Culture Wars: Let’s Look at the Bright Side

Yes, there is a bright side to the many battles we find ourselves embroiled in. When the battles are raging all around us, that is when the true soldiers come to the fore and are proven in the face of battle. And the battles of course are many, especially the overwhelming onslaught of the militant homosexual juggernaut.

I am here to tell you that the constant promotion, exaltation, glamorisation, aggrandisement, endorsement and elevation of all things homosexual is actually good news. It is good news because this really has become a key litmus test as to where the church of Jesus Christ is at, and who is and is not a genuine disciple of his.

sheep goatIn other words, as bad as all these culture wars are, and as nasty as the other side operates in its war against faith, family and freedom, at least it is showing us quite clearly just who are the sheep and just who are the goats. The chaff is being separated from the wheat, the boys from the men.

That is a good thing. I really do believe the culture wars we now find ourselves in, especially the homosexual assault on everything of importance to us, is separating true disciples of Jesus Christ from the fakes. One obvious way we are seeing the separation is when people claiming to be Christians actually take sides with the homosexual activists and other militants.

And battle also brings out courage – or the lack thereof. Those who are willing to stand up for God and His Word, for his institutions of marriage and family, and his fundamental design for human sexuality, are those who are distinguishing themselves from all the dead wood and pseudo-disciples in the churches.

So I for one fully believe that God Almighty is actually allowing all this attack on Christianity and on Christian values to do a bit of sifting – to weed out all the pretenders and all the nominalists, and bringing forth to shine those who are truly his.

Now more than ever we need Christian men and women who are willing to stand up, stand strong, and defend what they believe in. They must be willing to enter the fray, and they must be willing to get their hands dirty. If they are too chicken to get into these most vital of battles, then they are likely not his disciples.

I love how Ann Coulter just put it in relation to the Christian family and pizza shop owners in Indiana getting death threats from the tolerance brigade:

These small town owners of pizzerias have more Christian courage than most Christian leaders, and certainly the Republican Party. I mean if the one thing — a few days before Easter, it’s worth mentioning besides eternal life with your Creator — the one thing every Christian should have is courage. The most important thing in your life. Eternity is already taken care of! Go out and fight! You are afraid of being sneered at by The New York Times? That is the one thing every Christian should have, and most of them don’t.

Yes courage is the need of the hour, and as I have explained many times, leading the list of those who will meet a Christless eternity are the cowardly. Yes that’s what it says. Go look it up and read it for yourselves: Revelation 21:8. Cowardice is just one of the reasons why so many believers are not getting involved.

But if they fail to stand for Christ now, then why should Christ stand for them come judgment day? If they effectively deny Christ now in this great hour of need, then Christ of course will have to deny them then. That is how it works folks.

So I actually believe this increasing divide between godliness and ungodliness serves a valuable purpose. Nothing like a bit of sorting out the sheep from the goats. Nothing like highlighting the true followers of Jesus Christ from all the fakes, the phonies, and the professing believers.

And who is responsible for this great divide? Who started these culture wars? As I have written before, the leftists and activists started all this. And it sure did get ramped up under Obama. We did not pick this fight. The other side did, and we have an obligation to protect what we hold near and dear: our faith, our families, and our freedoms.

As I wrote elsewhere:

Let me break this to you: the next time you see me (or anyone else) standing up for traditional Christian teaching over against some new trendy theological challenge, spare us this foolishness that we are the ones who are somehow being divisive, argumentative, unloving, and harsh. We did not pick this fight, and we did not start this commotion.
But just like Moses, or Elijah, or Jeremiah, or Jesus, or Paul, and any of the great defenders of the faith throughout church history, we will always take a stand for biblical truth when we see it coming under direct, sustained, and blatant attack.
https://billmuehlenberg.com/2011/04/17/just-who-is-being-divisive-here/

