Jesus Freaks - Christians in Pop Culture and Media

It seems that in the blogosphere, Christians are constantly criticized and often put down. The comments range from a ridicule, to a sneer to a downright derrogatory remark about "Christian fundamentalists", "fundies", "Christian right" etc. There is more to it though. There are liberal Christians who are working for social change. Dr. Martin Luther King, himself was a reverend and Christian leader. It seems that when someone mentions "Christian", a person will get a thought of someone like Jerry Falwell or some televangelist.

The most vehement attacks towards Christians come from "evangelical" atheists. This is a new breed of atheist fundamentalism, with a message of convincing people that there is no God. I have seen some of their blogs, spreading stereotypes and misinformation about Christianity, perpetuating the stereotype that Christians bomb abortion clinics, want to support torture and war, hang gays from trees and that Christianity is responsible for more deaths than anything ever. In fact, atheism is responsible for more deaths than all the religions put together - Christian, Muslim, Jewish and pagan. All of this in the 20th century. People like Stalin, Pol Pot, T'sung Mao, Fidel Castro and other atheists have killed Christians, Jews, Buddhists and other religious people in the name of a dogma that exalts the state along with the dictator of that state.

There is more to Christianity than decrying the immorality of abortion or rock videos or pornography. Christians have declared things like racism, corporate greed, homelessness, and hunger to be immoral. For example, the African American church has a long tradition of working for social change, starting with Fredrick Douglass and the abolitionist movement to end slavery. Christians like John Newton, the author of the famous hymn, Amazing Grace, was a powerful force that helped end the slave trade in the British empire. Pope John Paul II denounced both capitalism as greed and communism as slavery.

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Jesus' love working through Christians Drew me to Jesus

Before I knew the Lord, I was depraved. I was into the occult, wicca to be exact. I was a chronic LSD and pot user and I wanted witchcraft to be the official religion of the USA and Christianity overthrown. I then met an autistc girl who was a Christian who told me that Jesus loves everyone and that He wants to have a relationship with me. At the time, I thought God hated me and was waiting for me to die so he can send me to hell to roast forever. My autistic friend told me that God loves me and does not want me to go to hell - that all I have to do is ask for his forgiveness and turn from sin. I did so, and soon after I joined a small street church that encouraged and loved me as well as taught and prayed for me. I was a member of that church for two years and I still have relationships with those people. This was not my image of Christians that I thought. I thought Christians wanted to bomb abortion clinics, turn the middle east into glass and hang gay people from trees. These Christians I knew were loving.

When I started fall term at PSU, I joined a church that did outreach on campus. We meet on campus and it is another small loving church where everyone knows each other. This is ideal for me, because those megachurches are just too big to be personal. Small churches are better to form loving relationships in.

All too often, Chistians will preach a "turn or burn" message to people. This message, one that I have heard many times, offered me little hope. It never worked to bring me to Jesus - it did the opposite. Christians who loved me unconditionally drew me to Jesus - not someone trying to scare me out of hell.

Jesus did not come to scare us. He did not come to condemn us either. He came to love us and save this world.

Christian Unity, Christian Love

Ever since the Great Schism which divided the Eastern Orthodox Church from the Roman Catholic church, divisions have spilt the body of Christ. We need to have more unity in the church. There seems to be divisions in America - liberal Christians and conservative Christians, black Chrisitians and white Christians. Despite our differences, we need to work together. I have seen various churches and youth groups come together and serve under the Burnside Bridge in Portland, Oregon. The ministry is called Night Strike. What they do is feed and generally care for the homeless and poor under the bridge. At Portland State University, there is a student group who's purpose is to promote unity among Christians and Christian student groups on campus. We all have one goal - to share Jesus' love by serving and loving ones in need. Then God does the work of bringing that person to the point of giving his life to Christ. It is through giving unconditional love to people through Christians that will win them to Christ - not telling them how bad they are. People already know how bad they are. Our job is to show them that God loves them. Often times, these people think God hates them. People are often times the way they are because they have been abused in some way. A little kindness from God's people will go a long way to bring them to Jesus.

We must love everyone, no matter who they are. Some Christians hate homosexuals, for instance. We are supposed to love them, even though we don't condone thier lifestyle. We are supposed to even love our enemies as Jesus commanded us to do. We must forgive as God forgave us, because if you don't forgive others, God will not forgive you. Remember, people who are in sin are enslaved to it. We need to pray to God to set them free. We must pray for our unsaved loved ones, friends and family, as well as coworkers. Lastly, we must love each other and pray for each other and we must quit gossiping about each other. Gossip kills a church faster than anything does.

We really do need to come together as a church and start loving each other and loving and serving people outside the church. We need to care more for the needy and poor among us and in our communities and pursue God with all our hearts.

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Fighting evil - Spiritual warfare

Evil exists in our society. That is evident. Many Christians try to combat it by attempting to gain political power to try to stamp it out. This approach does not have the power to set people free from various bondages. Legislating a moral precept does not change a person's heart - only prayer does. We can only fight evil, which comes from Satan and his demonic agents, with the power of the Holy Spirit. Our weapons are not carnal, but are spiritual, with the power to pull down strongholds. A stronghold is anything in a person's mind that keeps out the truth and keeps lies in. The battle is in the mind. Groups like the Moral Majority have drawn ridicule, struggling for real change. That is because they tried to fight on their own strength. We as Christians need to fight in the spiritual realm. Occultists and people who serve Satan operate on the spiritual and supernatural realm and so can we through the Holy Spirit. Every region and city on earth is controlled by territorial spirits. We need to be a praying church, praying for each other and our commmunities, as well as our unsaved friends, family and coworkers. We need to pray for God to send his warring angels to strike down demonic forces that are holding our cities, college campuses and communities, and our nation in bondage. We need to pray for miracles.

The Church in America understands little about praying for miracles. Miracles is how God manifests His glory and miracles occur in third world nations along with mass revival. I have even heard stories that the dead are being raised there. We need to pray for healings for our loved ones.

Then we as a church need to get out of our separatist holy huddle, go out into the world and be salt and light to a dying world. That does not mean that we are of this world or that we should immitate its sinful ways, but how can we impact a lost world if we are barricaded wthin the four walls of the church. We need to go out and be the church and reach out to people. There is a hunger for God's love among the people in this world that we should fill by loving and serving them.

We as a church, once we repent of sin that has existed in the church, need to pray for a move of God's Spirit and be ready for when that comes. And be Christ's hands and feet.

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