at least one sermon about a public policy issue—37% in 2014, 21% in 2016
  • Offer printed or online voter guides to your congregation—45% in 2014, 36% in 2016
  • Include election-related information on your church website—5% in 2014, 4% in 2016
  • Encourage members of your church to get actively involved in a campaign—29% in 2014, 20% in 2016
  • Speak to your church about the importance of voting—78% in 2014, 62% in 2016
Barna, asked about why there is such a lack of engagement by conservative evangelical pastors in 2016, was equally frank. Pointing to the Rev. Franklin Graham's comments made prior to an event in New York earlier this year at which Trump later spoke, he said many pastors do not want to be judged for supporting a candidate who is morally imperfect.
"But the truth is that none of us—these pastors included—are morally perfect, which is why we need Jesus to save us," he said. "Both of the major party candidates this year are flawed, but all candidates have always been morally flawed—they're human! In the meantime, we need to work together to elect leaders who will allow the church to follow Christ with as much freedom and as little government interference as possible.
"Pastors should not ask congregants to place their full and eternal trust in a political candidate, but rather to choose the best person for the job since someone is going to be elected whether we participate in the process or not. How can conservative pastors justify sitting out the election when so much is at stake for the church itself? And please notice that theologically liberal churches are much more engaged in the electoral process."
Barna also stated the 2016 election is, in many ways, the easiest for churches to engage in going back more than a generation. He said the policy differences between Trump and Clinton—particularly on social, moral, and religious issues—are "more distinct this year than at any time since the Reagan-Carter election in 1980."
"The fact that conservative pastors choose to not get involved, while also refusing to preach about the biblical foundations for thinking about the major issues, suggests that perhaps our church leaders do not know what they and the Bible believe on these matters," he said. "Why else would they not exploit the opportunity to use the election as a reason to engage, instruct, and challenge God's people on His truth?"
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Tuesday, July 12, 2016

Those That Wanted To Get Prepared Have Already Gotten Prepared By Now - Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

No Excuses Road Sign - Public Domain

Posted: 11 Jul 2016   Michael Snyder  THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG

Is the time for warning people to prepare for what is ahead coming to an end?  For years, bold men and women all over America have been sounding the alarm and warning people to get prepared physically, financially, mentally, emotionally and spiritually for the great storm that is rapidly approaching.  Personally, I have written more than 2,500 articles on my primary two websites combined, and so nobody can accuse me of not blowing the trumpet.  

It has gotten to the point that sometimes I am even tired of listening to myself warn the people.  But now we are shifting into a new phase.

The other day I was reflecting on some of the things that I have been hearing lately.  Sales of emergency food and supplies are way down across the entire industry.  Many organizations and websites that have been instrumental in sounding the alarm for a long time are really struggling right now.  On my websites, traffic has hit a bit of a plateau after experiencing a tremendous surge late last year.  Overall, “prepping” was very hot just a few years ago, and at one time it was estimated that there were approximately three million “preppers” in the United States.  But these days there seems to be a tremendous amount of apathy out there.

As I reflected on all of this, I came to one inescapable conclusion.

Those that wanted to get prepared have already gotten prepared by now, and those that did not want to get prepared are not likely to do so any time soon.

I personally know a lot of people that are very, very prepared and have been for a long time.  Yes, there is still a small minority of people out there that only recently woke up and started prepping, but overall most of the preparation that people wanted to do has already been completed.  And for those that have not done anything to prepare, you could argue with them until the moon turns to cheese and they still won’t take any action.

At this point the die has been cast.  Most of those that felt that they should prepare have already prepared.  Most of those that felt that they should repent have already repented.  Most of those that felt that they should warn America have already sounded the alarm.
So now all that is left is to wait for the shaking to begin.

In looking back at what has transpired over the last several years, I think that it would be appropriate to say something about the failure of the church in America.

You see, if the churches of America were doing their job, all of the “watchmen” out there would not even be needed.  Our voices would simply be lost in a chorus of thousands upon thousands of pastors, teachers, ministers and evangelists boldly warning people about what is coming to this nation.

