As 2026 has gotten into full swing, I continue to hear the warning many are hearing concerning 2026. That warning is that 2026 will be a difficult year, and much is in the balance. Our nation is in turmoil. Our children are being mesmerized by a force they have come to know and depend upon: social media. AI is taking prominence in every area of life. The very name “Artificial Intelligence” should raise a red flag. Reports of rising mental health problems in the lives of our children are being published. Cheryl L. Green, M.D., a child and adolescent psychiatrist, says that today’s youth are facing significant pressures that are impacting their emotional well-being like never before. According to Green, 21% of adolescents meet the criteria for clinical depression, but when surveyed, a staggering 53% of high school girls report persistent sadness or hopelessness. Yet, we cannot see the cause because we have been lulled to sleep, or worse, we justify it by our own lusts of the flesh for entertainment, fleshly comfort, and convenience. We are convinced that if something makes us uncomfortable, it must be wrong.
And the church, in many cases, is riding the fence. We acknowledge what hurts us, but steer clear of anything that might interfere with or remove our comfort or entertainment. The Super Bowl is a good example of the church’s status. The halftime show has been reported for months to contain an artist who represents the perversion and darkness of our world. Yet how many have I heard say, “Well, I don’t have to watch the halftime show to enjoy the game.” This is true; however, by participating in activities that promote this perversion, we give it our stamp of approval. We are funding the source that perpetuates the darkness. This may sound extreme to many, but is it really? When we entertain our children with entertainment with demonic undertones, do we realize what we are doing? Do we understand that the enemy is desensitizing our children to darkness, little by little, so that the darkness of evil does not really look so bad after all?
I sat recently with a couple who were very concerned because their high school-age son was now addicted to porn, and the venue of exposure to the pornography was the Anime video games he played. I have seen it numerous times: children in restaurants, mesmerized by their tablets or smartphones while the rest of the family eats. The child is completely absent from family involvement, but the parents can eat without interruption. We begin desensitizing our children without knowing the danger because “it provides a good ‘occupier’ while we are about our more important business, whatever that is. What have we deemed more important than the minds and lives of our children?
The church must wake up and quit riding the proverbial cultural fence because we are afraid we will offend someone, even those we are responsible for. Where do we begin? We begin with repentance for our own participation in the kingdom of darkness. We repent for knowing so little truth that we cannot recognize error. We repent for filling our own minds with that which destroys and leads us astray. We repent from twisting the facts to accommodate our own personal, social, and religious agendas. We repent for compromising truth for personal reputation, financial gain, or favor of those “in our tribe.”
Many knew in 2024 that our nation was being given a reprieve from the anti-God government ruling our nation. Many know today that this can shift this year as we watch the mid-term elections play out and observe how the nation really feels about the direction it is going. Regardless of our like or dislike for our current President, he has stood for moving our nation away from the hideousness of anti-God policies such as the death of children in the womb, the twisted perversion of same sex agenda and transgender ideologies as an applauded lifestyle, and the insane invasion of our nation by godless people seeking their own financial gain. We have seen a person gain the respect and attention of the world because he has chosen to do what is right regarding the lives of people across the world. Yet many will twist the reality of the good because it does not fit the demonically derived agendas that want to murder children in the womb, allow children to mutilate themselves because they are not “feeling their gender”, or create power by controlling illegal minorities of people to raise their voter base. Witchcraft is on the rise in many cities, including my own. Why is this? Because the “houses” were found to be empty, and when the evil returned, it brought 7 more, worse than itself, and has filled the house with its evil. (Mt. 12:44).
This may sound political, but is it? Is it political to pretend that we do not see the darkness or the anti-Christ-affirming polarization that has occurred along party lines? This would be ignorance and denial at its peak. There is a line that is no longer being drawn in the sand, but has been clearly drawn, and the true followers of Christ cannot pretend it does not exist and that a decision is not required. Huge churches and influential leaders are covering up the sinful lifestyles and compromises of some of their “tribe” because they do not want the collateral damage that could come to them by holding sinning leaders accountable. The recent exposure of the false prophecies and sexual deviances of Shawn Bolz and the attempted camouflage by leaders such as Bethel Church are hard to wrap our heads around. And when there is no other option for those who covered his sins for over a decade, tears of repentance conveniently flow. Hopefully, the repentance is genuine and not a contrived ministry-survival option. Paul told Timothy that “repentance should lead to a knowledge of the truth so they may come to their senses and escape the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.” (2 Timothy 2:25-26) Even the church is divided, each side using Scripture to support its views on how to handle such matters. The only opinion we can have is what the Word of God clearly states.
