The Pursuit and Revelation of Truth

Ricci Johnson-Wilson

(Transcription of August 11, 2023 Message)

In this message, I’d like to address two nationwide studies that were done on topics that every believer should consider pivotal to their own life and walk with God. The first one is on the topic of “Truth”, the second one was on the topic of “Bible reading”.

In a 2020 study done by the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University under Dr. George Barna, a national representative sample of 2000 adults were met with by phone or through online interviews to determine where the nation stands on the issue of truth.

The question was posed: On what basis is truth determined?

The survey found that:

When asked about “absolute moral truth” and whether or not they identified God as the absolute “source of truth” the study showed the following:

*RW note: Moral absolute is “of or relating to rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.” Let’s remember, man is inherently flawed, the heart is deceitfully wicked, who can know it but God? We need a Savior to lead and guide our conduct, our morals, and ensure His Truth is our truth. Individuals simply are not capable of such a thing of their own accord. A very effective tool of Cultural Marxism is to use public opinion to manipulate and shift legislation to comply with Marxist ideology. It literally shifts the course of nations into a path of self-destruct.

Other interesting outcomes of this study:

Dr. George Barna, who directed the study, noted that the research suggests Americans are radically redefining how life works. “Americans have historically held the biblical view that God created our world and the life within it, and He gave specific guidelines that promote our well-being when we stay within those boundaries. Those principles were delivered to humanity through the Bible,” Barna explained.

“Because God was described as the pure, perfect, and just creator whose character and motivations are impeccable, He served as the basis of all truth. The truth principles He provided to us in the Bible are consistent and pertinent to everyone, in all situations, at all times,” Barna said. “Knowledge of good and evil, meaning and purpose, and everything else that matters was accessible by studying the Bible and gleaning the truth God had provided for our well-being.”

“But things are changing,” the veteran researcher continued. “Only half of Americans now believe in an all-knowing, all-powerful, loving and forgiving God. Less than half believe the Bible is completely true and relevant to modern life.”

Barna said the result of this seismic shift is that most Americans are defining their life purpose apart from the intent of God. As he explained, “Now we see that Americans have rejected the idea that God is truth and that the truth principles He has given for our good are reliable and relevant. As a nation we are becoming increasingly self-reliant. We trust ourselves or our discoveries rather than the truth principles God provides.”

“The diminished role of God in peoples’ lives highlights why just 6% of American adults possess a biblical worldview,” Barna added. “It’s one thing to lack theological clarity regarding biblical perspectives on immigration policy or the end times. It’s a much more serious condition when the general public outright rejects God as the source of truth, the Bible as the conveyance of truth, and the very importance of integrating a known, proven and stable source of truth into our daily decisionmaking and lifestyle.”

Dr. Tracy Munsil, Executive Director of the CRC, noted, “The implications of these findings are staggering, especially for young people and college students.

Munsil explained, “Like every generation before them, this next generation is seeking guidance for how to live, how to understand truth and morality. They look to the older generation, to parents, mentors, their professors. But even these groups are rejecting absolute moral truth rooted in God.”

“Increasingly, they find themselves in a culture that, from top to bottom, rejects God’s truth and says to them, ‘you are free to determine your own morality. Look to yourselves, to science, to whatever you can find, for guidance on how to live your lives’,” she explained.

Munsil, also an associate professor of political science at Arizona Christian University, said these findings point to a desperate need for greater engagement by older generations of Christians.

She continued: “We are seeing an untethered generation, young people completely adrift, with no foundation in God, biblical truth, or standards of morality—the very things that enabled generations before them to live well and flourish. Those who still recognize the truth of God and His standards have a responsibility to share these with the next generation. Or they will be lost to this next generation, and maybe to our nation forever.”

RW Note- these are the consequences of introducing evolution, the big bang theory, and removing God and Creationism from education. Add to that the 1963 Supreme court Rulings that removed Bible reading and prayer from our schools and we see our children receiving nearly 10 thousand hours of education that presents a life without God to young and very impressionable minds.

So, what do we do?

First, let us remember that this is the hour God chose to release the Awakening. He chose to release it in a season of great darkness in our nation. With Covid, the 2020 Coup, massive BLM protests and chaos in our streets, wars and rumors of wars, famine, bloodletting, the financial crisis, yes, there is much darkness in this hour. However, He knew this was the hour the people would turn and be drawn to His Light like never before.

So, if nearly nine out of ten (87%) SAGECons –the Spiritually Active Governance Engaged Conservative Christians – presumably that’s most of us—selected God as their basis of truth, we know one of our answers is to pray and engage the people around us in greater measure. Studies such as these help us know how and what to pray when we consider the Church, the youth, and everything in between.

I know we have a certain percentage of Church leaders that preach truth from their pulpits. They are determined to preach the whole council of the Word of God regardless of the consequences. And I believe, we have an entire generation rising that will crave truth above all other generations, they will crave it as though it was food or water. As such, it is these platforms that not only preach truth, but provide a Biblical world view that will draw that generation in.

Others, unable or unwilling to withstand the pressure of liberal board members and compromised congregants, have let go of absolute truth and as such, their church is floundering. Motivational speakers tend to draw in large crowds, but they do not provide substance or Biblical understanding of the world today.

In 2022 by American Bible Society released the results of a survey they did entitled “The State of the Bible.” In their survey they concluded that the percentage of Bible users slipped to 39%; a 10% drop compared to the previous two years.

They added that “attitudes about the Bible and the nation are also changing” with many believing that “America would stay ‘about the same’ if no one read the Bible.” And the primary reason is: “a lack of relevance.”

