The recent devastation and loss of life caused by the tornadoes that ripped through Texas and Oklahoma this past week have been difficult to witness. For many of us, we will never fully understand what it is like to experience this kind of loss.
I absolutely believe that divine judgment is in the earth today, and I reject the teaching that states that from the cross until the Second Coming, God’s wrath will not be poured out on the earth. There is a substantial amount of New Testament evidence that stands against this doctrine.
I’d never heard a sermon on Deuteronomy 23:1 until last month, when my Puerto Rican friend Luis Roig had the courage to read the text out loud to a group of men in Florida. When he did, one guy gasped and fell on the floor. Several others laughed nervously, and we all drew our knees together and groaned.
Nine out of 10 churches in America are declining or growing at a pace slower than the rate of their communities. Churches limp along as members drift out the proverbial back door. So what can church leaders do to stop the exodus? Thom S. Rainer, president of LifeWay Christian Resources and best-selling author, sees this as a symptom of an underlying problem in most churches.
“You have the faith of your mother, Eunice, and your grandmother, Lois. That is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you…” (2 Timothy 1.5-6).
