Three Questions on the Postmillennial Viewpoint
The Rise of Christianity, c. 200 A.D. Click to enlarge.
Mr. Rogers,
For several years I have had questions about the timing of prophetic events. I have the general understanding that many evangelical Christians share, which is that the Great Tribulation spoken of by Christ, as well as John in his Revelation, is yet to come. I am not dogmatic about prophecy for several reasons, the most significant reason being that I don’t pretend to understand it all.
There are some stances that are held by many evangelicals concerning prophecy that I do not see much evidence for, but again I don’t have all the answers myself. When it comes to prophecy, I don’t believe anyone has all the answers nor were we intended by God to have all the answers. I do believe, however, that God does not leave us without ample information concerning prophecy nor does he want us to be completely mystified by prophecy.
I assume that you are routinely sent questions about your viewpoint. I’ll admit that while reading scripture I have often wondered if some of the events that are generally held by Christians to be futuristic, have not already come to pass. At the same time, I consider differing views on prophecy with guarded reservation.
Frankly, I see a pattern in some realms of the church that tend to worship intellectualism above the simplicity of the Gospel of Christ. I believe God gave us a brain in order to use it, but it seems that man, saved or lost, cannot resist worshiping his own intellect. The study of prophecy seems to avail itself too often to this pattern. This, again, is why I am not dogmatic in my particular view of prophecy.
I am genuinely interested in understanding as much as possible concerning prophecy and how it relates to world events. I hope you won’t mind responding to some questions I have. Thanks in advance.
Thanks again.
Pastor Chad Kibodeaux
Mauriceville Assembly of God
Mauriceville, Texas
Three Questions and Three Answers
1. Based on your postmillennial viewpoint, how do you contend that the Great Commission is still applicable? I realize that the church seems to be making advances in nations such as China and Africa, but overall the world is becoming darker and much more sinful. I understand the concept of ebb and flow, but the ebbing seems to be far outweighing the flowing. How do you reconcile that with a gradual advance of God’s Kingdom?
According to this source, the number of Christians in the world today is growing by 25.2 million per year. “The total growth of Christianity (25,210,195) adds the equivalent of more than the population of Australia (21,555,500) or the state of Texas (23,904,380) of new Christians to Christianity every year.”
How did that all begin?
Let’s use the “business report analogy.” What would you say about a business corporation that began with $120 dollars (the number of disciples in the upper room in Acts 2:15-26) and then ten days later, it turned a profit of $3000 and the profit continued to grow each day for several years? 2000 years later, this business corporation had grown to encompass over one-third of the world’s wealth. Certainly, the man who started that business would be heralded as a great genius, if not worshiped as God.
According to Acts 2:41, we know about how many disciples of Jesus there were on the day of Pentecost, April 20th, 30 AD — “about 3,000 souls.” In modern times, we consider this a great revival. But how did Christianity grow to what it has become today?
How many disciples were there in 100 AD? How many were there in 500, 1000, 1500, 2000 AD? We can make some rough estimates, but there is no way of knowing for sure. First of all, there are false believers in every age. We have to number professing believers who hold to orthodox doctrine and claim membership in a church.
We know that the growth of Christianity in the Roman Empire was dramatic in the first 500 years. From modern demographic studies, we see that the population of the Roman Empire was 70 to 100 million at its peak in the early second century. By 500 AD, the Empire had shrunk to about 55 million. About half of the population of the Roman Empire was Christian by this point.
See: The Rise of Christianity and The Roman Empire Map.
But surprisingly, the growth of the church was slow in the Apostolic era of the first century. If you count the large urban centers of the Roman Empire there were no more than 150 large cities. Churches in the first century were mainly city-based. Let’s say that by 100 AD, Rome had 100 thriving city churches of about 1000 members on average. I think that estimate is generous. If so, there would have been no more than 100,000 believers after 70 years of growth.
Is that a success or failure?
To put this in perspective, the whole world had a population of about 180 million people in 100 AD. This means that 100,000 Christians were 0.055 percent of the world population. Christianity, apart from the miraculous revivals we read about in the book of Acts, had a slow start.
Some historians are far more generous than this and suppose that by the second century Christianity had become a larger group of up to 500,000. Still this is only .27 percent of the world population.
That makes it all the more amazing that by 500 AD, Christianity had become the dominant religion in the Roman Empire and missionaries were being sent to northern Europe. By this time, there were less than 20 million people in Europe, apart from the Asian and African cities of the Roman Empire, which had more than twice as many. In all there were about 55 million people in the Roman Empire. Professing Christians made up about half of that number by 500 AD. This was about 10 percent of the total world population.
From there, we see slow but steady growth until the time of the Reformation in the 1500s when both Roman Catholics and Protestants began sending missionaries to the New World. This rapid growth was fueled of course, by the Age of Exploration and the new inventions that came from the Renaissance, especially the printing press.
By the 1800s, Christianity was advancing so rapidly that even most secular history textbooks of that era stressed the idea of Christian progress, that the world was improving due to advances in every area of learning. Most Christians believed this advance in progress was due to the Gospel. As more and more people would converted to Christ, individual lives would reform and the world would become a better place.
