V RaptureChrist Newsletter
June 1, 2014




Leaders Who Were Once Christian

Look at a list of world leaders who were once Christians and became atheists later on. Josep Stalin killed 40 million people, Vladimir Lenin 5 million, Kim Il Sung 5 million, Napoleon Bonaparte 2.5 million, Josip Tito 1 million, Fidel Castro at least one million and Benito Mussolini 400,000. It reads like a rogues' gallery. 

Question, were they happy? Most of us know the answer. They led miserable lives in pursuit of a failed dream. Communist atheism was long on promise. It claimed that without religion there would be a “workers' paradise,” but instead it created a living hell for its citizens. Most of us remember the old Soviet Union with its gulags. Frankly, people grew tired of living in a repressive regime.

When leaders turn their back on God, the results speak for themselves. Freedom is the first to go away. People with zero incentives often work less and the godless society falls into decay because its citizens simply do not care. Atheism offers a life with no purpose.

Leaders of these countries struggle in vain. They see a once vibrant society collapse into ruin. Few would predict such an outcome due to a lack of belief in God. Yet, we must report what we see.

Perhaps some will point to the rise of communist China. Yet, this did occur after they began to make the country more free, and not before.

Corruption is a major problem in Red China due to a lack of belief in morals. Without the threat of eternal punishment, people are less inclined to obey laws. Also, there is no perceived reward for being good, so the government must spend vast resources on a gigantic security apparatus.

In China, most web pages are blocked due to fears of what people might see. Results are that creativity is stifled and most products are similar to what you see in countries that are more free. Fear of the all- seeing-eye of security forces keeps people from creating and inventing anything new.

Dictatorships, tend to be by their very nature, repressive. People finally rebel and the government clamps down even more. This cycle can end in two ways. First, the people overthrow the repressive regime, or second, it becomes even more repressive. Libya is an example of the first, where Kadaffi is gone; Syria is an example of the second, where Assad clings to power.

Kim Il Sung, was the grandfather of Kim Jong-un, the current leader of North Korea. He was a Christian, but later on he became an atheist and stamped out religion in his country. North Korea used to be the industrial heart of Korea and the most wealthy region. It now depends on hand outs to survive.

Atheism is still alive and well in North Korea where religion is not permitted, and what do we see? A place that people are trying desperately to escape. Giant walls keep its  citizens in a cage. Millions have literally starved to death in this “workers' paradise” which is known as the People’s Democratic Republic of Korea. There is no democracy, but instead it is a communist dictatorship where the supreme leader lives in the lap of luxury while his countrymen starve.

Unlike Red China, North Korea has no churches, synagogues, or mosques. It does not permit any state sanctioned religions. Headline news often talks about communist China tearing down churches. This is due to a fear that Christianity is growing.

We often see in Noth Korea that people preaching about Christ are arrested. This country considers Christianity a threat to state stability and imposes harsh penalties. A Christian missionary was given life in prison for preaching about Jesus. An  American was recently arrested because he left a bible behind in his hotel room. Funny, we do not see any atheists moving to North Korea. They always claim that they want freedom from religion, but without religion there is no freedom.

People who abandon God have a bad ending. History is not kind to despots who rule with an iron fist.

The city of Leningrad is called St. Petersburg once again. Many of Lenin's statues were knocked down in 1991, when people reacted with rage. Others have been toppled in recent years.

Most of these evil leaders who rejected Christ ended empty, bitter, and without hope, hated by the people they once ruled.


What Is the Future of Atheists?

The word of God shows us there are two paths: one that leads to destruction and one that leads to life. The destiny of the just is eternal life, but those who are evil will receive wrath and destruction.

Romans 2:5-8
"But in accordance with your hardness and your impenitent heart you are treasuring up for yourself wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God, who "will render to each one according to his deeds": eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality; but to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness--indignation and wrath"

II Corinthians 5:10
"For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad"
 
Colossians 3:23-25
"And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance; for you serve the Lord Christ. But he who does wrong will be repaid for what he has done, and there is no partiality"
 

It is plain that there are only 2 ways:  serving the Lord or rejecting Him. There are likewise two outcomes, eternal life or hell.
 
I Peter 1:17
"And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear
 
John 12:
47And if any man hear my words, and believe not, I judge him not: for I came not to judge the world, but to save the world. 48
He that rejects me, and receives not my words, hath one that judges him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day.

Jesus is the word of God, and for those who reject him, there is a fearful expectation, as they will be judged in the last day, according to their works.

Now for those who accepted the word of God, but later on in life went back and willfully rejected His message, there is no more repentance or forgiveness.  Listen to Jesus' words:

Hebrews 10:26-31
"For if we sin willfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries. Anyone who has rejected Moses' law dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. Of how much worse punishment, do you suppose, will he be thought worthy who has trampled the Son of God underfoot, counted the blood of the covenant by which he was sanctified a common thing, and insulted the Spirit of grace? For we know Him who said, "Vengeance is Mine, I will repay," says the Lord. And again, "The LORD will judge His people." It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God"

Jesus will not force anybody to accept the truth, but He will punish those who disobey Him.

There is another sober warning from our Lord.  It is for those who mislead Christians away from the truth.  There are many of these wolves in sheep's clothing that work as "scholars of the bible" teaching lies trying to trick newly born Christians into doubting the word of God, making them  believe that the bible is unreliable and full of errors. Look at the words of our Lord in reference to them:

Matthew 18:
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to fall into a trap, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 "Woe to the world because of its traps or snares. For it is inevitable that traps or snares come; but woe to that man through whom the trap or snare comes!

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