The disaster that is unfolding in the "Protestant Evangelical church"

Hi saints, here is a portion of an article from Barna, the Christian stats organisation.............

Analyzing insights drawn from more than 5,000 non-proprietary interviews conducted over the past 11 months, George Barna indicated that the following patterns were evident in the survey findings.

1. The Christian Church is becoming less theologically literate.
What used to be basic, universally-known truths about Christianity are now unknown mysteries to a large and growing share of Americans--especially young adults. For instance, Barna Group studies in 2010 showed that while most people regard Easter as a religious holiday, only a minority of adults associate Easter with the resurrection of Jesus Christ. Other examples include the finding that few adults believe that their faith is meant to be the focal point of their life or to be integrated into every aspect of their existence. Further, a growing majority believe the Holy Spirit is a symbol of God's presence or power, but not a living entity. As the two younger generations (Busters and Mosaics) ascend to numerical and positional supremacy in churches across the nation, the data suggest that biblical literacy is likely to decline significantly. The theological free-for-all that is encroaching in Protestant churches nationwide suggests the coming decade will be a time of unparalleled theological diversity and inconsistency.

2. Christians are becoming more ingrown and less outreach-oriented.
Despite technological advances that make communications instant and far-reaching, Christians are becoming more spiritually isolated from non-Christians than was true a decade ago. Examples of this tendency include the fact that less than one-third of born again Christians planned to invite anyone to join them at a church event during the Easter season; teenagers are less inclined to discuss Christianity with their friends than was true in the past; most of the people who become Christians these days do so in response to a personal crisis or the fear of death (particularly among older Americans); and most Americans are unimpressed with the contributions Christians and churches have made to society over the past few years. As young adults have children, the prospect of them seeking a Christian church is diminishing--especially given the absence of faith talk in their conversations with the people they most trust. With atheists becoming more strategic in championing their godless worldview, as well as the increased religious plurality driven by education and immigration, the increasing reticence of Christians to engage in faith-oriented conversations assumes heightened significance.

You can read the rest of the article here......

http://www.barna.org/culture-articles/462-six-megathemes-emerge-from-2010

Hi Dave,

God is definately at work. Everything that is not real is being exposed. For me it always comes down to what a man talks about. Out of the abundance of his heart his mouth will speak. A genuine Christian has a passionate love for Jesus and it pre-occupies him. It is at the center of everything that he does. Jesus has the pre-emminence in his life and he only wants to speak about his Lord. Whatever a man is passionate about, that is what he will speak about........... brother Frank

I feel blessed to have read an article from the Church of God's 'Evangel' magazine. I don't promote any denomination and never returned to this particular church that I attended one Sunday this year - but the Evangel magazine had the most incredible article in it than I've read in many years - decades actually - and I LOVE Good News (for a change).

I cut out the article and gave it to my home church - so I can't give word for word how it read but it was about their last convention with an emphasis of getting back to The WORD.

One short article in this particular issue was about a pastor in mississippi that started classes on a college level for anyone who'd like to attend. No college credits, but just the level of teaching would be on a college level and in the evening.

At that last count, I believe there were 1,200 attending at these special church classes and the other emphasis of these classes, the secondary purpose of teaching on that level in a regular church, was to equip these folks to "go out" and be missionaries or start new churches or just evangelise - but no such requirement was forced upon them - only if they felt called.

These folks were so "Hungry for The WORD" and for the deeper things of The WORD that the article was a testimony to what the Bible alone and the hope of "going deeper" into His Truths produced.

The two topics that Barna wrote on, go hand in hand.

Give people JUST The WORD and watch what happens.

If you're hungry for The WORD --- (the main reason that the Spirit of Truth was sent to us) --- THEN HE Equips and finds that one suitable to be called to reach out in sharing The Truth.
Without it, we're spiritually anemic and have little strength to reach out to anyone.

I suppose that is why HE and His Word is called "The Bread of Life".

I place the fault of Barna's report on the 'leaders' - though before GOD -- we're all personally responsible to pray for this 'hunger'.

Could I recommend e-sword.net ?
With all the Bible programs I've paid for, I still find e-sword my favorite. When off-line, you could easily spend countless hours on it, studying and digging deeper.

Many just read the Word and never dig deeper into word studies and so forth.

Praise GOD for that pastor in Mississippi and those like him. amen.

Edit to add: Forgot to add that I think the classes started at 7 or 7:30 and the article ended with the pastor saying how he loved seeing his people still there after midnight. :)

One sad thing I see about Barna is that he has torn down much but not built up. His books on home churches etc have no biblical structure or authority. They can lead to in many ways rebellion in the hearts of God's people.

Oh for the strengthening of the local churches and pastors. May God continue to raise up new leaders who will Shepard the people of God accurately.

I have never read any of Barna's books, its the numbers that interest me, I think they tell a story which many already know, we live in biblically illiterate world for the most part.........brother Frank

"May God continue to raise up new leaders who will Shepard the people of God accurately."

