"'Can't you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?' This is the question on which I have been asked to write, and straight away, before I begin trying to answer it, I have a comment to make. The question sounds as if it were asked by a person who said to himself, 'I don't care whether Christianity is in fact true or not. I'm not interested in finding out whether the real universe is more like what the Christians say than what the Materialists say. All I'm interested in is leading a good life. I'm going to choose my beliefs not because I think them true but because I find them helpful."

—C.S. Lewis, "Man or Rabbit," God in the Dock, pg. 108. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Ed Rowell

Lewis wrote these words over fifty years ago. If you substitute the word "happy" for "good," do you have the state of Christianity today? Are our churches filled with people in search of happiness, but not truth?

Matthew 5:6 "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

For most of the last century, hunters and anglers have picked up a large portion of the tab for conservation. Through excise taxes on guns and tackle, as well as licenses for hunting and fishing seasons, sportsmen have willingly paid millions used largely to manage game species and protect their habitat. All that may be about to change. People still flock to the outdoors, they're simply not doing the traditional things. Birders, hikers, and campers already outnumber those who hunt and fish 63 million to 49 million.

The new outdoor activities include kayaking, rock climbing, and mountain bikes. Sue Black, director of Wisconsin's state parks put it this way, "We need to ask ourselves, 'Are the state parks ready for the X-games? Are we ready for the extreme sports coming to our parks?' Believe me, they're coming."

—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, October 20, 2000. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Ed Rowell

Every part of our culture is changing. One of the last bastions of life the way it was (at least in our imagination) was the great outdoors. Now postmodernism has struck even there. The entire culture has shifted, and it is effecting the church. Can the church attempt to hang on to old patterns and programs and pretend the world isn’t changing? Don’t we need to understand the times and act on what we know to be true?

1 Chron. 12:32 NASB And of the sons of Issachar, men who understood the times, with knowledge of what Israel should do, their chiefs were two hundred; and all their kinsmen were at their command.

Not long ago my family and I (editor Tabb) were in the metropolis of Carthage, Indiana, population 1,200. Two of my daughters were playing basketball in a league that used the Carthage school gym. Between games we decided to grab a bite at the local diner, which also happened to be the only restaurant in town. When we walked in the door I felt as though we had stepped into a time machine. If our lives were lived in black and white, we would have been in Mayberry. We found a table, sat down, and waited for service. Several minutes later a waitress walked over to our table, pen and paper in hand, and simply stared at us. After a few moments the waitress finally said, "Well?" Apparently, not many strangers go through Carthage, Indiana. When you sit down in the diner they expect you to already know the menu, since they never place them on tables.

I wonder if visitors in our churches feel the same way?

Romans 16:2 that you receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and that you help her in whatever matter she may have need of you;

Rapper Eminem’s (pronounced M & M) lyrics glamorize drugs, violence and drinking. Not exactly the kind of message parents want the 1.7 million listeners who bought his CD “The Marshall Mathers LP” during its first week of distribution to hear. But it gets worse. In one of the songs he threatens to sodomize his mother and in another one he tells of the day he organized a gang rape of his sister for her birthday.

—Home Life, November 2000, p. 64. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Philip. 4:8 NASB “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”

Some publicly funded colleges are using taxpayer’s dollars to educate students in explicit sexual practices.

"We encourage them to go out and rent porn movies and other sexually explicit stuff," said University of California-Berkeley lecturer Matthew McBride, "so they might witness other people having sex in ways they're not accustomed to and to come back and talk about that."

Not everyone is happy with McBride’s educational practices. "I think that if most people actually knew what was going on on the college campuses under the guise of what's called academic freedom,” California State Senator Roy Haynes said, “they'd be shocked."

"I don't have a problem paying for academic freedom," Haynes added. "What I have a problem paying for is things that aren't related to academics—that are essentially social in nature."

Unfortunately, people become what they think about. It is too bad that teachers are leading their students astray.

Col. 2:8 “See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.”

