ChristiansUnite Forums

    There is another and more important question that should engage the attention of the churches of today.

The apostle Paul declares that "all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." 2 Timothy 3:12. Why is it, then, that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber?

The only reason is that the church has conformed to the world's standard and therefore awakens no opposition. The religion which is current in our day is not of the pure and holy character that marked the Christian faith in the days of Christ and His apostles. It is only because of the spirit of compromise with sin, because the great truths of the word of God are so indifferently regarded, because there is so little vital godliness in the church, that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. Let there be a revival of the faith and power of the early church, and the spirit of persecution will be revived, and the fires of persecution will be rekindled.  

New Age teachings have infiltrated Christian churches. This weakens the churches and confuses the people.
Exodus, 20:1 'Thou shall have no other gods before Me.'

April 20, 1999, two students at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado shot and killed 12 of their classmates and a teacher, and wounded 23 other people. They also killed themselves. They asked three Christian girls if they believed in God, and killed them when they said “Yes”. The girls were Cassie Bernall, Rachel Scott, and Valeen Schnurr. Rachel had shared her Christian faith with the boys several weeks earlier. Some classmates overheard the conversation. The boys made a video in which they cursed Jesus Christ and cursed Christians. They singled Rachel Scott out for an insulting tirade, mocking her by name.

September 15, 1999, there was a rally at Wedgewood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas. A gunman entered the church and methodically shot Christians who were attending the service, and then shot himself. Seven people died and others were critically wounded. The gunman was shouting, cursing Christianity and cursing the Christians for believing it. The FBI found anti-Christian writings in his home.

Playing the role of "Scrooge" for no good reason, Target has banned America's most beloved Christian charity from its doors at 1,272 stores in 47 states. Using its no-solicitation policy as a lame excuse, the giant retailer has banned the Salvation Army's red kettles and cheery bell-ringers that raised more than $9 million outside Target last year. Did the corporation cave in to homosexual activists or atheists who want to take Christ out of Christmas? Other retailers, who respect values-minded Americans, have no problem honoring the beloved charity.

Alot of anti-Christian indoctrination going on in our schools. That could eventually result in more frequent and more serious attacks against Christians.

For decades the ACLU has attacked Christian doctrine in public schools, claiming state-sponsored institutions can't force religious teaching on students. But now it's Islam being forced upon students, and the ACLU is nowhere to be found! Apparently, the ACLU only opposes Christian doctrine in public schools and universities.

The Thomas Moore Law Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., which represents Christians on issues related to “religion, family values, and the sanctity of life,” intends to file its brief with the 9th Circus Court of Appeals.  Given that this court is notoriously left-wing and is by far the most overturned in the nation, the case could very well end up before the U.S. Supreme Court.

 Schools throughout the nation are urged to abide by the guidelines for religion in the classroom handed down by American Civil Liberties Union. That organization has caused school officials to be gun-shy for fear of being dragged into court if anything not hostile to Christianity appears in their classrooms. Many parents in California believe the Islam indoctrination case now in the courts resulted from the schools bending over backward to please ACLU.

Doesn’t the heavily pro-Islam curriculum at the center of the case violate the organization’s insistence on what it always refers to as “separation of church and state”?

An ACLU spokesman chuckled in apparent disbelief when asked and recited the curriculum involved, which also includes staging mock Islamic "holy" wars.

Thomas Moore Law Center spokesman Brian Burch told reporters, that the group’s lawyers, in their research, discovered schools are definitely being pressured to insert Islamic views into their curricula.

Before you talk about persecution look at the news. Also look at the news from small towns. Those that are mainly mormon, the Christians are pressered into the Moron church.

Who do I know about small towns, easy I live in one.

Resting in the Lords arms.
Bob

Amen, DW. Persecution of the churches and Christians in the U.S. is on the rise. Looks like we have been doing something right.

