Jesus said on the Mount of Olives (Matt. 24) that deception would be the primary cultural sign of the last days. Even some of God’s “elect” might be deceived by false theologies. “Good would be called evil and evil good” (Isaiah 5:20). Men would substitute light for darkness and darkness for light. Apostasy would consume churches and denominations that were once solid.
Some theologians have taken issue with Andy Stanley’s recent column claiming that the Ten Commandments do not apply to Christians.
In an opinion column published earlier this month by Relevant Magazine, Stanley discussed the tendency of many American Christians to erect Ten Commandments displays.
Over time, the son’s church eclipsed the father’s church in terms of attendees, and today Andy Stanley is one-third of what I call the Evangelical Trifecta: Rick Warren, Bill Hybels, and Stanley. Quite interestingly, Warren is based on the west coast; Hybels holds down the Midwest from Chicago, and Stanley is entrenched on the east coast. In more ways than one, they blanket the country and absolutely control the evangelical narrative. Their books and methologies totally dominate evangelicalism and their church growth techniques are now American dogma.
The growing popularity of “New Age” beliefs likely stems in part from fewer Americans following traditional religions, according to political analyst Ruy Teixeira.
“The data suggests this is the fastest growing religious group in America, are people who don’t hold any firm religious beliefs,” Teixeira, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, said Wednesday on Hill.TV’s “What America’s Thinking.”
Most American adults self-identify as Christians. But many Christians also hold what are sometimes characterized as “New Age” beliefs – including belief in reincarnation, astrology, psychics and the presence of spiritual energy in physical objects like mountains or trees. Many Americans who are religiously unaffiliated also have these beliefs.
For the last three years, liberal Christians have told conservative Christians that we were hypocrites for supporting Donald Trump. We were told that we betrayed fundamental gospel values, that we sold our souls in an attempt to regain political power, that we outright denied Jesus.