But instead, there is just deafening silence coming from most of the mainstream churches.
The sad thing is that many, many church leaders understand very clearly what is coming, but they have purposely chosen not to warn the people.  Some time ago, George Barna conducted a study that looked into why our churches are not addressing the key issues of the day, and what he discovered was absolutely astounding
“‘What we’re finding is that when we ask them about all the key issues of the day, [90 percent of them are] telling us, ‘Yes, the Bible speaks to every one of these issues,” he explained. “Then we ask them: ‘Well, are you teaching your people what the Bible says about those issues?’ and the numbers drop…to less than 10 percent of pastors who say they will speak to it.”
Most churches in America don’t want to talk about the hard things, because they desperately want to make people feel comfortable.  They want to entertain people and make them happy so that they will come back week after week and drop their money into the offering plate.

When it comes to defining success as a church, Barna found that there were five primary factors that were important to the majority of pastors, and none of them had anything to do with repentance and salvation through Jesus Christ…
“There are five factors that the vast majority of pastors turn to,” he outlined. “Attendance, giving, number of programs, number of staff, and square footage.”
Sadly, most Christians in America actually prefer these lukewarm churches, and the Apostle Paul warned that these times were coming nearly 2000 years ago.  The following is what 2 Timothy 4:3-4 says in the Modern English Version
For the time will come when people will not endure sound doctrine, but they will gather to themselves teachers in accordance with their own desires, having itching ears, and they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn to myths.
You may not want to hear this, but the majority of churches in America have already gone apostate, and that is the truth.

We are slowly but surely losing an entire generation of Americans, and yet our dead and dying churches just continue to slumber.  I shared the following numbers in a previous article, but they bear repeating.  The following comes directly out of a Pew Research Center report
Millennials – especially the youngest Millennials, who have entered adulthood since the first Landscape Study was conducted – are far less religious than their elders. For example, only 27% of Millennials say they attend religious services on a weekly basis, compared with 51% of adults in the Silent generation. Four-in-ten of the youngest Millennials say they pray every day, compared with six-in-ten Baby Boomers and two-thirds of members of the Silent generation. Only about half of Millennials say they believe in God with absolute certainty, compared with seven-in-ten Americans in the Silent and Baby Boom cohorts. And only about four-in-ten Millennials say religion is very important in their lives, compared with more than half in the older generational cohorts.
Those numbers are absolutely horrifying.  Yes, there are still a few really good churches scattered across the country.  But overall, the church in America is in really sorry shape, and the numbers don’t lie.  Christianity is in rapid decline in the United States, and somebody better wake up and start doing something about it.

Over the years, I can’t tell you how many dead churches that I have sat in.  That is why it is so refreshing when I actually find one where the gospel is preached and where people truly love one another.  I have had the privilege of sharing my message in such a church in recent months, and I wish that there were a lot more of them out there.

Unfortunately, most ministers in America are really busy doing things other than what they should be doing.  For instance, have you ever heard of “clergy response teams”?  If you can believe it, the government has actually recruited ministers to help the population accept martial law when it is declared someday.  The following comes from KSLA News
Could martial law ever become a reality in America?  Some fear any nuclear, biological or chemical attack on U.S. soil might trigger just that. KSLA News 12 has discovered that the clergy would help the government with potentially their biggest problem: Us.
Can you believe that?

Here is more from the report…
Such clergy response teams would walk a tight-rope during martial law between the demands of the government on the one side, versus the wishes of the public on the other.  “In a lot of cases, these clergy would already be known in the neighborhoods in which they’re helping to diffuse that situation,” assured Sandy Davis.  He serves as the director of the Caddo-Bossier Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness.
For the clergy team, one of the biggest tools that they will have in helping calm the public down or to obey the law is the bible itself, specifically Romans 13.  Dr. Tuberville elaborated, “because the government’s established by the Lord, you know.  And, that’s what we believe in the Christian faith.  That’s what’s stated in the scripture.”
I don’t know about you, but I found that article to be extremely chilling.

But this is the state of things in America today.  We have a dead church that is stuffed to the gills with dead ministers, and the people are not being told the truth about the great shaking that is coming to America.

And when the great shaking comes, there will be multitudes of these dead churches and ministries that will go under and never rise again.

