The Writing is on the wall

Brothers and Sisters,
I greet you all with my warmest affection.  It has been far too long and I am glad to be back in the fight.

I believe that.

I believe that we, Christians, are in a fight.  I also believe that we are getting the chocolate knocked out of us daily because we are too ignorant to read the signs.  We are too busy to see the handwriting on the wall.  It says, "Hey dummies, they are coming for you, because you're a Christian!"

A War on Ideas

In one of my favorite movies, Gladiator, the African guy, tells Maximus, that they must kill his name before they can kill him.  It is one of the best lines in the whole movie because it is true.  I couldn't just come out and bash Beyonce and call her a trashy dressing, trashy dancing, temptress that should be ashamed of herself.  Not because it is not true, but because she has a great name, and millions of her fans would line up to stone me (some of them would be Christians).   Christians in this country still have a great name, Jesus.  The name of Jesus is our battleground today.  If we lose this battle, then we have lost the war.  The name Jesus, and the label Christian is slowly becoming a wordy dird, a dirty word.  And it is in this area that the enemy is gut punching us again and again.  Our image, our name.  His image, His name.

It's not what he said, but what they did.

Donald Sterling, the former owner of the LA Clippers, was fined, and his team taken away from him.  Why?  Because he revealed in a private conversation that he was prejudiced against Black people.  That's it.  It's not against the law to be prejudiced.  He didn't kill anyone.  But because of the taboo---you cannot dislike a whole group of people in the United States of America-----he was given the equivalent of a death sentence.
If I sound like I support him, it is because I must.

I must defend his right to say the things he said because I know what the Bible says about hearing the word of God.  If he gets penalized for voicing his beliefs privately, what is going to happen to Christians who proclaim the truth of scripture publicly?  You don't see the connection do you?  Maybe this will help,

"Gay is the new Black."

Have you heard that quote?  If gay is the new black, and Christians cannot condone the gay lifestyle, then when we speak out against homosexuality as a sin what will happen to us?   What about fornication?  Pornography?  Indecency (Beyonce again)?  Will a Christian be able to speak out against anything at all without being crucified for their beliefs?

As the name of Jesus is pushed further and further into marginalization, it becomes easier to ignore, ridicule, and eventually eliminate His followers.  You see, when Jesus entered Jerusalem they sang Hosana and praised Him.  5 days later those same people cheered and jeered as He was beaten and then crucified.  What made the difference?  The enemy was successful in killing His name.  They made the people believe that Jesus was not who He said He was.  Thus, it was easy to crucify Him.

They are doing the same to us.  They call us intolerant because we hold to the scriptures.  They call us ignorant because we have faith in a God we cannot see.  They say we impose our values on others, when the values of the world are constantly being placed upon us.  Christians have been sued for refusing to honor gay marriages.  The CEO of Amazon was fired because he donated money to fight against gay marriage.  They make movies that distort our truth, like Noah, and expect us be satisfied with the lie.  We are living in an increasingly hostile world toward Christians.  Every other religion is honored except Christianity.  They are trying to kill our name.  His name.

Brothers and sisters, there is a coming war.  I believe it may already be here.  We must gird up our loins because the writing is on the wall.  They are coming for us and we need to be prayed up and ready for the battles to come.

In subsequent posts, I will begin to explore this topic more deeply.