A Call To Arms - Part Two

This is a somewhat lengthy read ~ please, please hang with me though.

Don’t you just love to have recipes right at your finger tips when you can’t find your paper copy? I don’t know how many times I’ve misplaced a recipe and merely had to plug it into recipes.com and there "she" sat ~ I push the ‘print button’ and I have another copy in moments. What about when you hear a word for the first time ~ you can’t spell it much less know its definition ~ it’s so easy to just check out Webster’s Dictionary online and "bam" you’ve got the info. And I couldn’t even begin to list the benefits of email. It is so much faster than a phone call. If you have to call several folk with the same message it is an even better use of your time. And my favorite of all ~ blogging right here with all of you ~ my lifeline to many wonderful Christian ladies who bless me with their devotions, who guide me with their kind words, who love me and they don’t even know me. By far it is my favorite use of the internet ~ and there are several other enjoyable ways I use the world wide web ~ from using map quest to get driving directions to listening to Billy Graham, Charles Stanely, J. Vernon MeGee and a host of others preach across the cyber air waves. The internet has many admirable qualities.

And yet I wonder ~ is "easier" all it is cracked up to be? Today I was once again made aware of another good man falling into the devastation of pornography. Right now all I can think is "Oh how can it be?" The ease of viewing pornography on the internet seems to be one of satan’s most effective tools in destroying Christians and their families. One in two Christian men and one in four Christian women are addicted to porn. Those statistics are nothing less than shocking and staggering ~ and they don’t even include the many men, women, and children that view it off and on and are not addicted.....yet. It is hard to fathom that we are sitting in our church congregations with this secret sin having overtaken so many lives.

A friend of mine talked with me this week about her pastor who confessed that he had had an addiction with porn some ten years ago and now he has an accountability system set up to help keep him on track - everything that he writes and views on the computer is automatically copied into an email each day and sent to his wife and one of the deacons of the church. At some point and time he realized that in order to heal he would have to be held accountable. And this was a preacher. I’ve talked with my pastor lately and he is aware of other pastors who have left the pulpit because they couldn’t break the habit ~ and yet others who are still preaching and continue with this battle. Indeed the statistics do not limit themselves to just the church congregation ~ they reflect the church pastors and other leadership like deacons and trustees as well. This is all so overwhelming indeed.

I’m not convinced that folk realize just how serious this is. It is such a powerful and addictive vice ~ and the ramifications can be likened to the rippling effect left by a concrete block rather than that of a pebble or stone thrown into the water. Indeed, the affect is paramount and the tremendous harm that is done is mind boggling. I have watched more than one family affected by pornography in the home. Minds are altered forever. Families are broken. Healing is difficult to attain "in part" much less "in whole." It is simply devastating.

We must have a call to arms ~ for this is a spiritual battle of great magnitude. I am weary of hearing about the fall of one good soldier after another. Satan is picking Christians off one by one ~ and we must fight back. May we pray as if everything counts on our prayers alone. KNOW what your children are watching on TV. KNOW what your spouse is watching on TV. KNOW what everyone is viewing on the computer. Install filters on your computers that cannot be altered except by the computer administrator. Have an accountability system in place with your spouse. Don’t expect that they can have the strength to move freely within the internet without falling. Many a good man and woman has already fallen. And those images that they have placed in their minds will be with them for the rest of their lives short of a miracle.

Oh dear friends, take some precautions and insure that all is right in your home. In a world of ipods, cell phones, computers, and tv’s ~ the temptation is overwhelming. And no one - no one - is above falling. Lord bless you today as you take up arms to protect yourself and your own.

A Call To Arms ~ Part One

Why do children have to grow up so fast? And how do little first and second graders know more than I knew as a freshman going into high school in 1972? I think teens in junior high and high school know more than I know now. It is heart breaking and outraging all at the same time. My heart is troubled for children and youth in this world.

It simply mortifies me what many of these kids know ~ what they have already been exposed to at such an early age through filthy TV shows and movies ~ terminology they are familiar with from music they should not be listening to (words that would make an adult blush) ~ communication they engage in on the internet. What in the world has happened?

Do you know where your children are right now? Do you know what they are watching on TV? Do you know what lyrics they are listening to on their Ipods and MP3 players? Do you know what sites they are visiting on the internet? Do you know what photos they have downloaded to their cell phones? Do you know who their friends are at school? Your children are the greatest treasures that you have. Do well by them. Guide them, protect them, guard them ~ please.

This land we live in needs a revival. It needs a healing. In II Chronicles 7:14 God says If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. May we humble ourselves, be in great pray for our homes and our schools, turn from anything wicked, and ask God to forgive us our sins AND THEN HE WILL HEAL OUR LAND (and that includes our children).

When was the last time we spring cleaned the literature, and books, and movies, and music in our homes? Remove that which is ungodly. And do it for the sake of your children and teens. And do it for you! Lord Bless You.

Well, It’s Christmas Eve Eve

Yep, I meant to type Eve twice. It is the "eve" of Christmas Eve. For as long as I can remember it is my favorite day of the holiday season. It is not quite Christmas ~ I still have time to finish those special sugar cookies my family loves ~ I still have time to go out and pick up anything I might have forgotten (or in my case for this year ~ I still need to finish shopping ~ I’m just so thankful that Amazon.com was able to help me as much as they did!) ~ I still have time to send out a card or two ~ I still have time.

And that mentality certainly walks hand in hand with the way I have approached and am about to enter this very special time of year. I’ve slowed down considerably ~ trying to stroll through the hustle and bustle rather than dart frantically here and there. I've listened intently to the Christmas songs (Christian and secular). I’ve discovered that I won’t be humming "Santa Baby" anymore ~ that the description of the Grinch in "You Are A Mean One Mr. Grinch" is very vivid and he was a pretty sorry soul before his transformation ~ that "Breath of Heaven" is a Christmas song and one of the most beautiful I’ve ever heard ~ that Mark Lowry sings "Mary Did You Know?" much better than anyone else.

I’ve spent more time watching some movies and shows with the family (it has always been hard for me to sit through a movie) and I continue to be convinced that the-older-the-better is still the way to go. The Walton’s Homecoming with Patricia Neal (a native of my state!) and Richard Thomas (my first love in the 70's ~ don’t laugh) is pure and fresh. In one episode on the Andy Griffith Show, Andy and a young lady (played by Gail Davis) sit on the front porch and sing a precious love song entitled "Down in the Valley" ~ it is one of the prettiest love songs I’ve ever heard. And I plan to watch It’s a Wonderful Life ~ again ~ but this time sticking with it from start to finish.:)

Slowing down this Christmas required me to consciously decide to do so. It has always been such a rush-rush situation for me ~ and in the end it is invariably anti-climatic because once that intense pace concludes it has always been a major let down.

I have truly tried to make this a different Christmas for myself and the family. In many ways I believe I have succeeded. At least I hope I have. I have determined that strolling through the preparation and festivities of Christmas has allowed me to see what is going on around me ~ to really listen to those Christmas lyrics instead of just knowing the tune ~ to appreciate the sweet spirit and cleanliness of the movies and shows of a time long, long gone by ~ to exert my energies in a way that hopefully I won’t feel that anti-climatic feeling anymore.

So I enter Christmas Eve Eve in a different place this year ~ and you know what ~ I like it. Merry Christmas!!! P.S. Just so you know, the beautiful home pictured above is not my house. :)