A Lifestyle of Peace: Five Causes for the New Christian Activist to Champion

Psalm 94:16 Who will champion my cause against the wicked? Who will stand up for me against evildoers?

The Christian in the post-Christian western world must be not just a believer, but an activist on the government and social levels for the things we believe and know. For an expansion on the topic of the New Christian Activist click here.

In the past, Christians have always been on the cutting edge of social reforms, championing causes, and starting new institutions for the betterment of man kind. The primary leader of the civil rights movements for the African American culture was Martin Luther King Jr, a Christian preacher. The first hospitals and orphanages were started by Christians. The universities in the USA once again, started by Christians. Almost every ivy league school was started as a Christian institution. Again and again you'll notice that. Institutions and systems that were started by Christians are eventually taken over by atheist/agnostic leaning individuals and pushed in a different direction. Charities, homeless shelters, foreign missions, monasteries to preserve the past, on and on I could go on that topic! But suffice to say, Christianity has been a constant blessing to the world, and that must continue today.

We can be the change. We can rekindle Christianity in the West, and reclaim all these institutions one by one, and also start new institutions to love and support our communities. You have an imagination. You have ideas. Put these things together. Your talents are God given, explore what is possible!

In addition to starting new organizations, movements, or institutions, we can support current institutions that are actively working to change things for the better in our world. These are three that I personally support. There are many more out there! Be a voice for these groups, take part in what they're doing, sign petitions, give charity, and raise your voice. Or start something new for the benefit of future generations. Let's begin.

1. Compassion International
Compassion International is a very highly rated charity in all categories, but most importantly a very high amount of the money donated goes directly to those who need it. Compassion is about donating monthly to care for children at need in 3rd world countries. This is something we talk about a lot. What about all the poor children? Why doesn't God do something about the starving children? God gives us the ability to put a little money forward to support the children there. If every Christian able to give 40$ a month did so in the United States and Europe, there would no longer be an issue. It's so simple, yet we debate, and weigh the pros and cons, why does God allow this!? Yet when it comes right down to it, what are we doing? We have the chance, today, to make a difference. Poverty doesn't say so much about God as it says about us.

Compassion International is a wonderful organization to do that through. I always check the charities I give to on Charitynavigator.org a great resource to see how charities use money. I highly recommend to all Christians, non-Christians, and anybody else, check out any charity you're considering supporting on Charity navigator before giving any money! We need to be wise. Sometimes we end up giving money to the wrong people, and they end up dancing naked on a street corner on drugs, like the whole Kony 2012 thing.

If you don't have the money to give to Compassion, I definitely understand. These are difficult economic times. God understands too. Of course he does! But consider advocating for Compassion. There are lots of ways you can support them, with bumper stickers, by blogging, telling friends, or posting on social media about them. This is a cause I very firmly believe in. Mega-churches may say they need your money on their podcasts, but they don't. They've got enough money, and in my humble opinion they use what they get wrongly anyway. So give to those who truly need it, those starving, those without the gospel.

2. Liberty Institute
Next we have Liberty Institute, an organizations dedicated to supporting religious freedom in the United States. Religious liberty has been under constant attack. Atheists, liberals, evolutionists, you name it, they've attacked religious liberty and attempted to eject Christianity from all arenas of discussion and legitimacy. We need a lot of dedicated Americans to champion the cause of religious liberty, as it's beginning to crumble under the Obama administration. How soon before churches are forced to hire atheists as their preachers due to "discrimination laws"? It's no joke. Christians businesses have been forced to shut down for refusing to host homosexual weddings. The CEO of Mozilla Firefox was forced to resign because he donated money to support traditional marriage in California. Churches have come under attack for refusing to marry gay couples. Recently atheists attempted to have the cross from the 9/11 memorial removed because it offended them. We need dedicated champions to support religious liberty, or we'll simply lose it.

3. Abolish Human Abortion
The issue of abortion is an issue that is simply shocking. 56 million have been exterminated, 56 million people, dead. The science and medical evidence isn't even fuzzy on this issue. The main problem is ignorance. But what we have very plainly, is human sacrifice. It's nothing less. And it's terrifying. The group Abolish Human Abortion don't mince words over the issue of abortion. They call it what it is. I love the approach of this group. They approach abortion in the same way the issue of slavery was approached. They are grassroots oriented, with many abolitionist societies starting up all over the country to support and promote the values of abolitionist culture. Is this an issue close to your heart? Start an abolitionist society in your area.

Ephesians 5:11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

4. Persecution.org - International Christian Concern
Did you know Christianity is the most persecuted religion on Earth? 80% of all religious violence is directed toward Christians. How can we support and lobby for the persecuted church? We can sign petitions, we can share on social media, we can tweet, we can send emails, make phone calls, and we can donate money. Persecution.org is also a very highly rated charity on Charity Navigator. "Oh well that won't change anything." False. I participated in a campaign on persecution for a certain "Pastor BK" held prisoner in Kazakhstan. He was imprisoned, released, then immediately arrested again, was in prison, tortured, harassed about his faith, and told he had mental health problems for his belief in God. But we kept posting, we kept tweeting at the Kazahkstan embassy, we kept raising our voices, and then Pastor BK was released. If you recall, I wrote and blogged about it in the past, click here to read that story: Persecution of Christians in Kazakhstan.

5. Discovery Institute
The topic of intelligent design is very close to my heart. When I was raised in the public school system and a very vacant ceremonious church I was never told that there was such compelling and powerful scientific evidence for an intelligent creator. I didn't know how many holes there were in the theory of evolution. I didn't know I had been indoctrinated into a materialist mindset that almost led to total self destruction in my life. Crazy what you can learn once the blinders are off. Intelligent design is fought tooth and nail by the scientific establishment of America. They eject it, despite it being a highly credible scientifically defensible position. To learn more about how intelligent design is fought and minimized in our academic institutions check out this documentary: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed. Groups like RZIM, the Veritas Forum, the C.S. Lewis Institute, and Socrates in the City do a great deal to raise awareness about intelligent design. Please support all these organizations in their fight for a seat at the table in the scientific community. Intelligent design is the topic that really pisses people off because it nails in Christianity as very real. So they absolutely have to call it pseudoscience and mock it and minimize it. If you just Google "intelligent design" you'll see what I mean. The outrage against the mere possibility of a creator is just staggering, even on Wikipedia atheists will constantly alter articles to cast intelligent design as pseudoscience when it is very sound science. So please take a stand and advocate for this issue as well!

Additional Mentions: Alliance Defending Freedom , Wycliffe Bible Translators, The Institute for Creation Research , Focus on the Family , Discovery Institute , The Veritas Forum , Voice of the Martyrs , Ratio Christi, Campaign for Liberty, Freedom from Atheism Foundation, and so many more.

Isaiah 1:17
Learn to do good.
    Seek justice.
Help the oppressed.
    Defend the cause of orphans.
    Fight for the rights of widows.