Tag: Society

You can’t afford to not pay attention.

I know. The last entry I wrote was 7 months ago. Hounded by voices that tell me I’ve lost mine, by regrets that prevent me moving forward, and various time/emotional demands that drain creativity, I come to my blog and draw a blank — or am shot with one.

But… again, here I am. I love to write. I love this platform. I love the connections it’s given me through the years. And I love that the Lord has given me a whole bunch more time and has absolutely dumped His great mercy and grace over me every day of these last emotionally crippling ten years (and all the years before these).

So, here we go.  I thought I’d just jump into blogging by just writing about things that come up each day and we’ll see how it goes.  This might end up being what the blog originally was fifteen or sixteen years ago… Slices of Life and Views of the Day. That could be anything from verses to sermons, recipes to homemaking, politics to societal trends, marriage and family to motherhood and what it looks like in the rear view mirror. ~smile~

Here’s a slice of today for you:
Chic-fil-A. I had my first Chic-fil-A sandwich in Marietta Georgia in 2006.  It was good. But you know why it was good? I was eating it with my dear friend. Lunch with dear friend makes just about any meal good — any cup of coffee better.  The other thing that made that Chic-fil-A sandwich good was the wholesome atmosphere and the fact that the company was a Christian company. You know, like A Christian Home. ~wink~

Truett Cathy, the company’s founder was still alive. Business was running on Christian principles, morals and character. It was well respected for all of that. Business boomed for the Cathy family because of that.
Tenacity and hard work built the business into a multi billion dollar company.

Chic-fil-A restaurant’s foundation is this:

“To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.
To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”

With a mission statement like that, how could they go wrong?

So, what’s happening?  Well, just as in a Christian family, it only takes a generation or two (who drop/discard the mantle) for the heritage to be forgotten and the firm foundation that heritage was built upon to be eroded.  It appears that’s the way of Chic-fil-A and its once principled Christian business structure.  Chic-fil-A, once the bastion of morality is caving to the vociferous left’s social intolerance for all things Christian and appears to be stepping up its effort to appease the offended left by coming alongside with financial support to causes and organizations that are morally compromised or in opposition to the very founding of Chic-fil-A.  Sadly, the casualties are not few, nor are they small.  Consider but a couple of organizations Chic-fil-A has discontinued financially supporting:  The Fellowship of Christian Athletes and, ready? The Salvation Army! The. Salvation. Army!!  You  can read about all this in this PJ Media article.

I’m going to guess that this won’t end well for Chic-fil-A.  O, they’ll continue to serve the uninformed masses, and they’ll continue to upset liberals who don’t know they’re actually caving.  Pitifully, they won’t be traveling the moral high ground on the foundation of feeding the hungry, proclaiming the Gospel and won’t be a beacon of genuine  integrity.

On the US Dollar is imprinted the words: In God We Trust.  Have you considered that when you spend a dollar?  Sadly, it seems that rarely do corporate Directors and Chairmen have the moral compass required to stand on those words and uphold them.

So… pay attention, you can’t afford not to.  ♥ ps

The Increeping Vulgarity

This post is sort of a signs of the times observation and a mulling over the consequences of one of the dramatic changes our society is undergoing. The increeping vulgarity of society hasn’t happened all at once — it’s happened slowly, incrementally, over time.  Increeping vulgarity, along with its visible companions, lewd behaviour and crude speech have slowly encroached on society, and are slowly being normalized in our culture.  Vulgarity has begun to be so acceptable, so commonplace — even expected on many levels.   Vulgarity thrives on a one way street ardently demanding its voice as an entitlement.

On any level, I’m stunned by the commonplace presence, acceptance, or promotion of vulgar speech, vulgar dress, vulgar behaviour, vulgar attitudes permeating every area of life.   Though it shouldn’t be surprising, it is.   It so is.

The other day I heard someone’s reply to a rebuttal of some current activities and I thought, wow, vulgar’s become a right. Nasty’s become a boast, an acceptable manner of behaviour — overlooked even by women who would have, in earlier years,  stood against or disavowed such behaviour.  And now?  Well, now it’s normal.  Get over it. 

The reply?  It was this:  Is it hurting you? Were I to have been there, in that dialogue, I’d have emphatically answered, Yes! Yes it’s hurting me—it’s hurting women—it’s hurting little girls—it’s hurting society!  And, it’s hurting men.   Nasty always hurts society.