A recent article by Dale Summitt is quite helpful in discussing the divided nature of America right now. He argues that just as the issue of slavery polarised and divided a nation, culminating in the Civil War, so the battles between the militant secular left and the rest of America is now creating a massive Culture War. He is worth quoting at length:

We are, most importantly, morally divided, similar to 1860. The issues most sharply dividing our nation into opposing “camps”, include: (1) the right-to-life of the unborn vs. the right to infanticide via abortion on demand; (2) the rights of Christians to freedom of religion, speech and association, vs. the “rights” of atheists, homosexuals and their left-wing, depraved allies to gay marriage and the forced acceptance of their depravity by the whole of society, including Christians; (3) conservatives who believe in individual liberty, freedom and states’ rights vs. liberals who favor state-ism and big government controlling everyone’s lives via destruction of the Bill of Rights; (4) conservatives who favor private enterprise with minimal state interference, and liberals, who favor socialism, destruction of free enterprise, and the redistribution of wealth from those who earned it to those who did not.
Because of the Obama administration’s callous disregard for traditional morality, the constant violation of the Constitution and our Bill of Rights, placing the security of Americans in “clear and present danger” with the Pro-Islamic foreign policy and Open-Borders domestic policies, as well as the deliberate destruction of prosperity and free enterprise economics, President Obama and his allies have clouded, if not darkened, the futures of a majority of Americans. As Americans see a cloud of darkness befalling their futures and the future of America, the conservative majority increasingly believes everything we hold dear is at risk, and passivity is undergoing a metamorphosis into outrage and calls for drastic action. Is our citizenry becoming so outraged that reluctant acceptance of the status quo is about to be replaced by a willingness to fight for our liberty and freedom that is being tyrannically stripped away by our Pro Marxist, Pro Islamist President and his evil administration?
Recently, more and more Americans, particularly the conservatives and Christians, realize that the “line in the sand” has been drawn, and the tyrannical government and its allies in Washington, D.C. is attempting to, paraphrasing Abraham Lincoln, “to force us to all become one thing” – a secular, anti-Christian, immoral, statist, multicultural, Marxist and Pro-Islamic/Anti-Israel culture. This rapidly encroaching Marxist, statist and tyrannical culture is complete anathema to at least half the population of America, and at last, the alarm bells are beginning to ring and sleeping conservatives at our moral grass roots are waking up to this hellish reality.
The developing crisis in America is basically, “Dred Scott” in reverse.

The forthcoming Supreme Court decision on homosexual marriage will likely be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. He continues:

The left wing, Islamist Fascists across America, led by Obama, are intent upon the enslavement of any and all who dare oppose their agenda. Much like Dred Scott in 1857, Conservative Americans in 2015 will have no place of refuge. The Dred Scott case precipitated the secession of eleven states and four years of Civil War. Today, in 2015, America is once again so deeply divided it has become “two Americas”; one America, seeking liberty and freedom, and a second America, seeking the forced enslavement of the first and former.
Of these two Americas, which America will prevail? Will we once again become one nation living in liberty and freedom? Will we descend into darkness and become, as Obama is striving to achieve, one nation bound in the chains and slavery of Pro Islamist Fascism, with our Bill of Rights and Constitution destroyed? Or, will we divide into two separate nations, one conservative, with liberty and rule of law, and the other, ruled by an autocrat in welfare dependency, rampant immorality and dictatorship?
It is painfully obvious what the statist, anti-Christian, anti-freedom leftists have decided is their ruthless intent. What will conservative, libertarian, God-fearing Americans decide? In 1775, American patriot Patrick Henry boldly declared, “As for me, give me liberty, or give me death.” If Americans do not choose at this critical moment in American history to fight for our liberties, then we are, for all practical purposes, already dead.

And all this is especially true of America’s Christians. Will they rally to the cause? Will they stand up and be counted? Will they risk everything to protect their Christian faith and Judeo-Christian heritage? Or will they be too busy watching TV? Will they be too cowardly to stand at this crucial hour?

