WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THE DECLINE IN AMERICAN CHRISTIANITY?

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Reports of American Christianity’s death are wildly exaggerated, according to a new Gallup poll. The problem however is that most American Christians (94%) no longer hold to a Biblical Worldview.

Despite years of coverage that Americans have lost their faith, three out of four Americans not only believe in God but belong to a specific religion, according to a Gallup poll released on Good Friday.

“By far the largest proportion, 68%, identify with a Christian religion, including 33% who are Protestant, 22% Catholic and 13% who identify with another Christian religion or simply as a ‘Christian,’” Gallup reported on March 29. Another seven percent “identify with a non-Christian religion, including 2% who are Jewish, 1% Muslim and 1% Buddhist, among others.” 22% said they did not identify with any religion.

Faith exercises a pivotal role in most Americans’ lives, with 71% saying that religion is “very important” (45%) or “fairly important” (26%) to them. The share of Americans who placed a high premium on their faith fell below a majority for the first time in U.S. history in 2019.

That does not mean that church membership has rebounded completely: 45% of Americans formally belong to a church, synagogue, or religious congregation. That number fell below a majority during 2020. “Slightly more than one-third of U.S. young adults have no religious affiliation. Further, many young adults who do identify with a religion do not belong to a church,” noted Gallup. “But even older adults who have a religious preference are less likely to belong to a church today than in the past.”

Yet even these numbers may overstate the number of unbelievers, as 69% of Nones (people who do not identify with any particular faith) believe in God, according to a Pew Research Center poll. Still, a separate poll from the left-leaning Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI) released on March 27, found, “While the percentage of Americans who describe themselves as ‘nothing in particular’ is similar to a decade ago (16% in 2013 to 17% in 2023), the numbers of both atheists and agnostics have doubled since 2013 (from 2% to 4% and from 2% to 5%, respectively).”

The most liberal churches have experienced the steepest losses in membership, numerous reports found. Ryan Burge, research director at Faith Counts, tracked the membership of the major U.S. denominations between 1987 and 2021. “The mainline is just a bloodbath,” wrote Burge last June. “Five traditions are down by at least 30%. The ELCA is down 41%. The United Church of Christ is less than half the size it was in the late 1980s. The United Methodists are already down 31%, but with over 15% of their churches disaffiliating just this year, I wouldn’t be surprised if membership is down 40% or more by this time next year.”

Overall, the data paints a complicated picture. “The trends are clear that we are secularizing in some sense, particularly Gen Z. There is a decline in participation in organized religion and in belief in God, but those are not necessarily the same thing,” Joseph Backholm, senior fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. “The one clear thing is that some belief in a higher power is persistent. People can’t shake the idea that the universe didn’t create itself.”

David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at FRC, made these assertions. “What we’ve learned from FRC’s own research, as well as George Barna’s research with the Cultural Research Center, is that the percentage of those who hold a consistent biblical worldview is around 6%,” “Thus, it is probably more accurate to say that Gallup is helpfully illustrating the loss of cultural Christianity. But this is an important observation in itself; the percentage of Americans who identify as Christian is decreasing rapidly, which means that basic Christian beliefs will increasingly be seen not only as outdated or old-school but dangerous and subversive. We are still living on the fumes of a post-Christian culture, and this is reflected in the large percentages of Americans who still identify as Christian even though many of them don’t go to church or profess any specific theological viewpoints.”

All parties conceded that America’s religious atrophy and eroding biblical worldview will likely impact the policies enacted at a national and local level. “Compared with all Americans, the unaffiliated are notably more likely to identify as Democrats (35% vs. 29%) and independents (38% vs. 30%), and substantially less likely to identify as Republican (12% vs. 29%),” PRRI noted.

The declining share of Americans who hold a Biblical worldview “shouldn’t matter” when it comes to public policy, but it “ultimately will,” said Backholm. “The First Amendment requires that we treat small groups of religious individuals the same as big groups, but in reality cultural dominance, or the lack thereof, matters. That’s why we see pro-life activists being punished for public speech and business owners repeatedly sued for behavior that was uncontroversial 20 years ago.”

