Carter Conlon: "We Have Abandoned the Ways of God"
By Tom Campisi, Managing Editor
Carter Conlon, chairman of the board and general overseer of Times Square Church in New York City, recently compared the United States to a shipwrecked vessel—with more storms on the near horizon. The coming darkness and desperation, however, could usher in a great opportunity for the Church to be a voice of hope and salvation, he said.
Conlon shared this timely word of exhortation at an online National Day of Prayer event hosted by Pillar College in Newark, New Jersey.
“This is a very critical hour for the people of God,” he said.
Conlon served as the senior pastor at Times Square Church from 2001 until 2020. The founding pastor of Times Square Church was David Wilkerson, a fiery preacher who wrote the classic book, The Cross and The Switchblade, and was known for his prophetic warnings and calls for repentance for America.
In his message, Conlon spoke from Acts 28, paralleling America’s recent tribulations with the doomed ship on Paul’s journey to Rome. Despite the dire warning from Paul, that there would be suffering and loss, the captain set sail anyway.
Likewise, the United States, with its current incivility in society and drifting moral compass, has been reckless and rebellious, Conlon said.
“In the last two decades, there has been no shortage of voices warning our culture not to take the journey we are taking – and abandon the ways of God.”
“Our society is turning to darkness, where evil becomes good, and good is vilified as evil. We can get to a point where culture thinks it is good to depart from the ways of God – to take a journey that God says we should not undertake. We are throwing overboard a basic understanding of humanity, human sexuality, of life itself. We are redefining society apart from the Word of God.”
As America continues its current course, Conlon said cities would explode with violence and the economy would collapse—the country we have known for four-hundred years is going to look radically different in the not-so-distant future.
“I believe in my heart, we are headed to that place, where one day soon – all hope that we are going to be saved as a nation is going to be given up. People’s hearts are going to fail them and they will lose hope. The love of many will grow cold.”
Christians have to realize, Conlon said, that like the Apostle Paul on his journey, we are here so that God can grant mercy to those who are perishing. Just as Paul emerged as a voice of hope, resulting in the two-hundred and seventy-five people being saved from death, the church must also be ready to speak a word in season.
Despite the current hostility towards the Word and ways of God, we are going to be “needed shortly.”
“It’s important that when we are called for that we have a word from God. For our family. For our friends. For everyone around us,” Conlon said. “Paul prayed. God met him and spoke to him. This is what we need to do. All hope had been given up. Paul stood in the midst of them.”
“We must pray, ‘God give me a word for these people. Because you love them, you have allowed me to be on this journey with them.’ The voice of God will be called for in the not too distant future.”
The Church must be ready when that time comes. Christians need to find their strength in God and in the presence of his Holy Spirit: “We must have a clear word – and speak on behalf of God. We need to exhort people to get back to the Word of God.”
Conlon exhorted the online audience to “let God speak through you for the sake of the people” and to pray, “God, give me the grace to take up my cross and be yielded to you for the sake of others.”
Just as many came to Christ through Paul on the Island of Malta, many can come to the Lord or return to him through the witness of the people of God in these dark times.
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