By early the 1900s, most of the Christians were in the western hemisphere and Europe, while there were almost no Christians in Africa, Asia and other areas of the world. But in the 20th century there was a huge thrust of the Gospel in the so-called Third World.
Now fast forward to 2014. Today, the number of professing Christians make up 35 percent of the world population — about 2.3 billion Christians. “About 1.5 billion are estimated to attend church regularly at over 5 million congregations, up from 400,000 believers 100 years ago.”
It is now true that more people are converted worldwide every day than in the entire era of the New Testament. Many of these new converts are the products of huge spiritual awakenings in Africa, Asia and the Pacific islands in the latter half of the 20th century.
I published this article 23 years ago in 1991. Understand that the criteria for “Christian” is different here. The U.S. Center for World Mission study focuses mainly on who they would consider to be highly committed Christians, not merely professing Christians. So they suppose the percentages of committed Christians are lower in modern times, but were higher in the early centuries of persecution. Here is an excerpt from that study:
According to the U.S. Center for World Mission, Christian evangelism in the last 100 years has reached a growth curve that is now increasing exponentially. Comparing the ratio of Christians per unconverted people in the world, the following statistics have been noted:
In the year 100 A.D. (about 70 years after Jesus Christ’s ministry began), there was a total of one believer for every 360 unbelievers on the planet Earth (or .27% of the world’s population).
In the year 1000, the ratio became 1 to 220 (or .45% of the population).
In 1900, the ratio became 1 to 27 (or 3.7%).
In 1980, the ratio became 1 to 11 (or 9.1%).
In 1990, the ratio was 1 to 7 (or 14.3%).
Given information from subsequent studies that 1.5 billion of 7.2 billion people are committed Christians —
In 2014, the ratio is 1 to 5 (or 20.8%).
Here is a paradox. Evangelical Christians have become generally more pessimistic in the last 100 years. There used to be more postmillennialists who thought the world was becoming a better place due to the great evangelical world missions thrust that began in the 1800s. Ironically, now that Christianity is the largest religion in the world, most evangelicals are premillennialists who think the world is predestined to get worse and worse until the end.
2. What would you say to a challenge of your belief if it were likened to a doctrine that would lend itself to an apostate church mindset? Specifically, that it would seem to play very well into the “seeker-friendly” mindset of many pastors who focus energy on entertainment and a “feel good” message to add numbers to their local congregations. It seems that so many of these congregations name the name of Christ, but it is a Christ of their own making, a Christ that fits conveniently into lives that are saturated by our sinful culture. The church growth in America, for instance, seems to be concentrated among these types of congregations that preach a pseudo-gospel very different from that of Christ and the apostles, yet the growth of these congregations is seen by many as the advancement of the church. Wouldn’t that mindset go hand in hand with your understanding of the millennium?
We have to distinguish between the growth of the church and the growth of the kingdom of God. Certainly, there is an overlap between the two. When men represent the church, especially as ordained ministers, too many fall into the trap of representing themselves and their own agenda. When we represent Christ’s victorious kingdom, we act as ambassadors representing the King of the universe. We stand for something greater than ourselves.
So while church growth is certainly a sign of the growth of the kingdom, the kingdom of God does not depend on large numbers in the visible church. In fact, the postmillennial view is that the elect are to rule and reign with Christ presently in history even when they are not the majority. I certainly agree that doctrinal purity and membership in a doctrinally orthodox church is necessary in order to represent Christ. We see during times of revival and reformation a re-emphasis on the primary doctrines of the Christian faith.
The foundation of the United States of America as a free republic was based in large part by the participation of Christians in developing the political philosophy of civil liberty. Christians were not the only people involved in the process, but the Christian idea of liberty won the day because those who did participate had the most forceful and persuasive worldview.
In every area of life in which Christians participate, we ought to be the leaders and apply the biblical laws and principles to our field of endeavor. That is the kingdom of God invading the earth. Of course, that includes the church in its own sphere of influence, but the kingdom is much greater than that. We need not be the majority or even large in numbers, but we must be confident that the children of God are destined to reign and rule with Christ and advance His kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.
3. As much as there maybe some gain in the church, and I thank God for the gain, how do the contemporary martyrs that are being imprisoned, tortured and even killed on a regular basis, fit into your understanding of the millennium?
What I understand from the New Testament and the writings of the early church fathers, the Apostolic Church of the first century was organized along the lines of urban areas. In other words there was the Church at Rome, the Church at Corinth, the Church at Alexandria, Lyons, Ephesus, Antioch, etc. If you count the large urban centers of the Roman Empire there were no more than 150 large cities.
There were approximately 3120 Christians in 30 AD. The 120 in the upper room and the 3000 souls added to the church on the day of Pentecost. This number may not have included women and children.
Now fast-forward to 64 AD. We know at this time there was a “falling away” of sorts due to the first persecution under Nero. Then later around 96 AD there was a second persecution under Domitian.
Throughout the first 300 years of Christianity, there were ten persecutions under ten different Roman Emperors. There was apparently an explosion of growth after each of the ten Roman persecutions. As Tertullian said, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.”
