The Greatest Threat to the Church Today...

Throughout its history the Church has faced many attacks from the world,the flesh, and the devil. From physical persecution resulting in martyrdom to the world attaching itself to the Church and compromising much of its beliefs and effect.

Because the Church is a product of God, through the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and the indwelling Holy Spirit, then it will always be at odds with the world and attacked in some form by the world.

There are many obstacles confronting the Church today in its effort at bringing the Gospel to the lost and growing up the believers into the sons of God that God wants them to be. But there is a growing movement that I believe outweighs any other today.

That is the worlds attempt to accept all religions as good and helpful, which defined by the world, is usually based on morality and being good. But the world is also identifying those 'radical' elements in religions that it says is not good. In fact they are kooks, and crazy, and hate mongers.

The threat of islam today in the world has provided such a distinction to be pressed to its greatest effect. Many want to say islam is good, but the radical element is not good and not really islam. And from there it is just a short step in saying the same thing about Christianity. It is good, but its just the radical element that is not good, and is really not Christianity.

And of course, this radical, crazy, hate mongering, element in Christiaity is going to be the Bible believing Christians. The ones who are called 'fundementalists'. The ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God and have recieved Him as their Lord and Saviour. The ones who are full of hate because they call homosexuality a sin and abomination before God.

This is I believe the biggest threat to the Church. Satan behind the scene identifying the Bible believing Chrisitans as radicals who need to be dealt with by the governments of the world. A world in which satan is the prince.

I find in the book of Revelation, no problems with islam in the last days. I don't see islam as the overwhelming threat or being victorious over the West. What I do see is the worlds religions uniting as one with the world. A work I believe is ongoing today.

Quantrill

 

Islam is just the belief in One God.

God does not have a mother or father or sisters or brothers. he is the almighty being. How can God have a mother? Just think about it. This is what Christians believe but to me it makes no sense at all.
Jesus was a prophet not God.

Like all religions we see the truth being distorted and man makes his own interpretation of it.

The popes were some of the most evil men in history and even today look at the Catholic church.

Islam also has its nuts who know nothing about God or mercy or how we should live.

The best path we take is to think logically because not all Christians and not all Muslims are bad. Just ignorant or misguided or manipulated by others.

In the end the good people will conquer the bad then we will all be Muslims. All just believing in one God. That what islam is. It's very simple. We are all Muslims if we believe in one God. Thats what the word means and not its distorted meaning.

 

The Greatest Threat to the Church Today



People


honesty

 

This sounds like a perceived threat of persecution....

In reference to Islam.. I think that radicals tend to go to orthodoxy.. and average Muslims go long with them because Islam doesn't have a word for freedom, it doesn't have a word for citizen either. ..

The closest word in Arabic is muwatin, which means compatriot.

Islam did provide a cause with which a collection of tribal groups could unite. ..... religion, government and society are all subject to the Koran.

There is also no secular city state separate from the wider religious community called the ummah.

In the West one is a good citizen.. civic virtues.. In Islam one is not a good citizen, but a good Muslim.. It may be difficult for many Muslims to understand key civil concepts.

Isolationist tendencies of any religious group and the resulting persecution reflex... is what you are describing.

Freedom requires some tolerance.. Freedom of speech is very closely related to freedom of religion....

 

I agree that the 'end-time apostasy' that is coming, and in fact already starting, is the watering down of Christianity. There is already a movement afoot in the U.S. by several well-known 'Christian' leaders for a combined acceptance of religions having 'the same God,' being labeled as "Chrislam"---the combining of Christianity & Islam.

This is being done with supposed 'good intentions,' but in fact is developing into 'apostasy,' forsaking the foundational scriptures.

And this can be included in the warning given by Paul near the end of his life to his 'spiritual son,' Timothy, who he mentored:

2 Timothy 3

1This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

................. and,

5Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

'The Power of God' is inclusive of the authority of the scriptures, & the Holy Spirit, who bears witness of them.

Who in the church will heed this warning...?!!!

 

No offense, but that sounds exactly like the Twelvers in Iran.

I would caution you not to get caught up in the notion of Christlam, but to simply accept that we do believe in the same God, but differently.

 

I'm afraid, Margot, that you have fallen into that trap as previously mentioned...YOU have been accused of such beliefs and behavior on this forum..and so, YOU are not credible in this regards....you border on apostasy and risk falling away, if not already having fallen. You have many critics on this forum who would agree with my conclusion....I have given you the benefit of the doubt many times on this forum, but you keep exposing your true beliefs, as in "many paths unto God." That violates the NT scriptures!

 

you should be

look who's talking?

you have more to fear from every god, then you have credibility.

idiots would be, who agree, with you on judging margot

anyone can discount many items within the literature of NT; to many contradictions in the babble

moron dont have the integrity to admit that!

 

I wont give you the 'honor' or respect of quoting your usual idiocies.......

and,

Dont worry, Bish, for YOU are no threat to the church as your intentions & folly are all too evident. Words that come from you about 'judging,' which is ALL THAT YOU DO EVERYDAY, is but your M.O. DNA!


Now this response is NOT for you, Bish, as in responding to your attacks is always in vain, as they are foolishness:

But Margot has become a defender of a false religion, having a false doctrine in the Quran, and a false prophet in Mohammed. Where the divinity of Jesus was diminished in 'their attempt' at being acceptable to the ppl of that time.

