Top 5 Issues Cristians Face In America?

[Brandon Bozarth]

What do you think the top five issues facing Christians in America are?
What do you think should be done to solve them?

There are my top five:

1. Evolution in schools.
2. Sex Education in school.
3. Gay Marriage.
4. The dissent of television.
5. The poor opinion the world has about many Christians.

 

[Adullam]

What do you think the top five issues facing Christians in America are?
What do you think should be done to solve them?

There are my top five:

1. Evolution in schools. Do schools really evolve?
2. Sex Education in school. School is no place for sex of any kind! :naughty
3. Gay Marriage. Marriage should be happy! :help
4. The dissent of television. TV's are now too narrow to put anything on them. (do Christians still own TV's? ) :verysad
5. The poor opinion the world has about many Christians.

Do they mean the TV watching kind?


But seriously...here's my five

1. unbelief
2. habitual sin
3. conformity to the world
4. lack of holiness
5. unrenewed minds (that watch TV ;) )

 

[Aero_Hudson]

What do you think the top five issues facing Christians in America are?
What do you think should be done to solve them?

There are my top five:

1. Evolution in schools.
2. Sex Education in school.
3. Gay Marriage.
4. The dissent of television.
5. The poor opinion the world has about many Christians.

1. Schools have to separate religion from science. There realy is no other decision they can make. I do not want my childrens' school teaching them about religion and prefer that be a topic I discuss and guide them on. As long as evolution is presented as a theory I have no problem with it being presented as such.

2. Depends on what is being presented. If it is anatomy based, I have no problem. If it gets into the areas of contraception and other touchy subjects again, I prefer that I have those conversations with my kids.

3. Touchy subject here as well. Civil unions I believe should be allowed, not so much on Gay Marriage.

4. Nothing wrong with TV, Movies, video games, etc. Anything, for the most part, is alright in moderation. As long as folks can separate fiction from reality and not have the "tube" impact their day to day lives and their focus on God than there is nothing wrong with it.

5. Can't comment too much on this one. I live in an area of the country where Christians are not looked down upon.

 

[destiny]

What do you think the top five issues facing Christians in America are?
What do you think should be done to solve them?

There are my top five:

1. Evolution in schools.
2. Sex Education in school.
3. Gay Marriage.
4. The dissent of television.
5. The poor opinion the world has about many Christians.

Those aren't causes, they are symptoms of a Laodicean church culture.

 

[Brandon Bozarth]

"Those aren't causes they are symptoms of a Laodicean church culture."

Please elaborate. . .

 

[destiny]

God still has a people who are living according to His will, but at a very broad level we've become a people who live according to religious ritual. We do our duty by going to church and trying to live "good" lives, apathetic to the sin and depravity around us.
The love of many has grown cold because of the increase of sin (Matthew 24:12). This happens when the church decreases and is influenced moreso by the culture than is influencing the culture with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Then we have the great influx and influence of false teacher, pastors, prophets, etc., causing apostasy to abound.
2nd Thess. tells us there will be a great falling away and we are now seeing the fruit of what it has produced and is producing in our society. So the symptoms you listed are a result of the spiritual condition around us.
Education can't fix it, the government can't fix it, programs can't fix it, only Jesus Christ is the answer. The word of God tells us how dark things will get before the coming of our Lord; we are seeing it happen.

 

[Lewis]

What do you think the top five issues facing Christians in America are?
What do you think should be done to solve them?

There are my top five:

1. Evolution in schools. Do schools really evolve?
2. Sex Education in school. School is no place for sex of any kind! :naughty
3. Gay Marriage. Marriage should be happy! :help
4. The dissent of television. TV's are now too narrow to put anything on them. (do Christians still own TV's? ) :verysad
5. The poor opinion the world has about many Christians.

Do they mean the TV watching kind?


But seriously...here's my five

1. unbelief
2. habitual sin
3. conformity to the world
4. lack of holiness
5. unrenewed minds (that watch TV ;) )

you forgot drugs, nothing like drugs and alcohol to draw you away from God, I know first hand.

 

[Brandon Bozarth]

Drugs and alcohol are not really what I am talking about either. Let me set this up. The Montgomery Court House that had the Ten Commandments removed from it for example; this was met with a lot of protest from Christians. How could that situation been handled without upsetting people, do you think there was a chance to compromise there? And on the other hand something like say, Christian groups who fight to ban certain books and the people who believe that to be censorship, can we meet on a common ground there? These are the types of things I am looking for.

