A growing number of Christians in the United States are convinced the nation is in a spiritual crisis. Crime is on the rise. Singleness and isolation are on the rise. Mental health issues, suicide, depression, and despair have set in. Secular society has rushed towards unbridled hedonism pouring pornographic literature into elementary schools and sending drag queens to proselytize kids. Cities are collapsing. It all is speeding up. The church seems in retreat and the pagans emboldened.
All but two (JFK and Biden) of America's presidents have come from Christianity's Protestant wing. In the meantime, the western world's two great democracies, the UK and France have Hindu and Jewish prime ministers. They have both had earlier Jewish PM's as well: Benjamin Disraeli, Leon Blum and Pierre Mendes-France. The closest America has come was Barry Goldwater's failed 1964 run.
Of course, in a democracy the religion of one's antecedents should be of no consequence but since it is often tied to ethnicity, it, like it or not, can be.
IMHO the greatest importance of any religion in any society is to establish and promulgate a system of moral and ethical values creating a general behaviorial pattern of fairness in its population. In Christianity that system is based on the teachings of Jesus and the teachings and traditions of Judaism, which was Jesus' religion.
So it is the teachings themselves and not the temporal trappings created by humans supposedly to respect those teachings which should be guiding our behavior. The importance of Chick-fil-A's Christian religiosity is not that its operations are closed on the Sabbath in order to worship the Creator appropriately but that it respects its employees and treats them fairly as witnessed by a very low turnover rate.
Brothers reading my bible this AM God used his word to remind me that the hard times sent to us here on earth are sent so we can lay up treasures in Heaven. They are sent for our own good! Hard to swallow for me but true.
Do all Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc do what their religion expects them to do? No. Many think that they are in a cafeteria where they can choose what suits them.
which is one of the bright stars of American exceptionalism. We are free to choose (or not choose) the religion which fits with our moral, ethical and spiritual preferences.
Great point Erick. You always help me when my pessimism starts to rear its ugly head! Yes, we all must decide which master we serve! Can't serve but one! God has got all this and our faith must rest in that! Thanks again!
Yes, relevant, timely and on point, BUT...I think you missed or avoided two salient things that could have been brought to light as commentary.
First, congratulations to Apple for 'just doing it', but what did they do? They used an enormous carbon footprint to build their 'farms' with fossil fuels. They didn't tell Mother Nature (or the audience) that their creation would take more than a decade, possibly 20 years or so to be net zero JUST for the cost of the farms alone. They didn't tell anyone that it will be about 300-400 years before the fiberglass blades from the 'green' fans degrade once they are removed at end of life in 10-12 years. Nor did they bother mentioning that end-of-life roughly corresponds with the net zero carbon for the windmills. More to MY point, neither did you take that opportunity to point out the chicanery that 'green' progressives routinely ignore.
Yes, Christians should do it themselves. Well said. But...Christians cannot abandon taking some care regarding government. They at least need enough power to see that the power is not used arbitrarily in a self-aggrandizing manner.
New Mexico is currently a good example, as was most of the lockdown frenzy of the last few years. You do a disservice to suggest they should place their energy in simply doing needed things and separate those tasks from ones connected to getting proper government in place. Where is the cautionary caveat about NOT abandoning politics? What happens when the government they ignored, to focus on doing things themselves, preempts their efforts by making them illegal or taxes them out of existence?
If Christians do not participate in maintaining a balanced government, which they really haven't in a long while, we WILL have more Biden's and all that that implies.
Christians were shut out of Roman politics and still won. I won't discourage Christians from their civic role. But we don't need to win in politics to win the fight. We've got God on our side.
Yes, but I'm thinking something of less than a 200-300 year turnaround. Bad government is infinitely more deadly today than what was in Rome.
Didn't it take the Catholic church500 years to agree that Martin Luther was correct. Seems reasonable that 'Give unto Caesar' might be construed to mean that just having God isn't enough without good works in politics?
