Why is this going to happen? The author cites five main reasons:

1. Evangelicals have identified themselves with political conservatism and the cultural war. They increasingly will be seen as a threat to cultural progress, with public leaders seeing Christians as bad for education, children and society.

2. The Evangelical church has failed to pass on an orthodox form of faith to its young people (knowing biblical doctrine). We have produced a generation of young people who know nothing about their faith, except how they feel about it.

3. There are now three predominant types of evangelical churches in America: consumer-driven megachurches, dying churches and new churches whose future is fragile.

4. Christian education has not produced a generation that can withstand the rising tide of secularism.

5. Even in the Bible-belt, we will find a great inability to pass on to our children a vital confidence in the Bible and the importance of the faith.

The author said Americans can expect "evangelicalism to look more like the pragmatic, therapeutic, church-growth oriented megachurches that have defined success. Emphasis will shift from doctrine to relevance, motivation, and personal success - resulting in churches further compromised and weakened in their ability to pass on the faith."

This article is only an opinion, but I received an e-mail from a missionary friend of mine who also agreed that this author, sadly, makes a lot of sense. We both think that there is getting ready to be a strong persecution against 'Christians' that this generation has never seen. It will be interesting to see how American believers respond.

About 15 years ago, there was a popular book called The Frog in the Kettle. Many of you probably remember reading it. It seems that it's the people in American churches today who find themselves in the soup.

This is why it's so important to make sure that your family is regularly attending church where the Bible is being taught and the gospel is being proclaimed each Sunday. If there is a generation that needs to be saved - It's us!

Have a good Lord's Day tomorrow!