Regaining Lost Ground

Pastor Shane Idleman: Seeking God like never before, that’s our only hope. So you Negative Nellies who say this verse doesn’t work, I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to get off your high horse and get back to seeking the heart of God. Absolutely this verse applies. And by the way, humility, prayer, seek, repent, these are not separate things. This is all one package.

This is how you change America. Men, humble yourself in your home. Get back and repent if necessary. Lead your family to the cross. Put on worship.

Guest (Male): Thank you for joining us here at Westside Christian Fellowship, located in Leona Valley, California, one hour north of Los Angeles. Today on Regaining Lost Ground, we hear the second part of this special liberty message titled, If You Can Keep It.

In 1775, founding father Patrick Henry said, "Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

Are you weary of apathy and complacency? Is the flame once roaring now a dim whisper? Take your faith into action today. Be transformed through the power of the Holy Spirit and God’s living, breathed-out word in this powerful war cry from Pastor Shane to get off the sidelines of faith.

Charge the front lines of battle here on Regaining Lost Ground. You can hear the whole message at Pastor Shane’s YouTube and Rumble channels. Make sure to subscribe today. For more information, visit us online at WestsideChristianFellowship.org. We also encourage you to hear more truth from Pastor Shane with the Idleman Unplugged weekly podcast. And now from Westside Christian Fellowship in Leona Valley, California, here is Pastor Shane Idleman.

Pastor Shane Idleman: Our only hope is to get back on our face before God Almighty and cry out for revival. That’s it. There’s no other hope. The sign out front isn’t just so it looks good. "If my people," that’s the remedy. If my people humble themselves and pray and seek my face.

How many of you have ever read Newsweek magazine? Well, let’s look at what they said in 1982. Historians are discovering that the Bible, even more than the Constitution, is our founding document. Not me, Newsweek. I don’t think they’d say that today, but they got it approved in ‘82.

By the way, now the media is owned by mainly six major companies. Did you know that? And what you’re reading on the media, that’s why people are fed all this garbage, all these bullet points. They control how we think. If a proposed article for the Constitution that we live by was not supported by or rooted in the Bible, it was not even considered.

In their early writings, many of the founding fathers quoted or referenced the Bible nearly four times more than any other source. Incredible, is it not? Back then, first introduced in 1766, William Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England served as our legal reference and it quoted scriptures.

It quoted scriptures in our legal system. Now it’s unconstitutional for students to see the Ten Commandments since they might read them, meditate upon them, respect, or obey them. I don’t remember the court case, but it’s in my book, referenced with hundreds of footnotes. Do you laugh or cry? They can’t see the Ten Commandments, they might follow them.

The Chief Justice of the Supreme Court said, "Unto Him who is the author and giver of all good, I render sincere and humble thanks for His manifold and unmerited blessing and especially for our redemption and salvation by His beloved Son."

In 1995, a district judge in Texas decreed that any student saying the name of Jesus during school graduation ceremonies would be jailed. I reference the court case. Now granted, there’s been some forward momentum on Bibles back in school, praise God, and things have loosened up a little bit. But I’m not too excited because there are so many other things coming against us.

Noah Webster, anybody ever heard of him? Anybody ever use a Webster dictionary? Did you know that there used to be Bible verses in it? I’ve got the big version. It’s got all the Bible verses, but now we’ve got to take those scriptures out. Those darn Christians.

In my view, the Christian religion is the most important and one of the first things in which all children under a free government ought to be instructed. But now today, many students are criticized when they read the Bible in public, and in order to be politically correct, Noah Webster’s scripture references have been withdrawn from all new editions. Does that make you sad? That makes me angry.

The first and primary duty of government is to protect innocent human life. Nobody has the freedom to choose to do what is morally wrong. Did you know abortion wouldn’t even enter the mind of the founding era? They didn’t have to have laws about that. Obviously.

But if all the names of aborted babies were placed on a monument much like that of the Vietnam Memorial Wall, that monument could span over 35 miles long. And that was 20 years ago. We’ve got the blood of innocent children on our hands.

We say nothing about controversial topics. We can love people and still speak the truth in love. The reason the rainbow flag is all over churches and nobody says anything is because we don’t want to upset anyone. I get it, we have to be tactful. But you can say, "That’s not right. You will not shut me up."

God will shut me up when He’s ready, but you will not shut me up. We will speak the truth in love and we will tell you that’s not right. If more people would say that, God honors when the truth is being spoken. God backs those truth speakers. He opens doors no man can shut.

