I woke up early as usual to report the news and found this news story emailed to me by a best friend, who is a Pastor. I just sat back in my chair stunned! THE THREAT TO TEAR DOWN CHURCHES IN AMERICA!!??? This story is from July 9th. This week Dr. Jim Denison reported on the Churches that have been set on fire in America that have not been reported by the media! WHY? Can you even imagine how God feels as to what is going here in America? Story Here

Manhattan Declaration: A Call of Christian Conscience

Churches burned across the country: Why was this not national news?

Read time: 5 minutes | Read online

In The Daily Article for July 15, 2020 A church was burned with people inside What we care about and why A song I hope you’ll pray today

The interior of the San Gabriel Mission is damaged following a morning fire, Saturday, July 11, 2020, in San Gabriel, Calif. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

A number of churches from Florida to California were burned and vandalized over the weekend. A man in Florida plowed his vehicle into the Queen of Peace Catholic Church as its congregation was preparing for Mass on Saturday. He poured gasoline in the foyer, then set the building on fire before driving off. He was arrested and charged with attempted murder, arson, burglary, and evading arrest. The man told investigators that what he did was “awesome” and that he was on a “mission.” He also told detectives that he has problems with the Catholic Church and has been diagnosed with schizophrenia but is not taking his medication. Though the church foyer was heavily damaged, Mass was celebrated on Saturday and Sunday. Around the time of the Florida incident, a 249-year-old Catholic Church in Los Angeles caught fire. The cause of the blaze is under examination, but an official said the recent destruction of monuments to Junipero Serra, the founder of the California mission system, will be a factor in the investigation.

Curious onlookers stand outside the San Gabriel Mission in the aftermath of a morning fire Saturday, July 11, 2020, in San Gabriel, Calif. The fire destroyed the rooftop and most of the interior of the 249-year-old church that was undergoing renovation. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)

Saturday night, a statue of the Virgin Mary was set on fire outside a Boston church. The flowers in her hands were lit, damaging her arms up to her face. The pastor told reporters that the statue had been erected decades ago in memory of World War II veterans. Last Friday, another statue of the Virgin Mary was vandalized in New York City. Early Sunday morning, a church in San Diego caught fire; an official said the blaze seems “suspicious.” What the media thinks  Why have these stories not generated more headlines? If a Black Lives Matter office or demonstration had been attacked in these ways, such a horrific event would have led the news, as it should have. If an anti-abortion activist set a Planned Parenthood clinic on fire with people inside, the world would know immediately about such a reprehensible act. What does the lack of news coverage over these attacks on Christian churches and statues say about our media? Clearly, media executives determined that these stories would not generate the kind of interest and response that their organization’s bottom line requires. Click-throughs and social media shares are the lifeblood of their businesses. They are paid to know what pays the bills. And they apparently believe that stories about the burning of churches and Christian statues won’t create enough response to be worth their investment. What our culture thinks  Now, let’s ask a prior question: Why would they think this? Why would our culture be less responsive to this issue? From the Garden of Eden to today, the essence of fallen human nature is our desire to be our own God (Genesis 3:5). Modern existentialism heightens this insistence on viewing the world through the prism of my personal existence (in contrast to the communal worldview of some other cultures). Postmodern relativism teaches me that “my truth” is just as valid as “your truth.” As a result, I care about what affects me. If I’m not a Christian, I may care less about Christian churches. Let me ask you: If this article was about the burning of mosques or Buddhist temples, would you have reacted with the same depth of passion? Similarly, if I’m not a Catholic, I may care less about Catholic churches. Let me ask you a second question: If you’re not a Catholic, but this was a story about churches in your denomination, would you have reacted more viscerally? In addition, I care about what I agree with. If I consider Christians to be homophobic or the Catholic pro-life stance to be part of a “war on women,” I would not endorse burning their churches and statues, but I might have less empathy for them. What God thinks  My purpose today is to persuade you to be different, but in a way you might not expect. It’s human nature to care about what affects us and what we agree with. But followers of Jesus should care and agree on a different level than our secular culture. God cares as much about Catholic churches as he does Protestant churches. In fact, he cares as much about Buddhists as he does Baptists. The burning of any building or threat against any person grieves our Father’s heart. And his Son died for us, whether we agree with his word on moral issues or not (Romans 5:8). Now he wants us to “be kind to one another . . . as God in Christ forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32). Such compassion is crucial to leading secular people to Jesus. The relativism that makes all truth subjective renders God’s word a diary of religious opinions. “The Bible says” is no longer persuasive for many. If they do not genuinely see and feel God’s love in ours, why would they believe in the compassion of our God (Matthew 14:14)? Such compassion is also crucial to the health of our souls. Jesus’ best friend (John 20:2) asked this troubling question: “If anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him?” (1 John 3:17). Paul admitted, “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal” (1 Corinthians 13:1).

Hillsong United made popular this prayer: Heal my heart and make it clean Open up my eyes to the things unseen Show me how to love like you have loved me Break my heart for what breaks yours. Would you make their song your prayer right now?

