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I have long maintained that America’s primary problem is not a political one but a pulpit one. Accordingly, the solution to America’s primary problem is not political but spiritual. But don’t expect most evangelicals to comprehend that.
In the minds of most evangelicals, the antidote for America’s ailments is deposited at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. In this respect, evangelicals and political conservatives are not unlike religious and political liberals: Both groups look to Washington, D.C.—especially the White House—to solve America’s problems. The only difference between the two groups is the manner in which they believe the president should implement those solutions. But both groups believe the president is the one who must do it.
According to a recent survey, large numbers of people on both sides of the political aisle say they want a “powerful leader” in the White House, who would “take needed actions without being constrained by Congress or the courts.” In other words, they want a king.
And tragically, to the vast majority of evangelicals, political partisanship is far more important than spiritual truth. I could even go so far as to say that to many evangelicals, politics (at least their version of it) IS spiritual truth.
Contrast the modern evangelical movement with the great spiritual movements in early America.
Two Great Awakenings in Colonial America
From about 1720 to the mid-1800s, Colonial America experienced two Great Awakenings. The result of these awakenings was nothing short of phenomenal.
Multitudes of people were converted to Christ. There was great growth among the churches and spiritual renewal in Colonial communities. But there was much more: America’s colonists were given a great thirst for Liberty and a great resolve to resist the forces of tyranny, which, of course, ultimately led to America’s secession from Great Britain and the establishment of a new constitutional republic.
Beyond that, the Great Awakenings in early America (which themselves were largely the result of the Protestant Reformation in Europe) created the establishment of a ubiquitous Christian society.
To say that the United States was established as a “Christian nation” is not technically correct. It was established by Christians (mostly) as a sovereign, independent republic built upon the Natural Law principles taught in the Holy Scriptures and expounded by theistic enlightenment philosophers such as Grotius, Locke, Montesquieu, Pufendorf and Vattel—not to be confused, of course, with atheistic enlightenment philosophers such as Hume, Nietzsche, Rousseau, Voltaire, et al.
But it is absolutely correct to say that Colonial American society was, by an overwhelming degree, a Christian society. That fact is irrefutable. And the reason it was a Christian society was due to the influence of the Colonial pulpits—NOT the politicians.
Benjamin Franklin wrote a pamphlet called Information to Those Who Would Remove to America. It was intended to be a guide for Europeans who were thinking of relocating to this new republic. In it he said:
Hence bad Examples to Youth are more rare in America, which must be a comfortable Consideration to Parents. To this may be truly added that serious Religion under its various Denominations, is not only tolerated but respected and practiced. Atheism is unknown there, Infidelity rare & secret, so that Persons may live to a great Age in that Country without having their Piety shock’d by meeting with either an Atheist or an Infidel. And the Divine Being seems to have manifested his Approbation of the mutual Forbearance and Kindness with which the different Sects treat each other, by the remarkable Prosperity with which he has been pleased to favor the whole Country.
The point is: The two Great Awakenings of Colonial America had a dynamic and pervasive positive influence upon American society.
Unprecedented Church Growth in 20th- and early 21st-Century America
By any measuring stick, church growth over the last 50+ years in America was unprecedented.
Evangelical churches in America grew to over 300,000 in number, including hundreds of megachurches (congregations of 5,000+). Thousands of Christian radio and television programs saturated America from coast to coast. Thousands of Christian schools and colleges were started. Millions of Christian books and literary texts were published.
But the overall spiritual influence of evangelical churches on American society has been nil.
While evangelical churches saw unprecedented growth, the traditional family all but disintegrated; sexual perversion became vogue; our major colleges and universities became hotbeds of atheism and whoredom; the morals, ethics and culture of the country sank into a garbage heap; and our political institutions became purveyors of socialism and fascism (take your pick), war, a burgeoning police state, an Orwellian surveillance society, dishonesty, bribery, elitism, ad infinitum, ad nauseam.
During that time, this expansive, fast-flourishing Church was impotent to stop the expulsion of both God and basic Christian values from our public schools. It was impotent to stop the slaughter of unborn babies. It was impotent to defend the traditional family. It was impotent to stop America’s unjust wars. It was impotent to stop the omnipresent attacks against everything holy and good on our television and movie screens. It was impotent to defend the basic liberties protected in our Bill of Rights. And it was impotent to stop the antichrist Covid deception.
Judge Andrew Napolitano sagaciously wrote:
Of what value is a constitutional guarantee if it can be violated when people get sick? If it can, it is not a guarantee; it is a fraud. Stated differently, a constitutional guarantee is only as valuable and reliable as is the fidelity to the Constitution of those in whose hands we have reposed it for safekeeping.
