A Famine of Biblical Proportions

 

A young boy noticed a large, dust-covered book on a high shelf in his home. His curiosity was aroused, so he asked his mother about it. Embarrassed, she hastily explained, “Oh, that’s a Bible. That’s God’s Book.” He thought for a moment and then said, “Well, Mom, if that’s God’s Book, why don’t we give it back to Him? Nobody around here uses it!”

Every 10 years the American Bible Society and Barna Research do a national survey called “The State of the Bible.” Last year, 2020 was the year they refreshed their study and here’s what they discovered: 35% of all Americans say they never read the Bible, up from 25% in 2011. 60% of churchgoers said they personally read the Bible less than five times a year!

If that wasn’t bad enough here the real kicker: “In the early days of COVID-19, as uncertainty swirled and people adjusted to the difficult realities of isolation, many turned to the Bible as a source of hope. Bible sales surged. Yet for all the extra Bible sales, and despite many people having more free time on their hands because of quarantine, unemployment, and other factors, Bible engagement actually declined in 2020. In 2020, 1 in 3 Christians quit church all together.”[1]

Isn’t it ironic that we live in an age where we have more access to the Bible than ever before – and yet we are the generation who cares the least about the Scriptures? Does it trouble you that we spend more time on social media, video games and fantasy football than the Bible?

The prophet Amos cried out to God’s people long ago about their neglect of God’s Word, “Behold, the days come, saith the Lord God, that I will send a famine in the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but of hearing the words of the Lord” (Amos 8:11).

I understand the struggle. The Bible is not an easy book to study. The Old Testament is strange and intimidating. The book of Revelation scares people. Chance are you’re probably going to read something in there that’s going to confront a sin problem in your life, and you will be convicted.

However, If you want to have a maximum impact for Jesus, then you must develop a steady diet of taking in the Word of God on a regular basis. How can we ever lead anyone to Jesus if we don’t know the Gospel? How can we ever expect to grow spiritually if we are only eating one serving a week? How can we ever be ready to pour out God’s word and minister to others if we aren’t pouring in?  

Dave Brannon a writer for Our Daily Bread once told a story. When Mary Jones was 10 years old, she began saving money for something special she wanted to buy. She babysat, tended neighbors’ gardens, and sold eggs from her own chickens. By the time she was 16, she had accumulated enough money to get what she so desperately wanted. Was it a new car? A fresh wardrobe? A Nintendo? No, Mary Jones was 16 in the year 1800, and what she had been saving for was a Bible. But there was no place to buy one in the tiny Welsh village where she lived, so she walked to Bala—25 miles away. There Rev. Thomas Charles had one Bible left to sell, and after some convincing, Mary talked him into selling it to her. Because of Mary’s hunger for the Bible, Rev. Charles and others began discussing the need of making the Scriptures more readily available. The British and Foreign Bible Society was started, and during the next 100 years it distributed more than 200 million copies of God’s Word worldwide. To Mary, nothing was more important than the Bible, and her persistence paid huge spiritual dividends. Do we treasure God’s Word as much?[2]

Lord help us to have the same desire as the Psalmist, “14 In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. 15 I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. 16 I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word.” (Ps. 119:14-16)     -DM

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[1] Alex Goodwin, 3 Takeaways from ‘The State of the Bible 2020,’” institute for Bible Reading, 1 Aug. 2020 <https://instituteforbiblereading.org/3-takeaways-from-barna-state-of-the-bible-2020/>

[2] Dave Brannon, “Mary’s Bible,” Our Daily Bread, 9 February 1994, <https://odb.org/US/1994/02/09/marys-bible>

What Is the "Great Falling Away"?

 

Have you ever played the classic game Jenga? In this game of skill, wooden blocks are stacked together to construct a tower. Players take turns removing one block at a time without causing the tower to fall. As blocks are removed and placed on top of the tower, so the structure gets progressively taller and less stable. Finally, the game ends when someone has the unlucky turn of pulling out the key block that makes the whole structure tumble and fall apart.

