Throughout my time writing all of the articles I have written, I have expressed that the solution to pretty much all of life’s problems is to have faith in the Lord, who is in control of all things. That isn’t to say that turning to Christianity will make all your debt disappear or make you more money, but that is to say that Christ can be a magnificent source of comfort for the distressed, and going beyond that, can serve as a fantastic example of great moral character for people to follow.
 
And in the wake of mass shootings becoming fairly regular (not quite as much as people think and claim, but they are certainly more regular than they used to be), I have explained that a large part of the reason why these things happen with such frequency is that we no longer have a moral center and we live in a post-Christian America.
 
Guns have been around for centuries. And yet, mass shootings were far less prevalent decades ago. So no one can realistically claim that guns are the reason for shootings because there largely didn’t use to be anywhere near as many. They still happened, but were considerably less frequent.
 
So when a shooting happens, the biggest culprits that I can see are both mental health issues and the lack of a moral center in this country. And it appears as though Oprah Winfrey agrees with me on this.
 
Oprah was on her way to debuting her new show, “David Makes Man”, when “Extra TV” reporter Renee Bargh asked Winfrey what she thought of the shootings and what was the cause for all of this violence. Oprah replied: “I think what people are missing is a core moral center. Churches used to do that… It was a central place you could come to and there was a core center of values about a way of living and being in the world. Until we can return to that, however that is, in whatever form, we will continue to be lost.”
 
I was rather surprised to hear this coming from Oprah Winfrey of all people. With her being a notoriously Left-wing celebrity, I didn’t think she would resonate with anything regarding the church or Christianity. The fact that she has argued that you can be a Christian and a supporter of gay rights or abortion makes me think she really wasn’t a Christian at all.
 
But regardless, what she said is actually spot-on and perfectly right. The lack of Christ in people’s hearts leads them to evil. That isn’t to say Christians can’t do evil. We are all sinners and sin is evil, so Christians can, in fact, do evil. However, no Christian who understands what it means to be a Christian would ever commit such a heinous crime as a mass shooting or even a murder that wasn’t in self-defense. And as we live in a post-Christian America, seeing all of these shootings and all of this evil take place makes sense.
 
We have taken God out of our schools and out of our lives; God and His Word are relentlessly mocked as either being a “crutch” for unintelligent or weak people or being a bunch of nonsense and crazy stuff, or legends at best. Following that, morality was changed from objective, God-centered truth to subjective, society- and individual-centered belief. Unsurprisingly, this has led people to decide what is moral in their own eyes and according to what they believe and to attempt to argue against it is, ironically, considered morally wrong.
 
Because who are you to judge someone’s actions and preferences? Who are you to decide what is right and wrong for someone else? What people fail to realize here is that these questions wouldn’t even be asked if God were still a part of people’s lives because they would know just who judges people’s actions and preferences and who decides what is right and wrong.
 
But in this (seemingly successful) attempt to make morality subjective, the flood gates of evil and immorality are opened. It’s why we have had the sort of political path we’ve seen as of late. For decades, people have tried to argue that there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. Taking God out of people’s lives, starting from the schools, has allowed for the restructuring of what is considered “moral”. In today’s age, people adamantly argue there is really nothing wrong with being gay, with being transgender, with having sex before or even outside of marriage, and we are beginning to see more people argue that there is nothing wrong with having sex with a child or having your child be transgender at the age of THREE.
 
To argue against such lunacy brands YOU as the bad guy and the immoral one. So in all of this redefining of morality, you find people who commit mass murders and shootings more and more often. One of the things that have been deemed as moral is to allow for women to kill their own unborn children for any given reason. In this, life becomes utterly meaningless, and people find a “justifiable” reason in their minds to kill someone else as a result. “If life in the womb is meaningless, why would life outside it be meaningful?” is what people subsequently ask.
 
And before you try and tell me that murder has been around for far longer than abortions have, allow me to reiterate my overall point: THOSE THINGS ARE IMMORAL! Yes, murder was around long before abortion. Both are immoral and an abomination. What I’m saying is that abortion gives some people license to go out and kill others through the same sort of logic. Life is now meaningless, so who cares if people are shot and killed?
 
But of course, abortion isn’t the only thing to blame for this. The idea that we are all one massive cosmic accident (despite how utterly illogical that is) and that we are descendants of apes with no predetermined destiny or purpose for living also gives way for people to rationalize murder because life doesn’t ultimately matter.
 
All of these things come from taking God out of people’s lives, beginning in school. God is the arbiter for morality. Having created everything and being holy, holy, holy, He is the only being capable of determining what is moral. But if you eliminate God in people’s lives and leave them to determine was is moral for themselves, you get what we are currently seeing: evil running amok.
 
From men forcing women to wax their genitals to parents allowing their children to dress in drag and dance in front of grown men to justifying the murder of the unborn to even rationalizing and justifying a Hollywood movie about hunting down and killing people who disagree with you, when you take God out of a country’s soul, that soul begins to decay rapidly.
 
I believe I have said this before, but if there’s one thing I can agree with Joe Biden on is that we are definitely in a fight for this country’s soul. We are fighting for the country’s soul to belong to God while the Left is fighting for this country’s soul to belong to Satan. So like Oprah said, until we can find God once again, until we repent of our sins as a nation and beg for God’s blessings once again, we will be lost and vulnerable to the Devil.
 
