From Chapter 1—Carter’s Vision: An America with No Christianity

And if you don’t think the sexual perversions will reach the heights of Carter’s scary small town, you’re right. It won’t be as bad as his vision—it will be worse. The broad goals of this movement are laid down in a document known as the 1972 Gay Rights Platform. In this document, goals are identified for changing federal and state laws where sexuality is concerned.

Here are four of their stated goals from the state law section4:
3. Repeal all state laws prohibiting solicitation for private voluntary sexual liaisons; and laws prohibiting prostitution, both male and female.
6. Repeal of all state laws prohibiting transvestism and cross-dressing.
7. Repeal of all laws governing the age of sexual consent.
8. Repeal of all legislative provisions that restrict the sex or number of persons entering into a marriage unit; and the extension of legal benefits to all persons who cohabit regardless of sex or numbers.

Read these carefully. Goal three means legalized prostitution (including homosexual prostitution); goal seven, pedophilia (legalized child sex); goal eight, polygamy. Many of these radical goals have been accomplished in various places around the world, including the Netherlands, where prostitutes actually dance in store windows today. And in America, courts and legislatures are accomplishing these radical goals with increasing speed. As I write, another court just overturned a state law banning homosexual marriage. According to the article, “Iowa’s highest court unanimously ruled … that a state law barring same-sex marriage is unconstitutional.” Still think Carter’s vision is off?
 

From Chapter 2—Expanding the Right Kingdom: Church Growth According to the Bible

To prove this, let’s take a big-picture view of the Roman world of the first century, the world in which Jesus labored and the world into which the church was sent with the good message. The question I want you to ask yourself is this: Is the nation in which we labor worse than the world into which the first century Christians were sent? If it isn’t, how can we refuse to carry out the Great Commission in our nation?

First, consider Christ’s own words describing the people of his generation. Jesus openly condemned the people of his time. “A wicked and adulterous generation,” he accused, “asks for a miraculous sign” (Matthew 12:39). The word translated wicked here describes their actions and can also be translated as “derelict” or “vicious.” Adulterous is a common Jewish expression for people who are unfaithful to God. On a later occasion, he calls them an “unbelieving and perverse generation” (Matthew 17:17), meaning “without faith in God” or “heathen,” and “crooked, distorted, and morally corrupt.”

The apostles differed little in their estimation of their contemporaries. Paul picks up on Jesus’ words in Philippians 2:15, calling them a “crooked and depraved generation.” These two adjectives are the same Greek words Jesus used in Matthew 12:39 and 17:17 for wicked and perverse. Not to be outdone, Peter gets in on the public condemnation in his sermon at Pentecost. “Save yourselves,” he pleaded, “from this corrupt generation” (Acts 2:40).
 

From Chapter 3—Remaking America: Heart Change or Political Change

Making a list of grievances is pretty easy, but how we bring about changes to this list in a lasting, biblical way is a different story. The answer, however, begins with a simple realization: enduring moral and spiritual change only come from a change in the human heart. The change we desire in our culture—rightly desire—can only be brought about if the people’s hearts change first.

Jesus taught this on several occasions. One especially clear example is from Matthew 15:19: “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.”

In the first half of this chapter, Jesus is teaching his disciples about the importance of focusing on the inner person as the fountain of life’s actions. Erecting an outward code for the people and themselves, the Pharisees had neglected the inner motivation to keep such a code. Jesus pointed out how, though they often kept the outward rule, they had failed the inward test of the heart (Matthew 15:3–11). “What goes into a man’s mouth,” he cried, “does not make him ‘unclean,’ but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him ‘unclean’” (11). Forthwith, the disciples showed their ignorance of this simple spiritual rule, and Jesus rebuked them for not already understanding it (12–16). Then he explains himself, expressly stating the heart-level principle in verse nineteen.
 

