Wednesday, April 29, 2015

AMERICA - THE BIGGEST MISSION FIELD IN THE WORLD

MAJOR US CITIES REMAIN UNCHURCHED- NEW BARNA SURVEY
San Francisco - Farthest away from God
If you wondered why Christians in the west and especially in the so-called most Christian nation in the world - the United States, could care less about the persecution of Christian in the Middle East, Africa and Asia, look no further than the proof provided by George Barna. The great Christian researcher just released his survey of the least churched cities in America and while there is no surprise there, the sheer size of the populations of these cities, give lie to the historic title of the greatest Christian nation in history. In fact, what this survey proves, is the United States is the largest, wealthiest and ungodliest mission field in the world. (The largest Christian nation is actually the underground church in China which has over 300 millions Christians!)

That is the bad news. The good news is the Christian remnant in America, which hovers around 30 million, has stayed true to the Word of God, Biblical principles, the Sovereignty of God in the affairs of men and the "true Truth". That number- 25 to 30 million - seems like a lot but in a country of over 316 million people, is actually theologically correct when the qualifying views of these believers are boiled down to the nitty gritty. 

A real Christian has the following beliefs as his/her core and never wavers from it: the Sovereignty of God; the Inerrancy of Scripture from Genesis 1 to Revelation 22; the birth, life, death, Resurrection and Return of Christ; His Virgin Birth; the Diety of Christ; The Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit);  the Total Depravity of man; the Perseverance of the Saints and Lordship of Jesus Christ as the only narrow way to Heaven. Anything else is an anathema. Good works and all that are a natural flow of the authority and calling of the believer and true child of God. Because God has told us to never neglect the fellowship of the saints, and the meeting of the assembly, church is important. It's secondary functions - the Parachurch - is supremely important as well as most of the outreach work, missions and discipleship ministries are done through the Parachurch organizations. (This will be discussed in Part 2 of this article).

So without further ado, and knowing the foundational truth of what a true Christian and authentic church-goes SHOULD be, here are the least churched cities of the United States of America:
LEAST UNCHURCHED CITIES IN THE U.S.:
1. San Francisco/Oakland/San Jose, Ca.  (61% unchurched)
2. Burlington/Plattsbuirgh, Vermont (55%)
3. Boston, Ma/Manchester N.H. (53%)
4. Portland/Auburn, Maine (52%)
5. Chico/Redding, Ca. (52%)
6. Las Vegas, Nevada (51%)
7. Seattle and Tacoma, Wa. (50%)
8. Albany and upstate New York (50%)
9. Phoenix, Prescott, Arizona (49%)
10. New York City (48%)
11. West Palm Beach etc, Florida (48%)
12. Tuscon/Sierra Vista, Arizona
13.  Portland, Oregon
14.  Los Angeles, Ca.
15.  Philadelphia, Pa.
16.  Hartford/New Haven, Connecticut
17.  Flint, Michigan
18.  Denver, Colorado
19.  Sacramento/Stockton/Modesto
20.  Providence, Rhode Island
Baltimore is ranked number 67 with only 1/3 of this population listed as unchurched. Judging from the riots and spiritual condition of that city, it's absolutely obvious church attendance does not equal transformation.

Go to www.barna.org for more on this and other relevant (to Christianity) surveys.

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