What's Changed? Should I be Scared?
I don't want to go on a political rant, so I won't. However, I do want to discuss my thoughts with our current "world order" or "ideologies". Today I was driving to work thinking about how much our world has changed since I was a child. Things that 20 years ago would not have been shunned by society have suddenly become the norm. If you really sit and think of all the changes that have gone on, believe me, you will be floored. Let's explore.
Movies - This one jumps out at me. PG and PG-13 movies, by all accounts, used to be very watchable and fairly clean. Nowadays, I find my wife's hands over my eyes on most movies, and my ears ringing from foul language! I'm at the point where I read a "Pluggedin" movie review before going to see anything questionable. Then I determine whether or not it's worth seeing at that point.
Music - Music has over the past decades had a consistent demise, content wise. Every style has had it's "faces" that revolutionized the sound but stretched the limits of content. I understand music is a touchy subject for many, but I prefer not to listen to songs about drug use, sex, abuse, and violence...the list goes on! Before my time, songs weren't singing about, "boots with the Fur, the whole club looking at her" (yes I went there)! Music is a topic in itself that I could write hundreds of posts on, but I'll keep this point short to only the content change over the years.
Politics/Society - "Luke, stay away from that topic"... I know, I know, you're all sitting there saying oh boy here we go. I will always respect the seat of our leaders and the leadership placed over me, because I was told to by Christ. However, when decisions and guidelines are placed that directly defy the principles of God, I will not support them. I will pray for our leaders, in faith, that the Lord will work all things out for His good and bless our leaders, but I will not accept the Christ defying principles imposed by anyone. The change here has come in the views of the people. Free choice, change, work together; these have all been pushed onto society, and now even Christians are substituting God's very principles for these mindsets. Not all of this is bad, but there are major sociological issues in our world right now that need to be dealt with, and much of these seem to come from the "free choice" movement. This is not evident only by who gets votes, but also by what laws and ballot's are being passed. I digress...
Religion - In my last example, let's look at religion. According to the PEW Forum which interviewed 35,000 people age 18 or older in 2007 (religions.pewforum.org/reports), 78.4% of Americans describe themselves as Christians. The troubling statistic is that between 18-29 year olds, 1 in 4 describe themselves as not affiliated with any religion. The principles of Christ are not being relayed to the younger generation, in response you're seeing them not choose any religion or search for something else. I believe this has been the responsible party for the growth I've noticed in the new age view. The all encompassing new age movement seems to "unite" all religions, including witchcraft and others, into one religion. Lot's of change happening within this topic.
Now that we've ventured into whats been changing over the years, I want to know why. Is it a simple fact that we are legitimately devolving (lol, I heard this the other day), or our tolerance and compromise for things has risen? I believe compromise plays a part in this, however I also believe that we are indeed approaching the end days. My daughter will be born in a few months, and my wife and I were just discussing how sad it is to be raising a child in days like this. What can we do, put our baby in a bubble and never let her out...(Seinfeld reference!) Of course not, but we will raise our daughter in the ways of the Lord and trust him to take care of the rest.
Times, people, movies, music, politics, and religion are all going to change. These things are fleeting, and religion doesn't save you, God saves you. The only thing we can know will be consistent for us is God. Malachi 3:6 says, “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." Our Lord never changes, so there is no reason to fear the future, everything is in His control. Should we still have concern over the things in our world, yes, because maybe we can change something for the good of Christ! But don't devolve by fearing what will happen tomorrow or next year. Count on the God who is in your past, present, and future.
Movies - This one jumps out at me. PG and PG-13 movies, by all accounts, used to be very watchable and fairly clean. Nowadays, I find my wife's hands over my eyes on most movies, and my ears ringing from foul language! I'm at the point where I read a "Pluggedin" movie review before going to see anything questionable. Then I determine whether or not it's worth seeing at that point.
Music - Music has over the past decades had a consistent demise, content wise. Every style has had it's "faces" that revolutionized the sound but stretched the limits of content. I understand music is a touchy subject for many, but I prefer not to listen to songs about drug use, sex, abuse, and violence...the list goes on! Before my time, songs weren't singing about, "boots with the Fur, the whole club looking at her" (yes I went there)! Music is a topic in itself that I could write hundreds of posts on, but I'll keep this point short to only the content change over the years.
Politics/Society - "Luke, stay away from that topic"... I know, I know, you're all sitting there saying oh boy here we go. I will always respect the seat of our leaders and the leadership placed over me, because I was told to by Christ. However, when decisions and guidelines are placed that directly defy the principles of God, I will not support them. I will pray for our leaders, in faith, that the Lord will work all things out for His good and bless our leaders, but I will not accept the Christ defying principles imposed by anyone. The change here has come in the views of the people. Free choice, change, work together; these have all been pushed onto society, and now even Christians are substituting God's very principles for these mindsets. Not all of this is bad, but there are major sociological issues in our world right now that need to be dealt with, and much of these seem to come from the "free choice" movement. This is not evident only by who gets votes, but also by what laws and ballot's are being passed. I digress...
Religion - In my last example, let's look at religion. According to the PEW Forum which interviewed 35,000 people age 18 or older in 2007 (religions.pewforum.org/reports), 78.4% of Americans describe themselves as Christians. The troubling statistic is that between 18-29 year olds, 1 in 4 describe themselves as not affiliated with any religion. The principles of Christ are not being relayed to the younger generation, in response you're seeing them not choose any religion or search for something else. I believe this has been the responsible party for the growth I've noticed in the new age view. The all encompassing new age movement seems to "unite" all religions, including witchcraft and others, into one religion. Lot's of change happening within this topic.
Now that we've ventured into whats been changing over the years, I want to know why. Is it a simple fact that we are legitimately devolving (lol, I heard this the other day), or our tolerance and compromise for things has risen? I believe compromise plays a part in this, however I also believe that we are indeed approaching the end days. My daughter will be born in a few months, and my wife and I were just discussing how sad it is to be raising a child in days like this. What can we do, put our baby in a bubble and never let her out...(Seinfeld reference!) Of course not, but we will raise our daughter in the ways of the Lord and trust him to take care of the rest.
Times, people, movies, music, politics, and religion are all going to change. These things are fleeting, and religion doesn't save you, God saves you. The only thing we can know will be consistent for us is God. Malachi 3:6 says, “I the Lord do not change. So you, the descendants of Jacob, are not destroyed." Our Lord never changes, so there is no reason to fear the future, everything is in His control. Should we still have concern over the things in our world, yes, because maybe we can change something for the good of Christ! But don't devolve by fearing what will happen tomorrow or next year. Count on the God who is in your past, present, and future.
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