Are Christians Wimps?

[Juanita]

Recently someone told me that they thought that Christian are wimps. I wondered about that. And today I wonder even more.

When Paul was waiting for some friends in Athens, he was PROVOKED by what he saw around him. He immediately went to the synagogue and began to argue with the Jews. He went to the marketplace as well..

I have been on twitter a bit the last few days. I am provoked. Not only with groups like atheists, but also with Christians.

The following quotes are just a tiny sample of what the atheists are posting. These types of posts should be provoking us all!

@plushe The Collapse of Intelligent Design: Kenneth R. Miller Lecture (#p2 #tcot) http://bit.ly/OtXEx

Synthaetica. we're 'unglued' on hell becuz god rules by fear and manipulation. your god is a coward. made in his image, right? #atheist

fact3r If his goal is to make everyone worship and believe him, he's losing his own game.

@plushe I think the point is not to convert Juanita, but to keep the debate going so everyone can see how nutty her beliefs really are.

Many of the atheists are arrogant, profane and virtually unchallenged by believers!

My provocation with Christians came when I asked for some help defending attacks on creation. I have over 1500 followers on twitter – most Christian. When I asked for help – what do you think I got? Nothing, except for ONE person! Even the atheists saw it & this is what one of the wrote:

rationalbehavio @rwAtheist the night she was bugging me I saw her ask for help from other theists...none came to her aid though

Nice. Plus – twitter is a public forum. Even this conversation will be passed around and laughed at. Will Christian respond. Maybe. But, probably not. Am I provoked? You betcha.

Many of the atheists on twitter are a close knit club. They comb the web for all kinds of anti-god material and then post it. Continually. Are they challenged? For the most part – NO. Hitler said to tell a lie loud and often enough and people will believe it. Every post they make should be countered. We should be ashamed. The U.S. is going to hell in a hand-basket and too many of us are so busy building our own kingdom – we don’t have time for the Great Commission.

Lets look at some myths that keep us ineffective.

Myth #1. There is a ‘right’ time to tell people about Christ and we need to be on the lookout for it.
Truth: Preach the good news in season and out of season. When is the right time? Always.

Myth #2. If we ‘do it right’ people will come to Christ and everything will be peaceful.
Truth: The gospel is offensive. And, if we share it, we are the offenders. Read Acts. They went to where the people were and told them the truth. This is not popular. They were beaten, stoned and criticized. So?

Myth #3. We’re full of God.
Truth: The test to see if we are full of the Holy Spirit is if we are bold witnesses. I’ve seen thousand of Christian tweets. Few, if any, add the hash tags that will get them read by those who really need them. Here are some great hash tags. #atheist #gay Plus, there are tons of others. When you use these hash tags, you will get attention. And, much of it will not be nice. Be prepared to lose Christian followers. Too many have bought into the lie that we need to be politically correct. Jesus wasn’t.

Myth #4. I can’t witness boldly to atheists and others because I don’t know how.
Truth: None of us can be bold witnesses-ourselves. But God will speak through us if we will open our mouths. Learning to be relevant is a skill. I used humor in my tweets to the atheists – it is a language we all speak. You may do something else. And you may fail, I may fail. I’d rather fail trying to do great things for God than to live a sterile, fruitless life.

Are we wimps? What do YOU think?

For Twitter: Are Christians Wimps? http://bit.ly/zpHOY

[Steve Belttari]

I don't think that Christians are wimps, but I do think that we have been marginalized. That we are taking the arguments of closet case atheists seriously, is proof of our marginalization. I think we should focus on what we can do to be effective in "defending the faith that was once entrusted to the saints". I think getting into debates with atheists is counterproductive. Most atheists are defacto atheists who were indoctrinated to not think for themselves. If we "attack those high things that exalt themselves against the knowledge of God, and bring every thought to the obedience of Christ" we will silence the atheists on our playing field.

Steve

[Joffre Vivoni]

I am glad you are writing about this. I believe that with all of this mess in government we will be approaching perilous days. My comfort, that in the midst of all that can happen around us, we still have an all powerful God who can use us no matter what. I believe God will lift a group of Christians full with the power of God that like Elijah, Elisha, Daniel, Sadrac, Mesac and Abed Nego will be able to stand against the evil king and show that greater is our God than Allah, or whatever God they try to impose on us. I pray that He will give us the discernment, the boldness, the courage and the power to be His lighthouses and banners for this world to know that we serve the true God. I pray that we do not act like wimps in moments of difficulty.

