In this sermon, the preacher discusses the state of 21st century American Christianity, describing it as polluted. He criticizes the focus on material blessings and the pursuit of prosperity, stating that persecution purifies while prosperity often pollutes. The preacher emphasizes the need for Christians to lay down their hopes, dreams, and ambitions and surrender to Jesus, allowing for a revolution of love. He calls for a return to true theology and living for Jesus, rather than getting caught up in theological debates. The preacher also highlights the importance of brokenness and repentance in the church, urging believers to turn away from a focus on big churches and material wealth.

This is Sid Roth saying, I have a vision. Now is the set time to blow the trumpet in Zion. Blow a trumpet in Zion. Sound it on the mountain. Blow a trumpet in Zion. For the day of the Lord is come. Shalom Mishpochah. Shalom family. Mishpochah is a Hebrew word. It means family. We're the Mishpochah, the family with a Jewish heart. Made up of Jewish and non-Jewish people that are one new man in Messiah Yeshua, Messiah Jesus. Getting ready Mishpochah to blow the grandest shofar or the grandest trumpet in Zion. We want everyone everywhere to hear the good news. We want everyone everywhere to be red hot for the Messiah. I have on the telephone Kevin Turner. Caught up with him at his base just outside of Sudan, Africa. He is president of Strategic World Impact. He works in three areas. War zones, disaster areas, and areas that Christians are being persecuted in. He wrote an article and that's why I called him. The article is called, Why Isn't the American Church Growing? Kevin, why isn't? I mean when we see other parts of the world, it's growing so fast we can't keep track of the number of people that are being saved and radically discipled. But here in America the church really isn't growing. Why? Well, in fact, a statistic that might astound people is that I speak in churches all over the United States and I ask people this one question. What is the largest Christian country in the world? And of course a lot of people say the United States or some people will say like Brazil or whatever. The largest, according to numbers right now, the country with the largest amount of Christians in it is Communist China. The largest Christian nation in the world is Communist China where the church is illegal, where preaching is restricted and you can't hear legally the gospel until you're at the age of 18. And they have the largest population of Christians in the world. And the reason that I believe is I've worked in almost 100 nations and here's what I've seen over and over again. Comfort confuses. Calamity clarifies. She's a perfect teacher. When calamity strikes, we're no longer concerned about the mortgage. We're no longer concerned about the lawn care. We're instantly absorbed with one important thing and that's life. And it teaches us and there's another principle that I use all the time as I'm preaching and it's this, that persecution purifies and prosperity often pollutes. Well, would you define 21st century American Christianity as polluted? Absolutely. It's hot tub religion at its best. When Christians speak of their blessings in America, they point to things. They say, look how God has blessed me. I have this. I have this. I've got this boat. I've got this lake home. And it's this whole thing of having heaven now versus living your life. You know, there were two young men who started one of the largest mission revolutions that we had seen since the disciples. They were two young Moravian men. They were with a man named Count Zinzendorf in northern Germany. They experienced a massive revival. God had so touched and quickened their hearts. And these two young men became aware that in the West Indies, which would be modern day Jamaica, that there were 5,000 black slaves on an island that were owned by a godless man who said publicly, no Christian, no man of God will ever step foot on my island and pervert the mind of my slaves with this foolish Christianity. When these two young men heard that, they were cut to the core. They prayed, committed themselves, and did the unthinkable. There was no way they could access that island except one way. They sold themselves into slavery, simply to be a love slave for Jesus. The man was such a miser that they actually had to use the money from the sale of their bodies to pay their ship fare to get there. Within 20 years, this group of Moravians had sent out more missionaries than all of Christendom before that time. When we come to the place of utter resignation, where we lay down our hopes, dreams, ambitions, and say, Jesus, you're the Lord, take me where you want me to go, that's when you're ready for a revolution of love. You know, it really clarifies your theology here in America. We strain at a gnat, swallow a camel, and argue about different jots and tittles of theology. But where the rubber meets the road is what you're talking about. It's simply living for Jesus. It becomes more than just some pie-in-the-sky theology. And believe me, I study the Word of God. I have an 11,000-volume library. I love to read. I've studied theology, and to study theology is to know God. But when our aim becomes simply knowledge rather than to know Him, it's when we run askew. And that's why we have swivel-chair theologians in America sitting in ivory towers handing out edicts to the people down below, and we're producing cookie-cutter Christians that have never had an experience with Christ. And this is the reason, I believe with all my heart, that the church isn't