Latest / Worldview Matters With David Fiorazo / The Perfect Storm: Lukewarm Church, Syncretism, And Secularism

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The Perfect Storm: Lukewarm Church, Syncretism, And Secularism · Worldview Matters With David Fiorazo

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  Welcome to World View Matters, discussing controversial issues, discerning current events,
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  defending biblical Christianity.
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  No topic off limits.
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  And now, here's your host, David Fierazzo.
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  Friends, family and Christ, thank you so much for tuning into World View Matters.
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  We're going to talk about something that I am perceiving as coming together at just the
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  right time, and it'll help us explain what's been happening morally, socially, culturally
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  in America, and of course around the world, but let's talk about the church in America.
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  So the title today, the perfect storm, the lukewarm church, syncretism, and secularism.
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  I'm going to explain what I mean by all this, by going first to a scripture in Revelation
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  chapter 3.
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  And let's go to starting in verse 15, I know your deeds.
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  Now this is, let me back up.
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  This is Jesus speaking to His church, believers in Asia Minor.
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  Leodicea was by the city of Colosse, and they were really close together in all these
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  churches in Asia Minor, Revelation 2 and 3, where we get those seven letters.
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  But in Leodicea, starting in verse 15, Jesus said, I know your deeds that you're neither
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  hot nor cold.
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  I wish that you were cold or hot.
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  So because you were lukewarm and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.
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  Because you say, I am rich, I have become wealthy, I have need of nothing.
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  And you do not know that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked.
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  I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire so that you may become rich and white
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  with white garments so that you may clothe yourself and that the shame of your nakedness
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  will not be revealed.
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  And then in verse 20, you know, verse 19, those whom I love, I, I, I approve and discipline,
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  therefore be zealous and repent.
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  Again, he's talking to Christians and verse 20 says, behold, I stand at the door and
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  knock.
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  If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him and
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  he with me.
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  So let's stop right there and let's understand that Jesus at that time was speaking to believers,
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  his church, the church that goes by his name that claims his name and yet they were lukewarm
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  in their faith.
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  So I'm going to draw parallel in this podcast today to what's happening in the United
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  States of America.
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  It's happening here on our shores and how that compares to the leo to see in church.
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  So let's go back over to an article I wrote over at Harbinger's Daily a while back and
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  it's called have lukewarm churches and secularism created the perfect storm for America's
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  decline.
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  Well, I start by sharing 20 years ago, we were sitting in a church in Southern California
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  when my wife and I lived out there and there was a guest speaker that came in and he was
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  a missionary who was talking about missions, talking about what was going on with the moral
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  decline with the biblical world view decline around the world, but especially in America
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  in the States.
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  And here's what he said, I'll never forget this.
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  He was explaining why people were coming in from Asia churches and Asia Christians were
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  sending missionaries to America.
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  So here's what he said, there are Christians from Asia and nations where the gospel is restricted
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  who are sending missionaries to America.
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  They're flying into LAX Los Angeles International Airport with the goal of evangelizing the
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  decadent West end quote, we need to be evangelized.
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  That's the point of this, but you're thinking why we're a Christian nation.
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  So we're not going to get into that debate here, whether we were a Christian nation, whether
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  we are still to some degree, because there is a strong church in America.
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  I believe there's a lot of great remnant churches.
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  I mean, Bible believing churches that preach the whole council of God, that equip the saints
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  because that's one of the roles of a pastor, equipping the saints for ministry, making
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  disciples preaching the gospel, standing on the truth.
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  Our authority is the Bible.
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  Our authority is the word of God, but not in churches across the country as we've seen
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  so many headlines of churches compromising, we've seen such apostasy, which is predicted
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  in the New Testament.
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  There would be apostasy.
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  There would be churches falling away.
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  There would be leaders falling away.
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  So we see that in the pages of Scripture.
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  But this is what's happening when we start gradually, and I mean gradually, conforming
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  to the world, Romans 12, 2 says, do not conform to the world, but be transformed by the renewing
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  of your mind.
