CULTURE WAR
One of the advantages of older age is being a ring-side spectator to change–over a lifetime.
You saw things when you were young. You encountered change in your middle years. And in the latter portion of your life, you have a much bigger perspective on how cultures and nations go through powerful changes over time.
During my lifespan, both the United States and, indeed, our entire Western culture, has morphed from one worldview and its norms to another that is threatening its very existence.
To put it simply, we’ve retreated from being God-centered (or respecting) societies to self-centered ones.
Will this cult of self eventually take down Western Civilization?
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Sometimes it’s hard to see the forest for the trees–especially when the trees are moral.
Moral issues, like evergreens, often take a lifetime to develop. Because of their slow growth, we might not recognize what’s happening around us until we rise to 35,000 feet in an airplane and look down and exclaim:
“Wow, that’s a big forest!”
To use another metaphor, following Bruce Jenner’s recent interview with Diane Sawyer announcing his gender change from man to woman, Sexual Atheism 4.0 has launched. It’s been for a long time coming, but now the forest is fully formed.
Here’s what’s happened to sexual morality during the past sixty years.
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I’m in Washington. D.C. this week for the National Day of Prayer and other meetings. My accommodations are directly across the street from the Supreme Court where arguments were made last week regarding the marriage debate that could have monumental ramifications in the future.
When I walk by the offices of the justices this week, and also the Capitol Building (now shrouded in scaffolding for repairs), I will pray for our leaders that “God’s truth is marching on” in this crucial American city.
Because the opposite is also a reality: We live in a time period of the proliferation of lies–major and open deception–that is affecting the lives of not only 320 million US citizens, but also billions of people around the world.
In this article I’d like to explore the ten biggest lies being propagated by our government.
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It’s been an interesting week of presidential announcements. Hillary Clinton tweeted her presidential run then gaffed badly that she’s “fought women and children all her life.” Maybe that was an honest statement if you consider her views on abortion.
Marco Rubio also jumped into the race as a fresh, young, and articulate US Senator. If either he or Ted Cruz is elected to our highest office, they will make history as the nation’s first Hispanic president.
We certainly need a fresh leader for a hopeful future—not a return or carry-over from the past. In fact the next president will face a daunting assignment.
Stopping the tearing down of America.
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There are numerous events or movements that have changed the course of history. In the last two hundred years, the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, abolition of slavery, the Civil Rights movement, World Wars I & II and the Information Revolution come to mind.
Another one that I lived through was the Sexual Revolution of the 1950s to 70s. I know it’s not on the usual radar screens of earth-shattering events, but I believe it should be.
What really happened during the 20th century Sexual Revolution? What are its lasting effects? How has the Baby-boom-led sexual revolt changed the world as we know it?
Some of the answers may surprise you.
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A political tidal wave washed ashore in the United States last night, bringing some hope to a struggling and fearful nation. A few weeks prior, another important but quieter riptide was set in motion in parts of the American nation.
One of these waves was political and the other was spiritual. At the center of both stands the re-emergence of a very important theological truth:
Repentance.
Political and spiritual repentance brought twin rays of hope to America today.
How so?
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One month from now, Americans have the privilege of going to the polls to elect their leaders. Nearly one hundred nations in the world do not allow that privilege.
Many of us possess the right to vote, but don’t value it enough to use it wisely.
I have a friend, who, when he was young, reminded me of Clark Kent. He was talk, dark, handsome, soft spoken and deeply committed to “truth, justice and the American way.”
That friend has an idea for the 2014 election…
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Deception: 1. an act or statement intended to make people believe something that is not true (Merriam Webster Dictionary)
As I look around the world, I am amazed by the deceptions that dominate the media air waves and many of our classrooms. Here are a couple examples:
- Changing the definition of marriage to allow any consenting adults to believe they are “married”–something which can only take place between a man and woman as recognized by 5000 years of history. (You can watch a powerful short video here that shreds this deception to pieces.)
- That man-made global warming is the great issue of the 21st century when there is no proof that it is taking place and temperatures have been constant for over fifteen years.
I could list scores of others, from politics to medicine. But there are two that are currently in the news that really got my attention.
They both involve the tactic of compassion as a tool of deception.
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We all recognize the power of words, either to lift up and encourage, or to deflate and destroy.
When a young person is told during childhood that they are “worthless” those words can have a profound effect on their future. On the other hand, when we tell our children often that we love them and believe in them, those positive words can motivate them toward a life of fruitfulness.
God created the universe with spoken words (Genesis 1:1)–an incomprehensible concept to our feeble minds. He solved the problem of sin by sending His Son to die in our place. John 1:1 calls Jesus the “Word” of God.
And civilizations have known for centuries that “the pen (writing words) is mightier than the sword (using force).
So how can we use words in the 21st century to win the culture war?
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For years I have admired the work of World Vision–– the globe’s largest and most effective Christian humanitarian organization. Last year, God blessed them with nearly 3 billion dollars in donations which they used, in Jesus’ Name, to serve people in sixty nations.
Bob Pierce, who founded the organization in 1950, was a compassionate man I had the privilege of meeting in the 1970s. A few years ago, one of his staff served on a team I led to Mongolia. WV’s global headquarters is only a thirty minute drive from my home, and in the past year, I visited its gigantic warehouse three times to pick up materials for a building project.
However, on March 24, World Vision made a big mistake.
Then they reversed it.
Through this dramatic sequence of events, we have learned what the church is all about.
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