 

[Lewis]

Ok that is a subject that we have argued about with our secular brothers on this board a million times, I always would bring up topics on the Government and Christianity, because this nation started out as a Christian nation, and in 1882 the Supreme Court, even declared this a Christian nation, but the court does not hold that position today. If I can remember right, I think 27 of the founding fathers of this nation were Christian, I am talking about the signers of the constitution. And some of them also said that they got there ideas for the constitution from the Bible. In the 1700's a child had to know the Bible by age 12 I think it was, so these fools can't tell me this is not a Christian nation. All the moral laws of this land come from the Bible, and I mean all of them. So when the court does not allow the 10 commandments to be posted, I get offended. Here in Philadelphia, the birth place of our nation, scripture can be seen wrote in stone on most of the old government buildings. So what does that tell you. And as for that situation being handled, we are to stand our ground, we are not to be moved. Act 5:29 Peter and the apostles said, we ought to obey God rather than man. We are to stand up as Christian people and let the apostate government and the ACLU know that we mean business, I am not saying fight them with our fist, unless God ordained it, but let them know that we are not going to take their garbage. It is the Christians fault that this stuff goes down. Because we do not stand up to them.

 

[Brandon Bozarth]

I appreciate ever response and I understand that your forums are packed with these arguments which is why I must reiterate that I am not trying to argue and I am not trying to say anything about anyone or even voice my own opinion. Someone on another forum site replied with this.

"Then I'd probably redefine my list to:

1. Science (origin of man)
2. Abortion (what point is life)
3. Physics (age of earth particularly)
4. Separation of Church & State (why do we try to force people to do things)
5. Fraud (not representing a Christian Lifestyle)"

That was EXACTLY what I wanted. I was just curious and wanted to get enough lists together to get an idea on what the consensus was. I picked 5 because that is how many things I wanted for my research and I have no need to tell anyone here what I think about their picks or to argue it. I will answer anyone's questions but to be honest that will suffice. I am not one the atheists who comes to your forums looking to pick a fight. It's just that there is no better place to ask questions about Christians than to Christians. Unless you would like me to go elsewhere and have Christians be once more misrepresented. I am simply giving Christians a chance to help my research and to have the information I gather be from the source. Now that I have explained myself a little better I hope, please help, if you will. I am sorry if I sound angry I am not. I am just worried that I may never get to talk to any Christians who will just talk. I am honestly not trying to argue. Please.

 

[Brandon Bozarth]

Lewis, thank you. Are you saying by quoting Acts that you are literally "not to be moved" that Christians are simply not going to compromise ever, because this is your nation? That seems a little, well, unfair? Why not compromise? Why could the statue not be moved across the street for example? Will you never accept compromise? Is it crudely put, your way or the highway?

 

[paisley]

Without doubt I think the #1 issue is divorce. Divorce harms individuals, families, communities, and society in so many ways.

2. Media. It is often a propoganda or social engineering tool for very unBiblical values rather than being purely informative (news) or entertaining.

3. Drugs. They are out of control, reaching into all social/racial classes no one is exempt even Christians fall into its hands.

4. A general hardening of the heart. There has become a real hardening of heart in America that deeply saddens me.

5. Political correctness that requires Christians to be tolerant which really means to accept all things that God has declared sinful.

How should these be solved? That is very difficult. I think churches have to start teaching once again that divorce is hated by God and there shouldn`t be a "but" attached to it. On top of that, couples need to take their vows more seriously. We make our marriage vows before GOD and man in a church. That is something that can`t easily be revoked. I think we have to relearn patience and perservenace through the tough, boring, or unpleasant times of marriage. And parents have to bite their tongues when they see something they don`t like about their child`s spouse. They need to encourage the couple not put a wedge or help build a wall.

2. Turn off the TV. Don`t go to the questionable movies or any movie. Get news from alternative sources.

3. To start, go back to the first suggestion, don`t divorce. Many divorcees and child of divorce go to drugs to deaden their pain from the consequences of divorces. Solid families have more solid values and are more able to encourage one another in the right path and are more available to hold one another accountable.

4. Go back to #1. Don`t divorce. Children of divorce are more likely to harden their hearts to protect themselves from more pain. They`re also more likely to fall into drugs which break down the conscience. They`re more likely to fall into the hands of CPS or juvenile hall which further hardens the heart. Hearts are hardened when people haven`t experienced the love and teaching of God but have experienced the harshness of life. We have to protect our children from as much harshness as possible. We need to nurture their hearts with love, protection, warmth, and most of all with God`s love.

5. We have to teach our children to recognize God`s Word as reliable truth that can`t be compromised. How can we compromise truth without tainting it? We can`t. Our children need to know this.

