Social Media and Digital Discernment

By John MacArthur

Twenty-five years ago Neil Postman observed that television had become an American “necessity” and lamented its effects on society. He correctly described the culture of the 1980s as one that was amusing itself to death. If he were alive today, Postman would be astonished at how quickly Twitter, Facebook, and other forms of social media have gripped our society. His earlier criticisms raise an interesting question about these current trends: If TV put our culture in the casket, has social media nailed the coffin shut?
Almost overnight, the budding world of social media has revolutionized the way our culture communicates. Even our vocabulary has been affected. Suddenly, people are “tagging” each other, “tweeting” about themselves, and “liking” everything they see. For the first time, it’s possible to have “friends” you’ve never even met. Those conversant in the language of social media rarely use complete sentences or even complete words (since they are limited to 140 characters). All the while, words like “screenager,” “vlog,” and “cyberslacking,” are finding their way into dictionaries like Oxford and Webster’s. It’s funny to consider that, not too long ago, surfing was just a water sport and a yahoo was a crazy person. But not anymore.
Social media is also changing the way people spend their time. Recent statistics from Nielson indicate that Americans spend 906 million hours per month using social media.¹ Twitter has over 100 million users. YouTube serves more than two billion videos a day. And Facebook reports that, worldwide, its 500 million active users spend a combined 700 billion minutes on the site each month. That’s roughly 24 hours per person, which is a lot of time to spend checking status updates and changing profile pictures.²
So what are Christians supposed to think about all of this? How can we exercise biblical discernment in the way we use this new media?
On the one hand, social networking websites provide numerous benefits and opportunities. Many of the ministries with which I am involved (like Grace to You and The Master’s College & Seminary) utilize social networking to dispense resources and keep people updated with ministry news.³ Social networking can be a useful tool when used to communicate the right things—messages that honor Christ, exalt His Word, and direct people to profitable tools for spiritual growth.
But social networking can also be abused. When it consists of nothing more than random babblings and personal monologues, it can become self-centered, unrestrained and narcissistic. When it consumes our lives, it can be addictive and controlling. Used unwisely, it is filled with potential pitfalls and temptations. For those who follow Christ, we are called to submit every area of our lives to His lordship—including how we use social media. With that in mind, let’s look at the following five areas of caution:

Virtual Fellowship

First, consider the façade of friendship that can be created by social networking. It has the potential to foster shallow relationships and detract from real ones. Instead of enhancing deep friendships, it tends to flatten out and impersonalize the dynamics of human interaction—creating what Umair Haque calls “thin relationships.” Writing for the Harvard Business Review, Haque notes, “Despite all the excitement surrounding social media, the Internet isn’t connecting us as much as we think it is. It’s largely home to weak, artificial connections, what I call thin relationships. . . . Thin relationships are the illusion of real relationships.” He goes on to explain that, thanks to the explosion of so-called friendships in the world of social networking, the very word “relationship” has lost its value. “It used to mean someone you could count on. Today, it means someone you can swap bits with.”⁴
Haque is not alone in his observations. Gervase Markham, a Mozilla Foundation programmer quoted inThe Sydney Morning Herald, echoes that same concern: “Social networking en-courages people to have a greater number of much shallower friendships. I know what 15 of my friends had for breakfast, but I don’t know whether any of them is struggling with major life issues. If this trend continues, people in 2020 will have hundreds of acquaintances, but very few friends.”⁵
Researcher Mark Vernon, writing in USA Today, agrees: “While social networking sites and the like have grown exponentially, the element that is crucial, and harder to investigate, is the quality of the connections they nurture. . . . A connection may only be a click away, but cultivating a good friendship takes more. It seems common sense to conclude that ‘friending’ online nurtures shallow relationships.”⁶ His advice for maintaining real friendships is simple: “Put down the device; engage the person.”⁷
Social networking gives the illusion of knowing everyone, and yet the reality is that oftentimes no one is truly known. It creates an environment where selfish, one-sided relationships seem to flourish, and where communication is largely unidirectional, made up of sound bites instead of deep interaction.
Moreover, it often distracts people from existing relationships. Instead of pouring themselves into the real-life friendships they currently have, people now spend hours with pseudo-friends online. This is especially seen within the family, where social networking constantly threatens to invade, bringing a barrage of cultural influence into the private world of family life. In the home, focused training in godliness is essential for the development of spiritually-healthy relationships and biblical worldviews. But instant distraction is only a text message away.
As believers, we are called to love, encourage, instruct, admonish, and serve one another. That requires far more than social media can provide. The life-on-life discipleship that characterizes Christian friendship goes much deeper than any Facebook update or Twitter post. In so far as our fellowship is limited to 140 characters of text, it is not true fellowship at all.

Every Careless Word

The book of Proverbs tells us that, “He who spreads slander is a fool. When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise” (10:18b-19). A maxim for all of life, that statement certainly applies to social media.
Those who spread slander and gossip online can now find themselves in court.⁸ Some might be sued.⁹ Others simply fired from their jobs.¹⁰
But even if such potential consequences did not exist, Christians answer to a higher court. And God has made it clear what He thinks about gossip: “He who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do no associate with a gossip” (Prov. 20:19).
A study in the New York Daily News found that 80% of normal conversations consist of gossip.¹¹ Those numbers seem to be consistent with online interactions, where talking about other people is almost as popular as talking about oneself. In a helpful article entitled “Solomon on Social Media,” Tim Challies gives this timely warning: “There are many web sites, blogs and Twitter accounts dedicated almost entirely to gossip, to sharing what is dishonorable rather than what is noble. Avoid these people and their gossip!”¹²
But even beyond the world of slander, one has to wonder how many careless words are posted, texted, or tweeted every moment of the day. Statistics suggest that there are about 700 Facebook status updates and over 600 tweets every second.¹³ Even if some of those are profitable, that still leaves a lot of empty chatter.
Our Lord addressed this issue directly in His statement, “Every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it” (Matt. 12:36). That’s a sobering thought, especially when paired with the maxim of Proverbs 17:28: “Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.” (Many a young blogger would do well to memorize those verses.)
In 1 Corinthians 10:23–24, Paul explains an important principle about Christian liberty. He writes, “All things are lawful, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own good, but that of his neighbor.” If we apply that truth to the world of social media, we can quickly separate that which is valuable from that which is merely wood, hay, and stubble. Tweeting about the inane details of life might not be sinful, but if it doesn’t build others up spiritually, it might be better left unsaid.

