What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church

Kenda Creasy Dean in Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telliing the American Church (2010):

"The problem does not seem to be that churches are teaching young people badly, but that we are doing an exceedingly good job of teaching youth what we really believe; namely, that Christianity is not a big deal, that God requires little, and the church is a helpful social institution filled with nice people focused primarily on ”folks like us” – which, of course, begs the question of whether we are really the church at all.

What if the blasé religiosity of most American teenagers is not the result of poor communication but the result of excellent communication of a watered-down gospel so devoid of God’s self-giving love in Jesus Christ, so immune to the sending love of the Holy Spirit that it might not be Christianity at all?

What if the church models a way of life that asks, not passionate surrender but ho-hum assent? What if we are preaching moral affirmation, a feel-better faith, and a hands-off God instead of the decisively involved, impossibly loving, radically sending God of Abraham and Mary, who desired us enough to enter creation in Jesus Christ and whose Spirit is active in the church and in the world today." (p. 12)

Media War: Where Are All the Hamas Fighters?

- CBN News - "In all of the disturbing and emotional images coming out of the Gaza fighting, one major issue that no major media outlet asks about is missing: Where are those fighting for Hamas?
For more than a month, Israel's efforts to stop Gaza rocket fire and destroy Hamas tunnels has made headlines and led newscasts around the world.
Two images dominate the war between Israel and Hamas. One side is Israel's military actions, like airstrikes, artillery, and ground troops. On the other side, video of Palestinians suffering, wounded, or killed in those military actions.
But according to CBN News Senior International Correspondent George Thomas, the Hamas fighters are noticeably absent."

A German's View on Islam

This is one of the best explanations of the Muslim terrorist situation I have ever read. His references to past history are accurate and clear. Not long, easy to
understand, and well worth the read. The author of this email is Dr. Emanuel
Tanya, a well-known and well-respected psychiatrist.

 

A man, whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War II, owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

 

'Very few people were true Nazis,' he said, 'but many enjoyed the return
of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was one of those
who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat
back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it, they owned us, and we
had lost control, and the end of the world had come.’

 

‘My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the
Allies destroyed my factories.'

 

‘We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam
is a religion of peace and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to
live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may be true, it is
entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff meant to make us feel better,
and meant to somehow diminish the specter of fanatics rampaging across the
globe in the name of Islam.’

 

‘The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history. It
is the fanatics who march. It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50
shooting wars worldwide. It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter
Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over
the entire continent in an Islamic wave. It is the fanatics who bomb,
behead, murder, or honor-kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after
mosque. It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of
rape victims and homosexuals. It is the fanatics who teach their young to
kill and to become suicide bombers.’

 

‘The hard, quantifiable fact is that the peaceful majority, the 'silent
majority,' is cowed and extraneous. Communist Russia was comprised of
Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were
responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority
were irrelevant. China 's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese
Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.’

 

‘The average Japanese individual prior to World War II was not a
warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across
South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of
12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet. And
who can forget Rwanda , which collapsed into butchery? Could it not be said
that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'?

 

‘History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all our
powers of reason, we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:
peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence.
Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because
like my friend from Germany , they will awaken one day and find that the
fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.’

 

‘Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs,
Afghans, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many
others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was
too late.’

 

‘Now Islamic prayers have been introduced in Toronto and other public
schools in Ontario, and, yes, in Ottawa , too, while the Lord's Prayer
was removed (due to being so offensive?). The Islamic way may be peaceful
for the time being in our country until the fanatics move in.’

 

‘In Australia , and indeed in many countries around the world, many of
the most commonly consumed food items have the halal emblem on them. Just
look at the back of some of the most popular chocolate bars, and at other
food items in your local supermarket. Food on aircraft have the halal emblem
just to appease the privileged minority who are now rapidly expanding within
the nation's shores.’

 

‘In the U.K, the Muslim communities refuse to integrate and there are
now dozens of "no-go" zones within major cities across the country that the
police force dare not intrude upon. Sharia law prevails there, because the
Muslim community in those areas refuse to acknowledge British law.’

 

‘As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only
group that counts - the fanatics who threaten our way of life.’

 

Lastly, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes
this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that
allows the problems to expand.

 

Extend yourself a bit and send this on. Let us hope that thousands
world-wide read this, think about it, and send it on before it's too late,
and we are silenced because we were silent!!!

Christianity Claims Exclusive Loyalty

- Dr. John Sullivan in FSAOF - "Although not written in direct response to our series on the fragmentation the new female Swedish archbishop Antje Jackelén is causing, Dr. Sullivan's article, No Other Name, begs our attention and reflection on the truth of the Scriptures.
Antje refused to take a position between Jesus and Muhammad’s relevance to the Swedish church during her hearing before the Archbishop's selection board. She was backed by a clear majority of the 324-strong ecclesiastical college."

Archbishop Jackelén rejects the Church creeds she once swore to uphold

- Sven Ljungholm i FSAOF - "Antje Jackelén, a German born Lutheran theologian and Swedish church official, distanced herself from the three ancient creeds that the Lutheran church recognize as accurate expressions of Bible teaching These were developed by Christians during the 500 years which followed our Lord's ascension into heaven. It’s taken Jackelén less than 20 years to refute five centuries of what constitute the Lutheran canons: the Apostles' Creed, the Nicene Creed, and the Athanasian Creed. Yet, in the autumn of 2013 she was elected the new archbishop of the Church of Sweden."

Old Orchard Beach Camp Meetings 2014

Watch the different meetings from the Old Orchard Beach Camp meetings 2014 with Mannssambandet and Commissioners Krommenhoek from Norway. Here is the link.

The Swedish Church of the Non-Believers

- Sven Ljungholm in FSAOF - "Sweden’s is the largest Lutheran church in the world, yet some call it the church of the non-believers because it’s also the most secular and religiously apathetic country in the world. Swedes choose to belong to the church because it provides a convenient and historically important meeting place for family occasions including infant baptisms, weddings and funerals.
Ninety percent of all Swedes are still buried with a church service, according to the Church of Sweden. It also serves as a refuge in times of national crisis such as the sinking of the ferry Estonia in 1994, in which 800 people died, most of them Swedes. The SA played a significant role in providing emergency assistance and grief counselling.
A recent survey by the Church of Sweden found that about two-thirds of the country’s 9.4 million people belong to the church. Yet, only 15 percent of church members say they believe in Jesus Christ. An equal percentage of Swedes call themselves atheists."