When women behave, speak, dress, act, or converse in vulgar ways, it hurts everyone.  When women behave in ways contrary to their design, everyone’s hurt in the end.  Stepping where I fear to tread, I’ll keep going.   I’d say very similar things to men if that was my “platform” or the focus of the long conversation of this blog.  It’s not.

When women deviate from design, it’s no wonder the creeps creep in.  And the creeps of vulgarity, lewdness, and crudeness have not only crept in, but have swept in like a tidal wave washing over society in what is, I would guess, on many levels unlike any time in history.   Immeasurably (intentionally or unintentionally) aided by technology,  media–news, communication, videos, print; social media– medical technology, drugs, abortion, birth-control, manipulation of science and design, and a society that generally eschews God’s design–has mishandled, doesn’t know, never heard, or disregards His Word, the increeping has permeated the whole world to one degree or another to the inestimable detriment of society across the whole world.

Society is paying the painful, awful price of neglecting God’s Word, His design, His eternal purpose.  And the pain has but just begun.  The unintended consequences have begun to unfold.  Sadly, unseen by untold billions — yes, billions.

I watched some clips of recent “women’s marches” and interviews of women who expressed views, reasons, arguments for participating.  Sick and sad is what I felt at the time — and do still.  Women marching off a cliff.  I’ve wondered to myself, maybe if I didn’t know that Christian women were among the ‘marchers’ I’d not feel quite as disheartened.  Nope, I’d still feel it.  For sure.  But knowing that among the protesters were Christian women and, sadder still, the daughters they’d brought with them to experience these historical events.  Women’s power, women’s rights, women’s equality, women’s confusion, women’s displays of vulgar, crude, lewd & loud speech, lewd dress, and vaunting vulgar behaviour.   And the permeation of a new level of vulgar escalated all around the world… little girls and women are being loudly instructed all around the world.  At the bottom of the cliff, in the abyss, so many lies, so much confusion, jamming information — the fallout is, or soon will be, staggering.

In some of the recent loud flaunts, was it one man’s fault they behaved the way they did? Was it just one man’s behaviour that triggered their vulgar printed messages, addressing themselves by names they’d never have allowed another to call them, donning hats in reference to what offended them, the flaunting of once sacred, private anatomy of women and displaying what were once discreet feminine products?  Or has the moral decline been festering so long that it was just a matter time before moral discretion would be abandoned and an avalanche of unparalleled lewdness be ushered in?  Does one man’s behaviour validate an equal or greater vulgar response?  And what did all this teach the daughters?

It’s past time to respond to this… it’s time to stand for the Truth.   *These are the perilous days we’ve been told would come.  *2Timothy 3.1-17
These are the consequences of a nation forgetting God.  May the Lord be merciful to direct our steps and guard our hearts and minds.   In other historical eras, dark days preceded great revivals.  I pray this will be God’s great grace and a glorious unintended consequence of  the increeping vulgarity.

Save

the subtle shift

January 6, 2006

2timothy434It’s so subtle and is happening so slowly and smoothly that it’s hardly noticeable to some people—the faint shift from day to day to the acceptance of immorality.  Think for a moment about the church growth “movement” of the last decade or two.  Consider the shift from Christ centered to man centered theology and from Biblical principles to marketing strategies for growth.  Then take into account the music that fills the minds and the airwaves… no longer Christcentric but egocentric.   Consider the shift from Bible study to “focus-groups” that address “felt needs” or personal interests or individual crisis.  And then mull over the ramifications of the “AIDS crisis” over the last twenty-five years.  Very gradually we’ve been “indoctrinated” to accept people where they’re at—to not condemn or judge behaviour and certainly not attribute to sin the consequences of certain behaviours.  So that’s been engrained steadily over time by advertisers and the  massive machine of Hollywood—the pseudo social and political experts, the change agents and shapers of cultural norms–the destroyers of family and morality.  Hollywood’s been very cleverly working to redirect the thinking… the subtle washing, the crafty work of emotionally moving videos.  I reflect on two movies I’ve seen this year… the characters which command acceptance.  The lifestyles that demand tolerance—so cunning is the inclusion of two women as parents of a boy in Kicking and Screaming… Two men as a couple in The Family Stone… and in another movie which we did not/will not see was the assaulting of the sensibilities by a pair of cowboys.    Over the years, homosexuality has been slowly creeping into movies and television so that it’s like the proverbial frog in the pot… slowly, as the heat is increased, the frog boils to death—never jumping out of the pot because of the slow acclamation to the heat.