A new book by George Barna, based on recent studies the group conducted suggests the church is not having as much impact on our culture as we think. These new studies show relatively few people attend worship services each week. About one in three adults attend church every week. The study shows the percentage of “unchurched” adults, or those who say they have not attended a church service in the past six months, other than a special event has increased from 24 percent in 1991 to 34 percent today. The book, “The State of the Church: 2002” suggest some frightening conclusions. Despite a seeming increase in public discussion about religious freedoms, beliefs, and associations, not much has changed in most people’s lives in the last ten years.

Barna says the most surprising thing about this new data is “perhaps the paradox of living in a culture defined by constant change with a nation of people who admit to confusion regarding purpose, meaning and truth, and yet finding that there has been no real change in spiritual views and endeavors of the people. Layer on top of that the fact that churches have raised and spent more than $500 billion dollars in the past decade to try and influence America’s spiritual life and it seems pretty obvious that it takes more than good intentions and a menu of popular programs to make a dent in the nation’s religious identity and consciousness.”

—www.barna.com, June 5, 2002, Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

2 Timothy 3:1-5 “But mark this: There will be terrible things in the last days people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.”

According to Leonard Sweet, "This culture is not looking for something to believe in. Their hunger is for the experience of a relationship with God."

—Facts & Trends, December 2001, p. 16. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

If he is right, we would be wise to introduce them to Jesus instead of arguing with them about beliefs.

John 9:25 NASB "He therefore answered, 'Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see.'"

In an article for Newsweek, Lorraine Ali wrote, "Contemporary Christian music is now the hottest genre in the entire music industry. For every 10 country-music albums sold, seven Christian CDs fly off the shelf. CCM sales were double those of U.S. Latin music last year and topped the combined numbers of jazz, classical and New Age."

—Newsweek, July 16, 2001, p. 41 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

In his book, Future Church: Ministry in a Post-Seeker Age, Jim Wilson writes, “There was a time when America's Christianized culture helped keep a church afloat in a community. I grew up in a state that had the ‘blue law,’ a law that prohibited stores from selling non-essential items on Sunday to discourage shopping on the Lord's Day. Our school district had a policy against football practice going past 6:00 PM on Wednesday evenings because it might keep players from attending prayer meeting at their church. We not only had school prayer, we had school worship services. When a local church was in revival, the school would open the assembly hall to the evangelist to speak to the high school students during school hours.

Not everyone was a Christian, but the culture was Christianized. Going to church was the accepted thing to do. Not going could jeopardize a person's standing in the community and their business relationships with members of the Christian community. Businesses offered deep discounts or provided complimentary goods and services to the church. Today, attending church isn't the cultural norm, though 21st century people are deeply spiritual. But their spirituality does not necessarily resemble biblical spirituality. Some spiritually curious people are as likely to attend a pagoda, temple, or mosque as a church. But they aren't automatically monogamous to any one religion. Like passing through a cafeteria line, people pick and chose elements out of different religions they will follow. It isn't ‘no faith’ or a ‘different faith,’ it is ‘designer faith.’

The only hope the church has to reach people in this spiritualized culture is with the life-transforming, radical power of the gospel. The gospel has explosive power to transform people's lives and to make the church a radical force in the culture. ‘That's what's exciting about the world in which we live,’ Erwin McManus, the Lead Pastor of Mosaic says. ‘Only the viable church of Jesus Christ will survive, the inauthentic need not apply. I want to live in the world that if the church is not the revolution that Jesus died to establish 2,000 years ago it ceases to exist. I want to live in a world where the church has no more crutches, or buffers to guard her from injury. I want a church where a culture no longer protects her. Whenever the gospel enters an environment, it prevails.’”

—Future Church, p. 81-83 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Romans 1:16 NASB "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek"

Perhaps you’ve heard this joke that is making the rounds. A priest and pastor from the local parishes are standing by the side of the road holding up a sign that reads, "The End is Near! Turn yourself around now before it's too late!"

"Leave us alone you religious nuts!" yelled the first driver as he sped by.

