Prophecy in the Spotlight with Dan Goodwin Laodicean Christianity: The "Un-" Words That Describe Today's Lukewarm Church Dan Goodwin and Charles Hiltibidal open Revelation chapter three's letter to the Laodicean church to describe today's Christianity, working through a growing list of "un-" words, unattached, unaccountable, unreliable and more, that they see marking lukewarm believers and churches in the last days. Opening: Revelation Three and Laodicean Christianity Dan Goodwin opens the broadcast alone, naming the week's theme Laodicean Christianity and reading Revelation chapter three, verses fourteen through sixteen, where Christ tells the angel of the church of the Laodiceans that He knows their works, that they are neither cold nor hot, and that because they are lukewarm He will spew them out of His mouth. Goodwin calls that image a polite way of saying He will vomit them out, and tells viewers that God hates this condition. He reads ahead to the church's own self-assessment, that it is rich and increased with goods, and names that attitude as the mark of this final end-time church. Goodwin says the program will explain what Laodicean Christianity means and why it matters, promising an exciting show before sending the broadcast to its first break and urging viewers not to miss what follows. His voice is admittedly weak from a cold, a detail he mentions will shape how the hour unfolds with co-host Charles Hiltibidal. Seven Churches as a Prophetic Timeline Back from the break, Charles Hiltibidal, called Doc, explains that Revelation's seven churches in chapters two and three were real congregations whose letters also map onto eras of church history, each church representing an age the church as a whole has passed through. He points to a chart showing the first age, Ephesus, the apostolic age, dated to the year 118, the year Hiltibidal says the Apostle John died as the last living apostle, correcting the common idea that Paul died on the Isle of Patmos. Hiltibidal explains Paul was actually removed from Patmos after a regime change in Rome and returned to Ephesus, where he trained Polycarp and sent missionaries across the known world. Goodwin agrees that many teachers before them have read the seven churches this way, and the two conclude that the Laodicean church, the seventh and final letter, represents the present age, bad but not something believers must belong to, since the chapter that follows, Revelation four, opens with the door of the rapture. Lukewarm Christianity and the Middle of the Road Dan Goodwin notes that Christ is coming for what he calls a lukewarm, carnal, worldly, lifeless church, quickly adding he hopes he is not part of that description. Hiltibidal agrees some believers and churches remain Philadelphian, faithful like that earlier church, but says the defining sign of the end times within the church age is lukewarmness itself. He argues most Christians today avoid being hot, fearing the label of a Bible-thumping, hellfire preacher, while also avoiding the cold extreme associated with churches that fly a pride flag from the pulpit, leaving them hunting for the middle of the road. Goodwin cites Jesus's question in Luke 18:8, "When I return, shall I find faith on the Earth," calling it a rhetorical statement rather than a real question. Goodwin adds that in America, government welfare has replaced the dependence on faith that once made people pray simply to eat, while Hiltibidal observes that once preachers quit preaching what the Bible says, they have already drifted from hot into lukewarm water. First Un-Words: Unattached, Unaccountable, Unreliable Hiltibidal turns to the Laodiceans' own words, "I am rich, and increased with goods," explaining he has spent weeks researching commentaries and believes the claim describes both physical wealth and a parallel spiritual self-sufficiency that says, "I have need of nothing," no church, no fellowship of believers. From there he unveils a list of hyphenated "un-" words he has been building, starting with unattached, people who avoid formal church membership in favor of watching services on Facebook or YouTube from home, which Goodwin compares to watching a movie on a screen rather than belonging anywhere. Hiltibidal follows with unaccountable, noting that nobody is watching the lives of those who only watch a screen, and unreliable, a trait he says marks the under-forty crowd both at church and at work, where people fail to show up except on payday. Goodwin connects the accountability point to Hebrews thirteen, where believers are told to obey those who watch for their souls and must give an account. Bible Illiteracy, Ex-Baptists, and More Un-Words Hiltibidal adds unconcerned, saying today's Christians are indifferent to their own families, their own spiritual growth, and the lost world around them, and ties the whole pattern to Laodicean self-interest, which he defines simply as being all about me. Goodwin illustrates how poorly Christians know scripture, recalling the verse "you'll know them by their fruit," often misapplied to any unconverted person when its context is actually a warning about false prophets like Jehovah's Witnesses. Hiltibidal recalls knocking doors decades ago in a West Texas oil town and finding that roughly one in five or six Mormon households he visited were former Baptists, evidence he says that churches were already failing to ground members in basic doctrine. Goodwin ties this failure to the Great Commission's three parts, going, baptizing, and teaching, arguing the church has failed at teaching. The men continue through unfaithful, covering prayer life, Bible reading, and faithfulness to spouses, children, and parents, and unwilling, describing churches that struggle to find members willing to serve, give, or sacrifice for anything beyond themselves. Unchurched to Unaware: Closing the List Hiltibidal works through the back half of his list: unchurched, tied to comfortable, seeker-friendly megachurches built to keep the bathwater lukewarm rather than hot or cold; uncommitted, describing Christians unwilling to pledge money or service to the church while readily signing loan papers for a new truck or a house; unscriptural, aimed at churches and preachers who shrug off departures from biblical practice as no big deal; and unsure, people who doubt their own assurance of salvation despite, Hiltibidal says, scripture's clear promise that believers can know they are born again. Goodwin adds unaware, linking it to a recent livestream discussion of the thief in the night from First Thessalonians chapter five, which Hiltibidal clarifies arrives unexpectedly only for the lost, not the saved. Running low on time, Goodwin races through unproductive, unseeing, unanchored, and ungrounded, then closes by insisting listeners do not have to be this kind of Christian, urging them to get active, contact the show if unsure of salvation, and keep their eyes on the skies.