Great sermon! Excellent perspective on the role we should play today. The best biblical definition I’ve read of meek calls it controlled strength. We are not to model a lack of strength but strength to love , endure and not to yield or give way to fear. Though it feels like a battlefield these days, the battle still belongs to the Lord, our part is to stand in faith.
This is brilliant and well-done sermon Erick. Bravo. We need more people and organizations to just demonstrate what they believe instead of attempting to be Gods forcing their word on everyone else.
While I absolutely support everyone and every corporation reflecting their own values, I think it is evil to attempt to force others to adopt and obey those values. The problem with the secular left is that they have won many big societal shifts using a mass-media approach. Gay marriage is an example. I think they have gotten drunk on the success of that and have adopted the same approach for everything. The Democrats have just absorbed the same. It unfortunately works. Even the most educated and bright people just regurgitate the political narrative and talking points that come through their media feeds ("Jan-6 was a seditious insurrection!") They are doing the same with "climate crisis". There is not any climate crisis. There is no science proving that weather patterns and events are worse and more numerous than they have been historically. The last 10 years global temperatures have been moderately lower. But climate alarmism is everywhere on the media and people just adopt it like a cult religious belief. Apple might be walking their talk, but they are supported by a massive global propaganda industry.
As a socio-cultural Christian believing the social gospel of Jesus' teachings is most important to the moral success of our society and nation, I believe this column requires more reflection before responding in a truly meaningful way.
I also think the column might be the most important Erick has written since I came across his writings some years ago.
Add to that, a lot of christians are looking for a 'savior' or 'perfect christian' as a president. Ain't never gonna happen.
Oh, on other thing, I love the emphasis on carbon. " Apple bragged about its carbon neutrality. " Too bad historically that carbon or CO2 is only a small fractional atmospheric element (420 ppm) and it is historically a trailing indicator for any climate change warmer or cooler. If it was a driver, it would be in the lead, but it has never been a leader. Kind of like Joe Biden. Not much of a leader when he is going to get in trouble for answering questions.
All but two (JFK and Biden) of America's presidents have come from Christianity's Protestant wing. In the meantime, the western world's two great democracies, the UK and France have Hindu and Jewish prime ministers. They have both had earlier Jewish PM's as well: Benjamin Disraeli, Leon Blum and Pierre Mendes-France. The closest America has come was Barry Goldwater's failed 1964 run.
Of course, in a democracy the religion of one's antecedents should be of no consequence but since it is often tied to ethnicity, it, like it or not, can be.
IMHO the greatest importance of any religion in any society is to establish and promulgate a system of moral and ethical values creating a general behaviorial pattern of fairness in its population. In Christianity that system is based on the teachings of Jesus and the teachings and traditions of Judaism, which was Jesus' religion.
So it is the teachings themselves and not the temporal trappings created by humans supposedly to respect those teachings which should be guiding our behavior. The importance of Chick-fil-A's Christian religiosity is not that its operations are closed on the Sabbath in order to worship the Creator appropriately but that it respects its employees and treats them fairly as witnessed by a very low turnover rate.
Considering the power of reproach and remorse, you're undoubtedly correct
Brothers reading my bible this AM God used his word to remind me that the hard times sent to us here on earth are sent so we can lay up treasures in Heaven. They are sent for our own good! Hard to swallow for me but true.
Thanks Erick. I have been pondering a very similar message for some time now.
Amen.
When asked why an American girl in her 20s would turn to Islam, Bilquis Sheikh answered: "because Christians don't live what they believe."
Do all Muslims, Jews, Hindus, etc do what their religion expects them to do? No. Many think that they are in a cafeteria where they can choose what suits them.
which is one of the bright stars of American exceptionalism. We are free to choose (or not choose) the religion which fits with our moral, ethical and spiritual preferences.
Brilliant.
You Sir, help to keep my head from exploding. Thank you.
Great point Erick. You always help me when my pessimism starts to rear its ugly head! Yes, we all must decide which master we serve! Can't serve but one! God has got all this and our faith must rest in that! Thanks again!
Yes, relevant, timely and on point, BUT...I think you missed or avoided two salient things that could have been brought to light as commentary.
