A Book Possibly Worth Reading

[brendan]

[I haven't read this book and the author apparently isn't Orthodox, but it may be worth reading.]

http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=40651

Christian revival in U.S. – can it really happen?
'A Call to Greatness' provides major blueprint for restoring faith of Founders

While many Christian voices are calling urgently for a major national revival, author John Chalfant not only agrees, but has offered up a stunning blueprint to help get the job done.

The United States is losing its greatness, says Chalfant, because Christian clergy have abandoned "the militant, power-filled, full-dimensional" faith of America's founders.

Indeed, in "America: A Call to Greatness," Chalfant asserts Christian citizens have allowed their traditional worldview to become corrupted by what he calls "abandonment clergy."

Many Christian leaders have compromised with a secular worldview that never could have created the Declaration of Independence, Constitution or Bill of Rights, claims Chalfant, a member of the influential Council for National Policy.

Without Christianity, he said, there would be no God-given unalienable right of the individual to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

The problem America faces, he says, boils down to God's warning in Leviticus 26 that those who forget the creator and reject his commandments will be ruled by their enemies, "they that hate you."

Those words were echoed by William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, when he famously said, "Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants."

"We are in a war for our God-given nation and freedoms, and the workers of iniquity are winning," Chalfant says.

But he has not given up hope – far from it – insisting Christians still have at their disposal "the superior, available power and strength to take it all back."

"The hour is late, but the bell has not yet tolled for America," writes Chalfant, whose book offers a major action plan for restoration.

Christians need to realize, he says, "that they have the primary responsibility for reclaiming our nation's Christian heritage because it is Christianity upon which the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were founded."

He points out that while non-Christians in America certainly are not obligated to adopt or convert to the Christian faith, it is "the duty of every American citizen to defend the Constitution and the Judeo-Christian pillars of law and liberty which grant us such freedoms."

"Every citizen who is a beneficiary of America's freedoms, especially the freedom to worship as he or she pleases, or not to worship at all, has a duty to defend the Judeo-Christian pillars and laws of our nation that make such freedom possible," he adds.

"In no sense is this duty a compromise with one's own religious convictions. In America this duty simply guarantees a person's right to worship as he pleases without fear of persecution."

'Author of freedom'

Chalfant says he committed the rest of his life "to the service of Jesus Christ and America's freedoms" after hearing a speech by the political hero of his youth, Richard Arens, staff director of the House Committee on Un-American Activities, who produced a research series on Soviet world expansion.

The Arens speech began, "Two thousand years ago there was One who spoke these words: 'No man can serve two masters," comparing Jesus Christ, the "author of freedom," to Karl Marx, the "destroyer of freedom."

John Chalfant

Chalfant began his new career by organizing and directing the award-winning Delaware "Freedom on the Offense" program, recognized by the late FBI director J. Edgar Hoover and others.

Over the next three decades, he helped assist and fund the many Christian pro-defense leaders with whom he developed a relationship. Among his projects was a video marketing campaign, "SALT Syndrome," by the American Security Council, which President-elect Ronald Reagan later wrote was a major factor in his election victory.

The founder of a commercial real estate company in Florida, Chalfant also was invited to join the Council for National Policy, a group of influential leaders committed to Christian principles.

The first edition of his book, published with the title "Abandonment Theology: The Clergy and the Decline of American Christianity," was hailed by many state and national lawmakers. It has become a text for political campaigns, Christian and conservative organizations and has earned the endorsement of clergy across denominational lines.

Militant faith

His book presents the "militant Christian faith" of the Founding Fathers "and the godly heritage they gave us, how we have abandoned that faith and commitment and what will be necessary for us to save our country from free-falling into tyranny and slavery."

Abandonment theology, he says, has laid the foundation for the "prevailing posture of non-resistance to overspreading evil."

The widespread retreat from Christian duty has opened the country to atheistic, humanistic, evolutionary and cult-based evils that undermine the founding principles of America and threaten our nation, Chalfant says.