The latest at Denison Forum Who has more power: the Supreme Court—or you? Should Christians support the separation of church and state? An interview with Mark David Hall, author of “Did America Have a Christian Founding?” For an effective witness, “we need truth plus love more than ever”

To print or download today’s Daily Article as text only, please visit the article’s page at DenisonForum.org. Scroll to the bottom of the article. Under “Submit your response,” click the print or PDF icon. Then click “Print” or “PDF”. Did someone forward this email to you? To subscribe to The Daily Article, visit denisonforum.org/subscribe.

Donate

The following article does not in any way suggest that Covid 19 is not real or life-threatening for many persons, and have actually caused some to die as a result of its onslaught.   Neither is it intended to be blaming politics, though there are political implications that cannot be ignored.  The forces at work are deeply spiritual; dark against Light, as we shall see.   I intend to speak to a peripheral situation which may or may not be directly related to the pandemic we are locked into in these months.

      ^¶I have been forewarning Christians of a coming persecution against the Church in America since 1988.   It has also become a strong component within my prayer seminars presented to churches.   My eyes became widened to awareness when reading a manifesto of the gay agenda in that same year.  Written within were goals of intention for that which was becoming a financially powerful movement in our Nation.   Among the reach with the indoctrination of very young school children to the acceptance of homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle through our school systems, was also the planned agenda of targeting Christian churches with the ultimate course of weakening and destroying them because of discrimination against their immoral lifestyle.

I have been in non-registered or underground churches in Russia, China, and Vietnam, plus, a Catholic harassment against protestant churches in Mexico, especially in remote villages.  For example:

On April 26, 1986, Chernobyl was a nuclear power plant in Ukraine that was the site of a disastrous nuclear accident.  Reportedly, a scheduled test at the plant went dreadfully wrong, and two enormous blasts blew the massive covering off one of the plant’s reactors.     The result of the blasts released 400 times more radiation than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.    Many died in the accident.  Eventually, thousands of people would show signs of health effects—including cancer—and even massive birth defects from the fallout.

The Chernobyl meltdown not only stirred up fears over the dangers of nuclear power plants, but it also revealed the Soviet government’s lack of honesty to the Soviet people and also the international community.   The meltdown and consequences of it exhausted the Soviet Union of billions in clean up costs, and led to the loss of a major energy source and caused international embarrassment when the radiation was detected traveling in prevailing winds over Norway, Sweden ,and Finland.   However, their need for international help to clean up this disaster led to an openness of borders and easing of restrictions of travel into the CIS.

Mikhail Gorbachev, then Soviet leader, would later say that he thought the Chernobyl meltdown was perhaps the major cause of the collapse of the Soviet Union five years later.

When things began to open up, and even an acceptance of evangelistic crusades where multitudes were being saved, I started longing to go to Russia and the surrounding areas to be a part of the massive harvest of souls.  But my God had other plans for me.  Every possibility I saw for going was hindered in many ways, so much so, I stopped attempting to go.

In 1995, God opened the way and called me to go as part of a team to train pastors of unregistered churches in ministry and to provide them with much needed church and Sunday School supplies.  This would be my first direct connection with untrained pastors in nations where churches which felt the openness to the Gospel would be short lived.  Their testimonies were heartrending, yet powerful.   I attended and preached in many such churches.  I saw a hunger for God and His Word there that I had only longed for in America.   Their members would likely walk for miles and be at least an hour early in the hopes of getting to sit rather than stand.

The following year, I was enlisted to be a participant in a Prayerwalking Team throughout China with the Every Home for Christ Ministries under the Presidency of Dick Eastman.   C. Richard Smith was our team leader on the trip.   That was a very exciting and intriguing month-long journey in a vast land that had animosity against the Church of Christ Jesus; Communism was the strict rule.   While there, we had some very discrete encounters with underground/house-churches and their pastors.  Persecution was strong and always a threat to the safety of the church, possessions, and members; leadership was a major target to hinder or end the life of the church.  Execution, beatings, or prison could be expected at any moment of any day.

Every Christian I spoke with in these churches I asked, “How may I pray for you and your church?”    The answers were nearly the same words: “Do not pray that persecution ends; the church is rapidly growing in persecution!”

Yet another two years, and I was recruited, by Tom Cox Ministries and the International Mission Board of the SBC, to build and train a Prayerwalking Team to spend about a month in my former place of residence, Vietnam.   As in China, again, Communism; again persecutions against Christian churches.

There were too many miracles and blessings to list here, but I will say there are many strong believers in that land.  We saw approximate 250 persons saved under the careful watching of the Communist Catholic Bishop.   And prior to our flight back home, we were invited by the father of our month long interpreter.   He had heard that there were three US Vietnam war veterans that his daughter was interpreting for, and as a high ranking South Vietnamese Military Officer, he wanted to meet us and ask a question.

The father’s question was, “Tell me about this Jesus my daughter has heard you speaking about.”  

We slowly shared Christ with our new friend, and he was saved.  After a few minutes of celebration, we asked his permission to share Jesus with his wife, who had been in another part of the home.  He agreed, and after several minutes of revealing the Good News to her, she was saved.  One by one, the whole family received Christ.  The father’s last words to us was to explain that because of who he was and how he had serve the military of the South in the war, he nor his family could ever worship with other believers because of the threat of death would be on the entire household.

