How America Is Following Nazi Tactics to Eradicate Christians - DAVID LANE CHARISMA NEWS

How America Is Following Nazi Tactics to Eradicate Christians

 7/7/2016 DAVID LANE  charisma news

Secularism is edging out Christianity in America. (REUTERS/Noah Berger)

Secularism and Christianity—like National Socialism and Christianity in Germany in 1930—are irreconcilable. There will be no reconciliation of immutable, competing religions and worldviews; someone's worldview and values are going to reign supreme.

Adolf Hitler recognized the battle: "One day we want to be in a position where only complete idiots stand in the pulpit and preach to old women". 

As part of the battle for control of resources and ideological supremacy, "the Nazis changed the calendar to downplay Christian celebrations and emphasize non-Christian ceremonies. Thus, in 1938, carols and the nativity play were forbidden in schools; at the same time, Christmas was replaced with the new term 'Yuletide'." - Inside Hitler's Germany, Life Under the Third Reich, pg. 80-81

Who We Are Forms What We Do

In Methodist minister-counselor Ronald Greer's book on integrity, he tells of the dark days of Nazi takeover of Holland. With Gestapo everywhere, and Jews vanishing, some Dutch Christians asked former missionary Hendrik Kraemer what they should do.

He said: "I cannot tell you what to do but I can tell you who you are. If you know who you are, then you will know what to do." 

Then Kraemer read to those scared Christians words first written to the early scared Christians in 1st Peter: "But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, so that you may declare the goodness of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." The people thanked him, left and started the Dutch underground resistance.

The American Renewal Project will host The Response-Cleveland, a National Prayer Gathering in Cleveland, Ohio, on Saturday, July 16, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. (EDT). No book sales, DVD sales, no concession stands: simply fasting and praying for America. Would you either join us by internet at your church or ask your flock to watch at home? Our live streaming feed is at: www.theresponseusa.com

If Jesus could say to Lazarus, "Lazarus, come forth", He can say to revival in America, "Revival, come forth". We intend to ask Him.

David Lane is the founder of American Renewal Project.

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Joy. Merry Christmas. Noel. These three words are still being proclaimed in this season. By the world!

Joy - a fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Joy. Merry Christmas. Noel. 

These three words are being proclaimed 

in this season. 

Even by the secular world no less!

I love the Christmas season in America. Evergreen trees, created by our Almighty God, lite up with colored lights and commonly is found with an angel or star of Bethlehem on top; electric candles shining brightly in home windows; angels blowing trumpets (shofars!) hanging from street light poles; the celebratory giving of presents to one another. 

There are even nativity scenes in front yards of neighborhood homes, and yet still on some government building grounds! And of course Linus is still quoting Scripture on the 50-year old A Charlie Brown Christmas TV classic.

As Christians, we used to take it for granted that the United States, being a "Christian" nation, would always celebrate Christmas the way it has been for many decades, if not for the last two centuries. But that is all changing, as humanism and secularism continue to take root and grow their branches in all areas of American lives.

And yet it is a joy to see Merry Christmas all around many of our cities, proclaiming Noel in retail stores and even at car dealers. (That I know, as I took these three Christmas tree photos in a South Carolina car dealership just this week - Dec. 22, 2015.)

May the Lord's glory, His Name, and Jesus' holy character still be evermore proclaimed!!!  

So Merry Christmas, with the love of the Lord Jesus,

Steve Martin

Founder

Love For His People

Christ (Messiah) is the heart of Christmas.

EL is Hebrew for God. 
Noel - "Know-EL", for the King Jesus (Yeshua) it is Who is born. 
And lives forevermore.

Secularism Sucking the Pneuma Out of Spirit-Filled Christianity

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Secularism Sucking the Pneuma Out of Spirit-Filled Christianity

11:00AM EDT 10/25/2013 JENNIFER LECLAIRE, charismanews

 

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When Pentecostals don’t speak in tongues and Baptists aren’t getting baptized, it signals a deeper issue of faith. (Ashley Campbell/Flickr/Creative Commons)

Fewer Pentecostals are speaking tongues. Fewer Baptists are getting baptized. Wait, what? Yes, you read that correctly. But what are we to make of the decline of baptisms in water and in the Spirit? I’ll get to that in a minute.