We should expect the same to happen today. As martyrdom is on the increase in the world, we may be seeing a short term falling away in those cultures, but soon there will be an explosion of faith in those same areas.
4. How does the rise of Islam, its quest for global dominance and some of it’s terrorist tactics, specifically the beheading of “infidels” (Rev. 20:4), their hatred for Jews and Christians and their belief in the imminent appearance of the twelfth Imam or Mahdi, which seems to fit very nicely with the idea of a coming Antichrist that will rise to world power, fit into your viewpoint?
Islam is a Dynamic Monarchian heresy. It was a heresy prevalent in the early church that was defeated along with Modalistic Monarchianism and Arianism as an anti-Trinitarian error. Islam emerged in the eight century after Mohammed had conversations with both Jews and heretical Christian monks on the Arabian Peninsula who taught him monotheism.
Islam spread mainly among illiterates who could not read the Bible in their own language. In nations that were conquered by the Saracens (Arabs) in the Middle Ages, Christians were forced to convert on pain of death or were forced to pay a tribute tax. Although Islam considers both the Old and New Testament to be inspired writings of God, they hold the Koran to be of higher inspiration. Islam can only be maintained as the dominant religion in countries where the Bible is suppressed and civil penalties are enforced on converts to Christianity.
Since Islam appeared, it has looked at times to be unstoppable. In the Middle Ages, many Christians saw Islam as a fulfillment of prophecies found in Revelation. The religion has advanced by the sword. No Christian nation once overcome by Islam has yet been able to reclaim the culture. But we may be seeing the beginning of a reversal of that trend in our day. In Muslim countries where the Bible is available, we see numerous converts to Christ. Since much of this activity is underground, we have no idea as to the extent of these conversions.
It is reported that great revivals are occurring in the Muslim nations such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Libya and Sudan. Mission researchers estimate more Muslims have converted to Christianity in the last 10 years than in the last 15 centuries of Islam. The superiority of the Bible as God’s Word over the Koran is sufficient to see this work of transformation of the Muslim world take place.
It is true that the Muslims look to the coming of the “12th Imam” and even see Jesus as a prophet who will come again to judge the world. This may not herald the end-times antichrist as much as it opens them to the true revelation of Jesus found in the Word of God – the Bible. Ultimately, it is the truth of the Gospel that converts people. Eventually Islam will be overcome by Christianity.
A Cartoonist's Advice
This isn’t the “Gospel” — but it’s a good take on what life ought to be about. It was meant as an explanation as to why Bill Watterson stopped drawing the hugely successful Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, A Cartoonist’s Advice.
Some might wonder what this cartoon below has to do with Christianity. But to me it illustrates what Christianity is supposed to be all about. Modern evangelicalism emphasizes “salvation-only” as a personal state and does not include social contact theory (covenantalism) as part of our salvation. Salvation has first to do with the person obviously. Christ died to save sinners and that is a glorious thing. But once you are saved, then what?
If you read the story of Abraham, the idea is that salvation is not simply going to heaven, but God taking Abraham’s descendents and building them into a nation that would later effect the salvation of the whole world. Salvation extends into our family, our ministry and vocation — and from there into the whole world. That is the main difference between Puritanism and Pietism, between covenantal theology and dispensational theology. One type of Christianity focuses on getting ourselves to heaven. Another type focuses on how God can use us to bring the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven.
Note that the artist in the cartoon loves his work more than the money that his work gives him. That represents the covenantal view of work, otherwise known as the Protestant work ethic. Everything we do is to glorify God. Our material prosperity comes because God cares for us. Christians have always prospered when they have worked hard — not because industry brings wealth, but because industry is wealth — and this wealth has meaning only if it glorifies God. In everything we do, the words of the Westminster Catechism are true, “The chief end of man is to know God and to enjoy Him forever.” This saying represents our salvation.
Note also, the father is more concerned with loving and spending time with his daughter and not simply providing for her by affording more and more material things. That should be our attitude toward our children because it is God’s attitude toward us. God holds us in the palm of His hand. Yes, children should be trained and disciplined according to God’s Word. But beyond that, only God can accomplish His work in them. Our relationship with our children ought to reflect our relationship with God and Him toward us. There is nothing we can do to work goodness into ourselves or into our children. We can only enjoy our children and cherish them as God’s gift to us. A friend of mine pointed out to me that our own children are precious angels, but other people’s children are selfish, disobedient brats. This too is a picture of our salvation.
Click image to enlarge:
Planned Parenthood - A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing
“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves” (Matthew 7:15).
Since my conversion to Christ, I have witnessed a plethora of testimonies on how souls came to the saving grace and knowledge of Jesus. Not once did I hear, “My life is great. Things are going my way. Everything I touch prospers, so I figure it’s time to surrender my life to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.” The majority of testimonies went something like this, “My life is in tatters. My mind is tormented. I’m financially bankrupt. My body is sick and I’m dying.”
Brokenness and contrition are the common expressions for those who taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalms 34:8). God’s Word promises, “The Lord is near to those who have a broken heart, and saves such as have a contrite spirit” (Psalms 34:18). King David exclaimed, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a contrite heart- These, O God, You will not despise” (Psalms 51:17). Isaiah concurs, “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word” (Isaiah 66:2).
