It only took Jesus three years to turn all of recorded Jewish history on its head. It took His disciples considerably longer to evangelize the known world, between A.D. 33 and 312 when the emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and began to absorb the Christian church into his Holy Roman Empire.
By the time England was up and running under a monarchy, the Catholic Church had become a formidable power in its own right. When King Henry II demanded of his friend and confidante, the Archbishop of Canterbury, that he should choose between the king and God, Beckett chose God. Henry had Beckett murdered on the alter of Canterbury Cathedral. Pope Alexander III ordered the king to be whipped naked, stretched out over Beckett's casket on the steps to the palace. He was.
By this time in history the church's power was less about God than it was an ability to foment unrest and riots among the peasants against the government. In short, the Emperor Charlemagne had subdued the Christian church by absorbing it into the government. In England, the Anglican Church went its own way from the Catholic Church in Rome.
In England, the tradesmen emerging middle class was fighting to grow. Tradesmen were essentially small businesses, which gave them some economic independence from the king. But the fight was not easy. The Anglican Church was a creature of the state, and religion was used to keep the tiny middle class from growing more powerful.
But for the Puritans, a new world beckoned: America was wide open, still under the king's jurisdiction, but far from his henchmen. It was in this new world of America that the Puritans found both economic and religious freedom.
The churches the Pilgrims founded in America began to reestablish the individual relationship between men and women – and God. As the new nation grew, so did the churches. They began to form into denominations of like-minded churches, and a hierarchy emerged within the denominations. One's individual relationship with God became of less importance than what one believed about God.
America continued to grow, and some churches grew into megachurches, not necessarily under any denominational hierarchy. Small rural churches gave way to somewhat larger churches in the growing cities. The American church began to focus on outreach: evangelizing the world by sending missionaries into foreign nations.
Fewer churches viewed America as a mission field, despite the people immigrating into the nation. Local culture began to reflect enclaves of new citizens from foreign nations who brought their own cultural and religious beliefs. Christian churches accelerated their own decline, as they began to focus on keeping their existing attendees happy.
The real Christian church emerged in the New Testament book of Acts. This church didn't exist until after the death and resurrection of Jesus, because it couldn't. From the church's inception as described in Acts, the Christian church was a supernatural entity.
Today's Christian churches have taught and programmed themselves into oblivion. Prior to COVID-19, these churches were already in decline. The virus only exacerbates it. Some of those leaving the small-c churches, however, are actually part of the big-c Church. They do understand that God is supernatural, and that it is only natural for Him to operate in the supernatural realm, even while in our physical world.
One of the traps modern churches fell into was "Left Behind" theology. It goes something like this: Well, of course things are going to get worse and worse, the Bible tells us that. When they get really bad, then Jesus comes for us, and we all leave and can watch the world go to hell.
What if the emerging church in Acts had adopted that theology? Would there ever have been more than one church established? "Well, have you heard how bad it is in Rome? I guess we better just stay here. After all, things are going to get worse and worse."
Might I suggest that the churches we have built and attended are not going to create a Christian world. But the church that has been emerging (leaving) from them is going to create a Christian world, because Jesus said, "I will build my Church, and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it."
Does anyone else think the gates of hell are even now circling the existing world order, trying to prevent Jesus' supernatural intervention, which will establish His Kingdom on this earth?
Here is the real Armageddon Story.
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