It Takes Strength and Courage to Do the Right Thing by Samuel H Johnson

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.