It’s good to hear at least some in the news media admitting that the problem with ISIS-driven terrorism is ideological. It would be more accurate to say that the problem is one of a demonic religion, but I suppose we have to take baby steps towards arriving at accurate reporting, and “ideological” is considerably closer than “lone wolf crazy.”
However, we are still miles away from the solution if all we can do is talk about stamping out this “extreme” expression of Islam wherever we find it.
Jesus explained the problem in language anyone can understand. Here’s what He said, as quoted in Luke 11:24-26:
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
So we can drive out the evil. But if we don’t replace it with the good – which is to say, the truth – the evil is just going to return, more powerful than before.
That this is true can be easily seen in the alcohol- and drug-treatment industry. In hard-core addicts, secular solutions are largely five-year failures … whereas Christ-centered solutions such as Teen Challenge are the spectacular success stories that secularists don't want to talk about. But don't miss the point: The Christ-centered programs cleanse the evil of addiction and then replace it with the absolute truth of biblical Christianity. The result: five-year success rates estimated at 86% by Princeton University researchers, and at 87.5% by a Northwestern University study.
And that is the solution to terrorism: Cleanse the terrorists of their delusions, and then immediately replace those lies with the absolute truth of biblical Christianity.
We don’t need to try to force belief on anyone; we can’t. But we could force anyone entering this country to take and pass an intensive, multi-faceted, semester-long course in biblical truth – a course that includes aggressive “teaching of the controversy” by exposing the lies of each and every false religion, including Islam. At the same time, we could expose more and more of those outside our borders to the truth via public funding of Bible-based missionary and Christian broadcasting activities.
Will it ever happen in this country? Probably not – separation of church and state, doncha know, not to mention the battles that would be waged over which groups are actually speaking the truth.
But I’m afraid that, without this “ideology replacement” component, our war on terrorism will be nothing more than an increasingly deadly and costly exercise in futility.
However, we are still miles away from the solution if all we can do is talk about stamping out this “extreme” expression of Islam wherever we find it.
Jesus explained the problem in language anyone can understand. Here’s what He said, as quoted in Luke 11:24-26:
"When an unclean spirit goes out of a man, he goes through dry places, seeking rest; and finding none, he says, 'I will return to my house from which I came.' And when he comes, he finds it swept and put in order. Then he goes and takes with him seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first."
So we can drive out the evil. But if we don’t replace it with the good – which is to say, the truth – the evil is just going to return, more powerful than before.
That this is true can be easily seen in the alcohol- and drug-treatment industry. In hard-core addicts, secular solutions are largely five-year failures … whereas Christ-centered solutions such as Teen Challenge are the spectacular success stories that secularists don't want to talk about. But don't miss the point: The Christ-centered programs cleanse the evil of addiction and then replace it with the absolute truth of biblical Christianity. The result: five-year success rates estimated at 86% by Princeton University researchers, and at 87.5% by a Northwestern University study.
And that is the solution to terrorism: Cleanse the terrorists of their delusions, and then immediately replace those lies with the absolute truth of biblical Christianity.
We don’t need to try to force belief on anyone; we can’t. But we could force anyone entering this country to take and pass an intensive, multi-faceted, semester-long course in biblical truth – a course that includes aggressive “teaching of the controversy” by exposing the lies of each and every false religion, including Islam. At the same time, we could expose more and more of those outside our borders to the truth via public funding of Bible-based missionary and Christian broadcasting activities.
Will it ever happen in this country? Probably not – separation of church and state, doncha know, not to mention the battles that would be waged over which groups are actually speaking the truth.
But I’m afraid that, without this “ideology replacement” component, our war on terrorism will be nothing more than an increasingly deadly and costly exercise in futility.
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