Ken Ham has revealed the five most disturbing trends he's seeing in American churches today, including the embracing of homosexuality and abortion, but encouraged Christians to allow these trends to ignite a fire inside of them to be even bolder on standing on the authority of the Word of God.
In a lengthy Facebook post shared on February 2nd, Ham, who is the Answers in Genesis CEO and President of the Creation Museum, outlined each trend in detail, first expressing concern over the "watering down of the Word to accommodate our culture's lies."
"We're consistently seeing more and more churches compromising on God's Word in order to preach what is perceived by our culture as a loving and tolerant message," he writes. "But it's really a message that's loving and tolerant of sin but contrary to the Word of God, which should be our standard for morality (2 Timothy 3:16). Over the next year and beyond, I anticipate we will see more of 2 Timothy 4:3-4 coming true as many churches become places to satisfy 'itching ears' rather than places to satisfy a thirst for truth."
Second, the famed Creationist laments the increasing pressure on the church to conform to the culture's thinking on marriage, gender, and sexuality.
"We're already seeing Christian individuals, organizations, and churches being punished by the government and mocked by the culture for standing on God's Word and refusing to compromise. The punishments will only get more frequent and more severe as time goes on. The issues of marriage, gender, and sexuality will continue to be a battleground, and the church must know what God's Word teaches and stand by it regardless of the civil," he writes.
Third, Ham expresses sorrow over that the church is being "penalized" for having a high view of the sanctity of life.
He writes, "We've seen increasing measures to force Christians and Christian organizations to violate their consciences and pay for abortions and abortifacient birth control through their health care plans. As the value put on human life continues to decline here in America, attempts to force those who value human life to violate their beliefs and consciences will only continue."
Fourth and fifth, the Why Won't They Listen author draws attention to the growing number of liberal pastors -- and the number of young people leaving the church as they "embrace the culture and reject God's Word."
"Sadly, by college age, two-thirds of young people are leaving our churches and often the Christian faith. Much of this trend has to do with the fact that these young adults think more like the culture than like God's Word, and they've never been taught to stand on the Bible or to defend their faith. As theologically liberal teaching continues to infiltrate the church, the numbers of young people leaving will likely only increase," he writes.
"Many of the Christian colleges across this nation have compromised on God's Word," he continues. "Instead of building up young people and encouraging them to start their thinking with God's infallible Word, these colleges exalt man's ideas over the Bible. The result is liberal theology that honors man over God. Sadly, this trend in Christian colleges appears to be continuing, and the result will be more liberal teaching from the pulpit as pastors are trained to think this way."
In concluding his thoughts, Ham encourages parents to be "intentional about teaching your kids to think with a biblical worldview" and pray for the upcoming generation.
"Pray that God will raise up godly men and women who will stand for His Word and truth in a culture that has rejected it," he writes.
In September, the Creationist warned that religious freedom is rapidly declining in America, and with the June SCOTUS decision to legalize gay "marriage," this decline is happening "faster than ever."
However, amid continued attacks on religious freedom, Ham reminded believers to remember that ultimately, "Christ has the victory and we can rejoice in that even while we fight to preserve our precious freedoms."
"And, of course, the most important thing that we can do, and the only thing that will change hearts and lives, not just for this life, but for eternity, is to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ," he writes. "It is this gospel and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that changes hearts and lives and, ultimately, will change the culture."
