It is becoming increasingly obvious that we Bible believers have lost the culture through neglect.

A recent email to Chick Publications from Melissa illustrates the point: "I was one of Jehovah's Witnesses for many years. I joined their group thinking they must be the true Christians because they were the only ones who were out witnessing!"

How sad that no Bible believers were on her radar when she needed them.

Unfortunately, the chances are not improving for people like her. Pollster George Barna finds in a recent survey that "Christians are not spreading the Gospel." He finds "only two out of every five Christ followers (39%) believe that they should share the importance of reliance upon Christ with others.

Of "born again" adults (who profess confidence in salvation by faith in Christ's sacrifice) only three out of ten (30%) have a biblical worldview. Barna noted: "Fewer churches emphasize and equip people for evangelism these days, and the results are obvious and undeniable. "Christianity in America is going through a time of substantial change," Barna writes. "The church at large is not likely to grow in the future unless some fundamental changes in practice are made."

He does not detail the changes since his emphasis is on tracking trends.

He is further concerned with the evidence he is discovering in the emerging generation. While 33% of U.S. adults 65 and older identify as born again, that number drops to only 23% of those under 30.

Church leaders should also consider another factor emphasized in the studies: AGE. 68% of those who become born again do so before reaching 18 years old. Only 9% of adults accept Christ after age 40. In fact, the best age seems to be 10 to 12 with 3 out of ten coming to Christ at that age.

Soul-winners need to recognize that the pre-teen child is like a sponge, soaking up whatever he encounters. Many write to Chick Publications claiming that Chick tracts were a substantial part of forming their Biblical world view. Once Melissa left the JWs, she did not lose her love for witnessing. She laments the lack of others who wish to join her, but told us at Chick Publications: "Your Tracts are such a blessing, because, even though I must witness alone, I have a wonderful gospel tool that people enjoy receiving."

Melissa knows that she can, in a few seconds, bring someone face-to-face with the most important question of his life: where will I spend eternity? What someone does after reading the last page of a Chick tract is either line up with Christ in His Kingdom, or discard the message and face the Great White Throne.

Melissa also knows that Jesus meant it when He gave the Great Commission and that there is another judgment coming for how we obeyed it.