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  So let's pick up this thought of what that speaker was talking about.
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  He was suggesting, and I agree with him, and this was 20 years ago, we can even
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  go back 40 years, probably, that America, including American churches need to be evangelized.
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  I want to find a guest on world view matters.
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  I think it was Dr. George Barna.
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  He said, if you want to be a missionary, go to church.
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  Now let me explain that.
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  Now this was about a month ago, or less, when he was on world view matters, we were talking
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  about some of the recent research.
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  He didn't mean go to church and learn how to be a missionary, and then evangelize.
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  He said, if you want to be a missionary, meaning if you want to reach people for Christ, make
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  disciples, share the gospel, you need to go to church, because a lot of churches do not
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  have a biblical world view anymore.
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  We've talked about that a lot on this podcast, world view matters.
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  So it's very important, but it is foundational.
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  One of the things we believe is that the Bible is our authority.
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  Final authority.
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  Jesus is Lord.
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  No one comes to the Father through Him.
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  He is the except through Him.
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  He is the way, the truth, and the life.
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  And so our starting point is Jesus is the Word.
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  The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, it says in John 114.
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  So we need to go back to the Bible, and we need to really get the Bible to be taught
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  again in many of our American churches.
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  Guys, I take no pleasure in saying this and explaining how we got here by compromise,
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  trying to be like the world, to attract the world.
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  Maybe with good intentions, I'll give people some churches, I'll give them the benefit
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  of the doubt some pastors who are trying to reach the lost, bring them into their churches.
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  But if you're using worldly means or look out, I'm going to ruffle some feathers, entertainment
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  to reach the world and bring them into your church.
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  How are you going to keep them there if they're expecting to be entertained?
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  Important question.
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  And that's why we have more and more seeker sensitive churches today who are, they will
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  not dare preach on controversial topics like human life in mothers' wombs and the value
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  of every human life from the pre-born baby to the elderly, to the handicapped.
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  They will not preach on those issues, they're too controversial, right?
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  Because what is the world done?
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  The world says that's a political issue in air quotes, right?
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  Well, I think the Bible has something to say about life, the God, God that created life
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  and all things, life in the womb created by God every life is created in his image and
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  has value.
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  That's according to God.
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  All the days ordained for you were written in his book before you were even born, Psalm
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  139.16.
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  So let's go back, I'm just going to share a couple of points from this article before
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  we have to take a break real quick.
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  So where, this is a question that we need to ask, where is the light of the church?
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  The light of the world, Jesus said you, Christian, you church, you are the light of the world.
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  You're not to put your light under a table, you're not to hide, you're not to hide your
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  light.
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  But yet, if you think about it, he warned in those letters in Revelation two and three
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  letters to seven different churches in that time, he warned specifically one, I believe
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  in Ephesians and maybe others in Ephesus that I will remove your lampstand.
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  What does that mean?
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  Lampstand gives a platform to the light.
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  Light is influence, influence in culture in the community.
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  So what has happened in America, we can speculate, right, is Jesus removing the lampstand,
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  the light of churches for his purposes.
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  I mean, he's allowed it, whether he is removing churches or not, it's happening that there
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  is less and less light of Christ in our culture.
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  Otherwise our culture would look a lot different, right?
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  There's incredible darkness out there.
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  So to prove my point and going back to what that speaker said about missionaries coming
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  to America to quote evangelize the decadent West, what does he, what did he mean by that?
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  Well sadly, the United States is a top exporter of things like abortion, demonic entertainment
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  in video games and Hollywood pornography, the prosperity gospel, drugs, and you can go
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  on and on, exported by a Christian nation.
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  We're going to talk a little bit more about what it means to be and how we were founded
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  as a Christian nation with Judeo-Christian principles.
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  That's our worldview.
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  That should be our worldview, a supporting Israel for example.
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  But let's go back and think of Abraham Lincoln.