When we first started, people were like, "Man, I don’t know, you’re too much. Calm down, don’t offend, just preach." Be like Joel Osteen was back then, too. Just be like that guy. And here I am, digging ditches, construction, and then God explodes the ministry all over radio stations. 100,000 listeners a week hearing this. Why? Because He honors those who honor His truth.

I’ll get that message out. God does it. You just have to stand. Having done all, stand. When the criticism comes, just stand. When the people want the worst to happen to you so you shut your mouth, you just stand. When the critics come, you stand. You learn from it, you grow from it, but you speak the truth. Actually telling people that their lifestyle is wrong means you love them. I want to help you. This is wrong. It’s a coward that says nothing.

Now, you need to use wisdom. There are times at Thanksgiving dinner where I'll keep my mouth shut. We've got liberal family members too, and I know what to say and what not to say. They know where I stand. But at other times you can say, "That’s not right, that’s not good." Push back because you’re speaking the truth in love and there’s power in words.

Do you realize how powerful words are? You read the word that’s powerful, living, sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces the soul, it discerns the heart. God honors those who speak the truth in love.

Let’s put up another quote. I love this law. I wish we could do it again. It was actually called the Old Deluder Satan Act in 1647. It established the first biblically based public school in America. Now we’ll get to this one. Do you understand Harvard University? Do you know how liberal Harvard is? Don’t tell me we haven’t drifted very far.

When Harvard started by the Reverend John Harvard, "Let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies, which is to know God and Jesus Christ." Harvard! You couldn’t even go to Harvard unless you recognized these rules. And it says, "And lay Christ at the bottom as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning."

This is unbelievable. Look at how far. Shouldn’t that break our hearts? There should be an "Oh God, bring back that sense of revival and awe and awakening." What would those at Harvard say today? They’d say, "Shut that guy up."

Why do people want to change it? It’s called revisionism. They rewrite history. All the founders were evil, all the slavery, all the Native Americans. And there were some evil things, of course, but they forget to tell you all the other stuff.

They forget to tell you about David Brainerd who would minister to the Native Americans and lead them to the Lord. Hallelujah! Or the founders that fought for the freedom for the different groups to have their own area. They petitioned for that. But then evil men came in and overruled that. You have to really look at the original intent of the founding fathers and of our nation. It was to build a life on God’s word.

Here’s a funny one. What about those founders who said slaves are only like a fraction of a person? Well, I read the House Senate Committee notes. What they were doing is they were trying to give the states who agreed to slavery less power by doing that. So their motivation was to give them less political power so they could get rid of the practice. But you’re not going to hear that. You don’t hear the true intent behind these things.

It drove me nuts because we’re being given false information from people who are God-rejecting and are not God-fearing. And we have to get back to fearing God. The founders introduced approximately 1,400 official prayer proclamations prior to 1815.

You are not progressing if you are digressing from the truth. So all these people that say, "We’re progressing, I’m a progressive." No, you’re not. You’re a digressive. You’re leaving the truth. You’re never progressing when you’re leaving the truth.

One of my favorite statistics is that 24 of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence received what today would be considered a seminary education. Half the signers of the Declaration of Independence. They wanted God’s word so entrenched in society.

Remember, that’s what started. 1620, the Pilgrims come over on the Mayflower to Cape Cod Bay to start to the glory of God and to the advancement of the Christian faith. And from that began this incredible experiment. The Supreme Court in the early 1800s ruled that public schools should teach the Bible. Noah Webster went on to say that education is useless without the Bible.

So you may wonder, where am I going with all of this? Glad you asked. Think of what this will mean to our children and grandchildren. If the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Titanic is sunk. We’ve been hit. All I know is to trust God and to seek Him like never before.

But I do know in the darkest hour there is often the greatest hope. And the foundations must be maintained, the foundation of moral integrity and God’s word and fearing God. This is a spiritual battle for the very soul of our nation and it’s our choice whether we stand or fall.

Again, I’m not being overly patriotic and what they call Christian nationalism, which is just a way they love to twist terms. You’re a homophobe. No, I just speak the truth in love. You’re an Islamophobe. No, it’s just you’ve got a lot of terrorists killing people. That’s just truth.