From Chapter 5—No More Hypocrites: How Immorality Undermines Our Message

Key Areas of Failure:

Language: Many Christians lose their witness because of the way they talk. Instead of demonstrating a changed life, they act (and sound) like everybody else. Common curse words, harsh criticism, sexually suggestive talk—these are the besetting sins of many of our people. But it should not be so. Let me remind you that God requires his people to have clean, pure language. In his letter to the Ephesian believers, Paul addressed this subject not once but twice.

First, he writes, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29). The strength of the words doesn’t come through in translation. The word unwholesome means “rotten, worthless, or corrupt.” Visualize banana peels, eggs, and raw chicken in the bottom of a hot, dirty garbage can in mid-July; breathe in the smell as you open the can and bat away the flies. When your gag reflex kicks in, then you’re starting to understand this word. Spoiled, rotten, putrid language is in mind here.
 

From Chapter 6—The Price of Blood: Sacrifice as a Foundational Principle of the Kingdom

The kingdom of God is the greatest project ever undertaken—by God or man. The one organization that will last until the end of time and crush all nations and systems posed against it has more blood at its feet, literally and figuratively, than any entity in human history. Even its founder was not spared this absolute requirement but set the standard by giving his own, innocent life.

Like a wide stream, the theme of sacrifice for kingdom advancement flows freely through the marrow of the New Testament. Jesus first forges its path when speaking of his impending death.

“The hour has come for the Son of man to be glorified,” he announces. “I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds” ( John 12:23–24). To Jesus, death must precede life; self-sacrifice, the good of others; pain, growth in the kingdom.

This principle applies not only to Jesus but to every person who truly becomes his disciple. It is, in effect, a rite of initiation into his service. Jesus goes on in John, “The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. Whoever serves me must follow me … ” ( John 12:25–26a). Follow you where, Jesus? To the cross, of course. Each believer must have his own crucifixion event. 
 

From Chapter 8—Getting Inside the Gate: Becoming a True Friend to the Lost

Jesus was a different kind of Christian. Promoting truth and rescuing others was an integral part of who he was, activities that flowed naturally from his very nature. By observing him we can learn a great deal about the kind of people we need to be to continue his work. Two things in particular are very instructive about Jesus: the friends he had and the way he loved.

Jesus’ friends were not like ours. Think about it. Most of our friends are Christian. No cursing, no drinking. No pornography, no dirty movies. No heavy metal, no hip-hop. Our friends are the “clean” people of society, with no dirt on their hands or in their lives (at least, that’s what we tell ourselves). They never make us uncomfortable and wouldn’t dare violate our sensitive consciences. But Jesus’ friends weren’t like that.

Remember, he was known as the guy who hung around with the ugly, out-crowd. It was so widespread an infamy that he even knew about it. In a discussion with the Pharisees at one point, he brought it up himself. “The Son of Man,” he pointed out in Luke 7:34, “came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’” He didn’t hang with the church crowd; this was his common reputation. He befriended people who didn’t walk the white line of morality, ones who had obvious sin in their lives.

It’s fascinating to notice who Jesus befriended. He went to weddings where alcohol was served, and, apparently, where much was consumed (John 2:1-11). He spent time with floozies and prostitutes (Luke 7:36-38). And he was especially fond of tax collectors, a group particularly despised among the people.
 

From Chapter 9—Understanding the Terrain Ahead: Discovering Objections to Faith

If studying the book in a group, break into teams of three to five people and work through the questions listed below. Pick a spokesperson, and be ready to discuss your answers with the group.

If studying on your own, work through them independently.

1. Have you ever met or talked to someone who was like Nat, with a tough objection to Christianity or the Bible? Elaborate.
2. In your own words, how will understanding your friend’s spiritual background and barriers help you lead them closer to faith in Christ?
3. Of the General Questions listed to get your friend talking about spiritual things, which did you like best? Why?
4. Are you encouraged that there are things you can do even if you don’t feel comfortable getting into a detailed discussion of your friend’s objections or presenting the gospel yourself? Why or why not?

Note:
For additional discussion questions for all thirteen chapters, click here.