"Therefore
God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual
impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They
exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created
things rather than the Creator-who is forever praised. Amen" (Rom 1:24-25).
There is a story told about a frog in a kettle. The frog is placed in a
kettle of warm water. The frog does not notice that the water
temperature is being turned up gradually until it is too late. He dies
from the heat of the water not realizing the danger he was in.
Societies are suffering from the "frog in the kettle" analogy. They make
decisions that seem innocent enough, only to realize later the impact
these decisions bring to their society. Whether the issue is gay rights,
abortion, euthanasia, or simply a lack of spiritual influence over
society, the changes seem logical to the unregenerate mind but reveals
the moral compass of the nation has been removed.
In 1945, a book was written about the spiritual condition of England.
"We are convinced that England will never be converted until the laity
use the opportunities daily afforded by their various professions,
crafts and occupations."* During the time of this writing, 30% of
England attended church. Today, less than 7% attend church in England.
It has become a secularized nation.
During this same time more than 40% of America was attending church.
Today, less than 30% attend church and it is rapidly declining. The
reason is that more and more believers are seeing the local church as
irrelevant to the world they live in. Surveys reveal that up to 90% of
church members believe they are not being taught how to apply the Bible
to the complex world of work where they spend 60-70% of their time. It
is not a question of them being taught the Bible; it is a question of
making it relevant to their world.
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