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His is the last of a three part blog on why we should start new churches in churched areas.

While there are many Christian resources in North America, most of the North American population no longer has a biblical worldview or understanding. There is some who question if they ever did. Instead, their religious ideas tend to be distorted reflections of biblical truths. (For More on Church Planting Follow This Guy: http://www.edstetzer.com/ )

Shockingly only HALF of Protestant Pastors have a Biblical Worldview.

A Christian worldview could be described as believing absolute moral truth exists, based on the truths found in scripture. These truths could be considered as coming from these six core beliefs:

• The accuracy of biblical teaching
• The sinless nature of Jesus
• The literal existence of Satan
• The Omnipotence and omniscience of God
• Salvation by grace alone
• The perusal responsibility to evangelize the world

In short there is Biblical illiteracy. They either people don’t know the scripture, or refuse to believe it.

Below you will find more statistical research done by George Barn about Worldview. Read on if interested; I’ve taken it from http://www.barna.org/barna-update/article/21-transformation/252-barna-survey-

National Results

Overall, the current research revealed that only 9% of all American adults have a biblical worldview. Among the sixty subgroups of respondents that the survey explored was one defined by those who said they have made a personal to commitment to Jesus Christ that is important in their life today and that they are certain that they will go to Heaven after they die only because they confessed their sins and accepted Christ as their savior. Labeled “born again Christians,” the study discovered that they were twice as likely as the average adult to possess a biblical worldview. However, that meant that even among born again Christians, less than one out of every five (19%) had such an outlook on life.

The same questions were asked of respondents in national surveys by Barn in 1995, 2000 and 2005. The results indicate that the percentage of adults with a biblical worldview, as defined above, has remained unchanged for more than a decade. The numbers show that 7% had such a worldview in 1995, compared to 10% in 2000, 11% in 2005, and 9% now. Even among born again adults, the statistics have remained flat: 18% in 1995, 22% in 2000, 21% in 2005, and 19% today.

Components of Worldview Thinking

Varying numbers of Americans embrace the different aspects of biblical worldview thinking. The survey found that:

• One-third of all adults (34%) believe that moral truth is absolute and unaffected by the circumstances. Slightly less than half of the born again adults (46%) believe in absolute moral truth.
• Half of all adults firmly believe that the Bible is accurate in all the principles it teaches. That proportion includes the four-fifths of born again adults (79%) who concur.
• Just one-quarter of adults (27%) are convinced that Satan is a real force. Even a minority of born again adults (40%) adopt that perspective.
• Similarly, only one-quarter of adults (28%) believe that it is impossible for someone to earn their way into Heaven through good behavior. Not quite half of all born again Christians (47%) strongly reject the notion of earning salvation through their deeds.
• A minority of American adults (40%) are persuaded that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life while He was on earth. Slightly less than two-thirds of the born again segment (62%) strongly believes that He was sinless.
• Seven out of ten adults (70%) say that God is the all-powerful, all-knowing creator of the universe who still rules it today. That includes the 93% of born again adults who hold that conviction.

There is a myth that people in our communities have already been reached.

Among the strongest myths that discourage church planting is the flawed understanding that the United States has already been evangelized. Certainly North American Christians have access to abundant resources of information. Evangelicals listen to Davey Ramsey for financial information, read James Dobson for advice on raising kids, sing along with Third Day or Mercy Me and purchase “Christian” fiction novels. But unchurched persons in the U.S. remain generally untouched because the Christian subculture is not providing a culturally relevant gospel witness.

About ten years ago I had the chance to share the “good news” with a neighbor that was dying of cancer. A week before visiting with him, I decided to visit the small church that was within a mile of his home (our home). The night I visited the pastor gave a stirring message about the need to share the gospel with our neighbors. After the service JJ and I had several people stop us to talk, since we were the new young couple visiting the church. When I shared with one guy about my burden for this neighbor, whom most seemed to know, he said, “I’m sure he knows the gospel.” But I wasn’t satisfied with that answer. Even if he did, shouldn’t we make sure?