First, congratulations to Apple for 'just doing it', but what did they do? They used an enormous carbon footprint to build their 'farms' with fossil fuels. They didn't tell Mother Nature (or the audience) that their creation would take more than a decade, possibly 20 years or so to be net zero JUST for the cost of the farms alone. They didn't tell anyone that it will be about 300-400 years before the fiberglass blades from the 'green' fans degrade once they are removed at end of life in 10-12 years. Nor did they bother mentioning that end-of-life roughly corresponds with the net zero carbon for the windmills. More to MY point, neither did you take that opportunity to point out the chicanery that 'green' progressives routinely ignore.
Yes, Christians should do it themselves. Well said. But...Christians cannot abandon taking some care regarding government. They at least need enough power to see that the power is not used arbitrarily in a self-aggrandizing manner.
New Mexico is currently a good example, as was most of the lockdown frenzy of the last few years. You do a disservice to suggest they should place their energy in simply doing needed things and separate those tasks from ones connected to getting proper government in place. Where is the cautionary caveat about NOT abandoning politics? What happens when the government they ignored, to focus on doing things themselves, preempts their efforts by making them illegal or taxes them out of existence?
If Christians do not participate in maintaining a balanced government, which they really haven't in a long while, we WILL have more Biden's and all that that implies.
Christians were shut out of Roman politics and still won. I won't discourage Christians from their civic role. But we don't need to win in politics to win the fight. We've got God on our side.
Yes, but I'm thinking something of less than a 200-300 year turnaround. Bad government is infinitely more deadly today than what was in Rome.
Didn't it take the Catholic church500 years to agree that Martin Luther was correct. Seems reasonable that 'Give unto Caesar' might be construed to mean that just having God isn't enough without good works in politics?
Great sermon! Excellent perspective on the role we should play today. The best biblical definition I’ve read of meek calls it controlled strength. We are not to model a lack of strength but strength to love , endure and not to yield or give way to fear. Though it feels like a battlefield these days, the battle still belongs to the Lord, our part is to stand in faith.
This is brilliant and well-done sermon Erick. Bravo. We need more people and organizations to just demonstrate what they believe instead of attempting to be Gods forcing their word on everyone else.
While I absolutely support everyone and every corporation reflecting their own values, I think it is evil to attempt to force others to adopt and obey those values. The problem with the secular left is that they have won many big societal shifts using a mass-media approach. Gay marriage is an example. I think they have gotten drunk on the success of that and have adopted the same approach for everything. The Democrats have just absorbed the same. It unfortunately works. Even the most educated and bright people just regurgitate the political narrative and talking points that come through their media feeds ("Jan-6 was a seditious insurrection!") They are doing the same with "climate crisis". There is not any climate crisis. There is no science proving that weather patterns and events are worse and more numerous than they have been historically. The last 10 years global temperatures have been moderately lower. But climate alarmism is everywhere on the media and people just adopt it like a cult religious belief. Apple might be walking their talk, but they are supported by a massive global propaganda industry.
As a socio-cultural Christian believing the social gospel of Jesus' teachings is most important to the moral success of our society and nation, I believe this column requires more reflection before responding in a truly meaningful way.
I also think the column might be the most important Erick has written since I came across his writings some years ago.
I am thankful to the Lord to read what you wrote. May the Lord help us to be faithful to Him and to live as you have described.
Add to that, a lot of christians are looking for a 'savior' or 'perfect christian' as a president. Ain't never gonna happen.
Oh, on other thing, I love the emphasis on carbon. " Apple bragged about its carbon neutrality. " Too bad historically that carbon or CO2 is only a small fractional atmospheric element (420 ppm) and it is historically a trailing indicator for any climate change warmer or cooler. If it was a driver, it would be in the lead, but it has never been a leader. Kind of like Joe Biden. Not much of a leader when he is going to get in trouble for answering questions.
Hmmm..... :) Did you see the article this morning from Epoch Times? Fabulously done!
How have things worked out for the US, with the past three US presidents being non-Christians?