By NiteOwlDave
niteowldave@gmail.com
Despite what some naysayers suggest, organized Christianity as defined by the masses is not on a worldwide downslide.
According to http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Is_Christianity_declining#ixzz1BKitWH6o, Christianity is undergoing healthy growth in the Far East, especially in South Korea where Christianity is reportedly mushrooming.
“Of the 11 largest churches in the world, 10 are in South Korea, and some of them exceed 30,000 in membership so that they have to have 7 - 10 services on a Sunday in a large conference arena to fit everyone in,” the site reports.
The site points out that in some countries, including those in Western Europe, organized Christianity has been in decline since the 1960s. It reports that Christianity is growing – and growing rapidly – in other parts of the world.
Christianity has the most followers with 2.1 billion. Islam has 1.8 billion followers in our world population of about six billion people, reports http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_makes_Islam_one_of_the_fastest_growing_religions#ixzz1BLCQpQJ6.
Sadly, the Roman Catholic section of Christianity, which is 90 per cent bunk and is really a major non-Biblical cult, makes up one billion or one half the total, according to http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_many_Roman_Catholics_are_there.
The idea that 2.1 billion earth-dwellers are true Christians comes under fire from evangelicals who say what is called Christianity in surveys like this flies in the face of real-deal Christianity as defined by the Bible.
Conservative Christians see those who embrace Bible-plus- tradition and salvation-by-works theology as full-blown baloney with no Biblical basis.
Says fundamentalist preacher Harold Smith, “We have churches full of people who have been Christianized, but not born again. Consequently they try to live what they do not have. In order to live a Christian life, one must first have the life. Hence, Jesus said in John 3:7, “Ye must be born again.”
He says the world gets most of their teaching about Christianity from the TV preachers and asks, “What do they see in them?”
“1. They see many different denominations when the Bible says that there is only one body of people called the church. (Eph. 4:4 and Matt 16:18) Jesus speaks of my church, singular.’
“2. They see a group of greedy money lovers who are living in luxury at the expense of the poor donors. This is contrary to the Bible view in James 2:5 which says, ‘Has not God chosen the poor of the world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to them that love him?’ James 5:1 adds, ‘Go to now, ye rich, weep, howling over your miseries that are coming upon you.’
“3. They see many of them who have fallen in sexual scandals that have rocked the nations. Of this, the half has not likely been told. God’s people are exhorted in 1 Peter 1:16, ‘Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.’
“4.They see in the Christians the same as the rest of the world; greed and self gratification like everyone else. Why is all this? It is simply because there has been no real genuine repentance of sin. Repentance means a change of mind toward sinning against God. One cannot be saved without it. Jesus said, “Repent or perish (Luke 13:3,5)
“The reason for the confusion out there is that too few are preaching like Paul. We must first repent toward God, then have a committed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, says Acts 20:21. Repentance does not turn people from God, but it turns them toward God.”
THE IRANIAN PEOPLE CORRECTLY SEE CHRISTIANITY AS PHONY BOLOGNA
There is an interesting reason why Muslims smirk at Christianity and call it phony baloney.
An internet chat room acquaintance, Nader (last name withheld), a Muslim who fled Iran to convert to Christianity and is now a self-supporting translator of Christian books to the official language of Iran, Farsi, has this insightful response,
“In Iran, the US is thought of as a Christian country which I know now it certainly is not,” said the courageous middle-aged man.
“When I was growing up, I saw American TV programs where these ‘Christians’ who used drugs, cheated on their families, were corrupt in business. Like the rest of my Muslim friends, I thought this is what Christians do.”
Preacher Harold Smith sums up: “The problem with Christianity today is not the world, but those who profess to be Christians.”