These sorts of tragedies will continue happening until we return to the Lord as a country. No amount of gun control or mental health laws or red flag laws (which can easily be exploited, so unless there is a way to keep that from happening and keep it from targeting law-abiding gun owners, Christians and conservatives, red flag laws are a terrible idea, in my opinion) will fix this. Even CNN admitted that stronger background checks wouldn’t have stopped either the El Paso or the Dayton shooters from doing what they did, so that isn’t a solution either.
 
The solution, as with many other problems, is having faith in the Lord. We have seen what happened to the nation of Israel in times when it was faithful to the Lord – times of great victory and dominance over opposition – and when it was not faithful to the Lord – defeat after defeat at the hands of the enemy. No nation whose back is turned to the Lord will be blessed by Him. Our nation has been richly blessed by Him precisely because we had been faithful to Him, having slogans like “In God We Trust” and “God Bless America” and “One Nation, Under God” in our pledge of allegiance. But in recent time, all of those things have been attacked in one way or another, leading our nation to turn its back to God.
 
We cannot rightly ask God to bless this country when we have our backs to Him in such a way. So as a result, God brings curses to our country in various different forms, including these shootings and plenty of other things.
 
Until we return to being One Nation Under God – until we can Make America God’s Again – we will only continue to see such evil occurring as often as it is, perhaps even more so. I just pray that we do, one day, return to the Lord as a nation.
 
2 Chronicles 7:14
“If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”
 
And please make sure to check out our free weekly newsletter. As the name suggests, it is a newsletter that comes completely free of charge. What you get is a compilation of the week’s articles sent right into your inbox. So make sure to check it out today!
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

​Over the weekend, the entire nation was rocked by two mass shootings happening within 24 hours of one another, a particular rarity.
 
A Walmart in El Paso, Texas was shot up by a white supremacist who has been reported as having been inspired by the Christchurch, New Zealand shooter and according to reports of the shooter’s supposed manifesto, was angry at the rise in the Hispanic population in Texas and decided to kill people, possibly targeting Latinos.
 
A bar in Dayton, Ohio was also shot up Sunday morning, though it’s unclear if the two are related (and it’s unlikely).
 
In all, around 30 people died to the combined mass shootings and plenty more were injured. Thankfully, it appears as though police were quick to stop the shooting in Dayton, which could have been more deadly.
 
Of course, as these are fairly-developing stories, the facts will come out as more time goes on and I likely won’t be able to cover as much as I would like. However, what is often expected and tedious following a mass shooting is the fact that the tragic event, which literally takes innocent people’s lives, gets politicized to the point where people who support the 2nd Amendment are accused of having blood on their hands for this.
 
Every. Single. Time. Whenever there is a shooting, the gun is immediately blamed. Not the shooter or his or her motivations (unless they are beneficial to the Left), but the gun. This has led, predictably, to Democrats calling on Congress to cancel the Summer recess in order to pass more gun control legislation that will neither serve to prevent the next tragedy nor serve to alleviate the mourning souls of the families of the victims. Why? Because that would be trying to cure a symptom rather than a disease.
 
What is to blame here isn’t the tool of destruction. Far more people die to automobiles, disease, stabbings, doctor malpractice, etc. than they do in shootings. Even Neil DeGrasse Tyson understands this, having tweeted about it with some figures to back it up.
 
What is to blame isn’t as simple as “the gun did it” because that is not even remotely accurate. It was the person that did it and it was the lack of a strong mental health system in this country that gets us to this point (as well as other factors).
 
The Dayton shooter, according to schoolmates of his, had “kill” and “rape” lists. A massive red flag that has somehow been ignored.
 
But despite that, instead of addressing the actual issues like President Trump is doing, people are pointing fingers at each other. The Left-wing media will focus on the El Paso shooter because he is a white supremacist and they can use that as rhetoric against Trump, saying that it’s his own rhetoric that is similar to the shooter’s when nothing could be further from the truth.
 
The white supremacist shooter reportedly hates Hispanics. Trump does not hate Hispanics. The white supremacist shooter is a freaking white supremacist. Trump is not a white supremacist and has disavowed white supremacists well before he was even President. The white supremacist is a Leftist and Trump is not a Leftist.
 
But the media has been insisting for the past few years that Donald Trump is a white supremacist and as a result, Twitter hashtags like “#TrumpsTerrorists” arise, when placing the blame on him is idiotic (even though the El Paso shooter is a registered Democrat and he used Leftist language such as pro-climate change talking points where he said we were killing our planet, not that the Left will focus on that bit of the manifesto).
 
Simultaneously, they will ignore the Dayton shooter because he was a very open Leftist who often liked Leftists’ tweets and endorsed people like Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders. On his Twitter bio, he did something only Leftists tend to do: identify himself as “he/him” to let people know what gender pronoun to use on him.
 
Beyond that, he literally had “leftist” in his Twitter bio. And he would often retweet and like tweets from Leftists such as the aforementioned Warren and Sanders, plus others who spew Leftist rhetoric surrounding the border, police, the ICE bomber being considered a martyr by ANTIFA, AOC calling the detention centers at the border “concentration camps”, and literally tweeted: “I want socialism, and I’ll not wait for the idiots to finally come round to understanding.”
 
Oh, and he also said he loved Satan.
 
Had this shooting been the only one to have happened, the MSM would’ve pretended nothing even happened. After all, the story on the Virginia baseball game shooter, who was targeting Republicans, died pretty quickly (and no one on the Left was blaming Bernie Sanders and his rhetoric, despite it basically promoting the attack of right-wingers).
 
