Persecution in the USA
We live in the land of freedom, or do we? Day by day our religious freedoms are attacked and restricted. 200 years ago no one would have believed that there would come a time when prayer in schools would even be questioned much less called unconstitutional. Religious organizations are in court, charged with discriminatory hiring practices, because they do not employ non-Christians. One by one our freedoms are being taken away by the courts.
As American Christians in the 90's we are faced with a culture that is ever becoming more opposed to our beliefs and standards while we are told by the courts that we must accept, even embrace, the new deviant order in the name of tolerance and diversity. But there seems to be no room for tolerance of our beliefs. If you lose your job for preaching the Gospel during your lunch break, you have no recourse. If you lose your job because you are taking drugs at work you can get disability as an addict, and sue your employer for not providing you with treatment. If a teacher wants to bring in a professed witch to tell the children about her religion at Halloween, that's o k. If a teacher brings in a preacher at Christmas... lawsuit! And a teacher out of work.
Christians are quickly becoming second class citizens in the US. We are the only group that can be discriminated against, even persecuted, with total impunity. That is a sign of things to come. There will come a time when we will find ourselves as outlaws in our own country. The Bible speaks of the persecution of believers in the end times and of a great 'falling away'. We can see that now in many of our churches. There are Pastors that don't believe in scripture, some who are unsaved and only in the ministry as a job. Many churches are drifting with every new fad, concerned only with filling the pews and increasing the budget. Such churches will survive well under the reign of the Anti-Christ. They do as much to persecute the Body of Christ as the world does.
It is time for true believers in our Lord Jesus Christ to put away their petty disagreements and stand on the foundations of our faith that we may prepare for the coming Tribulation.