He describes "Abandonment Theology" as:

A faith which deceptively pawns itself off as Christianity by operating in the name of Christ, but which produces fruits destructive to America's God-given freedoms. It comprises what is left today of the militant, power-filled, full-dimensional Christian faith of America's Founders after decades of erosion, watering down and trivializing of God's action mandates by America's Abandonment Clergy. It is a "feel good" theology that patronizes Jesus Christ and thereby gains legitimacy, while at the same time produces disobedience to the commands of God and desertion of Christian duty.

Evil's influences

His updated volume addresses contemporary political issues such as national defense, Islamic terrorism, public education and "reparations."

He summarizes areas in which evil has gained influence because of "abandonment clergy" and their followers:

Works: Neutralized the will of many Christians to stand and fight for their liberties by convincing them that "works" are not important.

Government: Inverted the meaning of Romans 13:1-2 to discourage Christian involvement and exercise of their sacred duties in the affairs of government.

Outlawed God in the public schools: Abraham Lincoln agreed with our Founding Fathers that America's future security rested in teaching children the highest biblical and moral principles.

Two-way "wall of separation:" The fabrication of a two-way wall between church and state made it illegal for the church to intrude in the affairs of the state.

Love: Trivializing of the faith by inverting "Love" from an action mandate for obedience to the Commandments to a sentiment primarily of charity and tolerance.

"End-times, last days:" Overuse of eschatology (the study of future events), biblical prophecy and apparent signs of the times generates futility and despair with an attitude of "Why bother?" and an abdication of duty.

Homosexuality: This practice is condemned by God as "abomination" and "unclean" (transmitters for death-dealing diseases such as AIDS). It is "against nature," and is not genetic or an "alternate lifestyle."

Women (wives, mothers, sisters, and daughters) in combat: It is an inversion of the natural role for which God created women and contributes to the destruction of a nation through downgrading and demoralizing its military combat forces.

Abortion: This murder of infants would be expected in the Nazi death camps but not in Christian America, especially not under the banner of the mother's "choice." Her choice should be made before conception when there is only one life involved, not afterward when there are two.

"Peace, peace; when there is no peace:" Years of disarming, neutralizing propaganda takes the fight out of Christians. The claim ignores "fallen human nature" and God's mandates for vigilance by selling the false doctrine of "peace" or "peace in our time" or "peaceful co-existence" (with evil governments) as if peace were nothing more than the absence of battlefield conflict.

In response, Chalfant lays out a comprehensive 18-point action plan. But the very first task, he says, is "to go to our knees in prayer and ask God to help us put the shattered pieces of our Christian worldview back together so we can clearly see the whole picture and the positive role that we as individuals can play in the areas of our calling."

[Ephraem]

For what it's worth, this Founders of the United States were not Christians. They were Deists. Deists had no interest in the Son of God.
They were also Freemasons.

[Sean]

For what it's worth, this Founders of the United States were not Christians. They were Deists. Deists had no interest in the Son of God.
They were also Freemasons.

How true! The Freemasons of the Eighteenth Century were nothing but a bunch of regicidal occultists. Any nominal Christianity among the "Founding Fathers" was Unitarian at best. You'd have to hearken all the way back to Cotton Mather to invoke the return of any good old Christian values of the first white Americans, and I doubt any Orthodox would have any admiration for him.

--Sean

[Schultz]

For what it's worth, this Founders of the United States were not Christians. They were Deists. Deists had no interest in the Son of God.
They were also Freemasons.

While they weren't all Deists (Geo. Washington is a good example), they most assuredly were Freemasons. It really does annoy me when people talk about the "Faith of the Founders" when all they really agreed on was that there is a Creator God.

[brendan]

For what it's worth, this Founders of the United States were not Christians. They were Deists. Deists had no interest in the Son of God.
They were also Freemasons.

Some were Masons, but often, like in the case of George Washington, I suspect these men were Masons in name only. For example, I read that Washington only attended one meeting. I think what happened was some lodge made him an honorary Mason after he became famous.

The question of what proportion of the Founding Fathers were devout Christians, nominal Christians, deists, Masons, or whatever, is of lesser importance. The issue is rather was America a Christian country? Well, not Orthodox, but the Bible was universally found and often read at home and in school, recognition of God went without question, and Christian values were accepted by the society and even incorporated into the laws.