Two mass shootings are what are being talked about, with one’s rhetoric taking center stage and the other’s being ignored.
 
Because white supremacy has often been taught to so many people as being a right-wing ideology (when history literally proves otherwise), the media will focus solely on the El Paso shooting and say it was Trump’s fault (2020 Dems have certainly already done this) and that it is his rhetoric that led the white supremacist (who is also a Leftist, I will remind) to target Latinos and Hispanics.
 
In reality, it’s the Left’s rhetoric that has endangered Latinos and Hispanics. In conflating legal immigrants with illegal ones, by simply saying that Trump’s rhetoric is “anti-immigrant”, it leads people to be equally as confused and believe that all Hispanics and Latinos are the same, whether they came here legally or illegally.
 
Of course, the vast majority of people are not quite so dumb, but as we are talking about people with clear mental health issues, it’s important to point this out: people’s lies and narratives have consequences.
 
The Left will talk at length about the El Paso shooter and try and blame Trump for it, all-the-while ignoring stories about Trump supporters being punched, harassed or otherwise mistreated just for being Trump supporters.
 
Donald Trump’s rhetoric is against illegal immigration, not because he doesn’t like illegals, but because he doesn’t like them breaking THE LAW to enter the country. If an illegal immigrant were to be deported and then come back in through legal means, all would be well. But the media insists that Trump’s rhetoric is entirely racially-based, which can lead to some people, such as the El Paso shooter, to believe Latinos don’t belong here and killing them is justifiable.
 
Now, having gotten that out of the way, I can imagine some people may be trying to say that I, myself, am politicizing a tragedy after telling people not to do so and will call me hypocritical. I am not politicizing a tragedy, merely responding to the politicization that has surrounded this tragedy already.
 
Like I said, every single time there is a mass shooting, the Left basically jumps for joy at the chance to use it for political gain. And if you think I’m exaggerating, Kamala Harris literally sent out a fundraising e-mail asking people for money following the tragedy, naming the El Paso and Dayton shootings in the e-mail. She is literally trying to profit from the tragedies, so don’t tell me that I shouldn’t say the Left is happy when shootings happen because they are.
 
It is a chance for them to insist we take action against gun ownership and purchases, when all that will do is hinder law-abiding citizens and help law-breakers in the long-run.
 
When tragedies like these happen, instead of putting our issues aside out of respect for the fallen and in mourning of them alongside the families and the communities, we further the divide that already exists and begin blaming people like Trump, the NRA, conservatives, gun owners, etc. Unless the shooter was a Muslim or a Leftist, in which case the Left jumps into defense mode to only attack the gun (and still blame conservatives somehow) while trying to shield Islam, hypocritically saying that not all Muslims are like this (which is true) and that Islam had nothing to do with it (not true) while attacking Trump and conservatives and saying shootings like last weekend’s have everything to do with our ideology.
 
Rather than be mourned over, victims of a tragedy are made into political tools to further the Left’s agenda. Rather than address the root causes of the problems, we focus on the tools used to bring death, destruction and desolation. A life lost is a life lost and it’s a tragedy, no matter the manner in which it was lost.
 
When there is a stabbing, people don’t tend to jump at the chance to spread “knife control” propaganda (unless you’re in the U.K.) because it is impossible to enforce (even full gun control is impossible to enforce, even if you were to get rid of the 2nd Amendment).
 
When there is a terrorist attack in which a vehicle was used to run people over, people don’t jump at the chance to spread “car control” because that would be stupid. It is only when a shooting happens when the actual tool is blamed more than the individual or individuals who perpetrated the heinous act of violence.
 
It doesn’t help anyone at any capacity because, again, you are not addressing the root cause. There are more guns in America than there are people, and while estimates vary, plenty of those are also illegal (far from the majority, but still) with some estimates saying there are over 100 million illegal firearms in the country (though it’s nearly impossible to accurately estimate unregistered and illegal guns, so take that figure with a grain of salt).
 
Still, given the estimates for gun ownership, such as the fact that there are 120.5 guns per 100 people in the U.S. (according to Small Arms Survey), meaning, statistically speaking, every person in the country owns at least one gun, it is quite clear that gun ownership and guns in and of themselves are not the problem, as we would all be long dead by now if they were.
 
Regardless of the estimates you may want to use for gun ownership and even illegal gun ownership, it’s quite evident that the problem lies elsewhere. Namely, mental health issues and, in my opinion, the fact that we live in a post-Christian America.
 
Ignoring and mocking God tends to have consequences for countries in terms of either being blessed by Him or being cursed by Him. And while I’m not usually one to claim that any given tragedy, man-made or natural, is because of our faithlessness to God, I understand that as He is the Sovereign King of the Universe, He has control over everything that happens, good or bad. And He has historically brought both blessing and curse to the people of Israel, blessing in time of faith and curse in time of disobedience to Him.
 
Regardless of whether or not you think that has anything to do with these shootings, one thing is clear: we must pray to God for healing. And while there may be those who say that “thoughts and prayers aren’t enough”, don’t pay them any attention because those are people who, themselves, are not faithful or pray to Him.
 
Prayer works, even if it’s not quite in the way we imagine. So we should continue to pray for the victims of the shootings, as well as their families and communities. Pray that they would be healed and that they would come to Him in their time of need, that those who might need saving would be saved and those who have already been saved may find comfort in Him.
 
