Hope of Nations - What is Happening?, Part 2

Our world has drastically changed in the last five years what's right what's wrong has changed.

I have my truth you have your truth is the new mantra of the day where only going and how do we respond as Christians that's today. Don't miss. Thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge with shipping Living on the Edges of international discipleship ministry evading Christians to live like Christian. Most of you know chips are regular Bible teacher program. However, for the series is turned over the microphone to a trusted pastor and friend John Dickerson.

John picks up where he left off last time series talking about how so many ideology by for attention and why people's truth standards are so divisive. Before we begin, let me encourage you to use the message notes for the series. John covers a lot of important concepts that pertain to you and your family. You want to follow along as closely as possible to download these message notes just go to the broadcast tab@livingontheedge.org Listeners Fill in the notes. Here's John Dickerson with part two of this message. What is happening in every century and every civilization on every continent sets of ideas are competing for the domination of humanity in Scripture makes it really clear that as followers of Christ our warfare are spiritual warfare is not in the physical realm so much it's in the spiritual realm. And in the realm of ideas we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers and in second Corinthians chapter 10 Paul writes and says that the weapons of our warfare. As followers of Christ are not of the flesh, but we destroy arguments, ideas, and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God. In other words, in the church and in our thoughts and in our families, we acknowledge that ideas are what will determine the destiny of our children and grandchildren. And so we fight for truth and rightness, and for what is pure and good in the minds of ourselves and of our kids. I'm going to move from Scripture to my reporting as a as a research journalist and so if you disagree with some of these next things know you're disagreeing with me and not with the Bible okay but what I've done in the last few years is through these lenses of knowing that ideologies are at war. I've tried to look at what's happening in the world today and and what I'm about to show you comes from dozens of sociologists and other researchers allots the statistics that I've put into a book called open nations. And if you're a nerd like me, you might enjoy reading it off, but if you're not a nerd like me. I'll just simplify here. Here's what for me make sense of the world right now is understanding that in the United States right now there is a civil war of ideas that's happening every day and there's two dominant views.

There's thousands of ideologies but there's two dominant ones that are butting heads right now and a lot of the cultural conflict we see and social division that we see traces back to this civil war of ideas and this is the first of two ideas sets that are competing for domination of the American mindset today is what I call in other researchers the post truth view of reality post truth very simply says there is no objective truth standard in the world what's right or what's wrong really is kinda up to you. You have your truth. I have my truth. I won't judge your truth if you don't judge my truth.

This is this is really common.

A lot of our leading universities out where I've lived on the coast and the major metropolises. This is very common in mainstream media where I used to work full-time. This is very common, about 53% of Americans right now view reality through a post truth lends they don't know their viewing at the post truth lends per se, but researchers have asked the kind of questions about what's the standard for truth that lets us know it's about 53% but this 53% are almost all my age and younger. It's the millennial's and younger Americans who largely have been taught this or absorb this through culture that truth is kind, your truth, your truth, my truth, my truth, you've heard of relativism or postmodernism that all overlaps here. That's one view of reality that is very common in America right now. But there's another view that 47% of Americans hold to and that is a truth based view of reality, a truth baby arises, there exists an objective standard for truth outside of my feelings and outside of what celebrities are posting on Instagram and moral evil is not necessary to find you no bias celebrities selfie on Instagram is defined by some objective standard that is written and whether or not I agree with that. Whether or not I feel like I like it. What is right and what is wrong or written down somewhere out course as Christians for us that truth standard is the word of God and and I'll just give you a really simple example of the difference between post truth thinking and truth-based thinking and one example be what did Jesus teach. If you are asking American.

What did Jesus teach will some Americans will be like well that they won't Messerli know they'll just kinda say things they believe and it's like, well, how do you know Jesus taught that well. I know Jesus was good so essentially the assumption as he would believe what I believe because he was good and and so what did Jesus teach what kind of whatever I there's this kind of floating scaffolding of what's right and wrong, what socially acceptable in its moving. It's not fixed and it's really kind whatever, all the people are saying is right or wrong right now. That's what's right or wrong, and I think Jesus would probably agree with that. That's a post truth view of reality, a truth based view of reality says what did Jesus teach well it's written down in the Gospels and I can look it up here and I can read it for you and here's what Jesus believes and if I disagree with that. Well that it's true whether I agree with that or not that make sense such as one example, post truth versus truth base. Now I'm not appear to go after any group or any generation. I means I like the millennial's are going to ruin the world.

