By Pastor Chuck Baldwin
February 17, 2022
“I’ve [Pastor Chuck Baldwin have] known for many years that the Church in America has fallen to the lowest spiritual state of its entire existence. I’ve tried to warn Christians in both this column and my public speaking to the dismal state of today’s churches. Faithful readers are very much aware of those warnings.
But now, studied research confirms all I have warned about over the past several decades, and it’s actually worse than I thought: The American Church is not just derelict; it is apostate.
Researcher George Barna and the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University have released Barna’s latest survey, and the findings are horrific.
Two out of three Americans think of themselves as a Christian, and a majority still think that Christianity is kind of about the Bible,’ Barna said in an interview at the time. ‘But there’s a big gap between what (self-identified Christians) believe the Bible may teach, and what the Bible actually teaches.’
The CRC study, which included 2,000 adults, classifies American believers on a spectrum of five sub-groups, from those who only self-identify as Christians to those who are termed ‘integrated disciples’ and possess a biblical worldview. On the surface, they may all appear Christian, but the survey reveals stark differences in their core beliefs.
Large majorities of self-identified Christians also report many beliefs ‘not in harmony with biblical teaching,’ according to the survey. These include:
- 72% argue that people are basically good,
- 66% say that ‘having faith’ matters more than which faith you pursue,
- 64% say that all religious faiths are of equal value,
- 58% believe that if a person is good enough, or does enough good things, they can earn their way into Heaven.
- 57% believe in karma.
‘There is a remarkable level of self-deception (even among) born-again Christians,’ said Barna, commenting on his recent worldview research. ‘It represents a huge educational challenge for those responsible for biblical worldview development.’
Too often . . . people who want a certain reputation or image embrace the label ‘Christian,’ regardless of their spiritual life and intentions,” states Barna. ‘Christian’ has become somewhat of a generic term rather than a name that reflects a deep commitment to passionately pursuing and being like Jesus Christ, he states.
Resonant with his decades of research work, George Barna’s latest survey seeks to arouse urgency among evangelical parents and pastors regarding the necessity of teaching sound doctrine to the next generation….
To bring Barna’s research into focus:
Of the 176 million Americans who claim to be Christians, only 9% of them believe the Bible to be the true Word of God.
To reject the spiritual depravity of man is to replace the imputed righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ with human self-righteousness, which, of course, provides no righteousness or redemption at all.
Barna is also astute in highlighting the reason for this massive Christian apostasy: The pulpits are not teaching sound doctrine.
One would think that the stark reality of the above report would cause America’s pastors to reevaluate their emphasis on “church growth,” motivational speaking, turning their churches into glorified social clubs, avoiding hard sermons, being “yes-men” for civil government and on their unscriptural infatuation with Christian Zionism. God has written ‘Ichabod’ over the churches of America. Be sure the church you attend is not one of them.” End of article.
——————————————————
Comments by Pastor Don Elmore
The “Christian” Church of today has an unscriptural infatuation with Christian Zionism? They have an unscriptural infatuation with who? You mean they have an unscriptural infatuation with our enemies and our Savior’s murderers? They do not teach that we have an eternal enemy! They do not teach that our God has the same eternal enemy! They support the seed line of the serpent whose chief goal is the annihilation of every single child of God!
Their heroes are glorified; our Christian heroes are nullified. Their holidays are celebrated; our holy days are ignored. Their unbiblical beliefs are made into law; our covenant beliefs are now no longer mentioned, not even in the churches. Their food laws have no restrictions; our limited food laws are said to be old fashioned. Their medical laws are based on the taking of a pill; our laws are based on herbs and the commandments of our LORD who instructed His people in maintaining good sanitation methods. Their economic laws are based on usury capitalism; our laws are free enterprise under our Sovereign LORD. Their way to financial gain is to get the people hooked on lotteries, illegal drugs, casinos and gambling; our way is to gain financial independence by being usury debt free and by refraining from the quick, not earned money. Their ways are man’s ways; our way is following the commands of our LORD who instructed us in the Bible.
Who was faithful to the everlasting covenant that God made with our fathers? We have constantly failed keeping that covenant. It was only Almighty God who was faithful.
What do the other seed liners say about our Savior? Do their “holy books” say that He is now in hell boiling in a cauldron of body fluids? Is that praising our LORD? Is that giving Him honor? Is that worshipping Him?
What do the Jews say that they have given to America?
- They have destroyed our families. They have masculinized our women and feminized our men. They have lowered the number of children that are born to each family. They have made divorce much more easier to get.
- They have made us slaves to their debt usury money system.
- They have changed our nation from a white Republic to a multi-colored Democracy.
- They have made it legal for anyone to marry anyone they want. It doesn’t matter if it is with a person of another race or the same gender.
- They have made it legal for a person to change his gender and illegal for a person to criticize their transgendered behavior.
- They have changed the nation to an integrated multi-cultural country.
- They have eliminated the Holy Sabbath day. They say that it offends them to have that day as Sunday.
- They have changed America’s churches to nothing more than churches of the state.
- They have changed the gospel that was preached by our Messiah and His Apostles and disciples. Very few churches even mention the “gospel of the kingdom.”
- Very few churches now know that the kingdom of Israel was split into two parts; the northern and the southern. That was who the recipients of the gospel were that the King James Bible wrongly identifies as being the “Jews” and the “Gentiles.”
May the LORD God have mercy on our souls.
Blessed be the LORD God of Israel