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  We look at our country now, the pride, the perversion, the prosperity, a lot of peas,
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  the politics.
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  But Abraham Lincoln in the 1860s, he issued a declaration that year, a proclamation.
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  I think he did one in March and then one in November if I'm not mistaken.
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  But in one of them, I believe 1863, he said, we have become as a nation, as a people in
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  America at that time.
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  Abraham Lincoln said, we have become too proud to pray to the God who created us and blessed
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  this land.
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  We've become apathetic, comfortable, distracted, and divided.
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  That's today.
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  Tragically the church is no longer leading the way.
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  Unfortunately, too many times we're following.
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  Now let me go back now.
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  Don't get too ruffled here because I know if you go to Harbinger's Daily by the way,
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  you can look at there's a lot of great pastors and great men of God.
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  There are a lot of wonderful, solid churches who are fighting the good fight of faith who
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  are not backing down from speaking the truth.
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  And there are great churches shining the light and doing the work.
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  We need more of them.
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  I mean, if you go to that and by the way, I want to just shout out to Harbingers because
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  they have blessed us here at World View Matters.
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  They've been encouraging to my ministry personally.
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  And if you go, just look at some of the great men and women of God.
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  If you go on the left hand column of trusted ministries at Harbinger's Daily, then I'll
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  get back to the issue of the lukewarm church in America.
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  Franklin Graham, Jan Markelle, Amir Sarfati, Jack Hibbs, whom we have we've had on Eric
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  Stacklebeck, Gary Hammrich, Tony Perkins, Sissy Graham Lynch, Skip Heitzek, Greg Laurie,
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  Robert Gottselig, Will Graham, Hal Lindsay, David Reagan, Mark Hitchcock, Ken Ham, Chris
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  Katalka, Ken Michael, Barry Stagner, who's that David Fierraso guy, Dean Dwyer from Australia.
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  We've got to have him on again soon.
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  Phil McKay, Tim Moore, Mark Henry, Jonathan Brentner, and Graham Lotz and Nathan Jones.
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  We've been so blessed to have half of these on our show, roughly, and we're just so blessed
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  by a lot of great Bible teaching churches in America that hold to the whole council of
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  God.
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  When I'm talking about the lukewarm church, I'm not putting a blanket over all Christian
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  churches in America, all denominations, but we have a lot of big problems that Barna
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  and Pew and Gallup and other research has documented in research for many, many, many,
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  many decades on the declining biblical worldview.
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  So again, today's show is what I believe where we are today with the threat of Marxism,
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  young people going all in for socialism, the anti-God anti-Christ worldview, ABC culture,
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  ABC government run education system, anything but Christ with with the environmental movement,
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  with what young kids are doing and what they're believing that just 2% of parents having a
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  biblical worldview weren't a lot of trouble.
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  So it is the perfect storm and I'm not simply oversimplifying it, but it is the lukewarm
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  church has something to do with the ill-equipped church in America, syncretism, meaning a lot
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  of people, 92% of Americans have hold to syncretism, meaning they have a little bit of this philosophy,
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  a little bit of that religion, a little bit of this biblical or not biblical, unbiblical belief.
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  So they grab a lot of different philosophies or beliefs and they try to make them form one
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  worldview and it just doesn't work because they conflict and then secularism.
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  We've seen secularism on steroids in our culture today.
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  So we're going to get back to the article in a minute, but I've got to take a very brief
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  and following us on that platform. Also, you can download the free Freedom Project Media app
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  on your iPhone. So is Jesus knocking on the door of your church?
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  Ouch. Is Jesus knocking on the door of church is claiming to worship him?
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  You remember what it said in Revelation 3 verse 20?
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  I stand at the door and knock. So this here's Jesus outside the door of his own church.
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  And I'm saying in too many cases, that's America.
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  That's our some of our churches. Sadly enough.
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  They do everything else to please the world, but they don't seek the approval of God.
