The Church in Babylon: Heeding the Call to Be a Light in the Darkness (Lutzer)

Praise for The Church in Babylon

The church was founded by Jesus in the contrary culture of the first century. In The Church in Babylon, Erwin Lutzer provides a clarion call for the curch to make a mid-course correction in the contrary culture of the twenty-first century. This book astutely exposes the dangerous winds blowing against the Christian faith, and effectively resets the sails toward a godly and biblically informed conviction for the individual Christian and the church alike to survive and thrive in an ungodly world.

Mark L. Bailey
President and Sr. Professor of Bible Exposition
Dallas Theological Seminary

Erwin Lutzer is a senior leader in the Body and a watchman on the wall. In this, his latest book, he pulls no punches as he confronts a compromised American Church and a lost American generation. Yet he does so with pastoral wisdom and with living faith. You will be convicted by his sober words, but you will also be moved to holy action. This is vintage Lutzer, delivering the burden of a lifetime. Read this book and be changed.

Michael L. Brown
author, Saving a Sick America; host, "The Line of Fire" broadcast

This book sheds a hopeful light on the cultural battles we must encounter today. Pastor Lutzer has been able to combine fidelity to the Scriptures along with compassion as he speaks about issues such as sexuality, the pressure the church faces in a pagan culture, and the danger of losing the gospel. He ends by showing that the ancient church of Laodicea has a message for us and that we must invite Jesus back into our churches. This book is clear, convicting, and points the way by which the witness of our churches can be revitalized.

Tony Evans
Senior Pastor, Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship
President, The Urban Alternative

Few pastors combine prophetic boldness, biblical fidelity, and cultural insight as well as Erwin Lutzer. As with his other books, not only did I read and enjoy it, I filed it at arm's length for frequent use as a teaching resource.

J.D. Greear
The Summit Church

Before I even had time to put up my bookish, evangelical defenses, I could feel the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the pages of The Church in Babylon. I truly wish that every Christian I know could read this book. Why? Because it gives us an unclouded view of where we find ourselves in today's culture. Moreover, it shows a clear path as we navigate issues that are manifestly new to the Christian church. Erwin Lutzer brilliantly isolates the key concerns that confront us and gives us the right balance for maintaining a tightrope walker's stability in a lopsided society.

Skip Heitzig
Senior Pastor of Calvary Church, Albuquerque, NM
Author of The Bible from 30,000 Feet

Every book Erwin Lutzer writes, I read. He's never disappointed me. This timely book is no exception. He has his finger on the pulse of the culture and the church, providing sage insight in a balanced, biblical manner. Every page of this book will engage your mind and stir your heart. It will enlighten you, warn you, and equip you to discern and withstand the siren song of Babylon that surrounds us. I'm glad I read this book. Read it, and you will be too.

Mark Hitchcock
Senior Pastor of Faith Bible Church, Edmond, OK
Associate Professor of Bible Exposition, Dallas Theological Seminary

As usual, Erwin Lutzer can be relied upon to give Christians a laser sharp analysis of the spiritual state of our culture, as well as the response required by the faithful, witnessing body of believers. In The Church in Babylon, he furnishes a devastating diagnosis of the spiritual maladies that afflict us, as well as a spot-on biblical and spiritual prescription for how we can inoculate ourselves and our neighbors against the deadly afflictions engulfing us, and emerge victorious.

Richard Land
President, Southern Evangelical Seminary

Erwin Lutzer has been my pastor for over thirty-five years, and my walk with Christ has been challenged and changed by his ministry time and again. But his words in this book have powerfully confronted me even more and to a deeper degree than the hundreds of sermons I have heard him preach. This is not a comfortable book to read, because it simply doesn't "let you off the hook" and allow you to shift the blame for the condition of the Church today to anyone or anything else than yourself. And, for that reason, every Christian—and especially all of us in church leadership—need to open our minds and hearts to the urgency of its message and the personal transformation needed for us to stand true to Jesus in our ever-deteriorating culture. Yes, it is convicting, but Pastor brings great hope and encouragement to see how we can be the people we should be in our Babylon.

Mary Whelchel Lowman
Founder and Speaker of The Christian Working Woman radio ministry and Director of Women's Ministries at The Moody Church

Defining moments call for biblical insight, societal understanding, and prophetic boldness. One must be willing to  emphatically declare truth with extraordinary power. In The Church in Babylon, Erwin Lutzer delivers a deeply relevant message that has the force to turn the pages of history and spawn a great spiritual awakening. This is a cry of both desperation and hope and an invitation to join in the battle for  the soul of our nation.

Byron Paulus
President, Life Action Ministries

Erwin Lutzer reminds us how to live in a dark and dangerous world by shining the light of God's Word on our situation. Like one of the men of Issachar "who understood the times and knew what Israel should do," with clarity and relevance, insight and practicality, The Church in Babylon shows Jesus followers how to survive, and even thrive, in these troubling times.

Michael Rydelnik
Professor of Jewish Studies and Bible at Moody Bible Institute, Co-General Editor and Contributor, The Moody Bible Commentary, and Host/Bible Teacher on "Moody Radio's Open Line with Dr. Michael Rydelnik"

In my Sunday school days, we used to sing "This Little Light of Mine," motions and all. Erwin Lutzer reminds us in this important book that it's no longer just a Sunday school song but a call for Christians to engage the increasing darkness in our world with the penetrating and victorious light of Christ. And more importantly, he tells how this engagement is put into practice. I'm impressed with the wide berth of "darkness" issues that he addresses, leaving no stone unturned. And impressed as well with how he takes us from despair to a solid hope in the power of the light and the ultimate victory we have in Christ. This is a must read book . . . take it to heart and then take the light into your world!

Joe Stowell
President, Cornerstone University
Grand Rapids, Michigan 

Erwin Lutzer has just given a challenging wake up call to the twenty-first century church that finds itself in such a sad condition. May we heed his warning. Read and reread this book. It will encourage you to shine in a world that is dark and getting darker.

Michael A. Youssef
author of the best-selling book The Hidden Enemy

The New Testament word for "church" is "ecclesia," which means "called out." That is fitting since Christians are "called out" to  represent Jesus in this sinful world. Erwin Lutzer's new book, The Church in Babylon, is a much-needed resource for every who seeks to navigate the turbulent, secular times in which we live while seeking to maintain a biblical worldview and witness for Christ. Dr. Lutzer forthrightly and biblically addresses current controversial, societal topics without pulling punches, yet does so in a warm and kind manner. This is an excellent resource for any Christian seeking to live for Jesus in a society that looks more like ancient Babylon every day.

Steve Gaines
Pastor, Bellevue Baptist Church, Memphis, TN
President of the Southern Baptist Convention