Religion The Placebo Effect Vrs. The Renewed Mind By: Minister Speed

Religion

Most Christians are just church goers.  This is what I call A Nominal Christian, or in Name only.  This is what I call Religious people. Their Belief System is so Polluted and Diluted from the Truth of Gods’ Holy Word that what they call the Holy Spirit is nothing but Satan’s Placebo. 

They are devoid of Biblical Truth and therefore cannot realize that their minds have not been renewed and that ANY thoughts they have on God, Christ, Spirituality, or life is a problem.  This is what I call Religion.....

1. Romans 10:17- So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

2. 2 Corinthians 10:5 - Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ.

3. Romans 12:2- And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.

4. 2 Corinthians 4:4 - In whom the god of this world hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them.

5. Romans 8:7- Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.

6. John 8:32-And you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

7. Ephesians 4:22-24 exhorts us to "... put off concerning the former conversation (behavior) the old man (old self), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind; and that ye put on the new man (the new self), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

8.  2 Corinthians 11:14, And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

A Placebo is a substance that has delusional positive effects as a result of a patient's perception that it is beneficial rather than as a result of a relevant ingredient.  In medicine a Placebo is a pharmacologically inactive substance or a sham procedure administered as a control in testing the effectiveness of a drug or course of action. 

In all cases 100% of the time the person giving the Placebo does not know he has been administered something that is not real.

To put it as simple as possible, a Placebo in Christianity Is a psychological and emotional attachment to a church house, religion, denomination or a man.  These people have a psychological loyalty to the philosophy and traditions to their Placebo Christianity.  

A Christian under a Placebo effect is a person who has not responded in repentance and faith to Jesus Christ as his personal Savior and Lord. There is no Transformative Power although this person professes belief, faith and love in Christ.

As a minister, I truly believe  that "nominalism or the Placebo effect is a major issue and that the majority of the  Christian populations know nothing of a personal faith, true repentance, and a trust in the finished work of Christ for their salvation.

Some have drank poison willingly, spent thousands of dollars attempting to appease God, neglected their own families and fell prey to many scams and schemes because of the counselings and teachings of the Placebo effect.

Colossians 2:6-9, as ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him: 7 Rooted and built up in him, and established in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving. 8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. 9 For in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

A Recovered Mind is a Renewed Mind

Romans 12:1-2 tells us that the way we are "transformed," the way we learn to live Christ's Life, is by the renewing of our minds - putting off our own negative and corrupt thinking and putting on God's Thoughts.  As we continue in our series on being transformed by the renewing of our minds , we want to cover two important questions. 1) What is "mind renewal?"  and, 2) Why is "mind renewal" so important?

Ephesians 4:22-24 exhorts us to "... put off concerning the former conversation (behavior) the old man (old self), which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind ; and that ye put on the new man (the new self), which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness."

A "renewed mind," then, is one that has done two things: It has "put off" any sin (any hurt, doubt, fear, rebellion, self-centeredness, lust, bitterness, etc.), any corrupt thinking, or any barrier that would quench God's Spirit and has "put on" the Mind of Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).

Renewing our minds is not simply "changing" our thoughts, but actually putting off the old, negative thoughts as well as putting on God's Thoughts.  In other words, we can't just say to God, "Lord, give me Your Thoughts," and somehow expect Him to "automatically" give us His Mind.  We must first put off our own self-centered thinking by confessing, repenting, and then giving it to God.  At this point, we can then put on the Mind of Christ.

To renew" means to exchange one thing for another.  In other words, when we put off and put on, we're exchanging our thinking for God's.  If we're not willing to Set Aside and relinquish our own thoughts, then our thinking process will never be renewed and our lives will never be transformed.

Reasons A Mind Renewal Is So Important

There are many reasons why "mind renewal" is critical.  But there are several reasons worth pointing out in this series:  God wants us to have His Mind (His thoughts, His viewpoint) in every situation.

He wants us to have the supernatural ability to discern everything that happens to us from His vantage point and His perspective, and not get dominate down and buried by our own negative thoughts and feelings or by what we can "see" going on.  If we can see from His perspective, then we'll be able to "soar" above our circumstances, our problems, and our trials and not get buried under them.

