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As a Born Again Christian, Son, Husband, Father, Church member, Church leader and as an Ordained Pastor and Minister of the Word of God I have observed Pastors, Church leaders and congregations forsake many of the fundamental principles of the Word of God that enabled the local Church to be a sanctuary for worship, fellowship, discipleship and refuge.  For over 2,000 years the Church struggled.  Through obedience to the Word of God she struggled, grew, prospered and enjoyed the blessings of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Throughout my youth and for most of the years Mary and I were raising our sons (we were married in 1964), nuclear families were strong, our communities were very safe and our nation was strong, safe and enjoyed unprecedented blessings from the Lord.

Please consider the following trends:

1.  Please contrast the historical Christian family with today's Christian families.

*Today, divorce is preferred to permanency and stability, even in our churches.  Among Christians,
  divorce and remarriage is approaching 60%.  Divorce among Christians has now surpassed the
  divorce  rate of the unsaved.
*Single parenting is becoming a badge of honor, even in our Churches.  In fact it is now said that
  live-in men are more helpful than married men / husbands.

2.  Please contrast the historical Fundamental Christian Church with today's Fundamental
     Christian Church.

*Our Churches were growing spiritually and numerically.
*From Church family to Church family, in any given setting -- an Independent Church, a
  Denominational Church or a Church in association with other Churches, you knew what to expect
   in Doctrine and practice.  This is no longer true!
*The Word of God declares, "I suffer not a woman to teach or usurp authority over the man" and that
  Pastors, Elders and Deacons are to be the "husband of one wife."  Today Churches ordain women
   into the ministry as Pastors, Elders and Deacons.  In fact, there are many women today who Pastor
   a local church who -- divorced their husbands -- leaving their husband and children -- so that they
   could enter the ministry.
*Further, the Word of God declares that the Pastors, Elders and Deacons are to be above reproach.
  Today's enlightened(?) Church ordains the -- guilty of moral sin, divorced -- and, the divorced
  and remarried whose divorced spouse is still living into the ministry of the Word of God.
  (See Divorce and Remarriage)

  A number of years ago I was asked to be a guest minister at a very large [2,000+ membership]
  church with a large, Sunday -- TV audience.  Because they were looking for a "new Pastor," the
  Lord laid a message entitled "Transparency in the Parsonage and in the Pulpit"
  [1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-9; 1 Peter 5:1-4; 1 Thessalonians 1:5-7] on my heart and mind, which
  I preached that Sunday morning.

  After the morning message I found out why the Lord gave me that message.  Their previous Pastor
   [who had just passed away a short time before] had -- had an immoral affair with the organist,
   divorced his wife, married the church organist and -- remained the Pastor of this huge church.  His
   widow, the church organist, was still the organist when I minister the Word of God that Sunday
   morning.  And -- roughly 1/2 of the  membership was divorced and remarried [1 Corinthians 5:6].
   They sat in the North half of the church sanctuary and the faithful to their vows with their spouses
   sat -- in the South half of the sanctuary.

3.  Please contrast our past communities with today's local communities.

*Today our schools have armed guards, metal detectors and sophisticated protective devices at the
  doors, in the hallways and in the classrooms.
*We can't build jails big enough or fast enough.
*Community centers and child care centers, rather than nuclear families, are raising our children.
*When I grew up, children could play alone and almost anywhere they desired  without supervision
  or fear (imagine no supervision and no fear today).  My friends and I (9 to 16 years of age) rode our
  bikes to and through neighboring communities, leaving home early in the morning with packed lunches and
  returned  just before dark ....time-and-time again.  Not so today.
*Children and teenagers had an abundance of part time, full time and summer  jobs available to them.  
  Today the jobs aren't available and government restrictions are such that farm youth can hardly work
  for  their own parents on their own farms.
*Youth gangs now roam our streets with cell phones to keep track of the police.
*Our streets are no longer safe.
*On our highways and expressways, "Road Rage" has a special Colorado Highway Patrol emergency
   number, *277.

      And then,

4.  Please contrast our nation's leadership and society's moral fiber with our present leadership
     and moral fiber.

*President Clinton and his example!
*More recently, President Clinton's wife and her "mis-remembered" Bosnia "sniper gate".
*New York Governor Spitzer and his 2008 $4,000 plus call girl.
*The new replacement New York State Governor Paterson and his adulterous revelations.
*Many of our congress and their examples!
*Many of our police and their examples!
*Too many of our public school teachers and their examples;
*Etc., etc. etc.

