What would things look like if Satan actually took over a city? The first frames in our imaginative slide show probably depict mayhem on a massive scale: Widespread violence, deviant sexualities, pornography in every vending machine, churches closed down and worshipers dragged off to City Hall. Over a half-century ago, Donald Grey Barnhouse, pastor of Philadelphia's Tenth Presbyterian Church, gave his CBS radio audience a different picture of what it would look like if Satan took control of a town in America. He said that all of the bars and pool halls would be closed, pornography banished, pristine streets and sidewalks would be occupied by tidy pedestrians who smiled at each other. There would be no swearing. The kids would answer "Yes, sir," "No, ma'am," and the churches would be full on Sunday ... where Christ is not preached.quoted from Michael Horton,"Christless Christianity: Getting in Christ's Way " in Modern Reformation. So if the churches are full and the name of Christ can't be mentioned, what could they possibly be teaching?
Let's try to come up with some ideas:
- Your Best Life Now
- Purpose Driven Life
- Possibility Thinking
- 12 Step Recovery
Then there are the spiritual giants:
- Prayer
- Spiritual Formation
- Spiritual Disciplines
- Meditation and Silence
- Chicken Soup for the Soul
- Holistic wellness
O.K. I admit, I couldn't really come up with any ideas on how there could possibly be a church without preaching Christ, and Him crucified. So I just looked around at all the popular megachurches today.
And that, my brothers and sisters in Christ, makes me very sad indeed.
maranatha
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