The Demise of Christendom

The age of Christendom is long over. Christendom was a time in the Western world when Christianity was accepted by nearly everyone as a fact of life, from birth to death. Christendom lasted for about 800 years,  from the evangelization of the last pagan kings of Europe in 1100 to the rise of secular humanism around 1750. Since that time, regions that had been historically Christian have been rapidly receding, until today, when fewer than 2% of Europeans attend church on a monthly basis. The figures aren’t much better as you travel west – 4% in Great Britain and Canada. America has seen a slower decline, but it is steadily progressing toward that of Europe – 40% in the South and Midwest,  12% in the Northeast, and 8% in the Northwest.

Hebrews 12:1"Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, we must get rid of every weight and the sin that clings so closely, and run with endurance the race set out for us, 12:2 keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith. For the joy set out for him he endured the cross, disregarding its shame, and has taken his seat at the right hand of the throne of God. 12:3 Think of him who endured such opposition against himself by sinners, so that you may not grow weary in your souls and give up. 12:4 You have not yet resisted to the point of bloodshed in your struggle against sin.  12:5 And have you forgotten the exhortation addressed to you as sons?“My son, do not scorn the Lord’s discipline or give up when he corrects you.12:6 “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son he accepts.”12:7 Endure your suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is there that a father does not discipline? 12:8 But if you do not experience discipline, something all sons have shared in, then you are illegitimate and are not sons. 12:9 Besides, we have experienced discipline from our earthly fathers and we respected them; shall we not submit ourselves all the more to the Father of spirits and receive life? 12:10 For they disciplined us for a little while as seemed good to them, but he does so for our benefit, that we may share his holiness. 12:11 Now all discipline seems painful at the time, not joyful. But later it produces the fruit of peace and righteousness for those trained by it. 12:12 Therefore, strengthen your listless hands and your weak knees, 12:13 and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint but be healed."

The Scripture states that we are trained by the difficulties and persecution we encounter as followers of Jesus. God allows for our circumstances in order to train us toward holiness and strength. We are not to be discouraged in the midst of this hardship, but to keep in mind the bigger picture, that our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the powers and principalities of this dark world and age (cf. Ephesians 6).

One of the amazing and unforeseen events in the world today is the shifting of the center of gravity for the Christian world to the South instead of the North. Today, the average Christian is poor, brown skinned, and female, where 200 years ago it was wealthy, white skinned, and male. Over 400 people are baptized every week in Brazil, and in China underground churches have sprouted up by the tens of thousands. Even if Christendom has crumbled, the Church is still alive and well in the world  -- it just doesn't look like it used to. :)

Faith like a searchlight

It is a common idea to consider life as a journey from cradle to grave. Along that journey come challenges, blocked roads, high mountains, and dark valleys. Life as a journey is a very common concept, but the  interesting part is how and with what do people navigate? There are some, perhaps many, that really don’t navigate at all. These allow circumstances to determine where they go next. There are some who believe in Destiny or Fate. These look to a prescribed set of options and when events happen in a predictable way, they believe it was meant to be. Others have faith, and they use their faith like a searchlight, swinging it this way and that to find their way.

    Hebrews 11:17 By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac. He had received the promises, yet he was ready to offer up his only son. 11:18 God had told him, “Through Isaac descendants will carry on your name,” 11:19 and he reasoned that God could even raise him from the dead, and in a sense he received him back from there. 11:20 By faith also Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning the future. 11:21 By faith Jacob, as he was dying, blessed each of the sons of Joseph and worshiped as he leaned on his staff. 11:22  By faith Joseph, at the end of his life, mentioned the exodus of the sons of Israel and gave instructions about his burial.11:23 By faith, when Moses was born, his parents hid him for three months, because they saw the child was beautiful and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. 11:24 By faith, when he grew up, Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, 11:25 choosing rather to be ill-treated with the people of God than to enjoy sin’s fleeting pleasure. 11:26 He regarded abuse suffered for Christ to be greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for his eyes were fixed on the reward. 11:27 By faith he left Egypt without fearing the king’s anger, for he persevered as though he could see the one who is invisible. 11:28 By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of the blood, so that the one who destroyed the firstborn would not touch them. 11:29 By faith they crossed the Red Sea as if on dry ground, but when the Egyptians tried it, they were swallowed up.  11:30 By faith the walls of Jericho fell after the people marched around them for seven days. 11:31 By faith Rahab the prostitute escaped the destruction of the disobedient, because she welcomed the spies in peace.     11:32 And what more shall I say? For time will fail me if I tell of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, of David and Samuel and the prophets. 11:33 Through faith they conquered kingdoms, administered justice, gained what was promised, shut the mouths of lions, 11:34 quenched raging fire, escaped the edge of the sword, gained strength in weakness, became mighty in battle, put foreign armies to flight, 11:35 and women received back their dead raised to life. But others were tortured, not accepting release, to obtain resurrection to a better life. 11:36 And others experienced mocking and flogging, and even chains and imprisonment. 11:37 They were stoned, sawed apart, murdered with the sword; they went about in sheepskins and goatskins; they were destitute, afflicted, ill-treated 11:38 (the world was not worthy of them); they wandered in deserts and mountains and caves and openings in the earth. 11:39 And these all were commended for their faith, yet they did not receive what was promised. 11:40 For God had provided something better for us, so that they would be made perfect together with us."