 

[GojuBrian]

1. Abortion

2. Divorce

3. Atheism

4. Drugs

5. False prophets

 

[destiny]

-deception

 

[Veritas]

I guess I think in broader terms... I clumped Americas problems into 2 points

1. materialism. Our society is incredibly materialistic in many ways. In how we live and how we think (on many different levels). We need to show how we don't have to be enslaved by things (or people), we are slaves to Jesus and that is actually true freedom. But materialism also extends to how we view the world. We need to view the world with a spiritual component. Science is materialistic. Its not bad when the spiritual is recognized with science. But when all ideas of the spiritual are jettisoned we start losing our moral fiber.

2. irreverance. We need to show that things can be set apart; they can and should be holy. This applies to our attitude towards God but it also applies to holding people important. I think we as a society are becoming very cycnical. A look at TV and the type of shows (especially comedy) that are popular today displays our cynicism and irreverance. We need reverence for our own bodies, and this certianly holds true down to our sexual life; it holds true in our reverance for marriage. We need to hold life important (babies inside their mothers included).

 

[e. barrett]

But seriously...here's my five

1. unbelief
2. habitual sin
3. conformity to the world
4. lack of holiness
5. unrenewed minds (that watch TV ;) )

This would be more or less my top 5. Everything else, whether it's sex education or greed stems from these categories (basically). I think as Christians we need to be concerned more about how we live our lives and less concerned about how non-christians live their lives. If there's one thing that history shows us, it's that if you live out a life of faith, society will change towards you. I believe every other "controversy" like drugs, homosexuality, abortion, plaid pants, result from not having the above list nailed down.

 

[LostSoul]

This is a difficult question in terms of the vast number of issues Christians face in America....to pick five as the top is a challenge. But...if I were to try...these are likely the five top ones I would pick.

1. Life....what defines it, what defines the termination of such.

2. Seperation of Church & State....the state should truly have not much, if any part in what defines the written word....makes it....or how a Christian should live in terms of marriage, etc.

3. Tolerance or overall Definition of Christianity....too much any more much of the world seems to be defining what Christianity is...or should be in terms of what should be or should not be acceptable in terms of one's beliefs as a Christian.

4. Materialism

5.Judgemental....Christians, non-believers, or people of other religions in general tend to be rather judgemental towards one another. Though this could likely fall too into the area of tolerance...it is something felt to be a bit deeper than that on my part. Seeing as all too many times, we tend to point fingers at one another and declare each othe either false, or more sinful than the other without really reflecting on not only the damage these words can do even if spoken in truth, but not out of a loving heart. But also....without reflecting on our own errors and trying to first learn from them.

My apologies if I have caused any offense. None was meant.

May God Bless You

Danielle

 

[Brandon Bozarth]

"2. Seperation of Church & State....the state should truly have not much, if any part in what defines the written word....makes it....or how a Christian should live in terms of marriage, etc."

Lostlamb: Just to clarify, by "defines the written word" are you speaking about the word of God? How do you think the state does this? Do you see the state allowing Gay marriage as an infringement on your rights to marriage. I suppose I am just confused by what you mean when you say that the state shouldn't tell Christian's how to live when it seems to me that marriage being only between a man and woman because it is biblical is sort of the opposite of that?

To clarify and summarize to separate church and state would mean that there would be zero interference between the two. If the state passes a law that says gays can marry then that is the state creating a law free of theology- in a sense- however it now requires Christians to live in a country that endorses sin, which many laws already do. (i.e abortion, prostitution, drug use.) On the other hand if Christians wish for the state to ban gay marriage based on homosexuality being immoral then that is Christianity imposing itself in the form of law on the rights of others. Now believe me I am not trying to argue with you. I am just wondering if you can see it that way. I do respect your opinion and especially your right to fight against something you do not stand for, I would be ashamed if you did not. However my goal with this project I am working on is to bridge gaps not create converts.

With gay marriage, is it just the word marriage? What if a civil union gave a gay couple the same exact rights? What would be the difference in your opinion, please?

 

[Brandon Bozarth]

It is sort of funny how polite we are all trying to be to each other. I feel like if we were all Christians or all atheists that we would not be throwing around the "no offense, respectfully, sorry" all over the place. HA HA HA. I am glad we have gotten this far without getting uncivil. Thank you.

 

[Adullam]

But seriously...here's my five

1. unbelief
2. habitual sin
3. conformity to the world
4. lack of holiness
5. unrenewed minds (that watch TV ;) )

This would be more or less my top 5. Everything else, whether it's sex education or greed stems from these categories (basically). I think as Christians we need to be concerned more about how we live our lives and less concerned about how non-christians live their lives. If there's one thing that history shows us, it's that if you live out a life of faith, society will change towards you. I believe every other "controversy" like drugs, homosexuality, abortion, plaid pants, result from not having the above list nailed down.

As they say...the best defence of the truth is the practice of the truth.