By Cedric Fisher
Orthodox Bible-believing Christians do not fit in our world nor will they be tolerated.1—From an eye-witness account of the 2015 Parliament of the World Religions
In the wake of a brutal execution of Christians at Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Oregon in October 2015, the Obama administration announced the appointment of a new czar position to supposedly battle domestic terrorism. According to one report:
[T]he new position within the Justice Department—yet to be filled—will focus on investigating lone-wolf domestic terrorists or “extremists.” The person who heads this new effort will target extremists who plan mass shootings, hold racist, bigoted or anti-government views or see themselves as “sovereign citizens.”2
However, many analysts are concerned that this new czar’s purpose will be to also identify and target conservative Christians and believe this decision could easily amount to an attack on freedom of religion and a dramatic escalation of the soft persecution streaming non-stop from the Obama administration. Actions like these appear to be intimidating conservative Christians into silence and obscurity so as not to be identified and harassed by Homeland Security, the Justice Department, the Internal Revenue service, and so forth.
Bryan Fischer of OneNewsNow wrote that the president’s new terror czar position is an example of his “abiding hostility to people of Christian faith.”3 Further, Fischer wrote:
If you are a sincerely devoted follower of Jesus Christ, your president believes you are a potential domestic terrorist.4
Of course, there is absolutely no evidence that conservative Christians are a threat to national security. It is a fact that they do not commonly vote democrat and that they are vocal about Obama’s destructive and anti-Christian policies.
The fact is, there is a war against Bible-believing Christians on the horizon. And until we acknowledge it, we are not going to fully grasp how essential it is to prepare and remain prepared for a brutal period that is rapidly approaching. There has always been a satanic war against God’s people. However, in the United States, we have become complacent, and like the frog in the boiling water, it has crept up upon us, and most won’t even realize it has happened until it is too late. We have lived in relative peace, and up until a couple of decades ago, enjoyed a fair amount of respect from the secular world.
That has changed radically. We are now in an increasingly hostile environment, and it is getting more antagonistic. Most true Christians that I am acquainted with are well aware of the frontal assaults from the secular realm and the openly heretical forays by emissaries of Satan in the religious realm. But most of them have not recognized the danger much closer to them. Certainly, the unified and unifying world religions despise true biblical Christianity. But it is a mistake to view those entities as being outside the scope of our associations.
For example, the rhetoric of the 2015 Parliament of the World’s Religions (which took place in Salt Lake City in October of 2015)has been espoused within mainstream and emergent Christianity for a significant period. Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and even Rick Warren (to name a few) have written or expressed virtually or literally the same agenda. It is all about ecumenism, everyone in harmony, world peace, and the need for a “New Christianity.” But an eye witness at the 2015 Parliament succinctly described the underlying purpose of this New Christianity (i.e., New Spirituality):
The Parliament of the World’s Religions has an agenda and they are now very open about it. It is now an outright attack on the Christian church and the Word of God. . . .
They are not afraid to say that “an orthodox Bible believing Christian does not fit in our world nor will they be tolerated.” It was in our face. This Parliament is a sort of coming out of the closet for them.5
The New Christianity/New Spirituality is the great and final apostasy—rank rebellion against the nature of God while at the same time re-identifying and glorifying the nature of Satan.
Most members and ordained ministers in denominations have not yet realized that the war has spread much closer to home. The satanic spirit inspiring the Parliament of the World’s Religions is motivating the New Age moles that have invaded Christianity. Evidence of that influence is now apparent in leaders of denominations. When a denominational leader supports New Age heretics, invites New Age gurus to speak at denominational functions, recommends heretical books as sound doctrine, then Satan has invaded and overthrown Christian leadership. To treat it as simply another disagreement or denominational dispute is farcical. One cannot hope to fight this spiritual war by the means commonly used to solve disputes between two born-again believers.