“Being a minority religion has always come with challenges, even in America,” Backholm told TWS. “The politically dominant religion in America is becoming a hybrid of secularism and progressive Christianity defined by the belief that people should be free to do whatever makes them happy.”

“Those who don’t embrace those creeds will have problems,” he warned.

The seven churches in Revelation reveal the church as it is in the last seven years before Jesus returns to Earth first to rapture the Saints to Heaven and then pour out His wrath upon an unrepentant world with the Trumpet (Revelation 8) and Bowl (Revelation 16) judgements.

The seventh church, the Church of Laodicea represents the church left behind to face God’s judgement. (Laodicea is a combination of two Greek words (LAO, meaning “God’s people”; and DIKE, meaning “justice or judgment”) Judgement of God’s people).

“‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” Revelation 3:15-20

It is obvious from this Scripture that those churches preaching the prosperity gospel are in for a great shock when they realise that they will face God’s judgement, but notice that they still have the opportunity to repent.

The church of Philadelphia represents the church that is raptured at the trumpet blast at the opening of the seventh seal. At the sixth seal, we see the celestial signs that precede Jesus’ return. We read “the great day of their (God’s) wrath has come“: “Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:15-17 The trumpet and bowl judgements follow once the final, seventh seal is removed and the scroll is opened.

How different is the message to the church (Church of Philadelphia) that is raptured and protected from the wrath of God

Philadelphus the “love for a brother” What remains of the faithful Church will be bound in brotherly love by the persecution of earth-shaking proportions.

“He who is holy, who is true, who has the key of David, who opens, and no one will shut, and who shuts, and no one opens, says this.”  Revelation 3:7

Jesus who is about to rapture His church reminds them that He is God, He is true, and they can trust Him to save them at the appointed time.

Jesus has nothing but compliments for these survivors of the Great Tribulation, his faithful remnant

“Jesus says, I have set before you an open door, no one can shut it; for you have a little strength, have kept My word, and have not denied My name. Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of trial (Rapture) which shall come upon the whole earth (wrath of God).” (Revelation 3:7-13)

“hold fast what you have, so that no one will take your crown” (Rev. 3:11 NASB). There is yet time to fall away and lose their rewards.

The concepts of the Key of David, the pillars in the Temple, and being kept from the hour of trial found in the letter to the Church of Philadelphia are references to the Rapture, happening at the end of the Sixth Year of the 70th Week.

CREATING INTENTIONAL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITIES AND INSTITUTIONS

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Joseph Backholm is joined by Josh Abbotoy for a conversation exploring Christians’ need to establish communities and institutions amidst cultural shifts in society. Emphasizing the importance of Christians engaging in civic leadership and building legacies, Josh explains his vision of creating an intentional community centered around principles that promote family, freedom, and faith. He stresses that these communities are not just for Christians, but for all who desire to live in an environment that aligns with all their personal values. This may be an important way forward to prepare for the coming persecution when the Antichrist introduces the Mark of the Beast.

Joseph Backholm is Seniour Fellow for Biblical Worldview and Strategic Engagement at Family Research Council. Listen to the PODCAST that was posted on February 27, 2024, 43 minutes

https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/washington-stand

Ep. 75: Josh Abbotoy on Creating Intentional Christian Communities and Institutions

THE CHURCH THAT IS LEFT BEHIND

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The tragic shooting at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston is another sad reminder that sin is irrational, evil, and enduring.

The mayhem caused when a woman with a rifle opened fire led Osteen to say, “In the face of such darkness, we must hold onto our faith and remember evil will not prevail.” That’s good theology: In the long run, the God of the Bible triumphs. But that long run is much less temporal than it is eternal. Christians know no immunity from pain in a world cursed by sin. Instead, they look to a universe cleansed from sin and everlasting life in the presence of their Lord and King.

