Thought for January 12

 History:

• 1629: 53 Christians are beheaded for their faith in Yonezawa Japan
• 1906: Dow closes above 100 for the first time
• 1915: House rejects proposal to allow women to vote
• 1943: Frankfurters replaced by Victory Sausages
• 1946: Cleveland Rams given permission to move to Los Angeles
• 1948: Gandhi begins final fast
• 1952: University of Tennessee admits its first black student
• 1957: Southern Christian Leadership Council [SCLC] founded
• 1958: NCAA allows 2 point conversions
• 1959: Barry Gordy founds Motown Records
• 1966: "Batman" with Adam West premiers
• 1981: "Dynasty" debuts
• 1995: OJ Simpson murder trial begins
• 2010: Earthquake devastates Haiti
• Born: Charles Perrault ["Tales of Mother Goose"], John Singer Sargent, Jack London, Hermann Goering, Tex Ritter, William Lee Golden [Oak Ridge Boy], Joe Frazier, Rush Limbaugh, Howard Stern, Jeff Bezos [Amazon]
• Died: Henry Alford ["Come Ye Thankful People Come"], Porcupine [oldest known rodent at age 27], Agatha Christie, Bill Hewlett, Cyrus Vance, Maurice Gibb

Thought:

Look with me today at Isaiah 5:20. "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Does this sound like 2023 to you. In "The Screwtape Letters," C.S. Lewis tells us that Satan's plan involves getting us to abandon the definition of words from scripture and adopt a new definition from the world.  The book was written in the early 1960's and today all of his warnings have come true. 

I look at our world. The Bible tells us about genders and marriage. But now we create new meanings for genders or new genders, and marriage is no longer between a man and a woman. Lifestyles that once were taboo--homosexuality and pregnancy out of marriage---are now honored and celebrated. The word love has a meaning ascribed by God, but now we love our sports teams, a restaurant, car, a house. As Christians, we understand the difference, but we use the word "love" and the world sees no difference between agape and like or lust. 

We have ratings to tell us what movies and television we should watch when God's word clearly teaches that no unclean thing should come into the windows of the soul. Advertisers help us redefine our "needs" by telling us we have earned or deserve certain things. During the bowl games I saw an add for a placement service where the man said the service helped him find the job he "deserved." Why would he think he deserved the job for a company he never worked for? 

Isaiah was speaking to Judah about 740-700 BC. The people saw the Northern Kingdom [Israel] fall to Assyria in 722, yet they did not change their ways. We are living in a time when we see the churches of Europe turned into venues, museums, tourist attractions. We see church attendance decline in our country and the number of those claiming faith decrease. Perhaps we should heed Isaiah's warning. Be careful not to call evil good by accepting lifestyles, media, and practices that are evil. Beware of the darkness--Satan does not take us from bright light to pitch black, he gradually eases us into the dimness, the grey areas, the semi-light and we begin to think that dark is still in the light. 

Lord, help us walk in the Light as You are in the Light for in You there is no darkness at all. 

Blessings

Larry