[Dave Sibole]

Are Christian wimps cannot be answered by an event on twitter. By number how many atheist were engaging in your exchanges (my guess is probably not many)? It is my observation that athiest in general are unorganized and have no real message. There are a few outspoken ones and unfortunately there are a lot that have risen to high places in academia. I work with an atheist (or at least that is his claim, I have my doubts, I just thin he is a non-believer by choice.) He belongs to quite a few athiest web groups has attended meetups and they are very poorly attened.

I think we should be quick and able to answer serious quetions concerning our Christ and His teachings. To engage in arguments usually is counter productive. Those with whom you argue are not interested in (and usually don't pay any attention to what you have said) they are in it for the sake of an arguement period. My suggestion would be to following the leading of the Holy Spirit. Even if you have to stand alone you are never alone. Do you even know for a fact that other Christians saw the twitter and didn't get involved? The question was not relavant to the situation.

[Gettin after Lefty]

As a Christian-a father of two children (Now Grown) I have seen evil I have fought it on the battlefield of combat-Vietnam. I have served as a intelligence operative with a national intelligence agency and retired in 1993. I have been to all corners of the world and been places that most Americans would not want to be. But There are three things that have always gotten me through even the worst of times

1. My God
2. My family
3. My love of my country
and I have to add a fourth the up bringing I received from my Mother and Father.

You asked are Christians wimps--answer some are some are not.
Our country is under attack by those who would want to kill us (terrorist)
those who would want to control us and destroy every vestige of our American way of life including our
freedom to practice our Christian Religion. Yet Christians do not stand together,our pastors,priest,preachers,do not stand up as a group and condemn publicly those who would want to take our freedoms away from us.

We have Christians who go to church every Sunday get down on their knees and say their prayers-listen to the Gospel and leave the church feeling good that they have practiced their Christian faith,but some of these very same people voted for a man that is a declared Abortionist and installed him into the White House,these same Christians vote for the Democrat party and are members of the Party of Death-the very fact that the party stands for and defends abortion should tell these Christians that this is not the party Jesus would belong to.

We have clergy that stand in front of their congregations each Sunday preaching the bible knowing that some of the very people they are preaching to are supporting abortion -but say nothing-we have priest that know people such as Nancy Pelosi-Joseph Biden support abortion but yet they still administer communion to them.

You speak of WIMPS yes there are Christian wimps--those who will not speak up those who will not stand for what our religion is what it teaches--

I will ask all this simple question "If Jesus Christ was standing in front of you today and he ask -do you believe in ,do you support the murder of the innocent unborn---looking him in the eye what WOULD YOU SAY?

Yes there are Christian WIMPS and there are Christians who say they are Christian and go through the motions of being a Christian -I ask again --if you support Abortion-if you support Brack Hussein Obama-Pelosi-Biden-The Democrat Party (the Party of death) are you really a Christian or just someone who goes through the motions.

We cannon t take the Christian religion and redesign it to fit our life styles. This is God's word not our words not ours to change-what he said is the way it should be -no change by us mortal humans not re-writing or spinning his teachings-they are written in stone

Yes there are Christian WIMPS and sad to say that number grows with each passing day.

One last thing people say you can't mix politics with religion-with that statement I differ-you can mix politics with religion when those politics and how they are carried out impact in a negative way on Christianity/American people. I consider myself a Christian warrior shining the light of truth on those who would want to harm my way of life-my religion,my family and my country

GOD BLESS AMERICA-

Gary Gatehouse
host
Gettin after Lefty Conservative radio Show

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO LISTEN TO MY RADIO SHOW YOU CAN CLICK HERE

[Thomas Tan]

Hi Juanita,

This is your fellow Twitterer, Thomas (twhtan).