An Example of A Renewed Mind

Joseph in the Old Testament, I believe, is a wonderful example of someone who was able to see all that happened to him from God's perspective.

The story goes like this: Joseph, the most beloved of all the sons of Jacob, had a dream.  However, he made the mistake of telling his brothers the dream.  His brothers were already jealous of him because he was their father's favorite.  But after hearing Joseph's dream, they were resentful and determined to get rid of him any way they could.

The brothers put Joseph in a pit and finally sold him to the Midianites.  The Midianites, in turn, sold Joseph to Potiphar, an officer in Pharaoh's guard.  After an incident with Potiphar's wife, however, in which she tricked Joseph by making it look like he had seduced her, Joseph was sent to prison (Genesis 39).

While in prison, Joseph met the King's baker and butler and did them a favor by interpreting their dreams.  He begged them to remember him when they were released from jail.  However, when it came time that the chief butler was released, he soon forgot Joseph and his favors. 

I'm sure you know the rest of the story.  Two more years went by when Pharaohs dreamed a dream and the chief butler finally remembered Joseph in prison and the interpretation of his own dreams.  Pharaoh’s men contacted Joseph, released him, and eventually Joseph became Pharaoh’s right-hand man.

Joseph was only 17 years old when his brothers threw him into the pit to be sold, and he was well over 30 when pharaoh finally released him.  He had been "in bondage" for over 13 years!

Now you know Joseph must have struggled with "justified" hurts, resentments and bitterness.  He was not a "super saint," but a human being just like us.  Scripture tells us, however, that all who saw Joseph "knew God was with him." (Genesis 39:3) 

Somehow, in spite of all the horrendous circumstances and all the justified natural emotions Joseph must have had, his countenance and his life actions still showed forth his love of God.

The only way Joseph could possibly have made this impression was by constantly "putting off" his own natural bitterness and resentments and putting on God's wisdom and understanding, thereby being able to see all that happened to him not from his own viewpoint, but from God's. 

This is validated in Genesis 50:20 when Joseph finally meets up with his brothers and says to them, "...ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as it is this day, to save much people alive." 

This is an incredible response.  It's not a natural reaction.  Humanly, I'm sure Joseph would have loved to have had his revenge, but that's not how he acted.  He saw all things that had happened to him as being used for God's purposes in his own life.

Do we "see" like this in your own trials?  Do we see all the things that God has allowed in our lives as being used for our good?  I know I still have a long way to go in being able to do this continually.

Joseph received the Promises of God

He knew a new freedom and a new happiness.

He did not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it.

He comprehended the word serenity.

He knew peace.

No matter how far down the scale he had gone,

He saw how his experience could benefit others.

His feelings of uselessness and self-pity disappeared.

He lost interest in selfish things and gain insight in his fellows.

Self-seeking slipped away.

His whole attitude and outlook changed.

Fear of people and economic insecurity left him.

He intuitively knew how to handle situations which used to baffle him.

He suddenly realize that God is doing for him what he could not do for himself.

Are these extravagant Promises for God? 

By the way, there were no psychologists and no psychiatrists in Joseph's day.  Yet somehow, Joseph was able to become free from his traumatic past (and his dysfunctional family), and his life was transformed anyway.

It takes constant discipline not to give in to our negative thoughts and emotions that are trying to crush and drown us.  Often, it seems like it would just be easier to give in and let our own feelings rule.  But, you know what happens if we do that?  Those negative thoughts and emotions "take us captive," and then we'll drown for sure. The devil works in our feelings and emotions.

This, of course, is exactly what Satan wants!  He revels in our bondage to our own negative thoughts.  He wants us totally immersed and consumed in our own problems, bound to him by our hurts, our fears, our pain, our wounds and our circumstances (chains of sin) because then we'll see everything that happens to us from our own horizontal viewpoint and not from God's perspective or the Mind of Christ.  As a result, we won't be transformed into God's image, but simply conformed to the world's image and the Gospel won't be passed on.

The Eagle

Scripture often refers to the eagle as a symbol of this renewing process.  Psalm 103:5 says that "our youth will be renewed like the eagle."  "Youth" here, I believe, refers to the "original image" that God created us to have - His Love, His Wisdom and His Power.  As we renew our minds, it's true, we'll be transformed back into God's Image, which is what God intended for us all along.