So all this has happened and the church nods off.  All this is happening and the church is busy building bigger barns and catering to felt needs.  Reading paraphrases of paraphrases of the Bible.  Singing inane songs with sensual tones and repetitive lines of few words.   And then, taking into consideration the enormity of church “attendance” and the extraordinary availability of Biblical information, helps, guides, studies, buildings, buildings, buildings, seminaries, and Bible schools, it is deplorable that there’s isn’t notable Christian influence and appearance in this nation.  There really ought to be a difference… there ought to be distinctively different look and action of Christian individuals… individuals who are not their own—individuals who’ve been bought with a price, redeemed from the curse of the Law.

I’ve been thinking of some different letters I’ve received concerning movies, the sales of clothing with clearly anti-Christian symbols, the legislature and other topics where there is clearly an open antagonistic and sometimes hostile view of Christians—not so much of religion per se, not anti-God, but anti-Christ.   It’s actually kind of chic to be religious–not Jesus-religious, but yoga religious, christian-science religious, new-age religious, mystic religious, and the whole gamut of sorcery sort of religious—anything but Jesus.  It’s very common for people to accept talk of God—but totally bristle at the mention of the Lord Jesus—which is totally bizarre —considering the awesomeness of the LORD God—not the pseudo-god who is known as the “higher power” in the world of Emmet Fox, Norman-Vincent Peale or Robert Schuller or all the people currently influenced by them—but God, the God of the Bible, the God of the Universe, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob—the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 

Isn’t it amazingly ironic—the God is so cavalierly held in mind, esteemed so common as to be used as a household expletive. So, God is acceptable—sort of the universally accepted -word- but not the God of the Bible.

“If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.  Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.”   John 15.18-21

Our lives ought to be–-must be—different because of the terrific price paid on our behalf:  Titus 2.14 “Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.”   But, sadly, our lives are often not all that much different at all.  Our behaviour, words and appearance really ought to outwardly reflect the inward change of our lives.   I was thinking back on a situation recently where we were attending a program and I distinctly recall watching the men watching the women in attendance.  The “holiday” attire was alluring and the line of distinction between modest and immodest was blurred.  But what saddened me the most was the tightly packed row of teenagers immediately in front of us.  Throughout the evening there seemed to be a constant preoccupation with the pants and the tops–so involved in making sure the tops were meeting but not covering the top of the pants, the victoria’secret tag in view, and then when sitting down, it was painfully obvious that the pants were too low.  I was embarrassed for the young ladies;  I found myself feeling sorry for them as they were more concerned with their view of their appearance than with the statement their appearance was really making.  I felt sorry for the obvious distraction they were to the young men who kept glancing and then looking away.  I felt sorry for the lack of understanding of modesty—not just in appearance, but in behaviour.   I was sorry for the parents who were not in proximity to the young people and weren’t watching the situation.  And seemingly hadn’t been part of the purchasing process, either.

So, when I think of all the anti-Christian rhetoric and the slurs and insulting music, movies and merchandise, I guess I consider the Word and what the LORD has said would happen, I consider the state of the church today–its message, in many places, so anemic.  I pray… come, Lord Jesus—for He is the only One who can save— Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

What’s Hypocrisy Got To Do With Anything?

2t215cuppaEvery day in the news: a new outrage and the unintended consequence, hypocrisy.  Outrage (and hypocrisy) on both sides for or against the cause du jour.  Facebook memes, articles, quotes — all over, we’re seeing the proliferation of outrage over the so-called discrimination against behaviour and gender identity.  For all these, Christians are viewed as hatemongers, intolerant, religious bigots.  All of these events are instructive, we need to be careful we’re not hypocritical in what we say and do.

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]“And he shall speak great words against the most High, and shall wear out the saints of the most High, and think to change times and laws: and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.
Daniel 7.25[/cp_quote]By design, the defenders of these new “civil rights” don’t see their hypocrisy–they don’t see their own actions and views as intolerant.  They don’t see their actions as violations of other people’s liberty.  We need to be aware, we need to see that they are being used to slowly wear down the defenders of biblical morality and moral rights.  Their fight isn’t necessarily against individuals, it’s against God (but they don’t really see it that way). It’s against God’s Word.  We’ll be seeing this like never before.   This isn’t a surprise—even though it comes as stunning surprise every time a new unthinkable societal turn is taken—it’s a sign of the times.  I don’t shrug and say this lightly.

