Millennials Are Leaving The Church and Not Coming Back: “We moved to a city and talked a lot about how we came to see all of this negativity from people who were highly religious”

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Love this quote:

As long as we are enamored by the spotlight, the attention, the approval of others, Christ will wait in the shadows of hiddenness until we have exhausted ourselves and come to realize the shallow emptiness of our pursuits. Mark Chironn

I have been preaching on this for years, too many Americans have made politics their God, they are showing much hate. We are chasing away people from the Church. Politics is out of control in this Country. Where is the love of JESUS?

I see and hear too much hate coming out of the mouths and writings of Christians.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
 
By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
John 13:34-35

My life verse that God game me and Sharon when he called me into full-time ministry 7 1/2 years ago:

“But my life is worth nothing to me unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus—the work of telling others the Good News about the wonderful grace of God.” -Acts 20:24

I am a registered Independent, I do not endorse any party, I vote for the candidate. I do not see much substance in many candidates. It seems these folks just bash each other and counter each others claims, but there is no Godly substance, no in depth solutions to our problems. Too many of them are trying to get on the throne of God…..not a good idea….There is no substance to any these their tv/radio ads..not at all. More and more people are thinking they are above God!

We all must behave ourselves and fulfill the greatest commandment Jesus gave us……hate just brings more hate…..adds gas to the fire. Politics has made a mess of our Country. We are all guilty of allowing this overtake our Country.

We need to behave ourselves….When did you ever see when hate solved anything? When did you see speaking down to people ever solved anything?

I had a friend tell me this week, “Dewey, We (The Church) are losing.” Yes, the Church needs to face the facts. What most of the Church is doing is not working.

I have have many Pastors tell me they do not go to prayer meetings in their area or attend such things at the National Day of Prayer because they have turned political. Too much politics. JESUS is not a politician! JESUS loves all!

Having been in radio for over 40 years and many of those in news reporting which still continues here at FGGAM, one of the greatest tragedies in news is these awful things: the 10 second news clip, too many Americans making decisions on a 10 second news clip or a 30 second news story or a 30 second political ad! Also the absence of Christian News on so many Christian stations, the lack of a local/region in depth news is a shame. We also suffer from poor journalism. Who is teaching our future journalists?

IN DEPTH REPORTING is gone. We go deep here at FGGAM, it is our calling from God. I see now a lot of news organizations put a “read time” on their posts. It shows that the American public does not what to read for a long period of time, they what a short story, very sad.

This post is a wake up call, whether you agree or disagreed with it, its your choice.

Millennials are leaving religion and not coming back
Millennials have earned a reputation for reshaping industries and institutions — shaking up the workplace, transforming dating culture, and rethinking parenthood. They’ve also had a dramatic impact on American religious life. Four in ten millennials now say they are religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center. In fact, millennials (those between the ages of…

Read in FiveThirtyEight: https://apple.news/AOEHtl3tXR5SuXMTnvssQ0Q

Shared from Apple News

My post from earlier today……

Yesterday our doggy Reno passed away, he was our doggy son, he lived to be near 16, he overcame cancer 3 times. Jesus gave us Reno to teach us love, trust, patience, non-judgement, quiet strength, how to be a gentleman. When I grow up I want to be like Reno, trusted, loving buddy! Reno was a great teacher of true love to me and Sharon and many others. The Postal Lady, UPS Man and neighbors and friends all ask about him. Reno and Sharon our the silent, strong ones in the family. I am a wimp compared to Sharon and Reno, There is so much to be said about “quiet strength of Jesus” ask me about that sometime. Years ago our friend Tom Johnson said, “Dewey, Sharon has such a quiet strength, you have such a wonderful loving wife with such strength in God.” I have plenty of Questions to ask God when I get to heaven, like I am sure most of you do, I am going to ask God about His dogs. What an amazing creation God has given us to teach us. God answered our prayers of having Reno pass away at home, so he could be surrounded by loved ones. I pray you know the love of Jesus, so many that go to Church really don’t know Jesus the way they should. Who are you learning from? I love to be challenged, always have! God has challenged me to be a watchman on the wall for him, to warn people of not being with Him. Please pray for me and Sharon, as we both have the flu.

