It was probably in 2002 and I was in the middle of an eighteen
month curriculum working for a masters degree in Higher Education. I've
related this story before. We were a cohort of twenty some students.
Conversation in class amongst us on the many issues that surround
university life was encouraged and we were in the middle of one such
conversation about the culture that we exist in and the many varying
opinions amongst Americans. I remember standing up for emphasis and
doing my best to explain how these were not normal differences between
say Democrats and Republicans... or liberals and conservatives; that
there was a divide coming to America that we could not even imagine!
What I saw then is exactly what happened for we are two distinct peoples
living in America today, as different as night and day. There was a
pause and then a couple of my fellow students politely disagreed and
that was that.
WorldNetDaily (wnd.com) has a story up about Christian psychologist James Dobson. In it he "...warned that Christians are about to face a new status as a 'hated minority' if the United States Supreme Court decides, as many expect, to mandate same-sex 'marriage'." I agree with his assessment of where we are going but want to expound upon it a little. Yes, Christians most likely will become a small hated minority, unless God so wills it to move upon our nation with great mercy which is our only hope, but it's the make-up of that minority that is at issue here. Let me give an example...a very high percentage of Americans say that they are Christian today in polls and surveys but a large percentage of those surveyed deny basic Christian doctrines such as the existence of hell. How can this be? And there are many more just such examples. The answer is that it is too easy to say one is a Christian today. This will indeed change. Same-sex marriage is but one issue that will eventually winnow out the wheat from the chaff. The final result, should God will it, will be the hated minority that James Dobson spoke about. Below is a short post from February of 2013. It is an example of how just this one issue can and will separate people:
Tough Love
Should events transpire like this it would be a very, very difficult experience to go through for it would not only be the aggressive atheist that we will have to contend with but that the 'not so conservative' conservative will equally deplore us. It will be friends and family who are against us in their ignorance of God's Word and failure to have been vigilant of lawlessness and deception. At the present moment we all have more than enough company in our opinions. The largest block within the Republican Party is indeed social conservatives and the vast majority of them claim to be Christians but little winnowing has taken place as of yet. Without a general awakening and a reformation the dust from the winnowed chaff would be as a giant sandstorm across our landscape. On the other side of the ledger, I can understand why many do not respond to the Gospel today for we offer them a milquetoast faith. A winnowing would necessarily expose their condition, Christ's offer of salvation and the cost of true faith to them.
James Dobson is correct and it would not take long for his prediction to come about, for this country is being driven into the ground at breakneck speed. I was reading through 1st Peter just yesterday and a couple of verses in it apply specifically to what may be ahead.....chapter 4 and verse 12... "Dear Friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you." and Chapter 5 and verse 8 begins "Be sober! Be on the alert!" These spoke to the believers of Peter's day and speak to Christians today. Don't be surprised should so many fall away, rather fervently pray that we are not of them! It's difficult to write a post with this foreboding content and my continuing prayer is that America humbles itself before God but there are no signs of that; while signs of a general apostasy are increasingly appearing.
Note: I completed that curriculum and purposely stopped short of a degree for it wasn't a 'paper' I was working for, rather some discernment.
The Bible verses are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
WorldNetDaily (wnd.com) has a story up about Christian psychologist James Dobson. In it he "...warned that Christians are about to face a new status as a 'hated minority' if the United States Supreme Court decides, as many expect, to mandate same-sex 'marriage'." I agree with his assessment of where we are going but want to expound upon it a little. Yes, Christians most likely will become a small hated minority, unless God so wills it to move upon our nation with great mercy which is our only hope, but it's the make-up of that minority that is at issue here. Let me give an example...a very high percentage of Americans say that they are Christian today in polls and surveys but a large percentage of those surveyed deny basic Christian doctrines such as the existence of hell. How can this be? And there are many more just such examples. The answer is that it is too easy to say one is a Christian today. This will indeed change. Same-sex marriage is but one issue that will eventually winnow out the wheat from the chaff. The final result, should God will it, will be the hated minority that James Dobson spoke about. Below is a short post from February of 2013. It is an example of how just this one issue can and will separate people:
Tough Love
One of our United States Senators, who previously had been a defender
of marriage being between one man and one woman, had recently
and publicly changed his mind. The reason given was that his son
informed him that he was gay. Most families in America have at least one
family member in amongst aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews and cousins who
proclaims themselves to be gay. The response of many in these families
is what they consider 'compassion' emanating from 'love' that leads to a
change of opinion on the issue of gay marriage. Going back to that
United States Senator, what should have happened was this....the Senator
should have been so angry at a culture whose tentacles reached within
his own immediate family to take a son away from God that he doubled his
efforts in defense of marriage being between one man and one woman
and became even more vigilant in anything else that came between God and
the people that He had blessed since their beginnings for His own
reasons and to His own glory. This was not love that the Senator
displayed towards his son but disdain for God. It wasn't compassion
being expressed, it was arrogance.
God is longsufferring towards each and every one of us but it is not to
be presumed upon and He will not be mocked. The Supreme Court can issue
a decision either way or in between on the gay marriage issues. God is
not waiting with baited breath for our answer rather it should be us
waiting to see His answers to our hesitation.
Should events transpire like this it would be a very, very difficult experience to go through for it would not only be the aggressive atheist that we will have to contend with but that the 'not so conservative' conservative will equally deplore us. It will be friends and family who are against us in their ignorance of God's Word and failure to have been vigilant of lawlessness and deception. At the present moment we all have more than enough company in our opinions. The largest block within the Republican Party is indeed social conservatives and the vast majority of them claim to be Christians but little winnowing has taken place as of yet. Without a general awakening and a reformation the dust from the winnowed chaff would be as a giant sandstorm across our landscape. On the other side of the ledger, I can understand why many do not respond to the Gospel today for we offer them a milquetoast faith. A winnowing would necessarily expose their condition, Christ's offer of salvation and the cost of true faith to them.
James Dobson is correct and it would not take long for his prediction to come about, for this country is being driven into the ground at breakneck speed. I was reading through 1st Peter just yesterday and a couple of verses in it apply specifically to what may be ahead.....chapter 4 and verse 12... "Dear Friends, when the fiery ordeal arises among you to test you, don't be surprised by it, as if something unusual were happening to you." and Chapter 5 and verse 8 begins "Be sober! Be on the alert!" These spoke to the believers of Peter's day and speak to Christians today. Don't be surprised should so many fall away, rather fervently pray that we are not of them! It's difficult to write a post with this foreboding content and my continuing prayer is that America humbles itself before God but there are no signs of that; while signs of a general apostasy are increasingly appearing.
Note: I completed that curriculum and purposely stopped short of a degree for it wasn't a 'paper' I was working for, rather some discernment.
The Bible verses are from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