I hope not. Some one of them.

Okay I'm not appear sending up all the young people are terrible is not at all in saying one thing is there is an ideological divide and what happens around Thanksgiving dinner tables and on Facebook and social media is truth-based thinkers get into debates with post truth thinkers and their operating from totally different values and assumptions and they start to debate, and it always turns out nasty because when one person believes in a truth standard and another one doesn't you're not really gonna have a very successful debate about what is right or what is wrong because the post truth person they don't even really know why they believe what's right or wrong they just know they feel strongly about it, and the truth-based person. You know sometimes we truth-based people.

Jesus came full of grace and truth. But sometimes we truth-based people. We kind of skip over the grace part right were like I'm right and you're wrong and you know but if we understand that there is this Civil War happening in the realm of ideas in the US. It really explains a lot of the crazy things that we see happening. It doesn't make it less painful or less disturbing, but at least we understand why it's happening now, prepare to have your minds blown okay fellow nerds razor nerd flags hi okay because here's the thing. The thing the US is a big deal. It's a big country.

But there's 7 billion people in the world and the US is about 325 million so there's a lot more people out there than us okay or just think of 30, compared to 700 if that makes it easier okay and so there's a lot more people out there than us, and while we're having this civil war of ideas in the US there are other ideologies outside of the US competing for global domination. As has been true in every generation is I want to show you from the research what those four ideologies are that are competing for domination globally. Right now, according to researchers.

This comes from the pew research Center Hindu, which if you've ever been to India.

The predominant religion there's pretty much India Hindu.

It is about a billion people. So, 1/7 people in the world today is Hindu. It's ironic to me some of my friends who have masters degrees in global culture who don't even know the core beliefs of Hindu, or as long. But what did you learn in your master to coculture you don't understand how, 1/7 people think, or almost 1/5 people with Islam. Okay, but that the point is this.

All four of these ideologies, Hindu communism, which is essentially atheistic communism. This is China more or less Islam which is not in one, just one nation. It's about one in five people in the world right now and Christianity. We are the largest ideology in the world right now actually in world history.

One in three people in the world today believe that Jesus is God and died on the cross for the sins of the world that includes Catholics, Orthodox all sorts of different Christian groups. But here's the point. All four of these ideologies are what I describe as a muscular rigid ideology and here's what that means. Very simply, all four of these say we are right, and whoever disagrees with us is wrong and this is mind blowing. For many Americans of my generation and younger because we been taught so much never judge anyone, never disagree with anyone. Your truth is your truth. My truth is my truth.

Now tolerance in the biblical sense is absolutely a Christian idea that we allow people to disagree with us and we don't attack them and were not prejudiced against them.

Okay, so I'm not at all saying that that people who disagree with us should be punished but the reality is that Christianity claims to be exclusively right, in its view of the world and so does Islam which contradicts Christianity and so it is Hindu, which contradicts both of them and so does communism.

All four of these claim to be the only right way and if you don't understand that then you're going to be confused when you interact with people from any of these ideologies because there are Hindus and Muslims and Christians who are gracious about disagreeing but there are also some who aren't.

And to me what makes Christianity unique and noble is not that it claims to be exclusively true because if you look at world history almost every ideology claimed to be exclusively true. What's unique about Christianity is how it treats the people who disagree because it were true Christians we read the words of Jesus and were bound to his words when he says love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you. Forgive 7×70 times were bound to the word of God when it says in Romans chapter 12 as much as it is possible, live at peace with all people, so Christians are peaceable, kind, forgiving, patient people, not because we think that our beliefs don't matter and not because we think it doesn't matter if you disagree with us but it's because of our beliefs that were peaceable and patient and forgiving.

And if you look at world history. Weather was under Nero in Rome or under a Pharaoh in Egypt or under the Soviet Union, or today in China.

Most world cultures. If you disagree with it are not so kind, many world cultures. If you disagree with what what the government says you go to jail.

