Comments on: The Decline Of Christianity In America http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america Telling The World About The Signs Of The Last Days Before The Return Of The Lord Jesus Christ Sun, 12 May 2013 04:50:00 +0000 hourly 1 By: Joshua http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-16079 Joshua Tue, 24 Jul 2012 21:55:17 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-16079 This isn't a bad thing. People are simply realizing that a religion innately based on fear instead of love is no longer relevant. Yes, I know it touts love, but it's merely love of religion, not the unconditional love for others that Christianity loves to talk about, and simultaneously loves to ignore. Dogmas are simply archaic, they're not needed. In fact, dogmas provably constrain morality, not provoke it, and people are simply being honest with themselves about how problematic this untenable system is. Mind you, this all comes from a former Christian, who was exceedingly sincere and devout in their beliefs. It was in fact the same sincerity and love for honesty that led me away from it. There is no fear in love? I agree. But apply that to common Christian beliefs, and you'll soon develop a lovely case of cognitive dissonance. I like Christ. Christ is great, have nothing against him. Was he the son of God? No idea. Does it matter? Not really. What matters are ideas, and what ideas produce in people. Remember a tree bears fruit after its own kind? Ideas do that. You have to see what fruit ideas produce. And fundamentalist Christianity consistently produces terrible fruit. It's simply too evident to ignore. Hence the premise for your article. This isn’t a bad thing. People are simply realizing that a religion innately based on fear instead of love is no longer relevant. Yes, I know it touts love, but it’s merely love of religion, not the unconditional love for others that Christianity loves to talk about, and simultaneously loves to ignore. Dogmas are simply archaic, they’re not needed. In fact, dogmas provably constrain morality, not provoke it, and people are simply being honest with themselves about how problematic this untenable system is. Mind you, this all comes from a former Christian, who was exceedingly sincere and devout in their beliefs. It was in fact the same sincerity and love for honesty that led me away from it. There is no fear in love? I agree. But apply that to common Christian beliefs, and you’ll soon develop a lovely case of cognitive dissonance. I like Christ. Christ is great, have nothing against him. Was he the son of God? No idea. Does it matter? Not really. What matters are ideas, and what ideas produce in people. Remember a tree bears fruit after its own kind? Ideas do that. You have to see what fruit ideas produce. And fundamentalist Christianity consistently produces terrible fruit. It’s simply too evident to ignore. Hence the premise for your article.

