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Culture, Change & Moral Corruption
Role-Playing Games & Popular Occultism
From Lorin Smith (Author of New Religion for a New World): I send this email to you with a deeply grieving heart full of tears and sadness for what is coming upon the lukewarm and backslidden church in America. If the election is any indication, then Americans, particularly, those in the African-American church, have sided with a political agenda of unrighteousness. The Scriptures teach that "Righteousness exalteth a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people."
Even in my country [Bermuda], there are people who are overjoyed and celebrating the election of an African-American to the highest political office in the United States. They have been unconcerned about his radical homosexual and abortion agenda. The Lord showed me sometime ago to stop worshipping at the Shrine of blackness. This is idolatry and invites God judgments. I know that this a very painful message to bear, but when Israel wanted a king, although they were told about the hardships they would experience under his rule, they rejected God as their King and settled for a man.
In my own country, I have tried to warn Christians about Mr. Obama's radical, unbiblical agenda, but they have shut their ears to the truth. They simply don't want to hear. This truly demonstrates the state of our hearts before a holy and righteous God. Where in the Scriptures has our holy and righteous God ever raised up any man who promotes abortion and a homosexual agenda? And if God has allowed him to be raised up, we should ask ourselves for what purpose?Since judgment must first begin in the house of God, I believe that he will be an instrument in God's hands to ultimately help to bring about the fruit of true righteousness and holiness in the lives of God's people. Through the persecution that will inevitably result, God will purify his people to be true evangelists of the gospel of the kingdom of God. Without a people who reflect God's true righteous character, the world is lost to wander in their sin.
Although people claim that Jesus Christ is the true Messiah, there exists a messianic longing amongst many of my brethren for an individual to do for them what only Jesus Christ can do. Although Mr. Obama promises to heal America and promises hope for a better world, no true healing, unity and hope for mankind can occur outside of Jesus Christ. It is only through the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom, which calls mankind to repent of his sin of racial and self worship, that true and lasting reconciliation between the races and ethnic groups can take place.
In the final analysis, we can take comfort in knowing that God is sovereign upon his throne and that all things work together for the good of them that truly love God. Be encouraged!
In the service of my Lord,
Brother Lorin(A faithful Christian who shares Obama's African roots but not his beliefs and values)
From George: [Is this really Thanksgiving?] When watching this video , I could tell that the people were not clamoring to get into a church house to worship God...but it could have been, due to the way in which some church houses offer an entertainment close to the mammon these folks have a fervor for. One would have to be blind not to see that many Christians have their priorities mixed up when it comes to mammon and God. Jesus said we cannot love both God and mammon. It is not surprising however to see multitudes who profess Christianity, especially in the United States, take their prosperity for granted. My parents lived through the Great Depression, but by the end of their lives, they had lost their humility from it. It will probably take another depression to humble the next generation after me, and it does look like we will suffer just such a thing. It will be a good thing, which true disciples of Christ can welcome as a trial and tribulation to decrease their Adam selves, so that Christ can increase in them.
From George Cancilla: Just because a majority of millions decide that something is OK (like abortion or homosexuality), it does not override God’s Laws on those matters. God doesn’t legislate by majority rule. I would be the first to be careful not to play the Holy Spirit in someone’s life, but it is a Christian’s responsibility to point out Scriptural error when they see it. This is not to say that the Christian should condemn those persons who are in error, nor to take some legislative action to stop their behavior. In the Book of Acts, when the Apostles were ordered to be silent by members of the Sanhedrin, they obeyed God rather than men; and continued to speak the Truth of Christ Crucified.
Anonymous: Dear Mrs.Holier than thou,
I saw your topic about Culture on your site is very sickening and I am disgusted that people were blinded by your lies.
And as for your Harry Potter and D&D Like two peas in a pod, I found it sickening when you say this, "But why did Amazon also list Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition Player's Handbook as best-seller #6? What common threads have raised Harry Potter and D&D, "the bestselling adventure game of all time," to the peaks of popularity?" -By you
Everyone has their free opinions, everyone has their free speeches, so don't force your views into people's throats, if you don't like our culture, then stay away from our lives forever. Im a christian too, I play video games for 2 to 4 hours only and read and study the Bible for 1 to 10 hours as I know that studying the Bible is important.You ask me to "stay away from you," yet you willingly come to this website and read our articles. No one forced you to do that. You are as free to leave as we are to share what God has given us. Only by God's wonderful grace are we able to do what He asks and go where He sends us. Our aim is to please Him and encourage His people, whether it pleases those who love the world's culture or not. Please see Don't conform to the ways of the world.
But for you, it is important to know all the ten commandments, especially the "thou shalt not kill" commandment, your harmful words does kill. You can say that you are a christian, prove it then, by doing good to other people that Jesus had taught us to do so.
If you find that amusing, good for you then! You will learn a thing or two.
If you love criticizing your industry foes like Amazon, Hasbro and Mattel, why don't you send your hate filled letter to them. You can continue to insult our interests and us, Berit, because no true follower of God will do such a thing. Jesus had taught us about loving others, "And the second is like to it, you shall love your neighbour as yourself."-Matthew 22:39
And for the verse, "These six things doth the LORD hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood."- Proverbs 6:16-17
A proud look and a lying tounge, these things shows that you are very proud and known to tell lies. I would beseech you madam, if you are 30 or above years old then act as one, you had grown into a adulthood and I pray that our God who art in Heaven will help you clear away your pride at once.
