“Every church needs to be able to answer two questions. First, what is our plan for making disciples? And second, does our plan work?” – Dallas Willard

We hear stories in the news of mass baptisms and people coming to Christ. This is fantastic news. Then we must asked, will they be equipped? Will they be told that they must be in God’s word every day for the rest of their life? Taught how powerful prayer is, and challenged to make prayer a top priority? Hear that they must not isolate themselves as 80% of modern Christians are doing today, and that they must live connected to a tribe of committed believers on an ongoing basis for support, accountability and prayer? Be encouraged and challenged to participate in prayer meetings consistently? Receive effective help for their struggles with sin, especially, sexual sin? With 70% of Christian men and 40% of Christian women viewing porn and masturbating while half of Christians seeing no problem with promiscuity, the chances that many new converts are struggling with sexual sin is high. Will they receive guidance, support, and effective answers in this area? Will they be taught about spiritual warfare, the intense battles they will face, and how to overcome? We are commanded to make disciples, not mere converts. During a time when many are falling away, it’s critical that we ask these questions.

Mike shares from personal experience how God will allow us to go through extended trials for the purpose of building up our spiritual muscles, strengthening our character and faith, and forging endurance, as we’re shown in the Bible. Endurance, as Jesus warned us in Matthew 24, will be critical for the days ahead.

“Consider it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” James 1:2-4

Mike and Rebekah look at Revival, American Style, with the modern church’s reliance on conferences with speakers to “spark revival,” versus the Biblical version that focuses solely on crying out to God for mercy in prayer and confession and repentance of sin. At the beginning of the Hebrides Revival in 1950, Peggy Smith challenged a pastor there with the following: “I’m sure, Mr. McCie, that you’re longing to see God working. What about calling your office bearers together, and suggest to them that you spend two nights a week waiting upon God in prayer. You’ve tried mission, you’ve tried special evangelists. Mr. McCie, have you tried God?” Peggy then challenged him to 2 nights of prayer a week from 10pm to 4am. Their focus on prayer would spark one of the most powerful spiritual awakenings of the last 125 years. Peggy’s words are prophetic for what we need today.

A recent study came out showing that smartphones are warping our personalities and character at an alarming rate. In recent years, persons aged 16-39 have seen Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and Extroversion rates plummet while Neuroticism has shot up, along with anxiety and depression. Many are using their phones as a drug to check out and go numb with. Mike and Rebekah look at the affects of this recent study – and what smartphones are doing to our spiritual life. It’s difficult to pray for an extended period of time if one’s attention span is fragmented. On average, Americans spend 5 hours a day on their phone. The affects of being hardwired 24/7 are having a profound affect on us chemically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Initial data from a $43 million dollar research initiative show that individuals living in developing countries score higher in having purpose and meaning. The Global Flourishing Study is surveying 200,000 participants from different countries over five years, looking at which ones score highest for human flourishing. The surveys are showing that people in developing countries have a sense of meaning and purpose, while in the States rampant materialism and the chase for more has left people with depression, anxiety, and other mental health problems. Mike and Rebekah look at the results of this survey and how the Bible commands us to be content. But first, they discuss Ozzy Osbourne and how some Christians are extolling his music career, which glorified the occult and witchcraft, a message that is missing from many commentaries.

In this broadcast, Mike and Rebekah look at a long list of porn and sex-related statistics in the church, and provide ideas on what you can do to make a difference. The following showing the beginning of the survey results they discussed:

* 75% percent of Christian men and 40% of Christian women are viewing pornography. From a Barna 2024 survey; Porn Use Among Christians Reaches All Time High

* 2022: A pastor of a church of 1,000 in Arizona reported that 80% of the men who attended their men’s retreat confessed to a current struggle with pornography.

* 2023: When a youth group of teenage girls were asked to raise their hands if they struggled with porn, every hand went up.

* After the outbreak of Covid-19 in 2020, Pornhub, the largest porn site in the world, reported that their worldwide traffic increased by 25%.

* A counseling pastor of a Colorado church of 5,000 reported that every marriage that came to him for help had pornography involved.

Oswald Chambers wrote: “If we are going to live as disciples of Jesus, we have to remember that all efforts of worth and excellence are difficult. The Christian life is gloriously difficult, but its difficulty does not make us faint and cave in— it stirs us up to overcome. Do we appreciate the miraculous salvation of Jesus Christ enough to be our utmost for His highest— our best for His glory?” Mike and Rebekah discuss the need to persevere during tough times and circumstances.

AI child porn is exploding, a Christian ministry leader is arrested or exposed every day in the US for sexual crimes/porn/affairs, adult film stars dying an early death, Gooning is exploding, 25% of youth believe that AI girlfriends/boyfriends have the potential to replace human relationships, AI sex robots… this is the world we live in today. Mike and Rebekah look at these issues and how critical it is to stay rooted deeply in God during these last days.