]]> By: Garry Ragone http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-16001 Garry Ragone Sat, 07 Jul 2012 19:09:34 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-16001 Why My Walk With God Was Pathetic! When you witness evil and do naught, the devil knows your soul can be bought! And if your soul can be bought, your entire life is for naught! My wife and I were having a conversation with some friends recently at a bible study and we were discussing our relationship with God. We have been saved Christians for a long time but we all came to the same disappointing conclusion. Our relationship with God was not where it needed to be, was not where we wanted it to be and it certainly was not where it should be. In other words our relationship with God was lacking in many, many ways and nobody really had a definitive answer. If anyone had any thoughts no one spoke up. The age group of the people in this discussion range from mid fifties to mid seventies. One of the people attending the bible study made an out of the blue and alarming comment. This person said they found the bible study boring! My first reaction after that comment was is this person serious, I was stunned! However on the way home that evening I thought about this and by the time I got home, I said to myself, this person was right. We are reading the word of God, discussing the word of God and yet the word that should be alive dancing in our hearts and minds was not! How could this be, how this was possible. Then something struck me to the most inner core of my being. We are reading verse after verse but ashamedly we are not living many of them therefore we are what I call fringe Christians. Now a fringe Christian is most likely a saved Christian going to Heaven but a fringe Christian is not experiencing the full intensity of God! This really has troubled me so what you are about to read is what I discovered in my own life after I took a long, long, long hard look in the mirror. What I am going to share is what I found out and most are not going to like my findings or suggestions. I found three negatives in my own life and if they stand out in your life I pray this helps. My prayer life sucked, I spent too little time studying God’s word and one I already knew but lived in denial of, being part of the absolute corrupt pleasures of this world by not dealing with certain sin in my life! A Christian has to live in this world but a Christian does not have to be part of the world. Since we can’t leave this world until God is ready we must learn to live above the vileness. This is the part most Christians including myself have great difficulty with. I have no one to blame but myself but part of the responsibility also falls on the church. There are too many lukewarm Christians that are neither cold nor hot attending scores of churches that are nothing more than Sunday morning dead bone make me feel good centers. However, blaming the church is not an acceptable excuse for Christians following the corruption of the world. Christians fail miserably because they lose focus and become blind forgetting the world and the Christian can in no way co-exist. Here is what this whole thing boils down to; God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! This deserves repeating, God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! We cannot, we must not ever put the world before God but Christians do it all the time and do you know how we do it, we cheat ourselves out of God’s blessings by wasting our time on indulgence of this world! Consider only your leisure time because time will vary with those who work, raising a family and those retired. Okay here comes the first lightning strike; what ever time you spend on leisure give God the exact same amount of time. Second lightning strike, even if you do you are still in the world half the time! Third lightning strike and this is the tough one, eventually all your leisure time must be devoted to God! Christians can never live side by side with the world and expect to be righteous. If you do not spend more time with God the world will eventually take over all your time and if you doubt here is the proof; this nation is it more moral or immoral? We all know the answer yet do little to rectify what we know to be right. Then on top of all this we want God to solve all our problems cure all our ills and when our lives get into chaos we then and only then cry out to God for instant help. How can we even think like this when we continually disobey Him? Now here is a word we don’t often hear, obedience! The reason we don’t hear it often is simple, nobody likes to obey anything. Well I am going to tell you something flat out and you better get it through your head. Until we obey God, submit to God and put our entire reliance in God we will always just be fringe Christians. I want you to remember something, I am not just writing this to you, I am writing it to remind myself because the more I write the more I know I will be rereading this repeatedly. I pray you have the courage to read on and if you do you are going to have to face up to some things you may have never faced up to in your entire life. You either have more of the world in you or you have more of God in you. When you finish this you will know without any doubt! We need to all grasp something of which many churches have become lax about and some are afraid to teach! The Word of God has no middle ground, it cannot be compromised it cannot be diluted; it means what it says and has never changed and never will. I am going to say some things you are not going to like and if you think I am wrong at least have the courage to tell me! If you do challenge me please back up your challenge with the word of God! Let there be no doubt, Satan is in charge of this world and to deny that fact makes you delusional living in a land of secular political correct claptrap. Everything that is not of God is of Satan. This needs repeating, everything that is not of God is of Satan! When you finish reading this and it turns out you have more of the world in you than God, are a regular church attendee Christian and shocked to learn this it is time to take action. So what is a Christian to do? Here is the part you are really not going to like. If your church is not teaching this I would ask your pastor why he does not. If he cannot explain in simple terms why they do not I would find another church that does and do not be surprised if you can’t find one. And what should they be teaching; God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! So, how do we do this? 1 John 2 15-16 17 NKJV: 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever. The following are the same verses with a little different twist. 1 John 2 15-16 17 The Message: Don’t love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all it’s wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity. Let’s expand this one a little. “Don’t love the world’s ways.” This is pretty simple, if you truly examine the ways of the world you know they all conflict with word of God. Can you give one example of the traditions of the world that are in perfect harmony with the word of God? “Don’t love the world’s goods.” In the industrialized world material goods are nothing more than a diversion by the devil. The sheer magnitude and variety keeps us wanting more and more. “Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.” How about we say it this way, Love for the Father squeezes out love of the world. Christians this says it all, stop trying to have it both ways! Most Christians have read these verses a bazillion times but I doubt anyone has ever asked you to do what I am going to ask you to do. As I said, most are not going to like this but I do not write to make you feel good, I write to stimulate thought to prayerfully change hearts so we may become strong Christians. A weak Christian rarely brings anyone to Christ! Everything and I mean everything in this world that is not of God is under the authority of the devil! He works tirelessly by every evil means to cheat you out of what God has for you. What do I mean give up everything of this world that is not of God? Exactly what it says God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! Let me make it crystal clear. If you want more of God in your life this is the price you must pay. Have I totally given up everything of the world, God I wish the answer were yes but know I make progress each and every day! Everything you do that is not of God separates you from God. Most people are completely consumed by the false pleasures and treasures of this world never understanding how it blots out all God have for you. We must admit to ourselves; are we guilty of any of the following? We must be honest with ourselves and examine each one to see if any influence our lives. The World will never admit to these because they are precisely what the world bows down and worships each and every day. Pride is an excessive belief in one's own abilities. Envy wants what others have, be it status, abilities, or possessions. Gluttony is the desire to eat or consume more than you require. Lust is a powerful craving for such as sex, power and money. Anger is the loss of rational self-control and the desire to harm others. Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain. Sloth is laziness and the avoidance of work. At this point you have an important decision to make. It is a decision that should be a no brainer but unfortunately many will make the wrong choice. Do you want more of God in your life or do you want more of the world in your life? You can’t have it both ways! This is my concern with the church. The church tries to maintain a balance of living partly in the world and partly of God and they have failed at it miserably. It cannot be done but the conventional wisdom of the day continues to pursue the wide road to destruction ignoring the obvious. If the church were successful this nation would be far more moral than immoral. If the church taught in earnest God is only alive when Christians put the world to death their attendance numbers would drop. Most pastors mistakenly think a drop in attendance would be the end of the world when in reality it would be a blessing. This is my analogy, a God fearing church congregation swept into Heaven numbering little sure beats a large mega dead bones church swept into hell. The average church figures if they can keep the people coming back they may be able to reach them sooner or later with softball teaching. Nothing could be further from the truth because the weak are anchored to the world. Until the anchor chain is severed by the Holy Sprit the church is just playing church. The proof again is simple; is our culture more moral or immoral? If you say immoral than what the church does is not working and if you say moral, you know you have more of the world in you than God in you! Could it be any simpler than this? Giving up the world is for most going to be awfully difficult. We will never succeed without the help of God, a consistent prayer life; reading the word every day and a church not afraid to preach the unwavering word even if it means their attendance drops. Oh I can hear the outcries now but until we do these things we will never have a true relation or reverence for God the way we should! Remember God said He is a jealous God; 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NKJV) For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Do you know what God is saying here? He wants us for himself! Try and let this sink in, I AM, the Living God who spoke the universe into existence wants YOU for Himself. If this does not have you on your knees crying out to God I do not know what will! We are dim-witted dolts to think anything in this world is worth going to hell for when God freely gives us eternal life to live with Him! If you feel any other way there certainly is more world in you! Romans, 12:2 (The Message Version) So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—you’re sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you. Romans 12:2 (Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect. Romans, 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. I don’t remember anyone ever telling me following Jesus Christ was going to be easy so let’s get right to the point. Romans, 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, OK, so what does this mean, (do not be conformed to this world.) Very plainly for now we live in the world but are to have nothing to do (other than nature) with anything this world offers or admires. Can you name one thing this world offers or admires (other than nature) that is of benefit to your spiritual growth? When it comes right down to it everything the world offers or admires hinders your spiritual growth! This is a hard teaching but I do not know any other way to put it. Time is what most Christians waste and if the majority of our time is not devotion to God then we become more conformed to this world. We were not created to relish in the pleasures and treasures of this world, we were created to worship the living God and to prepare ourselves to be with Him for an eternity. Once we become Christians does not mean we board the cruise ship saved to float around above the wickedness of this world waiting for Jesus to return. What it does mean is we are now to join the battle empowered by the Holy Spirit to confront evil that no longer has any power over us so we may bring others to Jesus Christ. That is our command from God! As for me I write thought provoking letters like this one getting them out anyway I can mostly by email and my blog Enrage The Devil. My biggest frustration is very few respond to what I write and I have sent out thousands. I can’t even get anyone disagreeing with me so I guess maybe the truth hurts. What truly breaks my heart is no one has ever asked what they can do to help me. But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Ok, so what does this mean? Very plainly you are to fill you mind with things of God and not of this world. Will our mind be renewed by the cesspool the world offers from Hollywood and its godless clueless celebrities? Will our mind be renewed by the cesspool the world offers from the music industry? Will our mind be renewed by the cesspool the world offers with all the modern electronics and social media? Will our mind be renewed by the magazines at the supermarket check out? Do you not understand everything is designed by Satan to take up your time so you will have no time to spend with God? There is but only one way to renew you mind; you must spend more time with God than you spend with the world. When you come to the realization everything in this world not of God steals your time away from God. Worldly indulgence is nothing more than a distraction of the devil to keep your eyes off God. Why is this so hard for people to understand and why this is so hard for the church to understand? Now I am going to really get in your face. Most people and the church do understand but are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices because they fear man more than God! You must carefully and consciously only allow yourself to be influenced by God. All other influence is from hell! Is it possible to love God and the world at the same time? In plain language NO! If you think you can you would be dead wrong. Our sanctimonious culture should be ashamed but they are not. Many Christians are able to attend church on Sunday morning attend a R rated movie in the afternoon go to dinner at Hooters for dinner come home and watch Sex In The City and then the next day tell everyone what a great weekend they had ignoring the obvious. Are we insane, no just dim-witted dolts? Now you know what I mean when I say, where is the leadership especially leadership with courage? Instead we have scoundrel politicians and timid church leaders hiding under secular political correctness. I bet you didn’t know this but God is as politically correct as they come, you can read all about His political correctness from Genesis to Revelation. Luke 10:27 (NKJV) So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.” If we are commanded of God to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength and all our mind how could there possibly be anything left in our being for anything this world offers? This one verse stands alone leaving no doubt how we should conduct ourselves as Christians yet we fail miserably. We fail partly because the modern day church with its weakened theology under the guise of not wanting to offend anyone has been duped itself. If you have any doubts about weakened theology which does not get any weaker than this. Please read the following carefully. How could any church, religious denomination that uses the Holy Bible as a basis of their faith ordain homosexuals into the ministry? I don’t hate homosexuals, it is the sin I hate just as I hate sin in my own life. The following is a piece I pulled off the internet. Will your mind be renewed by this cesspool or will it appeal to your immoral side? I no longer have any use for anything Hollywood cranks out and this piece is a perfect example of how the devil uses Hollywood for his diabolic schemes. I no longer go to movies and rarely watch any movies on television. When you read the following and you do not see much wrong with this you certainly have more of the world in you than God. “One of the films that made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival this week is "The Paperboy," starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, and Zac Efron. The film is based on Pete Dexter's 1995 novel of the same name, and is about a reporter (McConaughey) investigating the wrongful conviction of a creepy inmate (Cusack). Kidman plays a woman who is super hot for Cusack's character, while Efron plays McConaughey's brother, and somewhere along the way, Efron's character gets stung by a jelly fish and Kidman urinates on him. Apparently, the movie is getting panned by critics, but I think it sounds worth seeing for that scene alone. "This is a movie that often seems to be missing important transitional scenes or specific inserts," wrote New York magazine's Kyle Buchanan in his review, "but you had better believe that when Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron, that camera is there." Also: "Yes, you get a close-up of the stream." Great.” Pretty disgusting is it not yet millions will go to see this movie and among these millions will be millions of Christians. Wow I just received a message from someone after sending out one of my letters to about 175 Moose members of which I am one. This was his response. (“Please don't use the LOOM email list to spread your misguided, false propaganda. It's disrespectful to the Moose, these emails were not given to you personally, so don't use them for your personal nonsense.”) My response to him was as follows, (“Since you decided to accuse me of being misguided, spreading false propaganda I respectively request you specifically back up your accusations of how I am misguided and what is false about what I have written. What is it in particular that seems to have bothered you? You further stated I was disrespectful to the Moose for using the email addresses for personal nonsense. You may rest assured sir, I am not disrespectful and I certainly never write nonsense. If the message offends you, I make no apology. From the sounds of your comments it seems I may have hit a nerve and my prayer is it will open your eyes. From a Christian perspective, I have spoken absolute truth and will use every means at my disposal to bring the saving grace of Jesus Christ to a dying world.”) FYI Just so you know, every email I receive I simply cut and paste the email addresses and use them as one avenue to send out my letters. What are you doing to bring Jesus Christ to the lost? The least you could do is forward this! I pray you never learn Revelation 3:15-16 the hard way. In His love, Garry Ragone Why My Walk With God Was Pathetic!

When you witness evil and do naught, the devil knows your soul can be bought!
And if your soul can be bought, your entire life is for naught!

My wife and I were having a conversation with some friends recently at a bible study and we were discussing our relationship with God. We have been saved Christians for a long time but we all came to the same disappointing conclusion. Our relationship with God was not where it needed to be, was not where we wanted it to be and it certainly was not where it should be. In other words our relationship with God was lacking in many, many ways and nobody really had a definitive answer. If anyone had any thoughts no one spoke up. The age group of the people in this discussion range from mid fifties to mid seventies. One of the people attending the bible study made an out of the blue and alarming comment. This person said they found the bible study boring! My first reaction after that comment was is this person serious, I was stunned!

However on the way home that evening I thought about this and by the time I got home, I said to myself, this person was right. We are reading the word of God, discussing the word of God and yet the word that should be alive dancing in our hearts and minds was not! How could this be, how this was possible. Then something struck me to the most inner core of my being. We are reading verse after verse but ashamedly we are not living many of them therefore we are what I call fringe Christians. Now a fringe Christian is most likely a saved Christian going to Heaven but a fringe Christian is not experiencing the full intensity of God! This really has troubled me so what you are about to read is what I discovered in my own life after I took a long, long, long hard look in the mirror.