From around the curve they heard screeching tires and a big splash. "Do you think," said one clergyman to the other, "we should just put up a sign that says 'Bridge Out' instead?"

It's a good joke with a hidden message. Sometimes we yell at our culture that "The End Is Near and they need to turn around," but because of the words we say and the methods we use they simply think we're a nut case, and consequently don't listen. Perhaps a better sign to put up in this instance would have been, "Slow down, Christians ahead rebuilding a bridge."

In "Church in Emerging Culture: Five Perspectives", Frederica Mathewes-Green writes, "A culture cannot be converted. Only individuals can be converted. God knows how to reach each individual; every conversion is an inside job. We cooperate by listening attentively for God's directions and speaking the right words at he right moment, doing a kind deed, bearing Christ's light and being his fragrance in the lives of people we know. This is the level where things change, one individual at a time, as one coal gives light to another. When enough people change, the culture follows—though, again, the hope of ever having a perfect culture is futile."

Luke 6:22 (MSG) "Count yourself blessed every time someone cuts you down or throws you out, every time someone smears or blackens your name to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and that that person is uncomfortable."

In his book, "The Radical Reformission" Mark Driscoll writes, "Each generation has its resistance to the gospel, and each culture is equally far from God because of sin and equally close to God because of his love."

—"The Radical Reformission", p 51. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

John 3:18 (NLT) "There is no judgment awaiting those who trust him. But those who do not trust him have already been judged for not believing in the only Son of God."

In his book, "The Radical Reformission" Mark Driscoll quotes David Bruce of HollywoodJesus.com who says, "Instead of throwing rocks at the culture, as the church often does, it needs to build bridges to a hurting world in need of a healing relationship with God.Bottom line: let's find common ground and build bridges to a world that 'God so loves.'"

—"The Radical Reformission", p43. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Hebrews 2:17 (NASB) "Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people."

Chad Hall, lead Pastor of Connection Church in Hickory, North Carolina says, "We believe glimpses of God can be found in culture, even those parts that are seemingly opposed to him.We envision God as similar to a great judo master, one who uses the opponent's energy to his own advantage."

—Leadership Journal, Fall 2004, p. 42 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

It is one thing for a church to be culturally relevant, but quite another to leverage culture for the gospel's advantage.Or to put it the way Hall does, to use the opponent's energy to our advantage.The goal is not to get the culture as a whole to act more like Christians, or to get the church to act more like the culture as a whole, rather it is to use whatever means necessary to proclaim the gospel so that people may be radically transformed by the gospel.

Romans 1:16 (NIV) "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile."

In his book, "The Radical Reformission" Mark Driscoll quotes Crash, a 33 year old Christian Tattoo Artist who says, "For us to make any real difference in this age, we need to recognize the power of the gospel to change lives, that we were called from within a particular cultural setting, and that it is our duty to try to spread the good news of the gospel from within that setting. To simply take the gospel and leave our culture, not its sin, is to steal potential from the kingdom. We are able to be 'in the world but not of the world'; to me this speaks of our culture and how we are to affect those around us who might not otherwise receive the truth, all without being held captive by the sins which are within every culture.

'Sheep among wolves,' so to speak."

—"The Radical Reformission", p114-115. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

Psalm 98:2-3 (NASB) "The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. [3] He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God."

Organized religion lost popularity during the 1990s. Americans who claim no religious preference rose from around 7% at the beginning of the decade to around 14% at the end of the decade. In an article published in the American Sociological Review, University of California at Berkeley Sociologists, Michael Hout and Claude Fischer said the change does not necessarily reflect a decrease in faith. “One of the points we’re trying to make is that most people who have no church still are likely to say things like, ‘God is real. Heaven and hell are real.” Hout said.

Their dissatisfaction isn’t with faith or with God, but with the church. Only 10% of those with no religious preference expressed a “great deal” of confidence in church leaders and churches. Perhaps that is to be expected. But less than half of people with a religious preference have a “great deal” of confidence in church leaders and churches.