Time Mismanagement

According to recent statistics, the average American worker spends almost six hours a month visiting social networking websites during work time. The majority of that time is spent on Facebook.¹⁴
But this is not just about wasting time at work. It’s about wasting time, period. By its very nature, social networking is a massive distraction. It detracts from disciplined study, thoughtful meditation, and concerted prayer.
In a Time Magazine article entitled “It’s Time to Confront Your Facebook Addiction,” Kayla Webley shares some startling statistics. “One-third of women ages 18 to 34 check Facebook first thing in the morning. . . . Of the 1,605 adults surveyed on their social media habits, 39% are self-described ‘Facebook addicts.’ It gets worse. Fifty-seven percent of women in the 18 to 34 age range say they talk to people online more than they have face-to-face conversations. Another 21% admit to checking Facebook in the middle of the night.”¹⁵
Some Facebook “addicts,” like Maria Garcia of Philadelphia, spend as much as 56 hours a week on the site.¹⁶ Reporting on her story, ABC News recounted the concern of those in the medical community: “The popularity and social acceptance of networking sites is one of the reasons Dr. Joseph Garbley says Facebook addiction is becoming a very real problem. . . . Garbley says unlike alcohol or drugs, social networking addiction is psychological not physical. But he adds it is still a serious problem: ‘The problem comes in when life intercedes, when school work calls, when relationships demand your attention and you chose Facebook over those relationships.’”¹⁷ It seems social media sites have become the new soap operas!
Of course, the real problem is a heart issue, not a psychological one. But the point remains. For many Americans, the amount of time spent using social media is out of control. Whether defined as “addicts” or not, people spend vast amounts of time browsing blogs, watching YouTube videos, reading tweets, and managing their profiles. We’ve already noted that, on average, the active Facebook user spends nearly 24 hours a month on the site. In September 2010, the amount of time spent on Facebook surpassed Google for the first time. Combine this with time spent blogging, micro-blogging, commenting, texting, instant messaging, and surfing—and the sheer hours represented become staggering.
Ironically, people can spend hours jumping from link to link without even realizing how much time they are wasting. As author Ivan Misner explains in Business Week, “You go to LinkedIn or Facebook and you read a comment and it takes you to another link and now you’re on YouTube, watching someone’s video. Pretty soon something weird happens in the space-time continuum and you look up and you’ve lost two hours.”¹⁸
As believers, the command of Ephesians 5:15–16 is just as binding upon our modern lives as it was in the non-technological world of the first century. “Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil.” Paul’s exhortation has massive implications for how we interact with social media. One day we will stand before Christ to give an account for how we used His resources (including our time and energy). With that in mind, how much of this life can be justifiably devoted to Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and the like? Just a few hours each day, over the course of a lifetime, adds up to years of wasted opportunity.

Putting the ME in Media

If there is one word that perhaps best describes social media it is this: self-promotion. The narcissism fostered by status updates and tweets is undeniable. And cultural critics have taken notice.
Some respond with humor.¹⁹ A few see it as a good thing.²⁰ Others are concerned that social media is ramping up society’s psychological maladies—like Narcissistic Personality Disorder.²¹ (Of course, what psychologists label “NPD” the Bible calls the sin of pride.)
Even the majority of social media users admit that self-promotion is at its core: “A national study fresh out of SDSU is confirming that Generation Y really is Generation Me. The jaw-dropping conclusion? 57% of young people believe their generation uses social networking sites for self-promotion, narcissism and attention seeking.”²² In the words of one British journalist: “The Me-Man is everywhere. And so is the Me-Woman. They are the millions of men and women . . . from every class, age and profession who want to talk about themselves, expose themselves, and promote themselves in glorious and often gory detail. . . . They blog and bleat and tweet and text you all the time. The medium may vary, but the message is always the same: Me. ‘Me, Me, Me!’”²³
Dr. Lauren LaPorta, Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at St. Joseph’s, sees the popularity of social networking sites as a direct result of the growing narcissism in American culture (due largely to the self-esteem movement of the 90s). Writing for the Psychiatric Times, she observes, “It is my contention that these sites would not have risen to such prominence but for the fact that a generation of narcissists needed an outlet. The millennial generation needed a way to assert their uniqueness, their specialness and garner the attention and praise of the masses. Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter filled the bill.”²⁴
But the me-centered world of social media is clearly at odds with the biblical call to humility and selflessness. Consider just a brief sampling of relevant Scripture passages on this subject:

Proverbs 16:18—“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before stumbling.”
Proverbs 27:2—“Let another man praise you and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.”
Proverbs 30:2—“If you have been foolish in exalting yourself . . . put your hand over your mouth.”
Isaiah 66:2—“‘To this one I [the LORD] will look, to him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word.’”
Matthew 23:11–12—“The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.”
Philippians 2:3–5—“Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves. . . . Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus.”

To these, a host of other passages could be added. All of them make the same point: God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.
When so much about social media panders to pride and shameless self-exaltation, believers need to think about their motives before they jump on the bandwagon. If the goal is simply popularity or personal promotion, it’s time to do a heart check. Our celebrity-driven culture craves for notoriety. But Christians are called to be different. We have died to ourselves. Thus, our concern should not be, “How many people can I get to follow me?” but rather, “How can I bear witness to the wonder of following Christ?”

Trivializing Truth

None other than National Public Radio recently lamented the growing trivialization of values in American society. In an NPR web article entitled, "Trivialization Nation” (Feb. 2010) Linton Weeks writes, “The wide-spread trivialization of meaningful things is indisputable. Sound bites and silliness reign supreme. . . . Perhaps the tendency to trivialize is born of band-wagonism or laziness. . . . Trivializing large ideals is easier than living up to them. And it’s less scary.”²⁵
Elsewhere, the article cited an interview with the president of Harvard, Drew Faust, in which she was asked to respond to the dumbing down of American culture. “I worry about attention span,” Faust said, “because people will not listen to more than a couple of sentences or read more than a couple of sentences. Does everything have to be a sound bite? Is everything to be digested into something brief? And aren’t there complicated ideas that we ought to have the patience to give our attention to?"²⁶
One novelist-turned-blogger provides firsthand testimony of that trivialization in his own experience. He writes: “This is, I think, the real danger of social media and Twitter. . . . It changes the way I process information. Or to be more precise, I no longer process information—I merely consume it. I speed read hundreds of bits of articles a day, absorbing lots of information, but rarely actually thinking about it. . . . The difficult thoughts, the ambivalent thoughts, the repulsive thoughts, the thoughts too complicated to be reduced to a tweet. They are labeled low priority and sent to the back office of my mind.”²⁷
Geoff Dyer, writing in The Guardian, echoes that concern: “Sometimes I think my ability to concentrate is being nibbled away by the internet; other times I think it’s being gulped down in huge, Jaws-shaped chunks.”²⁸ A CNBC article entitled, “Is Twitter Making You Stupid?” concludes with this sobering assessment: “It seems that we’ve managed, in the words of playwright Richard Foreman . . . to transform ourselves into ‘pancake people’—spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.”²⁹
While scientists and social critics debate the effects of social media on how we think, one thing remains clear: Christians must guard themselves against becoming theological pancakes. Thanks to the market-driven methodologies of the seeker-sensitive movement, the dumbing down of doctrine has characterized American evangelicalism for decades. In many ways, sites like Twitter and Facebook only exacerbate that problem because they provide a venue in which reductionism and extreme brevity simultaneously coincide with information overload and infinite distraction.
But not every theological truth can be adequately summarized in just a phrase or two. And not every debate can be resolved in just one blog article. Many doctrines require extended time and thought to properly process. Mature believers reflect deeply on the things of God and the truths of His Word.
They are not a mile wide and an inch deep. Instead their lives are marked by rich devotion, focused study, prolonged prayer, and careful mediation. Cultivating those kinds of spiritual disciplines takes time and effort—traits that are rarely prized in the information age.
In light of that, believers must not allow blogs, tweets, and status updates to become their primary source of theological education or spiritual input. If they do, they will inevitably become doctrinally shallow and spiritually malnourished.
God’s Word repeatedly calls us to use our minds wisely. We are to think on things that are right and true (Phil. 4:8) as we test all things carefully (1 Thess. 5:21) and bring every thought captive to the obedience of Christ (2 Cor. 10:5). Our minds are to be renewed (Rom. 12:2) as we allow the Word of Christ to dwell in us richly (Col. 3:16). We are to be sober-minded (1 Cor. 15:34) as we set our minds on things above (Col. 3:2) and prepare them for action (1 Pet. 1:13).
Clearly, God cares how we think and what we think about. Insofar as social media websites cultivate the trivialization of profound truths, while simultaneously fostering shorter attention spans, believers would do well to proceed carefully.

