WND EXCLUSIVE

PASTORS SPEAK OUT ON RISE OF ATHEIST AMERICA

'The absence of God allows for the presence of darkness'

The numbers are in, and the verdict is indisputable. America is turning against God. And pastors warn God may soon turn against America.

A 2015 study from Pew found almost one in four Americans identified as atheist, agnostic or listed their religion as “nothing in particular,” a categorization dubbed “nones.”

The trend is especially prevalent among millennials, with more than one in three young people not identifying with a religious denomination. The number of Christians has also declined.

Of more concern to Christians who might think more outreach will solve the problem, a plurality of those who left their church said they simply lost faith. According to a new study from Pew, 78 percent of “nones” were raised as a member of a particular faith. Of that group, a plurality of 49 percent said they no longer believe in God or miracles.

What this suggests is not that Americans are losing exposure to religion, it’s that Americans are falling into apostasy.

Jonathan Cahn, the author of “The Harbinger” and the subject of the documentary film “The Harbinger Man,” said all of this is in line with prophecy.

“This is indeed a profound development and goes along with the template of ‘The Harbinger’ – the continued falling away from God of a nation under judgment, as was manifested in the last days of Israel,” he said. “The nation under judgment, having been warned of God, does not repent, does not turn back to God, but continues to depart from both God and His ways.

“And as in the apostasy of ancient Israel, it is the inverse phenomenon behind America’s continual embrace of immorality. They are parallel phenomena. The one takes place alongside the other. America’s redefining of marriage, gender and family, America’s mass slaughter of 60 million unborn children, and America’s growing intolerance for and persecution of those who hold to God’s Word, could only exist alongside an increasing and deepening departure from the God of its foundation.”

Cahn suggested what is occurring is not just a loss of faith, but a sweeping cultural change which will affect every aspect of American life. 

He suggested this is not a natural process, but a consequence of policies imposed by the government from the top down.

“It is the continuation of what took place in the 1960s when America began consciously and officially removing God from its public square – and particularly from the lives its children,” he told WND. “You cannot do that without reaping a mass harvest of consequences. And it is the absence of God that allows for the presence of darkness.”

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Carl Gallups, a pastor, talk show host and author who predicted official repression against Christians in his new book “Be Thou Prepared,” suggested caution when interpreting such studies.

“This is a complex issue and more questions are raised by these numbers,” he told WND. He noted the study simply identifies those leaving their “particular religion,” not necessarily Christians. He also observed a sizable percentage of the “nones” still claim to be believers of some sort.

“While I find this survey interesting, I am not ready to push the panic button and call it a wrap when it comes to Christian America,” he said.

Gallups said the more important finding is 71 percent of all Americans still claim to be Christian. However, he suggested those who identify this way may not really be true believers, and he maintained that the real danger is a loss of authentic faith among those who still technically call themselves Christians.

“Even this figure, claiming a huge percentage of people who are Christians, is problematic,” he said.

“What definition of ‘Christian’ is being used in the survey? Many Americans that still identify as Christian simply mean that they are not Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, or atheist. 

The biblical definition of Christian is one who is ‘born again,’ and an unashamed follower of Jesus Christ. Judging by the current state of our nation’s culture, 

I doubt seriously that 71 percent of our nation’s citizenry are actually born-again, Bible-believing, Jesus-loving, Spirit-filled Christians. How about you?”

Indeed, Gallups insisted Christianity, properly understood, can not be properly called a “religion.

“It is a relationship with our Creator and heavenly Father through a born-again salvation experience effected by faith in Jesus Christ,” he said. “It would not be a surprise to me that after over 100 years of teaching America’s children (by government decree) that there is no intelligent Designer and that we are merely the result of a happenstance cosmic accident, we might find a declining belief in our nation all these years later. Add to this a media campaign which constantly hammers the world with the message there is no God.”

Gallups argued that what is occurring was predicted in Scripture – a great falling away that heralds the last days.

“Those of us with spiritual discernment can see the biblical prophecies of the ‘great falling away’ of the last days are now quickly moving upon us,” he said. “Again, a survey proclaiming that an increasing number of people calling themselves ‘nones’ is not surprising to me – or even alarming. It is just what the Bible predicted – 2,000 years ago.”

Persecution is coming. Are you and your family ready? How can you take a stand for your faith? “Be Thou Prepared” by Carl Gallups, available now in the WND Superstore.

Mark Biltz, the man who discovered the “Blood Moons” phenomenon and the author of “God’s Day Timer,” said Christians are bringing apostasy upon themselves by engaging in constant infighting.

“According to the survey itself many are leaving the churches because of the hypocrisy of those attending, including the abuse by those who are supposed to be leading,” he told WND. “There is so much friendly fire within the churches and among the different denominations it is unbelievable! How can the church be a light to the nations when giving hope to the world when they are no different than the world?”

Biltz argued for a more stringent adherence to doctrine rather than easy, comfortable platitudes offered by pastors who see themselves more as “life coaches” rather than “living examples of God’s Word.” Like Rabbi Cahn, he suggested the de-Christianization of American society will have staggering consequences.

“We are full steam ahead going over the cliff,” he warned. “Our culture has already been greatly affected as we see the corruption in both religion and politics. We are the frog in the boiling water that is about to boil over. It has been heating up ever since prayer was taken out of schools, Roe v Wade, the sexual revolution, and now the whole concept of no borders or boundaries. The good news is when we reach bottom, which will be hit soon, revival will come!”

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Joel Richardson, the New York Times bestselling author of “The Islamic Antichrist” and the producer and host of the blockbuster teaching series “The Coming Battle for Jerusalem,” also found signs for hope for the global church. However, he said the future for the United States of America is dire.

“Because I am a Christian who loves my country, it’s easy for me to receive this news with a certain amount of trepidation,” he said. “A nation is not made great by electing a great leader. A nation is made great by having godly citizens who serve the Lord. If the church is shrinking in the U.S., then no doubt our future cannot be bright, regardless of what happens this November with the presidential election.

“That said, perhaps the Lord is breaking the church of the illusion that the United States is the savior of the world. Perhaps the diminishing status of the United States will cause those who are true believers to begin living more as persecuted minorities like the early believers and like so many of our brothers and sisters around the world where the church is actually the most vibrant.”

It was only a short time before the U.S. Supreme Court created same-sex “marriage,” in opposition to biblical standards, that Cahn warned of the overt moves by American leadership against God.

He said at the time: “The justices of the Supreme Court took up their seats [in a hearing] on whether they should strike down the biblical and historic definition of marriage. That the event should even take place is a sign this is America of [George] Washington’s warning … a nation at war against its own foundation.”

Washington warned the smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation “that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which heaven itself hath ordained.”

Cahn noted the Supreme Court opens sessions with the words, “God save the United States and this honorable court.”

“If this court should overrule the word of God and strike down the eternal rules of order and right that heaven itself ordained, how then will God save it?” he asked. “Justices, can you judge the ways of God? 

There is another court and there another judge, where all men and all judges will give account.

“If a nation’s high court should pass judgment on the Almighty, should you then be surprised God will pass judgment on the court and that nation? We are doing that which Israel did on the altars of Baal,” he said.

“We are exchanging our light for darkness.”

Here’s Jonathan’s Cahn’s message at Washington: Man of Prayer event at the Capitol.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2016/08/pastors-speak-out-on-rise-of-atheist-america/#yvey3sbkozI0a4p5.99

My comments: Amen!