When things are going good, most refuse to recognize their need for God. This may explain why Jesus warned that it is hard for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God (Matthew 19:23). When all needs, desires, wants and passions are fulfilled and while the rich surround themselves with “yes men,” who will disturb the “gravy train”? Not many will dare to shatter the illusion with calls of humility, repentance, and acknowledgment of truth. Self-sufficiency may play well in the world’s system, but in eternal matters, it is a losing proposition. When life falls apart and folks are at their wits end, however, many anxious souls mercifully awaken to their need for Christ’s redemption, healing, and deliverance.
Aesop’s Fable
Centuries before our Lord warned of wolves in sheep’s clothing, a man by the name of Aesop wrote fables. One of his most famous concerned a wolf. He wrote:
A wolf found great difficulty in getting at the sheep owing to the vigilance of the shepherd and his dogs. But one day it found the skin of a sheep that had been flayed and thrown aside, so it put it on over its own pelt and strolled down among the sheep. The lamb that belonged to the sheep, whose skin the wolf was wearing, began to follow the wolf in the sheep’s clothing; so, leading the lamb a little apart, he soon made a meal of her, and for some time he succeeded in deceiving the sheep, and enjoying hearty meals.
Both Aesop and Jesus warned that appearances can certainly prove deceptive. Throughout human history, men have masked deadly agendas in virtue. The Apostle Paul exposed this deception in the New Testament. He stated, “For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into apostles of Christ. And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works.”
As you can see, Satan does not appear as evil. In addition, he is always willing to grant men good reasons to commit evil. He comes as an angel of light and his ministers masquerade as ministers of righteousness. G K Chesterton grants incredible insight into this ruse, “The modern world is full of Christian virtues gone mad.” Thus, in the name of love, tolerance, and compassion the enemy of our souls kills, steals, and destroys.
There is one organization in our day that exemplifies this classic wolf in sheep’s clothing scenario and that organization is Planned Parenthood. Under the guise of providing affordable women’s health care- they promote promiscuity and savage babies made in the image of God.
Apparently, Planned Parenthood has fallen upon hard times. Its death camps are closing down at rapid pace. This is despite the fact that Obama usurped our tax dollars to prop them up! What is the abortion giant to do? It appears it too is turning to God. Tragically, it is not in repentance and the acknowledgment of the truth, whereby souls are saved. No, Planned Parenthood is using God to assuage women’s guilt as it assists them in murdering babies.
The “religious leaders” within Planned Parenthood utilize faith in God and His love to condone violating His holy commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.” Here is their controversial letter to unsuspecting women:
The decision to have an abortion is personal. Though your reasons may be complicated and private, you’re not alone. As religious leaders from a number of religious traditions, we’re here to support you in your decision.
Many people wrongly assume that all religious leaders disapprove of abortion. The truth is that abortion is not even mentioned in the Scriptures-Jewish or Christian-and there are clergy and people of faith from all denominations who support women making this complex decision.
The beliefs of each person are deserving of respect, and each person deserves care and compassion. No one should be allowed to force their faith teachings on anyone else.
We believe this decision is yours, made with your doctor and anyone else you choose to bring into the conversation, such as a spouse, partner, parent, or clergy person.
God loves you and is with you no matter what you decide. You can find strength, understanding, and comfort in that love.
This is blasphemy of the highest order. To place God in violation of His own commandment is delusional. For decades, Planned Parenthood has had no problem murdering the innocent for blood money and exploiting the fears of women. Now Planned Parenthood adds to its infamy. It is placing God’s approval upon that which He condemns. It is this spiritual treachery that has earned Planned Parenthood the ignoble title, “wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
To what shall I liken Planned Parenthood?
On a few occasions, our Lord made powerful comparisons in order to reveal His Kingdom. He taught, “To what shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what parable shall we picture it?” (Mark 4:30). In Matthew 22, He likened the Kingdom of heaven unto a certain king who made a marriage feast for his son. In Matthew 13, He likened the Kingdom to a “pearl of great price.” Included in Matthew 13 is the comparison of His Kingdom to “hidden treasure.” In other passages of Scripture, the Lord likens His Kingdom to a net, a householder and laborers in a field. All these, plus others, reveal to seekers of God the nature of the Kingdom of God. It reveals to repentant souls what they inherit through being spiritually reborn by the regenerating power of the Holy Ghost (Titus 3:5).
With that in mind, to what shall I liken Planned Parenthood? This organization is like rat poison. Most of the of what is contained in the product is good for the rat, it is just the small amount of poison that kills him. Planned Parenthood is like a drug rehab center that supports the local crack house. Through its sex education programs, future clients are guaranteed at its abortion mills.
Planned Parenthood is like the Walmart of the abortion industry. This makes them a beast of a different stripe. You could hurt their abortion practice, but not close their doors. They must be cut off from the government dole. It is Planned Parenthood’s access to taxpayer dollars that allows this evil organization spread evil like a spiritual and moral cancer.