Something to Think About

At this point it is important to reiterate what I said at the beginning. Social networking can be a useful tool when it is used in moderation and for the right things. At the same time, however, pitfalls and temptations do exist; and believers need to arm themselves accordingly. Social media are obviously not going away any time soon. But that doesn’t mean we can be undiscerning in how we approach them.
For me, as a pastor, this issue is particularly important from a shepherding perspective. Christian leaders are called to equip their people to think through every area of life with biblical wisdom. And this is no exception.
Moreover, believers (and especially pastors) need to be careful what they communicate to the world about their lives. Once something is posted online it can be seen by anyone else. Once it’s cached, there is a permanent record of it. That means every status update and every tweet is part of the believer’s public testimony as a Christian.
As Paul told the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me” (2:20). Like Paul and every other believer, my life is no longer my own. The focus must not be on me, but on Christ. When someone hears from me publicly, I want it all to point to Him.
NOTES:

* Special thanks to members of the Grace Church staff for helping to find these online sources.
* The citation of sources here does not imply blanket endorsement of these websites or authors.

1 http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/what-americans-do-online-social-media-and-games-dominate-activity/
2 http://www.facebook.com/press/info.php?statistics
3 In my case, our staff at Grace to You maintains a social media presence for me (on both Facebook and Twitter) in order to direct people to biblical teaching resources. Though I am not personally involved in posting anything to Facebook or Twitter, I do see the value of those sites for ministry purposes.
4 http://blogs.hbr.org/haque/2010/03/the_social_media_bubble.html
5 http://www.smh.com.au/technology/social-media-making-us-shallow-20100706-zy5u.html
6 http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/forum/2010-07-27-column27_ST_N.htm
7 Ibid.
8 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/01/us/01slapp.html?_r=1&ref=libel_and_slander
9 http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/05/legal-consequences-of-social-media.html
10 http://www.abajournal.com/news/article/slander_or_satire_when_does_social_media_cross_ legal_lines/
11 http://www.nydailynews.com/lifestyle/health/2009/09/10/2009-09
10_gossip_makes_up_80_percent_of_our_conversations__and_that_might_be_ok_experts.html
12 http://www.challies.com/christian-living/solomon-on-social-media
13 http://searchengineland.com/by-the-numbers-twitter-vs-facebook-vs-google-buzz-36709; for more recent numbers on Twitter see http://mashable.com/2010/06/25/tps-record/
14 http://en-us.nielsen.com/content/nielsen/en_us/news/news_releases/2010/june/nielsen_and_mckinsey.html
15 http://newsfeed.time.com/2010/07/08/its-time-to-confront-your-facebook-addiction/
16 http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/special_reports&id=7251938
17 Ibid.
18 http://www.businessweek.com/smallbiz/content/jun2010/sb2010068_630402.htm
19 http://www.despair.com/somevedi.html
20 http://corymiller.com/why-narcissism-is-necessary-on-twitter/
21 http://socialmediarockstar.com/why-narcissistic-personality-disorder-loves-social-media
22 http://mashable.com/2009/08/25/gen-y-social-media-study/; see alsohttp://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-08-24-narcissism-young_N.htm
23 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1278968/From-YouTube-Facebook-Welcome-agenarcissism.html?printingPage=true
24 http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/news/content/article/10168/1514386
25 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=123568025
26 Ibid.
27 http://themanwhofellasleep.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/social-media-and-digital-narcissism/
28 http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2010/aug/15/internet-brain-neuroscience-debate
29 http://www.cnbc.com/id/32569284/Is_Twitter_Making_You_Stupid/

http://www.gty.org/blog/B101110/social-media-and-digital-discernment
 

Parents: Watch for these red flags at school

by Linda Harvey / WND

As summer winds down, kids don their backpacks and jump on school buses once more. Yet few parents realize what’s about to descend on those innocent heads.
While your children frolicked at the lake, visited Grandma and sang songs at summer camp, the leaders of America’s education system prepared more essential “LGBT” lessons to infuse into the hearts of Chloe, Emma and James. Most will be packed with insidious, Christ-less lies that present great risk to every child’s medical, social and spiritual future.
Grassroots efforts by frustrated parents are trying to eject the leftist Common Core standards, but meanwhile, educators are being pressured to get that “gay” subject in front of as many kids as possible. Consulting the essential wisdom of the Huffington Post “Gay Voices”page, we learn that one high-school social studies teacher who just “came out” as homosexual last year is determined to weave homosexual themes into the classroom wherever possible. His method will be to assume a boy might not be heterosexual, for instance. So when chatting with a male student about dating, he will refer to his possible girlfriend or boyfriend, to make him feel more comfortable.
But what if he is straight, as most boys are (or should be)? This overheard conversation will cause speculation by other students about that student’s sexual proclivities. Good plan, teacher! Put our boys on the spot. Start rumors. Fuel adolescent insecurities. But it’s all for the greater cause of deceptively painting the “gay” identity with glorious rainbow colors, and not in the blackness of sin it deserves.
That same student may be forced to read literature that normalizes homosexuality. The National Education Association’s New Business Item 51,passed at its recent Denver annual meeting, directs the union to publish a list of books about what they term “LGBTQ and gender non-conforming themes.” This augments the trend toward lessons about actual or imagined homosexuals in social studies curricula, called “gay history.” The primary event on the timeline of an honest history of homosexuality would start with Genesis 19, Sodom and Gomorrah. That’s not going to happen anytime soon.

It may be up to parents to prepare children ahead of time. No, Abraham Lincoln was not a homosexual and, yes, Oscar Wilde was and he even had relations with boys. And yes, that is still illegal. …..

…  One book recently published by a homosexual man “married” to “his husband” and sure to show up in school libraries is called “The Princes and the Treasure.”It promotes homosexual relationships and same-sex “marriage.” The ALA is surely ecstatic over this book but routinely bypasses conservative titles while still claiming to oppose book banning.

The lessons would have taught children as young as middle school, for instance, that the anus is a genital. The high risk of anal sex was also being concealed, a medical reality that would not come as a surprise to HIV-infected homosexual males and public health professionals.

So, this year if you really would rather your son or daughter not be taught that homosexuality is inborn, that it’s no big deal, and that the Bible’s instruction against homosexuality is wrong, hateful, or dismissible, watch for the presence of these “gay agenda” elements at your child’s school:

1) “Gay” history, which attempts to normalize, exalt and sometimes invent the homosexual preferences of famous historical figures. Whatever other talents these folks possessed, they would always have done better without any “gay” behavior.

2)“LGBT” advocacy disguised as “civil rights.” It’s not hateful, but constructive, to question homosexual behavior or gender confusion, and this vicious, deceitful movement is nothing like race relations.

3) Same-sex families being portrayed as a normal, uncontroversial variation in stories or lessons, even in math class. “Jenna and her dads bought milk. How many cups are in a gallon?”