What I am going to share is what I found out and most are not going to like my findings or suggestions. I found three negatives in my own life and if they stand out in your life I pray this helps. My prayer life sucked, I spent too little time studying God’s word and one I already knew but lived in denial of, being part of the absolute corrupt pleasures of this world by not dealing with certain sin in my life! A Christian has to live in this world but a Christian does not have to be part of the world. Since we can’t leave this world until God is ready we must learn to live above the vileness. This is the part most Christians including myself have great difficulty with. I have no one to blame but myself but part of the responsibility also falls on the church. There are too many lukewarm Christians that are neither cold nor hot attending scores of churches that are nothing more than Sunday morning dead bone make me feel good centers.

However, blaming the church is not an acceptable excuse for Christians following the corruption of the world. Christians fail miserably because they lose focus and become blind forgetting the world and the Christian can in no way co-exist. Here is what this whole thing boils down to; God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! This deserves repeating, God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! We cannot, we must not ever put the world before God but Christians do it all the time and do you know how we do it, we cheat ourselves out of God’s blessings by wasting our time on indulgence of this world! Consider only your leisure time because time will vary with those who work, raising a family and those retired. Okay here comes the first lightning strike; what ever time you spend on leisure give God the exact same amount of time. Second lightning strike, even if you do you are still in the world half the time! Third lightning strike and this is the tough one, eventually all your leisure time must be devoted to God! Christians can never live side by side with the world and expect to be righteous. If you do not spend more time with God the world will eventually take over all your time and if you doubt here is the proof; this nation is it more moral or immoral?

We all know the answer yet do little to rectify what we know to be right. Then on top of all this we want God to solve all our problems cure all our ills and when our lives get into chaos we then and only then cry out to God for instant help. How can we even think like this when we continually disobey Him? Now here is a word we don’t often hear, obedience! The reason we don’t hear it often is simple, nobody likes to obey anything. Well I am going to tell you something flat out and you better get it through your head. Until we obey God, submit to God and put our entire reliance in God we will always just be fringe Christians. I want you to remember something, I am not just writing this to you, I am writing it to remind myself because the more I write the more I know I will be rereading this repeatedly.

I pray you have the courage to read on and if you do you are going to have to face up to some things you may have never faced up to in your entire life. You either have more of the world in you or you have more of God in you. When you finish this you will know without any doubt! We need to all grasp something of which many churches have become lax about and some are afraid to teach! The Word of God has no middle ground, it cannot be compromised it cannot be diluted; it means what it says and has never changed and never will. I am going to say some things you are not going to like and if you think I am wrong at least have the courage to tell me! If you do challenge me please back up your challenge with the word of God!

Let there be no doubt, Satan is in charge of this world and to deny that fact makes you delusional living in a land of secular political correct claptrap. Everything that is not of God is of Satan. This needs repeating, everything that is not of God is of Satan! When you finish reading this and it turns out you have more of the world in you than God, are a regular church attendee Christian and shocked to learn this it is time to take action. So what is a Christian to do? Here is the part you are really not going to like. If your church is not teaching this I would ask your pastor why he does not. If he cannot explain in simple terms why they do not I would find another church that does and do not be surprised if you can’t find one. And what should they be teaching; God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! So, how do we do this?

1 John 2 15-16 17 NKJV: 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. 16 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. 17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The following are the same verses with a little different twist.

1 John 2 15-16 17 The Message: Don’t love the world’s ways. Don’t love the world’s goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father. Practically everything that goes on in the world—wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important—has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him. The world and all it’s wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out—but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.

Let’s expand this one a little. “Don’t love the world’s ways.” This is pretty simple, if you truly examine the ways of the world you know they all conflict with word of God. Can you give one example of the traditions of the world that are in perfect harmony with the word of God? “Don’t love the world’s goods.” In the industrialized world material goods are nothing more than a diversion by the devil. The sheer magnitude and variety keeps us wanting more and more. “Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.” How about we say it this way, Love for the Father squeezes out love of the world. Christians this says it all, stop trying to have it both ways! Most Christians have read these verses a bazillion times but I doubt anyone has ever asked you to do what I am going to ask you to do. As I said, most are not going to like this but I do not write to make you feel good, I write to stimulate thought to prayerfully change hearts so we may become strong Christians. A weak Christian rarely brings anyone to Christ!

Everything and I mean everything in this world that is not of God is under the authority of the devil! He works tirelessly by every evil means to cheat you out of what God has for you. What do I mean give up everything of this world that is not of God? Exactly what it says God is only alive when Christians put the world to death! Let me make it crystal clear. If you want more of God in your life this is the price you must pay. Have I totally given up everything of the world, God I wish the answer were yes but know I make progress each and every day! Everything you do that is not of God separates you from God. Most people are completely consumed by the false pleasures and treasures of this world never understanding how it blots out all God have for you.

We must admit to ourselves; are we guilty of any of the following? We must be honest with ourselves and examine each one to see if any influence our lives. The World will never admit to these because they are precisely what the world bows down and worships each and every day.

Pride is an excessive belief in one’s own abilities.

Envy wants what others have, be it status, abilities, or possessions.

Gluttony is the desire to eat or consume more than you require.

Lust is a powerful craving for such as sex, power and money.

Anger is the loss of rational self-control and the desire to harm others.

Greed is the desire for material wealth or gain.

Sloth is laziness and the avoidance of work.

At this point you have an important decision to make. It is a decision that should be a no brainer but unfortunately many will make the wrong choice. Do you want more of God in your life or do you want more of the world in your life? You can’t have it both ways! This is my concern with the church. The church tries to maintain a balance of living partly in the world and partly of God and they have failed at it miserably. It cannot be done but the conventional wisdom of the day continues to pursue the wide road to destruction ignoring the obvious. If the church were successful this nation would be far more moral than immoral. If the church taught in earnest God is only alive when Christians put the world to death their attendance numbers would drop. Most pastors mistakenly think a drop in attendance would be the end of the world when in reality it would be a blessing. This is my analogy, a God fearing church congregation swept into Heaven numbering little sure beats a large mega dead bones church swept into hell. The average church figures if they can keep the people coming back they may be able to reach them sooner or later with softball teaching. Nothing could be further from the truth because the weak are anchored to the world. Until the anchor chain is severed by the Holy Sprit the church is just playing church. The proof again is simple; is our culture more moral or immoral? If you say immoral than what the church does is not working and if you say moral, you know you have more of the world in you than God in you! Could it be any simpler than this?

Giving up the world is for most going to be awfully difficult. We will never succeed without the help of God, a consistent prayer life; reading the word every day and a church not afraid to preach the unwavering word even if it means their attendance drops. Oh I can hear the outcries now but until we do these things we will never have a true relation or reverence for God the way we should! Remember God said He is a jealous God; 2 Corinthians 11:2 (NKJV) For I am jealous for you with godly jealousy. For I have betrothed you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. Do you know what God is saying here? He wants us for himself! Try and let this sink in, I AM, the Living God who spoke the universe into existence wants YOU for Himself. If this does not have you on your knees crying out to God I do not know what will! We are dim-witted dolts to think anything in this world is worth going to hell for when God freely gives us eternal life to live with Him! If you feel any other way there certainly is more world in you!

Romans, 12:2 (The Message Version)
So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—you’re sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Romans 12:2 (Easy-to-Read Version (ERV) Don’t change yourselves to be like the people of this world, but let God change you inside with a new way of thinking. Then you will be able to understand and accept what God wants for you. You will be able to know what is good and pleasing to him and what is perfect.

Romans, 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

I don’t remember anyone ever telling me following Jesus Christ was going to be easy so let’s get right to the point. Romans, 12:2 (NKJV) And do not be conformed to this world, OK, so what does this mean, (do not be conformed to this world.) Very plainly for now we live in the world but are to have nothing to do (other than nature) with anything this world offers or admires. Can you name one thing this world offers or admires (other than nature) that is of benefit to your spiritual growth? When it comes right down to it everything the world offers or admires hinders your spiritual growth! This is a hard teaching but I do not know any other way to put it. Time is what most Christians waste and if the majority of our time is not devotion to God then we become more conformed to this world. We were not created to relish in the pleasures and treasures of this world, we were created to worship the living God and to prepare ourselves to be with Him for an eternity. Once we become Christians does not mean we board the cruise ship saved to float around above the wickedness of this world waiting for Jesus to return. What it does mean is we are now to join the battle empowered by the Holy Spirit to confront evil that no longer has any power over us so we may bring others to Jesus Christ. That is our command from God! As for me I write thought provoking letters like this one getting them out anyway I can mostly by email and my blog Enrage The Devil. My biggest frustration is very few respond to what I write and I have sent out thousands. I can’t even get anyone disagreeing with me so I guess maybe the truth hurts. What truly breaks my heart is no one has ever asked what they can do to help me.

But be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Ok, so what does this mean? Very plainly you are to fill you mind with things of God and not of this world. Will our mind be renewed by the cesspool the world offers from Hollywood and its godless clueless celebrities? Will our mind be renewed by the cesspool the world offers from the music industry? Will our mind be renewed by the cesspool the world offers with all the modern electronics and social media? Will our mind be renewed by the magazines at the supermarket check out? Do you not understand everything is designed by Satan to take up your time so you will have no time to spend with God? There is but only one way to renew you mind; you must spend more time with God than you spend with the world. When you come to the realization everything in this world not of God steals your time away from God. Worldly indulgence is nothing more than a distraction of the devil to keep your eyes off God. Why is this so hard for people to understand and why this is so hard for the church to understand? Now I am going to really get in your face. Most people and the church do understand but are unwilling to make the necessary sacrifices because they fear man more than God! You must carefully and consciously only allow yourself to be influenced by God. All other influence is from hell!

