Article

WE NEED A CLIMATE CHANGE
I have to be honest. The political climate today disgusts me. It grieves me. It makes me ashamed of the state of our nation. The slander, lies, mean spirited, vicious, angry attitude of candidates on both sides is sinful. I’m ready to vote for “none of the above.”

I have never endorsed a candidate, ever. I won’t today. I don’t believe everyone who says they are a Christian. Jesus said by their fruit you will know them. By the fruit of some of these candidates, I’d say they are the products of a crab apple tree. Their fruit is certainly bitter.

I’ve never seen so much pandering to Evangelicals. We must be the dumbest people on the planet. We believe without discernment. The same reason there is doctrinal error in the church is the reason we have lack of discernment in who we support in politics. We lack foundational truth. We lack character and most of all, we lack discernment. We are seemingly clueless regarding what is needed in a leader.

Don’t tell me who you are against, tell me what you are for. Don’t tell me it’s broke, show me how you’re going to fix it. We expect that from our doctors, dentists and mechanics, why not national leaders? Doctors, dentists and mechanics are specific as to the problem and how to fix it. Why can’t a politician be that way? I’m in the no spin zone.

What are we teaching our children? It’s not good. It’s harmful and damaging to the future of our land. The candidates on both sides are teaching our kids ungodly attributes.
● Say whatever you have to say to get elected. Which translates into, say whatever you have to say to get ahead.
● The way to get on top is by character assassination. Be a name caller. Spend money on ads or do it freely on social media and sling as much mud as possible.
● You can say whatever you want but you don’t have to mean it. You can lie your way to the top. You can cheat your way to the top.
● Bend the rules, work the system and you’ll be able to stand on the carcass of a once great nation.
● Statesmanship is not longer essential in politics. You just need money and a lot of mud.
● Promise people the moon and when elected give them a moon pie.
● Tell people that there are no sacrifices in life. Someone else will pay for everything. This is why adult children live at home, don’t pay their bills and won’t get a job. But who cares, it’s a “free” country right?
● Don’t live in a world of black and white, right and wrong. Make everything dingy grey. Forget foundational truths. Bend the rules, break the rules. Whatever it takes to get ahead, do it.

That may be what you want. It’s not what I want in a leader, a nation or a church. If we don’t get back to the basics, we are sunk. America is a non-prophet society. We need preachers and church members to stop kissing up to politicians and start crying out to the Holy God of heaven who is our only hope.

Michael Catt

When you retire and are no longer pastoring, people can ask, “Whatever happened to…” In fact, I often get the question, “Are you still preaching?” Yes! Although I’m going through cancer treatments, God has allowed me to have the strength to travel and speak on a limited scale. I remember Ron Dunn said, “I have to show up at the Southern Baptist Convention every year or people will think I’m dead.” That’s the truth. Out of sight, out of mind. A sad reality of our day.

They say, you have fifteen minutes of fame. Some maybe more. Others not as much. The American culture of consumption chews up people and spits them out. We always want something new or different. Something or someone explodes on the scene and before you know it, they are gone.
I remember serving on the Board of 4HIM in the 1990’s. They were the hottest group in Contemporary Christian Music at the time. They had a number one hit, “Where There Is Faith” before they ever stepped off the TRUTH bus. At our first retreat, I told them that the record company was already looking for the next big group. They needed to be prepared that someone younger would come along with the right promotion and they would begin to decline in popularity. Every group, in every genre better think long and hard about this. People are, by nature, fickle. Even with nearly 25 #1 songs, the day came for my friends in 4HIM to call it a career and move on to other things.
Many of the artists I listened to in the early days of Contemporary Christian music are long gone. They no longer have the big record deals. They don’t tour consistently. Times changed, people changed. A new generation wanted their own music. Most of the records, cassettes and CD’s I bought were by singers who no one in this generation knows.
I often search ITunes looking for records that might have been remastered for ITunes. I was told by a record company official one day that it wasn’t profitable for them to remaster an old record (that same record company doesn’t even know where some of the master recordings are because it’s been bought and sold so many times). Apparently, if you aren’t the latest thing, no one cares what you like or want to listen to.
One of our families favorite movies is “That Thing You Do” set in the 1960’s about a group that was a one hit wonder. In the 1960’s there were a lot of rock and roll groups who were one hit wonders. You wonder, if they had a hit, why couldn’t they have another one or two? Some of the groups broke up because they couldn’t get along. Others just couldn’t write another song with a great hook. When disco hit, a lot of pop and rock and roll groups couldn’t make the transition and quickly faded off the charts. Out of sight, out of mind.
I wonder what will happen as my generation passes off the scene, will the next generations even know about the music of the 50’s and 60’s? Hey folks, a great song is always a great song, it doesn’t matter when it was written. I doubt if “Snoopy and the Red Baron” will be remembered years from now, but there were some songs in that era that have stood the test of time.
Even as I type this blog, I’m listing to my playlist on Itunes of some music from the days of the Jesus Movement. The Imperials, Dove, Truth, Andrae Crouch and others remind me of days when the Spirit of God was moving in power across our land. Today, most folks don’t even know those names or the songs.