You’re a Christian white supremacist nationalist. No, I just want to get back to God. That’s all. I love God. I love our country. You can call me what you want. You’re the liar, you’re the deceiver, not me. Again, not you guys, the live stream audience. I’m being truthful. I don’t think there’s anybody really here this morning that would disagree with most of this.

I’m a repetitive person, but I can’t find new hope and new truth. There is hope, though. I’m going to explain this. Second Chronicles 7:14 calls out from the past with resounding clarity to America today.

Let me break down a straw man argument really quick. A straw man argument is something somebody puts together that really holds no weight. They say this does not apply to America, Shane. And to some degree, they’re right. The context is actually for Israel. If you want to get technical, it’s when Solomon was king and he prayed this incredible prayer and God told him, "My people are going to wander."

"And when I bring pestilence, when I bring famine, when I bring drought to you, my people, when I bring these things, if my people humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked way, then I will heal your land."

However, the context may not support America, but the principle does. In other words, does this verse apply to us? Hello, of course! If you think it doesn’t, I’ve got some oceanfront property in Arizona to sell you as well. What Bible are you reading? Everything is fixed through humility and prayer and seeking God and repenting. Even a nation.

Benjamin Franklin probably wasn’t even a Christian. The guys couldn’t agree and he said, "Hold on guys, hold on. If a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid?" We need to get back to humbling ourselves and seeking God like never before. That’s our only hope.

So you Negative Nellies who say this verse doesn’t work, I want to challenge you. I want to challenge you to get off your high horse and get back to seeking the heart of God. Absolutely this verse applies. And by the way, humility, prayer, seek, repent, these are not separate things. This is all one package.

This is how you change America. Men, humble yourself in your home. Get back and repent if necessary. Lead your family to the cross. Put on worship instead of the MMA at the White House. Humility, prayer, seek, repent. How are you guys doing on that area?

I want to read just a portion of this from my book from a former Chief Justice of the great state of Alabama. I’m glad they’re not here with us, talking about those who gave their lives for our nation. I’m glad they’re not here with us to see the mess we’re in, how we’ve given up our righteousness for a life of indulgent sin.

For when abortion isn’t murder and sodomy is deemed a right, then evil is now called good and darkness is now called light. But with man as his own master, we fail to count the cost. Our precious freedoms vanish and our liberty is lost.

Children are told they can’t pray in school and they teach them evolution. When will they see that the fear of God is the only true solution? Our schools have become battlegrounds while all across the land, Christians shrug their shoulders, afraid to take a stand.

And from the grave their voices cry, "The victory’s already been won. Just glorify the Father as did His only Son." And when your work on earth is done and you’ve traveled where we’ve trod, you’ll leave the land we left you, one nation under God.

Guys, we have a responsibility. I don’t care if you hate America, you have a responsibility to seek God and pray and fast and ask God to revive us. I don’t want it to be said of us like in Judges: "And there arose another generation after them who did not know the Lord."

Other than Scotland, we were, of all nations in the world, the land of revival. I have a whole list from during the Revolutionary War, the First Great Awakening, Second Great Awakening, all the different times where God revived us. And that can still be it today. We don’t have to live in the past.

Somebody’s got to dream. Somebody’s got to pray. "Oh God, revive us." Somebody’s got to contend, somebody’s got to fuel the flames of passion. Somebody’s got to intercede. Somebody’s got to cry out and ask the question, where are the weepers? Where are the men and women who are going to find themselves on their face before Almighty God and praying down heaven and not letting go until God answers? Where are they, church? Who’s going to answer the call?

I want to tell you about a new booklet I just released titled, The Dark Night of the Soul. This book came from a very challenging season in my own personal life. Dark seasons reveal what we actually believe, not just what we say we believe. The phrase, "the dark night of the soul," captures a moment we all dread. It’s the moment when the floor drops out from underneath us and we realize that we are not in control and we come face to face with something we cannot fix.

Time and time again, God demonstrates that what appears to be the end of something is actually only the beginning. So again, I want to encourage you to take time today and download my new booklet, The Dark Night of the Soul, for free right now at WestsideChristianFellowship.org.

Again, download it for free at WestsideChristianFellowship.org. It is on Amazon, but we’re encouraging people to go to our church website where they can actually download the booklet for free, the PDF, and share it with friends and family.

Westside Christian Fellowship is located 60 miles north of Los Angeles in Leona Valley, California. Thank you again for listening to today’s message of Regaining Lost Ground, where we are reminded daily, times change, truth does not.