“The Arab Spring” may well be the “Christian Winter” in the Middle East and North Africa. A cruel deception is camouflaging the signs of a coming nightmare for believers in the Arab world and the name of that deception is social and political democracy.
Democracy has been heralded as the stabilizing structure for every nation on earth, because there is a freakish rumor initiated by the West that somehow democracy erases inequality and racism and is a forum for redistributing wealth and provision of education for the masses. It has even been elevated to the status of a religious cult espousing that democracy offers some aspect of eternal liberty as if salvation is at hand. Make no mistake, democracy in the hands of the unredeemed is the force of future, systematic, governmental atrocities against followers of Christ.
Historically, persecution is random and sporadic in nature, otherwise there would be no living survivor of the tribulations suffered by our ancestors. In the current environment of majority- sanctioned government, Christians do rather well because a root of our Christian heritage remains as an anchor to all of our relationships on every level. However, when Love, Forgiveness, and Justice based on Christ is removed, then Democracy mutates into a fiend. Its mandate is to eliminate all opposition to self -rule. Those who call on the name of the Lord are the natural prey of the government that is by and for the people.
Innocence, honor and excellence are the casualties of Christ-less Majority. Perhaps you can see I am not hopeful of the outcome of the revolution in Egypt and Syria and their neighbors.
But don't all people have a right to self- rule and self determination? Okay! Let's look at that for a minute. Man is born into conflict because his nature is infected with the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life. Everyone needs redemption. Yet mankind is raging for freedom because he is orphaned and has no identity without which there is no security upon which to base his world view. He struggles trans-generationally, only to find an endless list of human casualties upon his head.
Only Christ offers redemption. Only through him alone is there any hope of liberty that begets absolute life. Isn't that the utopian promise- that democracy offers yet cannot deliver? From the beginning of man’s walk on earth, he has pursued the antithesis of redemption and calls it self determination. Historically, every generation is marked by the rule of individual despots. They cruelly oppress those who would replace them if they could. Generations of mankind have been descending, spiraling into depravity because of its own twisted nature to cast off the sovereignty of God.
Along came the great thinkers who looked for another way and they eventually hit upon the idea of a representative form of government. It is called a Republic, which is a government of peers (not all the people) who all possess a monolithic world view (Christian) and who basically share the same intelligence and wealth, status and philosophy. They are all leaders and hold to basic truths. For a season, the Republic transformed this nation and propelled man into great works of art and science, philosophy and engineering. Tragically, without fail the nature that resides within us all eats away at the higher moral ingredients necessary for a Republic to stand. It degrades to the level in which the prosperity that they so enjoy perverts the integrity of the individuals who must keep faith with the ideals (Christian world view) of the Republic.
The fallout in a single generation produces either a dictator or a social democracy, neither of which are able to achieve what their expressed goals are. In the case of Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Tunisia and Syria, who are now accelerating their push toward democracy the most radical form of Islam will probably prevail. There is a season of fantastic relief that the old oppressor is gone. Hope is rising and democracy is being embraced. For the Christian, it begs the question: Will democracy protect them from annihilation?
I hope for that peace and I pray for that perfect environment in which our brothers and sisters may live and worship freely. My knowledge of history and discernment of the age in which we live tells me, however, that there are hard times coming that will exceed the persecutions that history records.
We live in a great land and we wield great power. Let us therefore stand in the gap between the raging mob and the children of God who they will demand to crush.
What can we do?
- Prayer for all Muslims during Ramadan, beginning July 20th.
- Adopt a Christian family to support and encourage.
- Write your political representatives to encourage them to support Christians in the Arab nations.
- Create a Bible- based discussion group to share the need for prayer and protection of the saints.
- Engage Muslims in your community. Make friends with them and share your story with them.
- Support and send those who are called to go into the Arab world with the mission to save souls.
- Help us with the message by sharing our newsletter with your friends.
Thank you for participating in the greatest evangelistic field in history.
Ken Koontz
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