This post is part commentary on what I see both within my own church and society as a whole...Not that it should shock anyone that is paying attention to the state of the planet right now, but it was a smack in the face for me last week...
So as you guys may or may not know, I'm apretty big bookworm!
I've been reading like a fiend for over 20 plus years now and even though the focus of my reading choices has changed, I'm still nose deep in a book daily.
O.K., so with that out of the way, and to know my interest in the subject of reading books, let's dive in...
Part of the 'brand' of my church for as long as it's been an organized thing is being people of the Book. But not only the bible, we are told that reading is fundamental to growing in Christ.
Philippians 4:8 tells us to....
There's so much more in the bible that tells us to study, read, learn, grow....And that's why my church is big on educating ourselves with the help of the Holy Spirit in all things heavenly.
I literally work for the publishing side of my church and I can tell you....We are no longer people of the book. Very few people come into my ministry and search out bibles, books or studies...It's a big problem.
Keeping that in mind, I'm pretty sure the world is having a big impact on our church but also, religion as a whole...
Last week I decided to go to a popular book store chain here in Canada. And only a few years removed, things have changed big time.
In also every retail store I went to, you would find aisles upon aisles of religious content. Entire shelves dedicated to Christian authors. There were plenty of other shelves dedicated to Islam and Judaism as well. Every major religion had it's space in the secular book stores.
I guess it was only a matter of time because this is what I found last week...
One shelf of Christian books..A far cry from the multiple shelves that used to be dedicated to the faith...
Philosophy got lumped into faith and spirituality now, and of course that means less faith based books...Two shelves dedicated to faith and then half of the second one was philosophy books.
Along comes this stuff....
Lumped right beside books about God, we find an entire shelf dedicated to 'new age and occult' topics. I mean, they aren't even trying to hide it...
And again, this shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that's of any faith around the world. But it just hit me, what's coming...Our faith will be tested. It won't be 'popular' to believe in God. In fact, as we are seeing, it will become dangerous.
This is why I believe it was told to everyone of faith, hold fast to what you have faith in. The time is coming, where the world will become dark again.
More important than ever to be the light of this world...
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
