When the Church Fails HIS Mission, All Suffer

The church's failure to respond adequately to the relentless and ubiquitous promulgation of profoundly sinful ideas reveals an unbiblical doubt in the sovereignty of God; an unconscionable refusal to protect children . . .

Will the contemporary American church rise to this occasion to defend children and biblical truth . . .?

Scroll down to video of July 1, 2009 "Who's to Blame"


-- From "Anger and the Church" by Laurie Higgins, Illinois Family Institute 7/22/09

There are some battles in which all Christians and all who are committed to truth are called to engage: all Christians should have opposed slavery; all Christians should have fought for the civil rights of blacks; all Christians are called to oppose abortion; and we are all called to oppose the rancorous, pernicious demands to affirm homosexual acts as moral. The question as to why so many Christians, particularly church leaders, refuse to engage in this battle is a vexing question.

In his book Kingdoms in Conflict, Chuck Colson writes about the failure of the church to oppose the extermination of Jews and the government usurpation of control of the church in Nazi Germany. Immediately following the naming of Hitler as Chancellor of Germany, the persecution of the church began in earnest. In response, a resistance movement sprang up headed by Martin Niemoller and Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Initially, they had the support of the dominant Protestant group, the German Evangelical Church, but as the persecution increased, so did the cowardice and concomitant rationalization of cowardice on the parts of most church leaders. In Germany only a remnant, who came to call themselves the Confessing Church, remained standing courageously in the gap for truth.

The German Evangelical Church acted in ways most Christians now view as ignoble, selfish, and cowardly:

Pastors resigned from the resistance out of fear that they might lose their positions in the church.

Frightened by the boldness of the resistance movement, church leaders issued public statements of support for Hitler and the Third Reich.

Some pastors believed that a "'more reasonable tone would be more honoring to those with different views.'" One bishop told Martin Niemoller that those pastors who refused to join the resistance were "'trying to bring peace to the church'" rather than "'seem like . . . troublemakers.'" In response, Niemoller asked "'What does it matter how we look in Germany compared with how we look in Heaven?'" The bishop responded, "'We cannot pronounce judgment on all the ills of society. Most especially we ought not single out the one issue that the government is so sensitive about.'"

In a conversation with Dietrich Bonhoeffer, one young pastor justified capitulation like this: "'. . . [T]here are no pastorates for those of us who will not cooperate. What is the good in preaching if you have no congregation? Where will this noncooperation lead us? We are no longer a recognized body; we have no government assistance; we cannot care for the souls in the armed forces or give religion lessons in schools. What will become of the church if that continues? A heap of rubble!'"

What is alarming about the account of the German Evangelical Church's reprehensible failure is its similarity to the ongoing disheartening story of the contemporary American church's failure to respond appropriately to the spread of radical, heretical, destructive views of homosexuality. Don't we today see church leaders self-censoring out of fear of losing their positions or their church members? Don't we see churches criticizing those who boldly confront the efforts of homosexual activists to propagandize children and undermine the church's teaching on homosexuality? Aren't the calls of the capitulating German Christians for "a more reasonable tone" and a commitment to "honor different views" exactly like the calls of today's church to be tolerant and honor "diversity"? Don't pastors justify their silence by claiming they fear losing their tax-exempt status (i.e. government assistance)? Don't they rationalize inaction by claiming that speaking out will prevent them from saving souls?

What is even more reprehensible in America, however, is that church leaders don't currently face loss of livelihood, imprisonment, exile, or death, as they did in Germany, and yet they remain silent.

To read the entire commentary, which includes further references, CLICK HERE.

The inactive, rudderless Church

-- From "Wreaking havoc on America" commentary by Matt Friedeman, posted at OneNewsNow.com 6/24/2008

If the church of Jesus Christ, whose congregations number in the hundreds of millions in America, was doing what she were supposed to be doing ("... created in Christ Jesus to do good works"), a whole host of problems would be taken care of in short order.

. . . An inactive and ineffective church, ignoring the call to be holy, is as bad as a culture can hope for. To have a faith that is comfortable inside the confines of worship but remains unreleased into the world is, really, no faith at all.