I will only pay attention to those who would seek to divide us because it is my job to do so. Apart from that, I will also continue to pray to God that He might heal our nation and draw us closer to Him as one nation under God.
 
James 5:16
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
 
And please make sure to check out our free weekly newsletter. As the name suggests, it is a newsletter that comes completely free of charge. What you get is a compilation of the week’s articles sent right into your inbox. So make sure to check it out today!
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

If you’ve read other articles talking about Christianity or Christian persecution in particular, or even if you have a full understanding of what it means to be a Christian, a title like that will seem painfully obvious.
 
Of course, Christians will always be persecuted! However, there is a particular reason I am talking about this right now.
 
Looking over topics to talk about, I came across an article on RealClearPolitics written by Penny Nance, President and CEO of Concerned Women for America.
 
Her article was titled: “When Will the Rising Tide of Bias Against Christians Stop?”
 
That title kind of surprised me, to be quite honest. “Rising tide”? Ma’am, Christians have been persecuted for almost two-thousand years. We’re not facing a “rising tide”, we’re already flooded by such persecution.
 
In her article, Ms. Nance points out the scrutiny the Vice President’s wife recently faced with regard to the fact she chose to teach at a Christian school. The media attacked her and the school for being anti-LGBT and really went quite far in their attacks against the Second Lady with someone in the media suggesting that she no longer be protected by Secret Service over this.
 
No doubt, this is Christian persecution, but it’s nothing new. Even Ms. Nance points out the many other times when people, particularly Democrats, have persecuted Christians such as Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA) challenging a federal judicial nominee over his ties to the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization.
 
Other examples she pointed at were Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA) saying of Amy Coney Barrett that Catholic “dogma lives loudly within you.” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) called into question Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Russel Vought’s Christian views as being “Islamophobic” and Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) asking Secretary of State Mike Pompeo during his confirmation hearing: “Is gay sex a perversion?”
 
But of course, this is hardly the tip of the ice berg of Christian persecution, even in America. In Colorado, a baker had to go through legal hell just because he refused to bake a gay wedding cake. And I don’t think we’ll forget the fact that a group of Catholic high school kids were hounded and harassed and vilified by the fake news media a couple of weekends ago (granted, for wearing MAGA hats, but still).
 
Most recently, the Left went a little bananas over the fact that Trump promoted “controversial” legislation in a number of states where the Bible would be taught in schools through the context of literature and history.
 
Over the decades, the Bible, crosses and overall prayer were banned in public schools, replaced with communist propaganda and flimsy theories of evolution which are heavily alluded to as being factual, if not actually being taught as fact in this day and age (I haven’t attended a science class that talked about it since high school back in the early to mid-2010s).
 
In the Middle East, Christians are regularly beaten, harassed and persecuted on a good day and outright killed and dismembered on a bad day. In China, Christians who refuse to include President Xi Jinping in their worship services are arrested and only God knows what happens to them.
 
But none of this is new. Like I said, Christians have been persecuted for two-thousand years.
 
Need I remind you that the Apostle Paul, before converting, actually hunted down Christians with Roman soldiers to have them executed? That Christians in Rome were considered atheists because they did not believe in the Roman gods? That it took Emperor Constantine in the 4th Century to legalize Christianity in Rome?
 
Jesus Christ, while He was still walking on this Earth, warned people that those who would follow Him, aka Christians, would face persecution and hostility from the world.
 
2 Timothy 3:12: “Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted…”
 
John 15:18: “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”
 
1 Peter 4:12-14: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.”
 
Matthew 5:10: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
 
Time after time in the Bible, it is made known to us that we will be persecuted by this world for the simple “crime” of being a Christian.
 
This is why I’m so surprised that Ms. Nance thinks this persecution is so unprecedented. But perhaps, I should try to look at how others might see this.
 
What do I mean? Let me explain.
 
I’m from Argentina. And while Argentina is largely Catholic, its founding was not necessarily due to Christianity or out of a necessity to allow people to express their religious freedoms.
 
America was founded a Christian nation. Included in the Bill of Rights is the freedom of religion. Argentina has that too, but it was not one of its main points upon the founding.
 
The people that settled here sought freedom of religion and the country was founded following Christian views.
 
The people that settled in Argentina went there not to be free of religious persecution but to conquer the land for Spain.
 
America since before its founding has been a sanctuary for Christians, where freedom of religion was considered as important as freedom of speech, press and assembly. And Christianity has been a major part of politics for a very long time.
 
So when in a country where Christianity is so prominent, I suppose it is understandable if people are noticing an uncomfortable trend in increased Christian persecution. This is supposedly the land of the free, so why would anyone expect Christianity to be persecuted?
 
Like I said, there is no rising tide of Christian persecution because we are already flooded by it and have been for a very long time. The only thing that is significant about the way Christians are treated in America and the way Christians have been treated elsewhere in different times is that America has provided what can be considered a period of relief of that persecution.
 
True, Christians don’t tend to be persecuted in America precisely because of the First Amendment. However, there has been plenty of Christian persecution anyway. Granted, not to the point of execution, thank God, but persecution has been there anyway.
 
And this persecution will only get worse because we live in what can only be considered a post-Christian America.
 
In a Christian America, socialists like AOC, Bernie Sanders, Kamala Harris and others would not get within 10 miles of holding a government office, as no true Christian would vote for them. In a Christian America, we wouldn’t be debating the morality of a border wall, we would be united in an effort to secure our borders, while still helping those who legitimately want to come here and legitimately seek better opportunities and to contribute in this country.
 