Osteen seems eager to talk about other things. According to him, “We’ve got to make our [church] services good. They’ve got to uplift people. They’ve got to walk away saying, ‘You know what, I feel better today.”’

Walk away feeling good? “Uplift?” Is this why God became both a man and, on the cross, the very essence of sin (II Corinthians 5:21)? This is Christianity without Christ, a spiritual oxymoron that removes the centre of the gospel and then throws only a shadow of hope on those in desperate need of transformation. It is grace reduced to psychological slobber and truth as a buffet from which you can select only those things you find appealing.

Lakewood’s statement of belief is sound, although basic. It’s my hope that Osteen and those on his large staff truly believe in the necessity of new birth in Christ and the need for faithful obedience to Him. But these things are not what Osteen preaches. His best-selling “Your Best Life Now” is hundreds of pages about how to obtain fulfillment without a single mention of dying to self and the cost of following Jesus. Instead, Pastor Joel recommends “letting go of the past” and tells us that we must “find strength through adversity.” In themselves, these things can aid you in regaining your emotional equilibrium. But is that it? Is this the message of the cross? Is this why, all over the world, martyrs are dying for their love of Jesus?

John Piper has outlined six problems with the “feel good” gospel. His analysis is a useful summary of where preachers like Osteen go far afield from “the faith once delivered” (Jude 1:3). According to Piper, such ministries as Osteen’s are characterized by:

  1. An absence of a serious doctrine of the biblical necessity and normalcy of suffering
  2. An absence of a clear and prominent doctrine of self-denial
  3. An absence of serious exposition of Scripture
  4. A failure to deal with tensions in Scripture
  5. Church leaders who have exorbitant lifestyles
  6. The prominence of self and marginalization of the greatness of God

The “serious exposition” of the good news of Christ involves things sinners often dislike hearing. As theologian Ray Ortlund reminds us, “The good news of the gospel begins with some really bad news. Our sins only provoke a bigger problem: the wrath of God. Our real problem is not our sins but God. He is angry, he isn’t going away, and there is nothing we can do about it.”

Nothing. We. Can. Do. About. It. No self-talk, no therapy, no learned technique to quell genuine guilt or silence the voice of divine conviction. This is the broad way against which Jesus so vividly warned, the way of Oprah and mysticism and prideful self-reliance. It might indeed lead to transient happiness but invariably takes one through the gates of hell.

The bad news of human sin and our inability to redeem ourselves is not the end of the story. “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked … and were by nature children of wrath,” Paul writes to the Christians in Ephesus, “But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ.” Once dead, now alive: this is the key to your best life now and forever. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” Ephesians 2:1-9

Followers of Jesus should pray that God would so arrest the heart and mind of Joel Osteen and all like him that they would repent of the false gospel they so happily broadcast and issue a new message, one that announces the righteous anger of a holy God and the gracious offer of a loving Father. He is one and the same, and His offer of hope, meaning, transformation, and life itself never changes.

Sadly, Joel and Lakewood Church represent the church of Laodicea that is left behind to go through the Trumpet and Bowl judgements of God.

‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent.” Revelation 3:15-19

Compare this with the church of Philadelphia which is the church that is raptured at the trumpet blast at the opening of the seventh seal.

“‘I know your works. Behold, I have set before you an open door, which no one is able to shut. I know that you have but little power, and yet you have kept my word and have not denied my name… Because you have kept my word about patient endurance, I will keep you from the hour of trial that is coming on the whole world, to try those who dwell on the earth. I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one may seize your crown. The one who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God.” Revelation 3:10-12

THE WORLD CONTINUES TO REJECT GOD AND CREATION AND TEEN MENTAL HEALTH WORSENS

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Article by Sarah Holliday in the Washington Stand, February 13, 2024.