Will they be part of the problem or part of the solution? The choice is theirs. As it is for Christians all over the West in these dark days. Whose side are you on? Who will you serve? We all need to make these choices. And remember, there can be no sitting on the fence here. As Jesus clearly said, ‘you are either for me or against me’.

Let me conclude with a few other memorable quotes:

“Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act.” Dietrich Bonhoeffer

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Martin Luther King Jr.

“To every man there comes that special moment when he will be figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a special thing unique to him. What a tragedy if that moment finds him unprepared or unqualified for that work which could have been his finest hour.” Winston Churchill

“Courage is contagious. When a brave man takes a stand, the spines of others are often stiffened.” Billy Graham

“Who will rise up for me against the wicked? Who will take a stand for me against evildoers?” David in Psalm 94:16

http://dailycaller.com/2015/04/02/coulter-pizzeria-owners-have-more-christian-courage-than-republican-party-video/
http://eaglerising.com/16757/america-a-nation-divided-against-itself/#9kyXdfFaH87kSMDX.01

[1848 words]

18 Replies to “Culture Wars: Let’s Look at the Bright Side”

  1. I was thinking today that it’s like a new type of idolatry has emerged with the “idols” being homosexuality, abortion and islam. Anyone who refuses to bow to these is to be cast to the lions one way or another.

  2. G’day Bill,

    And Dietrich Bonhoeffer did act, losing his life in the process. Thursday 9th April this week is the 60th anniversary of his death at the hands of the Nazis.

    Andrew Campbell
    Stanborough

  3. Here’s my bright side take on it, Bill. It may too long, but thought i’d share with your readers if possible.

    I wrote this today, it is kind of long but I want to share it in part to celebrate Resurrection Sunday coming tomorrow!

    I got to thinking about this Memories Pizzeria incident and how, once again, a Christian standing firm when questioned about belief’s pictures parts of the Resurrection Story itself. Indulge me as I look at some similarities and lessons.

    I was thinking about how Satan’s behavior and desires, over 2,000 yrs ago were very much wanting Jesus to be killed so His witness of God’s Truth could no longer be heard or seen by anyone. He wanted to shut down the Truth Speaker and being that Satan is not omnipotent like God, he could not even fathom the love that was given, even unto death, in obedience to God, let alone that God would raise Christ from the dead and seat Him at God’s right side until ALL of His enemies were made His footstool (Hebrews 10;12-16) could he? Oh, no, Satan thought he had the victory over Christ until the Resurrection took place and he is still fighting that truth to this very day.
    When God raised Jesus from the dead Satan was very much confounded by God’s supreme power over that one event, even as God is, sovereign over all events.
    His Resurrection stands as the ultimate testimony that God raises up his humble and obedient servants according to His purposes, which in the case of Christ, was redeeming all of creation.

    Fast forward to what happened to a family member of Memories Pizza Shop in Walkerton, Indiana, who, like Christ, over 2,000 yr ago this very week, stood on the truth of God and His Word when queried by Pharisees, only in this case, it was a worldly news reporter who, likewise, came with an agenda to trap her, (being the shop was filled with Christian symbolism, specifically the Christian Cross, the reporter certainly understood God’s Word on marriage, the latest godly institution under assault, had a good possibility of being upheld there.)

    Satan, as believer’s are hopefully grasping, also desires that businesses and people like this would be shut down. He does not want people to hear the truth about marriage, which in actuality is a testimony to Christ and His Bride for all people to see (Mt 19:4-6, Eph 5:31,32), and he certainly does not want them to hear about the power of the Resurrection through the Cross. You’d think maybe he’d have figured it out by now, that evil can be overcome by good. It is, however, spiritually discerned and Satan isn’t open to learning truth, he is? (1 Cor 2:14)

    We, however, who still draw breath here on earth can be open to truth. Let’s learn from this:

    After the shop, Memories, was left for dead by the hellacious hollers of like-minded Pharisee…oops, I mean, by a state-worshipping legion of followers, something amazing happened, something not many saw coming. Another follower of Christ stood in the gap for the shop family because that is what believer’s are called to do, just as Christ did for us. See, Dana Loesch knows right from wrong and chose to exercise the very real power of good overcoming bad, and though she could not have foreseen the incredibly generous outpouring that is taking place, she was faithful to take a step in the right direction on behalf of someone who was being oppressed.
    What has happened since has been nothing short of miraculous, I can’t even keep track how much money has been raised for the family to show love, support and respect for a person’s action to stand on what they know to be true, just as Christ modeled for us to do. Has it reached 1 million $$$ by now? All because one person chose to speak the truth come what may and another chose to obey God by loving her neighbor. What did come after the hell-storm was a picture of faithfulness and reward as God sees fit, to bless His children and glorify Himself!

    Even people from a variety of walks of life are supporting Memories Pizzeria, not just Christians. What a fine example of how Christian virtue and perseverance is brought to bear and produce pleasing fruit within society in general, not just for believer’s themselves. (Mt 5:13-16, Mt 5:16, Acts 13:47)
    No, Satan cannot comprehend God’s kind of love because he rejected it in order to worship himself. And, yes, he does get angrier and angrier and the bible says this anger against God and His People continues to this day. (Rev 12:12) But, we can know that Christian Truth and Love will overcome, in this life and the next.

    As for Christ, He paid with His earthly life, He is the first fruit of Resurrection Life over Death (1 Cor 15:20.) The Resurrection Story has been revealed in endless ways since His Victory over our final enemy. So, I say, yes, we should always be prepared to give an answer to the hope that is within us, that we have been given liberty and power in Christ to do the right thing today and forever, his very Gospel of Good News. (1 Peter 3:15)
    It may cost us our earthly lives, as it has so many, right now in our world today, who’ve gone on to their eternal reward (Luke 6:23) or God may use our obedience to show ‘he is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.’ (2 Peter 3:9). Hopefully, many will see what is going on here at Memories Pizza and believe on the One true God.
    The outstanding truth of the Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Memories Pizzeria debacle, and, let us please not forget the brutal ongoing slaughter of innocent Christians worldwide, is that the followers of Jesus will always remain “more than conquerors” no matter how grim it appears and the real losers are those that hate the freedom and liberty, light and life, hope and promise that was secured once and for all by Jesus Christ over the Passover Weekend. I’d say Memories Pizza was “passed over” for death and is now become a fantastic MEMORY to MARK God’s faithfulness to His People. Glory Hallelujah!
    Sincerely,
    Karen Short

  4. Thanks Bill.
    If Dale Summit is right, as I believe he is, then secession of the conservative states (the “red” states) must be a live option, combined with a rallying call to those conservatives in the blue states to come to their cause. America IS at the crossroads, and as well as courage, drastic action is called for: first of all, to repudiate the evil regime in Washington, and with it all the political hacks, the political machines, the RINOs, the intrigues and corruption that so makes up its present profile.