Okay so so Christianity is unique in accepting the people who disagree with us at a 7 billion people. One in three are Christians one and five are Muslims, almost one in five are atheistic communist Hinduism and then others. So here's what's kinda crazy in the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Western Europe, England, France, atheism, agnosticism the belief that there is no one right way that the rising tide in our culture right, but that is just a little fraction on the global scene. Atheists and agnostics will shrink and the reason for that is they don't have a lot of kids ironically okay is Islam. Islam is by far the fastest growing that's because Muslims do a lot of kids, Christianity has slowed way down in its growth and is just a PS footnote but one of the reasons for that is most of the nations that were formerly Christian adopted abortion policies within the last 40 or 50 years and they're no longer keeping up with global population growth, but let's look at what's going to change here between now and 2050. Islam, Muslims will increase by 73% fastest growing ideology in the world by far.

So here's what's interesting to me as a former journalist and reporter is if you just watch Fox news, CNN, New York Times, USA Today, whatever your news outlet is you get a really small view of reality and you would think from watching the American news that religion doesn't really matter. Religion is a thing of the past, but the reality is, and these are just facts. Whether or not you believe in God.

Majority of the world is religious and the majority of the world holds to muscular leave rigid religious ideologies that say if you disagree with me, you're wrong and I'm right in the question for us is how we handle those disagreements and what we can know according to today's projections is that the world my kids will inherit is a world where one in three people as Muslim. The other one in three is Christian and the other one in three will be, you know, either communist or Hindu or small fraction of atheist etc. to the changing world. The changing world.

Now this fourth point I told you of the five factors, four of them are always true in or from Scripture.

One of them is from me in my research and this is the one for me in my research. So again if you disagree with it.

Just disagreeing with me and you're free to buy the way I am peaceable and forgiving and I and you know it's okay. You're allowed to disagree with me WESTERN civilization in my assessment and this is speaking in centuries and decades, not because of a soundbite clip on the Internet is unraveling. What I mean by this is that we have inherited of a machine of a society and civilization that was built by people and many of the core beliefs and values that are at the center of the machine are now being kinda tossed tossed out the window at some point the machine stops running.

If you move remove enough parts. We've inherited a civilization that to us is normal. But as I mentioned before, historically, is very unique when think of a Scripture to represent this which again is my assessment. But this scripture in Joshua 24 says I gave you a land which you did not toil on in cities, you did not build and you live in them and you eat from vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant what happened here in Joshua is that there was a generation who sought God and they lived through hard times and they worked hard and they sought God and God blessed them, and then their kids inherited that wealth and they taught their kids. This wealth all came from God. Keep working hard, keep fearing God and their kids kind of taught their kids. This all came from God, but by the time he got to the fourth generation the fourth generation inherited it, but they never got taught. This all came from believing in God. And Joshua says her God says to them you have inherited these fields that produce fruit and in our case, these courts in these laws and these rights that are not perfect but are far above the historic human norm and you've inherited them very many of these things were put in place by people who believed in the true standard of Scripture. So the idea that all people are made in the image of God was key in the founding of a culture that has more human rights than any other culture hasn't history. It's not perfect but it's further above the historic norm because of belief in Scripture.

But now the inheritors are saying let's do away with the foundations I think of it this way when I lived in California.

We had some fruit trees in our backyard and I love these orange trees that often make orange juice.

They were all it seemed like they were producing year-round to there's not really a real winter. There and you could go out almost anytime of the year, pick up an orange and and just eat it or make orange juice with that they were delicious and one day I realized you know what I didn't plant these trees. I've never watered these trees, but I get to enjoy the fruit from these trees is kind of a metaphor a picture for my generation in world history. What we've inherited in our prosperity, our freedom, our courts are laws is like a massive vineyard or massive orchard of fruit and we didn't plant the trees boat with this is my opinion what's sad is seeing some of my friends and peers at leading universities and leading media outlets essentially say get out the axes and hack at the roots of the trees even while we keep enjoying the fruits from the trees. Cheers. According to Price Waterhouse Cooper you finance you will know that is big accounting firm.

The order of world economies in 2050.

The number one will be China number two will be in you than the United States. Now there's no one alive today who has not lived in a world where the United States was the number one economy K and our hope is not United States as followers of Christ. Our hope is in the kingdom of God.