Sarah does not mention the key factor that is impacting the mental health of teens. It is the teaching of evolution as a fact in schools, even Christian schools. The Big Bang and Evolution remove God from His creation and make the Bible a book of fables and myths. It also removes any purpose or meaning to life. There is no hope or knowledge of the God who loves His creation and has provided a way back into a right relationship with Him.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

A recent study conducted by Common Sense Media (CMS) found that America has a teen mental health crisis. Yet, with the way social media has plagued the younger generations, is anyone really surprised by this? But it goes beyond technology, as many factors contribute to the decay of younger generations and their mental health.

“The negative effects of social media on young people’s mental health is a top concern, including across party identification,” CSM reported. However, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a survey in 2021 that noted the roles “risky sexual practices, illicit drug and alcohol use, and bullying at school” play in this analysis. We are also seeing a rise in broken homes and fatherlessness, and many researchers suggest the pandemic worsened the mental health crisis that was already present.

And at a time in history when the world is warring over the topic of identity, how are developing youth supposed to know what to believe about anything? Marlo Slayback, national director of Student Programs at the Intercollegiate Studies Institute, shared with The College Fix that over time, “the culture surrounding Gen Z [has changed]. It’s a recipe for despair, hopelessness, nihilism, disaffection.” She described it as a “decaying culture” that causes young people to “feel alienated and lost at sea.”

While many societal factors could be considered, the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University conducted a survey that found children between eight and 12 years old, preteens, are increasingly denying biblical truths. Is this a coincidence amid the growing mental health crisis? I don’t think so.

According to the results, only 21% of preteens agreed that “there are absolute truths — things that are right and things that are wrong, that do not depend on feelings, preferences, or circumstances.”

Only 27% of preteens believed “the main reason to live is to know, love and serve God, with all of your heart, soul, mind, and strength.” And only 17% felt a successful life was connected to obedience to God.

George Barna, the director of Arizona Christian University’s Cultural Research Center and Family Research Council senior research fellow, said these results only reflect the lack of biblical worldview present in the lives of many today. He added, “[W]e are on the precipice of Christian invisibility in this nation unless we get serious about this crisis and invest heavily in fixing what’s broken.”

Barna explained, “Children are intellectual and spiritual sponges in their preteen years. They are desperately trying to make sense of the world, their identity, their purpose, and how to live a meaningful and satisfying life.” As such, it’s obvious how toxic social media and other issues have caused mental health problems among this group. But it’s also worth emphasizing the spiritual aspect.

As Christians, we know the only true life is a life lived for Christ. Upon conversion, we are spiritually reborn into a new creation that has a desire to follow and obey Jesus and His word. Our eyes are opened to the truth of this world as laid out in Scripture. And once our eyes are opened, we can see how the world has so greatly abandoned these biblical truths. And what follows? Disorder and destruction; confusion and hopelessness.

When I was growing up, life wasn’t as crazy as it is now, but I still had to face the realities of its brokenness. And it was my biblical worldview that allowed me to persevere through any hardships growing up. Young people now are growing up in a society that believes men can become women and vice versa. They are being raised to believe that marriage has nothing to do with God and that sex (specifically outside of marriage) has no consequences. Truth is subjective, and children can carve out their own reality as they enter adulthood. This is detrimental to physical, mental, and spiritual well-being.

No wonder these children feel lost and in a constant state of unrest. They’re being fed lies around every corner — physical or virtual. Approaching this crisis, Christians “should respond with brokenness and a realization that much of our discipleship efforts in the church geared towards young people has failed,” said David Closson, director of FRC’s Center for Biblical Worldview.

He explained how we are at the “highest rates of biblical illiteracy and the lowest of biblical worldview” since it’s been measured. “It’s not good,” he said, “but the writing has been on the wall for a long time.” And a lack of biblical worldview does factor into decreased mental wellness. Why? Because anything other than a biblical worldview is “a deficient worldview,” Closson noted, and sets “people up to fail very early.”

He added, “Since most people are not thinking rightly about the world, we shouldn’t be surprised that they’re not going to be thinking rightly about other things. Not just theological matters, but they won’t be thinking rightly about themselves, their place in the world, body image,” or anything under the sun. Ultimately, Closson concluded, “[W]e need to be [more] intentional in our discipleship efforts” in reaching younger generations.

