Is Your City Biblically-Minded?

Daily I get e-mails from friends who literally scour the Internet looking for articles of importance.  I value these dear friends because they become the filters through which a lot of information flows.  So, when I get an e-mail from them, I know the article is worthy of my reading and examination.  This past Monday I received such an e-mail from a dear friend.  It is from The Patriot Post: Voice of Essential Liberty.  You can read this article at: www.patriotpost.us/editions/16476.  It is titled "Brief: Does Religion Matter in a Free Republic?"  The article begins with a quote from John Adams, the second President of the United States: "Religion and virtue are the only foundations, not of republicanism and of all free government, but of social felicity under all government and in all the combinations of human society."  Then the article goes on to cite research done by the Barna Group of 96 American cities as to which were most Biblically-minded.  Biblically-minded is defined as "individuals who report reading the Bible in a typical week and who strongly assert the Bible is accurate in the principles it teaches."  You might have guessed that the most biblically-minded cities were in the south, while the least biblically-minded were in the northeast.  Let me just post a few of the results.  The top seven were:
     1.  Knoxville, TN (52%)
     2.  Shrevport, LA (52%)
     3.  Chattanooga, TN (52%)
     4.  Birmingham/Anniston/Tuscaloosa, AL (50%)
     5.  Jackson, MS (50%)
     6.  Springfield, MO (49%)
     7.  Charlotte, NC (48%)

The bottom seven included:
    90. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, CA (16%)
    91. Boston, MA/Manchester, NH (16%)
    92. Hartford/New Haven, CT (16%)
    93. Portland?Auburn, ME (16%)
    94. Burlington, VT/Plattsburgh, NY (16%)
    95. Albany/Schenectady/Troy, NY (10%)
    96. Providence, RI/ New Bedford, MA (9%)

Dallas TX checked in at #27 with a 38% score.  Des Moines/Ames, IA came in a #49 with a 29% score.  Los Angeles, CA was #68 with a 24% score.  Minneapolis/St Paul, MN was #81 with a 21% score.  Minneapolis finished lower than Chicago (#76 and 23%), Green Bay/Appleton, WI (#78 and 23%) and Washington DC (#63 and 25%). 

What does this mean?  Simply put: In American communities across our land, less than 50% of the residents do not read their Bibles and certainly do not practice its principles and teachings in their every day life.  And, in a few communities, there is hardly a presence of Scriptural truth or of a godly witness at all.  What has happened?  I believe we have become too culturally adapted to the world around us.  We are more concerned about what others might think, than of what God thinks.  Other things crowd into our lives that drown out that voice that says, "Return to the Scriptures.  Follow the Scriptures."  It is so much easier to go with the flow than it is to swim against the popular current of our day. 

It is time for those of us who know Jesus Christ personally, to dig more deeply into the Word.  Get involved in a small group Bible study where the Bible is taken seriously.  Become a discipler of your own children and grandchildren, remembering that that is your first mission field.  Take a stand for what is biblical.  It won't be easy and there might be a price to pay, but I remember what Daniel did and what Joseph did.  And then we need to model in our office complexes, in our school board meetings, in our marketplaces, and in our neighborhoods the love of God and the principles of God's truth. 

Can we make a difference?  Absolutely!  Is it too late to begin making such a difference?  Absolutely, not!  I believe many are truly seeking truth in the midst of these perilous days.  They are looking for an anchor.  Let's point them clearly to Jesus...our Rock and our Fortress.