This season is definitely bringing out the best and worst in us. Many who call themselves Christians are embracing heretical theology and ungodly movements. It’s quite clear they don’t want to be convicted by the truth. Jeremiah 5:30–31 is a powerful and heart-wrenching reminder of this very thing: “An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own power; and My people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?” These turbulent times are separating the wheat from the tares.

To strengthen the church, pastors must become preachers again. A. W. Tozer hit the nail on the head when he wrote: “If Christianity is to receive a rejuvenation, it must be by other means than any now being used. If the Church in the second half of this century is to recover from the injuries she suffered in the first half, there must appear a new type of preacher.”

Leaders should ask, “Does the world love the way we ‘do church’? Does the world appreciate that our church never challenges anyone or anything? Am I proud that I never make members feel uncomfortable or offended?” If so, you may want to consider Jesus’ words that true disciples will be hated by the world because they speak the truth, not because they avoid it.

We must recapture our prophetic zeal and say like Richard Baxter, “I preach as a dying man to dying men”—as a dying man to a dying nation. The church, and our nation, desperately needs to be awakened, convicted, and restored.

Here.