I have become more convinced than ever that history is going to attest to the fact that much of the reason for our moral and ethical disaster that we are facing in this great nation is due directly to the fact that some time ago we have chosen conformity instead of confrontation, that we have chosen conformity instead of confrontation,

that we have chosen consensus instead of conviction,

that we have chosen public opinion polls instead of private obedience to God and his laws.

Now, in my personal opinion,

the Christian community is becoming like society at large

with fewer and fewer and fewer people,

loving God, working for God, serving God, making Him known, and the masses

are vegetating in the pews.

I am here to tell you, the race that is to be won, cannot be won by spectators.

A prominent football coach recently described the football game as an event where about 50 people who are exhausted and tired and in desperate need of rest.

They're playing in the field and being watched by 50,000 spectators who are resting and in desperate need of exercise.

Today, as we look at the very centerpiece of the life of Elijah,

you're going to find him standing up in hand-to-hand combat.

And while the masses of people, God's people, the people of Israel,

were indifferent, skeptical, standing there atop of Mount Carmel.

Turn to your Bibles, please,

to First Kings chapter 18.

And as you're turning into your Bibles,

I want to tell you this,

that the recipe for disaster

in a nation, a church,

community, or home,

...