But here's the deal when when these shifts in world history. Things happen. Their global implications of who is the number one economy in the world for currency for militaries for all sorts of things really see something that hasn't happened in 150 years and that is to major shifts in the top three that China will rise to the top is on a trajectory to overtake the US in the next 10 years or so and then in the next 10 years. After that India you also be certain that Indonesia is in a kind come out of nowhere's massive population is number four. Now here's what's interesting for us. Looking at this, not as economists but as people who understand from the word of God that ideas matter is that three of these four have rigid ideologies, don't they. China is the communism that we saw India's Hindu Indonesia as Muslim and while it'll be a massive nation. It'll just be a small part of the Muslim world at that point in the future, but my point here is that we don't know what the implications will be, but but the world is going to move in in our lifetime and the lifetime of our kids and our grandkids.

So what have we learned so far we learn, humans are sending always say and scheming always ideologies a warning always and in the assessment of John who hopefully is wrong. Western civilization is abandoning its core tenants and may be unraveling within our lifetimes. I'm about to give you the fifth force, which is our hope.

But before I do is want to give you a picture. Here's a picture of hurricane Florence as it was approaching South Carolina and in the well the whole East Coast and hurricane Florence what good leaders did is they said a storm is coming. So don't panic, don't freak out but because a storms coming. Here's how you need to prepare and so because of good leadership, people boarded up their windows and people bought bottled water and bought generators in certain areas evacuated because they knew a storm was coming in and here's my heart as a shepherd and as a leader for us as a movement of God's people in the series. Not to cause panic not to have you freak out not to be doomsday us okay, but to understand there's some massive changes that are going to happen in our lifetimes within the US and globally, and if we understand that that's coming can be a little less shocked a lot more prepared and the biggest preparation is spiritual. That's why if you look on the back of your notes. These nine manifestoes. I will not unpack today, but these are essentially what can you do what can we do as a movement of people to be prepared spiritually to prepare our kids for whatever might happen in the next 30 years and and really we can take action spiritually by saying a post truth culture were to stay true to the word of God in a culture where human dignity is being lost when people disagree and they're just pull out all the stops and calling other terrible things were gonna treat all people with dignity because there made in the image of God were in love our persecutors for those you are ready for some good news and that's the fifth force that is always shaping human history and unstoppable force.

And it's that Christ and his people are prevailing Christ and his people are prevailing. It doesn't always look like it didn't look like it in the Soviet Union, but the Soviet Union fell apart. It didn't look like it in Rome. But then Rome became Christian. It doesn't look like it sometimes. But Christ and his people are prevailing in. Here's what Jesus promised as a prediction in Matthew chapter 16. He said I will build my church, my kingdom my movement in the gates of hell will not prevail against it.

Amen.

When Jesus made this prediction and we have ancient records. This prediction is 2000 years old. You know how many Christians there were in the world. A few hundred. You know how much land they own non-you know many armies they had none. They were a small scattered persecuted movement with no human resources and it's a fact of history that Jesus predicted this movement will go to the ends of the earth and it'll try to be stamped out and stomped out and you will have difficulty in this world, but you will overcome the world and my movement will continue growing. Here we are 2000 years later and after the Soviet Union fell after Rome fell after all sorts of tyrants and rulers have said I'm gonna stamp out Christianity. Christianity is the largest movement in human history and one in three people in the world today believe it to be true. That's a prediction that came true and will continue to come true in our lifetime. So how can we prepare our children and grandchildren. The biggest thing we can do for them is to teach them the word of God and to teach them how to love their enemies and follow Christ. No matter what happens around them because the reality of history and of eternity is that Christ will prevail.

His church will prevail. His kingdom was not stop by Soviet tanks, his kingdom was not stopped by Nero, his kingdom has marched on when Bibles are burned, Christianity grows when Christians are jailed. The church explodes no movement in all of history has grown to the size of Christianity and there is no force on earth or in hell that can stop the movement of Christianity because it's a kingdom that will not be shaken and it's an eternal kingdom. What I want to just give you guys a picture of this yesterday morning I went out the kids run the trampoline there doing this game called crack the egg where they try to stay you know in a little egg shape and you bounce around them and went when they fall apart. That person loses and you take turns and the point is this. When you come in as an adult. It's no fair because I weigh three times as much as them. You know, I'm of a different magnitude when it comes to crack the egg.

I'm of a higher order.

They have no chance.