I was very nervous and scared to talk with him, because of his usually harsh demeanor. He and I had developed a good relationship and I often would sit with him and watch TV. He affectionately referred to me as, “My little preacher boy”. So I finally got up the courage to ask him where he was in his relationship with Christ and he just looked at me. I shared the message of grace and love with him and that it was Christ sacrifice, not his own efforts that paid the price for his Soul. Because of the look on his face, I asked him had he ever heard that story and his reply,………… “No.” Here was a 60 year old man living within a mile of the church who had never heard the message. He placed his faith in Christ and within a week he saw his savior face to face.

So here is the take away. People don’t know they message. In the South, we have developed a Moralist Deism that recognizes the existence of God and demands that we be good little boys and girls to earn his Love. This is a false Gospel. So remember share the message with others, they may have never heard it.

This is the first in a 3 part series on why we need to plant new churches in churched cultures. These answers come from a resource I received last year during a local weekend conference from George Ross, pastor of Lifepoint Church in Senatobia, MS. I’m often met with many questions, when I share with people that I moved to help with a new church plant. Most of these come from individuals who have been a part of a church for most of their life and really don’t get why anyone should put so much effort in to starting a new church. Hopefully these facts will help

ANSWER: Older Churches are dying while the population is still growing.

Churches in the first decade of the twenty-first century are closing at a phenomenal rated. Around 85% of local churches are on the downside of their life-cycle.

Churches often die because people move out of rural areas to the urban and suburban settings. Yet new churches are not often started in the new areas because they are too close to other established churches of the same denomination. In short there are many more people living in areas where only a few churches exist. See the following church to population ration by Thomas Clegg and Warren Bird:

• In 1900, 27 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 1950, 17 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.
• In 1996, 11 churches existed for every 10,000 Americans.

While the number of churches in the US has increased b just over 50% over the past 100 years, the populations has increased by 300%! There are fewer churches today (per population) than there were in 1906.

I miss MC hammer; but in honor of his classic I thought I’d give you a few simple reminders. If communication is the most important part of a healthy relationship, then prayer is the most important aspect of our relationship with God.  It is the ongoing communication of us talking to God and Him talking to us.  In John 15:7 Jesus said, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you.”  Holding to Jesus teaching are essential and they open the way for us to pray to the father.  Asking or petition prayers are not the only kinds of prayers we should pray.  Sometimes it’s important just to spend time thanking God.  During thanksgiving we recall of the blessing that God has brought in our lives.  Often when I’ve spent time in thanksgiving, I’m left with the sense that I really don’t need to ask for anything since I’ve been so blessed.  There are also times where we confess our sin and short comings to God.  God already knows our hearts before we pray (Matt 6:8); however being transparent before the Father allows us to stay into intimate contact with him.  Finally there are times were we are simple to praise and adore him for who He is.  When we magnify his Greatness and Goodness,  the fears and anxieties of life will fade away.

With love from a grateful son.

I received this email below from a first cousin of mine and couldn’t resist the chance to post the story. I’m proud of both of these women (the one writing and the one being wrote about) in the story, because they both reflect character qualities that were found in the life of our late Grandmother. If some of you guys wonder why I don’t hunt more; then read on. I’m starting to realizing why my Granddad my never really had to hunt either. This is a great story, enjoy!

Hey Y’all,

Just wanted to share a “crazy” event with you! My younger sister, Amber, killed this 280 lb. hog on Saturday evening, January 9, 2010 in the county where we grew up . She and her family and our parents still live there.

Amber has always had a love for “the great outdoors”. At one time, she was the cute thin blonde with a Jeep and a bass boat who could change the oil in a vehicle and maintainence most anything… every guys dream! We are both in our mid 30’s now, raising kids, trying to keep our homes and husbands in check, and she’s a manager with Progressive Insurance. She’s cuter and thinner now than she was back then, minus the Jeep and bass boat. You have to give-in on some things when responsibilities begin to set in.

If I could vote one lady “Woman of the Year” for her drive, ambition, and endurance… it would be her! In the midst of her very busy schedule, she still finds time to stay connected with the extra-curricular activity that she enjoyed before “life happened” and added a lot to her plate! I admire her for that, because in the midst of her major life changes, she has not lost “her identity” as so many individuals feel they do.

There’s another funnier side to this story. When I called her to see if she was really the one who killed the hog, I asked her if she had a picture taken with it. For you non-hunters, it’s a big deal to make sure you have evidence of your kill. The evidence is that you stand, sit, or squat next to it and have a picture taken as proof. This has never been a big deal to Amber. She’s not into all the gloating and bragging that can go along with hunting. It’s her hobbie and “release from the world” for a time. She does sport a few mounted animals in her home… like a bobcat, an 8-point deer in velvet (I think she killed in bow season… I’m not very knowledgeable on all that), and some other things that I know I’ve forgotten about. Getting back to my request for a picture of her with the hog… she said she didn’t have one made. What? Why not? Well, Progressive Insurance was having their end-of-the-year party, that evening and Amber knew she’d only have a limited time to hunt. So, over her attire that she dressed in for a casual party, she put on her hunting “cover-alls” and set out to hunt for the evening…

not knowing she’d kill anything. She had to leave the hog in the field and drive straight to the scheduled work party. Her husband and friend picked up the hog and made the pictures. I laughed so hard when I heard the story. I’m still laughing just thinking about it! She’s a rare diamond… maybe rough around the edges at times… but she’s very precious, valuable, and finds her time to sparkle. She’s probably going to hate this email, because Amber does not like to sparkle. She’s not fru-fru like me, even though looking at her, you’d never know that!

Here’s to you…Amber… sister, daughter, wife, mother, home-keeper, business leader, tractor driver, hunter, fisher, bearing mechanical skills, who changes pampers, keeps up laundry, and has a husband who cooks good…

You’re my “Woman of the Year”! I’m sending this email out to every person I know and will probably be glad, for once, that I live 450 miles from you…. cause I’m pretty sure you could still beat me up like you did when we were younger! Just kidding, not really!

The bigger side to my story about Amber is that we make the time to invest in what we deem important to us. Life is going to happen whether your driving, riding, or being drug through it. Don’t lose focus on the original person God created you to be, and in doing so, live to serve Him.

Amber’s “not-too-much-older” sister,

Tonya Davis Johnson

P.S. You have my permission to pass this on to as many people as you’d like!

Godly goals are those expectations that we can establish based on the Word of God. Godly goals are not dependant on anyone other than ourselves and the LORD. Primarily these have to do with our character and becoming all that God has created and intended for us to become. Godly desires on the other hand are noble expectations that depend on the behavior of others. These are ultimately out of our control. We may desire to have a giving family or a loving church, but while these are certainly godly; they are dependent upon others to bring them about. These godly desires may never come to fruition the way with envision them.

We all live by faith according to our belief system. Our emotions serve as a red flag to signal when to identify a belief that has moved from a desire to a goal. When we sense anger, we can be sure we feel as if someone is standing between us and goal we “must” accomplish”. When anxiety sets in, we may be sensing that one of our goals maybe in jeopardy of coming to fruition. Finally when we become depressed, we may sense that all hope has faded from our goal being accomplished.

In the end we should stop and revaluate our goals and desires and set our expectations based on God’s Word and the things that we can control. People places and things that are beyond our control, we should entrust them to God. However we can stand confident that goals centered around our becoming more like Christ will come to pass. The LORD is faithful and he will accomplish it.

A well done video encouraging people to give.

Matthew 22:1-14 (NIV)

1 Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: 2 “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son.
3 He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come.
4 ”Then he sent some more servants and said, ‘Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.’
5 ”But they paid no attention and went off–one to his field, another to his business.
6 The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them.
7 The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city.
8 ”Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come.
9 Go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’
10 So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, both good and bad, and the wedding hall was filled with guests.
11 ”But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes.
12 ’Friend,’ he asked, ‘how did you get in here without wedding clothes?’ The man was speechless.
13 ”Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’
14 ”For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

The Kingdom is moving on with or without you.

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