Filling the Void

Bottom line is, if anybody asks you, why are we in this trouble? I'll give you an easy answer that nobody can argue. When we move as a country or as an individual away from God, the further away we get from God, the more chaos we're going to have in conflict and anger and divisions. I talk to people that are not Christian all the time and they say, yeah, that's true. The closer we get back to God, the closer we get to God as a country or as an individual, the more peace, joy and love we have. Welcome to the Ignite with Barry Maguire podcast, where Barry's book and passion for spreading God's love are guaranteed to ignite your life. Now listen in and prepare to have your life ignited. Welcome back to Ignite. You know, I've been thinking about the statement, how far we have fallen. When I was a kid, you know, like 80% of the people around us were serving God and going to church, we were a Christian nation and that is now down to 20%. You know, only 20% of Americans believe the Bible is the inspired word of God, only 20%. Did you know it's about 50% at best of our population, have a biblical worldview, even among our pastors. Some statistics say that it's more like 45% of our pastors hold a biblical worldview, which is basically Jesus was born a virgin, lived to send the slide, died for a sentence, rose again. It's not complicated. And yet so few carry that belief today, how's that possible? Pew did a research on 50,000 sermons coming from about 6,000 church. They found that only 10% of sermons even mentioned salvation anymore. I mean, it's unbelievable where we are. It's taken us 60 years to get there, of course. Um, we turned our back on God back in the 60. We took God out of the courtroom and out of our classrooms of even the Pledge of Allegiance. I mean, we just we just turned our back on God and and Satan's taken full advantage of that. Uh, 2nd Corinthians 4.4 talks about, I mentioned off now, Satan is the God of this world and he is. He's blinding the minds of our of our population. And so they're making all the wrong decisions, thinking they're great decisions. Uh, bottom line is if anybody asks you, why are we in this trouble? I'll give you an easy answer that nobody can argue. Uh, when we move as a country or as an individual away from God, the further away we get from God, the more chaos we're going to have and conflict and anger and divisions. The closer and everybody agrees with that everybody. I don't care who they are. I talk to people that are not Christian all the time and they say, yeah, that's true. And I said, and do you understand that the closer we get back to God, the closer we get to God as a country or as an individual, the more peace and joy and love we have. Oh, yeah. So you just led people to understanding that Americans, Americans problems are not racial and they're not political. They can't be solved in Washington DC. They're spiritual. These are spiritual problems. I work with teen challenge. Can't I work with teen challenge? Uh, for, uh, since the 1970s and, um, it's the largest program in the world for getting people off and drugs, 86% curate. How do they do that? We describe it this way, very simplistic. I like simplistic answers to complex questions. And we explain that God creates us with a void that only he can fill. And, and we try to fill that void with drugs, uh, or, or, or what, sex, money, fame, whatever you name it. And, and that everyone of those things satisfies for a moment. And then, and then you want more, uh, that problem is solved. The reason teen challenge has a 86% curate is we fill that void with Jesus. Uh, we need to fill that void with the 80% of Americans. And, of course, the world, I don't want to just stay focused on America, but that's where we are at the moment. And, and that 80% of our population are target audience. That's, that's, that's who we live with you and I. Here's the good news. Uh, again, I mentioned, I mentioned over over 80% of the unchurchar searching for God is a huge opportunity. I have been sharing my faith, care and I've been sharing our faiths, uh, with people for over 50 years, 50 years every day. And I can tell you with credibility, it's never been easier. I mean, you can do it in your sleep. You can do it blind. You can't miss. You start mentioning how God loves people. People want to know they want, they would like to believe God loves them. They're starving for what you have. So here's the point of this podcast. The most patriotic thing you can do is lead people to Jesus. Seriously, the most patriotic thing you can do is lead people to Jesus because when you lead people to Jesus, the scams come off their eyes and they see evil is evil. Not evil is good. They see evil is evil. That's bad. I don't want that. And they'll elect righteous leaders and the vote for righteous issues. And we'll be a Christian nation again. Think about it. There's no question. We'll be a Christian nation again. That's the truth. Wow. Trying to get busy, all right? See you next time. If you enjoyed today's episode, let us know. And don't forget to subscribe, rate, and review to help us reach more listeners. Remember, sharing your faith, ignites your faith. See you next time on the Ignite with Barry McGuire podcast.