The Bible says in 2 Tim 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Many Christians are sadly, Christians in name only. They are saved but have yet to bear fruit or experience the power of GOD beyond salvation. They are the spiritual babies the Apostle Paul spoke about in Heb 5:11-14. They are not ready to even testify of the hope they have in Christ Jesus. The growth of a Christian comes about by giving & making ourselves available to GOD, which many Christians struggle with, citing family, personal commitments, etc as reasons. As the rest of us who serve give through our service to GOD, our faith in Him grows, and we receive even more from Him in response to the challenges we face in ministry. We learned to be filled with the Holy Spirit, to drink of the Holy Spirit daily, and to go forth "by His Spirit". We also appreciate the importance & need to seek GOD daily, spend time in His Word so as to understand His will for us, and to equip us with the right words for the occasion.

In the process, we grow to rely on Him & to share His heart for the lost. We are gradually conforming to His image. We now know His voice as the sheep recognizes the Good Shepherd, and we trust in His rod & everything about Him as David described in Psalm 23. These are the ones who will go into the crowds as Jesus & His disciples did. They are not afraid to stir up controversies by their proclamations or actions arising from their faith in Christ. They are ready, in season and out of season, to share the eternal hope they have in the LORD. These are the ones who will rise up to the challenge, but herein lies the question. Where are they when you need them?

Not all are on Twitter. Some are witnessing offline as I am sure. Some are on Twitter as you can discern. Yet again, not all are online when we are ministering. I have personally had a sister on Twitter pray for me as I ministered, and I believe you did to. Another responded direct to the atheist I was witnessing to, while I slept due to timezone differences. Some prayed and told me so. In a way, these have supported me as far as they could, and I know that even beyond that, they are praying for the lost & those among us who are witnessing to the lost.

I have been sending out calls to brothers & sisters on Twitter to support each other in all ways possible. For those who are not ready to engage the lost verbally, they can always pray and in the process build up their faith as they witness how we witness to the lost. I see this as mentoring via Twitter. Others will come forward with prayer support. For the pastors & Bible scholars out there on Twitter, I would encourage them to play an active role in reaching the lost for Christ. Ministering to the congregants is one thing, reaching out to the lost is another thing which pastors need to keep abreast with, and for which Bible scholars come in handy, since we don't have all facts to respond to the myths that atheist put forward.

Above all, the love of Christ in us must propel us forward to reach these lost ones. We must weep as He wept when He surveyed Jerusalem in Luke 19, and see the lost as He sees them. We are but many members of the same Body, each with his/her own gifts in Christ. Let us exhort one another to grow in Christ first, so that they may join the rest who are serving on the front line.

In His Love,
Thomas

[Juanita]

Thomas Tan said:

Hi Juanita,

This is your fellow Twitterer, Thomas (twhtan).

Thomas - you are a good witness on twitter as are others witnessing and praying. I am afraid that the statistics I am aware of indicate only about 2% of Christians share their faith. I'm sure there are many reasons for this. This needs to change. We need to get serious about his house and not just 'build our own house.'

it is a blessing knowing you on twitter! Thanks for sharing!

[Juanita]

Juanita said:

Thomas Tan said:

Hi Juanita,

This is your fellow Twitterer, Thomas (twhtan).

Thomas - you are a good witness on twitter as are others witnessing and praying. I am afraid that the statistics I am aware of indicate only about 2% of Christians share their faith. I'm sure there are many reasons for this. This needs to change. We need to get serious about his house and not just 'build our own house.'

it is a blessing knowing you on twitter! Thanks for sharing!

Thomas also has a nice blog that you might want to read. It has more about witnessing on Twitter.
Read HERE

[Juanita]

Dave Sibole said:

Are Christian wimps cannot be answered by an event on twitter. By number how many atheist were engaging in your exchanges (my guess is probably not many)? It is my observation that athiest in general are unorganized and have no real message. ..

Many atheists are anti-God, they are antichrists (small A). Paul was provoked in Athens and went and argued with people. The good farmer plants seed on all ground, even though some is hard and rocky.

The number of atheists are growing. It is important that their public arrogant lies are countered. If we don't counter them, they will continue to spread.

