"The reason why Koreans liked it is because Americans liked it first."
"So they want to be like Americans?"
"Exactly."
-1/1/14 in a dialogue between me and one of my uncles.
What does spiritual battle look like to you?
Does it involve angels and demons fighting each other in Heaven and Hell?
Does it involve an invasion force to Heaven and Hell?
Spiritual battles do not involve armies; they involve people. They involve people who are proclaiming Jesus and the enemy using people who wish to erase the name of Jesus from Earth. Spiritual battles are not just the devil making people depressed, sick, etc. It also involves fighting for people's very souls and fates.
So where is the next battlefield? The answer is: America.
As an ESL/EFL teacher, one thing I learned about the world is that America is indeed the focus of the world; not just economically, but also in trends. What Americans like, the world will like. The biggest characteristics of international students and those living outside the US is that they either want to: a) live in America. b) be like Americans.
This, I recently came to realize, is starting to be a very scary thing.
In 1990, you can say there are more Americans who identified themselves as Christian than those who identified themselves as Atheists. Americans have now started to turn away from God and be like Israel during the Old Testament times. People are starting to do what is (as the Bible said many times) "evil in the sight of the Lord." In fact, one of the fastest growing religion in America is: no religion/atheism. The number has grown to 25% of American population/33 million people.
In my last post, I mentioned how the pop culture of America has turned away from God. If this is what America is starting to become, then could one say that it is what the rest of the world wants to become? As America continues to do what is evil in the eyes of the Lord, so too will the world.
I think of students I worked with that I befriended, and wonder if they too will want to be exactly like that.
There needs to be a revival here in America. People who live here identifying themselves as Christ-followers must start preaching the Gospel (more). We have to want to share Jesus. We need to pray for Holy Spirit to baptize every American followers with fire RIGHT. NOW. The Devil is winning the hearts of Americans with luxury, false teachers, emotions, and the pleasures of the flesh. He is blinding people to a life of eternity; people are being led to believe that 2 hours of pleasure out of the 657,000 hours of life (on average) is far better than an eternity of happiness, 30 minutes of glorified display of crass entertainment is better than a life without evil, and $1 million made through 40 years of routine procedure that can be burnt, lost, or stolen is far better than a treasure that no one can steal from.
This is where America is heading, and soon the world will follow it into Godlessness.
Ask yourself right now. What is Jesus to you? Do you want to share Him? Do you want to share Him enough to want to step on other people's foot just to tell them about the Gospel? Let's stop taking Jesus for granted and go bring people back to God.
If you live abroad, please pray for America.