The Alarming Decline of Christianity in America

Even though we have massive mega churches, incredible Christian ministries, highly organized Christian political activism, anointed and powerful pastors and evangelists. Nothing has been able to reverse America's spiritual decline. - Clint Decker

Since the 1940s and 50s America has been on a slow, but steady decline of Christianity. When one looks at all the metrics it is troubling. Stats on those who believe in God, identify as Christians, pray regularly, read their Bible, church membership, church attendance, a Christian worldview and on and on. Every year we hit new historical lows. All this despite amazing movements of God that have taken place. And even though we have massive mega churches, incredible Christian ministries, highly organized Christian political activism, anointed and powerful pastors and evangelists. Nothing has been able to reverse the decline. (Image by Unsplash)

Are you familiar with Isaac Newton’s 3rd law of motion? It states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. Since Christianity has been on the decline, what has been the equal and opposite reaction? Nearly every data point surrounding morality, crime and mental health is concerningly high. Divorce, suicide, alcoholism, drug abuse, abortion, depression, sexual immorality and more. There has also been a steady rise of the “nones.” Alan Cooperman, the director of religion research at the Pew Research Center commented, “We've had rising shares of people who don't identify with any religion — so-called 'nones' — and declining shares who identify as Christian, in all parts of the country, in all parts of the population, by ethnicity and race, among both men and women, and among people at all levels of the educational spectrum." And deeply troubling is the surge of interest in the occult. Pew research found there are historical levels of Americans identifying as Wiccan or Pagan, additionally, 30% of adults consult astrology, tarot cards or fortune tellers.

The slow decline of Christianity for the last 60+ years is alarming. The deadly slide continues the expanding moral decay of America with each passing year. The problems we face are not from the broader culture alone, but also from the American church. Here are four things I am calling the church toward…

1. Call out sin and evil. “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” (Ephesians 5:11) Rather than the church condoning poisonous immorality and injustice through silence or outright approval, the church must boldly expose it and call people to repentance.

2. Call for more than a profession. “Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning…” (Exodus 2:23-24) The church must go beyond leading people to agree to a set of gospel truths. Rather, we must guide precious souls to humble themselves before Christ the King in sorrowful repentance and urgent faith, while earnestly leading them to cry out to Almighty God for the salvation of their soul.

One biblical encyclopedia put it this way, “The concept of crying out for salvation is deeply rooted…the human recognition of sin, the need for divine intervention, and the hope for deliverance. Throughout Scripture, the act of crying out to God is portrayed as a sincere plea for help, often arising from a place of desperation, repentance, or faith.”

3. Call for change. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” (2 Corinthians 5:17) Instead of the church living like the world, it must live a life of spiritual and moral transformation, that is distinct from the world.

4. Call for a life of holiness. “…you shall remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God.” (Numbers 15:40) To be holy is to be separate. The church must walk in complete surrender and holy obedience to our Lord’s commands, because of love for Him. Then consequently, the church will walk in holiness of heart and life, while being a shining light in a culture of darkness.

A prayer for you – Lord God, I pray for our nation, that we would turn from our sinful ways. Not just those outside the church, but inside too. For collectively, we have allowed such great evil to grip our land. Forgive us O God, and come save us. Save our country, O Lord! In Jesus’ name. Amen.

God, Sorcery and Witches

Between 24% and 29% of Americans believe in telepathy, communication with the dead, clairvoyance, astrology, reincarnation and witches. - According to Gallup

In 1948, 91% of Americans identified as Christians, while in 2023 that number declined to 68%, according to a Gallup survey. In 1948, there were no surveys about where Americans stood regarding the supernatural, which means it was statistically insignificant. However, in 2025 Gallup said, “Nearly half of U.S. adults, 48%, believe in psychic or spiritual healing. Slightly fewer, 39%, express a belief in ghosts, while between 24% and 29% say they believe in six other supernatural phenomena, including telepathy, communication with the dead, clairvoyance, astrology, reincarnation and witches.”

Clearly for decades America has been on a downward spiritual slide, slowly moving away from the things of God, and replacing Him with dark and evil things. It is a dangerously predictable and common trend in human history. We were created by God to be spiritual beings (even atheists), so if we are not heading in the direction of God, then we are shifting toward other places, like the dangerous but intriguing world of the supernatural.