The intensity of that war and the extent of its progress is seen by the fact that the World Parliament of Religions, the Federal Government, highly popular and influential Christians including denominational leaders, and the Roman Catholic Church appear to have come to an agreement. They agree that Bible-believing Christians (and Jews) are the source of all the world’s ills. Their consensus is that the exclusivity of biblical Christianity (i.e., Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, and man is not God but a sinner) is a hindrance to achieving world peace, global unity, climate control, hunger and disease management in third-world countries, harmony between religions, emotional well-being of licentious individuals, population control through abortion and euthanasia, genetic research using aborted babies, the advancement of science to “prove” evolution, and virtually every immoral issue and problem in the world. The solution cannot be arrived at without the elimination or eradication of true Christianity. As the eye witness at the Parliament states, according to the new spirituality view, “[t]he Christian orthodox view of Heaven and Hell will no longer be tolerated as they say it divides humanity.”6 One Parliament speaker, Salih Sayigan from the Department of Theology at Georgetown University, stated:
[E]xclusiveness leads to violence when we say you get to go to Heaven and you end in Hell; then we have a problem when you exclude you sow seeds of extremism.7
The plan to rid the world of these biblical “extremists” will be by incremental oppression in various forms. In a number of Muslim nations, they are well beyond increments. They brutalize, rob, rape, imprison, and murder Christians. The violence they use to remove Christian influence is justified as a means to solve violence. In other words, if they murder all the Christians, then they won’t have to murder anymore. That is the pragmatic premise of the coming brutal persecution. The slaughter of the Jews by Hitler was presented as necessary to peace, prosperity, and superiority. People believed that when the killing was done, there would be an end to any further killing in the Utopia achieved. They would simply need to endure the inhumanity for the chance at a world wherein inhumanity did not exist.
Of course, evil cannot solve evil. The killing cannot and will not end with the death of all Christians and Jews. Some other faction of society will be deemed a roadblock to progress, and the killing will resume. Evil must metastasize everywhere it infects and gains control. It can no more be a means to the development of peace than rape is a means to developing love. The war against Christians has but one purpose and that is to destroy God’s people and thereby eliminate godliness from the earth. It is Satan’s ploy.
Hasn’t the time come to identify the ones compliant with Satan’s goals? They do not appear as devils. There are no horns, no fangs, no foaming mouths, or other diabolical features. They appear as benevolent and gracious people. Their personalities are charismatic. Their rhetoric is engaging. Their leadership is diplomatic, for the most part, and they fit confidently (or seemingly humbly) into their esteemed positions. It is difficult to look beyond the image of such individuals, their smiling faces, considering their position, hear their gregarious and congenial words, and recognize the cleverly disguised malevolence. But it must be done. Until they are properly identified, evil will operate successfully and unabated through these people.
At this point, I am not certain that the evil can be stopped or even slowed down. The degradation of the secular and religious realms may be too far gone to reverse or much less halt. And after all, the Bible tells us such days are coming. However, there remains a reason to make the effort. There are still professing Christians who have not entered apostasy but have no idea, for various reasons, what is taking place within and outside the walls of Christianity. Warning them about the intense and clever deception is still viable. It is for that purpose we must continue to try.
But if we have any hope in us of rescuing these unknowing Christians, we who see and understand the times in which we live (because of the grace of God), we must get off the fence. We must speak out, write, pray, and stand without wavering when evil is present. The time is long past to enjoin the battle. Whatever it costs, we must stand up for God and His truth, have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, and expose the apostasy as the deadly spiritual plague it is. It threatens to destroy our children and our grandchildren from the newly born to the youth battling through the public education system while besieged by a torrent of satanic influences. Entire churches and even denominations are being vacuumed into its inescapable bottomless chasm.
It is a huge battle, but we must believe in the omnipotent God who will assist us. You may ask, “How can I ever stand strong in such a battle as this? I am too weak for something of this magnitude.” Yes, you are and I am, but He tells us in His Word the solution:
And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. (2 Corinthians 12:9)
The Great Shut-Down
Not long ago, social media (e.g. Facebook, Google, etc.) presenting end-times information was bustling with activity. Eschatological and discernment posts were peppered with thousands of favorable commentaries. Now, most of the ones I’ve checked have incurred a significant drop-off in views, likes, comments, and shares. The most popular ones are receiving only a few hundred views and some less than a hundred. It is as if a switch was flipped and people are staying away from information deemed “negative.” The blogs and pages maintaining viewership are the ones presenting heresy or benign information.
