Steve Gaines

"Behold, days are coming,"
declares the Lord GOD,
"When I will send a famine on the land,
Not a famine for bread or a thirst for water,
But rather for hearing the words of the LORD.
People will stagger from sea to sea
And from the north even to the east;
They will go to and fro to seek the word of the LORD,
But they will not find it.”
--Amos 8:11-12

Amos was a prophet of God to Israel. He lived in a wicked, corrupt day much like our own. He warned Israel that God was about to punish His people by allowing a wicked nation (Assyria) to invade and destroy them if they did not repent immediately of their idolatry.

Sadly, the people of Israel rejected Amos’ message. Even Amaziah, the priest of Bethel, opposed him. But Amos kept right on preaching and doing God’s will.

In time, the Assyrians did invade Israel. They killed most of the inhabitants of the ten northern tribes and subsequently carried the rest into captivity. The “famine…for hearing the words of the LORD” that Amos had predicted inevitably followed that terrible invasion. God’s people had rejected God’s message through God’s prophet. Consequently, He punished them and stopped speaking to them!

What if God did the same thing to America? Imagine God saying to us: “America, I have blessed you immeasurably. You started out as Mine, but you have now turned away from Me. I will tolerate your rebellion no longer. I warn you – unless you repent, I will send a spiritual famine in your midst. You will no longer have access to My Word!”

What would America be like without Biblical preaching, Christ-honoring churches and schools, Christian radio, Christian television, Christian bookstores, etc.? Don’t kid yourself, friend. That is exactly what many secularists in our nation sincerely desire. They yearn for America to become a spiritual wasteland just like Europe and England have become.

Sadly, New England is already turning into spiritual Sahara. I just returned from New Hampshire where Donna and I had the privilege of speaking and ministering to approximately 200 ministers and their wives who serve the Lord in the Northeastern parts of the United States. They told us of the utter spiritual decadence in which they faithfully labor. To hear their testimonies awakened my understanding that secularists have virtually “won the day” in that pivotal, influential portion of our beloved nation. The West Coast of America is also increasingly secular and anti-Christian. This nation is literally hemmed in by atheistic, humanistic secularists.

Will Christianity in America fold and fail? Are we headed for a complete “famine” of God’s Word in the land of the free and home of the brave? Will our members of Congress pass laws prohibiting the straightforward preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ because they deem it to be politically incorrect? Will Bible-preaching churches be silenced, and Bible-preaching ministers imprisoned? Will America, which began as a Christian nation, end as a pagan land like England and Europe?

Christians, it’s time to get serious about this encroaching spiritual famine. It’s time to be absorbed in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We need to call the members of our congregations to spiritual arms!

If not now – when? If not here – where? If not you – who?

Start a discipleship group! Begin to pour into the lives of less mature believers. Help them get them grounded in God’s Word. Teach them to pray. Mentor them in soul-winning. Encourage them to memorize Scripture and to live in the Bible. Set a Godly example for them to emulate. Then teach them to reproduce that same process into the lives of others. Once you finish with that group, and they start their own discipleship groups, then start another group yourself. Keep that process going until you see Jesus face to face!

Let’s put on “a spiritual full court press.” Now is not the time for rest or for being reclusive. Now is the time to penetrate and saturate our culture with the Gospel of Jesus!

Let’s pray that God will send, not a famine, but a flood!!!

Psalm 85:6,
Bro. Steve Gaines