I fear of being away from God! America is so far away from God, it is time for Preachers and all to realize this. Many years the great man of God, now in heaven, Chuck Colson said on his radio program on KKIM, “The American Church has turned into a high school pep rally.” Amen, so many have…we need salt and light. So many do not go to Church because they say how badly many so called Christians are behaving.

When you go to Church this morning please put the world on your prayer list. We are in an awful mess, only Jesus can fix this, not man. Hearts need to be given to Jesus! Life is to be  all about God, not us! Charles Stanley said this morning, “If you are in conflict with yourself, you cannot be at peace with anybody.” You see, so many of our leaders in this Country are in conflict with themselves, they are not happy, they do not have Jesus, they are not led by Jesus. We are raising up our children in a world of chaos, everywhere they look there is chaos and this affects them in so many ways, it goes into their brains, it affects their whole body. We all should be concerned what we are doing to our children, they do not know peace, I pray they do in their homes, but in America and the world, they see hate and chaos. Just this week a little 4-year-old boy died at his home here in Albuquerque, the little boy had bruises all over his body! Where Jesus is at, there is peace, seek Jesus, not man, Seek a personal relationship with Jesus, get to know true love.

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another:
just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.
 
By this all people will know that you are my disciples,
if you have love for one another.
John 13:34-35

No psychiatrist or psychologist or politician, can fix this horrible hate and chaos, only JESUS, seek JESUS. GOD is the great physician, not man! Do you know God? Share with me what you know about God. Do you know the God of the Bible? Do you adsorb the Word of God, or do you have your own opinion?

Time for a GOD check-up for the world we live in!

Are you a walking Bible?

Do people see Jesus in you?

Do you absorb the Word of God?

How are you and the Lord getting along?

Does God lead every step you take?

I keep saying, and I know this is to simple for this world we live in with all this modern technology and science, but Jesus is the answer.

Someone asked an old preacher why he kept preaching the same thing..the Preacher replied, “Son, I will preach Jesus until people “get it”

Remember, Only a fool answers a fool, hate only brings more hate, God is not a God of Chaos. Wherever you find hate and chaos, Jesus is not present in all that muck.

Do not answer a fool according to his folly, or you yourself will be just like him. Proverbs 26:4

As Festus would say on Gunsmoke, “Don’t ya’ see?”

   “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.” (Ezekiel 22:30)

“And He said to them, “It is written, ‘My house shall be called a house of prayer,’ but you have made it a ‘den of thieves.’ ” (Matthew 21:13)

“And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” (Acts 4:31)

Today, one of the apparent weaknesses of the church is her failure in prayer intimacy with Jesus Christ.   Jesus referred to this intimacy and the power of it in John 15: “I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.

“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” (John 15:1-8)

In many of today’s churches, prayer has slipped into a mere ritual within our services and activities. We desperately need to experience intimacy, trust, and power coming through our church experiences. Our people need to see the need, the love, and the power available through intimate corporate praying; praying that is built on a deep love for Jesus.

Over 100 years ago, Andrew Murray said; “The man who mobilizes the Christian church to pray will make the greatest contribution in history to world evangelism!”  I want to be that man! (Jerry)

Beloved, I am not a teacher of prayer. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Prayer, is the One Who teaches the believer who wants to learn. I consider myself a ‘Barnabas of Prayer’; used of the Holy Spirit to encourage and challenge the believer to want to learn.

I have a dream where ALL God’s children enjoy a deep, personal, intimate relationship with Jesus Christ, beyond the salvation experience.  Our LORD Jesus Christ has described what He wants His church to look like, back in Matthew 21:13 above.

A church is never a house of prayer because they say they are. They never attain the status of being a house of prayer until Jesus can make that declaration through much answered prayer and much power displayed! What would Jesus say of your church? There is a difference between a church that prays and a praying church.

Beloved, God has called me to encourage believers toward a more intimate relationship with Jesus Christ; one that is real and personal, and to encourage and train churches to develop their own prayer ministries which are effective and pleasing to the LORD.   This is my passion!

Through prayer, so much more is available; so much more of God’s power is directed throughout the world. The world needs praying people. God desires praying people! Through your praying you are able to partner with God to the ends of the earth to cause His Kingdom to come into people’s lives and situations, and to enable His will to be done. With God all things are possible.

Paul said it best, and I try a thousand different ways to say the same things: “Pray without ceasing” and also, “watch and pray.”  