Why are people shunning the news of a perilous time arriving? Are they rejecting portents of a harsh period because they no longer believe them to be true? No, I don’t think so. I believe it is what I call the Great Shut-Down. I’ve been expecting it to manifest—it has finally arrived. The Great Shut-Down is the point when negative information overload reaches a saturation point. People can only take so much bad news, especially those who are spiritually weak or have not been conditioned to receive harsh truth.
Futurologist Alvin Toffler labels the phenomenon in secular society as “future shock” syndrome. Toffler postulates that future shock is the result of people witnessing and feeling the effects of sudden negative changes in society. The lack of response from any authoritative source can cause them to feel helpless and hopeless. They reach the point where they no longer have the will to resist or even complain. Obviously, the secular faction is not looking to Christianity for hope. However, many professing Christians seem to be experiencing a lack of hope as well.
Sociologist and philosopher Émile Durkheim (1858-1917) observed that the collapse of European society by modernity dramatically affected Christianity. He observed that once “the collective force so vital for the life of a society was no longer generated,”8 faith in God declined. Harsh burdens and stresses prevented the people from sensing God’s presence. This resulted in replacing faith with belief in social justice and science. In other words, “the social milieu that supported Christianity disappeared, leaving Christian faith, values, and thinking without any social foundations to give them life.”9
Consider the situation today. Evidence suggests that Christianity is disintegrating from the inside out. Christian leaders are allowing (either through their silence or their promotion) millions of Christians to be introduced to heretical doctrines and practices. The effects of this landslide of heresy are pushing biblical Christianity into obscurity.10 One of the heresies that has made major inroads is contemplative spirituality (a mystical spirituality often introduced through Spiritual Formation programs).11 It is going unchecked and virtually fully ignored by almost every Christian leader, spreading throughout Christian colleges, seminaries, ministries, and denominations rapidly. People don’t realize that by embracing such a belief system, they are, in effect, rejecting the biblical concept of God’s nature because the two oppose each other. And the results of this are rejection of love for truth and unbridled acceptance of heretical and cultural trends.
Concurrently, there is a steady flow of negative information about the shenanigans being foisted on society by the courts and the federal government. There is ObamaCare, IRS scandals, executive orders circumventing Congress, the aberrant and oppressive SCOTUS ruling against Christianity, the Nuclear Treaty with Iran, and a porous border with Mexico. Adding to that disheartening list is the news of terrorists beheading those who profess to be Christians (among other atrocities), the Umpqua Community College massacre, a growing hatred around the world toward Israel, the Kim Davis saga, and attacks on Christian businesses that decline to support homosexual marriage. Combined with the Benghazi scandal, the Common Core invasion of public education, concerns about the next presidential election, an undependable and shaky economy, the nationwide genuflection of the Catholic pope, the burdens and stresses thus created go beyond comprehension, nearly crushing all hope.
Additionally, psychological secular studies concerning the effects of watching cable news indicate it produces “negative mood experiences.”12 Many professing Christians have been daily cycling through a spectrum of negative experiences including anxiety, sadness, anger, disgust, discouragement, fear, and even depression from cable news and radio talk shows. This constant flow of bad news about secular and religious events, along with the many warnings about encroaching heresy, the great apostasy, and the dark and deadly period ahead, has brought many Christians to a shutting-down state.
I personally believe one factor that has initiated this shut down is the highly publicized supposed “prophecies” based on the “blood moon” theories. People have had their emotions manipulated one too many times. It was after that fiasco was proven false that I really noticed the shut-down.13
Shutting Down or Staying Alert?