In an article in The Stream regarding the collective hypocrisy of Starbucks and Apple, Michael Brown writes of the double standards of both companies: where they will and will not do business, where they do and do not draw a line in regards to “gender identity,” specifically.  He says, “But their selective outrage is sickening and their moral hypocrisy glaring.  And so, when they pull their businesses from countries like China, with all its human rights violations, and Saudi Arabia, with its atrocities carried out in the name of Islam, we can take their indignation seriously. Until then, the louder they protest here in America, the louder they shout their hypocrisy.”

I’m writing to reveal, to remind and to warn (not just you, but myself, too).  To reveal a few “real time” scenarios, to remind that it’s been foretold, and to warn about our collective knee-jerk reactions to what’s going on in the world around us here in the States.   It’s easy to dismiss (or not be involved in) what’s going on in states other than our own, or in other places in the world that don’t have a lot of seeming literal connection to our own lives.  It’s even easy to dismiss what’s going on in cities not too near our own as we reason that we can get along without traveling to or doing business in those cities.

We can have instant reaction against practices of local businesses when we read of a company decision that’s just been made public.  Say, Target, for example, when it opens its ladies rooms to men.  We may have already experienced this unthinkable reality.  We might decide to boycott that store and/or any other store that follows suit.  Until we hear “our______ store” or  “our Target” isn’t like that.  Or, until we forget why we were boycotting them.  We’re going to have to decide how far we’ll take our stands, how far we’ll go in our quest to avoid all evil.

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Hast thou faith? have it to thyself before God. Happy is he that condemneth not himself in that thing which he alloweth. And he that doubteth is damned if he eat, because he eateth not of faith: for whatsoever is not of faith is sin.”
Romans 14.22-23[/cp_quote]We might also take note a point in Michael Brown’s article.  We may well decide to, in essence, do (outwardly) nothing.  We may decide to silently protest, or to personally “boycott” the stores (or wherever we’re seeing these infringements).  Or, we may decide to write letters, make phone-calls, establish ourselves as sincerely defending the rights of those whose rights are impinged by the store’s new stands.  Or, we may decide to become very vocal, very visible in protest.  In our protests, do we condemn ourselves by what we allow?   Do we condemn ourselves with what we do in one place and don’t do in another?  Aren’t we then just like Apple or Starbucks protesting loudly, and thereby loudly shouting our hypocrisy?

 

Porn. The Insidious, Pernicious Lie.

laptopguyblurryWe’ve got to face this:  Porn is an insidious, destructive, pernicious lie.  No one benefits from porn.  No one.  People may think they’re benefiting as they temporarily have sensual and emotional gratification, or relief from stress or loss.  Magazines and movies gave way to desktop and then laptop computers and now cellphones for everyone! Instant porn in a pocket.  Porn in pockets everywhere.  People may think the activity is harmless, private, inconsequential.  They may think they’re actually doing their spouse a favour by not *actually* being seduced by real women.  But that’s just one of the insidious lies; those are real women — women who’ve little more worth in that context than rubbish and men who use them advance and participate in this degradation of women and further perpetuate their soulless behaviour and destruction.

Creators of porn may think they’re benefiting from its production as they line their pockets and amass great wealth.  They may dupe themselves into believing they actually benefit the masses who purchase, rent or view their wares — because the masses keep buying, renting, viewing.

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Porn kills intimacy & trust. [/cp_quote]Porn brings death.  Death to conscience, death to vows of loyalty, honour and purity. Death to truth.  Death to protection and respect of and for others.  It brings shame. It brings guilt.  It brings suspicion.

Porn creates a new secret world for its users.  Enticed by its ease and availability, by its anonymity, and by its seeming lack of investment, users and viewers are soon ensnared by the tangled net of internet porn–free sex–free satisfaction to natural desires.  It’s all so easy.  It’s all so free.  It initially seems so satisfying.   But then it’s not.  It never will be because it will never be enough.  That’s the nature of lies… they’re never enough.  That’s the nature of sin… it’s never enough.   The sickening thing about porn is that the insatiable addiction it so often leads to other painful, unspeakable behaviour and consequent immeasurable damage in other people’s lives — children, wives and others.

