A Revival of Hope in the Genuine Christ

—2— I Have Seen The Enemy –It Is “I” The Crises in America from Within The most insidious dangers are the threats from within which may not be as obvious as the threats without. The late radio commentator Paul Harvey spoke of how America could be seduced by the Prince of Darkness... America under Judgment According to the objective truth of the Bible, the sobering reality is that America is already under the judgment of God, and its prominence among nations may be short lived. This may be regarded to be a negative assessment, but when America is weighed in the balances of God’s scales, according to objective truth, it cannot be denied that God must already be acting. Whenever truth is turned on its head and moral absolutes are denied, the downward slide is to skew ideas and philosophies about life. This is demonstrated by statements from the Old and New Testaments. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over [the Greek word for gave them over means a “judicial act of judgment”] to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient (Romans 1:8). A reprobate mind is a mind which is disapproved by God which causes one not only to practice immorality, but also to argue for its legitimacy and for the fact that it needs to be accepted as just another alternative lifestyle. All this is argued for in the name of our “rights.” Tolerance has replaced truth in our American society. Pluralism has become the watch word, but it is a type of agnostic pluralism that questions whether anyone can say there is one true God and only one way to God as Jesus claimed. In this country we are free to believe or not believe that Christ is the only way to God. Biblical Christianity recognizes the freedom of man to choose as Jesus said, “whosoever will, may come.” If the word pluralism is used to mean there are many different religions and philosophic viewpoints in America today, as opposed to the religious Christian protestant influence, which so greatly influenced the framers of our Constitution at America’s beginning, this definition is certainly true. However, that does make them all equally valid. The prophet Isaiah pronounces a woe upon those who turn the truth on its head when he proclaimed what God has said to be evil, to be good. Political correctness is simply the approval of the state upon the prevailing philosophy in society including moral relativism, or denial of moral absolutes. Sadly, this presently exists among the intellectually elite in many colleges and universities today. However, these morally relative views are not shared by many in the general populace. Political correctness has arrived because we now live in a postmodern world in which it is claimed that there is no objective truth. This philosophy proposes the idea that what may be truth for me may not be true for you. Accompanying this philosophy has been the shift by the state from the promotion of the rights of gender and races of people to promoting the rights of alternative moral lifestyles. Freedom of Religion is Freedom for Religion from State Control The framers of our constitution saw the wisdom of disestablishing religion from state control. The Protestant Reformation in Europe still retained the tie of one religion to the state. Examples are the Anglican Church of England and the Lutheran Church of Germany. Denominational intolerance traveled to America as Baptists were persecuted in America at its beginning, partly because of their idea that baptism must follow belief as opposed to the infant baptism as practiced by the Anglicans, Congregationalists, and Presbyterians. The Separatists and Puritans who arrived on American shores in its early history came because of their desire to have freedom to worship according to their conscience. This was largely restricted in England by the established religious order that sought out those who desired to stand for the truth of God, for their belief they were persecuted and even martyred. Our founders wanted, as an end result, freedom for religion, not freedom from religion. Our founders did not want to eliminate God from the public square. They did, however, want to prevent one religious denomination from state sponsorship. The Loss of Influence of Biblical Christianity in the Intellectual Arena Biblical Christianity, although still believed by many on the grass roots level in America, has in practicality lost much of its influence on our country in the intellectual arena. A demonstration of this is exemplified by modern psychology. Psychology has filled the vacuum of a rejected biblical outlook and has ascended, in practical influence, over religion in society. This is true despite the fact that psychology acknowledges that it has no universal absolute measurement of abnormal behaviour. Ronald Cromer in Abnormal Psychology states: Abnormal behaviour violates a society’s idea about proper functioning. Each society establishes norms (explicit and implicit rules for appropriate conduct). The focus on social values as a yardstick for measuring deviance suggests that the judgments of abnormality vary from society to society. Psychiatrist Keith Ablow objected to the use of the term evil to describe the mass school shooting at Newtown, Connecticut. He described it instead as mental illness visiting the town of Newtown. Although modern psychology has been a relatively late arrival in history (1879), it exerts a powerful influence over every academic discipline today ranging from the medical field to education and business. Psychologists are often interviewed on television to get their explanations of the cause of horrific crimes and world problems. Psychologists rather than ministers now seem to be the “experts” on human behavior and happiness. Pop television psychologists, such as Dr. Phil, give dogmatic prescriptions for happiness in marriage and other areas. Although psychology is helpful in the medical and measurement area, the discipline itself has a philosophic element to it of which we would do well to be wary. Influential men in the early history of psychology such as William Wundt and William James were philosophers and educators. Major founders of modern psychological thought such as Sigmund Freud, Carl Rogers, and Carl Jung were not believers in the Bible. The Replacement of Truth with a Lie Life cannot be lived in a vacuum if the truth is rejected; therefore a lie will take its place and exert a practical influence over a life resulting in the worship and love of self rather than love for the true God. Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature [creation] more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen (Romans 1:25). Love of oneself is the natural condition of man. The Bible assumes self-love; it does not command it. “For no man ever yet hated his own flesh; but nourisheth and cherishith it…” (Ephesians 5:29). This natural tendency of love for self will be on the increase and flourish in the last days: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves…” (2 Timothy 3:1-2a). Today, the lie that is promoted by modern psychology is that our greatest need is self-love. However the truth is that we fail to love God and others as God commands. This is as fundamental as the Old Testament law and has been raised to a new level in the New Testament by Christ. A Subtle Pressure on American Christianity In conclusion, America is in a crisis in the religious and moral realm today. Although Americans are incurably religious, religion needs to be “transformed” into spiritual living practicality. The culture, with its careless hedonism and materialistic outlook involving love of self, has combined with agnostic pluralism and political correctness to put a subtle pressure on those who say they believe in the authority of the Bible.