Planned Parenthood is the nation’s leading advocate and provider of abortion. Either directly or indirectly, through their pagan sexual philosophy and abortion practice, one third of entire generation 41 years old and younger have been murdered in their mother’s womb. Since 1973, close to 60 million preborn babies made in the image of God have been destroyed and their innocent blood shed by the sin and crime of abortion. This deadly legacy serves as an everlasting memorial to commemorate Planned Parenthood’s participation in the culture of death.
The roots of Planned Parenthood are in eugenics
Charles Darwin spread the heresy of evolution in his day. Francis Galton, his cousin, added the racial component to it, which he labeled Eugenics. It was this worldview that fueled Margaret Sangar’s vision and mission exemplified in Planned Parenthood. “More from the fit and less from the unfit” was one of her mottoes. Of course, she was the goddess who determined who was fit to live or not. She viewed some races as human weeds that should never be allowed to spawn.
In a letter to Clarence Gamble in 1939, Sanger wrote:
We should hire three or four colored ministers, preferably with social-service backgrounds, and with engaging personalities. The most successful educational approach to the Negro is through religions appeal. We don’t want the word to get out that we want to exterminate the Negro population, and the minister is the man who can straighten out that idea if it ever occurs to any of their more rebellious members.
This is the reason why the majority of Planned Parenthood abortion mills are located in minority areas. This is not a coincidence, but by design. Under the guise of helping poor, minority women, this wolf in sheep’s clothing is exterminating their races.
Planned Parenthood promotes immorality
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 states, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.”
Planned Parenthood has never met a sexual expression, no matter how deviant, it did not worship. In its world, the wages of sin is not death, it is just an excuse to visit its clinics. Planned Parenthood has services that will atone for any sin of fornication, adultery, molestation, or pedophilia people commit.
As with any other business, Planned Parenthood wants to prosper. The best way to ensure future clients is to create an appetite for its products. Planned Parenthood’s sex education programs are merely recruiting opportunities. Its programs guarantee future clients at its death camps. To encourage young people to be promiscuous and immoral, makes its services golden. But all that glitters is not gold.
Planned Parenthood is a criminal organization
Besides its crimes of committing murder, Planned Parenthood has committed other crimes as well. Planned Parenthood has been caught defrauding our government, overcharging for its services, bilking tax payers, misappropriation of funds and a host of other offenses. Its greatest crime besides the slaying of the innocent for blood money, however, is its enabling of sexual assault against minor girls.
There is overwhelming evidence that Planned Parenthood has for years provided safe cover for sexual predators and pedophiles. Documentation emerged that reveals Planned Parenthood was caught red-handed providing a safe haven for grown men who prey upon and sexually abuse young girls (www.ldi.org and www.childpredators.com).
Life Dynamics, a Texas based research group, conducted a covert survey. A young woman posed as a 13 year old child who was seeking an abortion to conceal her illicit and illegal sexual activity with an older man. She called over 800 Planned Parenthood and National Abortion Federation facilities across America. The results of this survey are absolutely appalling. The vast majority of these facilities agreed to conceal the crime even among those who acknowledged it was statutory rape. Some Planned Parenthood employees coached the caller on how to avoid detection. Some revealed how she could circumvent parental notification law and what to say or not to say when she came to the clinic. Most encouraged her to lie, conceal her age and the age of her predator, or just give false names.
All these phone calls were recorded and demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt that Planned Parenthood is either complicit or complacent when it comes to the rape and sexual abuse of our children. These molesters merely bring their prey to Planned Parenthood and use them to get rid of the evidence (by murdering children). Planned Parenthood returns these girls back to their abusers (without reporting them) so the cycle of sexual assaults continue unabated.
These are just some of the rotten fruit communities suffer once this wolf in sheep’s clothing set up its bloody shops. In the midst of this debacle, the words of our Lord are crucial. Jesus instructed, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves. Therefore be wise as serpents and harmless as doves” (Matthew 10:16).
Psalms 82:3,4 exhorts, “Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy. Deliver the poor and needy; Free them from the hand of the wicked.” In Aesop’s fable, the sheep were protected when the shepherds were vigilant and the dogs stood guard. When they were deceived by the wolf, however, little lambs suffered harm. Perhaps, it is high time for the church’s shepherds to rise up, take the rod of God, expose this wolf in sheep’s clothing, and deliver the little lambs from being devoured in Jesus’ name!
Rev. Rusty Lee Thomas, Assistant Director of Operation Save America, is helping to spearhead the New Orleans outreach from July 19-26, 2014. According to Thomas, “The great need of the hour is for multitudes with broken and contrite hearts to seek God to deliver our nation from evil. We love our nation and pray that we will return to the God of the Bible, who alone can hear from heaven, forgive our sins, and heal our broken, wounded land. Offering life and hope at abortion clinics is merely our prayers of repentance in action. Together, the church can make a difference.”
Stop Planned Parenthood of Kissimmee
“Cursed is anyone who accepts payment to kill an innocent person” (Deuteronomy 27:25).
KISSIMMEE, Florida (www.forerunner.com) — Planned Parenthood’s facility at 610 Oak Commons Blvd, Kissimmee, Florida targets the Hispanic community and is the largest abortion mega center in Central Florida.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando (PPGO) takes part in the murders of approximately 3,000 precious children every year. In addition to that, they are using your hard earned tax dollars in the form of federal grant money to do it.