Is it possible to love God and the world at the same time? In plain language NO! If you think you can you would be dead wrong. Our sanctimonious culture should be ashamed but they are not. Many Christians are able to attend church on Sunday morning attend a R rated movie in the afternoon go to dinner at Hooters for dinner come home and watch Sex In The City and then the next day tell everyone what a great weekend they had ignoring the obvious. Are we insane, no just dim-witted dolts? Now you know what I mean when I say, where is the leadership especially leadership with courage? Instead we have scoundrel politicians and timid church leaders hiding under secular political correctness. I bet you didn’t know this but God is as politically correct as they come, you can read all about His political correctness from Genesis to Revelation.

Luke 10:27 (NKJV) So he answered and said, ‘You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.” If we are commanded of God to love Him with all our heart, with all our soul, with all our strength and all our mind how could there possibly be anything left in our being for anything this world offers? This one verse stands alone leaving no doubt how we should conduct ourselves as Christians yet we fail miserably. We fail partly because the modern day church with its weakened theology under the guise of not wanting to offend anyone has been duped itself. If you have any doubts about weakened theology which does not get any weaker than this. Please read the following carefully. How could any church, religious denomination that uses the Holy Bible as a basis of their faith ordain homosexuals into the ministry? I don’t hate homosexuals, it is the sin I hate just as I hate sin in my own life.

The following is a piece I pulled off the internet. Will your mind be renewed by this cesspool or will it appeal to your immoral side? I no longer have any use for anything Hollywood cranks out and this piece is a perfect example of how the devil uses Hollywood for his diabolic schemes. I no longer go to movies and rarely watch any movies on television. When you read the following and you do not see much wrong with this you certainly have more of the world in you than God. “One of the films that made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival this week is “The Paperboy,” starring Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey, John Cusack, and Zac Efron. The film is based on Pete Dexter’s 1995 novel of the same name, and is about a reporter (McConaughey) investigating the wrongful conviction of a creepy inmate (Cusack). Kidman plays a woman who is super hot for Cusack’s character, while Efron plays McConaughey’s brother, and somewhere along the way, Efron’s character gets stung by a jelly fish and Kidman urinates on him. Apparently, the movie is getting panned by critics, but I think it sounds worth seeing for that scene alone. “This is a movie that often seems to be missing important transitional scenes or specific inserts,” wrote New York magazine’s Kyle Buchanan in his review, “but you had better believe that when Nicole Kidman pees on Zac Efron, that camera is there.” Also: “Yes, you get a close-up of the stream.” Great.” Pretty disgusting is it not yet millions will go to see this movie and among these millions will be millions of Christians.

Wow I just received a message from someone after sending out one of my letters to about 175 Moose members of which I am one. This was his response. (“Please don’t use the LOOM email list to spread your misguided, false propaganda. It’s disrespectful to the Moose, these emails were not given to you personally, so don’t use them for your personal nonsense.”) My response to him was as follows, (“Since you decided to accuse me of being misguided, spreading false propaganda I respectively request you specifically back up your accusations of how I am misguided and what is false about what I have written. What is it in particular that seems to have bothered you? You further stated I was disrespectful to the Moose for using the email addresses for personal nonsense. You may rest assured sir, I am not disrespectful and I certainly never write nonsense. If the message offends you, I make no apology. From the sounds of your comments it seems I may have hit a nerve and my prayer is it will open your eyes. From a Christian perspective, I have spoken absolute truth and will use every means at my disposal to bring the saving grace of Jesus Christ to a dying world.”) FYI Just so you know, every email I receive I simply cut and paste the email addresses and use them as one avenue to send out my letters.

What are you doing to bring Jesus Christ to the lost? The least you could do is forward this! I pray you never learn Revelation 3:15-16 the hard way.

In His love,

Garry Ragone

]]> By: JOHN COBB http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-15674 JOHN COBB Sat, 12 May 2012 20:58:11 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-15674 People are leaving churches because they are low life people in the first damn place.They stole land from indians,they enslaved Black Africans,and they claim god gave them America.How can a Christian steal someboby elses car,drive to church and preach in the pulp that God blessed them.If they came here to teach Indians about God,why couldnt they stay inEuropeand teach the people who were persecuting them.Christians are liars. People are leaving churches because they are low life people in the first damn place.They stole land from indians,they enslaved Black Africans,and they claim god gave them America.How can a Christian steal someboby elses car,drive to church and preach in the pulp that God blessed them.If they came here to teach Indians about God,why couldnt they stay inEuropeand teach the people who were persecuting them.Christians are liars.

]]> By: Shasiti http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-15286 Shasiti Sat, 07 Apr 2012 21:47:18 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-15286 To Steve@ To all you Christians that are now complaining that atheists and scientists are shoveing their beliefs down your throats, what the hell do you think you have been doing to non-believers since the Mayflower landed? I still have people knocking on my door every sat or sunday telling me about something I probably know more about then they do since my parents shoveled it down my throat all of my life until I said NO MORE. How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine?? How can you say Jesus is the only way to heaven. There are religions way older then Christianity. As far as religions go, Christianity and Moslems are very new on the market. You do not even know WHO wrote the bible yet you belive every word of it. At the beginning of every book and chapter in any version of the bible is a disclaimer that you, they or who ever wrote that particular bible states that they assume so and so wrote it. Out of all the books attributed to Paul only 6 or 7 have now been authenticated and the rest are forgeries, claimed to be written by Paul but have been proven frauds. This is by your own biblical theologians. Who wrote Hebrews?? No one knows. So how can you even say that Jesus even said the words that through him was the only way. Where was he when human were coming out of the trees and forming societies. When they were becoming Homo Sapiens?? Were was he then?? I believe Jesus was a man, but just a man. I believe that he tried to send a message of unconditional to everyone. That all men are brothers and created equal in god's eyes. Yet the Christians I have been raised with and forced to be around had no love in their heart for anyone but themselves and the people who where just like them. They were judgemental, had superior attitudes, as if they were better then anyone else. They hated gays and lesbians. They tried everyday to stop a womans right to have an abortion. That's unconditional love?? If you are so worried about the children then why not try to help the ones that are already here instead of standing in front of abortion clinics makeing a already difficult decision worse instead of supporting a woman's decision and be their to give her some of that uncontitional love that Christians are so well known for. You do not know this person, you do not know why she made this decision, you do not know any of the reasons she choose to terminate her pregnancy. What she needs at this time in her life instead of yelling Baby Killer at her, I'm sure that makes God so proud of you, is love and support with no questions asked. Non judgemental Christians. I can honestly say I have never met one!!! To Steve@ To all you Christians that are now complaining that atheists and scientists are shoveing their beliefs down your throats, what the hell do you think you have been doing to non-believers since the Mayflower landed? I still have people knocking on my door every sat or sunday telling me about something I probably know more about then they do since my parents shoveled it down my throat all of my life until I said NO MORE. How does it feel to get a taste of your own medicine??

How can you say Jesus is the only way to heaven. There are religions way older then Christianity. As far as religions go, Christianity and Moslems are very new on the market.

You do not even know WHO wrote the bible yet you belive every word of it. At the beginning of every book and chapter in any version of the bible is a disclaimer that you, they or who ever wrote that particular bible states that they assume so and so wrote it. Out of all the books attributed to Paul only 6 or 7 have now been authenticated and the rest are forgeries, claimed to be written by Paul but have been proven frauds. This is by your own biblical theologians. Who wrote Hebrews?? No one knows. So how can you even say that Jesus even said the words that through him was the only way. Where was he when human were coming out of the trees and forming societies. When they were becoming Homo Sapiens?? Were was he then??

I believe Jesus was a man, but just a man. I believe that he tried to send a message of unconditional to everyone. That all men are brothers and created equal in god’s eyes. Yet the Christians I have been raised with and forced to be around had no love in their heart for anyone but themselves and the people who where just like them. They were judgemental, had superior attitudes, as if they were better then anyone else. They hated gays and lesbians. They tried everyday to stop a womans right to have an abortion. That’s unconditional love?? If you are so worried about the children then why not try to help the ones that are already here instead of standing in front of abortion clinics makeing a already difficult decision worse instead of supporting a woman’s decision and be their to give her some of that uncontitional love that Christians are so well known for. You do not know this person, you do not know why she made this decision, you do not know any of the reasons she choose to terminate her pregnancy. What she needs at this time in her life instead of yelling Baby Killer at her, I’m sure that makes God so proud of you, is love and support with no questions asked.

Non judgemental Christians. I can honestly say I have never met one!!!