She continues to 'dance around' foundational Christianity, and usually avoids or is vague in her answers to other Christians when she is 'called on the carpet.'

And so, disingenuously, she is one of the proponents of the concept of "Chrislam," altho she may try to disguise her true beliefs.

 

I found this particularly interesting. I did not know that.

In regards to the 'Greatest threat to the church today' I think you need to define what you mean by threat.
So far in this thread all the discussed threats have been theological, consider other aspects.

 

Rather presumptuous IMO. I would tend to believe that logic and reason will eventually overcome myth and superstition. Logic and reason overcame the ancient religions the Greeks, Vikings and Incas and eventually logic and reason will eventually overcome the superstitious and mythical beliefs of religions today. We can see that based upon the increasing numbers for "Secular/Nonreligious/Agnostic/Atheist" that now rank 3rd with over 1 billion "followers" of logic and reason.

http://www.adherents.com/Religions_By_Adherents.html

Logic and reason is the threat to all religions as all religions are based upon myth and superstition.

 

Knowledge of another religion and culture is not apostacy..The West has gone thru a long painful process to develop the separation of church and state.. Islam has NOT.... My key point is that we should be encouraging the progressives in Islam and not retreat into our own persecution complexes.

Islam has an old and honorable tradition of intellectual inquiry.. they are supposed to question the Koran and apply it to the real, contemporary world... I'd write the word, but I can't spell it.

Its VERY clear to me that Muslims worship the same God we worship.. just like the Jews worship the same God.

If you are accusing me of apostacy.. then I have failed to communicate with you.

 

And so, Jesus Christ suffered & died in vain?!

And I have been gentile with you all this time allowing you to give your 'confession of the Christian faith" on many occasions. But you do believe in 'many ways' unto God, which violates all of the NT scriptures, as in :

Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; and NO man comes to the Father but by Me."

And it is you who points to your apostasy with your words, as in "For by YOUR words YOU will be justified; and by YOUR words YOU will be condemned." Your many posts do condemn you.

You 'dance around' and are vague in your answers to other followers of Christ, and so are disingenuous in your Christian beliefs, walking a tight rope as it were, of disguising your beliefs as the concept of "Chrislam," altho not using that terminolgy.

 

I have never advocated "Christlam'.. just civility towards people who believe differently than you and I.

I don't say "Jesus died in vain" because Muslims and Jews and Hindus don't believe in him... YOU said that... I just don't want us... Christians... to fall into a we are persecuted mentality.

 

You mean Christians receivng persecution like this:

2Tim.3:12 - Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution
Phi.1:29 - Given not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer
Mat.10:17 - Beware of men: they will deliver you up...scourge
Mat.24:9 - Deliver you up...ye shall be hated of all nations
Lk.21:12 - They shall lay their hands on you and persecute you
Jn.15:20 - If they have persecuted Me, they will persecute you

Sorry, but your bleeding heart for those that: reject the words of Christ and are contrary to the foundational scriptures, and are of a false religious 'take-off of both the OT and in the faith of the cross of Christ, does not ring true..


EDIT: Will get back on here later, as the clutziness of this site is getting ridiculous!

 

It is always interesting to see quotations from a religious text where the authors are basically annonymous authors (the "church" declared who the authors were and there is no collaborating evidence to support the "church's" declarations). There is actually no collaborating evidence that any authors of the New Testament even knew Jesus although some might have. At least one, the Apostle Paul (Saul of Tarsus c. AD 5 – c. AD 67), wasn't even born during the life of Jesus and yet 14 books of the New Testament were supposedly written by him.

Additionally, according to scholars, the books of the New Testament weren't even written until at least 30 years after the "life of Christ" so at best any "quotation" accredited to Jesus would be paraphased and at worst pure fiction.

Logic and reason would certainly dictate extreme caution in reading these texts due to the high probability of them being inaccurate or even fraudlent. As noted previously, logic and reason are the true "threat" to all religions including Christianity.

 

I have never experienced the sort of persecution of Christians that were common in the first and second century AD.

 

Which church is feeling threatened, and by what, exactly?

 

Islam seems to be the threat.. and Bible believers are afraid of being lumped in with radicals and persecuted.

 

All that "throwing Christians to the lions" stuff was perhaps a little exaggerated. In fact, there are few if any recorded incidences of this happening, other than in Christian propaganda.

 

Well.. I just have NEVER been persecuted as a Christian.. and certainly nothing as vile as imprisonment, or execution or blood games in the Coliseum.

And, I am disappointed that Christians would compete with Jews or Muslims for victim status.

 

Religion can be compared to business (and religion is a business) where market share is what each seeks to achieve. Any infringment upon market share is considered to be a threat to the business of religion.

The problem for religion is that it is out-of-date as people become more knowledgeable. Religion depended upon the ignorance of the masses and cannot survive based upon close scrutiny. That's why there is a huge increase in the number of secular/agnostic/athiets over the last 100 years and that percentage is the fastest growing component of the "people market" that religion seeks.

 

Sometimes I see it that way.. when people ardently defend the belief in the parting of the Red Sea or the splitting of the Moon.

But, I think humans need a spiritual component in their lives... I just wish it wasn't so defensive... as in inventing adversaries.

 

The Church is their own biggest enemy. Also, Religion itself is Mankind's biggest enemy.

 

It shouldn't be mankind's enemy... It should bring comfort and hope... as was intended.

Maybe we just have to guard against rigid fundamentalism or radicalism.