And as for your books, I would rather read the Bible than to read your made-up stories books full of lies and hatred.
From Alex: To quote: "Many people and nations have called themselves Christians but dishonored the One whose name they claimed. Those who truly know and follow Jesus Christ as their Lord will demonstrate His truth and love, not the corruption of the world."
You probably think you're the most perfect and best christian, huh? You creep me out. Your responses to emails sounds too formal and medivelish. Your idea of God is an unforgiving god. I dislike you for that. I don't even know if you are christian. Why don't you go and write against everything in the world? I agree with everything else you say, but your idea of some media (like books and card games) is just wrong.No, I know better than to pat myself on the back, Alex. By myself I'm no good at all. But, because of Jesus, I have a wonderful new life in me!
I know that Christian words and the truths that I love sound medieval to many. That's okay. But I can't be silent about the things that I love (or that concern me) just because the words sound old-fashioned. Some of my favorite words have been forgotten by today's culture. Modern words just don't carry the same Biblical meaning.
From Dmitri: You're probably the most ignorant people on the entire planet. A friend of mine sent me a link to a Q&A from your site about NeoPets. Yes, maybe their are some guilds on their that have links to wiccan sites, but that doesn't make the entire game is bad either. Also, you have no right to say that the Wiccan religion is wrong. I mean, how the @#$% do you know? Did God tell you? Are you hearing voices in your head? If you are, I'm sorry to say that it's probably not God, much more likely that you're suffering a form of dementia. Luckily for us God hasn't told you to go all helter skelter on somebody yet.
I seem to recall reading in your website that the wiccan sites contain real spells and incantations...yeah...right...If they were real then wouldn't we all have to convert to the wiccan religion? Think about it logically, if you can, I know it's hard, but try to stay with me. If the spells really work, then obviously their religion is right, being that they have the only religion that can actually be proven. Prove God exists, until then, If I were you, I wouldn't go telling people that these wiccan guys are serious, because they certainly trump your religion.
People drink alcohol to forget the troubles of their everyday mediocrity, people 'drink' in the belief in God because they are too insecure to cope with their own insignificance.
Did cavemen believe in God? Oh wait...you probably don't believe cavemen existed right? I mean, the whole Adam and Eve thing clearly states that us humans were always like we are now, that whole evolution thing is obviously wrong...what with all that scientific evidence to support it. Darwin must have been a demon from hell, sent to draw us away from the paths of God.
Hey....I just thought of something....were was God during the Holocaust? Was he on break or something...oh....I get it, he was probably backing Hitler, I know your God doesn't like it when other religions draw away his mindless little sheepies. Hitler was doing him a favor, wiping out all that competition. Wasn't Jesus Jewish?
Yes, Jesus was Jewish. And God was in control during the holocaust -- and when His precious people were tortured and killed for their faith under Roman emperors, under Communist tyrants, under Nazism, and at the hands of others who hate Him in our own times.
The good news is that there's something far better ahead! This corrupt world is not the end of the journey!
"Therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal." 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
From Todd Hedlund: Please post this if you feel it would benefit others in their walk with Jesus; I'd like to consider it encouraging my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.
I've completed my "experiment".. what was the experiment? It was to see if i could go without watching ANY television for a month. Thankfully, I've now gone at LEAST three months without watching television, and I've got some amazing results to share with you.
A little history about this experiment: I decided (mostly on a whim) to see if i could go without watching the idiot box for two weeks, initially. The two weeks turned into three, and I decided to give it one more week. My reasons for snuffing out the dope box are many: Too much sex, drugs, violence, and debauchery. I was an avid news program watcher, and every single night there were many stories about murder, rape, child molestation, et al. Up until i began the "experiment", I was MOODY, DEPRESSED, quick to ANGER, and the whole onslaught of negativity one could possibly imagine.
Some of you might say that I'm just trying to block out the grim reality that is this world. Wrong. I know that 6 year old girls all over the world are being sold for sex every minute of every day. I KNOW that women are being raped on a consistent basis around the clock all over the world. I KNOW that politicians are scandalous, dirty attention-grabbers. I know about wars. i know about famine and pestilence and suffering. So, my reasoning is THIS: Since I'm aware that all of these things are happening, do i REALLY need a SLANTED take on it? Do i need some pompous talking head to ingrain it OVER AND OVER again, just so i can feel better about myself?
Of COURSE NOT! I also am sick and tired of hearing about "American Idol" this, or "Survivor" that. Gimme a break. God is more important to me, than is who's currently the worst singer from Podunk, Ohio. I don't care about how many men Britney Spears has been 'intimate' with. Besides, the trash that IS television has the same effect on me as does eating nothing but sugar, and hoping that i never get cavities in my teeth. It's a no win situation. Some folks think they can watch some unGODly program like "Touched By An Angel", and think God Himself is hooting and hollerin' when Della Reese shakes her finger at a 'naughty' angel. WRONG.