]]> By: Mark http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-15273 Mark Fri, 06 Apr 2012 16:33:11 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-15273 If you're looking for a reason why young people are abandoning your religion: ar·ro·gance noun \ˈer-ə-gən(t)s, ˈa-rə-\ Definition of ARROGANCE: An attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions “When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities” - David Hume If you’re looking for a reason why young people are abandoning your religion:

ar·ro·gance noun \ˈer-ə-gən(t)s, ˈa-rə-\

Definition of ARROGANCE:

An attitude of superiority manifested in an overbearing manner or in presumptuous claims or assumptions

“When men are most sure and arrogant they are commonly most mistaken, giving views to passion without that proper deliberation which alone can secure them from the grossest absurdities” – David Hume

]]> By: Howard Love http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-15238 Howard Love Mon, 02 Apr 2012 04:50:27 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-15238 Christianity has caused an amazing amount lot of suffering (inquisition, burning millions of people at the stake, etc.) and wars (20 or more crusades), all in Jesus' name. Shame! Jesus is know as 'the prince of peace'. He taught non-violence (turn the other cheek, resist not evil, even 'love your enemies'). How could the church practice the opposite of the one its church is founded upon? If they couldn't get Jesus' basic message right after almost 2000 years, how can they get anything right? Clearly the church has never been worthy of belief in anything they say. The only way they could keep the flocks together for so long was through persecution, fear, and guilt. They can't do it anymore because of laws and because of the internet. Thank God. Christianity has caused an amazing amount lot of suffering (inquisition, burning millions of people at the stake, etc.) and wars (20 or more crusades), all in Jesus’ name. Shame! Jesus is know as ‘the prince of peace’. He taught non-violence (turn the other cheek, resist not evil, even ‘love your enemies’). How could the church practice the opposite of the one its church is founded upon? If they couldn’t get Jesus’ basic message right after almost 2000 years, how can they get anything right? Clearly the church has never been worthy of belief in anything they say. The only way they could keep the flocks together for so long was through persecution, fear, and guilt. They can’t do it anymore because of laws and because of the internet. Thank God.

]]> By: Tracy Joseph http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-15052 Tracy Joseph Wed, 29 Feb 2012 22:35:44 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-15052 This is my last comment because frankly your website is full of rebell- ion. The Bible is truth..it's just incomplete truth. Out of all the bo- oks Torah-Psalms-Gospels-Quran all in one way or another have been re- written or changed by writers of the day except the Quran. It is in its original form since being revealed by the God of Abraham Allah. More good news: no one is born into original sin...that's man made; God cho- oses no particular people over others...we're all born equally and in equity; if your religion is so true why are your church pews so desert- ed? The mosque I attend is packed every Friday. People argue about Je- sus constantly but never about a book. If you have to go around evange- lizing and converting then maybe your religion is incomplete. People all over America and the world are turning to Quran because a book never argues. The truth is that people are born into FREE WILL and not sin. The truth is that there is no manifestation of God but only God's au- thority. No one is born free. We're created to follow the truth of being complete. It's sad to see the churches empty but truth has to stand on its own. This is my last comment because frankly your website is full of rebell-
ion. The Bible is truth..it’s just incomplete truth. Out of all the bo-
oks Torah-Psalms-Gospels-Quran all in one way or another have been re-
written or changed by writers of the day except the Quran. It is in its
original form since being revealed by the God of Abraham Allah. More good news: no one is born into original sin…that’s man made; God cho-
oses no particular people over others…we’re all born equally and in equity; if your religion is so true why are your church pews so desert-
ed? The mosque I attend is packed every Friday. People argue about Je-
sus constantly but never about a book. If you have to go around evange-
lizing and converting then maybe your religion is incomplete. People all
over America and the world are turning to Quran because a book never argues. The truth is that people are born into FREE WILL and not sin. The truth is that there is no manifestation of God but only God’s au-
thority. No one is born free. We’re created to follow the truth of being
complete. It’s sad to see the churches empty but truth has to stand on its own.

]]> By: Matthew McMillan http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-14415 Matthew McMillan Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:20:14 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-14415 Looks like education is working. Slowly though. There are people still holding on to certain bits out of fear and/or habit, comfort, tradition, symbolism, etc. But how many firmly held supernatural beliefs have to be turned on their head by critical thought and experimentation before we say, "okay, we messed up by investing ourselves in completely unfounded beliefs in the supernatural; we invested our entire beings in a rediculous fairy tale for centuries only to find that it cannot possibly be true. Its not a total loss, because the "holy books" we wrote include beautiful illustrations of our philosophies about how we should treat people, ourselves, the earth, etc. (the selected collection of writings we call the bible didn't create those philosophies, as history shows; the man we call Jesus who may or may not have existed was of course not the first to have the idea that we should "treat our neighbor as we treat ourselves"). So, lets take the rediculous parts, the physically impossible parts, the racist parts, the exclusionist parts and, YES, throw them in the dumpster. And lets start over, beginning with what we KNOW, and lets continue to question what we know, experiment, adjust philosophies and science as new evidence begins to reveal we were wrong about something. For centuries, we would claim we knew the absolute truth about a thing until the evidence piled up so high that it was screaming in our faces - then we would grudgingly, and only slightly, change our religous beliefs and interpretations of holy books to make them fit with what experience and logic and science had undeniably demonstrated (e.g. World is flat, Earth is center of universe, creation story, evolution, etc.). Then we would claim that new interpretation was the absolute truth and ignore the inconsistency of the fact that we had previously claimed something else was absolute truth." When do we say, "We're not gonna do that anymore because it doesn't make sense." Well, it looks like that is what is happening. It can't happen all at once because we don't all share one consciousness; we are not all realizing the same things at the same time. But when I realize something, I talk about it, and act on it. And because we have evolved to the point of living in highy developed communities, all my neighbors are exposed to my adopted and adjusted ideas and theories - and because of how advanced technology is, there is plenty of information avilable for everybody to test their new ideas and decide what the more reliable and consistent theories are. And there are universities for them to cut their teeth on, and really have their ideas challenged, allowing them to realize more things and change more. The trend is a positive one for us. Eventually, people will give up the idea of a God as being just as rediculous as the idea that the world is flat, or that all the things on earth just appeared a few thousand years ago and man was shaped out of clay by a giant man-like being in the sky. And then what do we have left to fight over? Ah yes, oil and water...but at least we'll have one less thing. Don't waste your energy rebutting me here because I won't be back. Spend that energy doing some critical thinking. Since it looks like this is a christian website, I'll explain what that is for you: it is OBJECTIVELY analyzing something using all relevant information available. Stop ignoring all the greatly reliable knowledge out there because it is what will really set you/us free. Stop believing whatever your emotions or your first intuition tell you, because our emotions, by definition, are stupid. There is nothing sacred or noble about unquestioning faith. It is only irresponsible, lazy, and gluttonous. We have begun (in the last 1000 years) to shift the focus of our energies to places that need it, like medicine and science and forward thinking philosophies. Don't turn your back on that progress; don't be an ostrich. Reject what doesn't make sense and the people who push it; speak out against them; question them to their faces; make them explain the things that don't make sense; ask the tough questions, and don't be shy or embarassed about it - but also don't be mean or angry about it or make fool of them in public, because we all made the same mistakes, but we're learning. Embarassing people in public will just make them run back to their church for comfort; for someone to tell them they are right and that other person was wrong. Lets all keep learning together - not try our best to forget or ignore what we're learning, as this article suggests. Looks like education is working. Slowly though. There are people still holding on to certain bits out of fear and/or habit, comfort, tradition, symbolism, etc. But how many firmly held supernatural beliefs have to be turned on their head by critical thought and experimentation before we say, “okay, we messed up by investing ourselves in completely unfounded beliefs in the supernatural; we invested our entire beings in a rediculous fairy tale for centuries only to find that it cannot possibly be true. Its not a total loss, because the “holy books” we wrote include beautiful illustrations of our philosophies about how we should treat people, ourselves, the earth, etc. (the selected collection of writings we call the bible didn’t create those philosophies, as history shows; the man we call Jesus who may or may not have existed was of course not the first to have the idea that we should “treat our neighbor as we treat ourselves”). So, lets take the rediculous parts, the physically impossible parts, the racist parts, the exclusionist parts and, YES, throw them in the dumpster. And lets start over, beginning with what we KNOW, and lets continue to question what we know, experiment, adjust philosophies and science as new evidence begins to reveal we were wrong about something. For centuries, we would claim we knew the absolute truth about a thing until the evidence piled up so high that it was screaming in our faces – then we would grudgingly, and only slightly, change our religous beliefs and interpretations of holy books to make them fit with what experience and logic and science had undeniably demonstrated (e.g. World is flat, Earth is center of universe, creation story, evolution, etc.). Then we would claim that new interpretation was the absolute truth and ignore the inconsistency of the fact that we had previously claimed something else was absolute truth.” When do we say, “We’re not gonna do that anymore because it doesn’t make sense.” Well, it looks like that is what is happening. It can’t happen all at once because we don’t all share one consciousness; we are not all realizing the same things at the same time. But when I realize something, I talk about it, and act on it. And because we have evolved to the point of living in highy developed communities, all my neighbors are exposed to my adopted and adjusted ideas and theories – and because of how advanced technology is, there is plenty of information avilable for everybody to test their new ideas and decide what the more reliable and consistent theories are. And there are universities for them to cut their teeth on, and really have their ideas challenged, allowing them to realize more things and change more. The trend is a positive one for us. Eventually, people will give up the idea of a God as being just as rediculous as the idea that the world is flat, or that all the things on earth just appeared a few thousand years ago and man was shaped out of clay by a giant man-like being in the sky. And then what do we have left to fight over? Ah yes, oil and water…but at least we’ll have one less thing. Don’t waste your energy rebutting me here because I won’t be back. Spend that energy doing some critical thinking. Since it looks like this is a christian website, I’ll explain what that is for you: it is OBJECTIVELY analyzing something using all relevant information available. Stop ignoring all the greatly reliable knowledge out there because it is what will really set you/us free. Stop believing whatever your emotions or your first intuition tell you, because our emotions, by definition, are stupid. There is nothing sacred or noble about unquestioning faith. It is only irresponsible, lazy, and gluttonous. We have begun (in the last 1000 years) to shift the focus of our energies to places that need it, like medicine and science and forward thinking philosophies. Don’t turn your back on that progress; don’t be an ostrich. Reject what doesn’t make sense and the people who push it; speak out against them; question them to their faces; make them explain the things that don’t make sense; ask the tough questions, and don’t be shy or embarassed about it – but also don’t be mean or angry about it or make fool of them in public, because we all made the same mistakes, but we’re learning. Embarassing people in public will just make them run back to their church for comfort; for someone to tell them they are right and that other person was wrong. Lets all keep learning together – not try our best to forget or ignore what we’re learning, as this article suggests.

