Withering Away:

  As the last baby boomers fade on into our twilight years, we can see that much has changed in the past sixty years inside of churches.  Attendance is far below a full sanctuary.  What is referred to as His Church resembles little what it once was. 

  I suppose an arm's length of reasons could be given for the withering away of The Lord's fully biblical churches.  The Lord tells us in the Bible that after a while He will look away from unfaithful people, in Church or not.  His exact words say that He will "turn them over to their own way".  When God departs, the Church fades into little more than a social club, becoming just a hollow shell of what its founders once built decades or centuries ago.

  Across the country, many towns still hold on to their biblical or Christian names, and roads continue to bear Church names from a time when politicians and everyday people were genuine, faithful, practicing Christians. Without a doubt, they reflected the spirit of America’s Founding Fathers, and yes, America was founded as a Christian Nation. There is an aluminum plaque on the nose of the Washington Monument that says “Laus Deo”, meaning “Praise be to God.” 

  The Bible teaches that pastors will be accountable not only for their own personal disobedience to God’s complete Word but also for the disobedience of their Church on the day of personal judgment. Do not try convincing yourself otherwise, for thus saith The Lord.  Deacons and all those in positions of Church leadership will ultimately answer to our Heavenly Father for standing by and allowing His Church to be led astray.  Ignorance of His Bible will not be excused. (Ezekiel 3:18, Romans 1:17-21, 2 Timothy 2:15)

   Much disobedience to the Bible is in a horrendous number of churches today including the idea of the pastoral office being open to anyone, which is influenced by contemporary and cultural perspectives, so The Lord allows once-grand churches to wither away on a once vibrant and growing vine.  The sin of disobedience sets up shop, parts of the Bible get brushed aside, our Heavenly Father leaves the Church, and it slowly dies, kept barely alive on Life Support by the old money of deceased faithful Christians of a by-gone era.

  Hebrews 4:12 reminds us to embrace all aspects of the Bible, whether we feel inclined to or not. "For the word of God is lively, and mighty in operation, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and entereth through, even unto the dividing asunder of the soul and the spirit, and of the joints, and the marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts, and the intents of the heart."  That's powerful enough to cause each of us to look inside ourselves.

  The Lord Jesus Christ forgave me of my sin and saved me from The Devil's Hell on 9-6-81 and continues to forgive me to this day because "If we acknowledge our sins, He is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."   (1 John 1:9), but we must sincerely mean it.  The repentant person will also have a desire to tell somebody about the new life they have.

  If the repentance is real, the Christian will conform to 2 Corinthians 5:17. "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, let him be a new creature. Old things are passed away: behold, all things are become new."  We should all reflect on whether there’s been a change in our lives that aligns with all of the Bible.  If we’ve truly become one of God’s children through confessing our sins, (and He does say we must confess our sins to Him), and having our faith in Him the change will be evident and we'll learn more of His Word, the Bible, then make the changes to satisfy Him in word and actions.