Porn changes people.  The people in it and the people viewing it and the people whose lives are affected by those who do.  Death happens to all of them on different levels.  People become secretive, deceptive, sneaky, defensive, and on and on. [cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]The devil’s playbook is very thin.[/cp_quote]From the beginning, the devil has had the same answer to problems, behaviour, disobedience.  His solutions have ever been: Hide it. Kill it. Destroy it. Deny it. A simple check of a computer’s history will shed light on user’s behaviour.  No history?  Why?  Huge gaps in history?  Why?

nopornPorn destroys the purity and sanctity of life — of marriage — of intimacy.  Secrecy and guilt change people and lead them to behave in ways they would never have thought they’d behave — to do things they could never imagined they’d do.  No one sets out to be unfaithful, but that’s exactly what happens when a spouse is involved in porn–though they may feel no real harm’s been done.  No longer is there sweet assurance of being wholly and singly devoted to the other (there’s the parenthetical online involvement that seems to not be actually, really in the home). No longer is appetite and desire a simple outpouring of the love relationship of a marriage.  It’s been supplanted by new images, activities, fantasies.

Porn’s inestimable effect is staggering.  No one sets out to molest, rape, or abuse children—but that’s exactly what happens in many instances.  Porn is evil.  It  destroys.  It’s not harmless…. we’ve got to get this straight and see it for the evil it is.

It’s interesting when Time Magazine will dedicate a cover story to an issue that may have earlier been an issue only in certain circles.  It seems to me that when “the world” is concerning itself with a “moral” matter and calls it an epidemic, the church really ought to take notice.

It’s late in the game.  But let’s not believe the devil that it’s too late.

Not Safe. Women’s Restrooms.

Women.
The sign on the door.
All my life, that’s been the safe room.  It’s safe to be there. Safe to pee there. Safe to change there. Safe to nurse a baby there. Safe to send a teen daughter.  Safe to wait there.  Our local department store.
No more.
Secure no more. Safe no more. The sacred is no more.  Women does not mean women any more.  Security has been breached, safety has been compromised, the sacred has been polluted.  The sacred is now profane. The door has been swung wide open to pedophiles and other perversions—-this is wrong.

Too radical?
Too critical?
Too dramatic?
Too archaic?
Too Narrow?
Too exclusive?
Phobic?
Not chic enough?

I was standing at the sink, washing my hands, waiting for my daughter… a man entered the restroom.  His reflection was in the mirror before me. He entered the stall beside that which my daughter was occupying.  I froze.   I was eleven all over again. I was twelve all over again. I was thirteen all over again.  And the mother of a young girl who should have been safe,  able to use the *women’s* restroom in safety.   Safe from the inappropriate gender in the women’s restroom.  The mother in me became empowered to move any obstacle for her protection.  Continuing to wash my hands,  I watched in the mirror — gripped with emotion, gripped with injustice, gripped with protection, gripped with indignation at the magnitude of arrogance and self-centeredness of cross-dressing/transgendered/transsexual/female identifying man, etc.,etc., etc. _______ (fill in the lie) men… demanding provision and place for their perversion of truth.  Consequently: the reality that there is no safe place.  Anywhere.

As my daughter washed her hands, I felt like I could hardly breathe. I felt nearly powerless over the injustice of it all.  I wanted to scoop her up as if she were a toddler – but she’s not, she’s a young woman — a  potentially vulnerable young women.  I felt angry that bullies have bombarded our society and have rejected  God’s design and creation and have hijacked His created order in this way. I felt angry that there’s no safe place.  No clean, pure place — that because of the feelings and lifestyle of  a small percentage of people, I (and other women) am not free to use the women’s room for women’s needs, I’m not free to take my daughter to the women’s room, a room free for women and women’s needs.  A surge of anger welled up in me that I must now be vigilant to watch for her, to protect her from men who may have ulterior motives.  Men have no right and no honest/honourable business being in the women’s restrooms.  Men who have bought into the lie and are deceived and deceiving others by the enemy of our souls.  And because of this lie, women are no longer safe in public places once reserved for their care and protection for their needs.