]]> By: faronay http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-13782 faronay Fri, 09 Dec 2011 15:32:53 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-13782 For all those who do not agree nor believe in Jesus Christ, when He comes,you will all say "So it's true" and cry "I'm sorry God I didn't know?. What will you do when you die now and found out that everything about God/Jesus Christ is true, but it is too late to repent? I shudder just thinking about that. I thank God that He sent Jesus Christ so we will have the chance to be saved from eternal death. "thank you Lord". For all those who do not agree nor believe in Jesus Christ, when He comes,you will all say “So it’s true” and cry “I’m sorry God I didn’t know?. What will you do when you die now and found out that everything about God/Jesus Christ is true, but it is too late to repent? I shudder just thinking about that. I thank God that He sent Jesus Christ so we will have the chance to be saved from eternal death. “thank you Lord”.

]]> By: Thinker http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-12955 Thinker Tue, 01 Nov 2011 17:01:49 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-12955 You do realize that young minds are thinking about science right? They want to explore their world. When a young mind thinks, it realizes that the bible is wrong. The only reason you and other Christians can't accept reality is that it has become engrained in your mind. Religion is dying because science is proving more and more things in the bible wrong. Eventually, religions will die out when people overall realize that it is bogus. Some things never change though (like your thought process). Hitler was a believer in Christianity and was FULLY BACKED AND SUPPORTED by Rome and the current pope. Atheists (and humans in general) derive morals from what is accepted by society. Morality in general comes from the golden rule, but also from that we are social animals who would rather work together and thrive than kill, steal, and rape each other. We don't want to live in fear from each other. By working together, we can do greater things (pyramids, space stations). Evolution is not a religion. It is a natural process by which organisms adapt to their environment. It is an on going process. If an environment changes too wildly, many organisms die out (dinosaurs). We didn't evolve from monkeys. We share a common ancestor. Humans and modern apes evolved differently which produced two very different organisms. Also, the whole DNA with a chance of 10 to the 117,000 power? The earth has been around for billions of years. That is a lot of time, and if you have that long, eventually it will happen. The chances are poor of flipping one million coins with all heads coming up. But if you have enough time and keep trying, eventually it will happen and you would get one million heads. I laugh hysterically when the claim " It’s sound scientifically, historically". Science has bashed religion constantly. Did you know that modern medicines such as penicillin are created using ideas such as evolution? The church has condemned such ideas as the earth not being the center of the universe. Do you believe that too? I hope you are old. That way you won't poison the world much longer. You do realize that young minds are thinking about science right? They want to explore their world. When a young mind thinks, it realizes that the bible is wrong. The only reason you and other Christians can’t accept reality is that it has become engrained in your mind. Religion is dying because science is proving more and more things in the bible wrong. Eventually, religions will die out when people overall realize that it is bogus.

Some things never change though (like your thought process). Hitler was a believer in Christianity and was FULLY BACKED AND SUPPORTED by Rome and the current pope.

Atheists (and humans in general) derive morals from what is accepted by society. Morality in general comes from the golden rule, but also from that we are social animals who would rather work together and thrive than kill, steal, and rape each other. We don’t want to live in fear from each other. By working together, we can do greater things (pyramids, space stations).

Evolution is not a religion. It is a natural process by which organisms adapt to their environment. It is an on going process. If an environment changes too wildly, many organisms die out (dinosaurs). We didn’t evolve from monkeys. We share a common ancestor. Humans and modern apes evolved differently which produced two very different organisms.

Also, the whole DNA with a chance of 10 to the 117,000 power? The earth has been around for billions of years. That is a lot of time, and if you have that long, eventually it will happen. The chances are poor of flipping one million coins with all heads coming up. But if you have enough time and keep trying, eventually it will happen and you would get one million heads.

I laugh hysterically when the claim ” It’s sound scientifically, historically”. Science has bashed religion constantly. Did you know that modern medicines such as penicillin are created using ideas such as evolution? The church has condemned such ideas as the earth not being the center of the universe. Do you believe that too? I hope you are old. That way you won’t poison the world much longer.

]]> By: Michael Walls http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-12932 Michael Walls Tue, 01 Nov 2011 05:34:38 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-12932 The decline of present day Christianity is long overdue. It was never representative of the teachings of Christ. Also, the fundamentalists are always making news and look like wack-o's to anyone with average intelligence. They go on campaigns against Harry Potter, and the rest of us say "is this for real?" I ask myself, do they really believ you can fly on a broom stick if you go to witch school? ************! I think they should go after Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad movies too. The subject is too big to cover here - but, if Christianity does not dump the dogma and reform itself, it will fade away like the Bronze Age. Most people now see religion as big business. If Jesus were here today he would be railing against it. The decline of present day Christianity is long overdue. It was never representative of the teachings of Christ. Also, the fundamentalists are always making news and look like wack-o’s to anyone with average intelligence. They go on campaigns against Harry Potter, and the rest of us say “is this for real?” I ask myself, do they really believ you can fly on a broom stick if you go to witch school? ************! I think they should go after Jason and the Argonauts and the Sinbad movies too.

The subject is too big to cover here – but, if Christianity does not dump the dogma and reform itself, it will fade away like the Bronze Age. Most people now see religion as big business. If Jesus were here today he would be railing against it.

]]> By: Cathy http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-12833 Cathy Sat, 29 Oct 2011 17:24:42 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-12833 This news is inspiring, there is a chance for the world yet to be rid of the absolute insanity that has threatened it's very existence--the church, just one of the insidious religions stemming from Abraham. hopefully the jews and muslims will also shrink in numbers and we can live without the tyranny they have wrought on us for thousands of years. It can't happen soon enough. This news is inspiring, there is a chance for the world yet to be rid of the absolute insanity that has threatened it’s very existence–the church, just one of the insidious religions stemming from Abraham.

hopefully the jews and muslims will also shrink in numbers and we can live without the tyranny they have wrought on us for thousands of years.

It can’t happen soon enough.

