From Jim O'Brien
September 8, 2017
Hi Friend, The Loss of Christianity For any
serious thinking person there is an alarming and catastrophic change occurring
in the world. It may best be exemplified by reports coming from Germany on the
decline of Christianity. Simply
stated, Christianity is dying in Germany. Since the year 2000 Catholics have
closed the doors and boarded up the windows of more than 400 churches. Protestants
have done the same with over a 100. Another 700 Catholic churches are slated to
close since only 12.3 percent of Catholics in Germany bother to attend. Germany
has an interesting demographic since it was divided between atheistic East
Germany and Christian West Germany for many years. Der Spiegel reports that
today 45 percent of West Germans believe in God and just a quarter in Jesus
Christ. One might be forgiven for doubting the sincerity of a Christian who
doesn't believe in Christ. Fifty-two
percent of East Germans claim to be atheist. The "beliefs" of the
remaining 48 percent has little resemblance to Christianity. Only 8 percent of
East Germans believe in a God who is "personally concerned with every
human being." Far, far
worse, however, of all those surveyed there was not a single person under the
age of 28 in East Germany that said they believed in God. The
magazine Der Spiegel reported that Priests are being imported to Germany from
India. Congregations are predominately populated by women, all of whom are over
60 years of age. In the
midst of all this the Muslim population in Germany is growing rapidly. New
Observer Magazine reports that the "decline in Christians is being
aggravated by the ever-increasing number of nonwhite Muslim invaders who have
been encouraged to settle in that country over the past few decades by
successive leftist governments." There are
now at least 4.5 million Muslims in a country with a total population of 81
million. Germany is home to over 200 mosques including 40 mega-mosques,
countless numbers of Muslim prayer halls and another 128 mosques under
construction. Die Welt
magazine predicts that Christians in Germany will be a minority in 20 years. This
is a sad commentary for a nation that was at the forefront of the Protestant
reformation little more than 500 years ago. Martin Luther led a revolt that
helped free Christians from the grips of a corrupt Church. This
trend came home to me while talking with a real estate agent when our
congregation was searching for a building to purchase. "Oh," gleamed
the agent, "it's a buyer’s market for churches! There are several for sale
but no one is in the market to buy a church." America
may be following the road Germany is already on. Fifty years ago churches
weren't for sale unless the congregation had outgrown the building and were
moving to something bigger. Times have changed. Today there is an unmistakable
attack on Christianity. In such
circumstances it is good to remember the words given to Zechariah in a vision
concerning Zerubbabel. '"Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,'
says the Lord Almighty." (Zechariah 4:6) It is the same Spirit that
empowered Jesus Christ to heal the sick and raise the dead. It is the same
Spirit that empowers Christians in the 21st Century. Until next time,