The title is a bit deceptive. It’s not about money. Or at least, it’s not just about money, although “the love of money is the root of all evil,” and bucks, bricks, and bodies seem to be the principal concern of many church leaders today.
The concept of God’s Church being “depression proof” is of a church that is not focused on its own preservation, but upon lifting up Jesus making disciples, and blessing others. It’s the concept of the New Testament Church, a concept that seems lost in the fogs of time.
The depression proof church is filled with contentment and peace because it is not a place of brick and mortar, but a spiritual building, a fellowship of believers, the Body of Christ.
When The Depression Proof Church was first published, it received praise from several seminary presidents.
Paige Patterson, President of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (https://swbts.edu/) and former president of the Southern Baptist Convention, wrote this:
“In a day of ‘how to’ manuals on church growth and effectiveness, to find a writer who tells the truth…is a breath of fresh air. Frank Becker in this book, The Depression Proof Church: The Biblical Answer to a Church in Crisis, has clearly enunciated the one essential, namely, a return to the church of the New Testament.”
Dr. John Kenzy, President of Youth Challenge International Bible Institute, called it “compelling and timely,” and added, it “exposes revelation from God.”
Admittedly, The Depression Proof Church is not prophetic in the sense that the Holy Bible is prophetic, but it certainly has proven frighteningly predictive.
Consider Houston, Texas, America’s fourth largest city. Recent events provide several examples of the attacks now being faced by Christians nationwide. Houston is a logical place for the enemies of the Church to focus their attacks because—if they can establish precedents that damage the work of God in the very heart of the Bible Belt—they can succeed anywhere.
Not long ago, the mayor of Houston—a woman who was recently “married” to another woman—demanded that local pastors provide her administration with copies of their sermons. Since this is a clear violation of the U.S. Constitution, as well as God’s higher law, she was forced to back down for the time being, but she wasn’t through.
Later, the city council that she dominated was faced with a court order that requires that the council either put a so-called Equal-rights Ordinance on the November ballot or repeal it. A week later the council voted to put it on the November ballot.
But the city of Houston has not limited itself to these two fronts in their over war against Christians. They are now determined to literally bulldoze two churches that have served their troubled neighborhood for decades, using the excuse that the city wants to condemn the property so that they can build something new and more useful.
Across America, the abuses against Christians, and the insults to God, are too numerous to list. When believers look around them at the abuses, they are asking how we can expect God to bless a nation so deeply steeped in sin, and have begun to pray “God save America” rather than “God bless America.”
Who would have imagined that there would be such seemingly concerted action—such carefully orchestrated conspiracies—to silence the voices of millions of Christians who have done nothing but good for the people of America and the world? The altering of public opinion that is made possible by social media and through false news demonstrates that we are now ruled by the voices of the left manifesting itself through public passions, and that the end of freedom of religion, and America as a democratic republic, cannot be far away.
We have long heard of the atrocities against humanity committed by Planned Parenthood, evils so great that they can only be compared with the Nazi’s laboratory “experimentation” on human beings and their mass-production genocide of millions committed during the 1930s and 40s. The so-called Planned Parenthood organization has been “harvesting” the bodies of unborn babies for profit. Not since the Holocaust have we heard of such horrific crimes against humanity. Yet, Americans do not rise up in horror at these horrors.
Joseph Stalin of the USSR probably murdered more innocents than even the Germans, and the modern left has learned their lessons from him. “A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic.” They have supported the slaughter of over 65-million unborn babies.
Now the attacks on the Church and on the principals of liberty are increasing in number and intensity. Even for far-sighted Christians, the terrible events that predicted in The Depression Proof Church are arriving years earlier than anticipated. Many wonder whether we are beginning to witness the fulfillment of end-times prophecies recorded in Holy Scripture.
The broad attacks on Christians in general, and on the institutional Church in particular, along with the inability of Christian leaders to deal effectively with these attacks, is sobering. Far more sobering, however, is the fact that these attacks are even allowed, even welcomed, by public opinion, and not quelled by the courts.
Whether issues as frivolous as “Inflategate,” or as serious as the Benghazi slaughter, too many of our citizens seem indifferent to sin. The attitude is, “Hey, these are not crimes. Everyone from President Obama on down does this sort of thing. Most people cheat, steal, and tell lies from time to time. Why get excited about it?” And they ask defiantly, “What are you, some kind of fanatic Christian?”
People seem interested only in their own illusions of security and comfort. Their reasoning seems to take place not in their heads and hearts, but is a matter of their lusts and passions.
Perhaps, as I wrote several years ago in The Depression Proof Church, our Christian leaders are at fault, because everything rises and falls on leadership, and our nation’s slide is ultimately a result of the failures of the Church. I can look back on my own years as a pastor and realize that I too often fell short. But self-recrimination will not bind our wounds or salve our national conscience. America has fallen on dark times.
God, save America!
