“I believe it is a fact generally admitted that there is much less conscience manifested, by men and women, in nearly all walks of life, than there was forty years ago… and there seems to be little prospect of change.”
No, I did not say that. Charles Finney said it in 1873. Can you even imagine what Finney would say about the state of affairs today? While not prone to depression I am beset by frequent “situational sadness.” That is, I look at the rapid decline in Western culture and despair of any recovery.
No country that has had a Christian consensus and lost it has ever regained it. Think Rome, France, England, Holland, Germany, Spain… Can you not see that the seesaw has already tipped downward? The forces of the Enemy are already heavier than we are. And in many cases these same forces sit in churches every Sunday morning. And occupy their pulpits.
I communicate with a different universe of people than most folks. I spend many hours each week counseling and mentoring young church planters all over the country. Their stories are all the same. Like many churches, about a third of their “regulars” are not in worship on Sundays. Their people have little or no personal devotional life and are failing spiritually. In many cases this has led to other areas of personal failure. Marriages IN THE CHURCH are troubled. Kids are disinterested – if engaged at all.
So churches have sought to make ministry more fun or exciting to try to retain their young people. Listen: church is not Disney World with a cross on top. We do not become Christians or engage in the disciplines of the Faith in order to facilitate personal fulfillment and happiness.
WE HAVE LOST OUR WAY!
Like Grape Nuts (neither grapes nor nuts) the Magic Kingdom has no magic and is a false kingdom. Emulating it and putting a cross on top will save no one.
There is NO political solution to the problem.
Christians need to fall on their faces and beg God for another Great Awakening. The perverts are running our government, our schools, the entertainment industry, the media, and BOTH political parties.
Hoarding food and ammunition will not protect a Nation that has lost touch with the living God. If YOU do not do something first in your own home – then our community – then beyond, there is simply no hope. Our generation will be judged as harshly as the post WWI generation that sold their souls to Hitler for material prosperity and National pride. The church, both Catholic and Protestant, was silent as fifty MILLION people died during WWII to straighten out the issue.
The nuclear saber rattling going on today in North Korea and Iran should be a giant red flag for us all. WWIII is no longer unthinkable. Neither is another American civil war.
In my judgment the average member of the average church in America is simply lost. If we don’t clean our own house first we will never change the Country either. America’s decline started in her churches! It is there where the turnaround must begin.
We need to start with personal and corporate repentance.
Forsake sin.
“Remember therefore from where you have fallen, and repent and do the deeds you did at first; or else I am coming to you, and will remove your lampstand out of its place – unless you repent.” (Rev 2:5)
I fear that the glow of the American lamp stand is almost gone. Let us draw near to the warmth and light of that remaining flame and do what churches used to do before we were anesthetized by our 21st century technocracy.
Turn off your TVs; shut off Facebook…
Men: forsake the ever present pornography that displaces the Spirit of God in your hearts and saps the God ordained affection He designed that you express only toward your wives.
Kids: get the ear plugs out of your ears. Let go of the video games that are choking out God’s voice.
Repentance is a family affair that must start with men. For single moms who by nature of their situation have no choice the job falls to you.
Ladies, if after a season of dialogue, your husband will not assume the spiritual leadership role God ordained for them – step in and do it.
Parents – read your kid’s text books. Affirm what’s right and warn of what is error when measured against the clear teaching of God’s word.
You’re tired? Join the club. Take it up with Adam when you get there (if he made it).We simply cannot maintain the current passivity in the face of the mounting evidence of our cultural and spiritual decline.
Do something! I believe that you know in your heart what God wants from you.
Seek that out and begin acting on it today.
