I REJOICE - I sinerely, passionately do - in those who are coming to Christ as adults via evangelism. And they DO exist!
But the sad, sad, sad..... tragic, horrible reality is...... Christianity is GUSHING members, bleeding BUCKETS..... across the board, around the world (Texas, lol, a FEW third world countries being exemptions). The RCC has lost over THIRTY MILLION members just in the USA just currently - the number of LOST Catholics is larger than the next two denominations combined. And I've been to Catholic Europe - it's a spritual GHOST TOWN. I've been to Spain, to France, to Catholic Germany - for the most part, Catholic churches are EMPTY. And its' no better in Protestant Europe (indeed, Sweden - once the second most Lutheran nation on Earth is now one of the most secular nations on the Earth). In my area of California, churches are closing ALL OVER, ALL the time - in spite of a FEW huge non-denoms that seem to pick up a small percentage of the losses - but usually only for a few months, maybe a few years. SECULARISM.... RELATIVISM..... are taking over. Islam is growing - but it's the only religion growing faster than the birth rate. SOME Christian denominations are doing better - Pentecostalism in Latin America, New Religion in Africa, Mormonism in isolated areas - but in whole, we're bleeding buckets. In my office - of the 40 or so I work with - I'm one of TWO who are active Christians (5%), although probably 30 are FORMER Christians or at least were raised as such, folks who have LEFT Christianity (70%). Additionally there's a few INACTIVE Buddhist and a couple of INACTIVE Hindus - but all of them are actually Agnostic secularists, even the Buddhist and Hindus have LEFT their religions - and become secular agnostics in full agreement with all the EX-Catholics, EX-Methodists, EX-Presbyterians, EX-Baptists, EX-Evangelicals, EX-Lutherans that fill my work place. Sorry..... all these "look at all this growth!" things - while I WANT to be excited (boy, do I)..... the reality is...... otherwise. Christianity has fallen on very hard times. And burying our heads in the sand won't help. PRETENDING otherwise won't help. We'd better figure out what we're all about - and start conveying it in word and deed. Right now.... fewer and fewer believe or even care. More and more, the Message not only is falling on deaf ears but on ears that just don't care. God... heaven.... hell.... sin..... these are nowhere on their radar. Pontius Pilate is the only biblical figure they can relate to as he said sarcastically, "What is truth?"
NO ONE is more sorry about this than I.