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  They certainly don't let Jesus in and preach him as the only way.
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  Because that's such a something that's intolerant, right?
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  Well, is the state of today's church any indication of the morality, stability,
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  and strength of the nation? I believe yes. The state of the church, the strength of the church
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  determines the strength of a nation. Let me let me share something as the church goes
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  so goes America. So that's a big responsibility on Bible believing churches and Christians.
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  And we haven't really lived up to our responsibilities. So let me go back to something called the
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  life cycle of nations. Maybe you've heard of this. It was put forth by Scottish historian Alexander
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  Tyler. Now, this was at the time of the American Revolution. This was at the time of the black
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  robed regiment. If you're not familiar with the black robed regiment, please look that up.
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  Because at that time, there was no internet. There were no public schools. There was no
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  you know, local coffee shop. They they would go to church. And the pastor was the one that led
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  and informed and taught the congregation from the Bible. And then what was going on around them,
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  meaning their fight for liberty at that time during the American Revolution. So going back to this,
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  now Scottish Scottish historian Alexander Tyler said, nations generally follow this pattern.
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  You tell me where America is here. Nations generally follow this pattern from bondage to spiritual
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  faith, from spiritual faith to great courage, from courage to liberty, from liberty to abundance,
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  from abundance to selfishness, from selfishness to apathy, from apathy to dependence,
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  from dependence back into bondage. Where are we in that? If if what he says holds true, I believe we
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  are in the apathetic phase, maybe, and we're heading back to dependence, not on God sadly, but on
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  government. Well, let's go on. God is not shocked by what's happening here. And whatever
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  whatever happens in America is going to happen. And the church has something to do with that,
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  because we can pray. We still have that as long as we're here for such a time as this. We can pray.
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  We can speak the truth. We can still stand on biblical principles. That is our authority, not the
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  world. And we don't obey government at all costs. We don't we submit the government when they are
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  under God's authority. And when meaning when they are upholding God's laws or when they are
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  saying something that is biblical, but when they're doing something government that is not biblical,
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  they would go against the principles in the Bible and God's word, we are not to submit.
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  That's interesting. And our founding fathers knew that. But let's go back to 1620.
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  When the pilgrims and Puritans created the first social contract in the new world,
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  this is to give you an idea of how far we have strayed, right? The Mayflower compact set a precedent
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  for religious freedom. And it became a guide for later charters of self-government in North America.
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  So it's really important to just to understand the compact, the Mayflower compact declares
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  profound religious commitment while organizing a civil government. Just listen to one sentence.
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  The second sentence stating their purpose.
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  Quote, having undertaken for the glory of God and advancement of the Christian faith and honor
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  of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony. Wow, it really says that
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  their mission, their goal was to advance Christianity, the biblical worldview.
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  They said for the glory of God to advance the Christian faith and that's why they came to our
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  shores, the shores here. So at that time, you've heard probably of Alexis de Tocqueville.
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  He went, came to America from France. He was his story and he was trying to figure out what made
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  America so strong and so great. And he checked, you know, was it the education? Was it something else?
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  Was it how we were economy? All these different things, he was trying to examine what made
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  us so great. And here's what he concluded. He said America's greatness was because of what he
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  described as quote, pulpits, a flame with righteousness. I had Jake Jacobs. Dr. Jake Jacobs on the podcast
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  a few weeks ago. He alluded to this when to Tocqueville said it was the thundering truth of the word of
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  God, Paul churches, pulpits, a flame with righteousness that caused America to be great.
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  So it wasn't all these other cultural things wasn't, I mean, look at today. But that was one of
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  the things we would have had no American revolution without these great men of God. Thundering from
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  the pulpit, leading the way, preaching the word and then saying, we've got a fight for our freedoms.
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  So standing up to tyranny and here we are again. Interesting. We're coming back to this in this
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  cycle of having to fight in some cases our own government, the tyranny, the big government.
