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American Values Today Culture & Church (Culture First).
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American Values Today Culture & Church (Culture First)
Americans say they are more tolerant and open-minded than their parents. Among the issues that rate more morally acceptable today than a decade ago: homosexuality, human cloning, pre-marital sex, and having a child out of wedlock. In all, 2/3rds think the country is heading in the wrong direction, 69 percent believe the country's values have deteriorated since the 1970s, and nearly half say values will further weaken over the next 10 years.
Church Values It is sad that America has deteriorated into apostasy (turning away from God). America's degree of apostasy can be directly measured by the amount of TOLERANCE that us Christians have for wickedness and evil. It's the amount of silence from Christians in America against evil, false religion, wickedness and apostasy that evidences our dire spiritual condition.
1) The Purpose in Writing this Epistle (Jude 3) 3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
The whole of the book deals with apostasy and a turning away from the faith. The English word apostasy does not appear in the Bible, but the phrase turn away is the Greek word apostrepho used five times in the New Testament.
2) The Pretenders - the Apostate False Teachers (Jude 4) God will Judge False Teachers (Jude 5-7) Describing the False Teachers (Jude 11)
God will Judge False Teachers (Jude 5-7) 5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not. 6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day. 7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
Describing the False Teachers (Jude 11) 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
3) Encouragement for Believers "Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy, To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." (Jude 24-25)