In the early 1960's these are the things Billy Graham shared.
- There were 500,000 abortions a year
- There were 8 million alcoholics
- There were 220,000 illegitimate births
Fast forward 50 years. Look at how fast things have grown progressively worse.
- There are 1.21 abortions annually
- There are 17.6 million alcoholics
- There are nearly 1.6 million illegitimate births
Things are getting worse. 50 years ago people worried about Communism and Russia's Khrushchev. Today our enemy is ISIS and the brutality on Christians. 50 years ago the Supreme Court did not meet to redefine the meaning of marriage. Today we wait for them to hand down their ruling, in essence, legalizing same sex marriages in every state and censoring the pulpits in America.
50 years ago America went through the sexual revolution. Today we are a sin drunk nation of debauchery of every kind of sexual evil. 50 years ago some things were still considered shameful and done behind closed doors. Shameful things are now flaunted openly. Sex is exploited.
50 years ago there were no cell phones, twitter, social media, or internet. Still the gospel advanced. Many hippies turned to Jesus for salvation and away from the sex and drug culture. The trends tell us we are losing the battle for the soul of America with all of our technology.
Our programs are not swaying the nation back to God. Our clever promotions are not drawing the masses to repentance and changing the moral landscape of the nation. Mega churches have not produced a mega sized national revival. Sex education has not stemmed the tide of abortions or illegitimate births.
Experts write books, hold conferences and espouse that what we are doing in the church is not working. They tell us we need to change with the times. They use phrases like, "The message must never change but the methods have to change." They tell preaches to change the way they preach and what they preach. The emphasis in on practical application and preaching to people's felt needs.
Here is the problem. When do people ever feel the need to repent? Jesus does more than enhance people's lives. He saves people's soul from the wrath of a holy God and forgives sin. If people do not feel the need to be saved and to repent should preachers ignore this subject and move on to something more appealing. Bible truth has been devalued in favor of self help pop psychological help of Dr. Phil and Oprah. We look to Hollywood for spiritual insights rather than in the backwoods of local churches where many of us were raised and taught the Bible by faithful pastors.
Old fashioned preaching is no longer in vogue. Sermons are now called talks. Worship services have taken on the shape of productions and performances. Churches have majored on big business and often minored on small ministry. Prayer meetings are almost extinct in favor of fashion galas, brunches and book clubs.
When God founded the church back in Acts 2, two things characterized that church. They prayed together a lot. They boldly shared the good news of Jesus Christ. God honored their efforts and did more than any of us have experienced.
PRAYER AND EVANGELISM. There were noNational Day of Prayer. The church prayed everyday. There were no evangelism strategies. People shared Jesus daily. God did the rest.
Fifty years later we need God to do the rest. We are not smart enough to rescue this nation. We are resourced enough to out entertain the world. We are not wise enough to see our own insufficiency to turn the nation back to God without His divine intervention. We have fooled ourselves into thinking we could do church without Him. Disagree? Where is the prayer meetings in your church crying out for God's help to minister? If those prayer meetings do not exist is that not in essence saying church can be done without God's help.
Churches need to simplify some things and get back to the prayer meetings of old that God used to produce revivals, spiritual awakenings, and mission movements. We need to get back to broken and burdened hearts for the lost moving us to tears. We need to persevere in sharing the love of Jesus with those near us trusting God for the results.
Will this nation still be here in 50 more years if we continue on our present course?Will the church have even less impact on society in 50 more years? Wherever you are, wherever you serve the Lord, I urge you to start a prayer meeting in your church, Sunday School class, small group, and persevere until the spirit of prayer pervades the entire church. Pray until you get God's burden for the lost. Pray until you are filled with boldness and cannot keep from sharing the good news of Christ with people you come in contact with. Pray and believe God that the nation will be turned back to Him in revival in the next 50 years.
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