One of the reasons I believe God uses the eagle as a symbol of this transformation process is that the eagle is the only bird whose whole physical strength is literally renewed after each molting season.  In other words, only after the eagle has "put off" his old feathers, so to speak, does he actually receive "new" physical strength to soar above his enemies.

It's the same with us.  When we "put off" the old and "put on" the new, we too receive God's supernatural strength to soar above our enemies (Isaiah 59:19).

Another reason I believe God uses the eagle as a symbol of our renewal and transformation is because the eagle again comes from the only bird family that has "telescopic sight," a kind of "zoom-in-focus" lens.  An eagle can search out objects literally miles away (indistinguishable to the human eye).  Eagles can see a quarter from over 200 yards away and a rabbit from over a mile away.  This, of course, increases their ability to judge and discern the true situation.

It's the same with us.  Our minds, when renewed by God's Spirit, have the same supernatural ability.  We are able to judge, discern and pick up things that the natural eye (natural mind) would never be able to see or understand.  We are given the supernatural wisdom and ability to discern the true situation and see everything that happens to us from God's vantage point.

Lastly when it comes to the eagle I've found out that in a severe storm the eagle does one thing that no other bird can do.  When it is caught in a storm it instinctively locks its wings and soars above the storm without effort.  This puts this bird due to its size and power at the top of the food chain as apex predators in the avian world.  They are on the highest level in their world.

 Isaiah 40:31, They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

These are the true over-comers.  "Overcoming" simply means freedom from self, freedom from our circumstances and freedom from others' responses and freedom from what my carnal resentful mind is telling me.

Having a renewed mind, putting off our own negative thoughts and putting on the Mind of Christ is the only way we can begin to see everything that happens to us from God's perspective and not get buried by our own.

High Impact Christianity In A Low Impact World By Minister Speed

Prayer For High Impact Christianity In A Low Impact World

Father I come to you boldly as a son to his Father and I greet you in the name of Jesus  your son because you have said that there is none other name given under heaven whereby men must be saved except the name of Jesus.

Father I adore you and praise you because you are worthy to be praised.  You have brought me from darkness to a place of light, and redeem me out of the hand of the enemy, and for this I will give you all the glory.

Father I enter into your courts with praise and your gates with thanksgiving, and my desire is to dwell in your presence because it is there that I find strength and security.

Father I confess my sins before you, and I repent in the name and after the nature of Jesus the Messiah and I ask as a son that you hear my prayer and that this word goes to you unheeded by any demonic activity.

Father I come in the place of all my brothers and sisters who may be in trouble right now, those who don’t know your word or your will, and I intercede on their behalf and by faith cover them with the shed blood of the Holy One, Jesus the Christ .

Father as your son I submit to your will and your ways and I humbly ask that you use me as a Master would use that which belongs to him.  Conform me by any means necessary to your image and after your likeness and I will not forget to give you all the glory because you are worthy of all the praise. 

Amen and Hallelujah

This lesson comes at a time when the world is as it has never been before.  This world has progressively moved away from the will of God to a position of complete enmity against the words, will, and ways of God.

This lesson will be broken down into 3 Points.  They will instruct you on how to develop a high impact Christian lifestyle and will teach you how to cultivate that which you have developed.

Historically speaking when I speak to you of the world I will be speaking to you from the Christian understanding as given by scripture.

Webster dictionary defines The World as the globe or planet Earth, everything that exist anywhere.  The secular concerns of the Earth and its affairs i.e. a worldly person.  A system of governments, people, creatures and plant life.

These definitions are by nature designed to keep one in a state of delusion and its patterns are designed to promote a self generation of the working of the flesh producing anti-godly, anti- Christian beliefs, thoughts, and actions of which the end result is eternal death.

Throughout scripture the world is mentioned as the enemy against God and the key element which prevents us from living the high impact Christian lifestyle that Christ has called us to.

Through the Holy Spirit we have put together a definition that should help you to define the true nature of the world and enable you to see it from a godly perspective.

“The world is a system of beliefs and thinking, an ideology created by Satan to develop in mankind the self generation of sin.  This system includes anti Christian ideas involving the family, education, governments and politics, medicine, sex, marriage, the economy, races, and television”.