Many in the church are playing theological Jenga. They are pulling out one doctrinal truth or moral precept after another, leaving gaping holes as the citadel of faith grows ever weaker and shaky. Inevitably, when that critical block is pulled, the whole thing collapses in a jumbled pile.[1] Of course, we know that the true Church can never be fully defeated (Matt. 16:18), but it’s evident that the foundations of The Faith are being destroyed before our eyes (Ps. 11:3).

Consider just a few stats. In the wake of COVID-19, Barna Research president David Kinnaman has indicated that as many as 20% of churches in the US could shut their doors permanently by the end of the year.[2] Several Christian denominations, including Pope Francis, have abandoned traditional views of sexuality, marriage and family in favor of affirming the LBGTQ lifestyle. In fact, the United Methodist Church is on the verge of splitting over the issue.[3] Meanwhile, Millennials are not only the most unchurched generation in U.S. history, but those who are involved in church are the most biblically illiterate – with 65% of church-going Millennials believing that “If you are a good person, then you will go to heaven.”[4]  

All indications seem to signal that the Western church is teetering. We should not be surprised because long ago the Bible predicted a great apostacy coinciding with Earth’s last days. In 2 Thess. 2:3, Paul makes it clear that the Day of the Lord, a time of worldwide judgment (Is. 13:6-9; Joel 3:15, Mal. 4:5), will not transpire until two things happen. First, the falling away, or great apostasy, and second, the “man of lawlessness” or Antichrist must be revealed.

3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness s revealed, the son of destruction (2 Thess. 2:3).

The Greek word translated “rebellion” or “falling away” in verse 3 is apostasia, from which we get the English word apostasy. It refers to a general defection from the true God, the Bible, and the Christian faith. Every age has its defectors, but the falling away of the end times will be complete and worldwide. Take note of the definite article “the” used in this verse. “The” indicates that there will be a specific and unique apostasy. As the hour grows late, the whole planet will be in rebellion against God and His Gospel, just as it was in the days of Noah (Gen. 6:5; Matt. 24:37).

Paul also wrote to Timothy about the same reality saying, “Now the Spirit expressly says that in later times some will depart from the faith” (1 Tim. 4:1). Jesus posed the question, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:8).

Bible commentator John Phillips adds, “The river of apostacy is rising today. The ‘perilous times’ of which Paul wrote about are upon us. Soon the river will overflow its banks as all the tributaries of delusion and deception join the mainstream. When it reaches flood level, that river will inundate the earth in the final apostacy, which is the enthronement of the Devil’s messiah as god and king . . . Some think we can look for a worldwide spiritual awakening before the Rapture of the church, but this passage in 2 Thessalonians indicates the opposite; a global departure from the faith can be expected. God might indeed send revival before He calls the church home, but the Scriptures do not prophesy one.”[5]

This is a difficult beast to wrestle with, and I’m not sure there’s any way to tame it. These things must come to pass in order for God’s will and prophetic plan to be accomplished. We may not like it, but we can have hope in the midst of it because its confirmation that the Bible is true. In days of apostasy and apathy we must shore up our foundation like never before. Like Nehemiah, we must bear the sword in one hand and the trowel in the other as we build and battle. -DM

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[1] Mark Hitchcock and Jeff Kinley, The Coming Apostacy (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2017), 64.  

[2] Rudy Gray, “How Many Churches Will Close?” Baptist Courier, 11 October 2020 <https://baptistcourier.com/2020/10/how-many-churches-will-close/>

[3] “With split over gay marriage delayed, United Methodists face a year in limbo,” Associated Press, 5 May 2020 <https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/split-over-gay-marriage-delayed-united-methodists-face-year-limbo-n1200236>

[4] Ken Ham, Gospel Reset (Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2018), 27-31.

[5] John Phillips, Exploring the Future (Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel, 2003), 225, 269.

Does the Bible Predict a Last Days Revival?

 

My, my, if I had a dollar for every time somebody asked me, “Preacher do you think we will see a great revival move across our land before the Lord returns?” It’s probably one of the most asked questions I get - up there with “Do you think [insert political candidate] is the Antichrist?”