]]> By: Doug http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-12474 Doug Fri, 21 Oct 2011 17:09:36 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-12474 Lots of Haters on this blog. Most highly uneducated. "It's amazing how opinionated people can be about a book they've never read." First of all, ATHEISM, not religion, is responsible for more deaths than anything else without a close second. Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung just to name a few. All these murderers were atheists and married to the false religion of evolution. The Bible is the most documented and reliable piece of writing we have today. We don't need translations as one put it, we already have the Greek and Hebrew texts with over 30,000 manuscripts to prove their viability. To discredit them because they were "written by men" would also mean we need to abandon ALL history pre-1100 AD because they were also written by "men". Hey Atheists; without religion, what do you base your morals upon? What is your purpose? Why are you here? If you believe in the fairy tale of evolution (no proof) there isn't any purpose. You are a mere accident. DNA probability science proves that there is a creator. The chance of one DNA molecule coming into existence by chance is 10 to the 117,000 power. Anything 10 to the 50th would never happen. Dawkins explains this through "Directed Panspermia", aliens brought it to Earth. Hahahaha! So I guess ET died for our sins. So the question comes up, where did the aliens come from? Wake up people, Jesus Christ is definitely who he said he was, the Bible is the inspired word of God and most of these anti-Christian comments are nothing more than people LOVING their own sin. It's an easy out to dismiss God as if hiding behind your own ignorance is going to bail you out someday when you stand before Him as we all will. Do the research (no, not a google search) and you will find the Bible to be reliable and Christ did indeed die for your sins. It's sound scientifically, historically and evident through the millions of changed lives. Lots of Haters on this blog. Most highly uneducated. “It’s amazing how opinionated people can be about a book they’ve never read.” First of all, ATHEISM, not religion, is responsible for more deaths than anything else without a close second. Hitler, Stalin, Mao Tse Tung just to name a few. All these murderers were atheists and married to the false religion of evolution. The Bible is the most documented and reliable piece of writing we have today. We don’t need translations as one put it, we already have the Greek and Hebrew texts with over 30,000 manuscripts to prove their viability. To discredit them because they were “written by men” would also mean we need to abandon ALL history pre-1100 AD because they were also written by “men”. Hey Atheists; without religion, what do you base your morals upon? What is your purpose? Why are you here? If you believe in the fairy tale of evolution (no proof) there isn’t any purpose. You are a mere accident. DNA probability science proves that there is a creator. The chance of one DNA molecule coming into existence by chance is 10 to the 117,000 power. Anything 10 to the 50th would never happen. Dawkins explains this through “Directed Panspermia”, aliens brought it to Earth. Hahahaha! So I guess ET died for our sins. So the question comes up, where did the aliens come from? Wake up people, Jesus Christ is definitely who he said he was, the Bible is the inspired word of God and most of these anti-Christian comments are nothing more than people LOVING their own sin. It’s an easy out to dismiss God as if hiding behind your own ignorance is going to bail you out someday when you stand before Him as we all will. Do the research (no, not a google search) and you will find the Bible to be reliable and Christ did indeed die for your sins. It’s sound scientifically, historically and evident through the millions of changed lives.

]]> By: jeff http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-10465 jeff Fri, 23 Sep 2011 08:02:45 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-10465 I think the church has done its ownself in. I use to attend church and read my bible. I got tired of seeing how racially segragated churches are compared to the rest of the world. I could not reconcile all the hate you hear coming out of the mouths of evanglical christains. Finally I read my bible not 1 time but several and the more I read it the more I can to the same uderstanding as others who have commented here that maybe this book is not all that it claims to be. Jesus said no man comes to the father except through him. He also said ask anything in his name and he would do it and we all know that is not true, so what makes anything else he said anymore reliable? I think the church has done its ownself in. I use to attend church and read my bible. I got tired of seeing how racially segragated churches are compared to the rest of the world. I could not reconcile all the hate you hear coming out of the mouths of evanglical christains. Finally I read my bible not 1 time but several and the more I read it the more I can to the same uderstanding as others who have commented here that maybe this book is not all that it claims to be. Jesus said no man comes to the father except through him. He also said ask anything in his name and he would do it and we all know that is not true, so what makes anything else he said anymore reliable?

]]> By: shuabail http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9838 shuabail Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:55:08 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9838 Please stop asking these christians question. There is no logic in christianity and for them to try to explain there superstion makes about as much sence as finding the sience behind the bad luck of a black cat that crosses your path. Superstition is a primitive belief system that has no logic. I almost want to puck when I listen to them defend and argue for their religion. The truth is in this country there r not allowed to kill nonbelievers as they did in the old days and anybody with a hint of reasoning doesn't want there backwards thinking superstition in their life. life can be very fulfilling without christ. Any god that would create all the people on the earth and allow us to do the things we have done to one another isn't worthy of reverence Especially the attrocities commited at the hands of christians. It is really a hipocritical state for a group of people to try to cover up their own history and then go around telling everybody else that they r wrong. I don't want anyone to feal pain and suffering but there would be a lot if the christians had to suffer the same fates that they had impossed onto to their compitition. I can't wait till the collapes of christianity. Please stop asking these christians question. There is no logic in christianity and for them to try to explain there superstion makes about as much sence as finding the sience behind the bad luck of a black cat that crosses your path. Superstition is a primitive belief system that has no logic. I almost want to puck when I listen to them defend and argue for their religion. The truth is in this country there r not allowed to kill nonbelievers as they did in the old days and anybody with a hint of reasoning doesn’t want there backwards thinking superstition in their life. life can be very fulfilling without christ. Any god that would create all the people on the earth and allow us to do the things we have done to one another isn’t worthy of reverence Especially the attrocities commited at the hands of christians. It is really a hipocritical state for a group of people to try to cover up their own history and then go around telling everybody else that they r wrong. I don’t want anyone to feal pain and suffering but there would be a lot if the christians had to suffer the same fates that they had impossed onto to their compitition. I can’t wait till the collapes of christianity.

]]> By: antichristian http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9836 antichristian Fri, 29 Jul 2011 00:04:11 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9836 This is wonderful news! After generations of people abusing each other with messed up cult of a religion its finally starting to end:). I hope to live long enough to see many churches (particularly the evangelical brand) abandoned due to a lack of followers. This is wonderful news! After generations of people abusing each other with messed up cult of a religion its finally starting to end:). I hope to live long enough to see many churches (particularly the evangelical brand) abandoned due to a lack of followers.

]]> By: S.A.M. http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9826 S.A.M. Fri, 22 Jul 2011 03:37:43 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9826 Mother of Many comment hit the hammer on the nail of it. People are turned off by materialism and greed sow a seed in dollars and get a return blessing. I thought Jesus said Paid in Full but Prosperity teachers have ruined the message of the Cross and all that Jesus paid for free with PAY IN FULL instead! Romans 8:32 said God with His Son freely gives us all things. Mother of Many comment hit the hammer on the nail of it. People are turned off by materialism and greed sow a seed in dollars and get a return blessing. I thought Jesus said Paid in Full but Prosperity teachers have ruined the message of the Cross and all that Jesus paid for free with PAY IN FULL instead! Romans 8:32 said God with His Son freely gives us all things.

]]> By: Lee Picton http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9755 Lee Picton Tue, 05 Jul 2011 20:53:08 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9755 There was a time when christianity ruled all of Europe - it was known as the dark ages. People proclaim the virtue of faith, like that is a good thing. All it does is shut off critical thinking. Religion poisons everything and when its cold dead hand is finally thrown off, we will all be the better for it. There was a time when christianity ruled all of Europe – it was known as the dark ages. People proclaim the virtue of faith, like that is a good thing. All it does is shut off critical thinking. Religion poisons everything and when its cold dead hand is finally thrown off, we will all be the better for it.

]]> By: Oliver http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9754 Oliver Tue, 05 Jul 2011 16:10:52 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9754 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Matthew 16:18 These are Jesus' words. I'll believe him over any man any time. If the One who created, loved and died for the Church says it will never be destroyed that's good enough for me. What we see before us is part of the apostasy that is predicted to occur in the last days. Let God be true and every man a liar. "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." -John 3:16 "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved." —John 3:17 The Churches message is one of forgiveness for those who are lost and without Christ. Most people in the world will never come to know Christ as their savior and that is sad but that's because they love their sins more than anything else. "And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil" (John 3:19). There is good news though. "The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Peter 3:9 God loves you and has prepared the only way for you to get to his wonderful Heaven. Please turn to him and from your sin's, seek his forgiveness and except his gift of grace. And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
Matthew 16:18
These are Jesus’ words. I’ll believe him over any man any time. If the One who created, loved and died for the Church says it will never be destroyed that’s good enough for me. What we see before us is part of the apostasy that is predicted to occur in the last days. Let God be true and every man a liar.
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” -John 3:16
“For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.” —John 3:17
The Churches message is one of forgiveness for those who are lost and without Christ.
Most people in the world will never come to know Christ as their savior and that is sad but that’s because they love their sins more than anything else.
“And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil” (John 3:19).
There is good news though.
“The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.” 2 Peter 3:9
God loves you and has prepared the only way for you to get to his wonderful Heaven. Please turn to him and from your sin’s, seek his forgiveness and except his gift of grace.

]]> By: Zachary http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9714 Zachary Sat, 02 Jul 2011 01:59:07 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9714 I find it rather disturbing but in do time things will change. America has become too materialistic, what is there to hold us together if not our faith? This is how Rome became an Empire. By abandoning what made it great and abandoning its faith and I fear we are following in their footsteps. Again, I do believe that this will be reversed. Yes we know Rome fell because of external conflicts such as the military being too far stretched, invaders from all sides. But they also fell because of internal problems such as crippling debt. Rome fell because the people fell to secularism and materialism. America can't do the same. I find it rather disturbing but in do time things will change. America has become too materialistic, what is there to hold us together if not our faith? This is how Rome became an Empire. By abandoning what made it great and abandoning its faith and I fear we are following in their footsteps. Again, I do believe that this will be reversed. Yes we know Rome fell because of external conflicts such as the military being too far stretched, invaders from all sides. But they also fell because of internal problems such as crippling debt. Rome fell because the people fell to secularism and materialism. America can’t do the same.

