Losing the Battle with Culture

I was listening to a conference discussion and one of the speakers made an acute observation. He was asked why there was so little concern for holiness in the church and in our culture. He pointed out that the one led to the other.

The job of the church is to have a sanctifying effect on the community. We are supposed to rub off on those around us. Unfortunately, said the speaker, it is working the other way around.

He gave one example: our observance of the Sabbath (one of God's big Ten). 30 years ago businesses were closed on the Sabbath. It was understood that this was the day God's people went to church to sit under the teaching of the Scriptures. Even some major sports didn't play on Sunday (some golf tournaments ended on Saturday instead of Sunday). That of course is no longer the case.

As I thought about what the speaker said I knew he was right. When any group of Pastors gets together there is a common complaint . . . the worship and service of God is too low on the priority list of most parishoners. We are to have no other God's before Him yet we put: sleep, sports, yard work, shopping, day trips, family reunions all before the Lord when it comes to Sunday.

Understand the clear message that is being sent to the world: "Christians don't take God's Word seriously . . . . so there is no reason for us to do so either."

I can't imagine anyone concluding that we are better off now than we were 30 years ago. We are more profane, more selfish, and more self-absorbed. We are running more fervently after the material things of the world than ever. We are more distant from God even though mega-churches continue to flourish.

When you look around and wonder: "What happened?" Remind yourself that these things come as a result of Christians feeling they can negotiate with Scripture. God's standards haven't changed. Our response to those standards has changed. It is time for "Christians" to once again actually follow Christ.

The Erosion of Freedom

Chuck Colson in one of his "Two Minute Warnings" warns that there is a movement going on to change the meaning of "Freedom of Religion" to "Freedom of Worship". Colson (who used to do this kind of re-defining in the Nixon White House) points out that these redefinitions (in this case by the Secretary of State) are designed to limit the church in its ability to point out behavior the Bible calls sin (in this case homosexuality). The idea is: you are free to worship wherever and however you want... but you cannot impose that religious belief on your children (by telling them that there is right and wrong) not can you express your convictions publicly if it means someone else's actions are considered wrong.

This re-definition aims at any belief that the Bible is the timeless Word of God. When we recognize the Bible as the inspired revelation from God then there are some things that are indeed black and white (the value of life, marriage is between a man and a woman, stealing from others is wrong, Jesus is the only way to Heaven, lying is wrong, the Bible is the inspired Word of God and much more).

We have redefined marriage, we have redefined parental discipline, we have redefined authority (especially in the schools), we have redefined truth (what works for you); we have redefined life (a baby in the womb is now a "blob of tissue" we evaluate the elderly by their "quality of life"), redefined the family, and we have redefined morality. Obedience to the law now means don't get caught. Telling the truth is now a matter of telling whatever truth you have to tell to get what you want.

Every Christian has a choice: do we negotiate truth or do we stand on it. The Bible tells us that those who stand on the truth are the ones who will be standing in the end. I believe Scripture; I hope you do too.

Let the madness stop already!

Enough already! The hype surrounding the the decision of Lebron James shows the empty-headedness of our society.

All this hoopla about a guy who can play a game well . . . even very well. Here we see a guy who has no sense of loyalty to his home town and to those who supported him. James is the picture of what is wrong with sports today. It is all about who has the most money to buy the best players that will hopefully translate into a championship. What happened to athletes that were hungry, that loved the game, that believed they were privleged to be able to actually make money by playing a game?

I'm sick of the whole thing. The Miani Heat will probably be a good team next year. But I must say, I hope they never win a championship with this trio of overpaid stars.

I'd much rather see someone like Albert Pujols (who still makes an obscene amount of money) but who is loyal to his hometown fans. One of the things that made Michael Jordan great was that he was a Chicago Bull. He was there when the team was bad and he was there leading that same team when they were great. Too bad Lebron James did not learn the real lessons of Michael Jordan's greatness.