Monday, April 13, 2009

Do you want real answers to the economic turmoil? Financial expert Dave Ramsey is hosting a nationwide town hall on April 23rd. Go to http://www.townhallforhope.com For site locations follow the link. I have been to other Dave Ramsey events. They worth your time. The Dover Location is The Pentecostals of Dover on West Denny's Road.

Do you believe in power to the people not the plutocracy? You have plenty of company. Attend a tea party to show your support for fiscal sanity. This event is non partisan. Of course I think that after you get educated you should make it count and be partisan for those who stand up for you. Have a great tax day. I hope that you had no unpleasant surprises.

Dover
Legislative Mall on the Green
4:00 - 6:00 PM

Georgetown
The Circle
12:00 - 2:00 PM

Laurel
Janosik Park
4:00 - 7:00 PM

Wilmington
The Riverfront
4:00 - 6:30 PM

Middletown
Middletown Town Square
4:00 - 6:00 PM

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Sunday, April 12, 2009

America is still a Christian Nation. A certain news magazine (the name of which is not worthy of my mention) had a sensational cover declaring the Decline and fall of Christian America. As usual the secular left can't understand the rest of America. It was timed to coincide with Holy Week while 70% of America is honoring Christ. It was typical liberal nonsense. The actual article seemed measured and worthy of discussion. The author is serious scholar who is grappling with societal changes. He points out that the near universal Christian consensus this country had is no longer universal. Of course most of us knew that for 40 years. Just turn on MTV and you can see that is true. When porn fills our society like an open sewer, when we push games and entertainment which celebrates killing, when babies are aborted, when giving out Bibles in school causes fear in the hearts of administrators, but condoms are dispensed daily, when public prayer is controversial in school but blasphemy is common place, when people think that marriage is about any two people getting together, then it seems obvious that a Christian consensus no longer exists.

Where I completely disagree with the author of that survey (see its link here) and certainly the headline writers is that Christian America is on the rise. Church attendance is not down. The fervor of the faithful has increased. Evangelical Christianity is sweeping America. The Catholic Church likewise is finding a resurgence in people wanting to learn about the faith they took for granted. The conversion rate is higher than the birth rate. While some of those who are not serious have finally stopped misusing the label, I find that a positive. The worst thing that can happen to a faith is when it is defined by the outliers and not the faithful. I would rather have the Ten Commandments in posted in every home of the faithful than be unread in every courthouse (I do favor keeping the Ten Commandments in public displays.) I would rather have meaningful prayers than symbolic emptiness. It is only by allowing the Living Lord to be shown that meaningful change will occur. That doesn't come from a casual affiliation.

For the fun of it; let's refute those numbers. How do you look at a nation in which half of the people attend church regularly and 44 to 46% attend church weekly to be in religious decline? Those numbers have been consistent for 3 decades. The rise in secular identification stopped 8 years ago after the 9/11 attacks. The article should have been written in the late nineties. The survey showed a marked increase in a fundamental view of Christianity. As for political involvement, exit polls show no evidence of a lack of will among the faithful in public policy. In fact one political party wouldn't even be a major party without the votes of the faithful and the other had to pretend to have found faith.

Other surveys bear out my contention from Gallup to Rasmussen to Pew. We even had one published in our own News Journal. As found in previous years 92% of Americans believe in God. What is even more interesting to me is that half of self proclaimed agnostics and a fifth of atheists believe in a God as well. What has changed is that more and more people are increasingly finding a belief in the supernatural, miracles 80%, demons, and angels.

Pentecostalism, which hearkens back to an Apostolic experience is not only on a rise globally, but in the U. S. as well. It is one of the reasons traditional values are becoming a profound issue. Americans who pray tend to be more conservative as defined in American terms. As a side note Christian conservatism is also the engine of the resurgent Canadian Conservative movement. PM Stephen Harper is an evangelical Christian. This is also true in Latin America, Nigeria, and other areas of the world.

While there is no question that the worldview of the faithful is under its greatest assault, the faith is meeting the challenge. Christianity is more vibrant today than it has been in a long time. All of the wishful thinking of the secular progressives in the world cannot change that fact.Thanks to Watermark Productions for the Video.



Happy Resurrection Day! Because He lives, We shall live also.