I saw the future of America in Europe the summer of 2003. Out of 750 people in eight churches we worked with in the town of Widnes, in the UK, just 16 were teenagers! That's in a country where only 5% of the population goes to church. Attendance in America is headed that direction. When just 6% of Christian young people believe in absolute truth, that tells you something.

Down through the years when the Lord's people have been in retreat, though the majority may open the gates of the city to the maddening hordes, a remnant has remained - a small group committed to defending the Lord's Kingdom no matter the cost.

Jeremiah 23:1-4 says, "I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries…" God is very interested in a faithful remnant. Gideon is one of the best examples. The Acts 2 church was that. St. Patrick revitalized the medieval church from a remnant. Count von Zinzindorf took a remnant and started a 100-year nonstop prayer chain that bore great fruit.

The remnant is always perceived by the outside world as a band of zealots. They are the guardians of the flame, the true believers who will go down fighting.

This generation is in the process of abandoning the faith of their fathers. 53,000 a week leave the institutional church in America, never to darken its doors again. But a remnant remains. The flame may be flickering, but it is still lit. New generations will yet catch fire if we tend that flame.

Here's another blog about this generation as a remnant.