Decline in faith

We have come through the July 4 holiday.

For some, this was a great celebration of a nation that has worked for good. For others, it was a celebration of a failed nation. From what I read today, somewhere around 25 to 35 percent feel that America has failed.

If America has failed — and I don’t think it has — it has failed as we moved away from solid values.

Church attendance is down in almost every main line church. Sadly, I have been part of the closing of the Woodburn United Methodist Church (UMC). UMC has closed seven or eight churches this year.

The Sioux City Diocese of Roman Catholic Church has reported more than 40 churches closures. According to figures, the Lutheran Church in Iowa has closed around 10 churches.

What has happened? There are a number reasons for this happening.

The numbers of people in rural areas have had great declines. One young farmer told me he was farming 1,400 acres of land. You know that would be seven 200-acre farms that are gone.

Rural areas find it hard to have good paying jobs. I am talking about $75,000 and up.

As I have watched the media, I see a great disregard for church. There are jokes made about church. The language on mass media has hit below the gutter level.

Sometimes they keep track of how many F-words are said by some actors and singers. I can remember clearly that in the 1960s the word “damn” was beeped out on the late night shows.

I believe we have allowed God to die in our country. Oh, we look to God when there is some great need that we know we can’t handle, but the rest of the time we push God aside.

If we do not center our lives in God, then we are centering them in something else. It is great to have a good time, but today we seem to need something to help us have a good time. This good time help comes may come in a different ways.

The Gospel of John 15: verse 4 and 5 gives us a direction that will only be followed by a few today.

Jesus taught, “Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing.”

We have walked away from God. From my reading in January, I found one minister urged the church members to read the Bible for two minutes each day. Two minutes would be about the time it takes to walk from the living room to the kitchen for a snack. Most of us spend two minutes just change a CD in our car radio.

Two minutes will NOT give us enough time to read the word of God. If we don’t read the word of God, then we cannot expect to understand it or know it.

I can tell you shooting a basketball one time a day, will not make you a shooter like Steph Curry.

Some people express today that they don’t understand the church. Asking the same people if they have read the Bible, many will say no, I don’t want to read that old book.

Eugene Peterson said in a modern translation of the John 15: 4 – 5 translation of Jesus’ words: “If you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon.”

If we want to change our community and our nation, then we need to find the true north in our lives. That begins with knowing the word of God. Without reading, you will be missing any connection with Jesus. You will miss having Jesus as the true north of your life.

This nation would have greater meaning if God was the center of our lives. Without God we are living empty lives. If we fail to allow God to abide in us, then we are going down the road with no road signs. As we turn our back on God, the church, and fellowship of faithful people, we are truly lost.

Change in our nation will not happen unless we are part of the vine of that God has given us in the life Jesus. Abiding in God will bring back the truth, values and character that once was found in the red, white and blue that we have cheered for on July 4.

Since the Fourth of July weekend, our nation has experienced more terrible shootings. These are happening everyday in our some major cities. We shake our heads and ask what has happened?

What has happened is we as a people are walking on a lonely path without the fellowship of God in our lives.

Understand, I am not saying none of these events would stop happening, but if with God’s spirit in one person, that person helped someone feel better and more cared for as God’s child.

Then we will have taken the first small step forward as part of God’s vine in this world.

Without God centering our lives and helping us live in His eternal vine, we will continue to be lost as a people.

Abide in Jesus and He will abide in you.