Prideful, unrepentant leadership…leading prideful, unrepentant masses of Americans.
Apathetic, impotent American churches.
Unbiblical, authority- and discipline-despising movements masquerading as “true Christianity”.
Rampant State dependence and the open worship of America itself, both promoted and enabled by wicked political leadership and apathetic church leadership.
A gender chaos movement that effortlessly sweeps and transforms the culture under the “shocked and horrified” watch of the aforementioned apathetic, impotent churches.
You wouldn’t think that things like this happening on a massive, culture-defining scale would leave much room for things like true peace, hope, joy, and even excitement in the lives of Christians in America.
But you’d be wrong.
The fact of such apparent judgment pouring down from God upon our prideful, unrepentant land is reason for great hope and even excitement when we recognize the incredible privilege that we’ve been given to take up the Gospel-fueled Great Commission and build lifeboats of Kingdom-minded civilization in such a time and in such a place as this.
For anyone who’s ever read a great adventure story or watched a top tier fantasy flick in which a hero faces and overcomes incredible odds in the most dire of circumstances, we should recognize that as Christians in 2017 America, we have been given the role of a lifetime in reality right here and now.
Before we can appreciate the magnitude of our position in this unfolding drama, we need to get a sense of what’s really going on in God’s creation of History. We need to shake off the bad eschatology (pessimistic end times view) that’s come to form much of the American Christian subculture into the pathetic, cowering tool of impotence that it’s become, and instead take a deep dive into the rich, beautiful truth of God’s plan for human history in light of His perfect Word.
To that end, please consider the following from an article that we first posted back in January:
“Contrary to popular opinions currently dominating American evangelicalism (and thereby leading the rest of American culture down the drain), it isn’t God’s people who are destined to be swept off the face of His earth.
It isn’t the people of God who ultimately lose out here in “the real world”.
It isn’t supernaturally saved, Spirit-filled New Creatures in Christ who will be purged completely from the scene here on terra firma.
Oh no.
Not by a long shot.
To the contrary, it is the enemies of God who are destined for that end. (See, for example: Psalm 2, Psalm 110, Matthew 22:24; Hebrews 10:13.)
It’s proud, unrepentant rebels against the all-encompassing authority of King Jesus who will be purged and wiped from the face of His earth.
God’s people ultimately inherit His earth according to His promises and the work that He has chosen to see through to completion in His creations of time and space by way of His Gospel-fueled Great Commission (see: Matthew 28:18-20).
All things really are being reconciled to God by the power of the cross – and “all things” in this context really does mean all things.
Check it out:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
~ Colossians 1:15-20 (emphasis added)
His will actually is going to be done on earth as it is in heaven (Matthew 6:10). More and more so as His Gospel-fueled Great Commission advances.
So yeah, law is His and He’s even now in the process of reconciling it to Himself by His grace through His Spirit-filled people in accordance with His Gospel-fueled Great Commission.
Economics is His and He’s in the process of reconciling it to Himself by His grace through His Spirit-filled people in accordance with His Gospel-fueled Great Commission.
Art is His and He’s in the process of reconciling it to Himself by His grace through His Spirit-filled people in accordance with His Gospel-fueled Great Commission.
Same goes for technology, music, language, politics, and everything else.
It’s all His property.
And He’s taking it back from those who would dare to use it – any of it – in a manner inconsistent with His Nature.
That’s what’s going on here.
That’s how He rolls.”
So that’s what’s going on here.
The flood has arrived.
The unrepentant are perishing – insisting on breaking themselves upon the unbreakable Law of God.
Enter: The Gospel-fueled Great Commission.
That’s where His people come in.
More specifically, people filled with His Spirit, guided by His Word, advancing His Kingdom by His grace and for His glory.
For more on the “overcoming bad eschatology” bit that we touched on earlier, and how important that is to embracing a proper view of the Great Commission, consider the following (also taken from our January post on this subject):
“. . . the one thing that most professing Christians in America seem to believe most about the Great Commission is that it can’t be done. (For more on this painful but important truth, please read What do American Christians believe most about the Great Commission? That it can’t be done.)
How pathetic is that?
Very.
And what are the cultural consequences of this fundamental perversion of Christ’s Gospel and abandonment of His Great Commission?
Just look around, my fellow American.