Those with an inkling of church history have read and heard about great spiritual awakenings of the past. Most believers are familiar with the radical repentance that swept through the wicked people Nineveh despite Jonah’s reluctant obedience. Nehemiah and Josiah also saw periods of renewal in their times. Names like Jonathan Edwards, Dwight Moody, Billy Graham and John Wesley come to mind as we think of preachers who God anointed for spiritual awakening on a massive level. Perhaps, you’ve read about the amazing transformations that took place during Welsh Revival (1904-1905) or the Jesus Movement of the 1960s-70s.

There is no doubt that God has moved in the past and He can do it again. The Scriptures are clear that God would rather send revival than judgment. Jeremiah 18:7-8 is an ironclad promise, “7 If at any time I declare concerning a nation or a kingdom, that I will pluck up and break down and destroy it, 8 and if that nation, concerning which I have spoken, turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I intended to do to it” (see also 2 Peter 3:8-9; Ezek. 18:23).

Spiritual awakening is possible even in the bleakest times and we should never think a nation is too far gone. However, whether that will happen on an epic, large scale remains unknown.

The late and great Vance Havner wrote, “The greatest need of American is an old-fashioned, heaven-born, God-sent revival. Throughout the history of the church, when clouds have hung lowest, when sin has seemed blackest, and faith has been weakest, there have always been a faithful few who have not sold out to the Devil or bowed the knee to Baal, who have feared the Lord and not forsaken the assembling of themselves together. These have besought the Lord to revive His work in the midst of fears and tears, and in wrath to remember mercy. God has answered such supplications, filling hearts with His love, rekindling souls with fire from above.”[1]  

Prophetically speaking, the Bible predicts that in the last days there will be great apostacy and great awakening. First, in the lead up to the Tribulation period the spiritual trend is towards lukewarmness, lethargy and a departure from the truth. The church at Laodicea is a sad picture of the church on the earth just prior to the rapture. Beside making Jesus want to gag, the last days church was appraised by Him as “wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked” (Rev. 3:17). “If the shoe fits, wear it” my papaw would always say, and it ain’t no glass slipper either!  

If we are drawing nearer to the events of the end-times (which I believe we are according to the prevailing signs) then we should expect things to get worse spiritually (see also 2 Tim. 4:3-4, 2 Thess. 2:3). This would seem to indicate that a national or global revival in the generation just prior to the beginning of the Tribulation is not predicted in the Bible.

However, the Bible does suggest that during the Tribulation period there will be unprecedented numbers of people coming to Christ. This will be facilitated not only by the fear of God confronting people as the world falls under His wrath, but also by the powerful preaching of the 144,000 Jewish evangelists and the Two Witnesses who God will anoint for ministry (Rev. 7 & 11). These flaming evangelists crisscrossing the globe with the Gospel will fulfill Jesus’ promise that His word will reach every corner of earth before His return (Matt. 24:14). If there is a revival that the Bible foretells in the future, it will be the one that takes place during the Tribulation – when the church will not be on the earth.

With all that being said, we should always prepare for local revival in our own lives, churches and towns. Revival begins with repentance over sin (Ps. 32:5), a return to God’s Word (Ps. 119:25) and a rekindling of spiritual desire (Ps. 42:1). We can all have the prayer of Psalm 85 on our lips, “Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? (v.6)” The cry for God to convict sinners and change hearts must begin in the church, “For it is time for judgment to begin with God's household” (1 Peter 4:17). If we aren’t willing for God to wreck us, then we aren’t ready for a widespread turning towards the Cross.

Revival cannot be worked up, it must be prayed down. We cannot ignite revival in our own strength, but we can make ourselves good kindling for God’s holy fire. Years ago, there was a British Evangelist named Rodney “Gypsy” Smith. He was asked about the secret of revival. He said, “Go home. Take a piece of chalk. Draw a circle around yourself. Then pray, ‘O Lord, revive everything inside this circle.’”[2] In short, revival is falling in love with Jesus all over again. And if we love Jesus less today than we did yesterday then its time for revival.  -DM   

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[1] Vance Havner, The Secret of Christian Joy (Old Tappan: Fleming H. Revell, 1938), 24.

