In the early 20th Century Brother R. E. Winsett wrote the following lyrics:

Troublesome times are here, filling men’s hearts with fear,
Freedom we all hold dear, now is at stake.
Humbling your heart to God saves from the chastening rod.
Seek the way pilgrims trod, Christians awake!

Almost seventy years later his words can be seen as prophetic.

The Barna Group (www.barna.org) gives their purpose as, “Serving the information needs of the church by offering statistics, resources, seminars and custom research on current cultural and spiritual trends.” The Christian Post recently reported the results of a Barna Group survey. It is troubling.

Some eighty percent of Americans consider themselves to be Christian. These are nominal Christians who may or may not be active in a church, but do believe in Jesus. The Barna Group survey found that twenty-five percent of Born-Again Christians have universalistic views. That is, they believe that “there are many ways to God.” Born-Again, washed in the Blood Christians think that it does not matter who or what you worship.

In addition, forty percent of Born-Again Christians believe that Christians and Muslims worship the same God. Just the slightest, cursory, surface study will reveal that the God of Jews and Christians is not the same entity as the Allah that Muslims worship. I was so disappointed when President George W. Bush stated that Christians, Jews and Muslims all worship the same God. Apparently, a lot of Christians accepted that statement without question.

The Church in America as a whole has become indistinguishable from the world. Too often the Church copies the dress, music and morals of the world. It appears that many churches just want to blend in and do not wish to make anyone uncomfortable.

Recently I visited a large, seeker church. The minister read a letter from someone who admitted to living in adultery. The letter writer said they were not bad, but merely had a self-esteem problem. The minister did not confirm to the group that this person, like all of us, was a sinner and needed to seek forgiveness and make changes in her life. He did not pray for her repentance. He was just self-congratulatory that she had viewed a video the church had posted on YouTube, and was pleased that the video encouraged her. It was not clear what she was encouraged to do.

The Church in America as a whole has become indistinguishable from the world. The Apostle Paul admonishes us, “Come out from among them And be separate, says the Lord.” (Second Corinthians 6:17)

How can the Church fulfill the Great Commission if Christians do not believe that Jesus is the One and True Way? My friends pray for America and pray for the Church. It has to start with us.