4)“Health” education that smoothly advocates homosexuality but fails to note the 30,000 new HIV cases among male homosexuals each year in the U.S., and that the rate among the youth segment alone has more than doubled in the past decade. HIV is not “everyone’s” disease, condoms are unreliable and abstinence remains the best option.

5) “Gay”-straight alliances as legitimate school clubs, whose existence creates the false impression that homosexuality and gender change are acceptable. Educate your children that, while unkind behavior is off limits, none of these students should be engaging in these behaviors and these students are not a different category of human. True equality is that in God’s eyes; He expects the same avoidance of sin from them as He does from all of us.

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/08/parents-watch-for-these-red-flags-at-school/#LYjDd7RDJ0H28iKd.99 

check out the link to that book they're stocking up on now!

I'm worried about this because I have grandchildren in public school and my grandkids love to read. I couldn't find the list they're talking about as it apparently hasn't been done yet. But I did find a list of LGBT children's authors so at least a parent can check any book against this list to see if the author is on it. I'm sure they don't have the name of every author, but it's a place to start anyway.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_LGBT_writers

I also found this:

Gay Author Wins Prestigious Children’s Literature Award

In all my excitement over the latest Rainbow Bibliography and Stonewall Children’s and Young Adult Literature Award, I neglected to mention that prolific children’s author and illustrator Tomie DePaola—who happens to be gay—won this year’s Laura Ingalls Wilder Award from the American Library Association. The award “honors an author or illustrator whose books, published in the United States, have made, over a period of years, a substantial and lasting contribution to literature for children.” With well over 200 books to his name, including Caldecott honor book Strega Nona and Newbery honor book 26 Fairmount Avenue, DePaola is certainly deserving of the award.
DePaola, although gay, has not written books with overt LGBT content. In fact, many (but not all) of his books have religious themes, including Patrick: Patron Saint of Ireland and his latest, Let The Whole Earth Sing Praise. DePaola left the Catholic Church in the 1960′s, concerned that the Church was becoming more conservative—but he almost became a monk earlier in his life, according to a 2009 interview in the New England Journal of Aesthetic Research. Personally, I love that a gay author is producing children’s books with religious content. It puts lie to the claim that there is a battle between the LGBT community and religion, or that one can’t identify with both.
While his books may not have clear LGBT content, it doesn’t take a big leap to see that his 1979 book, Oliver Button Is a Sissy, has definite resonance for the LGBT community.

more:
http://www.mombian.com/2011/02/10/gay-author-wins/

Watch out for his books because he's not on the list!

I also found another possible resource to check:

LGBT Childrens Literature (72 books) - Goodreads

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...ens_Literature

since it's only 72 books and has a picture of the book by each one, it should make it easy to check and see if your child/grandchild has one of these. And finally here's another similar list:
Amazon.com: LGBT Children's Books

http://www.amazon.com/LGBT-Childrens-Books/lm/R2RQKYZLJZ8VEQ

More to Beware Of! 

I’ve seen and heard of other really bad things happening in our children’s elementary schools and higher too.  Now many of the children are being brainwashed by the world in mandatory “Guidance classes” as early as kindergarten!  Some of what the children are told is harmless and most parents don’t have a problem with it.  But I saw this coming when my children were in school and now that it’s here, it’s worse then even I thought it would be!  In many schools they’re teaching the children New Age meditation techniques, only calling them by different names.  Why is that bad?  Because those techniques call for the person to “empty their minds” and that goes against God’s Word.  God says we’re to be in control of our thoughts at all times and that we’re to never empty our minds and just allow whatever wants to come in to do so! I’ve heard of them also teaching the children yoga and other similar things.  Again, many ask what’s wrong with that, let me simply say that again, it' goes against God’s Word.  Don’t take my word for it though, do some research on it yourself and find out.  It will be worth your while!  Of course another thing taught in these guidance classes is that homosexuality and bisexuality is normal and perfectly OK.  Anything said against them is consider bullying and hate speech. They also work against God by teaching your children something you yourself were taught, and that’s all about having a good self esteem, putting themselves first, taking care of themselves, etc. Again that’s against God’s Word.  He says we’re to put Him first, others second and ourselves last!  He says we’re to find our worth in Him and Him alone, not in ourselves because there’s nothing good in us except that which He gives us when we’re saved.

here are some links on some of these things to get you started:

Sola Sisters: Yoga Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

Sola Sisters: "Christian" Yoga?

Sola Sisters: A Christian Woman and Her Frightening ...

Sola Sisters: Nondenominational Meditation?

Transcendental Meditation Promoted as Health Benefit

Sola Sisters: What Is Mysticism?

Sola Sisters: Monvee: Mysticism For The Masses

An End Times Lesson from Ezekiel

An End Times Lesson from Ezekiel

In Ezekiel 8 God actually seems to give us a thumbnail view of the end times, the rapture and the tribulation!

In this chapter, Ezekiel is having a vision and God shows him how evil the people and even the priests have become and how they're misleading the people and encouraging them to sin. He showed him people that "everyone thought were godly" but who in reality were quite wicked and misleading the people. Even in the Temple itself, the priests had literally turned their backs on God. Oh they still did all the rituals they were supposed to, but when they weren't doing those things, they were worshiping false gods and doing other detestable things. It reminds me of this verse:

‘they have no shame at all, they do not even know how to blush.’ Jer. 6:15.

Sounds like our society now doesn't it? Not only do people not feel shame about their sins, they promote them and advertise them as entertainment! I don't know how many times that thought goes through my mind each evening when we see the commercials for current programs on TV. It's like each program or movie is based on one or more sins and how great it is. Let's see if I can remember a few of the current ones I've seen the ads for: "sex in the city" or something like that, but then most of them have something to do with one kind or another of illegitimate sex. Then there's one in particular that's all about "revenge" and it's commercial is all about how we all want to get revenge on those that have hurt us. I don't think they miss a single sin. On any day of the week, you can turn on the TV and get your fill of adultery, homosexuality, porn, premarital sex, greed, coveting, gossiping, lying, stealing, murder, hate, revenge, disrespect of parents, teachers, pastors, government officials, etc. There's also plenty of idolatry and paganism available for any who want it, as well as taking God's Name in vain and using vulgar language etc. All dressed up as entertainment. Don't even get me started about false teachers! We all know how bad that situation is now!

People don't repent of sin anymore. Instead they either label it as an Illness or they legalize it and tell us we need to be tolerant of it. People today delight in their sins and the sins of others, instead of repenting of them and praying for mercy. Like Judah in Ezekiel 8, we seem to think that God doesn't see it or us, and/or doesn't care.

After God has shown him all the evil the priests and the people are doing in the land, God says this to him:

Ezekiel 8:17–18 —He said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a trivial matter for the house of Judah to do the detestable things they are doing here? Must they also fill the land with violence and continually provoke me to anger? Look at them putting the branch to their nose! *18 * Therefore I will deal with them in anger; I will not look on them with pity or spare them. Although they shout in my ears, I will not listen to them.” *

That's the end of chapter 8, and in the next chapter God calls in Angelic guards and look at what He orders them to do:

Ezekiel 9:4 — and said to him, “Go throughout the city of Jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.” *

He makes sure that all those who love Him are marked on their foreheads--very much like He does in Revelation with the 144,000 witnesses. Then, just like in Revelation, He commands that they be protected from harm and orders that His judgment is to go out on the rest of the people in Judah.

