ARE THE ATHEISTS RIGHT?

It is Easter, the ultimate day of defeat for Atheists. The devil, who for real is no atheist since he used to live with God, was defeated on the cross. Yet he gets quite a few folks to believe what he knows is false - that there is no God. In that sense of course, all atheists are wrong, but that doesn't mean they are wrong about EVERYTHING. If you peruse the websites of atheist organizations (and since we are in a war of the ages we had better know what our enemies are up to), you will sometimes see fear of Christians taking dominion in government. Is this fear well-grounded, or is it simply the ranting of people who believe they are marginalized already in a "Christian" country? You might be interested to also know that some atheists are not particularly concerned. The disunity they have seen makes them believe there really isn't much to fear. I know many who talk much of "ruling and reigning". It might surprise you to know that I am probably MORE scared about that than many of the atheists are.

You see, Christians have not done a particularly good job of ruling and reigning. We have failed to keep our own houses in order. Even in the New Testament church, Gnosticism and all manner of other perversions quickly entered the church. Anti-Christs abounded. Even the Apostle John said that "many" Anti-Christs have gone out from among THEM. When Constantine supposedly converted and persecution stopped, so did ardor and fidelity to the scriptures. Much compromise ensued.

When the church did have political power, it became as corrupt as the worldly powers had been. Truth became in short supply as power corrupted and absolute power corrupted absolutely.

In Europe, religious persecution by those taking serious stands for scripture was almost an intolerant as that by the statist churches. In America, the Puritans and others were merciless in their rulership and reigning. Can anyone imagine where we would be today if the Native Americans had been treated consistently with fairness and respect and if slavery were not permitted? The church has not done well against injustice and greed over history.

In more recent times, Christian leadership could not be readily distinguished from the GOP on specific political goals not strictly tied to scriptural mandates. Mega-churches and televangelist ministries appeared to have the same material goals as the world. Hardly the Saboteurs of the Kingdom Tom Skinner used to preach about.

We as Christians cannot agree on even the most basic scriptural principles. Even though God wrote on tablets of stone with his own finger that the rule of the Sabbath was based upon a six-day creation, most Christian colleges deny that truth and consider it irrelevant. No wonder Evangelicals are jettisoning key Christian doctrines and distinctives faster than the lower stages of that North Korean rocket.

Even though abortion is killing life that God created for his pleasure, I hear Christians call that a "symptom" and vote for people determined to expand abortions, force taxpayers to pay for them, and even try to force doctors who believe they are immoral to perform them.

Two major pastor figures in American, first Joel Osteen, and now Rick Warren, tell Larry King the unbelievable. Joel seven times refused to stand for the requirement that salvation is through Christ alone. Larry kept asking because he could not believe it. Jews are not dumb about what Christians believe. He was flabbergasted. Then, just a few days ago, Rick Warren said he wasn't campaigning against gay marriage and had apologized to his homosexual friends for supporting Prop 8 in California. What on earth? The videos proved he was totally inconsistent in what he said. Seems like these two are more into crossing the aisle than the disappointing John McCain was. Except crossing the aisle in opposing the counsel of God is far more devastating than a Democrat agreeing with a Republican or vice versa. Many aisles are meant to be crossed and then eliminated. Aisles of "race", caste, economics, denomination, etc. are in that category. However, aisles of principles and basic moral values cannot be crossed without losing our Christian identity. Christians are not called to simply rule and reign. They are called to rule and reign WITH CHRIST. Unless Christ and ALL he stands for is in our party platform, the results we can expect will be more than disappointing.

I read this quote at a coffeehouse this afternoon from Martin Luther...
"If I profess with the loudest voice and clearest exposition every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christ. Where the battle rages, there the loyalty of the soldier is proved, and to be steady on all the battlefields besides, is mere flight and disgrace if he flinches at that point."

We cannot compromise with the devil. Do you know why? The Devil NEVER compromises. He sticks to HIS plan. If you think you are compromising with the devil, you are in reality selling out to him and losing EVERYTHING. Back in the 60's, I minored in sociology. In one of my courses on urban power structures, we learned that the power of a community is only proven through confrontation. People may THINK they have power, but the only measurement comes when it is tested. The same is true with the NCAA Basketball tournament. I filled out a bracket like millions of others, but only in the playing of the games was the champion determined - and it wasn't the overall no. 1 seed - just as often is the case. You simply do not know the power of God unless you are tested, and no matter how much you win in life, it matters little once you lose.

People who have fought hard and learned lessons through the crucible of life make the best leaders. Often they are the "little people" behind the scenes who pray hard, work hard, and who learn from their mistakes. These are the ones who are truly qualified to rule and reign. However, just like the world, the church often promotes the tallest, the handsomest, the best spoken, and the most successful-looking to do the ruling and reigning. Often money, power, or sex (or even all three) is their undoing, as we have repeatedly witnessed over the years. I have no confidence in these folks changing the world for the better if they are put in charge. Neither am I confident in the bold "prophets" who declare all manner of things to folks that are not the least based upon the word of God. Deviance from sound doctrine, even when there is moral purity, can be even more dangerous than the Elmer Gantry types. It seems so spiritual, but can we have men or women ruling our nation who are their own authority and who believe what comes out of their mouths is equivalent to the constitution of the church, the Holy Bible?

Saying all that, I say this. God has said that we will rule and reign with Christ, and frankly, I believe him. Just as Christ was the stone that the builders rejected who ended up being the chief cornerstone, so do I prophecy to you that those whom the world has forgotten and despised, but who are precious in the sight of God, people of singular integrity and purpose, people who pray without ceasing and who put the Word of God above all human ideologies, will change the world through there witness and their testimony. Paul was a short man whom people called "unimpressive". He couldn't "preach" and he put people to sleep - even having at least one fall out of a window. Yet God raised him up to change the world. Stephen was relegated to "waiting on tables" by the then haughty disciples, yet he accomplished more than most of them in standing firm for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many of God’s choicest servants were not regarded by those in authority, but God is the one who has appointed them.

I have ZERO confidence in changing the world with the current crop of wealthy and worldly Christians who layer their own ideas on the gospel and who in some cases side with die-hard enemies of the cross. If that were all we had, I would agree with those atheists who have no fear of Christians changing anything and who treat them as the gang who couldn't shoot straight. However, if leaders are chosen the way God has ordained they be chosen, and if it is a BODY leadership as opposed to individual ego-centric ministry, then all those atheists who fear Christians should be afraid, VERY afraid. The world would change. The bars would go out of business as they did in Wales in the early 1900's. Prostitution and drug abuse would be distant memories of an unfortunate past. Homosexuality would not be something to be proud of, and abortion would be rare. Filthy reading material would no longer be on students' reading lists. PG-13 and R movies would die at the box office because people would not be so tolerant of spending their money to pay people to profane the name of the precious Lord Jesus. Scientists would be free to proclaim the creation of God instead of the failed ideas of men.

Atheists hate the idea of a truly righteous country. Are they right in that fear? It all depends on whether we fulfill our scriptural mandate or simply proceed with "spiritual" business as usual.