Hear
and Do the Right Thing is founded on the scripture in the Book of
James 1:22 which says, But be
doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.
We
live in a world today with huge amounts of information and knowledge about many
subjects ranging from religion, education, science, lifestyles, social media,
health and family. But despite the availability of knowledge, many people are still
searching for their purpose in life.
I
believe that the key to this endeavor is applying the knowledge you have gained
to your everyday life - hence the title of the show Hear and Do the Right Thing includes not only hearing but doing the right thing. It is not only important
to have information, or to have knowledge; but the key to living and fulfilling
your purpose is how you apply that knowledge. In other words, we need wisdom, which is the application the knowledge we have
gained in life.
Hearing
the right thing means you must search for the truth in every endeavor.
Sometimes seeking the truth can be challenging and may even offend others.
Also, you can hear and discover the truth but still not do the right thing. You
and I must learn to do the right thing,
because it is right. Basic common things are not respected as much anymore.
There is nothing wrong with being polite, kind, courteous, saying good morning
to someone. Having good manners does not make you a wimp. Sometimes it takes
mental strength to be kind to a rude arrogant person. Doing the right thing is
actually strength of character. We don’t do the right thing to please others or
to be popular. In fact, popularity does not always come with doing the right
thing, so, don’t expect that a lot of people will like you if you pursue the
truth and do right. Why? Because most people don’t want to be accountable to
anyone. They want to do whatever their hearts desire, whatever feels good do it.
We are in these times now which were
prophesied by the Bible over 2,000 years ago.
2 Timothy 3
verse 1 to 5 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times
in the last days 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers
of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful,
unholy, 3 without love, unforgiving,
slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, 4 treacherous, rash,
conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God—5 having a form of
godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people
So,
hearing and doing the right thing will not be easy but we need people of
character and truth to do the right thing in society. We will make errors and
fall sometimes but we must continue to strive to do the right thing.
I am
dedicated to sharing information and knowledge on various topics which may help
us to determine our true purpose in life, so we can make a valuable
contribution to our families and society.
First,
let me introduce myself to you. My name is Samuel Johnson and I’m a minister of
the gospel and I am a member of the Rugby Deliverance Tabernacle church in
Brooklyn NY and the senior pastor is Archbishop Sidley Mullings. My college background
is an undergraduate in engineering, then a graduate degree in business administration
and now I am pursuing education in Christian Apologetics and Theology which is
designed to help me as a promoter and defender of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I
discovered that education without Jesus
is empty. I have been a Christian since 1998 but my path to Christianity was a
radical one. I grew up in a typical Christian household and family tradition
where church attendance and Sunday school were required. You never questioned
your parents nor your grandparents. You just went to church, but I couldn’t say
that I understood much about the Bible or what it meant to be a Christian.
My
time in college transformed me into an atheist, I did not believe in God. If
fact, I challenged Christians with science and I thought Christians were weird
people who believed in a God which you cannot see or touch. I thought
Christianity was a white man’s religion, but I never really studied the
Bible. However, I joined my church, through a business partner who is a
Christian. It was there I heard the gospel and began to read and study the
Bible for the first time. I received information and knowledge about the
scriptures, which caused a real change in me. My life experience demonstrated
that through knowledge and understanding, the wisdom of God can change us. Now
I can say I have a biblical worldview about life, science, technology, religion,
marriage, race – in short, every area of life. Every person has a foundation or
worldview through which they view and interpret society. I respect other
people’s worldview but my foundation and worldview is biblical.
Many
of the topics that I will address on this show will come from a biblical
perspective because I operate from a biblical worldview. I am aware that many
people have problems with the Bible, it’s authenticity, reliability and truths.
I will deal with such issues in ways that is not the normal way. I am always
questioning things – enquiring minds want to know.
One
of my greatest concerns is the future of the next generation of our country. I
am especially thinking of Christian youth in junior high, high school and
college. Are we preparing them to lead the next generation of Christians? I had
many questions as a youth and had difficulty in finding the truth about
Christianity, the Bible, and evolution.
We
know of many studies done about young people and Christianity show that our
youth are abandoning the church more than 70% of the time. There may be some
church leaders who don’t pay enough attention to this but the results of many
studies and life experience clearly demonstrate this trend. The implications of
this trend are troubling. What can the church do? What is the role of the
church leaders, the family in this effort to slow down and reverse this trend?
I
want to identify a few studies which show this disturbing trend.
The Barna Group in association with
USA Today in
2007
70-75% of Christian youth leave the church
after high school
Soul Searching: The Religious
and Spiritual Lives of American Teenagers
By Christian Smith and Melinda
Lundquist Denton, Oxford University Press, 2005
1 The majority of teenagers are unable to explain their faith, religious beliefs and
practices, and its place in their lives
2 The central goal of life is to be
happy and to feel good about oneself
3 God does not need to be particularly
involved in one’s life except when God is needed to resolve a problem
4 Good people go to heaven when they
die.
The Teen Guide to Global
Action: How to Connect with Others (Near & Far) to Create Social Change By Barbara A. Lewis, Free Spirit
Publishing, 2007
More teens are embracing a nebulous belief in God in which
they combine the beliefs of several different religions
The State of Theology by Ligonier Ministries and Lifeway
Research (2015)
Christian young people between the ages of 18 and 34
consistently held heretical views at a higher percentage than older
respondents. In other words, their views were contrary to bible doctrines in
scripture.
Let’s look at Our society as a whole
America’s Changing Religious
Landscape by Pew Research Center (2015)
“The
percentage of adults, ages 18 and older, who describe themselves as Christians
has dropped by nearly eight percentage
points in just seven years, from 78.4% in an equally massive Pew Research
survey in 2007 to 70.6% in 2014. Over
the same period, the percentage of Americans who are religiously unaffiliated,
describing themselves as atheist, agnostic
or nothing in particular has jumped
more than six points, from 16.1% to
22.8%.
Christians
dropped 8 points in 7 years while
unbelievers increase 6 points in the
same 7 years.
This
trend is worse in Canada and Western Europe. All these alarming numbers means
that the churches are losing the youth, and this is not acceptable. Christians
must make a stronger effort to teach basic Bible doctrine and truths in clearer
ways, taking note of all the unbiblical things they learn in school and the
general media.
Some of the reasons for leaving the
church given by young people:
1. They left because they had troubling, unanswered
questions about the faith.
2. They left because their faith was not “working” for them.
3. They left because they allowed other things to take priority.
4. They left because they never personally owned their faith.
This trend indicates that young
people are more religious during their early teen years, and their numbers decline
as teens grow older towards adulthood. Church attendance also drops during the
teen and young adult years.
Now these are some of the reasons
for my passion to share truths and address issues from a biblical worldview. No
topic is off the table – science, relationships, dating, history, education,
crime or business. I am of the firm belief that the foundational doctrines in
the first 11 chapters of the Book of Genesis is critical to the gospel of
Christ in defending the faith of skeptical young people against the modern
theories of science and evolution.
We in
the church and Christians globally have a challenge ahead because we need to
stop or slow down this trend leaving the church. We know that the rate at which
churches are closed in America is increasing. We need to preach and teach the
gospel with a renewed passion to win souls for the Kingdom of God. No topic
must be ignored. All of us need to teach
and share the truth of the biblical worldview more consistently.
