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.V. McGee estimates that 75% of the members of the average church might not be genuinely saved.(religious club) Billy Graham states that 80% of those who make salvation decision in his crusades are already on a church roll somewhere.
No people in history have had as many opportunities to hear the truth about God, to learn how salvation can be found by turning to Jesus Christ, than those who live in this country at the end of the 20th Century. Do you realize there are 450,000 churches in the United States. In fact, 24% of protestant congre-gations in the world are in this country. There are 600 religious radio stations, the vast majority run by evangelical Christians, who daily broadcast the message of Jesus Christ to people across the land. Christian TV, Christian publishing, Christian music recording, all communicate the Bible’s message. God has given us so many chances. But, there are so many folks who continue to reject the truth.
WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE?
6 out of 10 Americans believe Satan is only a symbol and not real
47 % of Christians believe the same thing
1 out of 4 Christians believe it doesn’t matter what religion you are because all of them are the same and they all lead to God
31% of Christians believe Heaven can be earned
Daily horoscope reading is equal among Christians and non-Christians
Only 51% of Christians would make it illegal to distribute pornographic material
35% of Christians believe it is ok to bend the rules to get what you want
SOURCE: www.barna.org
In fact, I want to take a look for a moment at an interesting chain of events in Christian history.
• Sunday School teacher Edward Kimball helped lead Dwight L. Moody to Christ;
• J. Wilbur Chapman attended a Dwight L. Moody evangelistic meeting in Chicago in the 1870’s and received personal counseling and an assurance of his salvation from Mr. Moody. He later became a friend and coworker of DL Moody, hiring a former baseball star named Billy Sunday as an advance man for him;
• Billy Sunday held an evangelistic campaign in Charlotte in 1924 and a men’s prayer and fellowship group, originally known as the Billy Sunday Layman’s Evangelistic Club and later renamed as Charlotte Businessmen’s Club (CBMC), grew out of those meetings It was this group that invited Mordecai Ham to Charlotte to hold evangelistic meetings in 1934;
• Mordecai Ham preached a sermon where a 16 year-old young man now known as Billy Graham went forward and received Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior;
• And, Billy Graham has preache...
Deistic Teens- Researchers with the National Study of Youth and Religion have concluded American teens believe in a combination of works based righteousness, religion as psychological well-being, and a distant, non-interfering god. With no place for sin, judgment, salvation, or Christ; their creed is a far cry from Christianity. The study found they believe: • A god exists who created the world and watches over human life. • God wants people to be nice to each other. • The central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about oneself. • God does not need to be involved in one’s life except when needed to resolve a problem.• Good people go to heaven when they die. (World 6/25/05)
How Long Things Last, Frank Kendig and Richard Hutton, 1979
· Experts estimate that if a normal cassette tape is played about 100 times a year, sound quality will deteriorate somewhat after about 10 years. But the tape itself will play on.
· A lightening bolt lasts 45 to 55 microseconds.
· The average running shoe worn by the average runner on an average surface will last 350 to 500 miles.
· A hard pencil can write up to 30,000 words or draw a line more than 30 miles long. Most ball-point pens will draw a line 4,000 to 7,500 feet long.
· Leather combat boots have a wartime life span of six months, a peacetime life span of eight months.
· The projected life span of a baby born in the U.S. today is about 71 years, nearly double what it was at the end of the 18th century. The longest authenticated life span of a human being is 113 years, 214 days. Studies show married people live longer than those who remain single.
· A group of subatomic particles known as unstable hadrons exists for only one one-hundred-sextillionth of a second (10 to the negative 23 second)—less time than it takes light to travel a single inch.
· A 100-watt incandescent bulb will last about 750 hours; a 25-watt bulb, 2,500 hours. The number of times a light bulb is turned on and off has little to do with its life-span.
· A one-dollar bill lasts approximately 18 months in circulation.
· Practice footballs used by professionals last two to three days—a playing life of perhaps five hours. Home teams are required to provide 24 new balls each game and these last only about six minutes of playing time.
A new survey by The Barna Group indicates that terminology used by followers of Jesus Christ reflects a breadth of meanings, and that a fourth of people calling themselves “born again” didn’t rely on God’s grace as their only means to salvation. (Christianity.com 12/1/05)
The Most Popular Methods Of Evangelizing, according to a new Barna study, are praying for others’ salvation (43%), living in such a way as to encourage questions about their faith (40% engaged in “lifestyle evangelism”) and interactive conversations about moral and life issues that hopefully lead to spiritual conclusions (38%). Less common approaches included bringing non-Christians to church services (27%), challenging a non-believers’ behavior on biblical grounds and suggesting alternatives (27%), bringing non-believers to evangelistic events (24%) and handing out evangelistic ...
· Fewer than 1 of every 10 born-again Christians possesses a biblical worldview that impacts his/her decisions and behaviors.
· The people who believe Christianity is losing its influence in our society outnumber those who say its gaining influence by more than 3 to 1. 50% of regular worship service attenders have NOT experienced God’s presence in their lives during the past year.
· The majority of individuals making 1st time salvation decisions in the past year were no longer connected to a Christian church with 8 weeks of their decision.
· There is no statistically significant increase in the proportion of adults who are born again over the last 18 months, even though churches have spent $500 billion on domestic ministry during that period. (Promise Keeper 1/99)
Protestants are more than twice as likely as Catholics to be born again Christians (57% vs. 22%). (Foster Letter 4/15/01)
