"The Christian Church Is Failing In America"

The following American Thinker article has some interesting statistics regarding the decline of Christianity in America (see article). But what really got my attention was the following comment by DEmom in the comment section:

"I am guilty of leaving the church, although I do say that the church left me. My family, for many generations, were United Methodists. From Delaware. The church of my youth is not the current church, and I have left. It changed from a church that was concerned about how people live their lives - follow the Bible, avoid sin, confess the sins that you commit (silently), etc. - to one that is oddly pagan. In fact, the several Methodist churches that I have tried in recent years are no longer concerned with sin at all - removing the silent confession and the Apostle's Creed entirely. The church is now a social justice church. It blatantly embraces 'gay marriage' - flying the gay flag outside with a statement that the church affirms them. One of the churches even removed the Lord's Prayer and replaced it with an 'indigenous' one worshiping the trees and the waves, etc. It got to the point that I couldn't even trust what the church was teaching my kids in Sunday School (yeah, imagine that). So, I left. I have tried many other churches, including my husband's (Roman Catholic with this Pope - he doesn't even go anymore....). The Christian Church is failing in America because it no longer is a Biblical church. It is a social justice church. It is a church to make the sinners feel good about their sins. It is turning away from God and turning to paganism."

DEmom correctly sums up the major problem in denominational churches today: "The Christian Church is failing in America because it is no longer is a Biblical church. The church is now a social justice church."

Beloved, it is no longer a biblical church if it is denominational in nature (there were no denominations [divisions/schisms] in the first century - 1 Corinthians 1:10). The New Testament church is the spiritual body of Christ on earth (there's only "one" - Ephesians 4:4; Ephesians 1:22-23), pointing to Christ as its authoritative Head (Matthew 16:18 - note "I will build My church").

Today, more than ever, we need to emphasize the church of the New Testament, the one that Christ purchased "with His own blood" (Acts 20:28), which He shed on the cross (see here and here) at Calvary. Let us search the above Scriptures (Acts 17:11 - see article), and see if the above statements are true.

---Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets