Christianity vs Islam
As most of you already know, it seems as if Islam is being used as a means to eradicate fundamental Christianity from Western nations… except not in the way that you may think.

Satan is a crafty devil and he operates from many generations of experience. He has had numerous dress rehearsals to build and destroy entire human societies over the millennia. To be sure, our Almighty God is in total control but He allows Satan to build up or destroy, according to His perfect will:

Satan replied, “But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!’ And the LORD said to Satan, ‘Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.’ So Satan went out from the presence of the LORD” (Job 1:11-12).

The devil is allowing fundamental Christianity to coexist alongside Islam—for the time being. Of course he is chipping away at our rights—one at a time—but for the most part he is saving his knock-out punch for just the right time. He will not win in the end, but in the short-term, persecution against true fundamental Christians will rise.

Somehow, under the watch of many conservative Christians in America over the past few generations, homosexuality has been allowed to rise in moral equivalence with normalcy. In fact, it has now been elevated to an even higher moral ground—equal to that of civil rights.

Once the protection of an ideal is made equal to that of protecting civil rights, the government will get involved, and there’s no turning back after that. Such is the case with the government moving in to protect so-called gay and transgender “rights” and the “fundamental right” of a woman to choose to kill her unborn baby.

Never mind the fact that the government has already been involved with fundamental Christianity for generations: first as a friend—then as a foe—when it outlawed “official” school prayer in 1962 and “public” Bible reading the very next year in 1963.

The quotes around the key words used in the original Supreme Court cases—“official” and “public”—represent the initial farce that will eventually lead to “all” Christian prayer and “all” public or private Bible reading being banned from public schools. As of now, a right still exists for Christian prayer and Bible reading in public schools, albeit at the ire of those who hate God.

There are indeed many brave students and faculty who still engage in praying and Bible reading in American public schools, but they are putting themselves at risk for ridicule and punishment. Our earnest and collective prayer is that they will be able to continue to exercise their Christian freedom in America until the Rapture.

However, western governments have now—as a whole—taken on the role of defending that which the Bible calls sin and evil. As a result, public opinion has all but completed its turn away from support for lifestyles and behavior in line with the fundamental morals of biblical Christianity and transferred its support to lifestyles and behavior which the Bible stands against.

“Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3).

“Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron” (1 Timothy 4:1-2).

The Christianity vs Islam Debate 

The world likes to equate the real violence taught by Islam with so-called violence in Christianity—by quoting numerous Old Testament passages—and one particular favorite from the New Testament (Luke 19:27).

What the world fails to recognize—or admit—is the truth that New Testament Christians are taught to understand that we are engaged in spiritual warfare—not physical warfare:

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).

However, Islam clearly teaches physical warfare and violence: One can fill in the blank here of the numerous Islamic passages akin to “slay them wherever you find them,” etc.

Jesus Christ Himself commands His followers to love and pray for their enemies, not “slay them wherever you find them”:

“But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:43).

The Bible further commands true Christians to:

“Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse… Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord. Therefore ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.’ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:14, 17-21).

It doesn’t get any more obvious than that. There is absolutely no moral equivalence between New Testament Christianity and Islam concerning the treatment of our earthly enemies.

Ahhh, but the devil has another “ace” up his sleeve…

Tolerance and Exclusivity

Since it is a fair and obvious point that there is no violence taught to Christians in the New Testament—then those who simply defend true Christianity in the face of assault are branded as inciting discord among public society.

This is a no win situation for those who stand up for, defend, and proclaim true biblical New Testament Christianity to the world. They will always be singled out—even apart from other groups who actually do advocate violence—as the true instigators of exclusivity and violence towards all.

Many people say that they are offended by the “exclusivity” of John 14:6:

“Jesus said unto him, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.’”

The world says that no one has the “right” to condemn an entire group of people to hell. They say that it is intolerant and exclusive. If they don’t believe in the existence of hell—and they don’t believe the Bible is the Word of God in the first place—then why so much offense?

In the words of Shakespeare: “The lady doth protest too much, methinks.”

The ultimate truth is that the god of this world hates the One true Almighty God of the Bible—the God over all heaven and all the earth. The god of this world is Satan, and he will not stop singling out and accusing true Christians of being evil.

The world…

“Whose minds the god of this age has blinded, who do not believe, lest the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine on them” (2 Corinthians 4:4).

…will never stop accusing true Christians of being an intolerant evil scourge upon society until their master is defeated:

“Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, ‘Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down’” (Revelation 12:10).

Satan’s Ace: The Bait and Switch

After enough Islamic tolerance has been allowed to flow into various western nations, violence and terrorist attacks will continue. At some point—after enough terrorist attacks—western governments may finally reproach the violent teachings of Islam—through legal and police force.

