By Ryan Kelly –

In preparing this week’s newsletter, I have discovered something abundantly apparent.   There has never been a greater war against our faith than there is today.  Here’s what I mean.

Simply type into Google News, “Christianity” America, and see what you find.  You will see a slew of anti-Christian articles which spew hatred for our faith, misrepresentation of Scripture, and an assumption that all Christians are fascist, hating monsters with intent on world domination by any means necessary.  You can’t even find a positive news story about Christianity without plowing through a minefield of negative or hateful press about our faith.

These articles will cite versus like John 14:6 “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one comes to the father but through me,” and they will say Christians are wrong because Jesus would not want us to claim anyone’s religion as being false.  Then, it will go on to deny the validity of the very Scripture that they quote.  Other articles will condemn any mention of sexual sin, and simply laugh at the possibility of creationism.

How exactly is this news?  And, how is it fair?

Thus is the problem, it is neither news or fair.  It is a direct assault on a peaceful religion that follows the teachings of Jesus Christ for the very fact that we follow those teachings.

At this moment, even self-proclaimed Christians will tout individual Bible verses and claim to know Christ, but will deny and actively oppose the very essence of the Bible and what God has done to save the world.  They will claim that Jesus is good, but other religions are good too.  They will claim that because Christianity statistically is in decline, it’s evidence that something is wrong with the church and that we need to be more tolerant and inclusive.

I’ll tell you now, if there is anything wrong with the church it’s that we are TOO tolerant and TOO inclusive.  We as followers of Christ must stand up for God’s word despite what the world says.  We must love absolutely, actively outreach and care for those around us, and tolerate absolutely no sin in our lives or those around us.   We love by showing and sharing the love given to us – the love of our God who came to this world, lived perfectly, and died for everyone who believes and trusts in Him.

Love is showing others how to save their lives through Jesus.

We must raise the bar of morality in our own lives and help others to do the same.  We must never compromise our integrity or believe the lies that are spewing from the world that there is something wrong with our faith.  The Bible has never changes, and we must not either.

There is a war going on, and the sooner we wake up to realize that there is, the sooner we can begin to fight back the evil that is prevailing in our world.  We are the reflection of the radiance of Jesus.  Follow His teachings and stand firm.  This world needs every single one of us now as much as ever.