Today, America is in a sad state; so much hate, anger, confusion, distrust.   Violence is becoming almost expected.   This week there were more shootings, one in Pearl Harbor Naval Station, and today another at the Pensacola Naval Training Center in Florida.   America has lost her goodness therefore she is no longer great. The heaviest burden for this must rest on her churches. The fire of her former churches and their pulpits was fanned by the fire in their prayer meetings. Statistically, the prayer meeting has become the least important and consequently, the least attended, gathering of the most of America’s churches. Alexis de Tocqueville, best known for his works Democracy in America (appearing in two volumes, 1835 and 1840) had these almost prophetic words to say:

 

“I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her commodious harbors and her ample rivers – and it was not there . . . in her fertile fields and boundless forests and it was not there . . . in her rich mines and her vast world commerce – and it was not there . . . in her democratic Congress and her matchless Constitution – and it was not there.  Not until I went into the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”

As we embrace this Season of the year, we must face the reality that a vast majority of folk who celebrate Christmas with much enthusiasm and spending, have very little thought relating to the Incarnation (birth) of Christ, if understanding at all.

How can this be true of a nation founded upon Christianity? Does not the motto, “One Nation under God” have any meaning today? What has happened to our beloved country? This patriot veteran, flag-waving American old man, sees at least a large contributing factor.

Someone’s stats claim that only 7% of Americans attend Christian church services on Sundays.  I’m not sure about this figure, but I have seen the following played out in church after church where I have ministered through prayer revival ministry: less than 1/2 of 1% of those who attend church interrupt their busy lives praying for their homes, churches, communities, and nation. Far less than 10% of the average Sunday morning attending persons will ever darken the door of the church’s prayer meetings. Approximately three-fourths of those who will come have had little or no discipleship in prayer, as shown in the things and manner in which they pray together.   Individuals and churches that see no value in prayer or developing an intimate relationship with Christ Jesus has left their First Love!

“These things says He who holds the seven stars in His right hand, who walks in the midst of the seven golden lampstands: “I know your works, your labor, your patience, and that you cannot bear those who are evil. And you have tested those who say they are apostles and are not, and have found them liars; and you have persevered and have patience, and have labored for My name’s sake and have not become weary. Nevertheless I have this against you, that you have left your first love. Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent and do the first works, or else I will come to you quickly and remove your lampstand from its place—unless you repent” (Revelation 2:1-5).

Now, that will profoundly explain much of our nation’s problems!

 Now, beloved Christian is the time to finally get serious about Jesus in intimacy, and serious about prayer! Pray! Learn how and what to pray! Pray!   Pray some more!   Discover what the nation, states, communities, churches, and families need to get back in God’s favor, and pray those things with fervor, fighting, contending, standing, expecting, “so that” praying, and continue until the answers come; changes take place.   Real soul-saving, life-changing, revival bringing prayer!

Church, fall back in deep love with your First Love, Jesus the Christ!   Now is the time to stop being silent about not only the reason for the season, but the Reason for all that has been created and redeemed.

Don’t just wish a Merry Christmas; be a Merry Christmas, and go on to explain why Christmas is “Merry” and Joy-filled! Pray On!

 Sadly, this is happening more and more in the American Church. Make sure and read the post below on ‘Pastor burnout epidemic.’  We really need Team Jesus to pray for all Pastors and their families! Pastors From small Churches to large Churches are being asked to do more and more and the stress of this world is mounting for many. I saw a post from a Pastors wife on Facebook last night asking for prayers for all Pastors, please Team Jesus pray constantly for all Pastors and their families, ask your family and friends to do so. Let us all stand in the gap for all Pastors.

It is always good to remind yourself that your Pastor has struggles like all of us. Many that you may never know of.

The Christian Post Reports:

The Rev. Howard-John Wesley, senior pastor of the historic Alfred Street Baptist Church in Alexandria, Virginia, surprised his congregation earlier this month with an announcement that he is stepping away from his ministry for a season because he feels far from God, tired in his soul and needed to recuperate mentally and physically.

“From January 1 (2020) to April 1. I am walking away from every responsibility I have as pastor,” Wesley announced in his sermon on Dec. 1Christian Post Report

Epidemic of Pastors Burnout

Hope Gets The Last Word Service For Pastor Jarred Wilson Commits Suicide

The Life of a Pastor

Satan is your enemy, he seeks to destroy people

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