—The Monterey County Herald, Religion Section, May 25, 2002 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

The church can interpret this data in three ways. (1) We can criticize current culture for its dissatisfaction with the church. (2) We can survey the 14% to see what kind of church they would likely attend, then morph to become that church and market the church to that segment of the population, or (3) we can proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ to a world that isn’t rejecting faith or God and ask them to put their faith in Christ, not the church, to save their souls.

If we will do the third, we’ll see people come to know Christ and we’ll become the church He died to redeem. Remember, God didn’t call us to defend the church; He called us to proclaim the gospel.

1 Peter 3:15 NASB “but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence;”

Barry Kosmin is the co-author of the American Religious Identification Survey. He says that while 69% of Americans believe in a personal God, 30% make no such connection. Kosmin says, “This “piety gap” defines the primary sides in the culture wars. If a personal God says, ‘Thou shalt not’ or ‘Thou shalt’ see these (the volatile issues) in a certain way, you’d take it very seriously. Meanwhile, three in 10 people aren’t listening to that God.”

--USA Today March 9, 2009 p. 6A; Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

While other surveys may show the American belief in God at a higher level, Kosmin has put his finger on the cause of the culture wars. It is hard to change people’s minds before God changes their heart.

Mark 13:10 (MSG) “ The Message has to be preached all across the world.”

Each year a private college in Beloit, Wisconsin releases a snapshot of the mindset of that year’s entering freshman class. The Beliot College Mindset List is designed to help professors develop lesson plans that are more meaningful to students and open doors to greater understanding. In the Fall of 2010, the list contained 75 items about the Class of 2014 that indicate there is a growing gap between the generations. Research showed that most of the incoming class did not know how to write in cursive, and most have never worn a wristwatch because they get the time from their cell phones.

The developers of the list hope it will remind teachers that cultural references familiar to them may draw blank stares for their classes. Most of the new freshman think the 1980s are ancient history. They do not remember Dr. Jack Keovrkian, Dan Quayle, or Rodney King. Most of the class has never thought about a Russian Missle strike because during their lifetimes astronauts from Russia and the United States have lived together peacefully on the International Space Station. For these students, phones have never had cords, email is too slow, and the computers they played with as children are now in museums.

Creators of the list, Ron Nief and Tom McBride say their work has given them an unusual perspective on cultural shifts and reveals a larger truth about tolerance. Though many people worry about the dumbing down and corruption of future generations, McBride says, “There’s something about the resilience of human nature that renders these gloom and doom prophesies moot after a while. I can’t say for sure, but it looks like the track record of these very anxious prophets has not been impressive over the years.”

--http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-08-17-beloit-college-mindset_N.htm ; August 17, 2010. Illustration by Jim L. Wilson and Jim Sandell.

1 Corinthians 9:22-24 (CEV) When I am with people whose faith is weak, I live as they do to win them. I do everything I can to win everyone I possibly can. (23) I do all this for the good news, because I want to share in its blessings. (24) You know that many runners enter a race, and only one of them wins the prize. So run to win!

According to a recent study in Britain, 66% of British Schoolchildren could correctly answer questions about soccer star David Beckham and singer Cheryl Cole (Both frequent topics in the UK's tabloids.) Media had a part in the history would too. 20% of the schoolchildren identified Buzz Lightyear the first human to set food on the moon. That is a larger percentage than those naming Neil Armstrong.

As surveys like this point out, the church needs to be aware of the distorted view of the world our children get from the media. It is not a new problem, nor does it need a new solution. God gave Moses instruction for his people in the Desert. Teach the truth to your children in every perceivable way.

Deuteronomy 6:7-9 (CEV) and tell them to your children over and over again. Talk about them all the time, whether you're at home or walking along the road or going to bed at night, or getting up in the morning. (8) Write down copies and tie them to your wrists and foreheads to help you obey them. (9) Write these laws on the door frames of your homes and on your town gates.

In The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity, Skye Jethani writes, “If imitation is the highest form of flattery, than Christians have become pop culture’s most devoted admirers.”

Instead of adapting to culture, the church would be wise to leverage it for the gospel’s advantage. For more information on leveraging culture go to http://www.thefuturechurch.com

In The Divine Commodity: Discovering a Faith Beyond Consumer Christianity, Skye Jethani writes, “In our cultural quest for survival, driven by our fear of irrelevance, have evangelicals become Crypto-Christians? Have we clothed our faith with the forms of our American culture to the point that our Christianity has morphed into something entirely different — a folk religion altogether consumerist in spirit and content?”

- The Divine Commodity, p. 29 Illustration by Jim L. Wilson

2 Timothy 3:1-5 (CEV) You can be certain that in the last days there will be some very hard times. (2) People will love only themselves and money. They will be proud, stuck-up, rude, and disobedient to their parents. They will also be ungrateful, godless, (3) heartless, and hateful. Their words will be cruel, and they will have no self-control or pity. These people will hate everything that is good. (4) They will be sneaky, reckless, and puffed up with pride. Instead of loving God, they will love pleasure. (5) Even though they will make a show of being religious, their religion won't be real. Don't have anything to do with such people.

Culture

The New York City Commission on Human Rights issued new rules that impose fines of up to $25,000 on property owners who “misgender” employees or tenants. By “misgender” they mean that employers and landlords must “use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun and title regardless of the individual’s sex assigned at birth, anatomy, gender, medical history, appearance, or the sex indicated on the individual’s identification.”

Choosing to be known by a gender other than the one a person was born with is simple rebellion, at the basic level, against a creator God. A government agency imposing that on all its citizens is enforced rebellion against God. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell

Psalm 68:6 (HCSB) God provides homes for those who are deserted. He leads out the prisoners to prosperity, but the rebellious live in a scorched land.

In the 1950 U. S. Census there were 270 occupations listed. Only one has been eliminated by automation: elevator operator. 32 jobs have been eliminated because there is no demand for them anymore and five have become technologically obsolete. Today there are several occupations in danger of being greatly reduced by machines but the greatest threat is to the American driver. The reaction to self-driving cars resembles the reaction to early automated elevators. One leading elevator historian calls an elevator without an operator “the Google car of its era.”

The church faces many technological and social changes. In the ongoing struggle to adapt one truth we need to never be persuaded to change. Jesus is the same today as yesterday, and he will be the same tomorrow. –Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/03/17/machines-have-only-completely-stolen-one-us-occupation-since-1950.html

In a survey by the American Culture and Faith Institute (ACFI) evaluating the world view held by Americans it was discovered that only 10% of American adults have a Biblical worldview. The same survey among theologically conservative Protestant pastors using the same measurement criteria had a massively different outcome. 88% of those pastors qualified as having a Biblical worldview.

The survey discovered that the younger an adult is, the less likely they are to have a biblical worldview. The results were; 18 to 29 years old -- 4%; 30-49 year olds—7%; 50-to-64 year olds—15% and those 65 and older -- 17% among those 65 or older.

The numbers may indicate that our older generation is not passing the faith along to the generations after it. The passing of faith from one generation to the next is a key command in scripture. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

https://www.culturefaith.com/groundbreaking-survey-by-acfi-reveals-how-many-american-adults-have-a-biblical-worldview/

Deuteronomy 6:4–9 (CSB) “Listen, Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. These words that I am giving you today are to be in your heart. Repeat them to your children. Talk about them when you sit in your house and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them be a symbol on your forehead. Write them on the doorposts of your house and on your city gates.”

The American Culture and Faith Institute (ACFI) evaluated people’s worldview using 20 questions about their core spiritual beliefs and 20 questions assessing behavior. It didn’t take a perfect score to have a Biblical worldview, 80% would do. The results are depressing.