Have we lost our moral compass and all common sense in our nation and in our churches? There is a spirit of delusion that has swept across our nation, more than any nation in the world. This delusion has one goal, and that is to stamp out the image of God in our families, churches, schools, cities, and ultimately our entire nation.
But in Matthew 16, Jesus promises that the gates of hell will not prevail. The gates of hell will not stamp out the image of God in His people. The remnant, those not on the fence, must arise and stand for truth, His truth! We must return to our prayer closets and call for true worship of God, being worship that is in Spirit and Truth, and not entertainment-driven.
Time is running out, but what we see should not take us by surprise. It is clearly written in the Scripture how the last days will look; how the very elect could be deceived; how those who call themselves believers will be participants in darkness, leading many astray. The fence seems to be getting broader and broader, but there is a remnant that will no longer ride the fence of compromise. We must return to the truth of God’s Word concerning His church and our role in the earth.
In our recent study of the book of Acts, we see in the first few verses of Chapter 1 four foundational principles that we must have as the church. These foundational principles are:
- The Only Head of the Church is the Resurrected Lord Jesus. The resurrection separated all other religions from the true religion. The resurrection confirmed Jesus as the Son of God and no other. The resurrection brought us justification before God as children of God. The resurrection proclaimed that Jesus did not die for church membership, but for disciples who would emulate Him in the earth. 1 John 3:8 tells us the reason Jesus came was to destroy the works of the devil. The resurrection confirmed that a new Kingdom is now available to all who believe.
- The Only Message is the Message of the Kingdom of God. This foundational message is the only message of the church, and that is the only message Jesus preached. What is that message? That message is freedom from slavery to sin. It is a message of our restored relationship to the Father, which gives us identity as children of God. It is a message of hope and a message of victory over life’s traumas. It is a message with tangible confirmation, such as bodies healed, demons cast out, and the dead brought back to life. It is a message of salvation, power, and a victorious life brought about by His Cross and Resurrection.
- The Only Source of Power is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit was so important that Jesus told His disciples, “Wait in Jerusalem until you receive the promise of the Holy Spirit.” This is the only source Jesus said would empower us to be witnesses for Him. It is the same power that enabled Him to do the work He did on earth, as Acts 10:38 states. John 14:12 tells us that we are to do the same work Jesus did. If He needed the Holy Spirit, how much more do we? Acts 1:8 tells us this power is supernatural (dunamis), with the ability to influence and change the reality we see in the earth.
- The Only Purpose of the Church is to Make Disciples. Acts 1:8 tells us that we are to be a living, empowered witness for Jesus. The word “witness” is the Greek word for “martyr.” We are to lay our lives down for the cause of Christ. We are to make disciples everywhere we go. This is not about church membership only, but believers who live the example Jesus set for us. We are to pick up our cross and follow Him.
So, in all of this, we learn that Jesus is not some type of cosmic life coach sent to earth to give us our “best life now.” He was sent to the earth to reverse the power of sin in the lives of people. He was sent to destroy the works of the devil. And we are sent to do the same. We can never destroy the works of the devil if we are riding the fence of compromise and complacency.
All of the church exposure that is taking place is God getting His church back into the condition so that it can be used for His purpose. There is no room for condoned immorality in the church. There is no room for the cover-up of the molestation of children and adults. There is no room for manipulation for greedy financial gain. There is no room for manufactured “prophetic words” based on man’s imagination or pride. An error can only be exposed when the truth is present. We must get off the fence, pick up our cross, and follow Him.
Let’s not rely upon “Artificial Intelligence” but rather seek the only source of “Authorized Intelligence”, His Word!
