Anti-Biblical Minorities Take the “Change the World” Baton by Dr Michael Youssef

The Bible is full of individuals who accomplished mighty things through their commitment to a cause and through God’s power working in them. Moses, Joshua, Gideon, David, to say nothing of a handful of Galilean fishermen, turned their world “upside down.” Often their world was controlled by a great foe, like mighty Egypt or the Roman Empire.

Sadly, the most that many Western Christians can accomplish today is to join a big stadium filled with screaming young people listening to upbeat music. When the music stops, they go back to their pampered lifestyle and whine about what they’re not getting from life.

Of course, there are some exceptional young Christians who seek God and His will with all of their hearts. They genuinely want to make a difference in the world. But for the most part, Western Christians lack a total commitment and a definable strategy to turn the world upside down like our Christian forbears did.

In the meantime, however, anti-biblical forces have taken the “change the world” baton from Christians. But not only have they taken it, they are using it to beat Christians on the head, sending them scurrying in fear and intimidation.

For example, look at what a handful of LGBT college students have done in many Christian colleges. According to a recent article in The Atlantic, this small group has managed to radically change evangelical colleges across the country—colleges with a collective student body of more than 400,000. Through intimidation, they have managed to eviscerate the biblical principles upon which those schools were founded and funded.

Take the case of Gordon College in Massachusetts, which was founded by A.J. Gordon to train college students in understanding and underscoring the authority of God’s Word. Gordon College’s slogan has been: “Freedom within a framework of faith,” meaning that faith in Christ provides the power for freedom over sin.

But now a small student LGBT lobby has managed to convince other students and some faculty members that they need not seek freedom over the sin of homosexuality.

And like all homosexual lobbyists, they have a powerful ally in the White House. President Obama may not possess the power of God, regardless of what some may think, but he possesses power nonetheless.

Mr. Obama recently signed an executive order that forbids any federal contractor from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity. Gordon’s president, D. Michael Lindsay, hoping to protect the school’s religious freedom, joined other evangelical leaders in sending a letter to President Obama asking for an exemption to the order. But following the letter’s publication, voices from both outside and inside Gordon vehemently opposed the college president’s actions, branding the college and him as supporters of discrimination.

So now student LGBT lobbyists feel empowered. Although committed Christians in the past relied entirely on God’s power, today’s anti-biblical minority power is dependent on powerful people, such as President Obama.

As Christians, we need to reclaim our rightful supernatural strength by relying on the supernatural power of our Redeemer. Through Him we can bring the masses back to God and His ideals, including the ideal of sexuality belonging to a heterosexual marriage.

To do that, we must learn that God desires conduits who not only courageously buck the system and call sin sin, but who also completely depend on God to fight the public relations battle.
Many modern Christians don’t fear God. Instead they fear that their image will be tarnished by being labeled as haters and bigots. Make no mistake about it, the anti-biblical forces are banking on that aversion to being scandalized for the sake of Christ.

For biblical Christianity to survive in the West, there can be no avoiding a full commitment. We must lose the fear of bearing the marks of Christ.

Persecution and the Return of Christ by Dr Michael Youssef

Michael Youssef explains what's really happening in Iraq. (YouTube)

Below is a special video I want you to watch. For those of you who have seen news reports of the persecution and political turmoil taking place in Iraq, this is an explanation of who ISIS is.

Last week I joined my son Joshua, executive vice president of Leading The Way, in the studio to put together a special video addressing the many questions we were receiving about what's happening in Iraq. I hope it will help you better understand what is going on in the Middle East and what we as Christians can do. If you would like to watch the full video with more details, click here.

Unless otherwise specified, the opinions expressed are solely the author's and do not necessarily reflect the views of Charisma Media.

When the Watchmen Are Silenced

 by Jan Markell (Understanding the Times)

 

There is now a war on words in America. The battle to further censor words, transform words, twist words, and silence words is raging. The Left in leadership is determined to rob Americans of one freedom after another but the greatest loss would be our free speech. As stated in the July 26 issue of The American Thinker, "It's a frightening thought: Government takeover of the media. But having tightened their grip on health care, financial services, and energy, it's only logical that the Democrats should turn their attention to the media.

"Discussions underway at the Federal Trade Commission and the Federal Communications Commission point toward a dangerous new effort to regulate what Americans read and hear. The takeover under discussion would apply across the board to print media, radio and television, and the Internet. The result of proposed regulations would be nothing less than an end to free speech in America."

