‘to rebuild western civilization, we need to go back to what made western civilization such a powerful force for good and prosperity and that is the Judeo-Christian world view.' Karl Faase
Into the Cesspit of Spiritual and Moral Bankruptcy
‘to rebuild western civilization, we need to go back to what made western civilization such a powerful force for good and prosperity and that is the Judeo-Christian world view.' Karl Faase
Early Christianity was a Movement that took on and conquered the all-powerful Roman Empire. Roman society was Pagan, largely amoral and pluralistic, everything the Christian world view was not, as well as being actively hostile to Christianity and Christians who were seen as ‘weird and depraved killjoys’. This hostility resulted in persecution, sometimes severe particularly in the reigns of Emperors Nero and Diocletian Nevertheless, by the early 4th century AD, Rome was, at least officially, a Christian Empire. So how did the Roman Empire go from being thoroughly pagan to Christianity becoming the state religion?
There seems to be a general ignorance of, or a deliberate unwillingness to accept, that the lamented loss of ‘Western values’ is the result of the decline of Christianity and the corresponding loss of the biblical moral operating system essential to the control of western democracy. Thus, and here is the key issue, the restoration of a biblically controlled democracy and the values flowing from it, requires the re-evangelization of Australia.
The cultural principle needed for our 21st century mission to local communities can be summed up with this slogan – ‘Their place, Their style, Their language, Their time’
As we celebrate receiving the benefits of the exquisite love-borne agony of the Cross, we should remember that the reception of that gift requires signing up as a ‘Soldier of Christ’, and soldiers must fight!
To rebuild western civilization we need to go back to what made western civilization such a powerful force for good and prosperity and that is the Judeo-Christian world view. This is complex as many want the values without the Saviour.’
The Road to Heaven is Strewn with Missional Roadblocks
‘The former long-serving Australian foreign minister, Alexander Downer, recently asked a very important question. ‘Could western civilization finally collapse?’ What would be your answer to that question I wonder?
In this time of catastrophic and ongoing decline in Christianity in Australia, and the western world generally, simplistic assessments of church vitality will only compound our missional failure. What is actually needed is a forensic critical analysis of churches and the reasons for their long-term failure to make Disciples of Jesus in anything like the numbers required if there is to be any hope of reversing chronic trends of decline
The sun’s rim dips, the stars rush out, At one stride comes the dark’