In a Christian America, we would not debate, much less celebrate, the enacting of legislation legalizing abortion up to any point in the pregnancy. We would not debate gay marriage or transgenderism.
 
We have all of these issues because we live in a post-Christian America and have been for some time now.
 
As a result, we see a “rising tide” of Christian persecution. And maybe so in comparison to earlier in the country’s history, but certainly nothing like what Christianity has had to face in its entire existence everywhere else.
 
We are expected to be persecuted by the world because we are not of this world. We do not belong to the world; we belong to Christ. We do not follow the world; we follow Christ.
 
The unfortunate reality is that Christians will always be persecuted for as long as Christianity exists. But the fortunate reality that comes along with it is that, in that persecution, we are fighting the Good Fight. If we are to be persecuted for any particular reason, it is best to be persecuted for being a Christian.
 
If the world turns its back to us, we rest assured that our faith will be rewarded in heaven.
 
I often say that, even if the Left gets absolutely everything it wants, it’s ultimately okay. Part of the reason why is because even if the Left takes away all our freedoms and property (because that’s the nature of socialism), whatever the world takes from us, God will multiply in His Kingdom.
 
Take away our riches, God will multiply those riches in heaven. Take away our families, God will multiple those families in heaven. Take away our lives, God will reward us with eternal life.
 
Yes, we will be persecuted in this life. This much is to be expected. But even if worse comes to worst, we need not worry because we know that Christ’s return is far closer than any of us think. Even if we are made to suffer in this life, God will take away all suffering, all pain, all sorrow, all tears in heaven.
 
Our God created the heavens and the earth. He is the master of it all. So what if we are persecuted? Sure, it’s not a good thing by any means and it certainly brings pain with it, but we ultimately need not worry.
 
If I am to die for the simple reason that I am a Christian, I will die with a smile on my face and a heart full of gratitude for God.
 
Why? Because Christ took away our fear of death. He defeated death at the cross. In Him, we also defeat death.
 
Of course, this does not mean that we should simply be content with these things happening. We should still try to course-correct, but even if that does not happen, we can rest assured that this is all part of God’s Plan.
 
And trust me, He does not need a plan B.
 
Luke 6:22
“Blessed are you when people hate you and when they exclude you and revile you and spurn your name as evil, on account of the Son of Man!”
​
And please make sure to check out our free weekly newsletter. As the name suggests, it is a newsletter that comes completely free of charge. What you get is a compilation of the week’s articles sent right into your inbox. So make sure to check it out today!
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

As I see it, there is a dangerous secularization within the churches that is trying to secularize Christianity to make it fit the world’s standards, doing the opposite of what they should be trying to do.
 
And just to be clear, I’m not saying that every single individual church does this, or that every single individual Christian does this, but there are trends in many churches that are simply worrying to me at the very least.
 
Now, allow me to explain just what it is that I am talking about regarding the secularization of the church (as the bride of Christ) and of Christianity itself.
 
Recently, I read two articles from The Daily Wire. One was titled: “Pastor Loses Job After Church Sign Stating ‘Homosexuality Is Still A Sin’ Causes Uproar” and the other was an op-ed from Mike S. Adams titled: “Why I Have To Debate ‘Christian’ Serial Killers,” referencing pro-abortion people in the church who not simply ignore abortion, but straight up claim it is somehow morally right.
 
Adams writes that the silence from most Christians regarding abortion is “stunning”, reminding him of stories he had heard of German churches ignoring Jewish trains full of women and children crying out for help by singing hymns more loudly. Of course, these are simply stories that may or may not be true, but we are seeing the Left literally calling for people to “shout” their abortion. And it seems, at least when it comes to plenty of supposed “Christians” that abortion is not only an issue that is not discussed, but sometimes even advocated for. Plenty of times, either churches ignore the issue of abortion to instead focus on the sinfulness of Man (and just barely mentioning how we are already saved if we have received Christ into our hearts) or outright joining the Leftist thought-train of secularization and advocating for women’s “right” to have an abortion.
 
Similarly, it seems as though we have been less intent on pointing out and rebuking the sinfulness of homosexuality because it’s “cool” or “acceptable” now to be gay.
 
Which brings me to the other article, where Pastor Justin Hoke of Trinity Bible Presbyterian Church in Weed, California lost his job after his church sign read the following: “Bruce Jenner is still a man. Homosexuality is still a sin. The culture may change. The Bible does not.”
 
That seems like a perfectly reasonable and accurate church sign. But the sign still caused an uproar within the community.
 
Now, that in and of itself was not actually the reason for the pastor to lose his job. The community can say whatever it wants, but it ultimately can’t get rid of a pastor. However, the church can.
 
Pastor Hoke said that he was not exactly fired, but it was brought to his attention that just about everyone in the church with the exception of one couple said that they would leave the church if he continued preaching there.
 
And THAT is where we find a huge problem. 99% of the church members and all of the elders did not want Hoke, whose gravest sin was to preach against sin (which is HIS JOB), and threatened to leave the church if he continued doing exactly what he’s supposed to do.
 
Now, I get that this is California, particularly in a city called WEED. However, I looked into the church and what denomination it fell under. The Bible Presbyterian Church is a very conservative church. Unlike many other churches where it seems they teach literally the opposite of Christianity, the Bible Presbyterian Church follows the Westminster Standards of reformed doctrine. In other words, they’re as conservative as you can get.
 