[Juanita]

William Michael McKenzie said:

Juanita:
I understand your outrage, and agree with it. Let me first of all say I don't know this to be true, but it could be that not enough of our informed believers about creationism have as yet taken up using Twitter as a major way to communicate. For example, I am a pastor, we have a web page and a facebook page. I do not have time to spend many more hours using the latest technology. We are now in a fund-raising campaign to purchase the necessary equipment from Kingdom to do the mass distribution of CD's and DVD's. We will undoubtedly use this ministry to confront others with the truth of God's Word about the beginning of all things. I have had extensive contacts with atheists through the years. They are all "baiters," just out to irritate and cause Christians to get upset with their weak and pathetic atheistic philosophies. Yes, Paul did confront the ungodly whenever he could. But also remember, that right after his experience at Mars Hill he wrote in his first letter to the Corinthians: "And I, brethren, when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified." (I Cor. 2:1-2) You are right to feel the way you do, but I believe with just a little bit more time, good, solid Bible folks will catch up with the technology, and you'll get all the support you need.
Mike

Thanks for the encouragement! I hope so - the 'lefties' are taking over the web. Too often they ae simply not challenged & when that happens it appears that they are 'right'. This would be an excellent ministry for Youth Leaders to lead their kids into - they love technology and defending our faith is a great way to grow in Christ!

[Juanita]

Thanks for the link!

Kimberly Vanselow said:

I believe, many just don't know how to approach others.
Many Churches are becoming like Clubs. (dress, look, act alike & be politically correct)
You hear a lot of silence coming from the Churches right now.
Why?
Possible leader positions are being ursurped by eugenics supporters? (Notice how the Pope is acting?)
Individuals need to reach out to the communities. Not wait for their Church Leaders.
The Bible is GOD's living WORD let's go live it!
Pastor Manning is one Pastor that is no wimp. He is a GODly Man with GUTS.
www.atlah.org (listen to the Manning Report)

[Juanita]

AMEN!

Rev. Rich Thomas said:

Amen to this....

We as Christians must remember the following verses in Matthew 10 vs 32 thru 34.

MT 10:32 Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, *I* also will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens.
MT 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will *I* also deny before my Father who is in the heavens.
MT 10:34 Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but a sword.

John said:

First I do not "twitter", just the name sounds strange, until recently I did not even own a cell phone.

However getting to the question are Christian's weak, yes many are very weak in letting others know of our belief of Jesus the Christ as our savior sent down to die for the sins of humanity. We talk the talk but when it comes to walking the walk you will find very few who seem to want to stand up for what they believe in and let other people walk all over them such as atheists.

We as Christians must remember the following verses in Matthew 10 vs 32 thru 34.

MT 10:32 Every one therefore who shall confess me before men, *I* also will confess him before my Father who is in the heavens.
MT 10:33 But whosoever shall deny me before men, him will *I* also deny before my Father who is in the heavens.
MT 10:34 Do not think that I have come to send peace upon the earth: I have not come to send peace, but a sword.

We are not suppose to lay down and just let others run all over us about our belief but we are to stand up be proud and help each other to fight the Devil himself with our belief in our Savior and Lord Jesus the Christ.

I am sorry for your having to fight the Devil alone Juanita if I did the twittering and knew of your fight I would have stood beside you and fought with you for our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ.

Walt

[Juanita]

After debating with them a few days, I think this has little to do with science. Yes, they often use science to boost up their postion -- they are often profane, laugh at Christ, undermine faith wherever they can. They are hostile to God: anti-god, antichrists. I mostly told them the truth about God and judgement. That didn't go over too well, but that is OK, I wasn't trying to win friends and influence people. I think it is important that they hear the truth. They accused me of things like spreading myths & tended to get really mad. So? I'd say they are, for the most part, really hard ground -- but like a good farmer, believers should sow there, too.

Thanks for your thoughts.

Lisa said:

Juanita,
Are Christians wimps? It depends on the Christian and the topic. Most of us won't attempt to debate something that we don't understand. How many folks understand science in the first place? Futhermore how many understand science well enough to dig for the creationist view and understand what they just dug up. Awfully hard to sensibly argue something that makes no sense to you. Also many Christians have never been taught the Creationist view point and don' t know where/ how to find the information. How about a Google search on Creation Science, Ken Ham, Creation Research institute, or Steve Goodman (think I have his name right)?
Quick read through reveals most of us don't twitter. Sounds to me like you are the pioneer experimenting with a teritory that we either have not discovered or can't justify visiting.
Lauren,
IMO Calling them anti-Christian bigots is just reverse name calling even if true. . Bet they see it as no better than they are. We need to give these folks a reason to check us out like by acting very diferent than they expect.