What America's Churches Need is PERSECUTION!

Pastor John F. MacArthur stated from "Persecution: A Price to Pay for Being a Christian?" when he interviewed Pastor Daniel Wong from China, "I am absolutely 100% convinced that the weakness of the church in America, the superficiality of the church, the shallowness of the church, the hypocrisy of the church is directly related to the absence of any cost or any price to be paid to be a Christian. If you don't have to pay a price, heh, just jump on the bandwagon. If persecution came to America, you see a very different kind of Christianity. A whole lot of people who are really good to talk about Jesus wont be talking about Jesus any more. Who profess to know Jesus and to be part of the church, they will stop talking very fast if the price was as high as it is for some people."

Here's what - America's Christians have become so lukewarm that it became inevitable for the following to happen:

• Taking away the Bibles in 1962-present from the public school system and replacing them with the philosophy of humanism. It has become a system that questions God but worships man.
• After the Bible was taken away, it has become illegal to soul win in the public schools and taking away the ten commandments was a sign.
• Radical atheists have created the "Rational" Response Squad. Pastor Ray Comfort of Living Waters has become a discomfort to these people they really want him DEAD after he called them for what they are- the Irrational Response Squad for misleading people away from God's free gift of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ.
• Immorality is now being licensed such as same-sex marriage. One time that Pastor John F. Macarthur spoke on Larry King Live, after he dared to attack the issue that it's immoral- woah the Youtube upload had plenty of negative comments that the channel had to disable comments! Also, is it surprising to a Christian that Pastor Paul David Washer is being attacked without mercy for saying that practices like liquor should be washed off from the list of legal stuff? Not at all!
• The family life is destroyed- not ever since BOTH mom and dad work, then mom can't be at home to take care of the home. The Bible's original setting was the father works (unless he becomes incapacitated or dies) and the mother takes care of the home and the children (unless the father dies). The children are instead left at the care of a mean babysitter or daycare centers. What is worse is that many things the Bible considers wrong are considered now as "right" by such stupidity. Is it any wonder why America's children are becoming rebellious too? It all starts with parental example and children rebel because of frustration. When a bitter attitude is removed, rebellion will be lessened. When pampering is removed, rebellion will be lessened. A right balance of discipline and indulgence must always be met. Jesus was never on the extremes of mercy and justice.
• Christians are frequently blamed for things that go wrong. It's not a new issue. If Nero could do it, many others can. Hate blogs are still surrounding doing so. Again, this blog will refuse to give out their URLs to avoid giving them any more traffic than they already have nor enable comments to avoid them from commenting here!

And why the need for persecution? Here's why:

Persecution keeps Christians closer to God than they are now. Although Christians may not be living like devils but the issue is simply compromise. Pastor Paul David Washer has addressed the problem of the Christian youth is when they compromise with devils when they are not devils. He also dared to preach about the truth of separation not fellowship with the workers of darkness.

Wherever Christianity is banned and assaulted, it flourishes. Strange but true. For example:

• In Jerusalem, the death of Stephen only multiplied the Church and converted persecutors to soul winners. From Nero's direct assaults to Constantine's perverted Christianity, they could not stop true Christianity from spreading. In fact, Saul of Tarsus became the greatest evangelist the Bible has known! Peter's imprisonment didn't stop him from carrying out his work as the first pastor in Jerusalem!
• The Inquisition drowned the world into the dark ages yet it was also at that time John Huss, Martin Luther (no way linked to Lutheranism), John Knox, Matthew Henry and John Calvin preached and many were converted. The trial of Martin Luther didn't stop the Bible from being opened to commoners despite the fact it was anathema to Catholicism.
• Francisco Franco's attempt to get rid of the Bible only turned some of his properties into Bible printing presses.
• In China, Mao Zedong's attempt to get rid of Christianity with the country at his disposal only made him spend useless billions that could have been used to strengthen the economy. In fact, the efforts of the late Baptist pastor, Pastor Hudson Taylor didn't go in vain as he also became indirectly responsible for the formation of one of the most outstanding schools ever in the Philippines, Bethany Christian School in Cebu City as the late Lady Lim Siok Kiao was a convert of his.
• In the Philippines which is dominantly Catholic, opposition by the cultural mindset only caused the late Pastor Bob Hughes' evangelism to boom! Pastor Armie F. Jesalva continues to preach today, him and his fellow warriors to whom he is an older brother in Christ. Pastor Kent P. Jesalva still extends his hands in Mandaue City, bringing revival wherever it is needed despite opposition.
• Opposition of fundamental, conservative Christian schools like Bethany Christian School in Cebu only made enrollment bigger later on and increasing the number of graduates. Think about Bethany's beginnings- it was just a small school, the first batch was merely eight graduates but now the school has expanded that they had to build a second building and build a bigger auditorium equivalent to the size of Bible Baptist Church's worship center. Many Catholics who enrolled got converted to true Christianity despite the fact they know their own family could disown them! There may be false conversions but God will weed them out!

Persecution separates the Judas Iscariots from the disciples. Pastor Ray Comfort's sermon on "True and False Conversion" shows how persecution weeds out those who are once saved-always saved from the never saved to begin with. 1 John 2:19 shows that those who departed were NOT SAVED to start with and Judas Iscariot rather than count the cost, counted the cash and in the end committed suicide as the last mark of him being unsaved. Consider the fact that Judas Iscariot was never saved to start with as he never even called Jesus Christ as Lord. No Christian can deny Jesus as Lord. Today many Judas Iscariots call Jesus as "Lord" only for the purpose of sarcasm- they are not His. No wonder Jesus warned of many who'd call Him Lord but He is not their Lord. As said, receiving Jesus Christ as Lord is vital to salvation- in the sense that to receive Him for WHO HE IS apart from all works and merit- that also puts salvation in a "prayer" void too!