Whatever happened to, that group, that preacher, that author, that favorite conference speaker, that staff member? Have you ever wondered where they are, or what happened? I have hundreds of old books from the 1800’s in my library. Authors that I love to read and glean from. These men were giants in their day, but today, their books are out of print, their names are forgotten and their impact on Christianity is considered irrelevant.

When I was young in the ministry, there were often two week Bible Conferences in cities around the Bible Belt. Churches would gather to hear people like Vance Havner, A. W. Tozer, J. Oswald Sanders, John Phillips, Ron Dunn, Bertha Smith, Bill Stafford, Peter Lord and others. Today the average seminary student couldn’t tell you a think about these giants. In fact, one seminary recently asked some students if they knew who Adrian Rogers was, and less than 25% had a clue. Adrian was one of the giants of the pulpit in the late 20th century and pastored a historic church. Today, out of sight, out of mind. That breaks my heart. It’s sad and it’s a commentary on our flavor of the month mentality.

I have lived long enough to know there were some preachers that were constantly used in every conference that could secure them on the calendar. There were some preachers who were so popular, you couldn’t have a barn raising without them being asked to speak. Today, they are long since forgotten. It’s not that they aren’t relevant, it’s just they are “old news.” I know I’m sounding old here, but let me just say, you don’t have to wear skinny jeans to relate. You have to be real and relatable. This generation needs some older, wiser, more mature voices that have been further down the road. It would save them from some headaches and heartaches. But, alas, we need the guy who can “communicate” not the guy with a message that matters.

Years ago, I was trying to collect sermons of my mentor, Vance Havner. To my shock, I discovered that dozens of churches that had him preach and had recorded his messages had thrown them away or lost them. They saw no value in keeping them. What a shame.
Just about the time you think you’ve got this figured out, it changes. Even at our denominations conferences, speakers seem to have a season. It’s no longer about who has a word from God, it’s about who is hip and can draw a crowd. We are more interested in communicators than preachers of the Word. Therefore, the guy who speaks truth is forgotten for the guy with the latest best selling book. Unfortunately, where pastors and speakers were once servants, now, far too often, they demand certain items in a green room and expect to appear to preach and then disappear back into the green room, or out the door. I miss the days when you could actually talk to a famous preacher, before we started confusing famous with celebrity.
Let me say another word about books. I have about 10,000 books in my library. Many of them are by preachers and authors no one even knows today. Today’s book is often more fluff than substance. They are filled with illustrations stacked on top of each other, with very little application or eternal principles. Illustrations are good, but they are like windows. No one wants to live in a glass house and a book with nothing but countless illustrations might be interesting, but it’s not life changing.
Whatever happened to books, sermons, conferences that stretched us out of our comfort zone. Whatever happened to the altar call? Whatever happened to prayer meeting? Whatever happened to personal evangelism? Whatever happened to tithing and sacrificial giving?
Whatever happened to making Sunday a priority? I can go into clinical depression just looking at the number of church members who find any reason and every reason to be gone on a Sunday. We seem to give the least to the one who gave us Himself. No longer do we sing or live, “My life, my love, my all I bring to Christ who loved me so. He is my savior Lord and King, wherever He leads, I’ll go.”

The largest denomination in America today is the “We Gotta Go” Church. We gotta go to the beach, the mountains, grandma’s, the game, anywhere but church, church. Just remember, what adults do in moderation their children will do in excess. Inconsistent parents will produce a generation of children that don’t give any thought to church. If you don’t believe it, read the book of Judges, “There arose a generation that did not know God…” just 2 generations removed from the pledges of their grandparents in the book of Joshua. We forget, because we fail to remember.
Vance Havner wrote, “We have too many casual Christians who dabble in everything but are not committed to anything. They have a nodding acquaintance with a score of subjects but are sold on nothing. ‘Of course I’m interested in church – but with my club and my lodge and my golf and my bridge and my stamp collecting and my ceramics and my African violets, I just can’t get too excited about religion.’ Our Lord had no place in His program for casual disciples. It was all or nothing.
One day we will wake up and find all the fences are torn down, history has been forgotten, heroes have had their statues removed, preachers libraries will be worthless, there will be no song in our hearts and we will wonder “whatever happened to…..” — when it comes to that, remember, it happened because we assumed it would never happen.
Think about it.

In the forty plus years I’ve been in ministry, I’ve seen more than my share of failures in ministry – people who started out like a rocket, but ultimately crashed and burned. It’s a far too common occurrence. Years ago, I heard John Bisagno talk about the 25 best and brightest ministerial students at Oklahoma Baptist University. These were the great “preacher boys” – the ones with charisma who were always able to find a place to preach. They were the rising stars of that generation.

Continue reading →

Michael Catt

From the Cluttered Desk

Podcast with Les Hughes On Leading Through Trials.

We Need Climate Change In Our Culture

Lessons Learned On The Back Roads Sermon

Whatever Happened To…