"Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him, That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." 2 Thess. 2:1-4
Notice two signs, in those verses, which will precede "the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ...and our gathering together unto him." Those two signs are,
(1) "a falling away first" and (2) "that man so sin the son of perdition,(Antichrist) be revealed".
The first of those two signs began, n to be fulfilled with the turn of the millennium. Since the year 2000, the signs of the times, including the "falling away" of professing Christians, have exploded upon the whole world, especially America.
Only now are recent polling organizations picking up the fact that being a CINO (Christian In Name Only), is no longer a "popular profession". The most recent poll, done by the Pew Research Center, reports that in 2014, the number of "professing" Christians in the U.S., fell by 8%, about 5 million adults, since 2007. Do not overlook the fact that this poll included all denominations and people who have "professed" to be Christian, even in the loosest meaning of the term.
The New York Times reported, in May of this year, on the Pew survey. These are excerpts.... I added the word (professing) and underlined "raised" in bold. It is my opinion that, thus far, most drop-outs are "professing" not "possessing" Christians. As persecution of Christians increases, there will no doubt be more "falling away" from faithfulness and service on the part of some true Christians. Consider Apostle Peter. I underlined and bold typed "raised" because though Christian parents raise their children under Christian standards and atmosphere, one cannot be raised a Christian. We must each personally, willfully believe on Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. RB
New York Times:
Overall, the religiously unaffiliated numbered 56 million and represent nearly 23 percent of adults, up from 36 million and 16 percent in 2007.... The ranks of the unaffiliated have been bolstered by former (professing) Christians. Nearly a quarter of people who were raised as Christian have left the group, and ex-Christians now represent 19 percent of adults.
Attrition was most substantial among mainline Protestants and Roman Catholics who have declined in absolute numbers .... Not all religions or even Christian traditions declined so markedly. The number of Evangelical Protestants dipped only slightly as a share of the population, by 1 percentage point, and actually increased in raw numbers.
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Here is just one area of "falling away" in CINO churches and among CINO religionists.
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Marco Rubio calls same-sex marriage a
'real and present danger' to Christianity
By Sahil Kapur
Bloomberg News
Republican presidential candidate Marco Rubio told the Christian Broadcasting Network that the push for nationwide same-sex marriage represents a threat to Christianity.
"We are at the water's edge of the argument that mainstream Christian teaching is hate speech, because today we've reached the point in our society where if you do not support same-sex marriage, you are labeled a homophobe and a hater," the Florida senator said. "So what's the next step after that? After they're done going after individuals, the next step is to argue that the teachings of mainstream Christianity, the catechism of the Catholic Church, is hate speech. And that's a real and present danger."
The remarks, posted Tuesday on CBN's website, are a strong denunciation of the gay-rights movement just weeks before the Supreme Court is set to rule on whether same-sex marriage is a constitutional right. Many legal experts believe the court will invalidate gay marriage bans, in part because there are five justices who voted to advance gay rights as recently as 2013.
Rubio's comments appear aimed at the evangelical base, a core Republican constituency that remains strongly against same-sex marriage even as a growing majority of Americans want it to be legal.
That dichotomy makes it a thorny issue: Respected party strategists, including Rubio's own pollster Whit Ayres, have warned that a candidate perceived as anti-gay won't be able to connect with voters under 30. The Republican National Committee warned in a brutally candid 2012 election post-mortem that the party must be more "welcoming and inclusive" when it comes to gay rights or "young people and increasingly other voters will continue to tune us out."
The rhetoric from Rubio, who is locked in a tough fight for the Republican nomination, was more aggressively opposed to gay marriage in the CBN interview than last month when he was asked about the issue by MSNBC, a cable provider that attracts a largely left-of-center audience.
"Ultimately the decision on how we define marriage has always belonged to the states," he said in the April 14 interview. "If in fact, as the polls indicate, a growing number of Americans believe that marriage between two individuals of the same sex should be legal, then they can petition their state legislatures and change their state laws. And, in fact, I suspect you'll see that happen. It's already begun to happen."
http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/orlandosentinel/~3/S50HGlYUyaY/fl-tns-bc-rubio-gaymarriage-20150526-story.html