Reproductive Health Care Professional or Child Killer?
Left: Jenna Tosh, CEO of PPGO, follows carefully scripted talking points. She is careful to stress that abortion is “less than 10 percent of what we do.” However, in fiscal year 2011, PPGO reported that the total revenue of the non-profit organization was $3,891,501, while $1,412,162 was earned through surgical abortion. This is about 3,000 abortions per year. The salary of the CEO in 2011 was $104,211.
Jenna Tosh wrote in a press release that she is specifically targeting the Hispanic community by coming to Kissimmee to open the largest abortion center in Central Florida. “Four in 10 Latina teens experience at least one pregnancy before the age of 20, so we’re very excited,” said Tosh.
Join us in adopting Jenna Tosh and all abortion industry workers. Pray with us that they would repent of child murder and come to saving faith in Jesus Christ!
The Tosh.0 Comedy Central connection
Jenna’s brother-in-law, Daniel Tosh, is a big name in the trash TV industry. Frequent jokes about abortion and other “gross-out” humor is standard fare. Although this is not directly related to Jenna, one has to wonder what is going on in this family! Daniel has a peculiar obsession with abortion as seen in his comedy program.
Below: “Who Needs A New Pair Of Abortion Rally Shoes?” is one such example of the so-called humor of Jenna’s brother-in-law, Daniel Tosh.
In another sketch, Tosh plays a man who shows up at a Planned Parenthood abortion center with his girlfriend and says, “Let’s get that demon baby out of you.” Jenna Tosh’s husband Andrew and his brother Daniel were raised in nearby Titusville. Their father was a Presbyterian minister and missionary. Tosh has spoken in interviews about his struggle growing up as a “preacher’s kid.”
Abortion Facts and Planned Parenthood
Since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision in 1973, abortion has ended the lives of over 55 million unborn babies. The average cost of ending a baby’s life is $450. Abortion is legal in the USA throughout pregnancy, in contrast to most of Europe, where elective abortion is only allowed up to the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Over 120,000 second and third trimester abortions take place in the USA each year.
In the United States, the term “Person” refers to an individual who has certain inherent rights, such as the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. These rights are protected by the U.S. Constitution and are bestowed by God. The intrinsic humanity of unborn children, by definition, means they are persons and their right to life should therefore be protected under the law. For more than thirty years, however, this has not been the case.
In America, this group of living human beings possesses personhood, but has no protection under the law. God has bestowed this precious gift of life, yet unborn children are being killed en masse every day.
Planned Parenthood’s net revenue increased to $1.21 billion in its organizational fiscal year ending on June 30, 2013, according to its new Annual Report 2012-2013. About 45% of that revenue – $540.6 million – was provided by taxpayer-funded government health services grants. In the same report, Planned Parenthood said that in the year that ended on Sept. 30, 2012 it did 327,166 abortions.
Planned Parenthood promises to help young women make a balanced decision about whether or not to have an abortion. But for every adoption referral Planned Parenthood makes, it performs 340 abortions. As the largest abortion provider in America, few will deny Planned Parenthood is in the business of selling abortion.
Planned Parenthood’s Statistical Smokescreens
Jenna Tosh recently claimed in an interview with Kissimmee City Commissioner Wanda Rentas that one of the “life saving services” that PPGO performs is breast cancer screening. PPGO advertized that they do mammograms in literature distributed at their Kissimmee “Open House” on May 14, 2014.
They have no mammography or radiology equipment of course. What they do is to instruct women to do self exams. (You know that piece of paper your doctor gives you?) They also do a few referrals to mammogram equipped medical centers and pocket part of the payment.
An article in The Cancer Letter says that Planned Parenthood may be doing more harm than good in that the vast majority of their clientele is under age 35 and can be harmed by false positive tests.
Regarding screening mammography, women in their twenties and thirties have never been shown to benefit. Indeed, the incidence of breast cancer is so low in this group—with or without screening—that millions and perhaps tens of millions of women would have to be randomized and followed up for extended periods to have any hope of showing a reduction in mortality—if there is one.
FACTCHECK.org recently showed that Planned Parenthood uses misleading statistics to inflate their claims of the number of “life saving” services they provide.
Contraception is one of the group’s largest categories of services provided — 33.5 percent of services in 2010. But that means Planned Parenthood provides other services, too. The largest category is testing and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (38 percent). Cancer screening and prevention services — which would include breast exams — made up 14.5 percent of all medical services. Abortion made up 3 percent, with 329,445 abortion procedures in 2010.
Planned Parenthood says it served about 3 million people in 2010. That would mean about 25 percent of its clients received a breast exam or breast care, or about 1 in 4. About 11 percent of clients, or 1 in 9, received abortion services. Contraception services and STD testing and treatment totaled well over 3 million for each category.
FACTCHECK.org showed that in reality, 329,445 abortions per 3 million clients means that about 1 in 9 received abortion services. That is about 11 percent, not 3 percent.