Okay, here's the thing about God the Word of God tells us over and over. Why do the nations rage kings and kingdoms rise and fall. Psalm chapter 2 describes this time in the future before Christ returns. When all the nations of the world and all their rulers and all their tanks and all their atomic bombs. Still all gathered together and raise their fist against God and say were all against you, and it says God looks down at them and laughs because that's just how much bigger he is and he loves Haas which is amazing is not threatened and his followers of Christ were not threatened by anything that could happen in this life and I want to just close by just giving us a sense of mission as a church and as of the body of Christ's followers that of all the times in world history. He chose that we would live now we don't know what's can happen in the next 30 years. But we know that things are kinda set up for big things to happen globally and in the culture where he's placed us and he planted us here not to merely survive we will survive, but much more to thrive and to be on mission and to set captives free, because while all these ideas are competing we have neighbors and we have relatives and we have classmates who are enslaved to ideas that lead to death in Christ sent us here to love them and to set captives free listening to living only with your favorite John Dickerson's bitter guest teacher for this program. What is happening is series of missions trip will be here with us in just a minute to share his application for this message.

As you look around. Are you filled with anxiety or the instability and chaos overwhelming, if you're looking for tangible hope not only for yourself but for the future of our society. This series is for you. John explains where we can find true hope in a world spinning out of control. Matthew chapter 12 says in his name, the nations will put their hope stay with us as we discover what that means and how we can find encouragement in these trying times for limited time the resources for hope of missions are discounted for ordering and pricing details, visit LivingontheEdge.org that listeners tap special offers which if it's not often that we have guest teachers here would you talk with us for a second about how you and John know each other and why you believe this series is important will, as you've heard John speak, you realize that we are living in a post-truth post-Christian world and John is a very bright millennial who we had the privilege of working together. I actually hired him years ago before he was a senior pastor is one of my teaching pastors. What I pastored in California and I just saw this intellect and what most people don't know was that intellect was used first as a award-winning journalist, a research investigative journalist and what he's done in this series, and also in the book that were offering in hope of nations is he's doing some digging and some first-hand research that really changes the paradigm and gives a completely different narrative based on truth of where the world is and where it's going and what we need to do versus the common narrative that were hearing through social media or some of the major outlets so I wanted you to hear John first-hand, and then let me encourage you get this book if you have a kid get this book if your leader get this book if you need to think clearly about the future. Get this book. It is well researched. He doesn't go to second hand sources. He goes right to primary sources and you can trust what he says fixture will get your hands on this insightful book from John Dickerson called hope of nations visit LivingontheEdge.org or call AAA to 333-6003. This is a well researched commentary on the challenging times we're living in. John looks at the decay of society's morality and how Christians are called to engage this lost world again to order your copy of hope of nations by John Dickerson. Just go to LivingontheEdge.org or call AAA to 333-6003 that's AAA 333-6003 well it's good to chips application as we wrap up today's program and we finish out John's first message here if you're feeling a bit like well this is kind of scary stuff. I mean, the implications are are a bit overwhelming that I think you're listening correctly. I think we as believers for the last couple decades have sorta had a blind eye that what nothing like that could ever happen in America and you are living now in America that, at least for many of us.

We didn't think it ever happened when good is called evil and evil is called good when right and wrong is completely confusing when we have confusion about things that we say well common sense about some of the gender issues and issues that people struggle with in the deterioration of the family and what's actually happening in many Bible believing churches John is reminding us that at the core of all that is ideas and at the core of every idea is what is true what were calling you to do is to be a believer who thinks were told to love the Lord our God with all of our heart, our mind, our soul, inner strength in this particular series is one that is cognitive, it's intellectual, it's a thinking but your thinking always determines your emotions and then later your behavior and what I want you to know is that we have great hope but great hope isn't hoping and hope that someday some way God's going to miraculously sweep in and make everything better. He's given us a mission. He's given us his word.

He's given us one another. Now is the time to be like the men of Issachar who understood the times and then they knew what they must do.

That's what this series is all about what you think.

I want you to pray.

What did you hear and what does God want you to do just before we close. I want to thank each of you who's making this program possible through your generous giving 100% of your gifts are going directly to the ministry to help Christians really live like Christians. If you found the teaching today helpful, which are not yet on the team. Would you consider doing that today to donate. Just go to LivingontheEdge.org Donate on the app or give us a call a triple late. 333-6003, let me thank you in advance for whatever the Lord leads you to do one selects time for everyone here. This is the saying thanks for listening to this Edition of Living on the Edge