In the eyes of the legal system, biblical Christianity is “religiously” equivalent with any other belief system in existence. However, all born-again Christians have a personal and Spiritual relationship with their Creator and Savior; and in that way true fundamental Christianity differs from other religions.

The religious establishment is what nailed Jesus to the cross, and it is established religion that will lead the charge against fundamental Christianity in the near future.

“They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service” (John 16:2).

In light of the absolute vitriolic hatred of biblical morality by those who engage in and support the sins of abortion and homosexuality, any chance to effectively crush the rights and freedoms of true fundamental Christianity will be enthusiastically accepted by the majority.

If after another tragic terrorist attack, the religion of Islam is allowed to be scourged, then there will be no valid legal defense—no solid legal ground left—upon which fundamental Christianity can lawfully stand. It would be only a matter of time before Satan slams his “ace” onto the roundtable and declares, “Crush them!”

Even so, no matter if we walk the vale with Him or meet Him in the air, we will achieve the final eternal victory.

“But as it is written: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him’” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away” (Revelation 21:4).

“For the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father…”

“These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world” (John 16:27-28, 33).

 

Spiritual Compromise
When a hacker succeeds in breaching the defenses surrounding large amounts of user data—assumed to be protected by a powerful firewall—the data is said to be “compromised.” There is now a considerable concern that the attack may have been malicious and that many people will be affected in a negative way.

As most of you have noticed for quite a few years now, many old-fashioned, traditional, conservative churches have changed many things in order to conform to a changing world. You might say that they’ve been hacked by demonic programmers.

Of course, not all change is bad and some changes are obviously necessary—such as updating aging infrastructure like repaving parking lots, renewing restrooms, kitchens, furniture, flooring, church vehicles, etc.

A “host” of other changes are necessary as well—like establishing an online presence—to keep a church functioning properly. Changes like these are as necessary to a church as to any other organization that needs to maintain maximum effectiveness—like a home or a business.

None of the aforementioned changes should ever require a Spiritual compromise however, especially for a church. Tragically too many of the changes performed by formerly principled churches began with spiritual compromise, which in turn produced visible biblical and moral decay.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for appearing clean and moral on the outside while being filled with immorality and decay on the inside (Matthew 23:27).

Spiritual compromise or spiritually dishonorable changes have included everything from changing church names, music, dress-codes, service times, types of services, doing away with prayer meetings, and adding events that appeal to the flesh and ignore the spirit, etc.

No doubt when asked why the need for such drastic changes in their ministry—most if not all of these churches would say that they have to change in order to reach out and better connect to a changing world. It’s called “progress” they might say…

Has God changed?

Has the Bible changed?

Has the human voice changed?

Have human faces changed?

Have virtuous hymns and musical instruments changed?

God hasn’t changed. His Word hasn’t changed. His Way of salvation hasn’t changed. So why have you changed?

You may say, “But people have changed.” Do you think God has to change because people are becoming less moral and more high-tech? His strength is still there.

Christ Jesus was of no strong or noteworthy appearance during His previous earthly ministry:

“For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant, and as a root out of dry ground. He has no form or comeliness; And when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him” (Isaiah 53:2-3).

The Lord Jesus may not have looked strong to the eye but He projected a very strong message:

“And so it was, when Jesus had ended these sayings, that the people were astonished at His teaching, for He taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”

He ascended into heaven without displaying His current heavenly power and glory. How else could He have walked alongside the disciples on the road after His resurrection without being recognized by them?

We, the true believers, are currently representative of His last appearance. Our current form is not yet recognizable as it will be—when we along with Him—will be revealed to the nations of the earth in His great power and glory.

“Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

So if you’re worried about or concerned that you will continue to look weaker and weaker to the world while you hold to the righteously humble traditions of the time-honored conservative church—then you’re taking your eyes off of the strength of Jesus in order to gaze upon the wolves of Satan hacking into your ministry.

“So He said, ‘Come.’ And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, ‘Lord, save me!’

“And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, ‘O you of little faith, why did you doubt?’ And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, ‘Truly You are the Son of God’” (Matthew 14:29-33).

The rapid increase of moral decay and depravity should strengthen your faith, not weaken it. That is the “spirit of fear” that the oft misquoted and misused verse in Paul’s second letter to Timothy is referring to. Notice that the context of the “spirit of fear” is contained within the very next verse:

“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God” (2 Timothy 1:7-8).

The eyes and ears of those with a Spiritually attuned heart are able to perceive the deception and pitfall of compromising with Satan.

God did not compromise with Adam and Eve about the first human sin; Abraham and Sarah about having a son at their advanced age; Moses about freeing the Hebrew slaves; King David about his sin with Bathsheba; etc., so why should anyone think that He will compromise with an automation nation?

“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17).

Don’t let Satan’s brigade of deal-making hackers infiltrate your church… if it’s not already too late.

“I know your works. See, I have set before you an open door, and no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name” (Revelation 3:8).