“I know your works. You have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God.” Revelation 3:1b-2
April 6, 2026
You say, “how can a church be alive but dead?” The sobering thought is that a Christian and a church can succumb to self-deception by losing touch with spiritual reality. Have I personally become void of real vitality and genuine faithfulness? Erwin Lutzer in his book, We Will Not Be Silenced, calls the church in America to wake up to the danger of “submitting to culture’s most enticing temptations and justifying this in the name of compassion, love, and cultural relevance. We are willingly being deceived.” In Sardis there was a famous cemetery only seven miles from the city. A fitting symbol of the spiritual condition of the Sardian church. There are powerful forces of evil that threaten not only the sustainability of our nation but also the church of Jesus Christ. Culture’s sexual revolution is demanding bowed knees to its worldview. A wedge is being driven between the authority of the Scriptures and the Christian. The preference “for a doctrine of desire, a theology in keeping with fleshly appetites” is taking its toll. The overcoming power is “developing a love for Christ that is greater than our love of sin” (Lutzer). Repentance of the key word. A radical turn is what is called for. Is that my need in this hour?
H
Reflections:
What television and cable programs/movies am I most drawn to?
Are there certain moral/ethical issues that I tend to avoid lest I offend people?