  5. And of course at Easter, every intellectual’s favourite atheist was spruiking in full in the Weekend Australian’s magazine. I refer to the “man in black”, Philip Adams and his latest anti-Christian diatribe.Under the heading “Barking Dogmas”, his brief thesis is that as science “advances”, faith in God retreats. He obviously hasn’t read or heeded the writings of the likes of Dr John Lennox, Francis Collins an the late Charles H Townes- not to mention scientists of long-ago who believed in God – Galileo, Descartes, Pascal, and Newton, Lord Kelvin and Max Planck.
    But Adams (and its probably because through age that questions of destiny suddenly make belief in a higher being more urgent) now speaks not in terms of atheism, but in the self-coined term- faithieism, his definition of which goes like this – “an acknowledged belief in a force mightier than themselves”.
    Sounds very Jedi-ish doesn’t it. But it seems that Adams has “softened” a touch in his staunch anti-Godism to acknowledge that there’s “something out there”.
    He then blabbers on with the usual undergraduate arguments and logic which any decent Christian apologist could logically demolish in seconds. He acknowledges “faith” in the scientific method. Again acknowledging that belief in the scientific method requires faith.( Its really is only a small step in logic to admit that God, as the eternal creator and sustainer of the universe is the author of laws which, in their uniformity and consistency are required for the scientific method to be sustainable.) How a random combination of time plus chance plus matter can give such consistency, he doesn’t say.
    He claims the “science” is slowly discovering the truth and demolishing dogma- really?
    Surely,science raises more questions than it answers and establishes its own “dogmas” to explain questions of origins. These dogmas come and go at the whim of scientific “consensus”.
    The only consistent “dogma” is belief in God the author and finisher of creation.
    He, of course, like most contemporary ant-Godists refers to the writings of Dawkins and Hitchens, who’s arguments have been so comprehensively demolished by the likes of Lennox, Zacharias et al, that their works no longer rate as serious scholarship and more airport lounge pulp fiction.
    Still, Adams persists with he hoary arguments that religion is responsible for most of the world’s conflict and wars and , of course, trots out the Shi-ite/Sunni conflicts, the Catholic/ Protestant conflict of Nth Ireland without a whisper on Stalin, Mao, Pol-pot and Hitler. Then there are the 152 judicial killings in Texas under GW Bush (the fault of Pentacostal fundies apparently) but lets not mention the billions of infanticidal killings which go under the secular ” freedom of choice” mantra.
    The return to religious fundamentalism, which is what your article stresses is needed to win the culture wars, Adams refers to as a return to the Dark Ages- an utter falsehood because anyone with a basic grasp of history would know it was the return to biblical truths espoused by Luther which ushered in the enlightenment and not the other way round. I think he’s conflated his Jedi faith with his atheism and is referring to the Dark side of the force, rather than the Dark Ages.
    Here’s to an even more confused Philip Adams, on this resurrection Sunday- may the resurrection power of the risen Lord be with you , rather than the Force.

  6. Maybe it is just me, but I get a distinct feeling on the internet that the sleeping giant (the church) is starting to awake and say enough is enough.

    I have seen a few articles lately where the church or individual Christians have said enough is enough and have pushed back.

  7. It seems there are even professors coming out of the woodwork who are not twisting history to fit in with a distorted picture: The First Serious Push-Back on the West-Islamist Battlefield of Ideas
    The capacity of leftist Westerners, including Jews, to proudly embrace and “promote” their enemies is astounding.
    http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/16738#.VSIYFeGYS7Q
    We are simply not reading enough of the old un-adulterated history books, but more of the new romanticized history books.

  8. I think we should push the LGBTs is the direction to which they are taking us, by putting up these signs and posters on buses, restaurants, schools, wash rooms, sports stadiums. Let us give the gays a helping hand in creating the LGBT apartheid they are creating anyway. After all they cannot complain that we are being discriminatory against them. Perhaps only then will the public realise what is already a reality

    SOME PEOPLE ARE GAY. GET OVER IT!
    THIS BUS IS FOR GAYS ONLY
    http://www.whensallymetsally.co.uk/news/uk/some-people-are-gay-get-over-it-slogan-carried-on-london-buses/

    THIS AREA IS RESERVED FOR LGBTs
    NO HETEROSEXUALS OR CHRISTIANS PERMITTED ENTRY
    http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/peter-tatchell-not-de-gay-manchester-8674162
    http://www.christian.org.uk/news/commons-watering-hole-is-virtually-a-gay-bar-says-mp/
    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-16962898

    THIS IS AN LGBT SCHOOL
    NO STRAIGHT PUPILS NEED APPLY
    http://www.theguardian.com/education/2015/jan/16/school-for-lesbian-gay-bisexual-transgender-pupils-manchester
    http://www.torontosun.com/2012/09/26/calls-for-first-all-gay-high-school-in-toronto