]]> By: SavageAwaker http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9696 SavageAwaker Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:01:00 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9696 It's about time that the savage religion of Christianity dies. Since its inception, it has but caused harm to people all over the world. The witch hunts, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the invasion and murder of Native America. They were all caused by christianity and its savage doctrines of "belief," which basically means to follow without asking questions. Have any christian ever seen a soul? What are you people talking about? Save my soul from what? Is it on fire or something? Have you ever been to heaven? How do you know it exists? How do you know that "the word of god" wasn't just some very charismatic person urging people to do his bidding just like Adolf Hitler? Why are they're so many versions of the bible? Did your god stutter or make a mistake somewhere that you need to revise your bible frequently? Wake up and become intellectuals. Stop being savages stuck in the dark ages. It’s about time that the savage religion of Christianity dies. Since its inception, it has but caused harm to people all over the world. The witch hunts, the atomic bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the invasion and murder of Native America. They were all caused by christianity and its savage doctrines of “belief,” which basically means to follow without asking questions. Have any christian ever seen a soul? What are you people talking about? Save my soul from what? Is it on fire or something? Have you ever been to heaven? How do you know it exists? How do you know that “the word of god” wasn’t just some very charismatic person urging people to do his bidding just like Adolf Hitler? Why are they’re so many versions of the bible? Did your god stutter or make a mistake somewhere that you need to revise your bible frequently? Wake up and become intellectuals. Stop being savages stuck in the dark ages.

]]> By: Luther G. Cimeries http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9606 Luther G. Cimeries Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:57:48 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9606 so...46% of Americans don't have faith? Good on them...shows that they have brains and are willing to use them so…46% of Americans don’t have faith?

Good on them…shows that they have brains and are willing to use them

]]> By: Tom http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9500 Tom Mon, 30 May 2011 23:17:43 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9500 God will always be on the thrown no matter what anyone says. Soon everyone will know and believe. Keep talking, keep bragging, keep making fun and laughing. But know this, one way or another all will know that Jesus is Lord and all will confess him as King and Lord while on their knees. God will always be on the thrown no matter what anyone says. Soon everyone will know and believe. Keep talking, keep bragging, keep making fun and laughing. But know this, one way or another all will know that Jesus is Lord and all will confess him as King and Lord while on their knees.

]]> By: None http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9452 None Wed, 25 May 2011 01:37:43 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9452 I see many people leaving "the church" for many reasons. It has deceived many, because they are nothing but corporations. What is 50c3? False sabbath day worship. True Sabbath = Saturday The bend for FEMA. Remember, Hitler also loved Romans 13. I see many people leaving “the church” for many reasons.

It has deceived many, because they are nothing but corporations. What is 50c3?

False sabbath day worship. True Sabbath = Saturday

The bend for FEMA. Remember, Hitler also loved Romans 13.

]]> By: Tony http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9320 Tony Sun, 08 May 2011 09:15:11 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9320 Benjamin Franklin Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Unites States Constitution "Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped. That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them. As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see; But I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and more observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure." --Benjamin Franklin wrote this in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University on March 9, 1790. Benjamin Franklin
Signer of the Declaration of Independence and Unites States Constitution

“Here is my Creed. I believe in one God, the Creator of the Universe. That He governs it by His Providence. That He ought to be worshipped.

That the most acceptable service we render to him is in doing good to his other children. That the soul of man is immortal, and will be treated with justice in another life respecting its conduct in this. These I take to be the fundamental points in all sound religion, and I regard them as you do in whatever sect I meet with them.

As to Jesus of Nazareth, my opinion of whom you particularly desire, I think the system of morals and his religion, as he left them to us, is the best the world ever saw, or is likely to see;

But I apprehend it has received various corrupting changes, and I have, with most of the present dissenters in England, some doubts as to his divinity; though it is a question I do not dogmatize upon, having never studied it, and think it needless to busy myself with it now, when I expect soon an opportunity of knowing the truth with less trouble. I see no harm, however, in its being believed, if that belief has the good consequence, as probably it has, of making his doctrines more respected and more observed; especially as I do not perceive, that the Supreme takes it amiss, by distinguishing the unbelievers in his government of the world with any peculiar marks of his displeasure.”
–Benjamin Franklin wrote this in a letter to Ezra Stiles, President of Yale University on March 9, 1790.

]]> By: Tony http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9319 Tony Sun, 08 May 2011 09:12:33 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9319 "God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event." --Thomas JEfferson --Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237. “God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are of the Gift of God? That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that His justice cannot sleep forever; That a revolution of the wheel of fortune, a change of situation, is among possible events; that it may become probable by Supernatural influence! The Almighty has no attribute which can take side with us in that event.”
–Thomas JEfferson
–Notes on the State of Virginia, Query XVIII, p. 237.

]]> By: Shawn Statzer http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9295 Shawn Statzer Mon, 25 Apr 2011 02:19:50 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9295 We may be closer to the tribulation than most expect. Search biometrics, vein pattern reccognition, hand geometry, the river Euphrates and the dams built, Kevin Warwick, via chip, the gospel preached throughout the world, people call good evil and evil good, false prophets, sexual immorality,etcetera. Remember, God is loving, caring, just, omniscent, omnipotent, omnipresent, patient, and wrathful. Hell is indeed there, but it is our choice, while we are now alive in our tangible bodies, where we go once we die. And then- it becomes finalized. Something to think about. Without God what is the point of anything? Everything you gain you would loose. People would rather be of the world than trust in God that has never changed. Some may think that He has, but He has not. The fulfillment of the old ceremonial laws does not negate anything. We do still have the moral laws to live by. This is why Jesus and Paul both stressed the laws of the ten commandments. Most people want a convenient God, assuming God always forgives. He is loving, but He commands better of us. He demands us to live holy and be a holy people. We may be closer to the tribulation than most expect. Search biometrics, vein pattern reccognition, hand geometry, the river Euphrates and the dams built, Kevin Warwick, via chip, the gospel preached throughout the world, people call good evil and evil good, false prophets, sexual immorality,etcetera. Remember, God is loving, caring, just, omniscent, omnipotent, omnipresent, patient, and wrathful. Hell is indeed there, but it is our choice, while we are now alive in our tangible bodies, where we go once we die. And then- it becomes finalized. Something to think about. Without God what is the point of anything? Everything you gain you would loose. People would rather be of the world than trust in God that has never changed. Some may think that He has, but He has not. The fulfillment of the old ceremonial laws does not negate anything. We do still have the moral laws to live by. This is why Jesus and Paul both stressed the laws of the ten commandments. Most people want a convenient God, assuming God always forgives. He is loving, but He commands better of us. He demands us to live holy and be a holy people.

]]> By: Sarah http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9267 Sarah Sun, 17 Apr 2011 21:27:03 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9267 The idea of a heaven isn't paradise to me. I don't want heaven, nor do i want hell. Your god created hell, and he admits to doing all the evils of the world. The number one thing that de-converts people to christianity is actually reading the bible. Most christians have never read the entire bible or studied all of it before selling their souls to superstition and lies. I don't need a god threatening me to hell to be a good person, no one does. And be realistic here, people...when you take polls and someone says they are a chrisitan, we know they are not... there's a lot more to being a christian than just slapping a label on your forehead. Most christians aren't christian like at all. Love is key, not scripture, not a book written by women hating men, realise this and be free from guilt that plagues mankind. I love you all and i hope you all realize there's more to life than fear and preaching from a book you don't understand. The idea of a heaven isn’t paradise to me. I don’t want heaven, nor do i want hell. Your god created hell, and he admits to doing all the evils of the world. The number one thing that de-converts people to christianity is actually reading the bible. Most christians have never read the entire bible or studied all of it before selling their souls to superstition and lies. I don’t need a god threatening me to hell to be a good person, no one does. And be realistic here, people…when you take polls and someone says they are a chrisitan, we know they are not… there’s a lot more to being a christian than just slapping a label on your forehead. Most christians aren’t christian like at all. Love is key, not scripture, not a book written by women hating men, realise this and be free from guilt that plagues mankind. I love you all and i hope you all realize there’s more to life than fear and preaching from a book you don’t understand.

]]> By: Informed Viewer http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9255 Informed Viewer Tue, 12 Apr 2011 20:52:17 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9255 Great news! Violent crime, all crime rate, and progression of science has reached new boundaries within the last 20 years. Atheists consistently score higher on IQ tests, STAY MARRIED LONGER, divorce less often, have fewer abortions, have lower crime rates, and make more money than their christian counterparts. WAKE UP FASTER AMERICA! Great news! Violent crime, all crime rate, and progression of science has reached new boundaries within the last 20 years. Atheists consistently score higher on IQ tests, STAY MARRIED LONGER, divorce less often, have fewer abortions, have lower crime rates, and make more money than their christian counterparts.

WAKE UP FASTER AMERICA!

]]> By: Graham http://signsofthelastdays.com/archives/the-decline-of-christianity-in-america#comment-9250 Graham Mon, 11 Apr 2011 17:55:00 +0000 http://signsofthelastdays.com/?p=70#comment-9250 Jesus was a stand up dude, you people with your fail religions ruined his good name. Jesus was a stand up dude, you people with your fail religions ruined his good name.

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