If the unneeded cancer screenings are removed from the ratio, abortion services would then jump to about 15 percent (329,455 abortions per 2,250,000 clients).
Planned Parenthood can report the contradictory statistics they cite above by inflating the number of contraceptive services they provide – often counting one client as several “services.”
Planned Parenthood downplays that they are primarily an abortion clinic receiving an unprecedented amount of federal funding. If their contraceptive “services” were to be counted as one per client, then that ratio of abortion services would increase even more.
The Legacy of Margaret Sanger
Planned Parenthood’s founder, Margaret Sanger stringently pushed a policy of the government compensating poor citizens in exchange with a poor person’s agreement to be sterilized as a means of population control. “In this way,” Sanger said, “the moron and the diseased would have no posterity to inherit their condition.”
As the editor of the magazine, Birth Control Review, she shared its pages with the racist co-founders of the American Birth Control League.
Board member Lothrup Stoddard wrote the racist book, The Rising Tide of Color Against White World-Supremacy, which was reviewed favorably in Sanger’s publication.
Co-founder and board member, C.C. Little, was president of the Third Race Betterment Conference, and he advocated preserving the purity of “Yankee stock” through limiting the births of non-Whites.
In another article, the term, “race suicide” was used by Warren S. Thompson “to characterize the extinction of the older native stock and its replacement with the newer immigrant stocks — the Slavic, the Latin and the Hebrew.”
Sanger had such a low opinion of immigrants and ethnic minorities that she wrote, “Such human weeds clog up the path, drain up the energies and the resources of this little earth. We must clear the way for a better world; we must cultivate our garden” (Birth Control: Facts and Responsibilities, 1925).
Sanger continued to advocate for her racial prejudices in her magazine. In six successive issues, she advocated limiting the racial quotas of immigration of “the Slavic, the Latin and the Hebrew” because of their alleged lower intelligence!
In 1926, she spoke at a Ku Klux Klan rally in Silver Lake, New Jersey. Writing about the event in her Autobiography, she highlighted its success, noting that “a dozen invitations to speak to similar groups” were offered. Then in the summer of 1939, Sanger initiated the “Negro Project” to weed out the “unfit” from the black population.
Likewise, the lasting legacy of Jenna Cawley Tosh will be that people will remember her not as a crusader for a woman’s rights, but as a child murderer and a predator on the Latin and African American communities of Central Florida – unless she repents and calls on Jesus Christ as her Savior!
This will come as Christians share their faith and obey the Ephesians 5:11 mandate: “Have nothing to do with the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
Please continue to pray for the conversion of Jenna Tosh and all abortion industry workers. Like many abortion advocates before her, such as Bernard Nathanson and Norma McCorvey, we pray that Jenna might repent and believe the Gospel of Life.
Operation Save America (OSA) Regional Event: Kissimmee, Florida - June 11-14, 2014
“Then I said to the nobles, the rulers, and the rest of the people, ‘The work is great and extensive, and we are separated far from one another on the wall. Wherever you hear the sound of the trumpet, rally to us there. Our God will fight for us’” (Nehemiah 4:19,20).
From June 11-14, 2014, there will be a series of daily sidewalk events at the Kissimmee Planned Parenthood abortion mega center held by the pro-life group, Operation Save America. There will also be nightly meetings at a local church, Centro de la Familia Cristiana de Poinciana.
Operation Save America: Stop Planned Parenthood of Kissimmee
Operation Save America from Iron Kite Films on Vimeo.
During this month of May 2014, Planned Parenthood of Greater Orlando (PPGO) is preparing to open the doors of a $2 million, 8,800 square-foot abortion mega center at 610 Oak Commons Blvd. This is in the heart of Kissimmee across the street from Osceola Regional Medical Center. It will be the largest abortion center in central Florida. The only service offered by PPGO that cannot be found for a lower cost or for no cost in the Kissimmee area is abortion!
The spiritual effect that the shedding of innocent blood will have on our community will be devastating. The availability of abortion so close to our schools and neighborhoods will certainly have a horrific impact on our young people. The Word of God is clear that “the Lord hates the hands that shed innocent blood” (Proverbs 6:16,17). Surely, if we stand idly by and allow this to happen, our churches will share in this blood-guiltiness (Numbers 35:33,34; Proverbs 24:11,12).
Therefore, we are sending out a “Macedonian Call” to all churches and ministries in the central Florida region to help us expose this evil in our community. Join us as we live out our faith on the streets of Kissimmee. We will become a beacon of righteousness to a city and a nation losing its way. Abortion will come to an end in the city of Kissimmee when the Church of Jesus Christ makes up its mind it will come to an end.
Place: Kissimmee, Florida
Time: June 11-14, 2014
Host Church: Centro de la Familia Cristiana de Poinciana, 3250 Pleasant Hill Rd, Kissimmee, FL 34746
We will have nightly services: Wednesday 7 to 9 pm. Thursday and Friday services will begin at 6:30 pm.
Map to host church:
Evenings (June 11-13): Centro de la Familia Cristiana (map).
Mornings (June 12-14): Stand at the abortion center.
Afternoons (June 12-13): Events will vary.