    HOTEL FOR HOMOSEXUALS ONLY
    NO HETEROSEXUALS

    http://www.hamiltonhall.info/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=310:discrimination&catid=44:public-content

    BED AND BREAKFAST LESBIANS ONLY
    NO STRAIGHT WOMEN OR TRANSGENDERED WOMEN
    http://www.gayaccommodationcornwall.co.uk/lesbian-self-catering-holiday-cottages-apartments-cornwall.htm

    GAY ONLY CAMPSITE
    HETEROSEXUALS KEEP OUT
    http://www.outintheopen.co.uk/OutintheOpen/index.html.html

    LGBT ADOPTION AND FOSTERING AGENCY
    CHRISTIAN FOSTER PARENTS BANNED
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXYThi-g14k
    http://www.christian.org.uk/news/equality-commission-sorry-for-christian-infection-jibe/
    Lesbian QC Karon Monaghan
    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_Si50VkLi904/TFnjbv5dx2I/AAAAAAAAAvk/CGFAg2RFXew/s1600/4851207642_82d11e69ce_o.jpg
    http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2199076/Grandparents-children-given-gay-couple-adoption-denied-access-years.html

    THIS IS MUSLIM AREA ONLY .OK
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nw2w7ACogaY
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBtct-z9JS8

    ThIS IS A GAY AREA ONLY. OK
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrRxFoBSPng
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oowTV8Cj7M

    David Skinner UK

  9. Bill, I thought the following was very interesting and germane to this topic, especially the obituary of the US at the end:

    “In 1887 Alexander Tyler, a Scottish history professor at the University of Edinburgh, had this to say about the fall of the Athenian Republic some 2,000 years prior: “A democracy is always temporary in nature; it simply cannot exist as a permanent form of government. A democracy will continue to exist up until the time that voters discover that they can vote themselves generous gifts from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates who promise the most benefits from the public treasury, with the result that every democracy will finally collapse over loose fiscal policy, (which is) always followed by a dictatorship.”
    “The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations from the beginning of history, has been about 200 years. During those 200 years, these nations always progressed through the following sequence:
    From bondage to spiritual faith;
    From spiritual faith to great courage;
    From courage to liberty;
    From liberty to abundance;
    From abundance to complacency;
    From complacency to apathy;
    From apathy to dependence;
    From dependence back into bondage.”

    The Obituary follows:
    “United States of America”, Born 1776, Died 2016
    It doesn’t hurt to read this several times.
    Professor Joseph Olson of Hamline University School of Law in St. Paul, Minnesota, points out some interesting facts concerning
    The last Presidential election:
    Number of States won by: Obama: 19 Romney: 29
    Square miles of land won by: Obama: 580,000 Romney: 2,427,000
    Population of counties won by: Obama: 127 million Romney: 143 million
    Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by:
    Obama: 13.2 Romney: 2.1
    Professor Olson adds: “In aggregate, the map of the territory Romney won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country. Obama territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in low income tenements and living off various forms of government welfare…”
    Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the “complacency and apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of Democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase. If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegal’s – and they vote – then we can say Goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years. If you are in favour of this, then by all means, delete this message. If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realise just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.

  10. What about the “reclaim Australia” rallies? OF course the ABC tells us how “racist” they are. But an email from Catch the Fire tells a different story with many questions yet being unanswered re police protection and access to the place for which the rally was registered to take place.
    Re the comment on democracy: Every system of government or system that regulates how people conduct themselves with each other will collapse when participants are no longer truthful or become self-absorbed. Democracy, even autocracy can work if all participants observe the requirements of truthfulness and other-centredness.
    Many blessings
    Ursula Bennett

  11. Mr. Muehlenberg, I appreciate your contributions to the battle for America. Also I appreciate that you read and quote from my posts on Eagle Rising and Canada Free Press.

    Sincerely,
    Dale Summitt
    CEO, Trailblazing America

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *