Solutions June 2017 | Page 23

Kingdom Shift: Are You Part of The Prophetic Time and Season of God? By Dr. Dana Carson We live in a climate that is increasingly becoming anti-Christian in the 21st century. When you watch the news, you will find an age-old inscription on our money, “In God We Trust,” being challenged by the atheist movement. This movement is becoming so prevalent that even the church’s long accepted tax- exempt status is being challenged. Unfortunately, if an atheist encounters a Christian, very few can explain or defend their faith. Most Christians have a ‘belief’ in God, but do not know anything about the Bible or the faith. It is perfectly acceptable to have been raised in the church and yet be unable to lead a Bible study. From a literal perspective that makes most Christians modern day agnostics. The Christian church in America is dying and seemingly not trying to shift within the new season. Statistics suggest that 8,000 to 10,000 churches are closing down every year. Some statistics suggests that over 80% of churches have not changed their worship service since the 1940’s. Overall numbers suggests that the current way of worship is not reaching nor attracting the younger generation for Christ. Another statistic reports that 59% of young people who are raised in the Christian church will become atheist or unchurched in their adult years, which will simply add to the atheist movement that is prevailing in the 21st century. People compare their churches to others, and the theme song is “My church is better than your church.” The rise of mega-churches is illusory and is not a true indicator of growth. These mega-churches are not growing based on their conversion of sinners or biological growth but based on transfer growth. And the future looks even worse: 50% of millennials, those born after 1982, have no connection with the church at all. When we consider our present day church, it’s apparent that the message being preached is mostly church tradition and not the message, mission, and mandate of the Kingdom of God. We are in a very dangerous position in Christendom in the western world. Clearly, the church is in a backslidden state. The church has become a sociological phenomenon, which represents racism, classism, sexism, and denominationalism, and it has created a great divide. These Solutions 23