5.  Please contrast today's reality.  In our region we were told that crime is on the decline.  Really?

*The use of guns by teenage boys has doubled since 1989.
*4 of every 10 girls under the age of 12 have HPV STD from oral sex.
*Were there ever massacres in our schools or colleges when we grew up?
*Were there ever massacres in the grocery stores where we shopped?
*Were there ever massacres in the work place where we worked?
*Did you feel safe on your street after dark?
*Were you safe in your home at night with only the screen windows and screen doors between you
  and the night time?
*Was television a threat or was it entertainment (as a youngster of the 50s I confess that I did watch 
  Saturday night wrestling and boxing which taught me how to defend myself)?
*Did you know your neighbors?
*Were date rapes accepted social behavior on our college campuses?
*Were there college students dying from forced binge drinking?
*Were there college riots burning down and destroying the neighborhoods in which they were located?

Folks, I graduated from High School, attended college, married and began raising our family during the tumultuous 60's.

What the Word of God declares to be "adultery," (Romans 7:1-4; Matthew 5:32; Mark 10:7-12; Luke 16:18) our society, government and Pastors have termed "remarriage," "2nd. time around marriages" and "blended families".

What the Word of God declares to be "fornication" and "adultery" (1 Corinthians 7:1-2), folks living and sleeping together without the vows of marriage, our society, government and Pastors have renamed "trial marriages," "common law marriages" and "alternative life styles".  When the elderly live this way, our society, government and Pastors term them as "avoiding taxes living arrangements" and / or "protecting their benefits" living arrangements.

What the Word of God declares to be "murder," (Matthew 5:21-22; Exodus 20:13) our society, 
 our government and our Pastors have renamed "BIRTH CONTROL," "FAMILY 
 PLANNING" and "ABORTION."  The person that kills a 9-month old baby outside of the 
 womb is a "MURDERER"!   The people [plural] that kill a 9-month old baby within the 
 womb are called a mother exercising "CHOICE" and a Doctor performing a "LATE 
 TERM ABORTION."  A previous Presidential candidate who supported a "woman's right to choose" declared himself to be a "Born Again Southern Baptist Christian" and our present 2008 Presidential candidates who support a "woman's choice" call themselves "practicing Christians"!!   A person will go to jail longer for killing a "Bald Eagle" or some other protected animal than for killing another human [in Jefferson County, Colorado, two ladies killed a defenseless little girl by suffocating her in blankets and only received 16 years in jail].  

A nationally syndicated radio personality went on public record by saying "we treat our animals like children and our children like animals".

 All of the above terms {"remarriage," "2nd. time around marriages," "blended families, "BIRTH 
 CONTROL;" "FAMILY PLANNING;" "ABORTION;" "trial marriages," "common law 
 marriages,"  "alternative life styles,"  "avoiding taxes" and / or "protecting their benefits" living 
 arrangements.] "are nice, neat, polite, politically correct, non-offensive descriptions and 
 sermon titles.  That is all that they amount to!!  These are only a few of our 21st. Century 
 problems.  God's Word is very clear about all of the above mentioned sins.  

It is also true that many of God's very best men are being told that their doctrinal positions are true and accurate to the Word of God.  Their resumes are without question.  And, they are told they will not find a Church that will welcome them as their Pastor or as a member of their Church because

"THEY WILL NOT COMPROMISE
THE WORD OF GOD."

Our Churches are declining and closing and our families are disintegrating at an alarming rate and obedience to the Word of God is our only solution:

Notice that the Lord did not say that education, government, social reform, unions, religious organizations and / or religious zeal were the answers to our local, regional, state or national problems.  The solution is will come when His own children (the Israelites of the Old Testament), the Born Again Christians of the New Testament Church age, decide to get serious about sin, confess their sins, repent from their sins and walk in the newness of life [Romans chapter 6] that we have been ordained to live.

Will you help by renewing your personal commitment to Jesus Christ and His word; Jesus Christ and your personal walk; Jesus Christ and your commitments to your wife, husband (your wedding vows), your family, friends, associates, business ethics, social ethics -- your entire walk and witness for Jesus Christ?

Are you and I willing to make a personal -- life long commitment to serve Jesus Christ in such a way that when He returns to rapture His Church, we will not be shamed at His coming? 

What is our answer?

This is my personal mailbox.

How are you doing?  How can I encourage you?

Sincerely,
Rev. Robert J. Kuiphoff