When asked, 46% of adults claim to have a Biblical worldview but the answers on the survey indicate that only 10% of American adults have a Biblical worldview. In actual numbers, 112 million say they have a Biblical worldview but only 24 million really do. That is a difference of 88 million people

George Barna conducted the survey using 40 questions measuring basic biblical principles, and behaviors. The behaviors related to “practical matters like lying, cheating, stealing, pornography, the nature of God, and the consequences of unresolved sin.” ACFI says this is “what makes the discrepancy between the percentage of people who consider themselves to be Christian – more than seven out of every ten – and those who have a biblical worldview – just one out of every ten – so alarming.”

It is disconcerting that so many professing Christians have allowed their minds and lives to be polluted by the standards of our day rather than God’s word. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

John 8:31–36 (CSB) “Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, ‘If you continue in my word, you really are my disciples. You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.’

‘We are descendants of Abraham,’ they answered him, ‘and we have never been enslaved to anyone. How can you say, ‘You will become free’?’

Jesus responded, ‘Truly I tell you, everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin. A slave does not remain in the household forever, but a son does remain forever. So if the Son sets you free, you really will be free.’”

https://www.culturefaith.com/groundbreaking-survey-by-acfi-reveals-how-many-american-adults-have-a-biblical-worldview/

Lorna Ashworth resigned her place in General Synod and the Archbishops’ Council, of the Church of England. Claiming the church has gone so far towards feminism, that it is no longer Christian. At least one of their Bishops has suggested Christians quit calling God Father, and just referring to God as “It.” —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

https://ashenden.org/2017/11/11/the-anglican-christian-resistance-the-resignation-of-lorna-ashworth/

Justice and Righteousness are very closely related in the New Testament. Often, the same root word is the source of their translation. As believers we should be concerned about both. Pastor Charlie Dates was speaking at an MLK conference in Memphis when he said about young Americans. “They are fascinated with justice, but they haven’t met the author of righteousness.” He went on to say, “They (the young Americans) are trying to get justice on the streets apart from understanding righteousness taught in our churches. And they will never find it. And at the same time we have a church or at least some segments of it that are preaching righteousness but will not fight for justice.”

Pastor Dates is correct. Followers of the Lord Jesus should be concerned with both justice and righteousness. We need to work hard at not being one sided. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Isabella Chow serves as a senator in the student government at the University of California Berkeley. Recently, a bill was introduced that would change the definition of gender under Title IX. Ms. Chow abstained from voting on the measure. When it was discovered that she was Christian and did not support the bill, she was immediately labeled “homophobic” and “transphobic” and received repeated verbal attacks on campus. Over 1000 students signed a petition accusing her of hatred, violence and hypocrisy and demanded that she either resign or face a recall.

She never uttered a phrase against homosexuals. All she said was that her Christian values did not align with theirs or their proposed bill. —Jim L. Wilson and Tim Fouse-Clark

--https://www.foxnews.com/us/christian-student-at-uc-berkeley-harassed-for-abstaining-from-pro-lgbtq-vote

John 15:18–19 (CSB)“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you.”

Attorney General William Barr speaking at the University of Notre Dame, talked about “militant secularists” who he says are seeking to destroy America’s “traditional moral order” by driving Judeo-Christian values from schools, government agencies, and “the public square.”

Barr said that this secularism, has caused “record levels of depression, soaring suicide rates, and the deadly epidemic of drug abuse. This is not decay, it is organized destruction.”

We learn from God’s word that societies that rebel against the creator eventually come to destruction. If we continue our present path of destroying our traditional moral order, we cannot expect other than destruction. —Jim L. Wilson and Rodger Russell.

Evidence that our culture is in moral decline is all around us. In Florida, an 11-year-old fifth grader was told his face mask was inappropriate. The mask was from Hooters. The boy’s father is outraged, saying he doesn’t understand why the Hooter’s mask is inappropriate.

It is as if we have gone so far down the path of cultural decay that we cannot even recognize when things are no longer pure and undefiled. — Jim Wilson and Rodger Russell

Finally brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is anything praiseworthy—dwell on these things.