The thought of our God being a "consuming fire," and that we are to worship Him with a corresponding awe, needs to be emphasized in the Evangelical churches of America. As I see it there is altogether too much silliness and foolishness; too much of the attitude that we have God in our pocket, so to speak, and He is standing around waiting to see how He can be of service to us, how He can help us have more fun.

I do not believe the Christians in Sudan, China, Pakistan, and Egypt are having much fun these days; and I do not think they are too worried about who wins the Super Bowl. Do you?

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Hebrews 13:5,6—NIV)

God is with us and will help us. He never will leave us. If we keep serving Him with a glad heart, bearing patiently with the numerous and severe trials that all of us experience, He will bring us safely to our destination.

But we Americans must remember that much of the world is suffering hardship. People in some of the other countries do not enjoy the comforts we do, nor do many of them have the knowledge of the Scriptures or access to Bibles that is true of us. The scriptural principle is: "To whom much is given, of him shall much be required."

We have been given much. We cannot feed all the hungry of the world or clothe all the naked, although we wish we could. But one thing we can do: we can live each day unto the Lord with all the diligence we can apply and not be drawn off into the fascinations of the American culture. We can redeem the time by using to the best advantage all we have been given. In one manner or another, by giving or serving or praying, we must do our part to build up the Body of Christ.

We owe this to the suffering members of the Body of Christ worldwide.

The day may soon come when it will be we Americans who are suffering many hardships. Then we will expect the Christians in other countries to do all in their power to serve Christ so God will hear them when they pray for us and help us through the night we may be called upon to endure.

Brothers, I urge you to bear with my word of exhortation, for I have written you only a short letter. (Hebrews 13:22—NIV)

The Book of Hebrews is an exhortation to careless Christians, warning them of the consequences of not serving Christ with their whole heart.

In the light of the severity of the warnings, we have concluded that it is time for a reformation of Christian thinking in America. How do you feel about this? (from A Warning to the Backslider)