Pastor Roger wrote:
Amen, DW. Persecution of the churches and Christians in the U.S. is on the rise. Looks like we have been doing something right.

Nana:
Or is it because we are "ripe for the picking"?  meaning - where are the contenders of the faith?  

The gov't will have it's way - it's already too late to salvage America.

Shalom, Nana

Until the rapture it is never too late for Christians to keep up the good fight.

In the U.S., attacks by the  counter-cult movement, neo-Nazi groups, antisemites etc. continue to victimize Jews, Neopagans and followers of other Christian groups.

The counter-cult movement a.k.a. C.C.M. or discernment ministries is composed primarily of conservative Protestant Christian individuals and agencies who attempt to raise public concern about religious groups which they feel hold dangerous, non-traditional beliefs. They are sometimes called heresy hunters or heresiologists.

Many CCM ministries are motivated by a concern for the spiritual welfare of people in the groups that they attack. They believe that any group which rejects one or more of the historical Protestant Christian beliefs is a danger to the welfare of its members, and to the Christian religion itself. They are concerned that God might send members of "cults" to Hell after death, because they have accepted the incorrect beliefs of their faith groups.

Most CCM organizations target religious groups which regard themselves as Christian but hold one or more unorthodox beliefs. Some examples of the latter are the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the "Moron church"), the Unification church, Christian Science, and Jehovah's Witnesses, ect., ect. The unorthodox beliefs that they hold often concern the nature of Jesus Christ, the criteria for salvation, the nature of Heaven & Hell, etc. Some within the CCM also attack non-Christian faith groups.

Resting in the Lord's arms.
Bob

We are not to overpower anyone, by any kind of force, whatsoever.
We are as lambs, led to the slaughter.
Remember...it is the meek that will inherit the earth....not the strong !

God will do as He sees fits, as only he can see all the circumstances and situations, that we cannot.
Our job is to pray, that the Lord's will be done....on earth as it is in heaven.

Persecution Collection

Editors note: we have reported in the past on instances of increasing persecution of Christians in the U.S. Since more and more seems to be happening, we've decided to make a special section detailing some of the instances that are continually occurring. Read on, and be amazed!

Church baptism halted by park official

04 Jun 2004
FREDERICKSBURG, Va.
Rappahannock River park officials cancelled a Virginia pastor's plans to baptize a church member at a waterfront park, claiming that the ceremony would violate park policy against water activity.
According to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Fredericksburg-Stafford Park Authority Director Brian Robinson's handling of the incident has come under scrutiny.
Robinson told another pastor, the Rev. John H. Reid, he will allow him to baptize a church member at Old Mill Park in Fredericksburg on Sunday afternoon.
"It seems to be just a small, casual group, and we wouldn't have a permit issue," Robinson said. Kent Willis, executive director of the Virginia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union, told the Times-Dispatch the ACLU will monitor the event. He said the ACLU is prepared to take legal action if park officials ban baptisms or otherwise discriminate against religious activities. Willis said he is troubled by the lack of a hard-and-fast policy at the park.
"What they have are traditions, maybe even de facto rules, but they are very vague," he said. "We will need to be vigilant."
The Rev. Todd Pyle of Cornerstone Baptist Church said he had baptized 12 people in the river at Falmouth Waterfront Park in Stafford County before he was told by a park official to stop.
Pyle said Robinson told him such a ceremony was prohibited because the park discourages water activity.
Robinson said churches and other groups are allowed to hold events at a park shelter but that they must first obtain a permit. He also said the park authority is reviewing the guidelines. Robinson said he is not requiring a permit for Sunday's baptism, primarily because Reid's New Generation Evangelical Episcopal Church apparently plans no other activities at the same time and the baptism will only attract a small group of 10 to 20.
Reid said he has baptized about 40 people in the past six years at waterfront parks operated by the regional park authority.
From ChurchCentral.com

