The Commonality of Sin Abounds - Todd Strandberg - http://www.raptureready.com/rap16.html
A nation has reached its most sinful state when acts of profound immorality occur without being noticed. Hardly a day goes by when I don't find examples of how this reality applies to our generation.
A few days ago I ran across a news article that read, "Jesse Tyler Ferguson's husband Justin Mikita won't be charged in a deadly crash that occurred back in November 2014." The story was about the husband of a Hollywood actor who was involved in a car wreck where someone in another vehicle died. The article didn't bother to mention that the actor involved is in a homosexual relationship.
On the same news feed, it was announced that Rosie O'Donnell will be stepping down as co-host of The View. O'Donnell is leaving the show to focus on her family following her split from her wife, Michelle Rounds. O'Donnell and Rounds have an adopted a daughter named Dakota. Since O'Donnell has four older children with her first wife, Kelli Carpenter, this family situation is one with three mothers.
The lack of awareness of sinful behavior makes it seem like we are living in a golden age of morality. I can't recall the last time I read a news report about a movie, song, or book causing public outrage because of immoral content. In 2013, Martin Scorsese's movie, The Wolf of Wall Street was noted for using the f-word a record 506 times; but the press coverage had nothing negative to say about this milestone of filth.
What set us on this path of sin becoming a seemingly irreversible commonality is the death of the Christian apologists in America. Back in the 1980s, there were dozens of ministries that specialized in shining the light of truth on errors in the church and the nation. People cared because if you became a target of moral watchdogs, your career or business could be severely impacted.
I see 2010 as the year where the lights went out for Christian apologists. We suddenly reached the point where the last of the big names had either died, retired, or were fired from their positions. We still have men who contend for the faith, but none are effective on a national scale. What has changed the most is that evil doers have suddenly realized that they have nothing to fear from apologists.
One of the best examples of how far we've fallen is remembering what impact the late Dave Hunt had with his 1985 release of Seduction of Christianity. The prosperity gospel folks acted like cockroaches when someone shined a bright light on them. People like Kenneth Copeland, Frederick Price, Charles Capps, and Paul Crouch were all put on the defensive by Hunt exposing the details of their financial schemes and the "we are a god" teachings that dominated the movement.
Here we are thirty years later and the prosperity gospel is stronger than ever. In fact, it has gone from being a small part of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement to where it now defines the entire movement. Over 80 percent of the programming on Christian television is from people who promote the prosperity message.
Since "apologetics" has become a dirty word, few publishers are willing to green light a book that addresses apostasy in the church. The low cost of producing online videos should have translated to dozens of apologetic videos on the Web, but there are only a few links to be found. I did a YouTube search for "false prophet" as it relates to Joel Osteen and I could only find one link that was less than two years old.
I still remember when Osteen made his famous appearance on CNN's Larry King Show in 2005, where he stumbled on every question about the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ. At the time his performance was so widely criticized even Benn Hinn took Osteen to task, which is recorded on a YouTube video [1].
A decade later, Osteen doesn't have any problem answering reporter's questions because the message he now presents is Christian in name only. His god allows everyone to go to heaven, and he will make you prosperous if only you: "Declare words of victory!"
To have sin become a commonality is a clear sign that we are at the end of the line. It just seems there is no point for God to allow this state of hopelessness to continue. Since we were warned in Revelation that the Laodicean phase would be the last of the seven church ages, we should expect to find a church that proclaims, "...I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing..." Even though Jesus said it is "...wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17).
--Todd
A nation has reached its most sinful state when acts of profound immorality occur without being noticed. Hardly a day goes by when I don't find examples of how this reality applies to our generation.
A few days ago I ran across a news article that read, "Jesse Tyler Ferguson's husband Justin Mikita won't be charged in a deadly crash that occurred back in November 2014." The story was about the husband of a Hollywood actor who was involved in a car wreck where someone in another vehicle died. The article didn't bother to mention that the actor involved is in a homosexual relationship.
On the same news feed, it was announced that Rosie O'Donnell will be stepping down as co-host of The View. O'Donnell is leaving the show to focus on her family following her split from her wife, Michelle Rounds. O'Donnell and Rounds have an adopted a daughter named Dakota. Since O'Donnell has four older children with her first wife, Kelli Carpenter, this family situation is one with three mothers.
The lack of awareness of sinful behavior makes it seem like we are living in a golden age of morality. I can't recall the last time I read a news report about a movie, song, or book causing public outrage because of immoral content. In 2013, Martin Scorsese's movie, The Wolf of Wall Street was noted for using the f-word a record 506 times; but the press coverage had nothing negative to say about this milestone of filth.
What set us on this path of sin becoming a seemingly irreversible commonality is the death of the Christian apologists in America. Back in the 1980s, there were dozens of ministries that specialized in shining the light of truth on errors in the church and the nation. People cared because if you became a target of moral watchdogs, your career or business could be severely impacted.
I see 2010 as the year where the lights went out for Christian apologists. We suddenly reached the point where the last of the big names had either died, retired, or were fired from their positions. We still have men who contend for the faith, but none are effective on a national scale. What has changed the most is that evil doers have suddenly realized that they have nothing to fear from apologists.
One of the best examples of how far we've fallen is remembering what impact the late Dave Hunt had with his 1985 release of Seduction of Christianity. The prosperity gospel folks acted like cockroaches when someone shined a bright light on them. People like Kenneth Copeland, Frederick Price, Charles Capps, and Paul Crouch were all put on the defensive by Hunt exposing the details of their financial schemes and the "we are a god" teachings that dominated the movement.
Here we are thirty years later and the prosperity gospel is stronger than ever. In fact, it has gone from being a small part of the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement to where it now defines the entire movement. Over 80 percent of the programming on Christian television is from people who promote the prosperity message.
Since "apologetics" has become a dirty word, few publishers are willing to green light a book that addresses apostasy in the church. The low cost of producing online videos should have translated to dozens of apologetic videos on the Web, but there are only a few links to be found. I did a YouTube search for "false prophet" as it relates to Joel Osteen and I could only find one link that was less than two years old.
I still remember when Osteen made his famous appearance on CNN's Larry King Show in 2005, where he stumbled on every question about the necessity of faith in Jesus Christ. At the time his performance was so widely criticized even Benn Hinn took Osteen to task, which is recorded on a YouTube video [1].
A decade later, Osteen doesn't have any problem answering reporter's questions because the message he now presents is Christian in name only. His god allows everyone to go to heaven, and he will make you prosperous if only you: "Declare words of victory!"
To have sin become a commonality is a clear sign that we are at the end of the line. It just seems there is no point for God to allow this state of hopelessness to continue. Since we were warned in Revelation that the Laodicean phase would be the last of the seven church ages, we should expect to find a church that proclaims, "...I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing..." Even though Jesus said it is "...wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked" (Revelation 3:17).
--Todd
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