For resources to reach young people go to http://www.answersingenesis.org and http://www.creation.com.

WHAT HAPPENS TO CHILDREN WHEN YOU TAKE GOD OUT OF THEIR WORLDVIEW

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Newly released data from the Australian Council of Educational Research (ACER) Social-Emotional Wellbeing survey of around 500,000 primary and secondary students between 2018 and 2023 reveals a generation deep in emotional crisis and lacking the tools to manage their emotions. Girls at all ages are struggling to cope more than boys. “Many indicators of wellbeing examined in the survey have worsened and barely any have improved despite all the genuine attention and effort by schools and parents and the millions of dollars spent to fund youth wellbeing programs, ‘’ the survey’s author Michael Bernard, California State University Emeritus Professor, and former Melbourne University Professor, said.

The ACER data is collated from the well-being surveys completed by students undertaken by schools seeking to get a handle on the extent of the challenge. It captures kids from all states and territories and from both government and non-government schools.

Australia’s primary school-age children are angrier, lonelier, more anxious, and less able to control their emotions than they were 5 years ago, new research finds, despite the increased societal concern for childhood wellbeing and focus on resilience. The picture is no less bleak in secondary school, where more than one in two students say they feel “very stressed”, an upward trend since 2003, and 56% say they have a hard time controlling their sense of worry.

Professor Bernard said the new numbers were staggering, even before looking at recent trends. “The numbers are bad for young primary schoolkids and get worse as they get older.” The survey reports one in three (32 percent) of the more than 300,000 primary school-age students say they “feel bad for long periods”, and almost half (44 percent) say they can’t calm down quickly when they feel bad. In secondary school, 53 percent of the 180,000 surveyed say they feel “very stressed”. By year 12 it is 77 percent of girls and 55 percent of boys. Adolescent mental health expert and psychologist Michael Carr-Gregg said his practice had been deluged with “so many extremely anxious, extremely depressed kids.” “In my 30 years in the field I’ve never seen anything like the level of stress and anxiety that today’s children and adolescents are going through,” Dr Carr-Gregg said.

What these psychologists fail to mention is the key factor that is impacting the mental health of teens. It is the teaching of evolution as a fact in schools, even Christian schools. The Big Bang and Evolution remove God from His creation and make the Bible a book of fables and myths. It also removes any purpose or meaning to life. There is no hope or knowledge of the God who loves His creation and has provided a way back into a right relationship with Him and the promise of eternal life.

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

AMERICA IN A BATTLE OF WORLD VIEWS

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., warned Tuesday night that the United States is engaged in a battle of worldviews and called on Christians to bring the truth about the country’s foundational principles to the younger generation.

A group of interfaith elected officials and supporters of the National Association of Christian Lawmakers attended the organization’s annual meeting and awards gala at the Museum of the Bible Tuesday night.

The event, titled “Save the Nation,” highlighted various issues at the center of many debates today, including abortion, sexuality, gender, and restoring faith in America. 

Johnson, a Baptist elected House speaker earlier this year, was presented with the NACL American Patriot Award for Christian Honor and Courage and delivered the keynote address.

During his speech, Johnson stated that the U.S. is facing the “greatest collection of challenges” since World War II and the Civil War due to competing worldviews held by the political left and right. Despite these challenges, Johnson urged attendees to continue trusting in God.

“Our hope is in the Lord; our hope and our trust is in God,” the House speaker said. “And that is our national motto, and it’s more than a bumper sticker slogan. It is who we are as a nation. It’s what makes us different; it’s what sets us apart.” 

The 51-year-old lawmaker cited the British philosopher G.K. Chesterton, who stated in an account of his 1921 visit to America that it is “the only nation in the world that is founded on a creed.” Johnson stated this creed is that “all men are created equal,” endowed by God with inalienable rights, among them the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, as stated in The Declaration of Independence. 