Ezekiel 9:5–6 —As I listened, he said to the others, “Follow him through the city and kill, without showing pity or compassion. *6 * Slaughter old men, young men and maidens, women and children, but do not touch anyone who has the mark. Begin at my sanctuary.” So they began with the elders who were in front of the temple. *

I was thinking that the way the Lord first marked those who belonged to Him and then kept them safe from the destruction is a lot like what will happen at the rapture. We've all been marked/sealed with the Holy Spirit and when the rapture happens, the judgments to come on the earth won't touch us.

Just as this judgment began with the elders in the temple, so after the rapture, the first to realize what happened and what their own fate is now, will be those false teachers that have so polluted God's Word and taught heresy.

Just as the priests of Judah polluted God's temple with their idolatry, so that God's presence then left the temple (Ezekiel 10) for He will not share His glory with idols, so the false teachers of today have polluted His temple--the body of Christ with idolatry and other sin. Therefore the true body of Christ will be removed from this earth just as God removed Himself from the Temple then, and next the judgment begins.

Please don't misunderstand me...I'm not suggesting that this is what God is teaching us from these chapters, or that their main purpose is to point toward the rapture and tribulation to come. I don't think that's true at all. But I do think it's one of the things that we can see in these chapters.

I also think that His main message in these chapters are just as desperately needed today as they were then:

That those who turn their backs on God and His Word are leaving themselves wide open for judgment, for judgment will come. It might be delayed but eventually all will pay for their sins. When that time comes, it will then be too late for them to "repent" and escape judgment. What I mean is that they can repent, but they will still be judged for it will be late for them to escape that as God won't listen to their cries. (again like it will be at the rapture...those who do instantly realize what happened and repent will still have to go through the trib.) Those who don't repent at all will perish in their sin, just as these people did when the angel slaughtered them. These chapters also teach that God will never abandon those who do belong to Him and have given Him their hearts. They will always be safe in Him.

To me, the message for our world today is the same it's always been: Repent, for the Kingdom of God is near! And His message to those who belong to Him is

Hebrews 10:35–38— So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded. *36 * You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. *37 * For in just a very little while, “He who is coming will come and will not delay. *38 * But my righteous one will live by faith. And if he shrinks back, I will not be pleased with him.” *

Revelation 3:11 —I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. *

Even so, Come Lord Jesus!!!!

The Oppression of Black Liberation Theology

The Oppression of Black Liberation Theology

Black liberation theology finds its origin in Liberation theology in Centro- American struggle of the 1960's. Liberation theology sees the Christian mission as bringing justice to oppressed people through political activism, solving their social and economic plight.

Black liberation Theology is even more extreme. This theology was used by Marxist regimes to take over churches in Africa and Central America. They use Christian terminology, they promote violence to overthrow governments and populations. It especially became popular in Nicaragua in the 1980's with the pro-sandanista dictatorship. It used Marxist strategies to be an impetus for the people to rebel where violent revolution was used. In some churches Jesus was represented as Sandinista soldier identifying with the oppressed.

In this theological framework Jesus becomes a liberator of the oppressed masses which are black. This is in contrast to the word faith prosperity message preached by numerous black pastors today. Black Liberation theology describes Jesus as a poor black man who lived in oppression under "rich white people" which makes this particular view racially based, accentuating the tensions of being Black. The notion of "Blackness" is not merely a reference to skin color, but rather is a symbol of oppression that can be applied to all persons of color who have a history of oppression (except Whites, of course). [Wright's Black Liberation Theology By Anthony B. Bradley assistant professor of theology at covenant theological, March 25, 2008]

By using Isa.61:1 which Jesus quoted in Luke 4 to explain his ministry, they make their case for liberating the oppressed. They isolate verses like this and breathe exaggerations into them.

Authentic Christianity transcends race and ethnicity. There is no black or white cultural value system in the Bible- there is a humanity system, recognizing that we are all made in the image of God, being sinners in need of redemption the same way- through Jesus Christ.

Jesus plus Marxism equals Black liberation theology and according to its teaching Jesus is against the oppressor (who happens to be white) because Jesus is a black man sent to free the oppressed (I thought Moses was sent to free the oppressed). To those who espouse this worldview and philosophy white greed is the problem (I didn't know greed had a particular color attached to it). This theology embraced Marxism/humanism as the vehicle to correct the wrongs of the white oppressors. Marxism which is the very opposite of Christianity in its application. So it is not a marriage made in heaven. This theology is not found in the mainstream of the church but is on the fringe. Even the Vatican has condemned it twice. It has recently been publicized in the media because of the controversial statements of Rev. Wright, the pastor of presidential candidate Barak Obama.

Trinity United Church of Christ is now the largest congregation in the United Church of Christ, a megachurch with anywhere from 8-10,000 members. The United Church of Christ denomination was the first in America to ordain gays, and women as ministers. It is at the forefront of liberal churches that do not hold to the Scripture in a Christian manner (this is the church that presidential candidate Barak Obama and his family attends) [For more on this ask for our Mar/Apr. newsletter]

This church is a black nationalist church that is promoting Black liberation Theology. Jeremiah Wright credits James Cone as being a founder of Black Theology which Wright said forms the foundational beliefs of Wrights church. At best, their position is Black nationalism, in its extreme it is something to be concerned about. When Sean Hannity interviewed Rev. Wright on his program Hannity and Colmes, Rev. Wright repeatedly challenged Hannity saying: "Black liberation theology started with Jim Cone in 1968... Do you know liberation theology?" he was very defensive and continued to scold Hannity, ... How many books of Cone's have you read? How many books of Cone's have you read? (Rev. Jeremiah Wright, explaining his Church to Sean Hannity, Fox News 3/1/07).

Let's look at what Cones Black liberation Theology actually teaches. James Cone is one of the leading voices of this theology, he wrote that the United States was a white racist nation and the white church was the Antichrist for having supported slavery and segregation.

Cone: The 'raceless' American Christ has a light skin, wavy brown hair, and sometimes - wonder of wonders - blue eyes. For whites to find him with big lips and kinky hair is as offensive as it was for the Pharisees to find him partying with tax-collectors. But whether whites want to hear it or not, Christ is black, baby, with all of the features which are so detestable to white society (J. H. Cone, The White Church and Black Power, in G. S. Wilmore and J. H. Cone, Black Theology: A Documentary History, 1966-1979 (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1979), pp.116-17.)

Today, Cone is a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York, he stands by that view, but clarifies that he doesn't believe that whites individually are the Antichrist.

Cones Black theology and Black power is the treatise for many involved in this worldview. On.p.31 "a theology whose sole purpose is to apply the freeing power of the gospel to black people under white oppression." This would be like the Jewish apostles keeping the gospel to only Jews under the Roman jurisdiction.

Cone defines liberation as the "emancipation of black people from white oppression by whatever means black people deem necessary," "selective buying, boycotting, marching, even rebellion" (Cone, Theology, 6).


Cone: "Black theology refuses to accept a God who is not identified totally with the goals of the black community. If God is not for us and against white people, then he is a murderer, and we had better kill him. The task of black theology is to kill Gods who do not belong to the black community. Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love." (James Cone, quoted in “Divine Racism: The Unacknowledged Threshold Issue for Black Theology, by William R. Jones in African-American Religious Thought: An Anthology, edited by Cornel West and Eddie Glaube (Westminster John Knox Press).