Meanwhile, God will be raising up a Remnant, and that Remnant is going to shake the world.


Monday, March 7, 2016

Churches Under a Curse - Charles Gardner ISRAEL TODAY

Churches Under a Curse

Monday, March 07, 2016 |  Charles Gardner  ISRAEL TODAY
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Churches are bleeding to death because of their refusal to love and support the Jewish people.

An internal report from the Presbyterian Church USA, noted for its anti-Israel stance, predicts that it stands to lose 400,000 members over the next five years1. Methodists in the UK, whose leaders passed a resolution boycotting Israel some years ago, have also seen a dramatic decline in numbers, and are now making things worse by advocating a boycott of Cadbury2 – an insult to the memory and considerable legacy of the chocolate family’s Christian ethos and significant contribution to Britain’s wealth.
Not only that, but one of their number, Richard Cadbury, was a man dedicated to the cause of Jewish mission. After being taken ill with diphtheria during a tour of Egypt in 1899, he was cared for at a Jerusalem hospital (now a school) run by the Church’s Mission among Jewish people where, sadly, he died. But out of gratitude for the kindness with which he was treated, he left them a tidy sum of money. This enabled them to extend the facility to include a new ward for the treatment of infectious diseases and employ an extra nurse, thereafter known as the Cadbury nurse.3
Best-selling author Bill Bryson, in his latest book The Road to Little Dribbling4, says he hadn’t realized how Quakers5 in 18th century Britain were a bullied and downtrodden minority excluded from politics and academia. But they made their mark in industry and commerce, particularly in banking (Barclays and Lloyds) and the manufacture of chocolate (Cadbury, Fry and Rowntree).
“They and many others made Britain a more dynamic and wealthy place entirely as a consequence of being treated shabbily by it,” he writes with his usual penetrating wit. And in that respect they had much in common with Jewish communities of the era. At any rate, Richard Cadbury loved the Jews because of his devotion to Jesus.
Scripture is quite clear that those who bless the seed of Abraham will themselves be blessed, but those who curse them will be judged. (Genesis 12.3) It is perfectly evident that both Methodists and Presbyterians, tragically now more influenced by worldly wisdom than biblical values, are under a curse of their own making. The worldwide blessing brought about by Methodist founder John Wesley’s bold proclamation of the gospel (along with his support for Israel) has been lost.
In his notes on Romans, Wesley wrote: “So many prophecies refer to this grand event (of the restoration of Israel) that it is surprising any Christian can doubt of it. And these are greatly confirmed by the wonderful preservation of the Jews as a distinct people to this day. When it is accomplished, it will be so strong a demonstration, both of the Old and New Testament revelation, as will doubtless convince many thousand Deists in countries nominally Christian.”6
Remember that he was writing this in the latter part of the 18th century, almost a quarter of a millennium ago, without the benefit of witnessing these very things taking place before his eyes. Yet in our generation we have been immensely privileged to watch God’s chosen people, after nearly 2,000 years of dispersion, returning home to their ancient land from every corner of the world.
The biblical prophets foretold all this – in fact half of all Old Testament prophecies relate to Israel’s restoration. Followers of Jesus, the Jew, ought to rejoice that, in fulfillment of ancient prophecies, his brothers in the flesh are back in the land. For the Scripture also makes clear that once they have all returned (which is still to happen), Jesus will reveal himself to the entire nation as the Messiah for whom they have long been waiting. And then he will return to rule and reign with all believers – both Jew and Gentile – who have bowed the knee before him.
Israel is not perfect, nor should we expect her to be. For the most part, Israelis are not yet following their Messiah, but Christians who claim to be disciples of Jesus should know better. We must love those whom God loves, including our enemies (Matthew 5.44). You who would boycott Israeli goods (which adversely affects Palestinians too as many rely on Israel for their employment), do you pray for the peace of Jerusalem, as the Bible commands? (Psalm 122.6)

1. Jerusalem Post February 9 2016
2. I realize Cadbury has been taken over by a foreign company, now known as Mondelez, who are accused of UK tax evasion, but it is still a name that has given much prestige to the nation.
3. A Prophetic Property by Kelvin Crombie p61 published by the Israel Trust of the Anglican Church
4. Published by Doubleday, p254
5. Quakers were a radical Christian movement that suffered much opposition for their fervent devotion sometimes characterized by trembling – hence their nickname – under the influence of the Holy Spirit.
6. A Nation Called by God published by Love Never Fails, an umbrella group for organizations supporting Israel.

