If I may be serious for a moment, I’d like to pose a question.
Given the tens of thousands–maybe even hundreds of thousands–of churches that dot America’s landscape, why is our nation’s Christianity so weak?
What has become of the preaching of the Cross? (“For the preaching of the cross is, to them that perish, foolishness”–St. Paul, I Cor. 1:18) How did we wind up with such a flabby, comfortable, timorous Christianity that was utterly powerless to stop our culture from melting right in front of us?
This week is, I think, “Banned Books Week,” in which liberals like the American Library Assn. celebrate and honor books that were objected to on account of their filthy content or their total unsuitability for young readers: while totally ignoring the fact that the Holy Bible is by far the most banned book in America.
God have mercy on us.
From September 18, 2011
Amen!
How strange is that? Just last night, my dad started reading a book with a preface talking about this exact same thing!
What book is that? Tell me, I’m curious…
It’s a smallish one by John Piper, called ‘Jesus; the Only Way to God’. We’ve only read a bit of it, but already it’s really good.
Thanks–it’s a comfort to know there’s someone else out there asking the same question.
It is astounding that they would celebrate material which is questionable at best, but ignore the Bible.
By the way let me know if you got my email
Jim, I don’t have that email. Please re-send it. Thank you.
I’m on vacation mode and I’ll email you again super late tonight!
I won’t be here tomorrow morning, so I’ll have to tell Patty to keep an eye out for it.
It is astounding, just how weak some churches/denominations have become. It has only accelerated in the seven years since this was originally posted. One denomination, which will remain unnamed, has relaxed many standards, frequently without any explanation or reference to scripture. I’m afraid that many denominations have forgotten that they should be led by God, and not by their own devising.
Yes–“going along to get along” is not always a good thing–in fact it almost never is.
I think we Christians got too comfortable. Too intellectually lazy. We no longer know *why* we are Christians, and don’t know how to defend our faith, never mind share it.
I have some hope, though. Kirk’s assassination has lead to a massive increase in people buying Bibles for the first time, attending church for the first time – and we’re not talking “progressive” churches, either. People are coming to Christ, after seeing how one side celebrated when a good man was killed in such a public way. Now, the devil is working hard to destroy Kirk’s legacy and everything he loved and worked for, through people like Candice Owens. Even there, while she has a large and vocal cult following, even she has gotten so insane that people who have followed her for years are abandoning her cult.
We are in a spiritual warfare, but a physical one as well.
It is like the sides are lining up.
People are showing their true colors.
They always do in the end.