Topic: Religion / End Times
Christianity Today; 4/26/16 posted article: ‘Only One-third of Pastors Share ‘Left Behind’ End Times Theology;’ some of its findings are as follows:
“A third of America’s Protestant pastors expect Christians to be raptured—or taken up in the sky to meet Jesus—as the end times begin. About half think a false messiah known as the Antichrist will appear sometime in the future. A surprising number think the Antichrist has already been here, or isn’t on his way at all. Those are among the findings of a new telephone survey of 1,000 Protestant senior pastors and their views on end-times theology from Nashville-based LifeWay Research, sponsored by Charisma House Book Group.”
It is a sad thing that 33% of those asked, 1 in 3 Protestant ‘pastors’ – preachers of the word of God, either say (25%) ‘the Rapture is not literal;’ or say that they don’t believe (8%) in PreTrib, MidTrib, or Post-Trib; which is they don’t know and don’t preach on Jesus’ second longest sermon on the Mount (Matt. 24). Either way this is the problem with most of our Churches – many pastors have a ‘lack of knowledge’ in major theology and thus endanger their own congregation; and the elders share in that. Of the pastors that believe in a pretribulation rapture, the article cited 60% have no college degree; and most are older than 45. Most young pastors are not influenced by two decades of Left Behind and Pretribulation books and movies.
The study also revealed: “About half of pastors (49%) say the Antichrist is a figure who will arise in the future. Others say there is no individual Antichrist (12%), that he is a personification of evil (14%), or an institution (7%). Six percent say the Antichrist has already been here. Baptists (75%) and Pentecostals (83%) are most likely to see a future Antichrist. Lutherans (29%), Methodists (28%), and Presbyterian/Reformed pastors (31%) are more likely to see the Antichrist as a personification of evil.”
Pew Research Center’s article America’s Changing Religious Landscape (5/12/15), states: ‘
“The Christian share of the U.S. population is declining, while the number of U.S. adults who do not identify with any organized religion is growing, according to an extensive survey…” The survey shows that adults ‘who describe themselves as Christians has dropped by nearly eight percentage points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally massive Pew Research survey in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014.’ It also notes from 2007 to 2014 a drop in Catholics of over 3% and in Protestants of almost 5%. It showed a 1.2% increase in other religions; and a 6.7% increase to 23% ‘unaffiliated’ in the US.
According to a 2014, CBS News Poll: American’ views on death (4/27/14): “Three in four Americans believe in the existence of heaven or hell, including 66 percent who think both exist. Eleven percent believe only heaven exists. Seventeen percent of Americans don’t think either place exists.”
Pew Research 2007 Religious Landscape Study found 59% of Americans believed in hell; in 2014 58 % stated they believed in Hell and 72% in heaven.
The Barna Group www.barna.org in an article, What do Americans believe about Jesus? 5 Popular Beliefs (4/1/15) found:
Barna found: “Most adults—not quite six in 10—believe Jesus was God (56%), while about one-quarter say he was only a religious or spiritual leader like Mohammed or the Buddha (26%). The remaining one in six say they aren’t sure whether Jesus was divine (18%).
Millennials are the only generation among whom fewer than half believe Jesus was God (48%). About one-third of young adults (35%) say instead that Jesus was merely a religious or spiritual leader, while 17 percent aren’t sure what he was.”
THIS SHOULD BRING TEARS TO THE FAITHFUL:
World Net Daily news online did a poll in 2014 asking, ‘How long do you think before Jesus returns to Earth?’ With about 3,389 votes: 944 or 28% said: ‘Imminently… any day now.’ They need to read our Error of Any Moment article. 495 or 15% – ‘not sure, but hope it’s quickly.’ 367 or 11% – ‘within 5 years;’ 223 or 6% ‘by the end of 2015;’ 319 or 9% with 10 years; 222 or 7% within 20 years.
TOPIC: Miscellaneous American Facts
We have over 323.5 million people and a birth roughly every 8 seconds minus a death about every 13 seconds.
We receive 2 international migrants (net) every minute.
Our population is about a fourth of India’s 1.27 billion and China’s 1.37 billion; yet we are the third most populated nation.
Our flag 50-star flag was designed in 1958 by a 17 yr. old as a school project. Robert Heft said at first he received a B- until the flag was accepted by the U.S. Congress (don’t feel bad Rob, I got a D on a research project on Hazardous Waste because I left off the table of content; emailed it to my friend in NJ and he added the table and about 1% changes and made an A+)
About 700 people are murder on their job each year; only 17% of these work in protective services.
Workplace violence is estimated to cost businesses and insurers $ 36 billion a year.
We have the world’s largest Air Force in the U.S. Air Force; and the world’s second largest in the U.S. Navy and Marines.
About one-quarter of Americans still say we never landed on the moon.
Hillary Clinton made over $100,000 an hour on 5 speeches (over a million; and one was by satellite feed) to the Pharmacy industry. She spoke to Biotech Industry Organization (BIO) June 2014 in San Diego ($ 335,000); BIO is the world’s largest biotech organization and lobbyists for the Pharmaceutical Industry.
Of our 44 presidents, four have been assassinated and others shot at.
Our Continental Congress voted for Independence July 2, and John Hancock signed the Declaration of Independence on the 4th.
The Liberty Bell was last rung on George Washington’s Birthday in 1846. Note: Washington was not there to sign the Declaration of Independence. Washington at the time was leading American forces during the Revolutionary War.
Eight of our U.S. Presidents were born in Virginia; U.S. Presidents as opposed to the presidents that served before 1789 in the Continental Congress.
Certain early State Constitutions disqualified ‘ministers,’ ‘priest’ and even ‘lawyers’ from being elected as a delegate or representative of their state. Some such as Texas stating ‘Ministers of the gospel… dedicated to God and the care of souls, ought not tobe diverted from the great duties of their functions… (1836)’
Of the 55 members of the 1787 Constitutional Convention, about 34 had studied law at some point.
The 1913 Sixteenth Amendment gives Congress the right to levy income taxes. That same year the Federal Reserve central banking system was created to pay central banks back for WWI loans and to make the super-rich and super powerful even more so – The leading N.Y. branch, which is not Federal, nor is any of the private Fed. Res., is leaded and owned primarily by less than a dozen families.
After every major war since and including the Civil War, taxes were raise on the top 1% to 5% to pay for the debts; that policy ended with Reagan, Clinton, etc… supply-side trickle-down economic theories that made multi-millionaires – billionaires.
2015 U.S. debt: approaching $ 19 Trillion
2015 U.S. Revenue: $ 3.34 Trillion
2015 U.S. Expenditures: $ 3.90 Trillion
2015 Trade Deficit: $ 564 Billion
Anyone who thinks were will pay off debt without defaulting on a portion, working out some kind of deal with foreign nations, taking over the Federal Reserve; or Raising Taxes on the Super-rich – while cutting a portion for entitlement programs; or some combination of these – has the head buried in medical marijuana.
The TRUTH SOURCE 