The Kingdom of God isn't fading, my friends.
Watch this fascinating report from ENTR, a state-funded news outlet from France Médias Monde aimed at younger audiences, that documents the growth of "evangelical" churches.
A new church opens "every 10 days" 👇
ENTR attempts to define "evangelical" in "four key elements."
"The centrality of the Bible, seen as the Word of God."
"The idea that through Jesus' death and resurrection anyone can be forgiven and that there's a new world ahead."
"The need to share the word of Christ, evangelization."
"And the necessity of conversion and baptism."
Me, looking at that list:
A French outlet attempted to define "evangelical" and summed up the entire Christian faith instead!
Across the ages, the Bible is clear that it is the Word of God, not just the collected sayings of random men (2 Timothy 3:16-17, 2 Peter 1:20-21, Matthew 4:4, Luke 24:13-35, Joshua 1:1-9, Hebrews 4:12, Deuteronomy 9:10, Psalm 18:30, Deuteronomy 12:28).
The central idea of Christianity is that we can only be saved by believing that Jesus Christ really is God (Romans 10:9), the Author of Life (Acts 3:15), who came to earth as a human child (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:23) to live a sinless death and die the death that we deserve (2 Corinthians 5:21). The idea that God would do this to save us is written across thousands of years of prophecies, starting in the third chapter of the Bible (Genesis 3:14-15). Because Jesus is God and did not commit sin, death itself could not hold him (John 11:25-26, John 10:17-18). The biological processes that we accept as natural in our decaying world worked backward. Those who put aside themselves and "clothe" themselves in Christ (Romans 13:14) are given the explicit promise that God will raise their dead, dusty bodies back to an everlasting life (1 Corinthians 6:14, Romans 6:4, Isaiah 26:19, Daniel 12:2), where there is no death, no pain, no tears, and no sin (Revelation 21:4, Isaiah 11:1-10). This is a free gift (Romans 3:24-26, Romans 6:23), accomplished not by our own works, but the grace of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).
Jesus explicitly commands those who believe and follow in Him to share the news about Him with the world (Psalm 105:1, Matthew 28:19-20, Matthew 5:15-16, Mark 16:15, Acts 13:47, Acts 20:24, 2 Timothy 4:2, Isaiah 12:4). Jesus goes as far as to say that He will be ashamed of anyone who is ashamed of Him and His words (Luke 9:26).
Jesus explicitly commands that his followers baptize people as a symbol of their repentance and decision to follow Him (Matthew 28:19-20, Acts 2:38, 1 Corinthians 12:13, 1 Peter 3:18-22).
If any other Christian tradition is not defined by these traits, then that is because they have put aside the Word of God for the traditions of men (Mark 7:13, Isaiah 29:13, Titus 1:16).
ENTR was also amazed to find that following the teachings of Jesus led to practices, beliefs, and habits that we call "conservative" these days. Noemie, a woman who came to faith after an unplanned pregnancy and a miscarriage, had this to say:
I'm deeply attached to life, to family, to anything you can call conservative. And at the same time, I have an unconditional love for others.
The "evangelical" church is growing in every single country across the world. You don't even see 1% of what is happening, my friends.
ENTR recognizes that this is creating a new political paradigm that threatens the existing order, that old wineskin of post-Enlightenment Christendom that slowly abandoned Christ in pursuit of its own pleasures and intellectual hubris.
ENTR also wisely perceives that there are many predatory agents who use the decentralized infrastructure of the evangelical movement to disguise their own criminal intentions or heretical teachings (Matthew 7:15, 2 Peter 2:1, Philippians 1:15-18).
What they did NOT note is how multiethnic these evangelical churches are.
We often hear of Islam conquering the West through mass migration, but it is equally true that mass numbers of these migrants are Christian or are becoming Christian. This trend is working what politicians meant for evil (in an effort to replace white population for "decolonization" or for cheap labor) for the purposes of God (Romans 8:28, Psalm 2:1-12).
The outlet concluded with an interesting thought:
It's not a wave that's changing France just yet.
"Just yet"!
You know, there's a Bible verse for that: One that endures amid the ruins of civilizations that thought they'd long outlast the little cult from Judea:
'Dear friends, don't overlook this one fact: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord does not delay his promise, as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.' - 2 Peter 3:8-10
And
'This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.' - Matthew 24:14
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