Faith is the catalyst for God’s grace and mercy. Our belief that God exists and that He actually cares about our situation enough to personally get involved is the chemical needed to complete the reaction. From the very beginning, faith has been the component missing from those who fail to find what they are looking for on their journey. Faith is the searchlight that shines on the face of God.

But that searchlight can also become a target. There are forces at work, both human and spiritual, that do not want you to find your way to God. And so they will use your searchlight as a way to bomb your position, and send troops to oppose your advance. In fact, God has told us that the journey of faith is the most difficult one to take, because of the hardships along the way. Those of the dark inevitably hate those of the light, and that hatred provokes them into action.

But the good news is that this path has been traveled long before we came along. We are the blessed ones,because in addition to our searchlights of faith, we have a well-worn path to walk upon. We follow in the footsteps of millions of travelers with their own searchlights wavering before them.

Bon Voyage!

Both Death and Faith Are Nearer Than You Think

Up until recent times, people were constantly thinking about death. Before modern medical practices, safety regulations, and the elevation of the common man, death was a daily possibility. In a family of five it was likely that at least one would die of a contagious disease, killed in a war, or die on the job.  Life expectancy in the Middle Ages was around 35, and if you were lucky enough to live that long it was probable that many of the people you knew growing up would already be dead, including your spouse, parents, and children. For most people, this life was a difficult struggle to survive, and it still  is for most people in the world today.

Within those circumstances, imagine what it would be like to hear that your family, friends, ancestors, and descendants would someday once again be united with you. Released from a life of constant hardship and suffering, death was a transition to another, better life. In Heaven, death would become irrelevant, and you would be reunited with all your loved ones who had gone before you, including people who had lived hundreds or even thousands of years before you.

 Hebrews 11:1 "Now faith is being sure of what we hope for, being convinced of what we do not see. 11:2 For by it the people of old received God’s commendation. 11:3 By faith we understand that the worlds were set in order at God’s command, so that the visible has its origin in the invisible. 11:4 By faith Abel offered God a greater sacrifice than Cain, and through his faith he was commended as righteous, because God commended him for his offerings. And through his faith he still speaks, though he is dead. 11:5 By faith Enoch was taken up so that he did not see death, and he was not to be found because God took him up. For before his removal he had been commended as having pleased God. 11:6 Now without faith it is impossible to please him, for the one who approaches God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him. 11:7 By faith Noah, when he was warned about things not yet seen, with reverent regard constructed an ark for the deliverance of his family. Through faith he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith  11:8 By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place he would later receive as an inheritance, and he went out without understanding where he was going. 11:9 By faith he lived as a foreigner in the promised land as though it were a foreign country, living in tents with Isaac and Jacob, who were fellow heirs of the same promise. 11:10 For he was looking forward to the city with firm foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11:11 By faith, even though Sarah herself was barren and he was too old, he received the ability to procreate, because he regarded the one who had given the promise to be trustworthy. 11:12 So in fact children were fathered by one man – and this one as good as dead – like the number of stars in the sky and like the innumerable grains of sand on the seashore.  11:13 These all died in faith without receiving the things promised, but they saw them in the distance and welcomed them and acknowledged that they were strangers and foreigners on the earth. 11:14 For those who speak in such a way make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. 11:15 In fact, if they had been thinking of the land that they had left, they would have had opportunity to return. 11:16 But as it is, they aspire to a better land, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore, God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them." 

Perhaps the reason most people in our culture are losing faith is because it seems like the need for it is diminishing. After all, we live in the most privileged society in the world. Most of us have been inoculated against the major life-threatening diseases. If we break an arm or leg we can get it fixed instead of having to be held down while someone saws it off with a dirty and rusty knife. We stand a pretty good chance of not being murdered while going to market or killed defending our master’s property. Indeed, the main complaint young people in our culture make is (take a guess) “I’m bored.” Bored people don’t worry about death and the afterlife much.

