Excerpt [with comments by Dr. Fred Thompson] from
the February issue of Dr. David Jeremiah’s Turning
Points
In 2010, I knew I
couldn't remain quiet. In the wake of the economic upheaval in 200 7-2 00 8, I
had already written three books on world-level concerns, looking through a biblical
lens. I thought I had said what I needed to. But as I looked around at how
rapidly things were changing, I couldn't look the other way. I had to speak
out—and this time, sound an alarm.
About
what? you ask. About the moral and spiritual state of our world, our nation,
our communities, and yes, some churches. I was seeing things in those days that
I never thought I would see—a moral and spiritual drift further and further
away from biblical standards. I felt we were at a crossroads.
The
fruit of that burden was published in 2011—a book titled I Never Thought I'd
See the Day!—Culture at the Crossroads. I wrote about topics like militant
atheism, Christians missing-in-action in spiritual warfare, the profaning of
Jesus in the media, marriage becoming an option, the freefall of morality, the
marginalization of the Bible, the increasing irrelevance of the Church, the
rise of militant Islam, and America's failure to stand by Israel and why that failure
threatens America's future.
By
the time the book was published, about five months after turning in the
manuscript, I felt there was already more to add! Things are happening so fast
in our culture and our world that I could publish a new chapter each month.
Think what we have seen just in the last five years—Russia reasserting itself
as a global superpower with implications for the prophetic future; the
media-fueled barbarity of the so-called "Islamic State" (ISIS); the
United States Supreme Court changing the definition of marriage and the
trickle-down effects on the definition of family; the White House being
decorated with rainbow lights to ally itself with the radical LGBT movement;
the demonic rise of mass murders in schools and public venues; the increasing
fragility of the world's economic order; the increasing threats to people by
droughts, floods, and other climactic weather events; the rising status of
true, biblical Christians as the most persecuted and least tolerated minority
in the world; the federal government funding an organization that dissects
unborn babies and sells their body parts, and more [including infiltration of
the Muslim Brotherhood into influential positions in the administration].
Something
is going on, dear friends. And we Christians, more than any other people, need
to be aware and equipped. We need to be sensitive to the changes God is
allowing in our world, and we need to know how to live in the midst of them. We
need to know how to be in the world without being of the world—regardless of
what costs may come.
In
this [February 2016] issue of Turning
Points we are going to reprise the theme of the last chapter of I Never
Thought I'd See the Day! That chapter is titled, "When Changing Your Mind
Could Save Your Life In other words, it is easy to be overwhelmed by what seems
to be the deterioration, if not the destruction, of what we have held dear for
many generations in America. We are a nation founded on Judeo-Christian values
that are being routinely attacked and set aside. We no longer live in a Christ-friendly
culture.
More
than anything, we need to know how to live actively, not passively, for Christ.
We have not been commissioned to live a defensive life but a life on the move.
The Great Commission of Christ commands us to go into our neighborhoods and our
culture with the Gospel. We are to be heaven's ambassadors, extending the love,
joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and
self-control of Christ to those who do not know Him. We are called to be salt
and light—to push back the darkness and preserve the flavor of God on this
earth.
These
are not days of fear and frustration, but of faith! If ever the Church of
Christ has needed to take up the sword of the Spirit which is the Word of God,
it is now. God is in control. Christ is Lord over all. The Spirit offers us His
gifts, counsel, and fruit. Our task is to embrace our calling, follow the lead
of our Lord, and bring light and liberty through the Gospel. Please join me to
those ends in this month's issue of Turning Points
View Turning Points by David Jeremiah —
on the web at: https://www.facebook.com/drdavidjeremiah/
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