A couple of months ago, I wrote a column entitled, “Are We Pentecostals Losing Our Religion by Holding Our Tongue-Talking?.” In it I referenced an AP report about a small Assemblies of God congregation that looks just like every other Pentecostal church service—except nobody is speaking in tongues.

What I didn’t include are the stats from the Assemblies of God, the largest Pentecostal denomination in the world with 66 million members. At the General Council meeting in August, the AG talked about the decline baptisms in the Spirit.

According to the denomination’s statistics, tongue talking decreased by about 3 percent to less than 82,000. That’s the lowest rate since 1995. How is that even possible, given that Pentecostalism is one of the fastest growing sectors of Christianity? The Pew Research Center reports that at least 25% of the 2 billion Christians in the world are connected to the Pentecostal or charismatic movements.

“This is a long-developing phenomenon," Harvey Cox, an expert in Pentecostalism and professor of religion at the Harvard Divinity School, told the Associated Press. "They don't want what appears to be objectionable to stick out or be viewed with suspicion."

And it’s not just the Pentecostals that are straying from the defining characteristics of their faith. The Baptists are also reporting a decline in Baptisms. Indeed, the North American Mission Board (NAMB) reports water baptisms dipped 13 percent in 2012 to under 300,000. Al Gilbert of the NAMB told One News Now that’s the biggest drop in 62 years—62 years!

“Maybe we're not identifying the need to help our teenagers and even our older children understand how to publicly profess their faith," Gilbert says. "Are we even making sure that they've understood the claims of Christ and then they have declared that they're publicly a follower of Christ?"

OK, so what’s going on here and what does it mean for Pentecostals, Baptists, and Christianity at large? It doesn’t take a prophet to see that secularism is attacking the foundations of Christianity and we’re seeing the manifestations in two of the largest, oldest branches in the body of Christ.

Think about it for a minute. When Pentecostals don’t speak in tongues and Baptists aren’t getting baptized, it signals a deeper issue of faith. In an age of interfaith marriages, some may be abandoning their religious roots to avoid offending their spouses.

In a recent article entitled “Interfaith Unions: A Mixed Blessing,” Naomi Shaeffer Riley points out that before the 1960s, about 20 percent of married couples were in interfaith unions; of couples married in this century’s first decade, 45 percent were. She also notes that secular Americans welcome the rise of interfaith unions as a sign of societal progress. But it’s not progress when you abandon the tenets of your faith in the name of compromise.

Secularism is even creeping into churches. What does that look like? Some of the signs are blatantly obvious, such as teaching that Jesus is not the only way to God. But the Bible clearly states that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life and that no one comes to the Father except through Him (John 14:6; Acts 4:12). Approval of homosexual lifestyles is another obvious fruit of secularism in the church, just as is a refusal to confront other sins.

But secularism isn’t always so blatant. There are subtle secularistic messages invading the church. Messages that focus more on moralism than Christ and the cross sound fine and good but morality without Christ is not Christianity. Likewise, pop psychology-centered sermons can take our focus off Christ’s and distract us from our faith in His healing power and place it in steps or formulas that may actually contradict the Word.

When we’re scared our faith will offend, we’re bowing to secularism. When we stop publicly baptizing in water, we may also be bowing to the influence of secularism. And when we stop praying in tongues because we don’t want to scare off seekers, we’ve definitely given in to secularism.

This Scripture keeps coming to mind: “If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (Psalm 11:3). Make no mistake, secularism is among the forces working to destroy our Christian foundation. It’s time for the righteous to rise up, bold as lions, and declare the cross of Christ, get baptized publicly, and speak in tongues to build ourselves up in our most holy faith. And ultimately, secularism must bow a knee to the name of Jesus.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior's Guide to Defeating Jezebel. 

You can email Jennifer atjennifer.leclaire@charismamedia.com or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebookor follow her on Twitter.

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