Persecution;   –Jesus had warned us that if they persecuted Him, they would certainly persecute us.   And His words have proven true throughout these 2,000 years in nearly all parts of the world . . . except, the “New World,” America.

Fast forward to 2020 . . . Covid 19 . . . “Safe at Home” isolation . . . closing of schools and businesses . . . closing of places of Worship, our churches.  Many churches went to online services, FB live, You Tube, and later, parking lot service with FM transmission into the cars.  At some point, churches were allowed to resume in-church services with many extreme restrictions, including masks and social distancing, limited number in attendance, plus disinfecting everything often.

Here in California, the governor banned all singing and chanting in Worship while Walmart , protesters and other large groups continued with little to no restraints.   Then finally, also in California, the governor once again closed churches with a ban, indefinitely, on indoor public gatherings.

America is in trouble from all sides it seems.   No secret here; there are forces within America trying to belittle, divide, and hold captive true Patriots.  These forces are working overtime, having huge financial and political backers, to promote protests, and rioting using violence, murder, looting and arson.   They are striving to destroy any memory of unity, though fragile at best, among our citizens.  Racism is, and always has been, an ugly word; more than an ugly word, it is an ugly action against one another.   It should not be in our world anywhere, between any peoples, but it is here.   No disrespect to anyone intended, but it seems we are moving toward becoming the world’s largest concentration camp.

So, the question:  “Is the Church in America experiencing persecution at this present time?”

Immediate Answer:     Not the same extent that the rest of the world has experienced for thousands of years, but that door is certainly open.   I have known we would at least taste what they have experienced for decades.   I try to resist the “I told you so” approach, but something must finally awaken the church in America.   We somehow need to understand, now that it is here, how do we function?

The Church is spending more time and energy crying out, complaining, more to one another through social mediums, about and against those who are inconveniencing her, than they are crying to the One Who can set her free!

What are we to do?   What are the church’s options?  Is this the “New Norm?”

Those are big questions having many answers which may not be seen or known at the moment, but here are some starting points:

Pray!   Listen!  Pray!  Listen!  Be aware!  Prepare!   Remain faithful!   Stand up!  Speak the Truth in love, firmly!  Plan, prepare, seek methods to continue gathering in Worship, the Word, fellowship and encouragement, knowing full well the possibility of a hidden, underground movement may be near unless the LORD intervenes. 

 In any event, do not stop being who and Who’s you are!  Anticipate the Rapture!   “Even so, Come, LORD Jesus, Amen!”  

Come Alive, Church, Pray On!

American Family Association: CNN Ignores Don Lemon’s Offensive and False Narrative on Jesus

Petition Drive Calls for ‘CNN Tonight’ Anchor’s Apology

TUPELO, Miss.—During one of last week’s episodes of “CNN Tonight,” CNN anchor Don Lemon recklessly insulted Christians everywhere by claiming Jesus “admittedly was not perfect,” drawing a rebuke from American Family Association (AFA, afa.net)—and sparking an AFA petition drive.

While discussing the issue of statues and monuments of historical Confederate figures, Lemon said, “Jesus Christ—if you believe in, if that’s who you believe in, Jesus Christ—admittedly was not perfect when he was here on this earth. So why are we deifying the founders of this country, many of whom owned slaves?”

American Family Association President Tim Wildmon responded by writing a letter to the AFA network, stating, “Sign our petition to CNN, insisting it require Don Lemon to issue an apology for the false and insensitive claim that the Son of God was not perfect during His walk on earth.”

“Lemon’s anti-Christian rhetoric was quickly denounced by many well-known Christian leaders,” Wildmon goes on to write, giving examples:

“Mike Huckabee tweeted, ‘Just when I didn’t think Don Lemon could say something any dumber than stuff he’s already said, he ‘dons’ his ecclesiastical hat and declares ‘Jesus wasn’t perfect.’ In the faith world, we call that kind of arrogant comment ‘blasphemy,’” Wildmon writes.

“Pastor Robert Jeffress told Fox News, ‘Don Lemon’s comments are, first of all, heretical and it contradicts the most basic tenet of the Christian faith and demonstrates how tone-deaf the left is to faith issues.’”

Wildmon continued, “Legendary NFL coach Tony Dungy called Lemon to task, tweeting, ‘I’m sorry, Mr. Lemon, but just who ‘admitted’ that Jesus Christ was not perfect here on earth? Not anyone who believes the Bible. Not anyone who trusts in Jesus as their savior. I’m not sure the point you’re making but your premise is dead wrong. That was the point in Jesus coming!’”

At the time of AFA’s petition launch, Lemon had not responded to the criticism and CNN had been silent, signaling its intention to let Lemon’s offensive and false narrative go without reprimand.

For more than 40 years, AFA has operated within the mission to inform, equip, and activate individuals to strengthen the moral foundations of American culture and give aid to the church here and abroad in its task of fulfilling the Great Commission. Visit AFA Action Alerts here.

View the media page for AFA here. For more information on American Family Association, visit www.afa.net or follow AFA on Facebook or Twitter @AmericanFamAssc.