Monday, February 1, 2016

A Three-Fold Battle Plan to Redeem Western Civilization

The Storming of San Sebastian
Approaching Omaha
Your looking out upon a smoking, ruined battlefield.  The battle is a battle for the ideas of a society.  You and your men, clad in green, clutching rifles in the trenches are viewing three approaches.  These three approaches lead to three strongholds.  These strongholds are pouring out fire on your troops, devastating your ranks.  There is no way to bypass these strongholds, though some are trying, and taking heavy losses.  Your job as the company commander is to somehow topple these impenetrable redoubts.  What do you do?  The future of your nation is at stake.  

I see three targets, and they are the church, the culture, and the government.  Victory in these arenas has to do with inspiring a generation, renewing culture, driving toward authenticity, reviving dead institutions, and shattering the lies of the spiritual forces in high places.  Ultimately, it's about the truth.  

It can't be emphasized enough that the only way we have even a chance at victory is if we can start these movements among young people.  I'm a young person.  True change will necessarily require the movement to be based in youth and young adults.  They are the future. 

There are three strands I see.  I see three movements that need to be cultivated.  And I'm not going to so much discuss the negative aspect as much as discuss the solutions to the problems.  We can see the redoubts.  What we need is a battle plan. 

I'm just one man.  I'm just a guy. But I believe we can do special things, in God's power.  Thankfully that is a truth of life. 

These are the three directions, to help energize a redeemed humanity, fighting in the battlefield of ideas:

1. Bring Young People to Christ & Help embolden the Church to Stand firmly for the Truth - (A Lifestyle of Peace)
The goal: Young people have been deceived to think that Christianity is false.  This is done through a large network of lies and misrepresentations of the gospel.  Step one is to share the gospel with young people in a way they can understand, without compromising the message.  Secondly, we've got to encourage the body of Christ to stand for the truth of the scriptures.  There is widespread apostasy, and a thousand lines of division.  Uniting the body of Christ is key.  Then we can move in one direction to retake cultures and societies before the decay of western civilization reaches beyond the brink of no return.

Ultimately this must be accomplished in, by, and through young people.  And ultimately it means waking the church from sleep.

Links to Relevant Organizations: Liberty University, Biola University, Not a Fan,Youth for Christ , Cru , Converge International , Focus on the Family


2. Engage in the culture, disrupt the mainstream media narrative, encourage a movement of intelligent Christians who can infiltrate and reclaim vital cultural institutions that control public opinion -(Evangelical Intelligentsia)
The goal: Transform culture. Culture has become depraved.  Lies now rule in nearly every field: in the sciences, much of education, media, and social work.  The solution to this situation is found in evangelical intelligentsia, a movement of Christ-centered individuals who will rise up to infiltrate and drive vital social institutions back toward the Christian worldview.  The method is through the gospel and apologetics.  It is a Christ centered movement of scientists, politicians, social workers, teachers, professors, actors, directors, writers, musicians, psychologists, administrators, and the like, working to shift the course of culture from depravity to morality and religious thought.

Links to Relevant Organizations: Discovery Institute ,Answers in Genesis ,Cross Examined ,Reasonable Faith ,Applied Apologetics ,Ratio Christi  ,CARM.org, Got Questions , Ravi Zacharias International Ministries
  

3. Develop a movement of Christian political activists to help drive the corruption from government and restore a government based on natural law, that God is sovereign over the nation - (An Appeal to Heaven)
The goal: To help drive the body of Christ toward real, meaningful participation in the government of the United States.  Secondly, the goal is to help unite Appeal to Heaven Christians with libertarians, Reagan conservatives, Ron Paul revolutionaries, the tea party, and the remnants of the JFK-era/Reagan Democrats to drive government policy away from extreme debt, bloated government, abortion, authoritarian over-reach, redefinition of marriage, and many of the facets of the progressive-socialist agenda.  The method begins very simply: Appeal to heaven, cry out to God in prayer on behalf of the nation.  The method continues through dedicated, dogged, long term political activism on an individual basis.  It can't be based victory over a few years, but over decades and eras of time.  The rot is extreme, and it will take dedicated hard work on a long term basis.

Links to Relevant Organizations: Appeal to Heaven, The Center for Medical Progress ,The Friedman Foundation ,The Mises Institute , Campaign for Liberty , Freedom Works , The Heritage Foundation , Media Research Center , The Cato Institute , Young Americans for Liberty,  Prager University ,The Ron Paul Institute  , Liberty Institute 

The victory of these three goals to subvert the subversion of our nation are each built upon one another.  The body of Christ must be energized, then the body of Christ can meaningfully change culture and supplant the secular institutions that now rule and manipulate our culture and media.  Once the body of Christ is energized, then Christians in dedicated fields can begin to meaningfully transform social institutions.  Ultimately political changes are meaningless and doomed to long term failure unless Constitutionalists and Christians reclaim cultural institutions like the universities, public schools, sciences, mainstream media, Hollywood, the music industry, and social work.  Too many conservative activists participate only in the 3rd field, while neglecting the 1st and 2nd.  Too many Christians participate in the 1st field and neglect the other two.  And many Christians are activists in the field of culture, but neglect the body of Christ and the political arena.  

We can see the three forts in the distance.  We can see the battle slowly turning against us.  We have to act fast.  We have to direct our attention to these targets and take them head on.  Does it seem impossible?  Won't their guns rip us to shreds?  There will certainly be great costs.  But you'd be amazed, just amazed by what God will do with mighty efforts by a few outnumbered against an enemy that seems impossibly strong.  It's at just those kinds of moments when God will act on behalf of those who take it upon themselves to stand up for the truth.  

We as American Christians are known for being renaissance types, able to dabble into multiple disciplines.  I suggest we do so, in these three areas.  If we dedicate ourselves doggedly to energize the church, redeem culture, and participate in our government we can certainly change the course of history for our nation and western civilization all together.  

The situation is more dire than you might realize.  I've done the research.  You'd be amazed how corruption and depravity have managed to become the new normal.  But it's not over yet.  There is still hope.  I see a new generation rising up, who will change everything.  I see young people willing to stand for Christian truth and American values.  I see a new great awakening on the horizon.  

Maybe some of you think it's impossible.  Maybe some of you are thinking; These strongholds are too powerful.  These institutions and ideas are too entrenched, they're too ingrained.  Let me ask you: Did David think he could defeat Goliath in his own power?  Of course not.  He knew God was with him.  It made him as bold as a lion.  We need to be as bold as lions too. Did Gideon win the day against the Midianites because he had overwhelming numbers?  No, he won the day because God saw him taking bold action and blessed it.  Did Joshua capture Jericho by blasting the walls with catapult and fire?  No he didn't.  He obeyed the Lord, honored his commands, and the walls were brought down for him.  The word of God says very clearly: You have divine power to demolish strongholds (II Corinthians 10:4).


God will take our efforts on these three impossible challenges and bless them with victory.  Why? Because God loves zeal-filled boldness in the face of overwhelming odds.  It is at just those moments when he blesses those who humble themselves before him with a victory they could've never achieved on their own.  So believe!  Believe in him!  Believe he is with you in this task!  If God is for us, who can really be against us?  No one.  

Let's set these goals and make them happen, not over a few short years, but over the long term.  May God be glorified through our efforts, and appealed to for our victory.  Amen. 


 Note: In no way am I encouraging any kind of violent action, peaceful protest and strict non-violence are key to our cause.  The combat references are analogies, comparisons to struggles and victories from history.

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