Whatever the cause, shutting down is the worst thing a Christian can do at this point of time. Instead of shutting down, believers need to be selective about what they are putting into their minds and spirits. Being informed is essential to being prepared. Shutting down will not prepare one to endure the harshness of the tough days ahead. It’s one thing if believers are focusing on their relationship with the Lord and want to spend less time on the Internet and watching TV. However, the temptation for many (and I have seen it already) will be to shut down by engaging in entertainment media and outlets of benign and mundane information. Rather than adjusting with balance, they are going into denial, choosing to believe we have lots of time before our society, as we know it, collapses. That’s the “Ostrich Complex,” and professing Christians with the Ostrich Complex will pay a severe price for what they are enjoying now.
As painful and frightening as it is to accept, I believe we are on the verge of a global government and religion that will be very brutal to true Christians. It will take more than a sabbatical from bad news and ominous warnings to prepare for enduring life in such an environment.
Satan, the enemy of our souls, is working overtime right now to “wear out the saints” (Daniel 7:25), but I cannot exhort you enough, this is not a time when born-again believers in Christ can afford to be worn down, bury their heads, and become apathetic toward what is happening around us. For those who cave in to that temptation of apathy, it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to stand when things get truly harsh. The time to prepare is long past, but it’s still not too late. The first step is to wake up and accept truth. It is time to gather and store “oil,” the substance that keeps our light shining. In order to keep that flame lit and not allow it to become a flickering flame on a wick in a near-empty reservoir, we must put into action our confession of faith in Christ. He promises to sustain us as we abide in Him.
In conclusion, it is essential for preparation and subsequent endurance that we acknowledge the spiritual war in which we find ourselves, that we do not shut down our senses because of negative information overload, and that we do not live in a bubble of false security.
May we also remember that this home on earth is not our final destination. We have a home where God dwells in righteousness. If we are going to defeat the forces of darkness that seek to minimize our efforts and diminish our faith, we will have to fight, “not as one that beateth the air” (1 Corinthians 9:26) but as informed and equipped saints of God. We must not deceive ourselves and think we can be both complacent and effective all at the same time.
Instead of shutting down, let us look up. Genuine blessed hope is the buffer for the stress of perilous times. It can only be had with a sincere relationship with Christ, a strong knowledge of His Word, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit (who “shall teach you all things; John 14 :26). That is the only focus that makes sense in this period of encroaching darkness. As the psalmist so well stated, let us hope in His mercy, rejoice in Him, and trust in His holy name.
Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, upon them that hope in his mercy; to deliver their soul from death, and to keep them alive in famine. Our soul waiteth for the Lord: he is our help and our shield. For our heart shall rejoice in him, because we have trusted in his holy name.—(Psalm 33:18-21)
Endnotes:
1. Lynette Irwin, “Parliament of the World’s Religions 2015: An Eyewitness Account” (https://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=18411).
2. Leo Hohmann, “New Obama Czar Will Hunt ‘Right-Wing’ Extremists” (WorldNetDaily, 10/15/2015, http://www.wnd.com/2015/10/new-obama-czar-will-hunt-right-wing-extremists).
3. Brian Fischer, “Obama: Christians Threaten Nation” (Guest Columnist, OneNewsNow, October 16, 2015, http://www.onenewsnow.com/perspectives/bryan-fischer/2015/10/16/obama-christians-threaten-nation).
4. Ibid.
5. Lynette Irwin, “Parliament of the World’s Religions 2015: An Eyewitness Account,” op. cit.
6. Ibid.
7. Ibid, citing, Salih Sayigan, Department of Theology, Georgetown University.
8. Paul Carls, “Émile Durkheim” (Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy, http://www.iep.utm.edu/durkheim), section: c. The Death of the Gods.
9. Ibid.
10. For extensive documentation on the compromise of Christian leaders, visit www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com.
11. Read A Time of Departing by Ray Yungen to understand contemplative spirituality.
12. Graham C.L. Davey, “The Psychological Effects of TV News” (Psychology Today, June 19, 2012, https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/why-we-worry/201206/the-psychological-effects-tv-news).
13. See “Four Blood Moons Are Coming” by Mike Oppenheimer of Let Us Reason Ministries: http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/blog/?p=15326.
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