The pressing issue is, though, that death is still a distinct possibility for all of us at any given time. Our material security as a nation is slowly but observably eroding, as evidenced by 9/11. Our society is steadily becoming more barbaric, where only the rich and strong survive. While information is becoming more accessible, and the amount of information doubles roughly every 18 months, the actual education level of most people is rapidly lowering down toward what it was during the Middle Ages. Our culture and government is becoming perceptibly more and more hostile toward the Christian faith. Soon, young people may not complain about being bored anymore, they’ll be too busy trying to survive. And at that point, death and those who have gone before us into Heaven will become subjects of much contemplation once again.

Celebration of Mediocrity

The celebration of mediocrity is one of the many signs of decline in America. So is competitive eating! But the celebration of mediocrity is an even more critical indicator because it broadcasts the message that we as a nation and culture have pretty much decided not to pursue excellence any more. Instead, we are content to let the underdogs like China and India do that for us.

As an example, take the current situation in public education. Elizabeth Gold’s book Brief Intervals of  Terrible Sanity records her experiences teaching for a year at what was considered to be one of New York City’s more progressive public high schools. As she discovered, more progressive meant celebration of mediocrity, since the rest was too horrible to consider. A full three-quarters of her class was unteachable, due to the students’ refusal to sit down, be quiet, and learn. A small handful of students attempted to actually learn, but their progress was thwarted at every turn by the majority who, even though they were disruptive and chaotic, were not expelled. Gold describes the effect this environment made on an idealistic and naive new schoolteacher, who saw her hopes of “really reaching those kids” diminish to simply a desire to survive the year. The real tragedy is that although these students could barely read at a fifth-grade level, they continued to ascend toward graduation because failure was not an option. Meanwhile, our top universities are awarding PhDs in science, mathematics, and technology to literally hundreds of foreign nationals every year  who then take their education and talent back to their home countries. We don’t want to hear it, but our status as a world leader in things other than bombing and  shooting is not just in decline, it is circling the drain. A society without consequences  is a terrible place.

    Hebrews 10:11 And every priest stands day after day serving and offering the same sacrifices again and again – sacrifices that can never take away sins. 10:1 But when this priest had offered one sacrifice for sins for all time, he sat down at the right hand of God, 10:13 where he is now waiting until his enemies are made a footstool for his feet. 10:14 For by one offering he has perfected for all time those who are made holy. 10:15 And the Holy Spirit also witnesses to us, for after saying, 10:16 “This is the covenant that I will establish with them after those days, says the Lord. I will put my laws on their hearts and I will inscribe them on their minds,” 10:17 then he says, “Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no longer.” 10:18 Now where there is forgiveness of these, there is no longer any offering for sin. 10:19 Therefore, brothers and sisters, since we have confidence to enter the sanctuary by the blood of Jesus, 10:20 by the fresh and living way that he inaugurated for us through the curtain, that is, through his flesh, 10:21 and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 10: 22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed in pure water. 10:23 And let us hold unwaveringly to the hope that we confess, for the one who made the promise is trustworthy. 10:24 And let us take thought of how to spur one another on to love and good works, 10:25 not abandoning our own meetings, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging each other, and even more so because you see the day drawing near.     10:26 For if we deliberately keep on sinning after receiving the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins is left for us, 10:27 but only a certain fearful expectation of judgment and a fury of fire that will consume God’s enemies. 10:28 Someone who rejected the law of Moses was put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 10:29 How much greater punishment do you think that person deserves who has contempt for the Son of God, and profanes the blood of the covenant that made him holy, and insults the Spirit of grace? 10:30 For we know the one who said, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay,” and again, “The Lord will judge his people.” 10:31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living  God.10:32 But remember the former days when you endured a harsh conflict of suffering after you were enlightened. 10:33 At times you were publicly exposed to abuse and afflictions, and at other times you came to share with others who were treated in that way. 10:34 For in fact you shared the sufferings of those in prison, and you accepted the confiscation of your belongings with joy, because you knew that you certainly had a better and lasting possession. 10:35 So do not throw away your confidence, because it has great reward. 10:36 For you need endurance in order to do God’s will and so receive what is promised. 10:37 For just a little longer and he who is coming will arrive and not delay. 10:38 But my righteous one will live by faith, and if he shrinks back, I take no pleasure in him. 10:39 But we are not among those who shrink back and thus perish, but are among those who have faith and preserve their souls."