Dennis Kinlaw recalls one of his tasks as a boy -- gutting a pig and hanging it in the smokehouse for his mother. One day, she asked her son to retrieve that ham, for special company was expected at their dinner table. He dutifully grabbed the meat and took it to his mother, who cut it with a butcher knife. Her mood suddenly soured, as the boy approached to investigate to find out that the meat was now oozing with maggots. She said somewhat forcefully to Kinlaw: "Not enough salt, Dennis, not enough salt."

When the church isn't the salt of the earth or the light of the world, disaster awaits. And the coming disaster, caused by Christian fecklessness, is the rise of paganism, cults, and Islam. None of these can compete with a vitalized, loving, compassionate church.

Luther had a phrase -- "Cor incurvatus ad se" ... a heart turned in on itself; a basic definition of sin. Ecclesiastically applied, there is nothing worse. The Church was not meant simply for itself; it was made for others.

And the world is waiting for us.

To read the entire commentary, CLICK HERE.

The Consequences of Cowardice in Maine

Pro-family Maine group forced to drop its push to preserve traditional marriage.

From Maine Group Drops Anti-gay Rights Push by Glenn Adams, posted 6/19/08 at Boston.com

AUGUSTA, Maine—An initiative campaign to repeal Maine's gay rights law and put in place roadblocks to gay marriages and adoptions is being abandoned, leaders of the campaign said Thursday.

"We're pulling the plug," said Michael Heath, executive director of the Christian Civic League of Maine.

Heath said the evangelical group failed to attract voter, volunteer and financial support it needed to continue its campaign.

The group collected only a third of the 15,000 voters' signatures it had set as a goal for primary election day June 10, said Heath. He added said that potential volunteers "don't want to be aligned with bigotry and homophobia and hatred," tags their opponents had applied to the initiative backers.

EqualityMaine, which had placed volunteers at the polls June 10 to discourage voters to sign the initiative ballots, welcomed Thursday's decision.

To read the rest of the article CLICK HERE.

I can identify with the concerns of these citizens. I experience the same fears myself. Who wants to be called ugly names and thought of as a bigot? On the other hand, according to the definition of homosexual activists, apparently God Himself is a 'homophobic bigot'...

Americans are, in effect, accepting the tyranny of a tiny, deceived minority of people, desperate for validation of a behavior that even they know, in the deepest part of their minds and hearts, is wrong. This is obvious because if they were truly sure what they were doing was right they wouldn't be so desperate to force others to confirm it...

Because America is no longer the "home of the brave" she won't be the "land of the free" much longer...

God's Pattern for Political Leadership: Servanthood

From "The Will to Power" by Mark Earley, posted 6/7/07 at breakpoint.org

Power. Even the word is seductive. A love of power can separate the most resolute of Christians from the true nature of Christian leadership, which is to serve others. This truth is perhaps most graphically illustrated in the world of politics.

As Chuck Colson writes in his marvelous new book, God & Government, the everyday business of politics is power, and power can be perilous.

The history of the last fifty years has richly validated Friedrich Nietzsche’s argument that man’s desire to control his own destiny and to impose his will on others is the most basic human motivation. Nietzsche’s prophecy that the “will to power” would fill the twentieth-century’s vacuum of values has been fulfilled through Hitler, Mao, Stalin, to name only the worst tyrants.

All governments use power to hang on to power—election-year favors and pork-barrel politics are even common here in America. But in regimes where there are few moral restraints, tyrants wield power shamelessly—and often viciously.

But remember this: power corrupts, but power itself is not necessarily corrupt. God has given power to the state to be used to restrain evil and maintain order. It is the use of power, whether for personal gain or for the state’s ordained function, that is really at issue.

Jesus Christ turned conventional views of power upside-down. He not only offered mankind redemption, He also washed the dusty feet of His own followers. The apostle Paul said, “My power is made perfect in weakness.”

As Chuck writes in God & Government, nothing distinguishes the kingdoms of man from the kingdom of God more than their diametrically opposed views of the exercise of power. One seeks to control people; the other seeks to serve people. One promotes self; the other prostrates self. One seeks prestige and position; the other lifts up the lowly and despised.

Read the rest of this article.