The Future of the Faith:

By Dennis Peacocke [bio for event]

Every believer has a “duty watch,” just like a soldier. That “duty watch” is determined by God, and encompasses what He wants the generation we have been born into to accomplish as God moves history towards Christ’s return. We are all therefore called, like King David, to “serve the purposes of God in our generation” as Acts 13:36 reminds us. We are also responsible to contribute to the fulfilling of the Great Commission of Matt 28:18-20, lending our lives in some meaningful way to the discipling of the nations. Our faith is to “cast light” and offer others the “salt” of Christ’s preserving love and possibility of living a significant life.

Every generation has a defining challenge and a set of problems that requires courage, faith, and self-sacrifice to resolve them. For my parents, it was living through the Great Depression, World War II, the rebuilding of the nations under the shadow of the “Cold War,” and the possibility of nuclear annihilation. For us, it is an equally compelling challenge; it is the challenge of answering the following question: Is the Church really a relevant social force, or should it be marginalized to the point of overt persecution? Should the Church’s role and influence be expunged as the historical core of Western Civilization? In short, does the Church love people enough to truly bring value to their lives and communities? The fate of the Church in our lifetime therefore hangs on our response to these questions. We retreat, and be further ghettoized, or we engage. It’s really that simple.

While we hear constantly about the “war on terror,” we really do not believe that it is the “root issue” assigned to our generation. The deeper issue is the response our generation takes to our own Judeo-Christian civilization’s roots which helped create both our historically unique freedoms and wealth. Will we care enough about the fruits of that civilization to make the hard choices to defend it? Do we believe enough in our own historic values to not simply defend them, but rather to extend them? This is the challenge which will require heroes and leaders, and “A-Level” players. The unprepared and the untrained cannot, and will not, survive on this battlefield. It is a clash of civilizations. It is a war in the heavenlies. It is a place for men and women who willingly risk their lives for Christ, and the influence of His name and power, in the streets of the nations.

What I am here to talk about is how and why Christians must get into the public conversation as “fishers of men” (Mt 4:19). If we continue to focus on the questions we want the world to be concerned with instead of what they are concerned with, we will continue to see our increasing marginalization under the guise of “the separation of church and state.” A relevant church, dealing with root-level issues, will be a sure sign that the Holy Spirit is awakening us in a generational sense.

So come on. What could we possibly be waiting for? This is the “real game,” the real place of growth, the spiritual incubator which will help make world changers of our children as they follow us. Welcome to our focus at Strategic Christian Services. We recruit and help equip A-Level players, for the A-Level challenge which God has dealt to our generation.