In other words the end of the world would not be the end of birds and trees but the end of a system.

If the world is against God then the world has lost its god…ly mind.

If that is the case then we need to come out of the world.

Please turn to the Word of God, the book of James chapter 4:4.  From this verse I will be reading from the NIV which reads “You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God?  Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God”.

What a powerful statement from God.  The word adulterer used here comes from the Greek word Mochiea.  Literally translated it means sexual intercourse with a third party during marriage.

Throughout history and in this verse God has described His relationship with Israel and now the church as a marriage. God’s people often after entering into a marriage commitment with Him stray away to other gods and ways of worship. 

In James 4:4  He is not talking to non Christians but He point blanks calls His people who deliberately participate in the ways of the world adulterous or the mixing of pure with impure.

In our desire to develop a High impact Christian lifestyle we can now see the need to Identify the deception of the world, develop a lifestyle according to the word of God and cultivate that lifestyle into a high impact Christian life with the ability to sustain oneself through the high and low spots that are sure to come.

This message is intended to help you to develop a high impact Christian lifestyle.  It has been designed to enable you to cultivate a spiritual fitness ministry so that you may be fit for the race ahead.

I will be making points in helping you to developing this high impact Christian lifestyle.  My intent is to point you in the right direction so that you may identify the things in your daily walk that may be missing or lacking which would prevent you from the high impact lifestyle. 

Remember our goal is high impact and will require a reconditioning from the old status quo twice a week church attendance which has been the norm among many born again believers in this day.

Point 1

RENEW--- Many born again believers are so ingrain into the system of the world that even after accepting Christ there remain many strongholds which would prevent them from having the impact that God has in store for us.  

Many falsely believe that just being a Christian brings about a renewed mind but the bible clearly states that faith without works is dead or not real faith but a deluded state of mind. 

The book of James chapter 4:7 reads submits yourselves therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.  Many misquote this verse by just stating the “resist the devil and he will flee” part, but they unconsciously omit the beginning statement submit yourselves to God. 

There can be no understanding of the devil let alone resisting him without first submitting to God.  There can be no submitting to God without the true knowledge of His son Jesus Christ and the Principles He has set forth in His words to bring about in us a High impact lifestyle in a world gone mad.

Please turn to Roman 12:2.  This scripture give us definite insight on how we are to change our thinking so that we can develop a positive and impacting life.  It reads in the NIV, “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”.

The word of God states that “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold all things are become new”.  1 Cor. 5:17

This suggests that the mind you got saved with has to change.  You can’t stay full on a steak you ate last week and the mind you possess operates on the same principles.  It needs constant feeding in the ways and word of God to properly develop.

I have listed four tools within Point 1 to help you to renew your mind. 

1. Constant reading and listening to the word of God.  This will strengthen your relationship with the Holy Spirit and increase your faith because faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.

2. Those things you can change, change.  You’ve got to submit to God and consciously remove those things that you know are an offense to God and a stumbling block to your high impact lifestyle.  For me these things include the removal of all alcohol, cigarettes, night club lifestyle and also certain foods that I have completely given up for the benefit of my temple.  This is not an overnight matter but should continue for a lifetime. 

3.  As you go throughout your day remember the worlds’ main goal is to pull you in and infiltrate your mind with the simple things of the world that we take for granted.  Pause throughout your day and say simple and very short prayers that are connected to what’s going on in the now.

 4.  Find a word based church that teaches biblical Christianity.  When you find that church place yourself in a position to be of service and know that high impact and low impact are on the opposite ends of the spectrum.  The bible says be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.  Half measures avails us nothing.  We must become willing to be completely sold out for Jesus Christ if we are to reach our goals.

 Point 2

RESTORE--- The word restore means to return to its original or usable and functioning condition, to regenerate or return to life.  In the case of the high impact lifestyle, the definition I will use is to get or give new life or energy. 

After my mind is renew on a day to day basis of reading the word of God and marinating in the Holy Spirit of God, you will begin to develop fruits, and the gifts of the spirit begin to manifest themselves in your life.  

I am now able to be used by God, in service to my pastor and the regional church I belong to.   Oftentimes at this level we can experience burnout because while we are not dominated by this world we still have worldly obligation which pulls us often to the brink of exhaustion. 

