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WHAT FATE AWAITS US (In America)

Discussion in 'General Baptist Discussions' started by Earth Wind and Fire, Sep 24, 2013.

  1. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    In Stephen Grahams book " Poor Immigrants to America"

    "America is a country where the soul falls into a deep & happy sleep."

    Do you think this is a consequence of both spiritual & moral decline.....which will (if left unchecked) eventually threaten the very existence of the nation?

    If so, what can we "The Church" do to reverse the trend towards decay?
     
  2. JohnnyReb

    JohnnyReb New Member

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    Nothing. The world had always been this way we are just living our part of it.

    Besides how can you fight what is already foretold by gods word?? The world, America, or whatever is NEVER going to get better. If it was there would be no need for God to destroy the world. But we already know that the world is going to hell in a hand basket...and reading revelations tells you ultimately where it's going.

    The answer is to build treasures in heaven and let the world run its course.
     
  3. thisnumbersdisconnected

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    And yet the church has always been commanded to take the gospel to the four corners of the world, has it not?

    Fatalism doesn't enter into the Christian's mission. We preach the word no matter what.

    How do we build treasures in heaven if not by loving others and extending the hand of righteousness through Jesus Christ?
     
  4. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    Im curious how they do that when they cant even take it to the 4 corners of vast parts of America.
    Lets look at it from the lens of two cities (Sodom & Nineveh)

    In the case of Sodom, God didn't even make an effort to warn its inhabitants of impending doom. The fate of Sodom, and its neighboring Gomorrah was sealed.

    In the case of Nineveh, the outcome was quite different. God was well aware of that communities wickedness. Yet instead of destroying them, He sent the prophet Jonah to confront them & there wicked ways.

    What was it that saved Nineveh from destruction & not Sodom?
     
    #4 Earth Wind and Fire, Sep 25, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 25, 2013
  5. Ed B

    Ed B Member

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    I do not know what God has planned for the USA. But I believe our part as Christians is to get our own house in order individually and then corporately through the local Church and be salt and light to our communities. We, God’s men, need to interact with our culture as Christ leads. I tend to believe that as cultural norms move further away from what is right and proper for Christians and Christian families that we are being given a wake-up call and reminder that we are in the world but not of the world.

    There was once a tendency by some evangelicals to see the US as a kind of later-day Israel….God’s chosen nation for this time. The bible and church history shows that God uses nations and empires like the US to carry out his will. God used Egypt to grow the nation of Israel. God used Assyria to punish the ten northern tribes. God used Babylon to punish and yet preserve Judah and he used Persia to help restore Judah. God used Rome and the persecutions of the early church to provide the highway and travel network for ease of movement to spread the Gospel throughout the empire quickly. Fast-forward to colonial times and you can see how God used the European empires and specifically the British Empire to spread the Gospel through missionaries around the globe. Likewise God has used the USA to continue the spreading of the Gospel throughout our areas of influence around the worl and He has given us unimagined wealth to fund local and global missions.

    There was a time when the cultural norms around us looked a lot like us. The culture was never Christian…it can’t be because it is worldly by nature. But I think some of us were fooled by it and assumed that because the culture by and large lived like Christians live, that God blessed our nation because of that and that we somehow had a part to play in making the unsaved act like they are saved. That was never our calling. And now that we are more clearly counter-cultural perhaps the need for home missions and evangelism in our own communities is more clear to us. We need to work at changing the hearts of men through sharing the Gospel rather than changing the actions of men through law. As the kids might say, “sinners gonna sin” we shouldn’t be surprised.

    My personal concern is that me personally and the American Church corporately will be called to answer for how we used the incredible wealth the Lord blessed us with. I wonder how pleased He will be with our answer. I think individually and corporately we need a new commitment to missions and evangelism both with how we interact with our culture and how we use our resources.


    That is long but somewhere in there I hope I addressed your questions.

    Blessings

    Ed B
     
  6. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    Indeed it is long Ed & Im not that perceptive....so could you point it out?
     
  7. Ed B

    Ed B Member

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    Here you go

     
  8. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    Thank you....i concur.

    I would add my own thoughts, 1st about Nineveh.....God did not bring on the destruction he promised because (with the help of Jonah---you know that story) they "turned from their evil ways" (Jonah 3:10)

    So Sodom was destroyed & Nineveh was saved & you gotta wonder what is in store for the USA. Have we passed the point of no return or are we able as a people to turn from evil and abandon our violence?

    The Prophet Micah in (Micah 6:8) Provides us with the answer.

    ...And what does the Lord require of you?

    - To act Justly....
    - To love Mercy..
    - To walk Humbly with your God
     
    #8 Earth Wind and Fire, Sep 25, 2013
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 25, 2013
  9. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Yes, there are plenty of mission fields here. I went with a team to remote parts of eastern Kentucky two years ago, and you would not believe the need, spiritually and materially. The drug problem there is rampant more than most places. This is no joke, lots of people do not have shoes, and that was one of our ministries. I cannot imagine what goes on in those nooks and crannies in those isolated mountains.

    Even here in my county, my church, the numbers are dismal. We as a local church used to have over 600 active members. We now have 114 on the rolls and about 45-50 show up for church on a good Sunday. You visit and visit and the excuses and not coming to the door will wear a soul out. County wide, and we are right in the middle of the so called Bible Belt, 60% of the population does not attend church of any denomination.

    The harvest is great but the workers are few.
     
  10. saturneptune

    saturneptune New Member

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    Ed,

    A very good post. Neither do I know what God has in store for America. It does not appear to be a player in the end times. I look at it like this. Look how God treated nations, including Israel, in the OT. Who has or did God bless more, the United States of America, or Babylon, Persia, Edom, and numerous other nations? There is no comparison. Who has sinned more the United States of America or Sodom and Gomorrah. Yes, Sodom was wicked. But we as the United States, with liberty and freedom beyond the imagination of these ancient peoples, not only practice the most vile sins God hates, but makes it the law of our land. Abortion is legal, and we are on a fifty state march to legalize marriage within the framework of sodomy. Not only do we sin and are proud of it, I will go so far to say we figuratively rub God's nose in it.

    We are so overdue for a big thumb from heaven to squash us, it is almost frightening. Are people worried about their fellow man, or a Holy God? No, their eyes are constantly looking at themselves. Instead of being concerned about lost souls, we are focused on who lost the most weight on the reality show, or if I have the latest I phone.

    We are so shallow, and to tell the truth, cry babies. "Oh my, the air conditioner is broken." If God did bring a nation wide disaster, 90% of us would have no idea how to survive.

    So yes, I love this nation and am glad to have been blessed with food and shelter all my life, but everything we have comes from the Lord, and I believe He is going to let us know that in the not too distant future. Oh, any by the way, the ruin of the United States does not have to be end times.
     
  11. Earth Wind and Fire

    Earth Wind and Fire Well-Known Member
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    My trusty dog Kip has become quite the missionary. People seem to like him, as long as he doesn't crap on their lawns, that is. We walk the town together & I see the poverty brother. I see it 1st hand....but we are His & the work is there. God bless ya & your effort's .....there is a reward Im thinking!
     
  12. Ed B

    Ed B Member

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    I love this. It starts with us. We should manifest Micah 6:8 to our family, people at work, church, community, and wherever God puts us.
     
  13. JohnnyReb

    JohnnyReb New Member

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    I never said you couldn't preach the gospel to all 4 corners.

    Just saying the downward spiral will continue no matter what. Was foretold long before our time
     
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