“We are the only nation in the world that was founded upon that premise,” Johnson said, emphasizing that America, at its founding, recognized that rights come from God, not the government. Those rights, he said, are “in our blood to defend.” 

“And when other men seem to take our rights away from us, we must stand and defend them,” he continued. “That was the premise of our country. And what we’re engaged in right now is a battle between worldviews. It’s a great struggle for the future of the republic.” 

Johnson urged Christian conservatives to speak with “clarity” and “conviction” now more than ever, warning that the next generation has “no frame of reference to the great foundational truths.” 

Johnson urged political leaders on the right to develop the ability to articulate the differences between a conservative worldview and a progressive one. He listed several principles of conservatism, including individual freedom, the rule of law, and other subcategories, such as human dignity. But he noted that the list might look different for some of his colleagues. 

“The thing is, we have to agree upon what those points are and begin to talk about it in simpler terms,” he said, urging conservatives to be “winsome warriors.” 

“We don’t want to divide; we want to unify,” Johnson continued. “We want to bring people into the truth and into the light and to believe in America and that our best days are ahead because they are if we’ll turn to God.” 

The NACL was founded in 2019 by former Arkansas state Sen. Jason Rapert, a Republican. It is said to be the first formal national association of Christian lawmakers in U.S. history. It seeks to unite Christian lawmakers to support biblical principles. 

EVOLUTIONARY VIEW OF THE FUTURE VERSUS A BIBLICAL VIEW

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An article appeared in Science Daily entitled “New research maps 14 potential evolutionary dead ends for humanity and ways to avoid them.” What are these “dead ends” we must avoid?

Well, these “dead ends” are defined as “evolutionary traps” humanity can get stuck in that initially began with innovation but can if we don’t escape them, lead to the end of the Anthropocene (the supposed current geological age) as we know it.

Summary: Humankind risks getting stuck in 14 evolutionary dead ends, ranging from global climate tipping points to misaligned artificial intelligence, chemical pollution, and accelerating infectious diseases, finds a new major assessment by scientists from multiple different disciplines. To break these trends, humans must become self-aware of our common futures.

BIBLICAL UNDERSTANDING

Now, how should Christians understand this? We need to practice dominion with our Bibles open and our hearts attuned to the Holy Spirit, seeking godly counsel. We should want what is best—not just for creation but ultimately for mankind because we’re the only creatures made in God’s image. So we care for everything God made, making it our goal to honor the Creator in everything we do.

Is humanity doomed to an “evolutionary dead end”? Not at all. While we can certainly make decisions that negatively (or positively) impact mankind, our future has already been decided by God, and He has told us in advance. This Earth and mankind won’t end until Jesus returns first to rule and reign with the glorified Saints for 1,000 years. Jesus needs to fulfill the Abrahamic, Davidic, and New Covenant before God destroys this Earth with fire. The final judgment of mankind then takes place after the second resurrection with the White Throne Judgment. It is only after the White Throne Judgement that John sees a new Jerusalem descending from the new Heaven onto a new Earth where only the righteous dwell.

MILLENNIAL KINGDOM

“Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, not like the covenant that I made with their fathers on the day when I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, my covenant that they broke, though I was their husband, declares the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my law within them, and I will write it on their hearts. And I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And no longer shall each one teach his neighbor and each his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest, declares the Lord. For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” Jeremiah 31:31-34

“Also I (John) saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for the testimony of Jesus and for the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is the one who shares in the first resurrection! Over such the second death has no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ, and they will reign with him for a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4-6

This Earth still has 1,000 years before it is destroyed by fire. Jesus and the glorified Saints will rule and reign with a rod of iron even though Satan is bound in the Abyss. Much detail was given to the O.T. prophets about Jesus’ Millennial Kingdom, check out http://www.millennialkingdom.net.

For 6,000 years Satan has ruled much of Earth, and now Jesus will fulfill Israel’s destiny with its Messiah ruling the nations for 1,000 years. At the end of Jesus’ 1,000 reign, God releases Satan one more time and he is able to raise an army like the sand of the sea of rebellious people. How wicked is unregenerate mankind? Only then will this Earth’s destiny be complete.