It is often said that money, property, and prestige divert us from our primary purpose in service to Christ, those in the faith and the world about us.  For this reason we must experience new life and energy from the Father above. 

Please turn to the word of God the book of Psalm 23:1-3 KJV version.  It reads “The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul. It then goes on to say He leads me in the path of righteous for His name’s sake”. 

We can see that God the Father is the restorer and all of our strength should rest in Him.  We can also read that after our soul (which is our mind, will, and emotions) is restored God leads us in the path of righteous for the furtherance of His kingdom and the name of Jesus Christ.

Restoration is God’s business but it only happens when we store up our treasure in Him and not those things of the world.  We have been commanded to be in the world and not of the world. 

When we allow Him to lead us as our shepherd then the pull of this world is but a glance to the eternity of His promises in our lives.  I now become willing to turn my will, my emotions, and my life over to God so that He can restore me so that I may continue a high impact Christian lifestyle.

Point 3

Revival—the world revival is a worn out concept in the sense that at this stage in developing a high impact Christian lifestyle, we are seeking to develop newness with Christ.  

In my new book " A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier" I suggest that“The very word revival suggests a degradation of the very instrument which gives the church its very essence and influence.  This is the power of the Holy Spirit without which there is spiritual death.  This proves, conclusively, that if there is a dramatic need for REVIVAL in which there is a worldwide cry to God, then there must be a cataclysmic failure of the church to move, operate, and be led under the auspices of the Holy Spirit”.

Again in Revelation 21:5 KJV Jesus states behold I make all things new.  This newness cannot be redone over from the past because the word new indicates a quality that exists now that has never existed before. 

In this, the last point in developing a high impact Christian lifestyle in a low impact world, we will define a new word for a new person with a new lifestyle. 

I call this word “Newvival”.  I have define a newvivalist as high impact men and women who have been fill with new wine from the Holy Spirit in these the last days.  These men and women are completely sold out to being conform to the image and after the likeness of Jesus Christ.  As you cannot put new wine into old wineskin they are called new wineskin and are able to let go of old archaic traditions which make the word of God to no effect.

They are innovators and adapt early to different non denominational and non traditional methods of reaching souls that are lost in Christ.  They are leaders of the next church which the Holy Spirit is ushering in to reap a harvest in a world where God does not exist. 

In Closing, Saints, God is doing a new thing. Since the death of Christ, He is leaving the old and pouring out new wine (His Spirit) and using new wineskin (people). You must become willing to let go of traditions and old techniques and ways of doing things, and in this the last days, become early and creative adapters  breaking all traditions and in the way Gods’ word is delivered.     

Selah

How to Renew your Mind By Minister Speed

There is no Christian success or progress after you get born again without the renewing of your mind.

The sad part is if you become a believer and go to a church that doesn't teach the word of God then your mind will stay the same, and your mind will probably end up relapsing into some other things that were worse than you've done previously done in life.

The Bible, this ministry, my book and my teachings are all standing on "How to Renew the Mind."

What is renewing the mind? Roman 12:2 states "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God."

It's when you take your way of thinking and beliefs and place them upon the word of God.

You know your mind is renewed when your thinking is aligned up precisely to what God is thinking.

What God said is right, you believe is right, and what God said is wrong you believe is wrong. It's that simple people.  You can’t agree with what the world says is right and think you’re child of God.  

In James 4:4 it reads "Ye adulterers and adulteresses (those who agree with and align themselves to the ways of the world), know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God".

When you Renew your mind and it's aligned to what God says then you are Holy.

Many folk have been waiting all their life to understand this concept of holiness. They think that wearing certain clothes or the music you listen to or no make-up is holiness.  While those things make a difference in our relationship with the world, the truth is Holiness is a direct result of having the mind of Christ.

The bible states in 1 Peter 1:16, "Be ye Holy even as He (God) is Holy. There it is right there. It is being of One mind with Him who has all power.

You see to renew your mind and be transformed by the Word of God is to achieve holiness. You do this through the reading and application of God's word.

Remember the bible says without holiness no man can see the lord.

If you're not in the word then it is impossible to have a renewed mind. You can become a believer and your life will remain the same with the same addicted desires and behaviors that you had before you became a believer if you do not renew your mind.

