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Yesterday, almost 6 in 10 Americans went to church to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.
Rasmussen also reported yesterday that they have found 39% of all Americans believe Easter is one of America's most important holidays.
Rasmussen has also reported that 69% of Americans believe Jesus did indeed rise from the dead, 64% believe in the God of the Bible and 57% of us believe local Christian churches are essential to healthy communities.
The Christian church has provided both cultural stability and health since our founding.
America's actual history is a very different narrative from that of the 2 or 3% who are atheist. They would have you believe that Christians are trying to create a theocracy in America and destroy their freedom to hate God. They would also have you believe there are fewer Christians and more atheists than there actually are.
Over 41% of us are concerned that the judicial system is too involved in church state separation.
Of course much of the judicial system's involvement in the church state issue is driven by the fact that atheist activists are obsessed with eroding religious freedom and expression for Christians.
The atheists can deny that America is strongly Christian, our President has said, "America is no longer a Christian nation" and some Christian leaders can declare us to be "post modern" or " post Christian," but most Americans consider themselves to be "Christian."
Christian influence has declined in America because of apathy. And because of the secular progressive agenda that continues to enact legislation that silences the majority of citizens who hold Judeo-Christian values.
It is the disproportionate influence of atheist activists, homosexual activists, the lucrative abortion industry and far left secular progressives that tilt the political and spiritual landscape to appear that America is something other than what we the people actually believe.
The numbers show that America is strongly Christian. And I personally believe that the majority of Americans are beginning to awaken to the realities that a very small minority are driving America off the cultural cliff. And a fiscal cliff.
Americans are growing weary of a government that won't listen and won't serve the people who elected them.
I also believe there is the beginning of a spiritual awakening. In part, because as Americans begin to actually listen to what activists are calling "normal" as they rewrite the character and culture of America, citizens are re-evaluating what they do in fact personally believe.
Many in this generation are beginning to see the deception of what they've been told in public school and university, and this parade of progressivism has not met their personal spiritual needs.
There is also an awakening in China.
Yes, that China.
And researchers are now saying that based on current trends, China will soon become the largest "Christian nation on earth."
Here's what happened yesterday, and what"s happening on a sustained basis.
The way in which the Chinese government is now trying to manipulate the exploding Christian community in China is not unlike the way our own government tries to manipulate the Christian community here in America.
China's largest Christian church in Liu Shi seats 5,000 and was packed several times over the weekend.
They came not to celebrate the Communist Party, but to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Officially, the People's Republic of China is an atheist country, but that is changing---rapidly.
London's Telegraph reported yesterday that it is changing fast, "as many of China's 1.3 billion citizens seek meaning and spiritual comfort that neither communism or capitalism seems to have supplied."
After Chairman Mao's death in 1976, Christian churches began reopening.
Fenggang Yang, a professor of sociology at Purdue University and author of "Religion in China: Survival and Revival Under Communist Rule" says, "My calculations show China is destined to become the largest Christian country in the world very soon."
In 1949, China's Protestant Christian community was about 1,000,000 members. Moa tried to extinguish the Christian church, which drove biblical believers underground.
Now China is having an "evangelical boom."
In 2010, there were more than 58,000,000 Protestants in China compared to 40,000,000 in Brazil and 36,000,000 in South Africa according to Pew Research.
Professor Yang, a leading expert of religion in China says trends indicate that by 2025---11 years from now, China will have about 160,000,000 Christians compared to about 159,000,000 who claim to be Protestant Christian in the U.S.
"However," he says "the trends also show that by 2030, China's total Christian population including Protestants and Catholics, will exceed 247 million, placing it above Mexico, Brazil and the United States as the largest Christian congregation in the world."
Professor Yang says, "Mao thought he could eliminate religion. It's ironic---he didn't. They actually failed completely."
As the Christian church in China grows exponentially, I've been struck by the similarities of opposition they face compared to those faced here in America.
The Christian church in China is not without conflict---from without and within. They are struggling with government policies that suggest they are free to practice their Christian faith, yet are consistently living under the shadow of a government that tries to manipulate them, developing a "government approved or registered church" vs. a Christian church that is considered an "underground church."
While the methodology is different here in America than that of the Chinese government, the results are quite the same.
Strikingly so.
They live with a government that is, in some ways, fearful of them and the political power they may represent as they continue to grow. Frankly, the Communist Government isn't sure what to do about them.
Some in government are concerned that Christians could actually be part of an overthrow of the communist government, affecting the politics of the country.
These same government officials are concerned that a Christian influenced culture could spell the end of their rule and privilege.
I'm talking more about this aspect of the growing church in China today on the radio.
You can join me live at 9 AM PDT or the rebroadcast at 7:30 PM PDT from anywhere in the world. Here's how.
Be Informed. Be Vigilant. Be Hopeful. Be Discerning. Be Prayerful. Be Pro-Active. Be Blessed.