And yet, despite its conservatism, the overwhelming majority of the body of the church was against what the pastor did, even though he was 100% right.
 
Bruce, or “Caitlyn” Jenner is still a man. It doesn’t matter what he looks like, or what parts he surgically added or removed, he is still a he because God made him that way.
 
Homosexuality is still 100% a sin. It doesn’t matter if the Left calls us homophobes for saying it, the Word of God makes this abundantly clear.
 
And that’s not to say any of us hate gay people, either. Quite the opposite in fact. If we hated gay people, we wouldn’t care to point out their sin and we wouldn’t try to save them. But we care for people’s souls – all people’s. So, we try to help them be saved.
 
And yet, even though the Bible is perfectly clear about homosexuality, almost every member of the church wanted the pastor gone because he was spreading the Truth.
 
When I look at where the church is headed, I worry. The Catholic Church has had multiple instances of highly immoral sexual misconduct with children. And yes, while that is also the case in many other places, particularly Leftist Hollywood, the Church is held to a higher standard than Hellywood (and yes, I’m thinking of calling it that from now on).
 
The fact that the people of a conservative church would threaten to leave a church if it retained a pastor who was SPREADING THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL is a massive red flag, even if it is in California.
 
Homosexuality is still a sin, regardless of what society might argue. Transgenderism is a mental issue, regardless of the Left’s attempts to normalize and encourage it. Abortion is death, regardless of what any man or woman might say.
 
These are all things that we should be tackling head on, not retreating on. We should tackle these things and rebuke these things because these things are immoral. And in challenging these things, we should not cower and apologize, and we should not be getting rid of pastors for challenging these things. We are Christians. We serve God, not Man. And as Christians, we should not worry about persecution; we should fully expect it. As Christians, we are hated for telling the Truth; the Truth of Christ, of God, of the Gospels, of the Bible.
 
Christianity cannot become secularized, lest we fall to sin forever. We cannot allow for it to fall to Man. We must pray to God that He may guide our steps so that we may continue to spread His Word, regardless of the physical consequences.
 
Why? Because it’s not just the most important thing – it’s the only important thing.
 
There is a reason people in China risk going to underground churches. They risk imprisonment because they’d rather be physically imprisoned than spiritually imprisoned.
 
There is a reason people in the Middle East so often come to Christ. Even though they risk not just imprisonment but outright death, they’d rather die the first death than the second.
 
And yet, I see so many self-professed “Christians” either ignoring the sins of Man or outright advocating for them, arguing that they are actually moral when the Bible proves otherwise.
 
I’ve often said that we need a Christian revival. When I say that, I don’t just mean more people coming to Christ who never said or thought they were Christians, but I also mean those who think they are Christians and argue they are doing God’s work but are not.
 
We need a Christian revival not just in America but around the world. We need to fully understand what it means to be a Christian. It means to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, through trial and tribulation on this Earth, following His teachings as best as we can, regardless of what society might say or argue. It means not fearing persecution but outright expecting it, knowing that whatever Man can do cannot compare to what God can do.
 
For it is better to die the most horrendous death imaginable at the hands of Man than it would be to be on the receiving end of God’s Righteous and Just Wrath.
 
Shame on those “Christians” who threatened to leave a church whose pastor follows and teaches the Word of God. But beyond that, I sincerely hope they come to their senses, understanding the error of their ways, and return to Christ.
 
Similarly, I hope those “Christians” who advocate for abortion, or at least “choice”, eventually repent of their sins for they are doing the work not of God but of the Devil.
 
I hope and pray we can fight back against the secularization of the churches and of Christianity. It’s definitely not the first time the collective church has had such challenges, but here’s hoping we can overcome and defeat such challenges once again.
 
Romans 6:23
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
 
And please make sure to check out our free weekly newsletter. As the name suggests, it is a newsletter that comes completely free of charge. What you get is a compilation of the week’s articles sent right into your inbox. So make sure to check it out today!
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

If you were to watch nothing but the fake news media, prime-time television and Hollywood movies, you would think today’s America is largely and mostly liberal, and more specifically, secular in its beliefs. You would believe that Christianity is on the decline in this country and slowly being left in our nation’s past. And while this would be a dream for the Left, the reality is the complete opposite.
 
According to new Harvard research, Christianity in the U.S. is growing, not shrinking. The research brought into question the “secularization thesis”. This thesis holds that the U.S. is following in the steps of other advanced industrial nations in shedding their once vibrant culture of faith and moving towards a secular society. The research found no support of this secularization taking place. Not only that, the researchers also found that religion in America currently enjoys “persistent and exceptional intensity.”
 
A writer for The Federalist (Glenn T. Stanton) tackles this research as well, asking all the right questions such as why church numbers seem to be on the downswing if Christianity is growing, what kind of churches manage to maintain and even grow their numbers while others see dwindling numbers, what is contributing to this growth in faith, and what do we conclude from data about Millennial church-goers and former Christians.
 
Stanton concludes that, in regards to dwindling church attendance, these numbers do not equate dwindling belief in Christianity.
 
According to Stanton: “The percentage of Americans who attend church more than once a week, pray daily, and accept the Bible as wholly reliable and deeply instructive to their lives has remained absolutely, steel-bar constant for the last 50 years or more, right up to today. These authors describe this continuity as ‘patently persistent.’”
 
In other words, statistically speaking, the percentage of people who attend church once a week, pray on a daily basis and accept the Bible as the Word of God is the same today as it was half-century or so ago. And it’s been constant in that entire time-span.
 