Anyway, since I stopped watching television, my MOOD (or, actually, my SPIRIT) has healed into something that God would recognize as malleable to Him. I don't have nightmares about nuclear war, 400 school children being burned alive in their own school, Saddam Hussein being prez of the United States (Don't ask me to explain THAT one.), or any other nasty, unmentionable dream I've had, and I have had PLENTY before stopping my idiot box viewing.
Also, the other thing that has cleared up is my THINKING. Yes, I can ACTUALLY think in a straightforward way. Since cutting off my 'fix' for television, I've written numerous songs (about 20 or so in the past few months) ( I play the piano), and have worked on my social 'skills': meaning, I've TALKED to more people outside of work.
Long story a little longer: Since I've forced myself to give up television COMPLETELY, I've had to actually find other things to do, and it's been a boon to the creativity that Jesus Christ gives ALL OF US. I've written poetry (posted on a poetry website, which i won't mention here, since I'm not here to promote other websites), I've written some song lyrics, and slowly started to spend a little more time wondering what God wants me to do with the life that He blessed me with. I'm not to the point YET where I've spent an hour or more waiting to hear from Jesus, but, I do NOT doubt that I'll get there soon.
Folks, you don't need television. You need Christ! Stop wasting the time GOD has given you by watching the ridiculous and blasphemous garbage that is television (cable, satellite, or regular broadcast tv). And a majority of those so-called 'christian' (sic) tv channels are just a collection of pompous, self-serving windbags that claim they know Jesus more than you or I. Only Jesus knows exactly who knows Him. True, one way to look at it is to see that what comes out of you is going to make you either blessed or cursed. If you put nothing but garbage in, that's ALL that will come out of you. BUT, if you fill your mind with GOD'S concerns, and wait upon HIM, you'll have more blessings than you know what to do with (then, you'll have the enviable "problem" of blessing others' lives).
In closing (you can breathe now Mr. & Mrs. Kjos), people who watch television aren't horrible people. It's what's ON THE TELEVISION that can lead us to become mean-spirited people. I should know. I was a REALLY mean-spirited person before this "experiment". True, all my life I've been one who always strived to think for himself, but, I got my head a LITTLE too inflated, and ended up being deceived. Thank God for Jesus coming into the situation, and yanking that despicable devils tool from my hand. Here's MY tag-line for the idiot box:
"Television: A Good Way To Waste God's Time".Thank you, Todd, for modeling the kind of choices we all ought to consider. Since I hardly ever watch tv, I have not been desensitized to the immoral images and suggestions. Therefore they make me very uncomfortable. God has called us out of the world, even as He sends us into the world to speak and be His message. But He also tells us to separate ourselves from the world's corrupt cultural influences. I thank Him for your discernment and wise choices -- and for sharing them with us.
From Heidi Lavoie (Canada): My son in grade nine, was doing his homework last evening when he noticed in his math text book a reference to Aristotle and the date was marked B.C.E. The text book copyright date was the year 2000. When did they start implementing this change?
I first started hearing about that coming change about fifteen years ago. But the main activists campaigning for such a change probably discovered that the public wasn't yet ready for it. Now that even the churches have been desensitized to the loss of Christian references, they find much less resistance. Apart from the inconvenience of new labels to remember, few care enough to oppose the transformation.
Also, just a little bit of info to let you know how things have been deteriorating behaviour wise among students at my younger son's public
school. He told me that three years ago when he was in grade three most of the students did their homework and only a few did not. Now,
in grade six most are NOT doing it at all and only a few are. Most of the children use foul language regularly and I believe it is only two
boys in his class that don't, himself and another boy who says he is a Christian.Also, students regularly "mouth off" at the teachers and say they don't have to listen to them.
Then, in my older boy's high school, it is absolutely shocking some of the things he tells me he sees there from day to day. The music kids are into is absolutely satanic and focuses on blood and killing. The kids decorate their note books and binders with occult symbols or wear them on their clothing. The anarchy symbol is seen all over and apparently you can even get contact lenses with that symbol on them! I pray for my boys daily and at different times throughout each day. I would like to find out about home schooling but don't really know where to look. I do know a family from our previous church who has home schooled all eight of their children and I have thought to visit the mum and get some info on how to go about it from her.Go to our Links page and scroll down to the section on home schooling, Heidi. You should find some good resources.
I think there is an alarming decline almost everywhere you look these days. It seems that something really switched around the year 2000. I wonder if things are moving toward total anarchy?
Yet it is possible to raise children not to love the popular culture. My boys don't listen to music at all and their peers think it very strange indeed. Their peers also can't figure out why they don't go to movies, dances, etc. We CAN be different and swim against the current by God's grace and in His strength.
Amen, Heidi! Choosing to follow God and His ways will become increasingly difficult, but His grace is our sufficiency! The harder it is, the more we will delight in His presence! That's why Chinese Christians (who have seen His wonders in the midst of persecution), don't pray that America would avoid persecution, but that the church would be purified through it.
May our wonderful Lord draw our children closer and closer to Himself as they walk through a blinded world that is fast losing sight of its Maker.
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