Americans’ Belief in God, Heaven and Angels Hits Historic Lows: Gallup

July 25, 2023 — ChristianHeadlines.com reports: “The percentage of Americans who believe in God, heaven and angels hit a record low in a new Gallup survey that also found belief in hell and the devil reaching a record low, too.

The new survey, released Thursday, found that 74 percent of Americans say they believe in God, a decline from 79 percent in 2016 and 90 percent in 2004 who answered that way. Similarly, 69 percent of Americans say they believe in angels and 67 percent in heaven – both significant declines from earlier polls. (In 2007, 75 percent believed in angels and 81 percent in heaven.)

‘Gallup has documented sharp declines in church attendance, confidence in organized religion and religious identification in recent years,’ Gallup’s Megan Brenan wrote. ‘Americans’ beliefs regarding God, angels, heaven, hell and the devil have also fallen by double digits since 2001. Still, U.S. adults’ belief in each entity remains at the majority level, and regular churchgoers, Protestants and Republicans, in particular, remain largely resolute in their beliefs.’

The 2023 survey is different from Gallup’s other survey that gave Americans only two options for belief in God (‘yes’ or ‘no.’) In the latest survey, Americans were offered a third option, ‘not sure.’ A total of 74 percent say they believe in God, while 14 percent say they aren’t sure, and 12 percent say they don’t believe in God. In Gallup’s 2022 survey that gave Americans only two options, 81 percent said they believed in God, although that also was a record low for that specific wording…”  (…when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth? – Luke 18:8.  The article makes one wonder what the answer to that question would be.  Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord: And they shall wander from sea to sea, and from the north even to the east, they shall run to and fro to seek the word of the Lord, and shall not find it. – Amos 8:11-12.

Thankfully, God always has a faithful remnant.  In I Kings 19 following the victory over the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel, Elijah fled to the wilderness after hearing a threat from Jezebel.  We read: …he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness, and came and sat down under a juniper tree: and he requested for himself that he might die; and said, It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers.  And as he lay and slept under a juniper tree, behold, then an angel touched him, and said unto him, Arise and eat.  And he looked, and, behold, there was a cake baken on the coals, and a cruse of water at his head. And he did eat and drink, and laid him down again.  And the angel of the Lord came again the second time, and touched him, and said, Arise and eat; because the journey is too great for thee.  And he arose, and did eat and drink, and went in the strength of that meat forty days and forty nights unto Horeb the mount of God.  And he came thither unto a cave, and lodged there; and, behold, the word of the Lord came to him, and he said unto him, What doest thou here, Elijah?  And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.  And he said, Go forth, and stand upon the mount before the Lord. And, behold, the Lord passed by, and a great and strong wind rent the mountains, and brake in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind: and after the wind an earthquake; but the Lord was not in the earthquake:  And after the earthquake a fire; but the Lord was not in the fire: and after the fire a still small voice.  And it was so, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out, and stood in the entering in of the cave. And, behold, there came a voice unto him, and said, What doest thou here, Elijah?  And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: because the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.  And the Lord said unto him, Go, return on thy way to the wilderness of Damascus: and when thou comest, anoint Hazael to be king over Syria:  And Jehu the son of Nimshi shalt thou anoint to be king over Israel: and Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abelmeholah shalt thou anoint to be prophet in thy room.  And it shall come to pass, that him that escapeth the sword of Hazael shall Jehu slay: and him that escapeth from the sword of Jehu shall Elisha slay.  Yet I have left me seven thousand in Israel, all the knees which have not bowed unto Baal, and every mouth which hath not kissed him. – I Kings 19:4-18 [Emphasis mine].  Thank God for His faithful remnant.  See the next report.)

‘Prayer is wrong and something you should be ashamed of’

July 3, 2023 — WND.com reports: “The Florida High School Athletic Association is being accused of making out that prayer is ‘dangerous’ or ‘wrong’ with its ban on a pre-game prayer leading up to a high-school championship game between two Christian schools.

It is First Liberty Institute that, with other legal teams, is arguing in court on behalf of Cambridge Christian School.

And, it explains, ‘the constitutional right to pray over the loudspeaker at the beginning of the state championship football game between two Christian schools.’

‘The First Amendment protects the rights of students and teachers at a private Christian school to pray before a football game, especially when both teams are Christian and have a tradition of prayer before games,’ said Jeremy Dys, senior counsel at First Liberty Institute. ‘By banning the pre-game prayer over the loudspeaker, the Florida High School Athletic Association (FHSAA) sent a message to these students that prayer is wrong and something you should be ashamed of. That is dangerous and unconstitutional.’

