What would a world without God look like? When a people leave God out of their lives and omit Him from the problems of living in this world, the result is what we have seen the past few weeks. Without God we live in a world where a policeman, sworn to uphold the law, would take a life needlessly of another human being. George Floyd did not deserve to die that way and at that time. Without God we live in a world where instead of prayer and faith, we turn to looting in the streets. Burning buildings, stealing, and wreaking havoc in so many ways. Without God, we elect governmental leaders who talk as though they may be out of their minds. Truth for them no longer matters, right is relative, and whatever it takes to stay in office is the right thing to do. Without God, it becomes obvious that every life is not precious but expendable. Beginning with unborn babies, they are done away with; in one city last week 65 people were murdered. On Monday of this week in the same city a record number of killings took place. If one desires a world without God, then we have clearly seen what it looks like.

Through the darkness of the past weeks, we have seen glimmers of light. Some Good Samaritans (Christians) go quietly through the city streets cleaning the trash, washing the graffiti off walls, etc. Prayer meetings are held such as ours in Dequincy last Thursday. Godly men and women calling people to turn to God rather than to revenge, hate, and destruction.

The message should be loud and clear to the churches of America. So many have become a place of fellowship and entertainment only. The truth of the Gospel is often secondary to everything else the church offers. That sounds scary and it should. Many will disagree with my assessment, but it is undeniable when we step back and look. If the churches to include FBCDQ and our sister churches in DQ were being effective with the Truth, our nation would not look like a world without God.

The church is infected with much of what we’ve seen in our world. People attend the church of their choice based on comfort, entertainment, fellowship, and etc. As a pastor of growing churches in the past, I used to say loudly that to grow, we have to have good restrooms, parking, and a great nursery. What I left out was the Gospel truth that I took for granted. But the fact is, most people who attend church today do not focus on the Gospel, but on the other stuff. Hear me, BAPTIST: It is urgent that we focus on the TRUTH. We may have failed at living out the truth very well, but it will never be lived if ignored. Everywhere I’ve lived, I have known Baptist who attend other churches where they say they “Don’t agree with their doctrine but love the music, or they have many friends there. That is a great example of why the world is so messed up. We don’t rally around the truth but around what makes us comfortable. If you or I were a Catholic and believed as a Catholic, it would be out of the question to attend a Baptist Church because we liked their music and had friends there. Doesn’t what we believe mean anything? If you or I was a Pentecost and believed as a Pentecost, how could we attend a Baptist Church just because we liked the pastor or had a friend there. Again, doesn’t what we believe mean anything? If we are Baptist and believed in SALVATION BY GRACE only and SECURITY of the SAINTS in the Hand of God, how could we worship as a Pentecostal who rejects that view of Scripture. More than one has explained it to me this way, “I just take what I can believe and leave the rest.” I guess that means we can join the Mormon church and still be Baptist or Pentecostal or Catholic. I guess we can become Muslim because we like to pray 3 times a day on our knees. I guess the TRUTH of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ just isn’t as important as our feelings and our opinions.