What Happened to the Christmas Spirit?
On Smallville, season 5 episode 9, a Santa Claus character asks
this question: "Got a good look at the world lately? It's all take,
take, take; [complain], [complain], [complain]. What happened to
Christmas? Peace on Earth? Good will to men? The spirit of Christmas is
dead." Those words could not be any more true. Open your eyes, take a
look around you, and pay attention to the world you live in. Quit hiding inside your imaginary bubble you have created
where everything in the world, and your life, is hunky-dory. Everything in this world, including many professing
Christians, is all about self. Me, me, me. What I need, what I want, to
hell with everyone else. Not a very pleasant reality, but reality
nonetheless.
What Happened to Our Education System?
On Last Man Standing, season 3 episode 19, Tim Allen's character, Mike Baxter, had this to say: "This is what America's come to. Real accomplishment plays second fiddle to just feeling good about ourselves. Feeling good whether we've earned it or not. USA! USA! We love to say America's number one. But are we? Our students rank 30th in math, 23rd in science, and 20th in reading. What are we number one in? I'll tell ya, self-esteem. Yeah. We're a nation of confident idiots. ... We demand our eggs be Grade A while we give our kids a free pass. We expect less from our children than we do from our poultry. Let's stop babying this generation, people, and sharpen 'em up." The sad thing is that it is true. North Americans have become a bunch of wussified cry babies who are more concerned with feeling good about themselves rather than educating themselves. The Self-Help section of book stores is the most productive. Guess what? With Self-Help you are left helpless. People want to feel good about themselves while they are headed to Hell on a greased pole.
Paupers Peddling in the Pulpit
(I borrowed this title from the title of a sermon by Jake Klassen)
This blog entry would address the following problems in regard to those filling the pulpit who have no business being there in the first place:
- spiritually bankrupt
- inability to exegete and exposit the Word of God
- fill the pulpit with jokes and stories
- continually dribble pablum while saints starve for meat
- legalistic, missing the gospel
- gospel-void in their preaching, when people need to hear it
- false teachers, false prophets, great orators, unconverted
Jesus Is Not A Password
"Jesus is the last word, He is not a password
that you say to make the pearly gates open up much faster.
Jesus is the master, and Lord over disaster,
He is the Word of God, you can't pass; He is not a password." —Curt Kennedy
This blog entry would address how individuals want absolutely nothing to do with Christ Jesus, and obedience to Him, but how they attempt to use His name as a password in hopes of gaining eternal life while escaping the fires of hell. In other words, they want Him only for fire insurance and nothing more.
Dear Dad, Did You Know I Was A Princess?
Your father. Did he love you enough? Did you feel safe with him? Do you
think of him and long for something more? Did your relationship with him
leave you feeling abandoned, used or unlovable? Has that heartbreak left
you with bitterness, low self-esteem, and shame?
Every
little girl is asking one basic question: Am I lovely? In fact, you
could break that down into these questions: Am I beautiful? Am I
lovable? Is something wrong with me? Every girl looks to her dad to
answer these questions. A woman's worst fear is abandonment.
A
father is the most powerful man in the world because his children look
to him to answer the deepest question of their lives. Gender identity is
bestowed by the father. A girl learns if she is worth pursuing, if she
is lovely, from her dad.
Every little girl is a princess, and she ought to be treated as such. Not put on a pedestal as if she's God's gift to mankind, but treated as if she is of value as a woman. If she is a Christian, every little girl is a princess of the King. They are gifts given to us only for a short time.
Too many fathers in this world are failing their daughters. Their daughters are online showing off their bodies for money. They are common prostitutes going about the business in a 21st century way. If daughters were brought up correctly by their fathers and if those core questions had been answered by him, they would not be selling themselves short to the male losers of this world who have also been failed by their fathers.
Every little girl is a princess, and she ought to be treated as such. Not put on a pedestal as if she's God's gift to mankind, but treated as if she is of value as a woman. If she is a Christian, every little girl is a princess of the King. They are gifts given to us only for a short time.
Too many fathers in this world are failing their daughters. Their daughters are online showing off their bodies for money. They are common prostitutes going about the business in a 21st century way. If daughters were brought up correctly by their fathers and if those core questions had been answered by him, they would not be selling themselves short to the male losers of this world who have also been failed by their fathers.