“When the 1,000 years are completed, Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations at the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them for battle. Their number is like the sand of the sea. They came up over the surface of the earth and surrounded the encampment of the saints, the beloved city. Then fire came down from heaven and consumed them.” Revelation 20:7-9

“Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.” Revelation 21:1-3

CONSEQUENCES OF AN EVOLUTIONARY WORLDVIEW

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As much as humanists would like to protest this fact, it was the rise of the evolutionary theory of natural selection, propagated by Charles Darwin and his acolytes, that first began to erode the foundational belief that all human life was inherently valuable. After all, if there is no God, then no one was created in His image. If there is no God, then some people were, by very definition, defective evolutionary accidents. If there is no God, then there is no reason whatsoever to assume that all human beings are valuable and equal. In fact, the very theory of evolutionary natural selection precludes the idea of equality. In the Darwinian view of the human race, equality as anything other than a feeble social construct cannot be possible.

If we’re just “rearranged pond scum,” just animals, just the result of random, chance processes, then why should human life be preserved and protected? Nature certainly wouldn’t protect the weak, vulnerable, and sick, so why should we?

It was exactly that thinking that eugenicists grabbed onto and applied in ways that shock us today. The idea of someone forcibly sterilizing a young couple because someone else decided they were not fit to have children based on their socio-economic status, ethnic background, disability, and so on, does indeed seem shocking. But is our culture today really much different?

We live in a culture saturated with naturalistic, evolutionary thinking—there is no god, we set the rules (determine right from wrong), and we’re just animals. Since this thinking still dominates the West, it’s no surprise that the eugenicist thinking of past generations hasn’t really gone away (even though it became unpopular after Nazi Germany’s atrocities became public)—it’s just morphed into different forms.

Think about it. What is abortion? Well, it’s ascribing less value to a human being based on their level of development and location. It’s applying the idea that we’re just animals and we get to set the rules as there is no ultimate right and wrong. Consider that genetic screening for various chromosomal abnormalities results in the deaths of many children who receive a potential diagnosis (with many doctors pressuring parents in that direction). It’s just eugenics applied to who should be born! Indeed, Planned Parenthood was founded by Margaret Sanger, who pushed eugenics based on Darwin’s evolutionary ideas.

Or consider the screenings of babies created in a lab to be implanted in a womb (IVF). These babies in the embryonic stage of development may go through intense screening before a select few are chosen to either be implanted or frozen for potential later use. They can be screened for genetic and chromosomal abnormalities, sex, viability, and more. It’s eugenics applied to reproductive technologies.

Or what about euthanasia? Allowing those who are terminally ill or (in some places) mentally ill, chronically ill, disabled, elderly, etc., to choose to end their own lives is a form of euthanasia—“These people deserve to live; these don’t.” And it doesn’t take long for “can end their own lives” to become “should end their own lives” to become “must end their own lives.”

Apart from God and his Word, there is no foundation for human uniqueness or the sanctity of life. The result of such a low view of human life is always deadly. Worldview matters!

This post was adapted from a blog post, What’s the Connection Between Eugenics and Evolution? on http://www.answersingenesis.org. Ken Ham adapted his post from an article in Life Site News, How atheistic Darwinism Led the West into a Dark Age of Eugenics

HOLDING A TRUE WORLDVIEW

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The Cultural Research Center (CRC) at Arizona Christian University recently released data from a survey of 400 children. This survey sought to examine “the prominence of belief in the ‘Seven Cornerstones of a Biblical Worldview’ among adolescents” (children ages 8–12). The seven cornerstones are the following:

  • God exists and is the all-knowing, all-powerful, perfect Creator and ruler of the universe.
  • As a sinner, the only solution to the consequences of sin is to acknowledge your sins, ask God to forgive you through Jesus Christ and rely on Him to save you from those consequences.
  • Sin is real and significant; we are all sinners, by choice.
  • Your most important reason for living is to do what God wants.
  • You trust the Bible because it is completely true and personally relevant to your life.
  • The Bible provides a complete and reliable understanding of right and wrong.
  • Success is consistently doing what the Bible teaches.