I'm old enough to remember when prayer and BIble reading were banned from the schools. That happened the year before I entered the first grade. But even after the ban went into effect I distinctly remember that most teachers still kept a Bible on their desk.

I think the author of the book is talking about the pervasive influence and acceptance of Christian values that used to be the case in America and how we've let that slip through irresponsibility, apathy, and passivity. I believe this is at the root of our problems.

[joasia]

I think the author of the book is talking about the pervasive influence and acceptance of Christian values that used to be the case in America and how we've let that slip through irresponsibility, apathy, and passivity. I believe this is at the root of our problems.

That is true. The devil's way is to divide and conquer. Society has been splintered in their beliefs about God, which makes it easier to impose other non-sensical ideologies. Once everybody agrees to disagree about theology and morals, then the devil has a field day....like picking berries in an abundant field. So many to pick. So little time left to pick the rest.

The free masons came on the Mayflower. They originated in Europe. So their plan was specific. Since they were the founding fathers, don't you think they COULD already put their own kind in a position to rule a country that is so brand new? Think about it.

The presidents that didn't follow their rules were tradegically illiminated. Afterall, if someone is in the way of your plan, then the only way to illiminate them for good is....

They always follow the belief of: the ends justifies the means. Question is...what is their ends?

The main point to understand is that the freemasons have a seperate belief from what we believe. They were and are agnostics, that means that they believe that there is a higher power and that it can be accessable to the few elite to gain gnosis. It's the belief of becoming gods. And when a person believes that he is meant to be like a god, then the rules don't apply to him, because he is above that. The rest of us are considered "useless eaters". That, to me, is a completely demonic illusion. Afterall, satan believed that he could be above God and then he fell. Now he is trying to take everybody with him.

There's also alot more to worry about, like Anton LeVey's Church of Satan. There are rock groups who are his members like KISS(Kings in satan's service) and Black Sabbath and before that, the Beatles(an Egypian cult symbol) and the Rolling Stones.

And let me shock you some more...Michael Aquino was officer of the psychological warfare in the U.S. armed forces. He's a neo-nazi and satanist. He established the Temple of Seth that came from the Church of Satan. In 1981 he was the European Advisor on the American general staff. These are the people in control of the country. So, there is a lot more to worry about, on top of the fact that families are loosing their Christian faith.

Stand back and look at it, in perspective...it looks like there are demons running the government. Afterall, this world is the devil's playground.

And don't think I'm paranoid. You people started about the whole free mason thing, so it's not like it's an unknown subject. I just chose to say alittle more. Am I the only one that knows more about it?

Joasia

[brendan]

That is true. The devil's way is to divide and conquer. Society has been splintered in their beliefs about God, which makes it easier to impose other non-sensical ideologies. Once everybody agrees to disagree about theology and morals, then the devil has a field day....like picking berries in an abundant field. So many to pick. So little time left to pick the rest.

I think that is an important point to remember. Where I live there were mostly Protestants, but many Catholics, and some Orthodox. Yet the general use of the Bible, prayer, and the acceptance of certain basic traditions of Christianity didn't break along denominations lines, so to speak, in public life. Even nominal Christians who rarely went to church doubtless thought prayer and Bible reading in the schools was a good idea and would be a positive influence on the kids. What I mean, for example, is Catholics weren't complaining that such activity wasn't being done in a specifically Catholic manner. And I doubt many people were converted by saying a prayer in school, but at least it was an acknowledgement of Christ. It was a consensus that was broad enough to include virtually any Christian and created a certain sense of community that no longer exists in many places. And this is how things were in America for four hundred years right up until the early 1960s when Christianity was effectively banned from the schools and in public life mostly due to agitation by non-Christians.

This is why flooding the country with non-Christians will never do us any good. People will say that we'll just convert them. Well, unfortunately, it seems about as likely to work in reverse, so that's no solution. And once the non-Christians are here and get established, its only a matter of time until their influence is felt in the area of public policy and that's when we lose. And as we have seen, Muslims and Jews obviously aren't interested in promoting Christianity. Why would they? They naturally want to spread their respective religion. They want America to reflect their values. And that's where we have a problem.

For the record, I'm not talking about being opposed to foreigners who come here as tourists or temporary visitors. I mean as permanent citizens.