When the Church Becomes Like the World -- third edition -- Acceptability in the culture and increased church attendance have subtly but steadily usurped holiness and true worship as the primary objectives of our church gatherings . . . It is the Word of God, not any earthly enticement, that plants the seed for the new birth (! Peter 1:23). We gain nothing but God's displeasure if we seek to remove the offense of the cross(cf. Galatians 5:11)