State to shut down church camp

20 May 2004
NASHVILLE, Tenn.
A Bible camp run by the Priest Lake Community Baptist Church in the Antioch area may be shut down by the Tennessee Department of Human Services after members of the government agency toured the site using a court order.
According to WTVF News Channel 5 and the Associated Press, government workers had been tipped off by a fire official making a routine inspection that dozens of children were on the premises and there was no license to run a day care center.
The Human Services workers brought metro police and sheriff's department officers with them for the inspection. They told the church that all day cares must be licensed by the state and comply with day care regulations on facilities, food preparation, safety and hiring practices. Certified day care staff must also be screened with criminal background checks and trained. Wednesday morning, workers from the Tennessee Department of Human Services used a court order to tour a Nashville church's self-proclaimed bible camp to determine if the camp was actually an unlicensed day care. Following the tour, a spokesman for the state said they would seek a court order to stop the church's program because they determined it to be a day care. Church representatives say their program is a Bible camp and state day care regulations do not apply. The church said matters of hiring and programming are better left to the congregation -- not state employees.
from ChurchCentral.com

Revival Rental Rebuked

June 4, 2004
The Arkansas Arts Center is taking a look at its building rental policies as a result of complaints about plans to rent the Arts Center theater to evangelists for 21 nights. Susan Pfeifer, a member of the Arts Center Board of Trustees, was among those unhappy about the rental.
"I had no idea about it and it really upset me," Pfeifer said. She, and others who objected to use of the publicly owned Arts Center for a religious program, learned of it last Friday when a mass mailing hit mail boxes. Pfeifer was among several who called Nan Plummer, executive director of the Arts Center, to object.
City Attorney Tom Carpenter had a similar opinion to a U. S. Supreme Court ruling. "If we make property available on a commercial basis, the message can't be any of our concern," he said. The arts center is city property, though it is supported mostly by donations.
Pfeifer said she was concerned about not only content, but also potential conflicts with the summer program for children, which uses the theater. Plummer said the evangelism would occur after normal business hours, beginning at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 5 and continuing five nights a week, a total of 21 nights, through early July.
Plummer said the Arts Center rented to "all kinds of groups for all kinds of purposes" and had to be mindful of the law in deciding who could and could not rent. "We appreciate people's concern and are studying the matter and figuring out what we may and should do." At press time, cancellation of the rental had not been ruled out.
Plummer noted that she was not aware when the facility was booked that there was to be a public solicitation for attendance.
Arts Center rules allow charitable fund-raisers to be held there, but the rules say that the tickets have to be pre-sold. The prophecy program, which includes music and preaching, is advertised as free. The brochure doesn't mention if collections will be taken.

http://masterstable.john812.com/archives/persecutecollect.htm :) Also known as Evangelist

*Religions* may not be under attack but Christians certainly are.  Pick up a newspaper in any American city on any given day and you'll find the ACLU or some atheist organization taking on yet another Christian or Christian group with the ultimate goal being to eliminate that person or group's right to practice their faith under the guise of "separation of church and state."  Our forefathers would be horrified if they could see what that little statement, meant only to guarantee that the state could not mandate a state religion, has done.

Do a search on the internet and you will find numerous sites that appear on the surface to be "religious" or "christian" sites but when you start reading the posts realize that they are being run by people with an atheist agenda who pull the unwary into discussions on abortion, evolution, etc. with the intent of trying to shake basic fundamental Christian beliefs.

Persecution doesn't need to involve torture and murder to be persecution.  I taught school in a one room school house on an island in Maine.  In the past, they were used to their teacher's teaching Sunday school to the children as well.  When I explained that I could not teach their curriculum but would be happy to teach sunday school based on the Bible, they declined.  In our final year on the island, I chose not to teach and to stay home with my new baby.  One of the prospective teachers came to visit me and mentioned that they specifically asked her religion because they wanted to make sure they weren't hiring any "Christians."  

Persecution is alive and well in the U.S.