"Decline of the church"?

[jonathanbrickman0000]

Is the Church of the Lord declining?

This is a common theory in this day, as if the raw head-count was a priority of God. But here are some elements that I'll suggest we should take with great joy:

• We do not anymore have nations of this world claiming themselves to be "christianized" while making war against each other.
• We do not anymore have nations of this world claiming themselves to be "christianized," while stealing from, killing, and torturing those of the mission fields within them.
• We do not anymore have thousands upon thousands of church-leaders trying to help build a Kingdom of Jerusalem of this world, against the would-be inhabitants.

 

[Whatever]

We do not anymore have nations of this world claiming themselves to be "christianized," while stealing from, killing, and torturing those of the mission fields within them.

Could you explain that? Just curious. Never heard of it happening.

We do not anymore have thousands upon thousands of church-leaders trying to help build a Kingdom of Jerusalem of this world, against the would-be inhabitants.

Same thing. Don't understand what this means.

 

[JLB]

Could you explain that? Just curious. Never heard of it happening.

Same thing. Don't understand what this means.

He is referring to the Catholic Church and their campaigns during the “dark ages”.

I might be wrong though.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

That, and the American Indian wars, and wars in Africa, and Australia, and...

 

[for_his_glory]

Mat 24:6 And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet.
Mat 24:7 For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
Mat 24:8 All these are the beginning of sorrows.

In verse 6 Jesus says to not be troubled as there is much yet to come before His return to gather those who are His own up to Him. The world will wax worse, but we are no longer of this world, but to bring the Gospel message to all who will have ears to hear and accept Jesus before it's to late and the door of God's salvation will be closed forever.

 

[jonathanbrickman0000]

> We do not anymore have thousands upon thousands of church-leaders trying to help build a Kingdom of Jerusalem of this world, against the would-be inhabitants.

Same thing. Don't understand what this means.

Worthwhile to look into the original stated purposes of the Knights Templar. There were many such groups, but they are probably the ones most still known about. "Knights Templar" is old language for Knights of the Temple, referring to the Temple of Solomon, where they purposed to set a Roman church-king over a kingdom whose center would be Jerusalem. The idea was to justify to themselves, ultimate power over the whole world for themselves. For hundreds of years, the Roman magisterium held and enforced doctrine which motivated armies over and over again to go and kill as many unwilling people as necessary set up that kingdom. Eventually the effort succeeded...for a very very short time :-D

Call it a much larger predecessor of soldiers for half of the northerners of the USA singing the "Battle Hymn of the Republic" marching with guns against their neighbors and brothers also carrying Bibles. Read the verses sometime, it's still in many hymnbooks. Or just remember people painting qusichristian crosses on the noses of their jet fighters not very many years ago.

This kind of thing is not altogether gone, I don't expect that until this world is done and all tares are thrown into the fire. But it sure is nice, the opposite of decline, to be able to see it reduced tremendously.

 

[JLB]

Worthwhile to look into the original stated purposes of the Knights Templar. There were many such groups, but they are probably the ones most still known about. "Knights Templar" is old language for Knights of the Temple, referring to the Temple of Solomon, where they purposed to set a Roman church-king over a kingdom whose center would be Jerusalem.

Also Freemasonry.

It all seems to be kinda knit together.

 

[Whatever]

Read the verses sometime, it's still in many hymnbooks.

I've read the articles on that song. But if you don't know the history, it has a good beat and you just think of all Christians marching against "spiritual forces of wickedness" or something.
Like marching for Right to Life against abortion.