The times and places of afternoon events will be announced at the evening rally at Centro de la Familia Cristiana.
All Florida residents are invited to all daily events and seminars. Registration is free. Call or email OSA for more information.
Operation Save America
P.O Box 740066
Dallas, TX 75374
Communications Center: 704-706-2832
National Office: 704-933-3414
Coming from out of town?
We have a great deal on hotel accommodations.
Super 8 Kissimmee Suites, 1815 W Vine St | Kissimmee | FL | 34741
Double Room – Features two double size beds, microwave, refrigerator and coffee maker and is available for only $33.00 per night, plus tax.
Apartment Suite – Features a fully equipped kitchen, living room and two private bedrooms, with one double size bed in each bedroom. This suite is available for only $59.00 per night plus tax.
Included in the rates quoted above is a free continental breakfast and free wireless internet access.
Participants can call the hotel directly at 407-847-6121 and ask for the “OSA Church Group” rate.
The Four Keys to the Millennium (Book)
Foundations in Biblical Eschatology
By Jay Rogers, Larry Waugh, Rodney Stortz, Joseph Meiring. High quality paperback, 167 pages.
All Christians believe that their great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, will one day return. Although we cannot know the exact time of His return, what exactly did Jesus mean when he spoke of the signs of His coming (Mat. 24)? How are we to interpret the prophecies in Isaiah regarding the time when “the earth will be full of the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea” (Isa. 11:19)? Should we expect a time of great tribulation and apostasy or revival and reformation before the Lord returns? Is the devil bound now, and are the saints reigning with Christ? Did you know that there are four hermeneutical approaches to the book of Daniel and Revelation?
These and many more questions are dealt with by four authors as they present the four views on the millennium. Each view is then critiqued by the other three authors.
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Go Stand Speak (DVD)
With “preaching to the lost” being such a basic foundation of Christianity, why do many in the church seem to be apathetic on this issue of preaching in highways and byways of towns and cities?
Is it biblical to stand in the public places of the world and proclaim the gospel, regardless if people want to hear it or not?
Does the Bible really call church pastors, leaders and evangelists to proclaim the gospel in the public square as part of obedience to the Great Commission, or is public preaching something that is outdated and not applicable for our day and age?
These any many other questions are answered in this documentary.
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(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)Click here for more information
A Revival Account: Asbury 1970 (DVD)
What is true Revival and Spiritual Awakening?
Discover the answer in this eyewitness account by Dennis Kinlaw, President of Asbury College, Wilmore, Kentucky, who recounts the story of a visitation of the Holy Spirit in 1970. This is the presentation that has continued to spark the flames of Revival in the hearts of people around the world. Contains eyewitness footage from the Revival at Asbury College in 1970 in Wilmore, Kentucky.
Certain to challenge you to greater holiness and a deeper commitment to full-scale revival. Original news and private footage has been included. If you are a student who longs to see a spiritual awakening at your school, you must see this video!
“This simple video does a wonderful job of conveying something of God’s heart and power, Everyone we have ever shown this to has received an immediate impartation of faith for revival and the power of prayer.”
— Bob and Rose Weiner, Weiner Ministries Int’l
Running Time: 40 minutes
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Amazing Grace: The History and Theology of Calvinism (DVD)
Download the Free Study Guide!
Just what is Calvinism?
Does this teaching make man a deterministic robot and God the author of sin? What about free will? If the church accepts Calvinism, won’t evangelism be stifled, perhaps even extinguished? How can we balance God’s sovereignty and man’s responsibility? What are the differences between historic Calvinism and hyper-Calvinism? Why did men like Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Spurgeon, Whitefield, Edwards and a host of renowned Protestant evangelists embrace the teaching of predestination and election and deny free will theology?
This is the first video documentary that answers these and other related questions. Hosted by Eric Holmberg, this fascinating three-part, four-hour presentation is detailed enough so as to not gloss over the controversy. At the same time, it is broken up into ten “Sunday-school-sized” sections to make the rich content manageable and accessible for the average viewer.
Running Time: 257 minutes
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(We accept all major credit cards and PayPal.)Click here for more information
God's Law and Society (DVD)
Download the Free Study Guide!
God’s Law and Society powerfully presents a comprehensive worldview based upon the ethical system found in the Law of God.
Speakers include: R.J. Rushdoony, George Grant, Howard Phillips, R.C. Sproul Jr., Ken Gentry, Gary DeMar, Jay Grimstead, Steven Schlissel, Andrew Sandlin, Eric Holmberg, and more!
Sixteen Christian leaders and scholars answer some of the most common questions and misconceptions related to this volatile issue:
1. Are we under Law or under Grace?
2. Does the Old Testament Law apply today?
3. Can we legislate morality?
4. What are the biblical foundations of government?
5. Was America founded as a Christian nation?
6. What about the separation of Church and State?
7. Is neutrality a myth?
8. What about non-Christians and the Law of God?
9. Would there be “freedom” in a Christian republic?
10. What would a “Christian America” look like?
Perfect for group instruction as well as personal Bible study.
Ten parts, over four hours of instruction!
Running Time: 240 minutes
Watch over 60 on-line video interviews from God’s Law and Society.
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