On the way DOWN

My belief

I was sitting on the couch with a few guys up in New Jersey and I was struck by what I saw on TV. I DO watch a lot of TV, but I am very limited in my selection. For the most part all I am usually interested in watching is News or NFL Football. Well, while I was sitting watching a program called Tosh 2.O, which is a celebrity talk show, I was quite disgusted with what I saw. I would guess that 80% of the images and jokes were homosexual in nature. What seemed even more surprising to me was that everyone in the room thought it was hysterical. I think I was particularly sensitive to this because of a sobering sermon that I had just heard from Lon Solomon. The sermon was all about the descent of man and the decay of society. God lays this process out clearly in the last part of Romans chapter 1. Pastor Solomon explains how God has 3 stages in which He “gives man over” to his own sinful nature and allows him to condemn himself to the eternal wrath of God. Sadly, from what I see around us in America I think this process is nearly complete.

Stage 1 Humanism – Where people replace The Creator with what is created. In ancient times people replaced God with animals, the sun, and even hand made idols. Today we have progressed passed this and now we worship ourselves. We worship celebrities, the rich, and the beautiful. We celebrate and praise our own ingenuity. George Clooney and Brad Pitt are our Kings. Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie are our Queens. We revel in the innovations of Google, Microsoft, and Apple. In the hit show American Idol only the talented and beautiful have the “IT” Factor. America’s new god is man.

Stage 2 Embracement of Homosexuality – Where men and women give up the natural way for what is unnatural. Recently President Obama signed the repeal of “Don’t ask, Don’t tell”. Gay’s now serve openly in the military. The U.S. is now in the process of changing American passports to say Parent #1 and Parent #2 instead of mother and father. In my business it is especially normal to be surrounded by gay and lesbian coworkers more often than not. In my opinion America is “out of the closet” and gay is now normal. Pastor Solomon says that any society that has ever made it past stage 2 has never recovered. We are well on the way to repeating the mistakes of the Roman Empire.

Stage 3 The Hardening – Where there is no more right and wrong, and wrong is preferred. I am not sure that America has completed this step, but we are working on it fast. It is now considered good and right for a woman to have the right to choose, or gays to have equal partnership rights to heterosexuals. We are used to people saying “Well, this is RIGHT for me”. In my opinion we are very close to completing this stage of our destruction. Is it any wonder that the worlds largest super power (America) now seems to be riddled with financial and social problems that no one has an answer for.

Scripture

Romans 1:24-25

²⁴ Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. ²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.

Application for Life

America seems to be on the same track that so many other mighty and prosperous nations have been on. Our job as followers of Christ is to be Salt and Light in an ever crumbling world. I feel that so many hearts in our country have become hard and lean on there own understanding. However, there are still some who have not hardened their hearts and are willing to listen to the message that God has to offer. We must continue to preserve our testimony, let people know where we stand, and watch for that person who wants to know more. Anyone who studies God’s word knows that America and our way of life are temporary, but the HOPE that we have is that the next way of life will be perfect and permanent.