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| Disturbed - (Systematically destroying the moral concience of the world) |
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Well I for one firmly believe that the wee hours of the morning are for sleeping. But here I am forced by the Taco-Bell that I should not have eaten last night, to sit up and be wide awake at exactly 3:36 am. or lay down and choke. I'm miserable to say the least. When will I learn that no matter how much I like it, Taco Bell doesn't like me?
Anyway what else can one do in the middle of the night without waking the family but take time to reflect on something that has been bothering me for quite some time. So, maybe now is the time to share. I am sure its not an original thought but still I need to get my two cents in on this one for whatever its worth.
As crazy as this sounds, and even though at this very moment it sounds hypocritical for me to say it. I hate blogging - it scares me. Oh it's a useful tool for those of us who need a positive outlet for our thoughts and have something good to share but I would be willing to live entirely without it if it meant we could just take one small step back to the way things used to be. Stopping it now would be comparible to stopping a bullet in mid air with your hand. Wow, I just got a mental picture of God doing just that. Only he could.
Anyway, you may be wondering by now why I hate blogging. Here goes. I believe it is one of Satans most recent diabolical plots to destroy the moral concience of the world. "When I was younger" (yuck) and whenever I did something I wasn't proud of, I felt ashamed. I did not want the whole world to know how stupid I had been. What's more, in the quietness of my own heart, I could hear God dealing with me to make it right and I encountered struggles with my own sinful nature that to this day has shaped who I am and made me someone who reflects often on just how and if my life is pleasing to my heavenly father, as well as how my life affects others. It grieves me to know I have hurt him. And it grieves me in words I can't describe to think that something I have done or said just may have caused someone to look the other way when contemplating a relationship with Jesus Christ.
What does all of this have to do with blogging? Well I have noticed a definate pattern, pervasive even among proclaiming Christians of all ages. Because blogging has become such an avenue for sharing our feelings and thoughts, many have taken to blogging as a sort of therapy for dealing with and even feeling better about their own evil thoughts and deeds. In other words, if I put it out there, then it's no longer in me. Wrong! So many people get on blogs and just write about anything and everything and have no shame whatsoever about what they say and who sees it. (including pictures sometimes) It seems to be the acceptable thing now days to just share all, no matter how it damages the testimony. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that anything goes just as long as you don't tell anyone. Nothing could be further from the truth because God sees the very intentions of our heart. What I am saying is that it has become so socially acceptable to just spill the beans that Satan has used it to make people feel more "Ok" with sin because no matter how horrible the thoughts, words or deeds, there is always Jack or Jane on the next blog over who is much worse than me and they have a "Christian" song playing on their page so I must be OK.
Scared yet? Then just think about an entire world wide generation who has never yet in their lifetime lived without it and probably never will. These kids have little or no chance to feel that tug of the Holy Spirit convicting them without the acceptance of this world and its ways drowning it out. God is the most powerful but he says "my spirit shall not always strive with man". I feel like someone has opened the cargo door and shown him the way out.
I want my grandchildren to feel that tugging of the Holy spirit when they are contemplating making wrong choices in life. I want them to feel what its like to be obedient to the voice of the Holy Spirit without other voices so loud that they drown him out. I'm OK - You're OK is a lie. We're not OK without our life guide and that's Jesus and not the millions of other voices bombarding us every day. And lets not forget our own responsibility to guide others to Him with our actions, words and deeds. Be careful when you blog. God warns us about the power of the tounge.
If you can't collect a million feathers blowing in the wind, you can no more collect your words or the damage they have done once you hit the submit button. I think I will go out and buy all the note pads and pencils Target has and save them for my future grandchildren. |
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| To add a comment to "Disturbed - (Systematically destroying the moral concience of the world)" |
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| January 26, 2008 |
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Hi Debbie,
Fascinating thoughts. I really enjoyed reading what you wrote. I believe your fears may be a tad overblown though. Really, if radio and television didn't sink the entire church, it seems to me blogs have little chance for success in that endeavor. I see many more positive blogs than negative, many more that glorify God than glorify sin. In fact, honestly, on this site I see almost none that glorify the sin, instead many of those that "disclose" secret sins seem to do so to the glory of God - that in his redeeming, transforming power. God is a Savior, don't we deserve a look at what he saves/saved us from? We see it as much in the Bible as we do on blogs and in Christian books and publications.
I don't mean to take an argumentative approach for the sake of debating, I really really want to encourage you and your readers!! I just don't see much reason to fear, other than what we all fear already, that is the worldly influence on Jesus' bride which has been a problem for 2,000 years now.
God bless!