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  So what point is I'm trying to make here? Basically, in order to have a strong stable nation,
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  we need desperately need a healthy, vibrant truth, proclaiming church. We don't have that now.
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  We have some churches that are, but it's a remnant. It's a small number. But this is what we need.
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  Will we get there? I don't know. It's a God sovereign. I'm not giving up. I hope you weren't giving up.
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  But we we can kind of what what's the expression read the tea leaves, the writing on the wall.
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  But let's go on here. I want to share just a couple more points before we have to wrap this up.
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  It's really interesting in light of worldview. When back to in George Barna was on the podcast,
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  he shared that a majority of pastors today don't even have a biblical worldview. So how do we
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  expect the average congregant or the average American let alone 62% was the number?
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  Wait a minute. Let me make sure I'm not that's not a typo. A majority of pastors and church leaders
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  do not even believe the whole Bible, whole council of God. They don't believe everything in the
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  Bible. They do not adhere to the true biblical worldview, 62%. That's the state of our seminaries.
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  Some of our most of our churches, I won't can't even say some anymore. But that's what he says.
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  And here's one thing it's led to syncretism, which I mentioned earlier. And that's emerging of
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  or a combination of differing and sometimes conflicting beliefs or practices. But people can't
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  make up their minds. They don't want to commit. I know I heard a lot of good things about this,
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  Jesus. They don't want to commit. We're running out of time, friends. I've got to really move on.
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  But sadly in other research, only 1% of 18 to 29 year olds have a biblical worldview today.
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  So too many pastors are unwilling to preach the whole council of God for whatever reason.
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  Galatians 110 is a verse I think of where Paul said, am I seeking the approval of man?
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  He said, if I were seeking to please people, I would not be a bond servant of Christ. But
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  every pastor and church leader will have to answer to God one day. And that's a sobering thought,
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  friends. So there was a Gallup poll last year that even talked about only 20% of Americans
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  think the Bible is actually God's word. And that's a historic low from where we came from.
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  30% of Americans now think the Bible is just a collection of fables, legends, history, or moral
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  precepts, right? So I want to quote before we close Francis Schaeffer. He says, and we've got to
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  make choices now. When we hear this information, when we hear where we're at, don't be discouraged,
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  keep fighting. Let's look at what he said. Here is the great evangelical disaster.
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  The failure of the evangelical world to stand for truth. He said, there's only one word for this,
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  accommodation. The evangelical church has accommodated the spirit of this age, the accommodation
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  of scripture. And then he talks about the view of the Bible no longer affirming the truth of
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  all that it teaches. So that was Francis Schaeffer. There's so much more that could be said.
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  But I want to give you a couple more scriptures to remind you that 2nd, 2nd, 3, 12, 13,
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  all who want to live or will live godly lives in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. That's
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  what the Bible says. If we're pursuing comfort and luxury and avoiding challenging topics,
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  challenging interactions with friends or, you know, situations in our culture, that's not
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  biblical. We are to fight. We are to fight. I mean, children are suffering. Our nation is
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  suffering. So it's up to the church friends to try to get back to that place where we can
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  make progress again for the will of god. Like they said, for the glory of god and the advancement
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  of the Christian faith, we live for such a time as this. I want to encourage you in the last
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  minute here that we are ambassadors for Christ. We are representatives of him, King Jesus.
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  Do your neighbors know? Do your co-workers know? Do people in culture, people around that see your
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  life? Do they know that you are a Christian? I hope and pray they do.
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  So one more thing. If god is for us, who can be against us? God is on our side. We are on god's
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  side, even better put, right? So if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, believe in your heart.
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  God raised him from the dead. You will be saved. That's Romans 8. Romans 10 versus 8 through 10.
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  Just wanted to end with the gospel. So speak up. Pray for wisdom. Love your neighbors. Be watchful.
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  Be discerning. Test all things, but stand on the truth of God's word, our final authority.
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  Friends, thanks for listening for watching. God bless you. And as always, keep speaking the truth
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  about things that matter.