Charles Gardner is author of Peace in Jerusalem, available from olivepresspublisher.com
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Saturday, February 20, 2016

Sharing Love From Sweden - "ARE THE POOR WELCOME IN THE CHURCH?" - Eva Haglund


ARE THE POOR WELCOME IN THE CHURCH?
by Eva Haglund, Sweden

Nowadays you can read about Christian conferences, which at times can cost a lot of money for one person to attend. If your family wants to go to the conference that would indeed be a lot of money to pay.

What happens then for those Christians who cannot afford to pay? They are then unable to go to any conference. Are not Christian conferences for the poor also?

I understand that it costs money to operate a church building. But to have people stopped at the door because they cannot afford to give? I know of such places. 

If people hear about meetings in that building, and they are not saved and yet try to visit, is it any wonder if they are also stopped at the door because they do not have money to give? Would they ever try to visit a Christian meeting again?

There are many Christians who do not have much money. While some Christians can afford to go on trips to many locations, there are others who cannot even afford to buy a book. Some of these hardly even have food. Yet are these sisters and brothers in the Lord still welcome in church? Are there people who are not saved, and poor, who are not welcome in the church?

A church congregation ought to be there for the poor in church also. In John 17:21 we read that love is a testimony to the world. If people in church are met by love it is a testimony. It is written, "that they all may be one, as You Father are in Me, and I in You that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me."  Jesus says also in John 15:12, "This is My commandment that you love one another as I have loved you." We ought to do the same.

In Acts 2:46 we read that Christians "sold their possessions and goods, and divided them  among all, as anyone had need." I do not think we always have to sell all our possessions and divide them, but we see here the heart they had for sisters and brothers in the church who were poor. We see here the care for the poor, to help each other when there was a need. 


Many people are poor in the world and they need to feel welcomed in church. Jesus was generous. He also said, "Feed My sheep." In John 21:17 we are to show care in different ways. Jesus gave His Bread, which is His life. (John 6:51)

In Acts. 3:6 Peter said, "Silver and gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk." I do not think Peter had money here either, as he said, "silver and gold I do not have". But he gave what he had.

We understand that Jesus identified with the poor. He came into the world and was born in a stable. Even as a newborn He identified with the poor and homeless. He was not welcomed in the hostel. As in some places today, doors can also be closed.

If there are economic needs in church, these needs should be met in a way other than making people pay to go to a church gathering. In the Bible we see that the Christians collected as they could and helped the poor. In Luke 10 we read that the Samaritan reached out and helped a man who was wounded emotionally and physically, having no money to help himself. We are to do as this example was given to us.

The church needs to reach out and assist the poor. There needs to be a welcoming church for the poor. We are called to be Jesus' hands and feet on earth, and welcome the poor into our midst. Then we will be demonstrating the true love of Jesus to the world, as we welome the poor into our churches.


Monday, February 8, 2016

3 Ways America Could Repeat History and Succumb to Islam - EDDIE HYATT CHARISMA NEWS

Muslim American community leaders sit for a roundtable discussion with U.S. President Barack Obama (back C) at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque.

Muslim American community leaders sit for a roundtable discussion with U.S. President Barack Obama (back C) at the Islamic Society of Baltimore mosque. (Reuters)


