Good morning on this Saturday, November 17th. In my recent blogs I have highlighted the rise of atheism, agnosticism and secularism in America and the corresponding decline in Christian influence. I wrote of the need for sweeping revival as our greatest remedy to reverse this trend and restore Christian faith and values as the predominate influence in our society. I also detailed the application of the revival formula found in 2 Chronicles 7:14, i.e., humbling ourselves, praying, seeking God's face and turning from our sinful ways.

We desperately need strong Christian influencers in key areas of our culture. Those who occupy key positions of leadership and influence in our society greatly influence the attitudes, values, and behavior of the masses. Here are some suggestions:

(1) We need Godly influencers in media. Hollywood and television have been overtaken with secularists who promote their values in movies, television shows, and other programming. Committed Christians are usually presented as nuts or hypocrites and sinful ways are not only featured, but often glorified. Wholesome entertainment is in the minority and illicit sex, violence, drugs and hedonism (pleasure pursuit) predominate. Media producers and writers are largely committed to a secular agenda which at the least ignores Christianity, and at the most belittles or attacks it. Would to God we had more fully-devoted followers of Jesus Christ producing programs and being responsible for their content. The average person spends many hours each day in front of the TV and its influence is substantial, especially over long periods of time. I read that by the time a child reaches young adulthood s/he has been exposed to 100,000 sexual references, most of them illicit. Do you think that isn't having significant influence upon their thinking, beliefs, and activities?

(2) During my 12 years of college and graduate school education, half was in Christian institutions and half was in secular. I took courses at numerous secular universities during my career and, believe me, I heard plenty of anti-Christian propaganda presented in the classroom as truth. Anti-Biblical values were presented in a variety of classes, and if I would not have had a strong Biblical foundation, I could have been greatly influenced by what I was being taught. We need Christian teachers and professors throughout our educational systems who will influence students based upon Christian values not humanism. Mark Milioni, the new president of BBC, reported that 75% of our graduating high school seniors are going to secular universities and while there 85% of them will drop out of church. Now that is a telling statistic!

(3) We need Christians in positions of influence in government at every level (local, state and national), in business, in unions, in newspapers, in medicine, in law, and in every other profession.

(4) Preachers need to return to fearlessly preaching the whole-counsel of God not ear-tickling, feel-good sermons and who will lead their churches to take a strong stand for right and wrong. Remember the Biblical warning, "Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20).

That's my two-cents worth as my grandmother used to say.
I hope to see you in church tomorrow when I preach another message in the series, It Is All About Jesus.
Mel Brown