Look at the smoldering, pride-fueled, suicidally unrepentant culture around you.
That culture, and the much worse that’s right around the corner, is a product of the phony, cowardly little American gospel.
Our culture is a product of that phony gospel’s pre-emptive surrender.
It’s a product of that phony gospel’s shallow man-centeredness.
It’s a product of that phony gospel’s criminal smallness.
For a properly inspiring and supernaturally cool perspective in response to this gag-inducing American (per)version of the Christian worldview, check out this matchlessly beautiful and awe-inspiringly clear passage:
“He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
~ Colossians 1:15-20 (emphasis added)
How’s that for contrast?
One Gospel is out to take everything for Christ.
The other one is out to…um…not. (See: The Little gospel That Can’t.)
Yet in the face of America’s ongoing mass multi-generational abandonment of the everything-defining Gospel of Jesus Christ, He is even now moving among His remnant to prepare the way for the next inevitable steps and leaps forward.
Just as “in the days of Noah”, this world is filled with all manner of economic, artistic, industrial and cultural activity – often pursued by those who firmly believe themselves to be right with God. And just as it was in the days of Noah, this world – including this land now called America – will one day soon be purged of unbelievers.
In the meantime, the King will use His enemies along with the rest of His property (as in: all of creation) to perfectly accomplish His purposes on His schedule to His glory and for the benefit of His people (see: Romans 8:28).
Feel free to bask in the glow of that for a bit.
Soak it in.
Awesome, isn’t it?”
One of the things we’re hoping to encourage in more detail in the coming months through posts, books, our podcast, and our new video channel is this “building of arks” concept.
We want to explore, share, and learn together how to better build using the time, tools, and opportunities that God has so graciously given us.
We want to recognize where we’re at and build accordingly.
To that end, if you have specific requests or suggestions regarding subject matter to cover in future videos and podcasts, please email me at Scott@FireBreathingChristian.com.
There’s a whole lot to tackle. Technology, art, fantasy, law, politics, education, homemaking…it’s all on our radar. We want to be as productive and effective as possible as we learn and share more and more with you here in the weeks, months, and years to come.
So please send on your suggestions and pray that we might be blessed with increasing clarity as to where to focus and how to communicate the things that will most encourage Brothers and Sisters in Christ to seize the opportunities that He’s given us to advance His Kingdom right here and now…even as old empires fade and fall around us.
If you know of anyone who might appreciate this post, please share it. If you’d like to see posts like this continue, please click here to help.
Please check out our video channel and our news satire site.
You can also help support the Fire Breathing Christian mission by checking out these books:
Stupid Elephant Tricks – The Other Progressive Party’s War on Christianity takes a painful but much needed look at how Christ-less “conservatism” has captivated Christians and co-opted them into helping march the culture ever deeper into darkness:
_____________________________________________________
The Beginning of Knowledge: Christ as Truth in Apologetics is an approachable, easy to read introduction to Christ-centered apologetics:
_____________________________________________________
Apathetic Christianity: The Zombie Religion of American Churchianity explores the tragic true horror story of all-American dead religion masquerading as Christianity:
_____________________________________________________
On Education is a compilation of some of the most provocative and compelling Fire Breathing Christian articles on the subject of children’s education:
_____________________________________________________
There Is No “God-Given Right” To Worship False Gods is a compilation of some of the most provocative Fire Breathing Christian articles on the subject of America’s embrace of a satanic approach to religious liberty:
_____________________________________________________
Fire Breathing Christians – The Common Believer’s Call to Reformation, Revival, and Revolution is the book that first presented the FBC mission to apply the Gospel-fueled Great Commission in every realm of God’s creation:
_____________________________________________________
An alternate white cover version of Fire Breathing Christians is available:
_____________________________________________________
There is also an alternate black cover version of Fire Breathing Christians:
Finally, here are a few good intro/reminder links for those of you who are new to Fire Breathing Christian and curious about exactly what’s goin’ on ’round here:
What are you, some kind of [insert label here] or something?!
What’s with that shark-fishie graphic thing?
Intro to Fire: The Power and Purpose of the Common Believer
When the Bible gets hairy. (Or: Is it right for men to have long hair?)
And especially this one: Never forget that apart from God’s grace you and I are complete morons.
Thank you for your support!