Cone: "For white people, God's reconciliation in Jesus Christ means that God has made black people a beautiful people; and if they are going to be in relationship with God, they must enter by means of their black brothers, who are a manifestation of God's presence on earth. The assumption that one can know God without knowing blackness is the basic heresy of the white churches. They want God without blackness, Christ without obedience, love without death. What they fail to realize is that in America, God's revelation on earth has always been black, red, or some other shocking shade, but never white. Whiteness, as revealed in the history of America, is the expression of what is wrong with man. It is a symbol of man's depravity. God cannot be white even though white churches have portrayed him as white. When we look at what whiteness has done to the minds of men in this country, we can see clearly what the New Testament meant when it spoke of the principalities and powers. To speak of Satan and his powers becomes not just a way of speaking but a fact of reality. When we can see a people who are controlled by an ideology of whiteness, then we know what reconciliation must mean. The coming of Christ means a denial of what we thought we were. It means destroying the white devil in us. Reconciliation to God means that white people are prepared to deny themselves (whiteness), take up the cross (blackness) and follow Christ (black ghetto)."(James Cone, from Black Theology and Black Power, quoted in The Decline of African American Theology: From Biblical Faith to Cultural Captivity by Thabiti M. Anyabwile (Orbis), p.150. [Emphasis and underline mine]

Cone: "What else can the crucifixion mean except that God, the Holy One of Israel, became identified with the victims of oppression? What else can the resurrection mean except that God's victory in Christ is the poor person's victory over poverty?" (Cone, Speaking the Truth; p. 6)

Is this what the crucifixion is about? Or is it about our sin, all of mankinds sin, whether we are black, white, yellow, red; all being forgiven and united by the cross if we believe in the true gospel message and preach the Christ of the Scriptures. Cone has said the resurrection of Christ means the liberation of all people, relating it to physical deliverance from oppression ( The Moody Handbook of Theology p.598). This is not biblical Christianity by any stretch.

"To be Christian is to be one of those whom God has chosen. God has chosen black people!" (Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 139-140). They believe that Blacks are God's Chosen People, that Jesus was a black man-- I have yet to see a scripture that says this in the Bible. Jesus was a Jew; He was Semitic.

Black Liberation theology blames the problems on the white man. Most would consider this a reversal as white racism.

Stuck in the past as if there has been no progress between races since the early 60's in America.

Cone: "The time has come for white America to be silent and listen to black people. . . . All white men are responsible for white oppression. . . . Theologically, Malcolm X was not far wrong when he called the white man the devil." "The white structure of this American society, personified in every racist, must be at least part of what the New Testament meant by the demonic forces" (Black Theology and Black Power, pp. 39-41]

Many of the statements are similar to what the Black Muslim movement teaches. Elijah Mohammed wrote: "You will agree with me that the whole Caucasian race is a race of devils" (Message to the Black Man p.23).

In an interview, Cone, when he was asked which church most embodied his message, "I would point to that church (Trinity) first." Cone also said he thought that Wright's successor, the Rev. Otis Moss III, would continue the tradition. (http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008 ... 31079.html)

The March 22 edition of World Magazine reported an endorsement of Cones Liberation theology was posted on "talking points" listed on Trinity's website (they were taken down). "The vision statement of Trinity United Church of Christ is based upon the systematized liberation theology that started in 1969 with the publication of Dr. James Cone's book Black Power and Black Theology" (http://www.worldmag.com/articles/13850). In fact Cone's book was recommended as required reading for Trinity parishioners who wished to more thoroughly understand the church's theology and mission (it was then removed from the site.)

The Trinity website claims that God is not pleased with "America's economic mal-distribution." Jeremiah Wright promotes the idea of massive wealth redistribution called economic parity.  Black liberation theologians use Marxism as an ethical framework for the black church because Marxist thought is predicated on a system of oppressor class (whites) versus victim class (blacks). (Referenced from Victimology in Black Liberation Theology.” Anthony B. Bradley is a research fellow at the Acton Institute)

Anthony Bradley states: For black liberation theologians Sunday is uniquely tied to redefining their sense of being human within a context of marginalization. Black people who have been humiliated and oppressed by the structures of White society six days of the week gather together each Sunday morning in order to experience another definition of their humanity, says James Cone in his book Speaking the Truth (1999). (Wright's Black Liberation Theology By Anthony B. Bradley March 25, 2008).

Trinity United Church of Christ --THE MINISTRY

"The Center for African Biblical Studies is AFRICAN-CENTERED...seeking to implement and promote Bible Study from an African perspective. We are an African people, and we remain true to our native land, the mother continent, the cradle of civilization."

A Christian church will normally say it is Christ centered not African centered (in large letters). If one is actually a Bible student they would know Africa is not the cradle of civilization (neither is America). The Middle east area of Iraq/ Iran/ Israel is. It is clearly mentioned in Gen.1-15. It is a fact that Africa has contributed some great thinkers and theologians, especially in the early centuries but they had nothing to say of this theology in the early church when all Christians were persecuted.

Slavery was a practiced in numerous cultures, many were made slaves by being captured in war. Even in Israel there was slavery, though they were to treat them more humanely and were treated far better than the Greeks, Roman or slaves of other nations. A servant whose master maimed him (or her), causing the loss of an eye or even a tooth, was to be freed (Exodus 21:26). Israel was told to give a slave's release in the seventh year allowing a choice of indefinite slavery. (Exodus 21:6) The year of Jubilee allowed the slaves to go free (Leviticus 25:40). During New Testament times there were still slaves. The church did not receive a commandment to remove this custom inherited in Judaism, but the gospel of did give equality and justice and the master was to have love of man in his master to servant relationship. A spiritual brotherhood was practiced with believing slaves to believing masters. The apostle Paul wrote: "There can be neither Jew nor Greek, there can be neither bond nor free, .... ye all are one man in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:28). The Christian slaves and masters are both exhorted in Paul's letters to live Christ like lives and make their relations one to another base on love. "Bondservants (be obedient unto .... your masters, with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart.... doing the will of God from the heart as bondservants of Christ .... that whatever good anyone does, he will receive the same from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free. And, you masters .... giving up threatening: .... knowing that your own Master also is in heaven, and there is no partiality with Him (Ephesians 6:5-9). In other words God is no respecter of persons.

Because of the Rev. Wright controversy, numerous churches and ministers have expressed concern. Rob Shenck of the National Clergy council personally admonished Wright, telling him what he is teaching is contrary to the gospel and he needs to abandon it.

Black Liberation theology churches are not a help to the Black Christian community because they diminish the message of the gospel and divide people by race upholding black nationalism over the cross of Christ that is supposed to unite us all.

Just as the prosperity gospel has influenced the Black church the wrong way, these ARE POLITICAL ORIENTED CHURCHES THAT USE the Bible for their agenda. They major on suffering and oppression to unite the Black people against a common enemy. In the case of Rev. Wright, the blacks against the white oppressors in the government and elsewhere. The government is then considered the problem and is evil, unable to do any good. There is no way out of this conflict unless there is a complete reversal. Much like the Palestinian demands to Israel (who they label as occupiers and oppressors), it is all or nothing. Whether all who embrace liberation theology see it in this manner is hard to say.