 Too often we hear God presented as a kind of cosmic big brother. He’s our buddy, our pal, a guy who wants to give us a helping hand. He’s the “Man Upstairs,” who can get you out of a jam. And this type of thinking isn’t found just among secular people, it is also widespread within God’s Church. Unfortunately, the idea that God is our personal genie is not only unbiblical and heretical, it is also  fatally dangerous. As Jonathan Edwards illustrated centuries ago in Sinners in the Hands of an Angry  God, the human race, both individually and collectively, is hanging by a thread over the fiery pit of Hell.  God is not our buddy, He burns with a deadly holiness that would consume you whole if it weren’t held  in check by God’s equally powerful mercy.

As I have pointed out, consequences, especially eternal ones, are not popular in our culture. We are not  comfortable with the idea of eternal punishment because it sounds to harsh to our sophisticated ears. And yet it can be shown that a healthy fear of God can do wonderful things to motivate a culture – ever hear of the Protestant Work Ethic? Our society was formed on the idea that there are eternal  consequences to our actions, but now that concept has been rejected by many. And so we circle the  drain..........

The Compound Interest On Sin

Credit card debt is a terrible problem in America, particularly among young people. The ease in which a card is authorized all but guarantees it will be used. Credit  cards  themselves  can  be  very  useful  things, provided  they  are  used responsibly. If you pay off any amount you charge before the end of the month, then no interest will be added to your debt. However, many people seem to think credit cards are an additional source of income, rather than a convenient way to spend it. Pretty soon, interest begins to take its heavy toll and people are up to their  eyeballs  in  debt,  making  the  minimal  payments  to  get  by,  but  never  resolving the principal debt.

 Hebrews 10:1"For the law possesses a shadow of the good things to come but not the reality itself, and is therefore completely unable, by the same sacrifices offered continually, year after year, to perfect those who come to worship. 10:2 For otherwise would they not have ceased to be offered, since the worshipers would have been purified once for all and so have no further consciousness of sin? 10:3 But in those sacrifices there is a reminder of sins year after year. 10:4 For the blood of bulls and goats cannot take away sins. 10:5 So when he came into the world, he said, “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me.10:6 “Whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you took no delight in.10:7 “Then I said, ‘Here I am: I have come – it is written of me in the scroll of the book – to do your will, O God.’”10:8 When he says above, “Sacrifices and offerings and whole burnt offerings and sin-offerings you did not desire nor did you take delight in them” (which are offered according to the law), 10:9 then he says, “Here I am: I have come to do your will.” He does away with the first to establish the second. 10:10 By his will we have been made holy through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all."

The purpose of the establishment of the Law was to form and guide a national community of people in their dealings with their neighbors and the God that had rescued them from slavery. Sacrifices and offerings were required by the Law to serve as reminders to the people of the price of their sins, but the sacrifices did not absolve the people of their sin. Instead, they merely postponed the due date for payment until God sent His Son Jesus Messiah to pay the debts, not only of the Israelite community, but the debt of the whole of the human race. Jesus made a payment we couldn’t make, even if we were willing to, because the debt was greater than our ability to pay. But because Jesus was God’s Son, both perfectly human and divine, He was able to pay the debt with the sacrifice of His own body on the cross of suffering.  In addition to paying the impossible debt hanging over us, He sent His Holy Spirit to invade our lives, find our spiritual wallets, and cut up all those sin credit cards we use to add more debt than we already had. Gradually, the Holy Spirit teaches us how to be the master of sin, rather than its slave. In time, we learn what it is to be truly wealthy, using our spiritual resources for good rather than evil.

The Blood Is The Life.

My wife has been diabetic since she was ten. Unlike some types of adult-onset diabetes, her type requires daily injections of insulin in order to live. Insulin is a chemical that breaks down glucose in the bloodstream, and it is produced by the pancreas. Krista’s pancreas quit making insulin, so she must check her blood  sugar levels often throughout the day to make sure she gives herself enough insulin. She uses a device to prick her finger and squeezes a drop of blood onto a  strip, which is read by a small machine she carries with her. Her life literally depends on the ability to read that drop of blood.

