The Result
The Church is defeated
The Christian Church, claiming to represent Jesus Christ, should be the most respectable institution on earth.
Today, people’s respect, trust, belief, and faith in this institution representing God, has been devastated by horrific sins, televangelists scandals, molestation of children, corruption, hypocrisy, financial abuse, division, cover-ups by religious leaders, and seismic, social upheaval.
It now ranks right up there with the lack trust and faith in our governing, secular institutions such as the courts and criminal justice system, public schools, banks, television news, big business, the presidency, and Congress!
In fact, the lack of respect of the Church by the world is now resulting in malevolent persecution and outright hatred towards Christians.
Deception abounds
Many Christians don’t even believe in the devil
Powerless
The church is completely divided
Ignorant of the devil’s schemes
Defeated
Every week dozens of churches close their doors and pastors leave the ministry.
Pastors and leaders fall left and right from exposed sin.
Sin within the church members is often as predominant as in the secular society.
Church splits happen in almost every church.
Ineffective
Pastors are busy building buildings to entertain a crowd.
The people serve the pastor and his vision – which is usually to build a large church.
Conforming to the World
Churches/pastors often “water down” God’s truths to make it more palatable, less demanding, politically correct and/or not offensive to accommodate others’ views and make it more inclusive of society’s beliefs.
They succumb to the influence of the world and fail to take a stand on spiritual absolutes.
See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ. Col 2:8
Today, the reliability and authority of Scripture is being undermined in churches by progressive Christianity.
Today, people are questioning everything about the church, including traditional morality, the core doctrines of Christian faith, and its spiritual leaders.
Sound doctrine is being replaced by soft “feel-good” motivational messages.
And God is their present- day Santa Claus – all you need to do is ask!
For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 2 Tim 4:3
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. 1 Tim 4:1
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. Isa 5:20
Many churches today are NOT representing, nor obeying, Christ – a transformation is needed!
The People are defeated
Deception abounds
Fewer and fewer evangelical Christians regularly read their Bibles, nor do they actually know and understand the teachings of Scripture.
The majority of church attendees today are often ignorant of even the most basic tenets of the faith.
Many, if not most, don’t have a clue what Christianity is all about.
More than half of all evangelical Christians do not believe in absolute truth or absolute morality.
They have not been taught spiritual warfare
The teaching of God’s Word on Sunday mornings is simply not enough to overcome secular and worldly indoctrination – hence most are lost to the world’s culture, temptation, and sin.
Christians struggle with marriage/divorce, finances, self-image, depression (selfishness), sin, and suicide – all at rates often not much different than the world.
They are victims vs warriors and they commonly need the church to be a hospital and a counselor.
(More and more the news is filled with reports of so-called Christians being mean towards public servants and even Christian blogs quickly turn into trading nasty remarks towards each other!)
Again, My people perish for lack of knowledge (Hos 4:6)
You do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. Jn 15:19
The World is defeated
People ask – what is happening to the world!
It is called EVIL – The devil has come in like a flood
Woe to the earth and the sea, because the devil has gone down to you! He is filled with fury, because he knows that his time is short. Rev 12:12
The whole world is at war – and the battle is raging!
Nations against nations
People against people
Ideology against ideology
Race against race
Chaos and turmoil
Fighting each other
Hatred abounds (love among people today is a scarce commodity)
Wickedness abounds
Dirty politics
Killings abound – school shootings, mass murders everywhere, parents killing their children
Road rage
Anxiety disorders, depression, mental illness, and suicide are at all-time highs
Crime is at an all-time high and lawlessness and violence is skyrocketing
Drug and alcohol abuse
Dysfunctional families
Skyrocketing divorces
Perversions of all kinds – the carnal nature has gone free and wild
The most base carnal instincts (especially sexual perversions) are now not only accepted in society, but celebrated
People are crazy
People are dying
The world is sick
The news is unbelievable
Mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God— having a form of godliness but denying its power. 2 Tim 3:1-3
Deception abounds:
The world calls good evil and evil good
And Christians are persecuted as intolerant, hate-mongers, and homophobes
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness. Isa 5:20
If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Jn 15:19
The church has failed to be the Light in darkness!
What should be the Kingdom of God on earth (righteousness, peace and joy) (Mat 6:10, Rom 14:17) …
Has become just the opposite – the kingdom of Satan and darkness (lawlessness, chaos/turmoil, hatred and depression) (Mat 12:26, Col 1:13)
Table of Contents
| The Current (Traditional) Church | The End-Time (Transformed) Church |
|---|---|
| Characteristics | Characteristics |
| The Result (this page) | The Result |
| Read Next: The Reason | The Reason |
| The Effect | The Effect |
| The Future | The Future |
| Curriculum Content (Introduction and Sample) |