Those who have adopted it in America may have had the intention to help but it has done the opposite by encouraging a victim mentality among the black community. It fosters and us against them mentality and distorts the reality of true progress that has been made. Years after the Civil Rights Act, they do not want to recognize any substantial change, so it does nor diminish but continues racial tension that has certainly diminished.


For a more extensive background and the originators involved- http://home.earthlink.net/~ronrhodes/BlackTheology.html

Let Us Reason Ministries

posted with permission
http://www.letusreason.org/Cult25.htm

I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolater 2

I've been studying Revelation again and began studying about Babylon and it's destruction and why God destroyed it. I wanted to know what the sins were that God hated so much, because I knew that those same sins must be present in our time too. I'm sure they've always been present, but felt they must be even worse in our time since everything seems to be so much worse now and we've been seeing so many previews of all the judgments that will be coming during the tribulation.

What I found both did and didn't surprise me. I guess the part that surprised me was because it's something the Lord has been teaching me about lately anyway. (He often seems to point out things He's teaching me personally during my study time lol) This time one of the main things was about idolatry. The Lord's been teaching me about the sin of idolatry for almost 2 years now, and I've discovered that it's much much more then just bowing down to some statue.

I think it would be safe to say that most of us would never think idolatry would be a problem for any of us. After all, we do worship the one true God, so we're safe, right? Wrong. The Lord's shown me so much about this sin, that it's mind boggling to me. I've learned since I wrote that first piece that idolatry is very much a sin that's familiar to all of us. This is the sin that's going to continue to grow until it's so ugly and monstrous that it should be obvious to all what a horrid sin it is.

One of the first ways I learned to define idolatry, besides bowing to a statue, was that it means putting anything before God and His Word. Most of us would instantly say that we would never do that, and we'd mean it too. But the Lord's shown me how insidious this sin is, and that in fact, most of us are guilty of it and not just once in a while. Yet another definition of idolatry is thinking anything about God that isn't true or trying to make Him something He isn't. It's something God also calls Spiritual adultery. If you think about it, God often accuses Israel of spiritual adultery in the OT, and He warns us from that in the NT too. But what is spiritual adultery? It's when we become involved in false teachings and things like that. It is NOT when we mistakenly believe something that's not true, because we haven't gotten to that truth yet in our daily studies with Him. But, if we hold to a false teaching, and do not study His Word with Him daily, then He does hold us responsible and does call it spiritual adultery and idolatry, because if we had, we would have known the truth.

Knowing this then, and knowing the state of the Church right now, seeing the direction it's going, it's easy to see how this sin is going to continue to grow. There will be no great revival to bring people back to the truth, like the false teachers say, before the rapture. So this is just going to get worse and worse. Then, after the rapture, although there will be a tremendous and great soul harvest during the tribulation, with many saved who know and live the Truth, this sin will continue to grow in the majority of mankind as they basically worship themselves as god, and/or the god they create in their one world religion.

This is one part of the sin of idolatry that will be practiced by the harlot, the woman riding the beast. Remember that she's dressed in purple, and gold and precious gems and jewels, showing luxury. This shows us the other part of the sin of idolatry practiced by her and all who follow her. (the one world religion). Remember how Jesus told us that the love of money was the root of all evil? This is another aspect of idolatry. It's when the love of pleasures or possessions becomes the most important thing in our lives. And this will be very true of the people during the tribulation.

In fact though, it's already true of the majority of the world, even of Christians. This was the hard one for me to learn about. At first I denied that I could possibly be guilty of this. After all, I don't have much money anyway! Think though of how Satan, the prince of the air, has used the media to encourage this sin in our lives. People were much more content with their lives (like God tells us to be) before radio and especially before TV! They weren't being constantly barraged with pictures and sounds of the "new, improved, and better" things they could have like we are. No matter what we own, we constantly see commercials for the same thing only the next model up that's newer, prettier, improved, better, etc. And of course, everyone wants it! Somehow, you lose your desire for the one you've got, and find that you just have to have the newer, better kind.

I think back to my parents childhood, then mine, my children's and now my grandchildren's and it's so very different! Now days, kids have things that many people didn't get until they were adults, if then! The US prides itself on being so prosperous, but what we are is idolatrous, not prosperous and it's getting worse every day.

Let me quote something from one of the commentaries about the verses describing the downfall of Babylon and the sins she's judged for, and see if it doesn't sound an awful lot like how it is today:

A third sin is Babylon’s worship of pleasures and luxury. To “live deliciously” (Rev. 18:7) is to live proudly in luxury while others go without. It means to make possessions and pleasures the most important things in life, and to ignore the needs of others. John summarized this attitude as “the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” (1 John 2:16). The world system satisfies the desires of the earth-dwellers who follow “the beast” and reject the Lamb. But worldly things never permanently satisfy or last. The love of pleasures and possessions is but an insidious form of idolatry, demonic in its origin and destructive in its outcome. The Bible exposition commentary.

Babylon’s sins ‎(18:3). The verse links spiritual adultery (idolatry) with “excessive luxuries.” A focus on material things leads not only to self-indulgence but also to an arrogance which denies any need for God. The worldly person puts his or her hope in possessions and in this sense puts things in the place rightly occupied by God. Idolatry is not just bowing down to images; it is also relying on wealth or power rather than on the Lord. The Bible reader’s companion

When we need something, how often is our first thought of how much money we have...do we have enough to buy what we need or want? Do we have enough to see the doctor or pay for those tests? Do we think of things like that or think of how we might be able to make the money before we ever think of God who is our real provider?

I've found that the twin to this is the sin of self idolatry because we often rely on ourselves long before we turn to God. We save God for the things we can't do for ourselves. At least most of us do until we learn better. When I first heard the term, "self idolatry", I thought it meant worshiping myself, and again figured I was safe. But that's not quite it is it? It's when we rely on ourselves instead of God, and that's already something just about everyone's guilty of in our time, and again is only going to get worse.

Note too how idolatry is linked to Satan and the demonic. It's easy to see in God's Word how the love of pleasure and possessions soon draws demons into our lives. So many warnings against getting caught up in it, both in the old and new testaments. Now we know why. And look how all these forms of idolatry are growing tremendously, and right along side them, so is the occult and new age trash, and the false teachings like the prosperity gospel! It's all nothing more then idolatry.

Suddenly, Babylon was looking awfully familiar! I wrote about it when God first started teaching me about idolatry and what it really was, I used to think that I couldn't ever be an Idolater... thinking I'd learned my lesson. I had no idea there was so much more to learn! I see now that much of what we consider normal in life is nothing more then idolatry. God wants to be involved in every part of our lives. He wants to be a constant part of our lives... of every thought, every action. He's not interested in being a part time God or a genie when we want something. That was one of the things that impressed me in studying Leviticus. His laws were made so that the Israelites were forced to make him part of everything they did, and that was the point. When I think back to the first Christians, that's how they lived too, especially since they knew that at any moment they could be arrested and/or killed for their faith, and also believed that at any moment Jesus could return. In reading Revelation, I realized that's how the tribulation saints will also live, except they'll know almost exactly when Jesus will be returning. Neither group makes us look very good does it? I have to admit it really makes me ashamed of myself. It makes me want desperately to live only for Him, to make Him proud of me. I want to heed His call to come out of her, don't you?