growing because they have no raison de vivre. They have no reason for living. My passionate heart cry is that the church once again would say, Jesus, I sell myself to be your love slave. I give you my life. The man who discipled me, Leonard Ravenhill, said this. He said, Kevin, you lay your life down on the altar and let God burn you up. And he said he'll do more with the ashes of your life than you could if you possessed the whole thing. Kevin, what will it take for our version of Christianity here in the West to change? Well, once again, to quote Leonard Ravenhill, he said that in America, we will either have Pentecost or prison camps. And then he said, or perhaps we'll end up having Pentecost in the prison camp. I believe that Jesus loves America so much that he'll let us suffer persecution. I believe he loves us so much that he will take us through the fire. And I tell people all the time, remember, when the three Hebrew children were thrown into the fire, it's then that the pagan ungodly world looked in and said, hey, who's the fourth man? If we want to see Jesus revealed to the world, then we will be willing to go through the fire, not around it. And this is how we become Jesus with skin on. This is how we, you know, people talk in theology, Jesus is the propitiation for our sins. In other words, he was that thing which took away the anger of God. And his cross became that propitiation for us. Our cross is for propagation. It's to get out. It's to lay your life down. It's so that people know that Jesus is alive and well and he rose again from the dead. This makes my heart leap. Obviously, persecution could end up being a two-edged sword, a blessing as well as persecution. But what about someone that says, I want to be like Kevin, but there's no persecution going on in this country. I don't want to just be persecuted to be persecuted. How do I get on fire like him? Well, to be honest with you, I hate to use the term key because I think everything's been unlocked through Jesus. But if there's anything that I would say is a key to living the Christian life, it's continually dwelling in brokenness and repentance. You see what happens? How can you be broken and repentant when you have everything your heart desires that's purchased with money? When we're living in this culture, I turn on TV, I see homosexuality in my face. I see sex outside of marriage in my face. I see abortion, women's rights they call it. What about the child's rights in my face? We see it so much. I'm wondering if we're not growing so used to it and saying, this is just the way it is. How's it going to change? I see the cross. I see that to a world that mocks God and raises their fist and utter defiance towards Him, I see the cross of Jesus. And in the morning when I wake up, I look in the mirror. And you know what? I realize what I'm capable of without Jesus. And it breaks me. You know, there's an old hymn that says, Foul to the fountain, Lord, I fly. Wash me, Savior, lest I die. Renewal is simply this. Realizing who you are without Jesus and realizing what you've become in Him. And that breaks me. Because when I realize that God left the glory of heaven, Psalms 113 nails it for me. It's a testimony of my life. Who's like unto the Lord our God who looks down upon the poor and the needy and He lifts them out of the ash heap and the dunghill. And He sets them at a table with princes, the princes of His people. If God could literally leave heaven, and think of this, God had one son and He buried him on the mission field. One son. And He buried him on the mission field. And oh, that God would just apprehend us with the spirit of brokenness and once again we'd rend our hearts and not our garments. Is that how we should pray? For the spirit of brokenness? How should we pray, Kevin? I just say, read the Word and see what He's done for you. And if that doesn't break you, I don't know that anything will. A good old-fashioned baptism of repentance is what the church needs. We need to repent of our big churches. And I'm not saying that to have a large church is wrong. What I'm saying is to focus on that is wrong. I'm not saying that to have money is wrong. It takes me money to live here in Africa. I'm not saying that those things are wrong in and of themselves. What I'm saying is that anything that takes your focus off the Lamb of God becomes sin. Anything. I have to believe here in the West, it's idolatry. It's the big sin. Yes, it is. It's the golden cow of materialism. We've fallen down at the altar of materialism and we've worshipped. And we have forsaken the God of Israel. And it grieves me. And I'll tell you what grieves me most when I see it in my own heart. You know what's amazing? We have these huge, beautiful buildings with perfect sound systems, the mood lighting, the carpeted aisles. And yet I meet God in a mud hut somewhere in Afghanistan where a few people who used to be Muslims now call Him the name of Jesus and they bury their face in the dirt because the glory of God comes down. Kevin, we're out of time. I want to pick up right here on tomorrow's broadcast. Kevin did a special cassette. We call it Kevin's Cassette. Are you lukewarm? Are you praying, God, make me like Kevin? Donation at $10. Call it right today. Or call our order only line. 1-800-548-1918 To place a credit card order, call anytime. 1-800-548-1918 For all other calls, the number is 912-265-2500 That's 912-265-2500 For a cassette tape of this week's broadcast, send a donation of $10 or more to Sid Roth, S-I-D-R-O-T-H, Post Office Box 1918, Brunswick, Georgia 31521. 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