Israel was a nation formed by God and were given laws directly by Him in which they were to be governed. For centuries they were ruled by kings, who were to lead the people according to the ways of God. Manasseh led Israel for 55 years, the longest of any king, and he is known as one of Israel’s most evil kings. Why? Because he took the nation on a downward spiritual slide, away from God, and replaced Him with the supernatural. History says of King Manasseh, “And he burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.” (2 Chronicles 33:6)

God strongly condemned the practices of Manasseh, and the king knew it. For God had laws directly addressing what he did. For God said, “There shall not be found among you anyone who burns his son or his daughter as an offering, anyone who practices divination or tells fortunes or interprets omens, or a sorcerer or a charmer or a medium or a necromancer or one who inquires of the dead, for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord.” (Deuteronomy 18:10-12)

Spiritualism. The supernatural. Whatever you want to call it, is an enemy of God. And we can include wicca, paganism, white and black magic, spell casting, witchcraft, satanism, devil worship and more. God so condemns these that He declares, “Outside [of heaven] are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.” (Revelation 22:15)

What is one practical reason why God rejects the pursuit of the supernatural? Because it violates God’s Great Commandment through exalting the supernatural above God and by doing harm to our neighbor, whom we are supposed to love. It is built on the deception of oneself and others. There is no truth in it. Instead, the supernatural is rooted in lies and comes from the father of lies himself and leads toward evil and immorality of all kinds.

How should we respond? 1) Stop these practices! If you are involved in reading horoscopes, using Ouija boards or anything else like this, stop. Furthermore, get these items out of your house and off your smart phone. 2) Trust in God. Rather than putting your trust in a fortune teller or worshipping nature, come to the one true God for wisdom, truth and forgiveness.

Centuries ago, Jesus came from heaven to earth as the living God in the form of a man. He is the way, the truth and the life. Pursue Him alone, separate from all other ways.

A prayer for you – Lord God, we pray for those caught up in the practices of the supernatural. Open people’s eyes to see the deception and danger. Lift their attention toward you, the source of all truth. May they be delivered and place their trust fully in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Can Holy Communion and Baptism Forgive Sins?

Can helping the poor, taking Holy Communion, being baptized or engaging in other worthy activities make us acceptable before God? - Clint Decker

Jesus was constantly at odds with the religious leaders of His day. They regularly tried to entrap Him to disobey their laws and turn the public against Him. Each time though, Jesus masterfully refuted their words, amazing the people with His wisdom. (Image by freepik)

On one such occasion, they observed His disciples were not following their tradition of hand washing. A form of religious cleansing. There were also other such traditions Jesus and His disciples did not observe, which drew strong criticism from the religious leaders. Jesus responded by publicly rebuking them through quoting the Old Testament Scriptures, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’” (Mark 7:6-7)

Jesus was pointing out how they put so much effort into following their outward traditions, they neglected the inward condition of their heart. Jesus called this hypocrisy, which means – acting. He accused them of being religious actors, focusing on their outward acts, and that of others, but overlooking what is most important.

Are we any different? It is easy for us to do the same by strictly focusing on the outward. There have been entire religious systems built on this. Spiritual leaders have gathered large followings telling people if they do such and such then their sins will be forgiven, they will have the assurance of heaven in the afterlife, be granted physical healing or given financial provision. Is that true? Can helping the poor, taking Holy Communion, attending religious services, praying several times a day, observing specific moral standards, being baptized or engaging in other worthy activities make us acceptable before God?

Read what Jesus said to His own followers in clarifying where the religious leaders got it wrong, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mk. 7:20-23)

Jesus stated the problem of the human condition is within. It is a problem of the heart. This is what makes us unclean and unacceptable before God. But mistakenly, we engage in outward religious acts believing they can inwardly cleanse. In other words, we believe we can save ourselves.

The things in your heart that defile you is what leaves you condemned before God. No religious ritual or tradition of any sort, done as perfectly and consistently as possible, can cleanse your heart. God has told us what it takes, “Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Romans 5:1) Justified by faith means you can obtain cleansing and good standing with God only by faith in His Son. You cannot save yourself, only Jesus can. If you will turn from trusting in yourself, your religion, your good works, and trust wholly in Christ, then you can be cleansed and have peace with God. Christ came to suffer, die and rise again for you. Only His blood that was shed on the cross can cleanse you from within, and nothing else.

A prayer for you – Lord God, we confess our efforts at focusing on the outward, believing that through those we can make ourselves acceptable to You. We turn from that belief and trust in Christ alone. We admit we are not good enough, but agree that Jesus is, and that He alone has the power to save us. In His Mighty name. Amen.