Stanton continues: “The percentage of such people is also not small. One in three Americans prays multiple times a day, while one in 15 do so in other countries on average. Attending services more than once a week continues to be twice as high among Americans compared to the next highest-attending industrial country, and three times higher than the average comparable nation.”
 
“One-third of Americans hold that the Bible is the actual word of God. Fewer than 10 percent believe so in similar countries. The United States ‘clearly stands out as exceptional,’ and this exceptionalism has not been decreasing over time. In fact, these scholars determine that the percentages of Americans who are the most vibrant and serious in their faith is actually increasing a bit, ‘which is making the United States even more exceptional over time.’”
 
So it’s not like a small part of the nation falls under this category. Christianity and its fundamental beliefs are widely believed throughout the nation and no other comparable country can even come close (which is actually sad, when you think about it, but it does explain a lot of things *ahem* Europe is screwed *ahem*).
 
Stanton also shares some more info: “In 1989, 39 percent of those who belonged to a religion held strong beliefs and practices. Today, these are 47 percent of all the religiously affiliated.”
 
So not only is Christianity growing in numbers, it is also growing in strength. More and more people are coming to faith, and those who are religiously affiliated say they hold strong beliefs and practices.
 
Pew research reports that “evangelical Protestantism and the historically black Protestant tradition have been more stable” over the years in comparison to mainline churches, which are dwindling in attendance. Stanton notes that there’s even “a slight uptick in the last decade because many congregants leaving the mainline churches are migrating to evangelical churches that hold fast to the fundamentals of the Christian faith.”
 
So while there have been diminishing numbers of church-goers, there has been a rise in evangelical churches due largely (or perhaps solely) to the fact that they hold true to the fundamental beliefs of Christianity. In other words, people want the real deal and are, understandably, turned off by fake Christianity.
 
Stanton writes: “When so-called ‘progressive’ churches question the historicity of Jesus, deny the reality of sin, support abortion, ordain clergy in same-sex relationships and perform their marriages, people desiring real Christianity head elsewhere. Fact: evangelical churches gain five new congregants exiled from the liberal churches for every one they lose for any reason. They also do a better job of retaining believers from childhood to adulthood than do mainline churches.”
 
I can think of a couple of churches that tend to be rather liberal in their teachings, rather than sticking with the actual word of God. Mainly the Roman Catholic Church and the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America (PCUSA). If you belong to either one of these churches, forgive me, but it’s the truth. The amount of times I’ve seen so-called Roman Catholic clergymen and women upholding the liberal and anti-Christian belief that same-sex marriage should be allowed and that abortion is okay, at least in certain occasions, honestly has me worried.
 
And having actually attended a PCUSA church in the past and having held conversations with the pastor also gave me the opportunity to see just what they believe: the opposite of what Christianity does. I even had conversations with the church’s youth and they all agreed, back before the 2016 election, that they would rather have Obama for a third term than either Clinton or Trump. OBAMA AKA THE MOST ANTI-CHRISTIAN PRESIDENT TO EVER SERVE OFFICE!
 
So, understandably, my mother and I chose to head elsewhere. We chose to go to a REAL Christian church that taught REAL Christianity. This is the case for many people in America. Those who wish to be taught real Christianity and experience real Christianity leave the churches that don’t offer that, as well they should. What’s the point of calling yourself a Christian if you don’t actually believe in the tenets of the Christian faith? What’s the point of attending a church that isn’t teaching you valuable things about God, Christ, this world that He has created and the Word that He has spoken written down by His followers?
 
Regardless, let’s move on. The final item we will be looking at, since I don’t want to make this article too long, is Millennials. According to Stanton: “Pew reports that of young adults who left their faith, only 11 percent said they had a strong faith in childhood while 89 percent said they came from a home that had a very weak faith in belief and practice.”
 
This is not surprising in any way. If you grew up in a family that had very weak faith, there is little reason to stay in that faith. You either are curious enough to search further in the Bible, go to better churches, and become a stronger Christian than your family or, more often than not, you abandon that little faith altogether and simply attribute it to “growing up”.
 
I know of a lot of people who have been raised in a supposedly “Christian” household who abandoned their faith and believe their secularism is simply due to growing up and maturing. The reality is that weak faith almost always dies eventually. Not all the time, necessarily, but almost always. Particularly if you grow up in a household of weak faith.
 
Personally, I didn’t grow up in a Christian household. Quite the opposite really. My father was a devout atheist, if you will, who would honestly mock those of faith and consider science to be the ultimate truth, despite the fact that it can’t answer everything and hardly even manages to fully explain what it already tries to explain. Not to say science is a joke, it isn’t. But it’s not the end-all be-all of the truth of our world. Not to mention it doesn’t get much into the Creator of the world.
 
As I was saying, I didn’t grow up in a Christian household. I used to believe in the theory of evolution until I started to question its logic. How can a species evolve into an entirely different species, even if given millions upon millions of years to do so? It just doesn’t make sense. A species evolving and adapting to better survive its environment? That makes sense. A species evolving into an entirely different species altogether that acts entirely different from its previous type? Nope, that’s illogical.
 
But I used to believe these things. I didn’t have faith in Christ, but now I do simply because it’s the most logical thing to do. It’s not that we had weak faith. We didn’t HAVE faith. My father, most likely, still doesn’t. But as for my mother and I, we have faith and it’s a STRONG one.
 