~mike
ps... Hope you recovered quickly from the Taco Bell! |
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| January 26, 2008 |
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| Thank you, Mike and Laura and VisionHeir for your comments. Obviously I didn't mean to imply in any way that there weren't some great, positive and uplifting blogs out there. I praise the Lord for those, as they have helped me from time to time. And the "I hate blogging" comment was obviously tongue and cheek since I am doing it myself. And, I guess when I wrote, I wasn't even thinking about anything that I've personally seen on this blog site. I only meant that I would forego it and give it up if we could somehow go back to where we had to rely more on Gods word and prompting from the Holy Spirit for answers than we do on the justifying opinions we sometimes see on blog sites. However if you look at so many of the other popular blog sites, "My Space" for example, and if you look at the content on some of the "professing Christians" blog pages, you can't help but see what I mean. I have personally known of several that I could send you to if it did not defeat the purpose to do so. I know we have fought many a difficult battle with television and movies and none of this, including blogging, will ever bring the church down as long as Jesus tarries. That doesn’t mean that Satan won’t work twice as hard to fulfill his own agenda as he knows his time is growing shorter. It’s a fact that he has had many effective tools and I’m sure we have yet to witness his biggest tricks. But as someone who has recently gone through the years of raising teenagers, I know for a fact that many of them gauge their own behavior and sense of right and wrong on what seems alright for everyone else they know, including the Christians they know. Adult Christians, weak in their faith, have been known to do the same. Not to mention the searchers who do not know Christ at all. Many of them spend unbelievable hours on these sites and have desensitized themselves a great deal to the gentle prompting of the Holy Spirit in favor of the tangible, so called “acceptable” behavior they see on line. There is nothing wrong with sharing what God has saved us from if it means that we are not bragging about it, but bragging on him. I was speaking more to the fact that as Christians, we still make stupid choices from time to time. Some are reveling in those choices on the internet through their blogs. Others are struggling with their choices and instead of listening to the Holy Spirit, they find acceptance in the blogs of people they believe to be “spiritually connected”. Unfortunately many are not. We have a responsibility to the lost and to each other to show that yes, God is a God of love, forgiveness and grace, if in doing so we glorify Him and not our own bad choices. We also have a responsibility to remember that grace is not permission, it's provision. (I feel a song coming on!) Still getting over the Taco Bell. – Thanks for your concern. God bless.
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| January 28, 2008 |
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A few years ago something was started in our schools. It was getting together in groups and talking about things with each child giving his opinion on the subject.(Aids, smoking, peer pressure, dress codes....) Then, as a whole the group would come up with an opinion or decision based on a vote or common thoughts. There were no right or wrong answers. After all we don´t want Johnny to feel bad if one of his parents smokes or if a family member has Aids.
I think the blog thing today is just like that. You described it perfectly in your blog, Debbie. Today, Johnny is a teenager or maybe even a grownup. He decided he wants to do something but deep inside he isn´t sure if he should. SO...He puts his idea on his blog. Now it isn´t just a classroom of kids telling him his ideas are okay, it is people all over the country, all over the world. He waits a few days and goes back to read the comments and sure enough, the guilt is gone. If THAT many people think it is okay, then it must be. Forget the Bible, forget how you were brought up.
You hit the nail right on the head Debbie. Great observation. Thanks for sharing itl |
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| January 30, 2008 |
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Good thoughts -- great discussion. I was completely dumbfounded and appalled at what I found when I first joined myspace. We joined to be a light, encouragement, and "guard dog" to our youth group teens, and what we found on other pages, specifically the pages of many who profess to be Christian just blew us away. There seems to be a great deal of pressure to reveal your heart in ways that are popular, not in ways that are right. Where is the accountability? I completely agree that our standards should be based on what God thinks of us and our actions, not what our online buddies think. "grace is not permission, it's provision. (I feel a song coming on!)" I love this thought! I had a similar urging a few months ago that our salvation is more than fire insurance. I thought that would make a good song too, somehow, but couldn't put it all together. You're welcome to run with that if God so leads... Keep blogging, the world needs to hear what you're saying. =) Love ya,
Dana |
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| February 04, 2008 |
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Taco Bell is a tool of the Devil. There, I said it. I'm sure there is some Bible for that in one of the minor prophets or something...
I think you are spot on as far as the blogoshere (what a moronic word) goes. It seems blog after blog after blog out there is just a different version of "Hath God not said...?"
A thing that really disturbs me in working with teens is the fact that silence absolutely terrifies them. The whole idea of "Be still and know that I am God" is horrifying, because of the that inward soul-searching that comes with silence. What a sad thing that is. There is so much joy to be found after true repentance.
Jason and I were on MySpace for a time...to monitor the teens. It was absolutely disgusting. We got out of there pretty quick. It seems like the world is in a race to see who can be the most vulgar the fastest. Sigh...
Looking forward to that song... |
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| February 06, 2008 |
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| Thanks everyone for your comments. I'm glad I can strike a familiar chord with some. Just wish it wasn't an issue. |
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