“One of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the punishment of the great prostitute, who sits on many waters. With her the kings of the earth committed adultery and the inhabitants of the earth were intoxicated with the wine of her adulteries.” Then the angel carried me away in the Spirit into a desert. There I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was covered with blasphemous names and had seven heads and ten horns. The woman was dressed in purple and scarlet, and was glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls. She held a golden cup in her hand, filled with abominable things and the filth of her adulteries. This title was written on her forehead: MYSTERY BABYLON THE GREAT THE MOTHER OF PROSTITUTES AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH.” (Revelation 17:1–5)

“With a mighty voice he shouted: “Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries.” Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, ‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.’ Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.” (Revelation 18:2–8)

We're Reliving Isaiah right now

As I study Isaiah again, over and over I've been shocked to see how closely it correlates with what's going on in the world today. In Isaiah 33, the prophet tells the Jews what's going to happen to them and why, and then comforts the remnant who will be left, telling them what they can look forward to in their future. Here and now, we are that remnant. No, not the Jewish remnant, I don't mean that. There will always be a Jewish Remnant and in the tribulation they will be kept safe and saved. I'm not talking about them, but rather I'm talking about the remnant of true believers that God always leaves for Himself in every generation.

Let me share with you the reason Isaiah gave for the disasters coming on the people and their land and you can tell me if you agree that it sounds just like what's going on right now.

There were a couple of specific types of people that were bringing this judgment on Israel then. The first group were the traitors who'd sold out to the enemy completely. The second group were the ambassadors and government officials who tried to manipulate things, and get help from other countries instead of seeking God's help. Basically they sold out Israel to other nations thinking that if they did, the other nations would help them. The third group were all the hypocrites who pretended to serve God but really didn't. They were the false prophets, and false teachers that were over running the land.

Just by looking at the news that's been posted here I see all three of those groups here and now, and I see them in an abundance. They've always been around, so it's certainly nothing new. What is new though is the abundance of them and the sheer numbers of their followers. Enough followers to elect Obama, not just once, but twice! And to elect congressmen, representatives, and state governors who are all saying and doing the same kind of things he does. We have more traitors in the government then those who are fighting for truth and justice and following the ways of the Lord.

Again, just looking at the news we can also see that there's an abundance of hypocrites, false teachers, and false prophets. Again, they've always been around, just not in the vast numbers with the vast number of followers they have now. There are more of them then there are of us.

Some people try to convince us nothing has really changed, that there have always been this huge number of hypocrites and traitors. They say the difference is that due to technology we can cover it all now where we couldn't before, so we just didn't know about it before. I don't believe that for a second. Why? Because if that were true, a majority of people's life styles would have looked like they do now, way back then too, and they didn't.

They say the same things about the judgments we see in so called natural disasters, bad weather, etc, but again, I don't believe them because it doesn't hold up to the way life was back then. Judgments that we've seen recently would have made it into people's life stories and been passed down through generations, so we'd know something about it even now, and it wasn't.

Isaiah speaks of the land itself wasting away saying it was happening because of God's judgment. Isn't that what we've been seeing more and more of here? Horrible storms, tornadoes, dust storms, hurricanes, blizzards, droughts etc. all have had devastating effects on our land and continue to. And once again the false teachers tell us that this has always happened and isn't anything new, that we shouldn't be alarmed about it... funny, that's what the false teachers said in Isaiah's time as well.

Crime has gotten out of hand all over and we're experiencing it in ways we haven't ever seen in this country, and that hasn't been seen in other civilized countries in a long time either. Disease has increased all over the world. More people are sick then ever before and more people are disabled then ever before. Everywhere we look there's a health crisis. The governments have tried to blame that health crisis on just about everything except what's really behind it - sin.

The remnant in Isaiah are distressed by it all and cry out to God, just as we do: Isaiah 33:2 —O LORD, be gracious to us; we long for you. Be our strength every morning, our salvation in time of distress. The Lord watches over them, but that doesn't mean that they didn't go through some very terrible times. We know in fact that they did. However, the Lord gave them the strength to make it through those times and they gained an ever more personal relationship with Him because of it.

Then, when things looked their worst, when there was absolutely no hope left because everyone knew that it was beyond human ability for Jerusalem to be saved, then, God stepped in and took over. That's what He often does, in all kinds of situations. He waits until we have to admit there is no possible way any human can change the course of events in whatever it is we've been begging Him for, and then He does the impossible for us.

Like many prophecies, Isaiah's had both a near and a far fulfillment. In the case of the near fulfillment, (near to Isaiah's time) God rescued them at the last second by killing the 185,000 Assyrian soldiers that were encamped around Jerusalem overnight. By doing that, He saved the faithful remnant and caused some of the hypocrites to turn back to Him and serve Him faithfully instead. The far fulfillment speaks of Armageddon, when the Lord will return and save the remnant of Jews from the Antichrist and his army.

But it also can speak to us today as well if we apply what we've learned to our own lives. We can see that if a Godly remnant prays, that the Lord will save them. He won't necessarily save them from experiencing some of the troubled times, but He will enable them to get through those times and become even closer to Him and know Him better because of them. To those people Isaiah says, He will be the sure foundation for your times, a rich store of salvation and wisdom and knowledge; the fear of the LORD is the key to this treasure. (Isaiah 33:6).

So the first result we see is that the trials we're going through in our time will drive us closer to the Lord, and into His Word for wisdom and knowledge, developing an ever deeper relationship with Him in each of us. It tells us that this will be our sure foundation so that we can't be shaken by fear or worry, or stress. That's always true of those who fear the Lord, for when we fear Him, we realize we have no reason to fear man or what man can do. Of course that doesn't happen automatically, instead, as we find ourselves driven to the Lord and His Word more and more, we find that our faith grows stronger and the more we grow, the more fear of the Lord we have and the less fear of man we have. The fear of the Lord isn't a cringing fear of someone who's afraid, but rather a respectful awe, reverence, and love, which always includes obedience. It's what we see in a young child toward their parents, if the parents are good ones anyway.

Lastly, I think we can also count on another fulfillment in our time too, and that is a supernatural rescue before God unleashes His final wrath on this world. The reason I believe this is true is because of why God says He does this. He says he rescues them at that last minute that way so that He is exalted. He wants it to happen in such a way that no one can figure out any way for it to have happened except for His supernatural intervention. I can't think of a better way of explaining the rapture, can you?

So how can we apply this to our lives? The same way the faithful remnant did in Isaiah's time. As this world continues to get darker, instead of allowing it to cause us to withdraw, we should listen to His Spirit and let it draw us closer to Him and into His Word for encouragement, strength, and hope. Knowing that our God always keeps His promises, we should wait expectantly for our Blessed Hope. And as we wait, we should do as they did, and warn others of what's to come, in hopes that they'll turn from the darkness and come into His light. We need to warn brothers and sisters from the false teachers, and warn them of the traitors and hypocrites that abound. We need to remind them that Satan goes around like a roaring lion, seeking those he can devour, and that he often masquerades as an angel of light. Remind them to be alert and to keep their guards up all the time, and stand firm in their faith, for we're in the last battle and can't afford to stop for even a moment right now. We also need to remind ourselves of all those things as well. Keep in mind too, that we can't and don't stand firm in our own strength, but rather it's God who will make us stand firm. (2 Cor 1:21) But again, in order to have that strength from Him, we need to stick close by His side and be in His Word daily! So let us encourage each other as James tells us, You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord’s coming is near. (James 5:8)