This new book "A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier has been developed with this one thought in mine. To enable you to study the word of God and apply its principle to TODAY'S problems and issues so that we can move forward in God's Kingdom.

The Decline of Christianity In America. By Minister Speed

Are we witnessing the decline of Christianity in America? When you examine all of the most recent poll numbers, the answer is inescapable. Christian churches in America are losing members rapidly, and this trend is especially dramatic among young Americans. According to a stunning new survey by America's Research Group, 95 percent of 20 to 29 year old evangelicals attended church regularly during their elementary and middle school years. However, only 55 percent of them attended church regularly during high school, and only 11 percent of them were still regularly attending church when in college.


Those numbers have got to be incredibly sobering to the evangelical Christian leadership in the United States. The reality is that young Americans are deserting the Church in America in droves. The other day we came across an article in Advertising Age that blew us away.

The article was discussing marketing and religion, but what impacted us so profoundly were some figures from the American Religious Identification Survey by the Institute for the Study of Secularism in Society & Culture at Trinity College. According to that survey, 15% of Americans now say they have "no religion" which is up from 8% in 1990.

That would be bad enough news for evangelical Christianity. But there is some more news from that survey that is much worse. In that same survey, 46% of Americans between the ages of 18 to 34 indicated that they had no religion. Forty. Six. Percent.


It is important to realize that not all of those 46 percent are unbelievers. According to a survey by Bohan Advertising/Marketing, the Barna Group and the United Methodist Church, 62 percent of Americans in that age group consider themselves to be "spiritual" (see my note entitled "what is spirituality), and 43 percent of them have prayed to some higher power in the last 2 months. But what it does mean is that almost half of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 34 do not identify themselves with any particular religion.


Remember in my new book entitled "A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier" I wrote: "Many do not understand that millions under the age of thirty have no God consciousness. They have not accepted the tenants of Christianity and live a pagan lifestyle reflecting an if it feels good, then it must be good mindset. They are technologically advanced, politically astute, educationally empowered, but lack the necessary moral compass derived from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. 

In a way, they are a reflection of our brothers and sisters within the church who gives them credence to remain ignorant in God because they see no value or difference between Christianity and this world. To them the average Christian is hypocritical, ignorant, and a microorganism of the world itself".


When you look at more recent poll numbers for Christianity in particular, the numbers become even more staggering. Another new survey by the Barna group reveals that less than "1" percent of all Americans between the ages of 18 and 23 hold a Biblical worldview. This new poll data clearly demonstrates that the youngest adults in America are clearly rejecting traditional evangelical Christian teaching.


The Barna survey defined "a Biblical worldview" as holding all of the following six key beliefs: 1) Believing that absolute moral truth exists. 2) Believing that the Bible is completely accurate in all of the principles it teaches. 3) Believing that Satan is considered to be a real being or force, not merely symbolic. 4) Believing that a person cannot earn their way into Heaven by trying to be good or by doing good works. 5) Believing that Jesus Christ lived a sinless life on earth. 6) Believing that God is the all-knowing, all-powerful creator of the world who still rules the universe today.


So what do all of these poll numbers mean? They mean that evangelical Christianity has totally lost almost an entire generation of American young people. Meanwhile, the Christian Science Monitor recently published an article about the "coming evangelical collapse" that they believe is coming. They openly predict that "within two generations, evangelicalism will be a house deserted of half its occupants." Ouch!

The reality is that nearly all Christian denominations are rapidly losing members at this point. The most recent American Religious Identification Survey demonstrates this fact very clearly. According to that survey, the percentage of Americans who call themselves Christians has dropped more than 11% since 1990.

The survey also reports that Catholics, Baptists and other mainline Protestant churches have seen very large drops in numbers. However, Islam, Wicca and eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism showed large gains in the survey. The long-term trends look even more frightening for the churches in America. According to LifeWay Research, membership in Southern Baptist churches will fall nearly 50 percent to around 8.7 million Americans by the year 2050 if current trends continue.

But even more bad news for evangelical Christianity in America is that those who still call themselves Christians do not necessarily hold to traditional Christian beliefs any longer. Two other recent surveys reveal that the majority of American Christians believe that accepting Jesus Christ as savior is NOT the only way to eternal life. USAToday recently reported on an almost unbelievable new survey that found that 52 percent of American Christians believe that eternal life is not exclusively for those who accept Jesus Christ as their savior.


