I remember when teenage classes went from solid Bible study to looking at nothing but social issues. Racism. Abortion. Women's liberation. It was contemporary. It was cool. It was also mindless.
That generation, which was raised on pablum, now has assumed the positions of leadership, and they're clueless as to what they're supposed to be doing. They don't realize it, but they've discarded the Bible as their sole source and guide. Now they are so ignorant, they evaluate the efficacy of a "sermon" in terms of entertainment value.
And today's preachers are loving it. I could tell you stories, but suffice to say, today's sermons can be thrown together in fifteen or twenty minutes, literally. They rest of their time they can sit in their office playing computer games.
When I used to preach, it literally took me fifteen to twenty hours per sermon to prepare. In the church of Christ, preachers delivered (back then), two sermons each Sunday. That was in addition to two Bible classes weekly. I also had a weekly radio program and a weekly television broadcast.
And all this was before computers and the internet. My audience was similarly raised on solid Bible teaching, and they could tell if I had done my homework. It was difficult, but it made me grow.
Then I retired from preaching and began visiting area congregations. I was horrified at the dumbing down of the church that has taken place in the last several decades. After several years of perpetual visiting, my wife and I got so tired of leaving worship, having benefitted nothing, that we now worship in our home, using only the Bible as our source and guide. We've been doing that for two or three years, studying scripture in detail. We're about halfway through Isaiah, a fascinating and intriguing book, as you well know.
Best of luck to you in your quest and may God always bless you with the absolute best that life has to offer. And may God bless our once great nation, a nation that used to love and serve Him, but has lost its way. Like Israel, I fear He is now, because of our disobedience and apathy, giving our country to our enemies.
Thank you for your reply.
I agree with you.
I don’t mean to be rude, but I can’t help this feeling that we are speaking PAST each other.
I’m a solutions type guy. So, the HOW we got here and the What to do about it, is what is on my mind.
Did you watch the Ken Ham video ?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r0Py3IbbEQ4
I would really like to extend this discussion in a more constructive direction.