Think I’m phobic over all this? No, no, not phobic at all. Incensed, yes.  Phobic, no.   And that’s just the monstrous deceit of the devil  to mock or accuse people of fear or hate for things that are sinful or unbiblical/unscriptural. It’s not phobic or a phobia to stand against evil, sin or contradictions to God’s design.

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]Will we stand for Truth?
Or will we lie down
and let lies prevail?  [/cp_quote]Don’t be snared or fall into the trap.  The devil hates God — hates truth — hates God’s design and hates you and me when we stand for the Truth.  He will do everything he can to destroy or distort truth—and he’s appearing to do a very good job — just look at all the Christians who are falling for the lies for the sake of not. offending. the. world.

Stand For Life

That’s what missing in the Planned Parenthood equation: Love. That life is precious, that man was made in God’s image and that God in His great love and mercy created us all. All of us. May we stand for life and do so in Love.

melianewbornhand2It’s hard to remember the humanity behind egregious behavior sometimes.  That, and our own desperate need for the same love, respect, patience, forgiveness and forbearance despite our own sinful behaviour, our sin-filled pasts, our lapses of good judgment, our folly.   We forget, in viewing inhumane behaviour, in the heat of disagreement, and frustration and horrified emotion, that we, but for the grace of God could be in their very same shoes.  Planned Parenthood’s barbaric practice of killing — destroying life — dismembering babies and contracting with companies the sale and distribution of those body parts is so grotesque that it’s hard to even imagine — it’s incomprehensible.   The astonishing thing about this though, is that even though it so assaults our senses that we cannot fathom how civilized individuals could possibly engage in such activity, let alone organize it, the truth is: we are could be doing, or are capable of doing, the very same thing.  That’s a sickening thought, isn’t it?

[cp_quote style=”quote_left_dark”]For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved. He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”[/cp_quote]We know we need it — even demand it at times, but everyone needs love and patience and forgiveness and hope.  It’s what distinguishes us as human.  But what also distinguishes us as human is that without Christ, without accepting the gift of salvation through Him, we are destined for hell, we are unrestrained, we are unredeemed.  It is a gift and it is by the grace of God that we can even see this — that He loved us while we were yet sinners and died in our place that we might have redemption through His shed blood and live with Him eternally.  Sin eternally separates us from God but Jesus, who is the Way the Truth and the Life, breaks the bonds of sin and separation and gives us redemption by grace through faith in Him.  Jesus came that we might have life and that more abundantly.  This is the love of God.That’s what missing in the Planned Parenthood equation: Love.

That life is precious, that man was made in God’s image and that God in His great love and mercy created us all.  All of us.

May we stand for life and do so in Love.
May we stand for those whose voices have been destroyed.
May we stand with those who think they have no other options; give them love, give them the truth, give them hope.
May we stand for Truth.
May we stand against destroying life.
May we stand against selling body parts of destroyed babies.
May we remember to be: p.e.a.c.e.f.u.l.
May we remember to be: k.i.n.d.
May we remember to: Love.
May we ever remember that everyone’s going through something.

Dark Days

melianewbornhandIn the wake of the breaking news stories in the last couple of days, it’s hard to fathom the depths of evil consuming our nation. The enormity of this may well be underestimated, and the trail of money on a spiraling street paved with innocent blood may well be staggeringly more than can possibly be imagined.

quotebeginIt is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.
Hebrews 10.31

Surely judgement has come on America when a nation will slaughter its own babies for great profit under the guise of research.  When immorality is lauded and God’s Word is ignored, when His marvelous design is discarded and when men and women turn their backs on Providence,  and when human life is of less value than plants and animals: we have sunk to such pervasive and widespread depravity such as has never before been experienced in this nation.

quotebeginTake heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.
Hebrews 3.12

I pray for women who have been duped into despair, for the unborn babies whose lives have been taken from them by the persuasive lies of the powerful, relentless, evil abortion industry — Planned Parenthood, in particular. I pray for the men and women who’ve succumbed to and believed the lies and conscience numbing propaganda of Planned Parenthood, et al.  And I pray for those whose eyes have been opened, hearts have been broken by painfully and sorrowfully regretted abortions.