As Jack Kinsella states in his recent commentary, "In April, a three-judge panel in Washington threw out the FCC's attempt to impose 'net neutrality' regulations on the Internet, ruling the FCC does not have the power to do so. The FCC responded in a statement saying the decision did not 'close the door to other methods for achieving this important end.'" In other words, the battle has begun and if plan "A" doesn't work, they will opt for plan "B" or "C" to get America to resemble Venezuela when it comes to freedom of the press, Internet, radio, etc.

Kinsella continues, "America's mainstream news organizations are already consolidated in the hands of just five mega-corporations. We warned back in 2003 of the dangers associated with putting too much power into the hands of so few." Kinsella also states that "One of the very first targets of the Obama administration's 'fundamental transformation' was -- and still is -- what Obama's FCC calls, "the reinvention of journalism." (Note: We highly recommend Kinsella's daily Omega Letter Intelligence Digest. Learn more here.)

Forces of darkness are wheeling and dealing, planning and scheming, to keep you from knowing the truth. And while some proponents of evil are principalities and powers of the air, many more are politicians dressed in expensive suits and very polished foreign-made shoes that match their gigantic self image as power-brokers. To carry out their schemes, they must silence opponents and truth-tellers. They must shut down all conservative and Christian voices. Make no mistake that they will try, whether it be through the unfair "Fairness Doctrine" or something akin to it but renamed. They may face battles in the courts but nothing will deter the present powers that be from controlling what you and I hear and read.

The Federal Communications Commission and Federal Trade Commission are the major players in this effort.

How would this work? Under the proposed changes, government would have the right to impose taxes on selected media (including Internet service providers and Internet sites) and redistribute funds to traditional liberal news media. Government could impose a fairness doctrine on the internet as well as on radio -- thus forcing conservative media to "balance" their programming by including liberal commentary. Government would also be granted a wide range of options for subsidizing liberal media, including perpetual grants of taxpayer money to left-leaning publications like The New York Times and to increase funding for "progressive" media such as National PublicRadio and The Public Broadcasting System. These are the antics of any totalitarian dictatorship be they in a sophisticated nation or a banana republic. And such rules may be coming to a town near you.

 

You may not willingly want go back with me to the era of the Third Reich but you must. We have to learn from it. As Irwin Lutzer writes in his new book, When a Nation Forgets God: 7 Lessons We Must Learn from Nazi Germany, "Hitler believed that spoken words could convert anybody to a radical agenda. But Hitler didn't have the powers of today's media. Think of what Hitler could have done if he could have used today's TV, radio, Internet, etc." Perhaps he really could have taken over the world in a later era. (May I add parenthetically that this book is must reading.)

Those who are concerned about a government takeover of the media need only recall the name of Joseph Goebbels. It was Goebbels manipulation of the media that brought Hitler to power and secured his control over Germany right up to the end of the regime. It was Goebbels who organized the candlelight processions, mass meetings, national radio broadcasts (over the objection of independent station owners,) and the eventual seizure of all print and electronic media.

Isn't it interesting that according to the Bible, in the last days the antichrist will control everything people see, hear and read? The power of the Satanic trinity will enter into every home. It says in Revelation 13:7 that "Power was given him over all kindred, tongues, and nations." This future fuehrer will have the task of propagandizing the world through a controlled media. This antichrist will be a passionate leader with an appealing message and the power of oratory that will be out of this world because his power comes from another world. He will be a master of doublespeak. But he must silence his opponents.

 

Am I saying that Obama and his cohorts will play a role in the the antichrist administration? Perhaps play a role in antichrist's administration, but Barack Obama is only the forerunner of this evil man. We saw this in the campaign of 2008 as Obama's world tour provided a foretaste of the reception the antichrist can expect to receive. The antichrist will stand in some capitals, addressing the people of the world and telling them that he is the one they have been waiting for. He will even reveal how he will solve the world's debt problem. He will be received like a rock star and get the same kind of greeting Obama got in Berlin.

Everything is shaping up for him to make his appearance. The clock is ticking. "When you see these things begin to happen, look up and know your Redeemer draws nigh" (Luke 21:28). It won't be long. One can almost hear the hoof beats of the four horsemen of the apocalypse off in the distance. Keep looking up even if you develop a stiff neck.