For me, an important cornerstone is missing, 8. Biblical history clearly teaches a young earth and a worldwide flood of Noah’s day that caused billions of dead things to be buried all over the world including fossil fuels from buried plant life. God ordained 6,000 years of man’s rule with Satan, god of this world, next will be Jesus ruling with the glorified Saints for 1,000 years (Satan bound in the Abyss) from a newly created Jerusalem. Israel will be the ruling nation on this Earth for Jesus’ Millennial reign. In 7,000 years this Earth’s history will be complete. “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… ” Revelation 21:1

The CRC survey found that just 3% of children embraced all seven of these cornerstones. The majority only agreed with one or two, rejecting or stating they were unsure about the others. As the survey report states, “That does not bode well for adolescents building a stable foundation that will lead to a robust and biblical worldview.”

So what worldview are these children forming? Researcher George Barna says it’s a worldview of syncretism—the dominant worldview in the West today as people combine a little bit of this and a little bit of that into a religion of their own making. Barna says:

They are following in the footsteps of their parents, only 2% of whom have a biblical worldview, and 96% of whom are Syncretists. That mindset and lifestyle is modeled for their children every day and has become the comfortable default position among most adults, teens, and children who call themselves Christian.

Every person has a worldview. The question is whether it is the right worldview. The answer to that is this: “The only correct worldview is the one grounded on God’s Word.” Every other worldview is ultimately founded in man’s opinion (man’s word) and is therefore subjective and arbitrary. The only absolute worldview is the one that comes from God’s Word.

Parents, these survey results should be sobering. They should make you stop and consider what kind of priority teaching your children the things of the Lord has in your home. And that doesn’t just mean teaching children good morals from God’s Word so they do what is right. It means teaching them the theology and doctrine of God’s Word so they can look at the world through the right lens. It means teaching them the gospel so they understand what Jesus did for them and how they can be saved. It means always taking everything back to Scripture as the ultimate authority.

Yes, this is hard work, but it’s the task the Lord has called parents (and especially fathers!) to, and it has eternal consequences (life or death). Don’t delegate your children’s worldview training to the church, a Christian school, or the world. Open the Word of God with your children and teach them diligently so that they may proclaim the works of God to a generation yet unborn (Psalm 78).

Helpful resources available from Answers in Genesis

Truth for Toddlers

The Answers Books for Kids.

BUILDING A RIGHT WORLDVIEW

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How can we build the right worldview? There is only one way and that is to start with the origins of this complex universe with its multitude of living things that require many scientific laws to make it function correctly. Those inter-related laws could not have constructed themselves. Science has discovered that DNA (complex information) controls all of the machinery in living cells instructing them what to do. Both the information and the machinery have to be complete and functional at the beginning. They cannot evolve. Moreover, information only comes from intelligence, not matter or energy, hence proof there is an Intelligent Designer. Even better still the Intelligent Designer has revealed Himself to us both by Word, and the person of Jesus Christ, God incarnate.

Down through the ages God has spoken to and worked with individuals so we know He created us in His image to be in a relationship with Him. As a result, we have His Word (Bible) most of which is now fulfilled prophecies so that we know it is God’s Word and that the many end times prophecies will also be fulfilled.

Why is church attendance decreasing SO drastically? In this presentation, Ken Ham discusses the mass exodus that churches are experiencing in Western society and what Christians can do about it.

Ken Ham’s talk is based on his book, Divided Nation: Cultures in Chaos and a Conflicted Church. The good news is that there is a link to download Ken’s slides (in four different formats) so you can use them to help get this message of biblical authority out to more believers! He also includes notes with each slide. You can find that resource on the Answers in Genesis online bookstore.