Once "one nation under God," America today is desperately sick. And the Church seems to have no answers. How can a nation so "churched" be so untouched by the Gospel? Why has "the Glory departed," leaving a nation racked by political hatred, drug addiction, and shattered families? God, Caesar, and Idols asks these questions and calls the Church to seek God's Word for answers. Too many Christians no longer make political choices on the basis of eternal truth, but instead make them on the basis of purely financial considerations. It's time for the Church to break its addiction to humanistic, government schooling and instead "bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." This book challenges the Church to reject "cheap grace" and the easy temptation to be "tolerant" of society's rebellion. We must again honor the authority of God's Word and embrace the life-altering power available when we reject our cultural idols and proclaim "the whole counsel of God" without compromise. Armed with careful scriptural exegesis and supported by the words of great Christians from church history, God, Caesar, and Idols encourages the American Church to again "contend for the faith" in today's culture-whatever the cost.

Once “one nation under God,” America today is desperately sick. And the Church seems to have no answers. How can a nation so “churched” be so untouched by the Gospel? Why has “the Glory departed,” leaving a nation racked by political hatred, drug addiction, and shattered families? God, Caesar, and Idols asks these questions and calls the Church to seek God’s Word for answers. Too many Christians no longer make political choices on the basis of eternal truth, but instead make them on the basis of purely financial considerations. It’s time for the Church to break its addiction to humanistic, government schooling and instead “bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.” This book challenges the Church to reject “cheap grace” and the easy temptation to be “tolerant” of society’s rebellion. We must again honor the authority of God’s Word and embrace the life-altering power available when we reject our cultural idols and proclaim “the whole counsel of God” without compromise. Armed with careful scriptural exegesis and supported by the words of great Christians from church history, God, Caesar, and Idols encourages the American Church to again “contend for the faith” in today’s culture—whatever the cost.

Feeding off the frenzy of fleeting fame and image overload, Hostetler takes anecessary look at the false gods in modern society. This timely book can helpreaders realize and overcome their own idolatries.

We are the Bride Ministries conducted a 40-Day Fasting & Prayer Initiative in January to cast down the idols in the prayer closet. This became a very intimate moment for the team and God truly moved. Learn what those forty (40) idols are and repent so that you will be clean and be a spotless Bride for the King when he returns! God is about to pour out judgment on our nation and we need to be prepared and clean. The enemy has tainted and polluted the church through these idols. We must cast them down and separate ourselves for the coming judgment. The Bible says to TOUCH NOT THE UNCLEAN THING. We must have our lamps ready!

When we observe a tension between Jesus and Caesar, we acknowledge that a fundamental tension remains at the heart of Christianity. When this tension is poorly understood, Christians face disastrous consequences. The tension is not between religion and atheism or secularism. Nor is it between organized religion and personal spirituality. The tension is located within the heart of Christianity itself because it is a radical conflict between true and false forms of Christian faith. Jesus embodies and exposes this tension in ways that illuminate both how God is with us and what must change for a world that participates in God’s life. This book serves as an indictment of the pieties of empire, whether government, corporate or any other forms of the faith that dominate and exclude. One form of Christian faith (Jesus) versus another form of Christian faith (Caesar). Whom and what will we trust and serve? What did Jesus disclose to the religious, economic, and political worlds of Israel and Rome? This tension between true and false forms of religion is also deeply rooted in the Jewish traditions. The Hebrew prophets were gravely concerned about established forms of Jewish religion that appear to be respectable but result in oppression. The prophet Isaiah hears the voice of God pronouncing judgment: “You serve your own interest on your fast day, and oppress all your workers” (Isaiah 58:3). True religion loosens “the bonds of injustice" (Isa 58:6) while self-serving religion is false religion. This tension between true religion and false religion is a critical opportunity for those who would follow Jesus instead of “Caesar.”

The revered Bible scholar and author of The Historical Jesus explores the Christian culture wars—the debates over church and state—from a biblical perspective, exploring the earliest tensions evident in the New Testament, and offering a way forward for Christians today. Leading Bible scholar John Dominic Crossan, the author of the pioneering work The Historical Jesus, provides new insight into the Christian culture wars which began in the New Testament and persist strongly today. For decades, Americans have been divided on how Christians should relate to government and lawmakers, a dispute that has impacted every area of society and grown more rancorous over the past forty years. But as Crossan makes clear, this debate isn’t new; it can be found in the New Testament itself, most notably in the tensions between Luke-Acts and Revelation. In the texts of Luke-Acts, Rome is considered favorably. In the book of Revelation, Rome is seen as the embodiment of evil in the world. Yet there is an alternative to these two extremes, Crossan explains. The historical Jesus and Paul, the earliest Christian teachers, were both strongly opposed to Rome, yet neither demonized the Empire. Crossan sees in Jesus and Paul’s approach a model for Christians today that can be used to cut through the acrimony and polarization roiling our society and dividing us.