    Hebrews 9:11 "But now Christ has come as the high priest of the good things to come. He passed through the greater and more perfect tent not made with hands, that is, not of this creation, 9:12 and he entered once for all into the most holy place not by the blood of goats and calves but by his own blood, and so he himself secured eternal redemption. 9:13 For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled consecrated them and provided ritual purity, 9:14 how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our consciences from dead works to worship the living God 9:15 And so he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the eternal inheritance he has promised, since he died to set them free from the violations committed under the first covenant. 9:16 For where there is a will, the death of the one who made it must be proven. 9:17 For a will takes effect only at death, since it carries no force while the one who made it is alive. 9:18 So even the first covenant was inaugurated with blood. 9:19 For when Moses had spoken every command to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves and goats with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, 9:20 and said, “This is the blood of the covenant that God has commanded you to keep.” 9:21 And both the tabernacle and all the utensils of worship he likewise sprinkled with blood. 9: 20 Indeed according to the law almost everything was purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness. 9:23 So it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves required better sacrifices than these. 9:24 For Christ did not enter a sanctuary made with hands – the representation of the true sanctuary – but into heaven itself, and he appears now in God’s presence for us. 9:25 And he did not enter to offer himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the sanctuary year after year with blood that is not his own, 9:26 for then he would have had to suffer again and again since the foundation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the consummation of the ages to put away sin by his sacrifice. 9:27 And just as people are appointed to die once, and then to face judgment, 9:28 so also, after Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many, to those who eagerly await him he will appear a second time, not to bear sin but to bring salvation."

From very early in the history of humanity, it was understood that sacrifice was necessary to approach God. One of the first things Noah did after leaving the ark was sacrifice in worship to the God that had saved him and his family from destruction. When God made his covenant/contract with the children of Israel, it was  finalized in the shedding of blood, which was considered to contain the life essence. Blood was sprinkled on everything to be used in ceremonial worship, and daily, monthly, and yearly animal sacrifices were established. But all this is now inferior to that which came next – the death and blood of Jesus Messiah. His blood is superior to animal blood, because He is God’s Son, and so new the covenant/contract God has made because of that blood is superior as well. We are cleansed from sin and our own death sentence is cleared because of that blood, shed once for all. We are no longer required to sacrifice inferior animals because the  superior God-Man has done it for us. We are dependant on that blood for so much: hope, joy, peace, purpose, and salvation in God.

Keep Your Head Above Water

Many people wrestle with suicidal thoughts now and again. I am no exception, although I rarely have them now. When I was a teenager, I had them on a regular basis. The summer after I graduated from high school was probably the time I came closest to actually acting on those feelings. We had moved to Oregon the year before and I was struggling to find myself. Most of the misery I felt was self-induced, but I was beginning to seriously contemplate swallowing the barrel of a shotgun. I felt like I had ruined my life, and circumstances being what they were, it was awfully hard to get out of bed.

The only thing that kept my nose above the waterline was the dim hope, somewhere in the back of my mind, that at some point my life would get better. I knew deep down that I would be robbing myself of the chance to experience what life was really all about. So I waded through that swamp of depression until I found some solid ground again. The solid ground was the hope that Jesus would do a better job building my life than I had done.

Hebrews 9:1 "Now the first covenant, in fact, had regulations for worship and its earthly sanctuary. 9:2 For a tent was prepared, the outer one, which contained the lampstand, the table, and the presentation of the loaves; this is called the holy place. 9:3 And after the second curtain there was a tent called the holy of holies. 9:4 It contained the golden altar of incense and the ark of the covenant covered entirely with gold. In this ark were the golden urn containing the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the stone tablets of the covenant. 9:5 And above the ark were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the seat. Now is not the time to speak of these things in detail. 9:6 So with these things prepared like this, the priests enter continually into the outer tent as they perform their duties. 9:7 But only the high priest enters once a year into the inner tent, and not without blood that he offers for himself and for the sins of the people committed in ignorance. 9:8 The Holy Spirit is making clear that the way into the holy place had not yet appeared as long as the old tabernacle was standing. 9:9 This was a symbol for the time then present, when gifts and sacrifices were offered that could not perfect the conscience of the worshiper. 9:10 They served only for matters of food and drink and various washings; they are external regulations imposed until the new order came."

God always has something better in store for us. Just as He established the first tabernacle as an indication of how He would bring salvation to the world, God places within our lives clues about the abundant life He has waiting for us just around the bend. The fact that the High Priest could never enter the Holy of Holies without blood was a foreshadow of how the blood of Jesus the High Priest would become the means by which we would all freely and with joy enter into the presence of God Almighty. As we stand in God’s presence, He looks at us with blood covered eyes, the blood of His own Son. And what He sees is everything we were ever meant to be as His children, no matter how ruined we may think we are.