CENTURY OF GENOCIDE 1850-2000 AD
Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”
In the 20th century there has been more mass murder, more genocide, more deaths by governments than in all other centuries put together. However, in the 20th century we have also seen the greatest expansions of Christianity of all time. Even though believers in the West were being weakened by a lack of the knowledge of God, still there was a great movement of the Holy Spirit with the gospel spreading throughout the emerging world.
Great awakening took place in United States in 1945-1950s. More people came to Christ because of movements that started in the 1950s like Campus Crusade, Operation Mobilization (the movement that I am in), Youth With A Mission and some others. It is estimated that more people came to Christ since 1950 than during all previous centuries put together. Consider the following:
87% of Americans consider themselves Christians.
Nearly 50% claim to be born again.
Christian schools have grown in 35 years from 1200 to 60,000.
One third of the 400 plus members of Congress attend some type of Bible study. In 2004, (latest statistics that I have) 57% of the people in Congress were pro-life.
One thing that comes out is that we in the United States will be held accountable. To whom much is given much is expected.
In the 21st century we are face with three major challenges: First, the situation in our Western culture of what I call the Crisis of Truth; secondly, Radical Islam and thirdly, What it means to be Human. These are the three issues that we are going to have to deal with. I would like to spend some time dealing with these three challenges.
First, the Crisis of Truth: For example, I was listening when Bill O’Reilly debated Whoopi Goldberg (movie star and now talk radio host) about some of the comments made by various movie stars.
A comment that Goldberg made, which is so indicative of our postmodern culture, was that she made decisions based not on her opinion but what her heart was telling her and how she felt. This is the result of post-modernism that we now see; that facts are rejected and the truth is damned.
When I look at the whole political debate taking place today it seems to be based more on what their hearts are telling them and not the facts or what the reality is. How can we continue to live like this in a free society? We get this more and more in our news: feelings and not the facts.
What is also interesting is that an answer like this seems so sincere and trustworthy, like a ‘lofty’ goal. If we are all making decisions based upon what our heart is telling us then what a confusion this will bring about! There are over eight billion people in the world and if they all are following their heart can we imagine the chaos that will come out of all of the decisions that will be made!
When I look at the opinion makers that we all have in our societies it would seem that these opinions are being made not from facts or reality, but from what their hearts are telling them. So, what does this mean? It means that they are shaping world opinion based on feelings of “the heart,” and not facts and truth.
When there is no ultimate truth then what we feel becomes the truth for us whereby we can make our own decisions, based upon what feels best for us. This is what happened in the 60’s with the student rebellion. They went on the assumption of “do your own thing” and “if it feels good, do it.”
There are many things that we can do that might feel good, but in the long run will do us harm. Look at some of the things that we eat, drink, etc. They feel good, but the end result might entail much suffering.
Listening to the program described above how often I heard the words, “This is what I feel.” It is not what I think, or what the facts are, but about what I feel. I think of a lady who made the comment that she knew that Jesus was alive, because, she said, “I feel Him in my heart.” But is this the way that we know that Jesus is alive? I know that Jesus is alive because this is what the Bible (ultimate truth) says. (1 Corinthians 15:4-8)
Our feelings are not a good barometer of what is taking place. The Word of God is. Even in the church today we hear the expression, “I feel”…that this or that is right. We must base our lives on the Word of God. This is a must especially in these days when there is so much deception taking place in the world. Remember that our enemy is out to deceive and that this is what he is trying to do. And I am sad to say he is having success.
We need to be reminded of the words of Solomon in Proverbs 3:5 “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” So much of our trusting in our feelings is simply leaning on our own understanding or “following our heart” instead of following the Word of God.