I think of Brian Longs powerfull message at the Dallas conference and his calling these times " desperate," and calling for a radical response. I know there are some who are tired of hearing this message, and perhaps tired of " an inconvienent truth,' but the times are either desperate or they are not? Perhaps many do not believe the times are desperate and that there is no radical response neccecary? I can understand that view and would just simply disagree.

Can the current evangelical church " be strengthened" ? Can it be revived or is there a reformation coming? I guess that is a legitimate question. I am sure the reformers faced such questions. The covenantors in Scotland were also accused of being rebels, perhaps they were? I guess in Christianity, one man's rebel can be another man's heretic. Only time will tell.........brother Frank

GOD Bless you Frank.

Lisa, I'm sorry, but I have no idea that date was. It was this last summer when I picked up two issues from their lobby. The one issue was very good. It had a few articles about getting stronger in the Word, and I believe that one article was written by the head of the CoG.

I do remember this picture being either in the issue I spoke of or the other from the month prior to or just after the issue where that Mississippi pastor's story was found.

http://churchofgod.org/index.php?page=international-executive-council&phpMyAdmin=EyPnWE74if52AvqTJ13%2COH6xVv1

I remembered this picture because I know one of these pastors.

I threw both issues away. That's not something I normally do, but - after I mailed out that one article - I did.

I've prayed ever since that day, of whether I should "say something" to that Church's pastor - where I got those magazines from, telling him why I wouldn't go back after that one visit.
I've been in a number of CoG churches and most were good - but this one broke my heart at the very end of a pretty decent service when they announced at the end that we should be aware that they offer "Zumba and Kick Boxing classes" during the week.
That's why I threw out those two magazines. I guess I felt betrayed that day when I came home and read them. I'm not trying to be critical - but at the time - I was desperately looking for fellowship and felt that those two classes were not appropriate in the house of GOD.

Am I being overly critical?

Hi Jimp, this post was about the condition of Christianity in the land in general and in the nations at large. Perhaps you have not been called to speak to that brother, praise God that you stick to what you have been called to do. Praise God for people saved, praise God for men who dispense suckers and people get saved because of it, now, what has any of that to do with the condition of the land and the fact that the Lord is coming soon brother?

I got an e-mail from a dear brother today who raised this point. He wondered what the reaction would be, today, to the likes of Ravenhill and Tozer in regard to the Church. What would men like these make of the Church today? Is the condition of the church better than 30 years ago for Ravenhill? Is it better than 50 years ago for Tozer? Would their be rending of garments? Is the Lord not closer to coming than He was 30, 50, 100 years ago? How many evangelical churches would Ravenhill and Tozer be invited to today if they were preaching their messages of fire? I wonder???? .......brother Frank

Davy writes........

"I'm not sure that this was the tone of the article posted. I agree with you that incessant complaining about the state of modern day Christendom is a fools errand. This article, however, was a sober analysis of the state of the Protestant evangelical church i.e. the movement within Christendom"

Amen brother Davy. I did not post this article to complain or depress anyone. There is a prayer ministry that I am involved with that has been praying these last three years, every Tuesday night, that Christendom would awake and arise from its slumbers. Much of our activity involving sermonidex is to that end.

Is the state of Christendom depressing? In the natural yes and it certainly presses down on those who see it clearly. Many of my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ , have a burden laid upon them by God Himself that makes them cry out for the state of Christianity, that makes them moan and sigh and weep, and it is a fire in their bones. I know that they pray night and day for Christendom, not for it to be judged, but for God to take bones in the valley and breathe life into them.

My advice to anyone who finds this overwhelming and gets depressed about it, is to pray and intercede. Anyone can join us each Tuesday night on the telephone and intercede on behalf of this nation, the nations and Christendom. There is plenty of talk about this subject, but few intercessors.........brother Frank

This article by Barna could be a line for line definition describing the many posts concerning the Emerging church, right here at SI, coupled with a tsunami of conservative churches [Baptist and Calvinists, and Pentecostals etc. ] who have embraced the subtle heresies of extreme grace.

[I think of Rick Warren, and his ecumenical social action ideas, equating Moslem mosques and Synagogues with the local Christian churches...right along with Mark Driscoll's bizarre permissiveness, sitting down with Kenneth Copeland and Creflo Dollar discussing how they're going to divide the booty in the modern church.]

If the church is secure in it's faith of once saved, always saved, then what else is there but to enhance the life experience? If the church has embraced the doctrines that the gospel is all about happiness, health, and continued prosperity, and there are no consequences for living selfishly, then what else is there but to get all of the life you can?[ and can all you get..]

It is a watering down of the pure stream of the gospel that chains the gospel to Earth Bound mindsets. There is no Cross that saves...either Jesus's blood as the only way to heaven, through being cleansed , our the death [CROSS] we must bear to our wicked natures DAILY to maintain our purity.

It leaves the Earth as our Heaven, and God becomes our Human ideas that create a contented mindset and satisfies our religious natures at the same time. Then only man becomes the Judge, and we gravitate to any stream that might appeal to our pleasure combined with our religious natures. Remember Cain. He had one.

Throw in the Elijah list, and the NAR, along with the infiltration of Roman Babylon and her practices, and you have the foundation for the Great Falling Away, right here in America, right in your face.