“His people have acted corruptly toward him; this is their defect  — they are not his children but a devious and crooked generation. Is this how you repay the Lord, you foolish and senseless people? Isn’t he your Father and Creator? Didn’t he make you and sustain you? Remember the days of old; consider the years of past generations. Ask your father, and he will tell you, your elders, and they will teach you.” Deuteronomy 32:5-7 CSB https://bible.com/bible/1713/deu.32.5-7.CSB

America remains the greatest nation in the world, perhaps in the history of the world, if measured by economic prosperity among the majority of its people, freedom to live as they choose, peace in the land, and power in the world. Yet all of these things are waning. Waning because the church is becoming less influential in the culture because those who claim to be Christians are identifying less with Jesus and working less to teach obedience to everything He commands to everyone. The church has listened to the academics who have taught us we are born blank slates, essentially good, and that God did not create the world in six days but, perhaps, gradually through evolution. The result is a lack of trust in God’s word, the elevation of science and academia as a god, and disobedience to parents. Our society today is more hostile toward one another, more violent against each other, and more depressed with self than in any previous generations. Since the 1960s, the church has been playing defense, compromising more and more with the culture, shrinking in influence, failing to influence the culture, and insisting on obedience to everything Jesus commanded. The church today needs courageous Christians who walk by faith, understanding their need to identify increasingly with Jesus publicly so that they encourage other believers to also go public, make themselves known to the seekers for salvation, and position themselves for greater eternal reward when they suffer for His Name sake by those who hate the Lord and are destined for condemnation.