3 Ways America Could Repeat History and Succumb to Islam




The thousand-year Byzantine Empire was one of the most powerful and vast empires the world has ever known, and it was Christian. During its lengthy reign, it produced a mass trove of Christian art, architecture, legal jurisprudence, theology and culture. It built, perhaps, the most magnificent church building ever built, the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople, which is said to have changed the history of architecture.
Yet, the mighty Byzantine Empire fell to Islam in the 15th century and serves as a reminder to us that we must not trust in our advanced technology, stock market wealth, or military might, but our trust must be in the Lord. As David said in Psalm 20:7, "Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God."
Why did the Byzantine Empire fall to Turkish Ottoman invaders in 1453? I will address three reasons in this article—three trends that weakened the church and Empire and made both vulnerable to the Islamic invaders. They are (1) The church's preoccupation with political power; (2) the loss of personal faith to outward ritual and liturgical formalism; and (3) theological rigidity and strife.
Reason #1
The Church's Preoccupation with Political Power
The mighty Byzantine Empire began around A.D. 330 when Constantine moved the capital of the Roman Empire from Rome to the small city of Byzantine near the eastern edge of the Empire. There may have been logistical reasons for making this major move, but ego was obviously involved for he renamed the city Constantinople after his own name and made it the capital of the Empire. Today, the city is known as Istanbul.
Constantine, though he had not been baptized, convened the famous Council of Nicaea in 325 in the nearby city of Nicaea. Although the stated reason was to address the Arian heresy that denied the full deity of Christ, many historians believe that Constantine had political reasons for calling this council.
With the Empire beginning to unravel, it is likely that Constantine saw Christianity as the cord by which he could pull the Empire together, for the one common thread running through all the varied people groups of the Empire was Christianity. If he could strengthen that cord, it would strengthen and bind together the Empire.  
Constantine thus began favoring the Christians, building them elaborate buildings and underwriting the salaries of their bishops whom he also exalted into positions parallel to the provincial governors of the Empire. Hans Kung, the most widely read Catholic theologian in the world today, says:
Constantine used this first council not least to adapt the church organization to the state organization. The church provinces were to correspond to the imperial provinces, each with a metropolitan and provincial synod. In other words, the empire now had its imperial church!
Christianity thus became politicized and this continued with increasing intensity with Constantine's successors. This led to much political wrangling for church offices and power, often involving banishments and even death. At the Council of Ephesus in 449 physical violence broke out and the presiding bishop, Flavian, died of the wounds received at this council (Eddie Hyatt, Pursuing Power, 52).
It was these political pursuits of power that caused Gregory of Nazianzus (325-389), Bishop of Constantinople, to come to disdain church councils. He wrote:
For my part, if I am to write the truth, my inclination is to avoid all assemblies of bishops, because I have never seen any council come to a good end, nor turn out to be a solution of evils. On the contrary, it usually increases them. You always find there love of contention and love of power which beggar description (Eddie Hyatt, Pursuing Power, 52).
In such a politicized setting, it is no wonder that the power of the simple message of Jesus was overlooked. The church and its leaders relied on the political power of the state to advance its cause rather than the power of the message itself, which Paul said, is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes (Romans 1:16).
This preoccupation with political power and the divisions it produced weakened the church and the Empire and made both vulnerable to the Muslim invaders. In this election year, let us remember that a politician will not save us. There must be a turning to God Himself. Let us remember the words of Isaiah 33:22, "For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king; he will save us."
Reason #2
Personal Faith Replaced with Liturgical Formalism
With the politicization of the church there came a corresponding loss of the personal aspect of the Christian faith. Instead of a heart relationship with God through faith in Christ, Christianity became institutionalized and formalized. Gifts of the Spirit that flowed freely in the New Testament church were gradually replaced with outward form and ritual.
Constantine initiated the construction of church buildings to accommodate the religious gatherings of Christians, who had previously gathered primarily in homes. The architecture of these new buildings, with their elevated throne-like seating at the front for the bishop and rows of seating for the congregation, made significant congregational involvement impractical. In addition, the liturgy and worship style, once plain and personal, were now adorned with the pomp and practice of the Imperial court.
Bishops, inspired in part by both Old Testament and pagan precedents, began wearing distinctive clothing to indicate their superior rank. Kung says:
Bishops were accorded secular titles, insignia and privileges which up to then had been reserved for the emperor or high officials: candles, incense, a throne, shoes, the maniple, the pallium and so on (Hyatt, Pursuing Power, 49).
How far the church had removed itself from Jesus! And the institutionalization continued resulting in the church becoming more and more a complex religious system with a multitude of offices, titles and regulations, all foreign to the New Testament.
The formalizing and ritualizing of the church's worship marked the end of dynamic gatherings where spiritual gifts would flow freely in the congregation. A. J. Gordon, Baptist pastor and founder of Gordon College in Boston, was correct when he wrote:
It is not altogether strange that when the Church forgot her citizenship in heaven and began to establish herself in luxury and splendor on earth, she should cease to exhibit the supernatural gifts of heaven (Hyatt, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity, 36).
Lacking a church with the strength and vitality of a personal, dynamic faith in Jesus, the Empire found itself weakened and vulnerable when Islam came with its armies. I confess that I am alarmed when I see how Europe and North America have dispensed with a Christian worldview and replaced it with a secularist mindset that denies objective truth and attempts to be accepting of everyone and critical of no one. Such a politically-correct mindset cannot withstand the millions of Muslims who are committed to an Islamic worldview and dedicated to imposing that worldview on the rest of humanity.
Reason #3
Doctrinal Rigidity & Strife
The church's rise to political affluence and power marked the beginning of many fierce doctrinal battles. Free from the threat of persecution and enjoying the favor of the emperor, church leaders now gave their attention to theological questions that usually became litmus tests of one's orthodoxy.
Many violent struggles ensued, producing sharp divisions in the church. Basil of Caesarea, bishop of Cappadocia (A.D. 370–379), likened it to a great naval battle being fought by men who "cherish a deadly hate against one another." He wrote:
But what storm at sea was ever so wild and fierce as this tempest of the churches. In it every landmark of the Fathers has been moved; every foundation, every bulwark of opinion has been shaken; everything buoyed up on the unsound is dashed about and shaken down. We attack one another. If our enemy is not the first to strike us, we are wounded by the comrade at our side (Eddie Hyatt, 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity, 36).
One of the most famous and destructive doctrinal controversies was over the filoque clause in the creed of the Roman (Western) Church. After Constantine removed the government apparatus of the empire to Constantinople, the Roman bishop (later known as the pope) filled the power vacuum that was left with claims of supremacy. There thus developed a rivalry between Old Rome and the New Rome of Constantinople, and this rivalry was expressed in conflicting claims of authority and in doctrinal controversies such as the filoque controversy.  
Filoque means "and from the Son" and the Western Church, centered in Rome, confessed the Holy Spirit to have proceeded from both the Father and the Son. The Eastern Church, based in Constantinople, insisted that the Holy Spirit proceeded only from the Father.
This seemingly trivial doctrinal difference became a major source of strife and division and eventually led (along with political strife) to a formal division of East and West when, in 1054, Rome and Constantinople formally excommunicated each other.
Both were drastically weakened by this separation but Byzantine would suffer the most from this division. When the Ottoman Turks began rattling their swords toward Constantinople in the fifteenth century, the city, in desperation, signed an agreement with Rome in which it agreed to recognize the authority of the pope in return for Rome's help against the Turks.
But when the Muslim invaders attacked the city, Rome did not send help and after a long siege the great city of Constantinople fell to the Muslim invaders. For three days the city was plundered and many of its inhabitants slaughtered. Priceless art and manuscripts were destroyed. Magnificent churches were turned into mosques and all Christians who were unwilling to convert to Islam were placed under a heavy tax known as the jizya. The great Byzantine Empire came to an end after a thousand years of existence. The region—now present day Turkey—is under Islamic control to this day.
How We Must Respond
I do not write this to create fear, but to inculcate a seriousness and soberness about the time in which we live. I write that we might learn from the past and not repeat the same mistakes and suffer a similar fate. I write this to hopefully inspire Christians to rise up and be the church. It is not enough to "find" a church or "go" to church; this is a time when we must "be" the church. 
Finally, the churches of North America, Europe and every nation must pray for a great spiritual awakening that will produce in its members a new heart commitment to the truth that is in Jesus. Only the truth will set us free and only the truth presented in the power of the Holy Spirit will change the hearts of Muslims all over the world for whom Christ died and rose again.  
This article was derived from the books 2000 Years of Charismatic Christianity and Pursuing Power, both by Dr. Eddie Hyatt and available from Amazon and from his website at http://www.eddiehyatt.com/bookstore.html. Learn more about his ministry and his vision for another Great Awakening at his website, www.eddiehyatt.com.

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