A different survey that was taken last year by the Pew Research Center's Forum on Religion & Public Life found that 57 percent of evangelical Christians in America believe that "many religions can lead to eternal life". That shocking study revealed what many evangelical leaders have known for a long time - large number of "Christians" in the United States are throwing traditional Christian doctrines into the dumpster. Evangelical Christians have traditionally been those who follow the teachings of the Bible most literally.

But these new surveys indicate that even a majority of them do not believe in the most fundamental precepts of the Christians faith any longer. For example, in John 14:6 Jesus says the following: "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." If there was another way for our sins to be forgiven, then why did Jesus need to die on the cross? If there were other ways to salvation, then Jesus could have come down to earth, pointed out a bunch of other ways to get to heaven, and then could have gone back up to heaven without having to deal with the cross.

But the reality is that there was no other way for our sins to be paid for. And yet these new surveys reveal that a majority of American Christians now believe that there are plenty of other ways to get to heaven.


The Pew survey referenced above also revealed that 45% of Americans say that they seldom or never read their religion's holy books. Perhaps if more American Christians were actually reading the Bible they would know what is truth and what is error. Instead, American Christians have surrounded themselves with preachers and self-help coaches and "feel-good" ministers who tell them what they want to hear, who always make them feel comfortable and who never, ever tell them about sin, holiness or the judgment of God.

The current situation in the churches of America reminds us of 2 Timothy 4:3..... For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.


The reality is that past generations of America faithfully filled up churches across the nation that were preaching the Word of God, but today the vast majority of Americans stay home from church each week, and many of the churches that are still drawing crowds are watering down their messages as much as they can in a desperate attempt to hold on to the people who are still there. Dave Olson, the director of church planting for the Evangelical Covenant Church, has done some really interesting research into the church attendance patterns of Americans.

Olson's research found that the percentage of Americans that regularly attend church is only 18.7%. In addition, his research shows that if current trends continue, the percentage of the U.S. population that attends church each week in 2050 will be about half of what it is today. All of these polls and surveys tell us the same thing: Christianity in America is in a serious state of decline - especially among young people.


Many Christian leaders who read this article will try to deny it or will try to make excuses. But all of these polls are not lying. The truth is that we need to examine ourselves. Is God moving where you worship? Do our churches look like the authentic Christian movement that we read about in the book of Acts? Are our lives significantly different from what we see in the world? Are our services lifeless, joyless exercises in futility? Do we truly have great love for one another and a passion to reach people with the gospel of Jesus Christ? 

If we want any chance to win back the next generation, then we are going to have to get back to the real thing. If you do not have "the real thing" in your church, then it is time to start asking yourself some really hard questions.

A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier, By Minister Speed

The book A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier is intended to be the first in a series of three books which speaks candidly and unapologetically of the satanic deceptions and failures within what the Minister calls the false and apostate church which parallels the Church of Jesus Christ today.  

A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier is a wake up call.   It is a call of obedience to the word and will of God.  It is a call to lay aside traditional lip service and pick up the banner of Jesus Christ.  This book is a declaration for sobriety from the intoxication of worldly ideologies which run rampant in the Church of God where Jesus Christ is LORD. 

  This new book, the first in this series by Minister Speed has invaded an area of great conflict, “The Spiritual Warfare Within,” and addresses issues of great concern including the failure of Church leadership, and the lack of Power so evident and present in the church today.

He also offers a critical look at the passive, placating, and politically correct spirit which runs rampant throughout the church today. 

Minister Speed is an innovator in his word method delivery, and his compassion for the lost is only matched by his desire to see others come to know God through Jesus Christ as he has and have their lives restored.  

This book, while controversial is a rich and rare blend of personal intensity, scriptural integrity. and practical insight.  If you want to reach for the higher calling of God, to truly develop and condition your spirit man, then I highly recommend A Declaration to the Spiritual Soldier.  

This book will revolutionize the way in which you perceive God, yourself, and the world around you.

To purchase a copy of this dynamic new book

Send $20.00 plus $2.00 shipping/handling To:

Jimmie Speed

P.O Box 246584

Sacramento, CA. 95824