The case is pending at a federal appeals court now…”

Allegedly ‘Christian’ church: God is ‘non-binary whose pronouns are plural’

June 28, 2023 — WND.com reports: “A Lutheran church in Minnesota recited a ‘sparkle creed’ about the ‘nonbinary God’ and Jesus’ ‘two dads’ during its Sunday service, according to a live stream recording on YouTube.

Edina Community Lutheran Church Pastor Anna Helgen asked the congregation to stand in ‘body or spirit’ to ‘confess our faith’ in the ‘sparkle creed,’ according to the recording. The church went on to chant a statement of faith in the ‘nonbinary God’ and in Jesus Christ, ‘who had two dads.’

‘I believe in the nonbinary God, whose pronouns are plural. I believe in Jesus Christ, their child, who wore a fabulous tunic, and had two dads and saw everyone as a sibling child of God,’ the church recited…”  (Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! – Isaiah 5:20.  This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.  For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,  Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away – II Timothy 3:1-5.  See the next two reports.) 

Conservative Party Suspends Christian Councillor for Calling Pride a Sin

July 20, 2023 — Breitbart.com reports: “The Conservative Party has been accused of engaging in cancel culture after a councillor was suspended for expressing the Christian belief that ‘pride is a sin’ on social media.

King Lawal, a Northamptonshire councillor, has claimed that the Conservative Campaign Headquarters (CCHQ) was behind the decision to suspend him from his role over a post on Twitter in which he criticised the radical LGBTQ+ Pride movement from a Christian perspective.

In a now-deleted post responding to images of Pride Parades, Lawal said: ’When did Pride become a thing to celebrate. Because of Pride Satan fell as an arch Angel. Pride is not a virtue but a Sin. Those who have Pride should Repent of their sins and return to Jesus Christ. He can save you. #PrideMonth #Pride23 #PrideParade.’

The post also included an image with the Biblical verse Isaiah 3 verse 9, saying: ‘Whatever God calls ‘Sin’ is nothing to be Proud of.’…”

British Social Worker Deemed ‘Unemployable’ Due to Christian Beliefs

July 11, 2023 — PJMedia.com reports: “Felix Ngole escaped horrific violence in Cameroon to start a new life in the UK, only to encounter persecution in his adopted home. What Ngole wanted more than anything else was to serve his community as a social worker, and he worked his way through university to be able to do so.

When Ngole received an employment offer from healthcare provider Touchstone Support Leeds, he thought of it as his ‘dream job,’ but the company rescinded its offer when it discovered that Ngole had won a court case involving free speech surrounding Ngole’s belief in traditional marriage…”

Christians worry growing protests against ‘missionaries’ will soon turn bloody

July 13, 2023 — The Times of Israel reports: “Last week, dozens of teen boys and men were gathered inside the Clal Center, a run-down shopping center and office building in central Jerusalem.

The group, most of them dressed in distinctive ultra-nationalist garb, were there to crash a gathering of Messianic Jews and block them from a concert being held in an event space in the building.

As dozens of mostly young activists crowded against the main entrance, police — who seemed overwhelmed at times — were called to disperse the protesters and ensure the safety of the event.

The event, which ended with one person arrested for scuffling with police, underlined the current of anti-Christian zeal running through some of Israel’s more extreme nationalist movements, which have seemingly grown in ferocity and frequency recently.

Evangelical Christians and Messianic Jews in Israel fear that the protest and other recent episodes of harassment in Jerusalem could turn far more violent, as far-right Jewish anti-missionary groups step up their activities against them…”  (If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.  If ye were of the world, the world would love his own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I have said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord.  If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep your also.  But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.  If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloak for their sin.  He that hateth me hateth my Father also.  If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.  These things have I spoken unto you, that ye should not be offended.  They shall put you out of the synagogues: yea, the time cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doeth God service. And these things will they do unto you, because they have not known the Father, nor me – John 15:18 – 24; 16:1 – 3.  See the next report.)

Christian woman abducted, killed for refusing to convert to Islam in Pakistan

July 7, 2023 — ChristianToday.com reports: “A Christian family in Lahore, Pakistan is seeking justice and protection after four Muslims abducted, gang-raped and killed a widow for refusing to convert to Islam and marry the primary suspect, sources said.

In the killing of 40-year-old Shazia Imran last month, the assailants slashed her neck and doused her with acid, her brother said, though it was not known if the acid burns came before or after her death. The primary suspect has confessed to the killing, according to police.

Shazia Imran’s husband also was killed a year and a half ago, and the family has seen no justice in that case either as police cast it as an accident, said her brother, Zafar Masih.

Shazia Masih, who began working as a nanny at a daycare center at the Lahore University of Management Sciences after her husband’s death, left her rented home in Lahore’s Mehar Town for work on June 6 but did not return, Zafar Masih said.

He said that the primary suspect, Noman (known as Mani) Gujjar, was a notorious area criminal and had been pressuring her to convert to Islam along with her children and marry him…”