[2] Corrie Ten Boom, I Stand at the Door and Knock (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2008), 45.

Preparing for Persecution

 

There is a story which goes back to the days when communism reigned in Russia with an iron fist. Testimonies of the underground church would surface from time to time. On one Sunday, a group of believers gathered for worship. They arrived throughout the day so they would not arouse suspicion by KGB informants. By dark, they were all inside, windows closed, doors locked. They began by singing a hymn quietly, when suddenly the door was pushed open and in walked two solders with weapons, demanding that they all line up on the wall. One shouted, “If you wish to renounce your commitment to Jesus Christ, leave now!” Two or three left quickly and after a few more seconds, two more. Finally, a couple more slipped out into the blackness of the night. After a few moments of complete silence, the soldiers closed and locked the door. They said, “Keep your hands up in praise to God. We too are Christians and we have learned to not trust anyone who is not willing to die for their faith.”

Could American Christians – like their brothers and sisters in other parts of the world – be next in line for a wave of harassment, and even persecution? That seems to be the feeling among church leaders and the trend of our corroding culture. Since COVID-19 struck in 2020 we’ve seen churches threatened and fined for gathering to worship in defiance of state lockdown orders. The newly installed Biden administration promises to push the country further towards socialism and the forced acceptance of same-sex marriage and transgenderism. Those who voice dissent will be marginalized and maybe even silenced. We’ve already seen Big Tech and social media platforms crack down on content that doesn’t support the radical left’s agenda.

While none of us goes out looking for trouble, we can be sure that as America moves towards a morally unhinged pagan view of life, trouble will find us!

We tend to think of persecution as a bad thing. However, that’s not how the early church viewed it. Peter wrote to a group of believers facing intense harassment for their faith, “If you’re abused because of Christ, count yourself fortunate. It’s the Spirit of God and his glory in you that brought you to the notice of others. If they’re on you because you broke the law or disturbed the peace, that’s a different matter. But if it’s because you’re a Christian, don’t give it a second thought. Be proud of the distinguished status reflected in that name!” (1 Peter 4:14-16, MSG).

Passages like this one and others in the New Testament teach that God has a hidden purpose behind persecution. First, we see that persecution purifies the church. Just as a silversmith removes the dross from silver by intense heat, so too persecution melts away the make-believers from the true believers. Once the name of Christ costs you something, you’ll see the fair-weather followers fade away. That means it’s time for pastors to stop preaching feel-good cotton candy sermons, because a pep-talk won’t prepare God’s people for hard times. The days of “cultural Christianity” are gone – because that weakened, watered down church won’t survive.  

Second, persecution prospers the church. Paradoxically, persecution spreads the Gospel rather than killing it (Acts 8:1, 4). Saul tried to stamp out the early church by killing Stephen and we know how that turned out! Tertullian (160-220 AD), the bishop of Carthage, once remarked that “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” Persecution is like blowing on a dandelion head; the winds only spread the Gospel seed farther faster.

Third, persecution preaches Christ in a way that prosperity can’t. The reason for this is because persecution gives the Gospel credibility. When the church suffers for Christ it gets people’s attention. They say, “What is it about this Jesus that makes you willing to endure harsh treatment?” As the apostle Paul said, “everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted” (2 Tim. 3:12).

While none of us desire to be persecuted for being a Christian we should be willing to take abuse for the sake of the Gospel since Jesus took the nails for us. Remember, as Christians it’s not our job to be popular. We are not contestants on American Idol. We are not Christ’s speechwriters or PR team, airbrushing Jesus so He has greater appeal to people who don’t want to hear what He said about sin and judgment. He’s the King, He calls the shots, we’re just His ambassadors. So let’s represent the real Jesus, who “when He was reviled did not revile in return” (1 Peter 2:23). When Christians show love and respect towards those who treat us disdainfully, we disarm their hate, prejudice, and anger. We show them a picture of Christ, the Lamb of God. -DM