The document outlines 10 things that are undermining the church today according to Dr. Peter Hammond: 1) Prayerlessness and lack of vibrant prayer meetings. 2) Neglect of studying the word of God. 3) Lack of fear of God as the fundamental attitude of faith. 4) Acceptance of evolutionism which denies accountability to God. 5) Egalitarianism which rejects authority and respect for elders. 6) Antinomianism which rejects God's moral law. 7) Overuse of worldly entertainment that promotes superficiality. 8) Secular humanist education that dethrones God. 9) Lack of missionary vision and focus on the Great Commission. 10) Ignorance of history from a

1. 10 THINGS
THAT ARE
UNDERMINING
THE CHURCH
TODAY
By Dr. Peter Hammond

3. What ever happened to the Prayer Meeting?
For centuries the Prayer Meeting was an essential part of Church life,
an indispensable part of the weekly programme.
PRAYERLESSNESS

4. Yet few churches today have an active, vibrant Prayer Meeting
in which most members participate.

5. "Then Jesus told His disciples… that they should always pray
and not give up." Luke 18:1.

6. We need to know the Word of God and the God of the Word.
God guides us first and foremost through His Word.
The best way to know the Will of God is to study the Word of God.
NEGLECT OF THE WORD OF GOD

7. It is our priority to ensure
that we are
"…not conformed to this
world, but transformed by
the renewing of our minds,
then we will be able
to prove what is that
good and acceptable
and perfect will of God."
Romans 12:2.

8. The reverential awe, respect and fear of God
must be the fundamental attitude of our Faith.
LACK OF THE FEAR OF GOD

9. Any view of God which does not lead us to fear God and obey His Law
cannot be a Biblical view.
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." Psalm 111:10.

10. Only the fear of God can produce lasting justice and righteousness
in individuals, families, churches and nations.

11. Jesus said: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body,
but cannot kill the soul, rather be afraid of the one who can
destroy both body and soul in hell." Matthew 10:28.

12. Evolutionism and its denial of the Creator,
and therefore of accountability to Almighty God on Judgement Day,
erodes the very foundations of Christian civilisation.
EVOLUTIONISM

13. Evolutionism destroys all meaning, purpose and justice in life.
"You came from nothing! You are going nowhere! Life is meaningless!"
Evolution is an attempt to retroactively abort God.

14. Yet all too many Christians have bought into the lie of Evolution
and erode the foundational truths of Genesis.

15. The theory of evolution, as so often propagated by films, and in many
children’s books, and in state school textbooks, is an attempt to abort
God retroactively.

17. The Bible says: “The fool says in his heart, there is no God. They are
corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is no one who does good.”
Psalm 14:1

18. "…For since the Creation of the world His invisible attributes
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even His Eternal power and Godhead,
so that they are without excuse."
Romans 1:18-20.

19. The rejection of authority and lack of respect for elders,
produces a self-centred and selfish society.
The Ten Commandments effectively forbids egalitarianism.
EGALITARIANISM

20. The Ten Commandments effectively
forbids egalitarianism.

21. God is not egalitarian. Nothing in nature is egalitarian.
Each one of us are called to be faithful to our duty.

22. We are not to covet
what others have.
We are not to steal
other people's property,
nor are we to
dishonour our parents
or other superiors.

23. Neither may we lie, gossip
or slander others.
Instead of an attitude
of entitlement,
we need to rediscover
the lost art of respect.

24. "Obey those
who rule over you
and be submissive,
for they watch out
for your souls
as those who must
give an account.
Let them do so
with joy and
not with grief,
for that would be
unprofitable
for you."
Hebrews 13:17.

25. "You shall rise before the grey-headed and honour the
presence of an old man, and fear your God. I am the Lord."
Leviticus 19:32.

26. "The eye that mocks his father and scorns obedience to his mother, the
ravens of the valley will pick it out and the young eagles will eat it."
Proverbs 30:17.

27. The rejection of God's moral Law inevitably leads to lawlessness,
where everyone does what is right in his own eyes.
"Sin is lawlessness." 1 John 3:4.
ANTINOMIANISM

28. "The Law is Holy and the Commandment holy
and just and good." Romans 7:12.

29. God spoke the Ten Commandments with His own voice.
He wrote them with His own finger upon tablets of stone.
In the New Covenant,
God has written His Law upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:33).

30. "Therefore the Law was our tutor to bring us to Christ,
that we might be justified by Faith." Galatians 3:24.
"The Law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul." Psalm 19:7.

31. We need to beware of technology encroaching on our lives.
Technology is a dangerous servant and a fearful master.
Has the TV become your family altar and electronic babysitter?
WORLDLY ENTERTAINMENT

32. Superficial, sensational and immoral material predominates in the
modern entertainment industry and it is producing an increasingly
superficial, selfish, mindless and immoral society.

33. "Since they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God,
He gave them over to a depraved mind…" Romans 1:28.

34. "Their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened."
Romans 1:21.

35. "Be very careful, then, how you live, not as
unwise, but as wise, making the most of every
opportunity, because the days are evil."
Ephesians 5:15-16.

36. Anyone who believes that education can be neutral is mistaken.
Ideas have consequences. Actions flow from thought patterns.
SECULAR HUMANIST EDUCATION

37. Secular humanism is a religion which
deifies man and dethrones God.

38. All education is inherently religious, because it presents
a certain perspective and selection of history, values and practices
and it prescribes a worldview.

39. Instead of education,
teaching people
how to think,
we now mostly have
indoctrination, telling
students what to think.

40. Children do not belong to the state.
Children are made in the image of God and are entrusted to parents to:
"Bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.“
Ephesians 6:4

41. "See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and
deceptive philosophy, which depends upon human tradition
and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ."
Colossians 2:8.

42. The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.
The Great Commission should be our supreme ambition.
The last command of Christ should be our first concern.
LACK OF MISSIONARY VISION

43. The Church is called to be a House of Prayer for all nations.
We are called to "…disciple the nations, teaching obedience
to all things that the Lord has commanded…" (Matthew 28:18-20).

44. "In the time of those kings, the God of Heaven will set up a Kingdom
that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people.
It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end.
But will itself endure forever." Daniel 2:44

45. "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord,
and all the nations will bow down before Him,
for our dominion belongs to the Lord and He rules over the nations."
Psalm 22:27-28

46. Real history, told from a Biblical perspective, is a treasure
of the Church that can teach us about truth that has endured.
IGNORANCE OF HISTORY

47. In the Scriptures we are commanded to understand the times
so that we may know what we ought to do (1 Chronicles 12:32).

48. We need to understand the events and issues of the past
that correspond with our challenges today.

49. Karl Marx declared:
The first
battlefield is
the rewriting of
history.

50. To liberate our thinking from current fashions and to recognise potential
potholes and traps, we need to understand the people, events
and issues that shaped our past and affect our present.

51. History illustrates the consequences of ideas and actions.

52. "Now these things became our examples,
to the intent that we should not lust after evil things,
as they also lusted, now all these things happened
to them as examples,
and they are written for our admonition…"
1 Corinthians 10:6-11.

54. Dr Peter Hammond
Reformation Society
P.O. Box 74
Newlands, 7725
Cape Town, South Africa
Tel: (021) 689 4480
Fax: (021) 685 5884
Email: info@ReformationSA.org
Website: www.ReformationSA.org