The battle was intense. For hours there seemed to be no clear victor, until finally, the Union line broke and the soldiers in blue began to run to safety. In the fray, the Standard bearer carrying the company flag fell, mortally wounded, and the Standard lay on the blood-soaked ground. A young drummer boy observing the battle from the rear saw the colors fall. He immediately tossed his drum aside and ran against the tide of retreating soldiers. When he got to the site of his fallen comrade, he bent over and grabbed the Standard, and stood on a shattered tree trunk nearby. From there the boy waved the large company flag back and forth while bullets flew all around him. The retreating soldiers, having found the safety of cover, began to scream at the boy, “Bring the Standard back!” But the boy shouted defiantly, “No! You come to the Standard!” One by one the beaten soldiers, inspired by such heroic courage, came out from hiding and together charged the hill where the boy was and pushed the enemy into full retreat from the battle ground. We’ve seen it all around us. God’s people running from the battle for moral standards.  Scores of people – including many Christians and churches, are cowering in the fear of being labeled politically incorrect, offensive, bigoted and narrow minded. Many in the effort to not offend people, are embracing and bowing to the standards of our godless culture.   During WWII Nazi Germany exterminated over 6 million Jews, 3 million Soviet prisoners and perhaps another million or more undesirables in the shadows of towns and villages where the average citizen went about their daily routines. They saw the endless boxcars of people transported like cattle. They saw and smelled the smoke rise from the horizon. Yet for the most part, they shut their eyes to the horror going on within their reach. And through it all, the Church remained silent. A similar silence is happening today here in America. When Planned Parenthood was caught selling baby body parts for profit, there was no outcry or prophetic stand by the Church.  Should it surprise us that the Church remains mute now in the fury of politicians promoting infanticide? As if abortion used as birth control wasn’t enough, New York legislators cheered and applauded a bill that allows the snuffing out of a full term, fully developed infant after birth. It’s hard to imagine such blatant disregard for the sanctity of life and protecting human rights! It’s hard to imagine that people who so passionately embrace the science of climate change willfully choose to ignore the indisputable science of human development. When our President challenged Congress to protect these helpless pre-born children from late term abortions, and from post born murder, only half the room rose in applause while the other half sat motionless, many with scorn on their faces. I know. I hear it all the time: “Be quiet. Don’t make waves. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t be controversial or worse, politically incorrect. Let it alone. Look the other way.” Unlike our brave Christian ancestors who heroically gave their lives making a stand for Jesus Christ in declaring God’s truth to the immoral pagan cultures around them – the Church today has muffled its voice to the point where it’s not heard at all in public arenas.  We’ve been in retreat, moving God’s standards back instead of calling our culture to come to God’s standards. We have bowed our knees to our culture instead of calling our culture to its knees! Why the silence? It may be in part that if you’re in the business of growing bigger numbers of attenders, it’s not popular or “cool” to be swimming upstream against the raging current of our culture. After all, the Bible seems so narrow minded, bigoted and intolerant when it addresses the moral questions of our culture. Its truths appear antiquated, irrelevant and “out of touch” with “the real world today.” I’ve even heard respected Church leaders caution that if the Church speaks out the truth, we will lose the millennials and next generations – including our own kids and grandchildren. What if we reversed that kind of thinking and taught these next generations what the Bible really says about God’s timeless standards and the blessings that come to people and even to Nations who abide by them? The ethical conundrum and moral mayhem happening right before our eyes is the direct result of the Church’s refusal to speak with a clear, definitive prophetic voice – the timeless, eternal truths of God’s Word. It’s time for us, Christians and churches across our land, to stop running away from the fight and hiding in the safety of our church buildings, ever moving God’s standards back – and instead run into the battle together calling the people of our Nation to come to God’s standard!