Because the folks in government, with very few exceptions, suffer from what St. Augustine called the lust to dominate, when they are confronted with the age-old clash of personal liberty versus government force, they will nearly always come down on the side of force.
How do they get away with this? By scaring the daylights out of us. I never thought I’d see this in my lifetime, though our ancestors saw this in every generation. In America today, we have a government of fear. Machiavelli offered that men obey better when they fear you than when they love you. Sadly, he was right, and the government in America knows this.
The last 18 months have demonstrated in neon lights that, on the whole, evangelicals are just as cowardly and compliant in the face of unconstitutional and oppressive government as the most secular and unchurched person in the country. There is absolutely no difference between them. Highlighting, again, that modern churches have almost ZERO influence in modern society.
With the approbation of evangelicals, federal deficits and deficit spending (government theft) continue unabated under both Republican and Democrat administrations and congresses. Evangelicals are as quick to live off the public dole as are the unchurched. Evangelicals cheer for more and more foreign wars. Spiritual rhetoric notwithstanding, evangelicals on the whole are as dishonest, hateful, unethical and mean-spirited as unbelievers—sometimes more so.
Perhaps no one is more illustrative of the modern perversion of Christianity than the despicable charlatan Jesse Duplantis. In a fundraising “Flashpoint on Victory” campaign recently, the heretic Duplantis said that the reason Jesus Christ has not yet returned is because Christians haven’t donated enough money—meaning, to him, of course. What blasphemy!
Bottom line: All of this criminality and crass conduct was mushrooming during the same time that evangelical churches were experiencing unprecedented growth.
The Top Ten Most Sinful States
Last year, a travel industry website categorized the amount of sinful activity among the 50 states. After their research was concluded, they published their list of the top ten most sinful states. The following seven vices were examined: hate, jealousy, excesses, greed, lust, vanity and laziness.
Here is the list in ascending order:
10. Mississippi
9. South Carolina
8. Illinois
7. Louisiana
6. Tennessee
5. Georgia
4. California
3. Florida
2. Texas
1. Nevada
Please notice that seven of the top ten most sinful states on this list are located in the Bible Belt, where evangelical churches dot almost every corner and most of the largest churches in the country are located.
The point is: Unlike in Colonial America, the massive, unprecedented growth of evangelical churches over the last 50+ years has had almost zero positive spiritual, moral and ethical influence on the country.
Why do you think that is?
I believe it is because too many evangelical pastors have traded the salty scriptural sermons once delivered by courageous preachers—from the Apostle Paul to the Protestant reformers to America’s Colonial pastors—for sugar-coated sermonettes (prosperity preaching and motivational monologues) of men such as Duplantis, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, et al.
Furthermore, instead of promoting hope in God—which requires fidelity to Truth—they have promoted hope in politics, especially Republican presidential politics.
One Final Contrast
There is one more glaring contrast between the religion of Colonial America and the religion of modern America: There was no Zionist State of Israel that the pastors and churches of Colonial America were trying to “bless”—while the vast majority of evangelical pastors and Christians over the last 50+ years have made “blessing” the atheist Zionist State of Israel a major tenet, if not the major tenet, of their faith.
Israel-based prophecy doctrines—including the phony “Rapture” theory—popularized in the Scofield Reference Bible have thoroughly corrupted both the Church and our country. Revival and the restoration of Liberty came to the Western world when the Church broke free from the antichrist papal system in Rome. And in order for revival and a restoration of Liberty to come again, the Church must break free from the antichrist Zionist system in Jerusalem.
P.S. I urge readers to listen to my interview with Rashad Leonce on Changing The Narrative podcast. The title of the interview: Is The Modern State Of Israel Biblical And Should Christians Support It?
This is the VERY BEST interview on the subject of Biblical Israel that I have ever had. Rashad did a fantastic job of interviewing. He asked the right questions with a genuine seeking spirit and allowed me the time needed to fully answer the questions.
Accordingly, we are offering this audio interview on CD without cost (except for shipping and handling), as I believe this is the BEST resource to give to a friend or loved one in order to introduce them to the subject of the true Biblical teaching of Israel. It can be considered the FIRST primer for anyone unfamiliar with the subject.
I suggest that you listen to the free online audio version first. And if you feel it would be a suitable tool to give to friends and loved ones, order the CDs to give away. Listen to the MP3 file of the interview here.
Run time: 44 minutes.
The CDs come in lots of 5 and 10. You can download the MP3 file here.
Please listen to this audio interview and then order as many CDs as you can for your friends and loved ones. I truly believe this is the BEST introduction to the subject of Biblical Israel that you could give to those who have a limited knowledge of the topic but who have a seeker’s heart.
Click here to order the CDs.
© Chuck Baldwin
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