What I’m trying to say is that those of weak faith could most likely lose that faith altogether. But sometimes, that weak faith, or even lack of faith, can turn into strong faith. Relatively similar to my situation, I also know of some scientists who sought to disprove the Bible who wound up converting.
 
As for Millennials (and just about everyone else), all it takes is a family of strong faith. Millennials are just another generation not too dissimilar to the previous ones. Strong faith is difficult to kill.
 
Overall, the research from Harvard is fantastic news that really challenges the Left’s belief that Christianity is on the down-slide and conservatives are panicking over it. Reality, as always, is entirely different from what they claim it is.
 
Not only is Christianity not on the down-swing, but it’s also growing in numbers AND in strength of belief, at least in the United States. I don’t quite know about the rest of the world but, considering what is currently happening in Europe and Latin America, it’s reasonable to believe things aren’t quite going so well, particularly because of the seeming rise of socialism just about everywhere in those areas.
 
Although the interesting thing about socialism is that, despite all its efforts, it can lead many to Christ. If socialism and communism managed to do exactly what they wanted, there wouldn’t be people of faith in North Korea trying to escape. There wouldn’t be underground churches in China.
 
An oppressive government tends to drive people to God, even if those people practice in secret rather than openly. So no matter which way you slice it, the Lord winds up being the winner anyway.
 
In America, this is exceptionally true.
 
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
 
Author: Freddie Marinelli.

As it was mentioned in my previous article on California’s foundation on greed, there was a religious revival in the 70’s called the “Jesus Movement” that originated from said state.
 
In his book titled: “Is This The End?” Dr. David Jeremiah talks about the need for a Christian revival in the country. He lists the documented Christian revivals through this land’s history.
 
First, comes the first revival called The Great Awakening (1720s through 1740s). Just prior to this revival, the land was not too different from what it is today, with less and less people being converted and proclaiming their fellowship to Christ. This revival began with a simple gospel message of the need to be born again, which resonated with younger audiences and gave them hope. Johnathan Edwards, during this time, warned unconverted men and women of the danger that lies ahead of them should they fail to come to Christ. And John Wesley used his powerful voice, in the literal sense, to evangelize sinners for a mile without the use of amplification systems.

This revival is immensely important, as it's what led our founding fathers to fight for our freedoms.
 
The Second Great Awakening started sometime in the early 1800s. During this time, as people were preoccupied with the task of building a new nation, their spiritual well-beings began to deteriorate. During the time of the Great Awakening, 40 to 50 percent of the population attended church. By the 1790s, however, that number dropped down to 5 to 10 percent.

                              Christianity in America was under threat of extinction.

But in a college in Virginia, some students locked themselves in a room in fear of fellow classmates and began praying for revival. The college president investigated the situation and when the students were invited to his office, they prayed alongside the college president. In short time, half of the student body had come to the Lord.
 
The Third Great Awakening came during the 1850s and 1860s. After sometime, the passion and fire of the Second had died down. But thanks to one Jeremiah Lanphier, the Third Great Awakening began. He had announced a prayer meeting for September 23, 1857. In that first meeting, almost no one showed up. But as months went by, more and more people would show up. More than 50,000 people a day would show up to pray in New York, and this revival spread to other major cities around the area.
 
Then came a larger scale revival: The Global Revival (Dated sometime early 1900s) This one actually started in Wales, where a young man by the name of Evan Roberts began to preach a simple message: confess your sins to God, do your best to not continue sinning, obey the Holy Spirit promptly, and confess your faith in Christ openly. This simple message stirred incredible amounts of emotion from people in Wales, then England, then the rest of Europe, America and much of the known world.
 
Lastly was the aforementioned revival: The Jesus Movement (1970s). During this time, an entire generation of people became known as the “hippie” generation. This generation was known as the most screwed up generation in American history, with drug usage rising, and Indian transcendental meditation becoming the most popular form of spirituality there was. However in 1968, a Christian couple opened an evangelistic coffeehouse in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury (Hashbury, as nicknamed by the hippies) district. This one coffeehouse spawned a myriad of other Christian coffeehouses in the West Coast. And that led to ministries starting and people’s souls to be saved. This even caused thousands of hippies to become baptized.
 
We can see that there’s a pattern in our nation’s history, much like in our world’s history. The number of people who believe in Christ shifts over time. Sometimes that number goes up, and sometimes that number goes down. As I look at the state of the world today, I see that the trend is a massive down. What with the legalization of marijuana, gay marriage and unapologetic promotion of abortion, we see that the passion for the last revival is very clearly in the past.
 
But you have to ask yourself: are we due for another Christian revival? The answer to that can be a yes or a no. What do I mean by that? I mean that God is the one who decides who He saves. If He wants another religious revival to occur in the U.S. and the world, He will cause it to happen. He’s the Master of the Universe and gets to decide whom will enter His kingdom. That’s not to say that I don’t want another revival. I most certainly do. But if the Jesus Movement was ordained to be the last one, who are we to argue? Those of us who are saved will not suffer death… that is spiritual death. I’d be more than happy with another revival, but I have no right to complain if it doesn’t come. And those who are saved needn’t worry about the future, as it is all in the hands of the Lord.
 
This is why we are encouraged to evangelize people. We want to help bring as many people to Christ as we possibly can, regardless of the trend in faith in the country or the world.
 
John 6:37
“All that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I will certainly not cast out.”
 
Author: Freddie M.