Monday September 12 2016  LOOKING BACK AT THE HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION AND INTO THE FUTURE

My greatest sources for learning are reading God’s word, listening to sermons, and being aware of the social environment of today via news, morays, laws, and changes that are taking place in our local society and the world.  Today I will briefly touch on a topic I find quite interesting in our changing world.  My source once again was through a sermon from www.southlandchristian.org

The speaker, Jon Weece, was teaching about the history of Christians in past centuries.  As we read in the news and see on television, in many parts of the world Christians are currently being persecuted.  The atmosphere of the Christian is even changing in our own country, a country that was founded for (NOT FROM) religious freedom.  It seems that so many other faiths can be discussed in schools but if it has to do with Jesus, it is taboo.  The speaker went back over history and traced what researchers have found to be true; there are certain things that take place in societies before the persecuting begins. I won’t go into detail of the civilizations he spoke about but each one went through the same steps before arriving at the persecution level.  Those steps are in this order; stereotyping, vilifying, marginalizing, criminalizing, and the end result is persecuting.  It was easy for me to identify many of these steps in relationship to what is  going on in the United States.  It is even more vivid when reading the world news.  I sometimes wonder how long it will take when persecuting Christians in the United States becomes more prevalent and “in vogue”.  It has already happened on a small scale.

We who believe in Jesus as the Son of God and our Savior must stand fast and strong in our faith.  We must stand firm and not compromise our beliefs because someone else does not agree with us.  The Scripture instructs us to pray for our enemies.  And we must be aware that Scripture does say persecution will happen and that God will supply us with the strength and courage to face what we must.  Just be aware that you must to be grounded in your faith, and know that you can stand strong because our hope is in the Lord, and this world is not our home. 

 

REGARDLESS WHAT COMES

By Kathleen Martens

September 12, 2016

 

Regardless what comes

God has provided a way

To help us stay strong

Every single day.

 

Study His word,

Be diligent in truth.

Be immersed in faith

That you will never lose.

 

Already our freedoms

Are being compromised.

Our belief in God

Protect from demise.

 

Evil shields evil, and

Mows down what is good.

And speech is thwarted,

Truth misunderstood.

 

God is so good

Yet expelled from school,

The true Word of God

No longer a tool.

 

Once was a time

When children would look

As they learned how to read

From God’s good Book.

 

But not only the words

Did they learn how to read,

But on the lessons of goodness

They daily did feed.

 

Our country was grounded

On the Ten Commandments,

Not on what one could receive

By making demand(ments).

 

People shared what they had

No matter how little.

The government did not need

To get in the middle.

 

People worked hard

And learned to do right.

They were good to their neighbors

And less prone to fight.

 

But now there is chaos,

More murder and hate,

No prayer in school

Had a cruel, cruel fate.

 

And as babies are aborted

There came changing views.

Life was no longer precious,

Nor God’s joy ensued.

 

And soon Jesus was left out.

His name banned from being spoken.

And now I see so clearly

All the lives that are broken.

 

But there is still hope

For spiritual health.

When you accept Christ

You receive spiritual wealth.

 

You will be filled with joy,

Your eternity secured.

And the goodness of your life

Once again can occur.

 

A personal decision for Christ

May cause you to be shunned,

But you will be filled with peace

When you receive God’s Son!

 

THANK YOU GOD THAT I CAN STILL SPEAK YOUR NAME ON THE STREETS OF OUR CITIES.

Thank You Lord for Your Church that blankets the earth.

Thank You Lord for Your truth.

Thank You Lord for Your love.

Thank You for the strength You provide daily.

 

Have a great day friends!

GOD BLESS YOU!