The deceptions of which you speak are often culture driven forces which impact the Christian family incrementally. For example, progressive public school education, although it was once respectful of religious faith, has made formidable inroads into childhood indoctrination, and has been quietly shaping values. What are children learning in school these days? Besides the "new math," they are being taught 'gender neutral pronouns' and being indoctrinated into secular humanist ideology. This is nothing new. Christian parents must compete with an ideology that omits words like 'virtue' and 'sin,' and replaces these terms with 'tolerance,' 'diversity' and identity politics. The leftward movement at the college level is even more troubling. By changing the language terminology, substituting euphemisms for truth, academic and media institutions blur or render obsolete the ideas and cultural values which formerly grounded this society. It is a perfect progressive deception, done quietly but incrementally over time, and it is transformative and unyielding. And what do pastors and their churches do about it? For the most part, they join in and conform. After awhile, the congregation will not here from the pulpit any mention of words like repentance, confession of sin, true humility, obedience to God, brokenness for sin. No, the church deserves a spiritual kick in the pants for failing to be more obstinate and unrelenting in defense of the Bible and in resisting cultural deceptions which have preyed on their sheep. When is the last time a Lutheran pastor preached on Matthew 7: 21-28? (Jesus said, "I never knew you...."). Carnal Christianity is alive and well in all denominations today, some worse than others, and it is one of the reasons the culture wins easily over professing believers who haven't the slightest idea what the Gospel teaches. Lulled to sleep, apathetic, disinterested in striving against sin, never looking for sanctification or seeking personal holiness, many Christians prefer to live among the weeds. In my humble view, we need a reawakening in America, one Christian, and one church at a time. Otherwise, we will be suffocated by the society, and the light on the hill will continue to grow dimmer, and fade away into the darkness.