What?!? The Bible is no longer relevant?!? I beg to differ. I’m going to provide just two examples from nearly 2700 years ago that we can take and stamp right over 2023 but before I do, I want to remind you of two of the goals from the Communist Manifesto. They knew that to take a nation you have to strip God from the nation.

From 45 Communist Goals:

18. Infiltrate the churches and replace revealed religion with "social" religion. Discredit the Bible and emphasize the need for intellectual maturity, which does not need a "religious crutch." [Note: This has been largely accomplished through the Communist infiltration of the National Council of Churches, Conservative and Reform Judaism, and the Catholic seminaries.]

19. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the grounds that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state.”

If we stay on this path, we, those who identify as “Christians” will be responsible for leading this nation into communism. If 58% of American’s identify moral truth as subjective, we really are in danger. We must stand together and resist this, my friends.

Let’s consider some Biblical Relevance for today’s issues:

Isaiah, a 7th Century Prophet who witnessed the captivity of the Northern Kingdom and through Divine and Scriptural revelation, knew the Southern Kingdom was not far behind if they did not turn from their wicked ways. Isaiah told the people exactly why they were in the situation they were in:

Isaiah 59:1-4

Isaiah’s word is very clear:

When we are separated from Him, we do not hear, understand, or receive Truth because turn to “self” and in our self-sufficiency, we become deceived. No wonder Bible reading is down. No wonder the understanding or embracing of “absolute truth” has declined so sharply.

Still feel the Bible is not relevant?

Let me present another example:

Hosea, who also prophesied during the 7th Century BC – both Prophets lived and prophesied nearly 2700 years ago—and again, could just as easily been plopped down in 2023 and once the culture shock wore off, released the same warning under the unction of the Lord:

Hosea 4:1-2, 6-10 (AMPC)

He goes on to pen the following, please, picture the cry of our Lord to His people here:

This truly an arraignment of Israel, by God, through the prophet Hosea.

What are the charges?

When we do not seek absolute truth, we will stumble and descend into chaos, we will indeed, be destroyed for our lack of knowledge.

What knowledge? Books? Science?

No, I’m talking about a lack of the knowledge of God, of His Truth, His ways, His will, and His Word.

Friends, without God, man’s capacity to even extend mercy is limited. Truth, truth is required for justice to come forth. And if we are to really end the swearing, lying, killing, stealing and adultery, bloodletting and so on, we need to return to Him, His Word—His Truth.

What is the Judgment Hosea pronounced?

So, yes friends, the Bible—even a passage written 2700 years ago—is just as relevant today.

What now? What can we do? I’m going to share 5 points from these passages that we can begin doing now.

A move of God is coming in the nation that is going to be so profound, it will provoke in the heart, an insatiable hunger for His Word. I’ll close with this dream I had November 30, 2022

I had a dream wherein I was living in a community arena. At first, I thought it was a hotel but as time progressed, I saw a large close-knit community.

They would come to my apartment, showing up at my door throughout the day with Bible in hand to ask questions about the Word.

I could see an imprint of chains that had once been on their minds, keeping them bound in deception. They were filling the spaces once occupied by these chains with His Word. They devoured the Word every day. They would read and then come to me to ask if this or that was true. Once they had their answer, it would imprint upon them in a profound way.

There were three groups in particular who stood out to me. Black, Asian, and the youth.

Two black men, one was very tall and looked like a basketball player the other a very well-dressed educator. They both returned often to visit. The tall man had to duck under my doorway to enter but seemed very humble, teachable, like a child in his excitement over what he was learning in the Word. He towered over me with his Bible laid open across a single hand. I glanced over at his Bible and looked down at his feet, they were twice the size of mine and I believe God was bringing him great understanding in his pursuit. He was devouring the Word every day. What once seemed a burden to lift was now lighter, and he even developed a bounce in his step with each passing day.

The second was my height, he wore glasses, had a bow tie, a tweed jacket, very nicely dressed. He was highly educated, an IVY league college professor with tenure. He came and went each day having consumed chapters and chapters of the Word and hungry for deeper revelation and understanding. He was deliberate and calculated in his pursuit, and asked challenging questions about the Word, and every day he would say “for all my education, I didn’t know, I simply did not know. I was so deceived.”

The Asian groups. There were several groups of Asians men and women who came to see me. They would have the biggest smiles on their faces, smiles that lit up their eyes. They did not smile to make me happy or show understanding over what I was teaching them, we had no language barrier, they smiled because the joy in their hearts over the hope found in Jesus simply oozed from their pores. They were so hungry for His Word and each day they would return in groups of five or six, and ask many, many questions about the Living God, His Ways, His Truth, His Love for them.

The Youth. It was incredibly exciting to watch the young people. They came in great numbers filling my apartment. They ranged in age from 4 to 11. They all had Bibles in their hands and were devouring Scripture from the pages. They consumed and memorized more each day indicated by the appearance of their Bibles. When they arrived, more of the verses would be lifted off the page and imprinted in their minds and hearts. When they looked up at me, Light shone from their eyes, and it increased in brightness each day.

This was a Revolution of His Word in the lives of those oppressed by the enemy. Through the Word of God, they found freedom and healing from the chains of the past.

This is what God is going to do in our nation. Stay the course! Be the trailblazer your family, your church, your community needs in this hour! Together, we will see the hand of God move in our land in a deeply profound way as we wrest the nation from the hand of the Elite!

Blessings & love,

Ricci Johnson-Wilson