I pray for those who are (still)  under the grave delusion that there is nothing wrong with abortion or, worse, that it’s simply a personal choice – that that personal choice is right and the decision is theirs alone to make – that it’s nobody’s business what a woman decides to do with her body baby.   It’s a business.  A huge, powerful, relentless, profitable,  machine.  You think you’re being cared for — but that’s a lie.  The abortion industry is a lucrative killing machine that cares nothing for women but must perpetuate the lie of compassion so that women will continue to clamour for their right to abortion.  That abortion is compassionate is a lie. Period.  That abortion is harmless is a lie.  Period. That abortion is a private matter is a lie.   Period.  Those lies are the devil’s lies.  he hates God and he hates life and seeks only to kill and destroy.  That is the Truth… In the Lord is life… Life for all who will come to Him and call upon His name.  He will hear, He will answer and He will save all who call upon the Name of the Lord.

[cp_dropcaps] O[/cp_dropcaps] LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me.  2  Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off. 3  Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. 4  For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.  5 Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. 6  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain unto it. 7  Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? 8  If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. 9  If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; 10  Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. 11  If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. 12  Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. 13  For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother’s womb. 14  I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well.  15  My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.  16  Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. 17  How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them! 18  If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee. 19  Surely thou wilt slay the wicked, O God: depart from me therefore, ye bloody men. 20  For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain. 21  Do not I hate them, O LORD, that hate thee? and am not I grieved with those that rise up against thee? 22  I hate them with perfect hatred: I count them mine enemies. 23  Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: 24  And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” —psalm 139

May God heal our land and save this nation.

Fifty shades of moral depravity

heart2.jpg.fpx

I haven’t read the book.  I won’t watch the movie. I saw the trailer for the movie Fifty Shades of Grey Evil in the theater.  Prior to another film I saw in the theater last fall, I heard the trailer as it played and teased the audience with despicable allure.  One needn’t have grown up with a sex-addict psychopath to know when someone/something is evil.  Nor, dare I say, does one need to be “spiritual” to recognize the evil of immorality — sexual abuse or abusive behaviour.  The law of God is written in our hearts. We know from the Word that God has given us this gift for our good–for our protection.  But when we deny Him, walk in our own ways, neglect the truth or buy into sin, we can be so easily lured into believing lies and become trapped by the devil’s clever snares.

So it is when a sensational movie comes along.  And maybe the worst lure of all for someone who’s firmly decided to not see the film or read the book is fear of rejection or fear of not being cool.  Ever been confronted with that: don’t-be-sucha-prude lure? Sure you have. I have, too.  O, so you’re too good for that?  O, so you’re afraid you’ll like it?  O, so you’re happy with your same ol’ – same ol’ sex? Don’t you want to spice things up a bit?  O, you can’t handle it?  You know what I mean.  And then, there’s the judgement bomb:  How can you self-righteously judge a movie or a book you haven’t seen?

I can’t take seriously and/or don’t care about any of that vitriol. We don’t have to experience wickedness to know it’s wicked.  We don’t have to view evil to know it’s evil.  Again, God’s law written on our hearts—and if we know Him, His Spirit bears witness with our spirit.  We can know — with assurance — things that are wrong – evil – immoral – vulgar – whatever, without seeing or experiencing them.  It’s amazing how much controversy is being raised over this movie — shocking that it’s being defended.   More than Harry what’s-his-name.   Although, ironically, I see danger watching sorcery, et al.

Isn’t it interesting that society in general seems to have allowed so much room for women’s liberation; giant leaps in “equality” and yet — and yet — here comes along a movie filled with such abuse, degradation, humiliation, torture and control — the very things from which women are fighting to be freed.  Homes and families are being shredded all over the world by such behaviours as are depicted in the film (and books, etc.).  Women all over the world are being sexually used and abused, tortured and controlled by ruthless sexual psychopaths and staggeringly lucrative multi-billion dollar sex/porn industry with all its facets.  Magazines, print ads, window displays are not far behind.  And now… Fifty shades of what? Entertainment?  For Valentines Day — Really!?!?  Is it for audience shock and awe?  Is this art?  Why was this film made?  And what’s next?

These questions and more flood my mind as I see the headlines in the news and on Facebook.  I grieve the loss of innocence… I grieve what our daughters and granddaughters face… I grieve what our sons and grandsons face: society’s free-fall into the abyss of evil.  I also grieve for the young minds that will be filled with unforgettable scenes… I grieve the messages that will be given to so many who are desperate for love, attention and acceptance — how I pray they don’t get lured into believing that true love is fifty shades of grey.

Lord help us all.