Don’t give me that content-neutral jazz

Have you heard that the American dream is supposed to be that we have no religious content anywhere but in private? Did you know that America was founded so the government could regulate where, when, why, and how you worship God? Can’t you see that prayer is ruining the nation by offending those who have a bone to pick with acknowledging that they answer to God?

What? You mean that sounds exactly the opposite of what America is all about? You mean that America is supposed to a place where we are free to obey God rather than men? You mean that liberty includes free exercise of worshiping our God, Jesus Christ? No! To hear the pundits of today, Christ is public enemy #1.

Not long ago, a group of students was forbidden from singing the national anthem at the Lincoln Memorial because it wasn’t “content neutral.” What is content neutral? If our nation doesn’t like patriotism, what does it like?

Don’t give me that content-neutral jazz.

Just a piece of paper

It seems like saying “I love you” nowadays is just an excuse to have sex out of wedlock. Is that really love?

How does this sound: Prince Charming approaches Cinderella. Instead of proposing marriage and taking her to live with him in the palace as his princess, he says, “Let’s live together and toy with the idea of being engaged until we decide it isn’t right and move on to the next person. I’ll love you just as long as you interest me. After that, we can call it quits. We don’t need a piece of paper to show that we love each other.”

Is the only difference between a married couple and an unmarried one a “piece of paper”? No! Marriage is ordained of God and sex out of wedlock is an abomination that will keep you out of heaven. Nobody wants to put it like that, since it seems so stark to state the truth. After all, isn’t God supposed to cater to our idea of morality, letting us defy his law all the way to heaven? To hear some people talk, they must think that heaven is for sinners.

Got news for them. Heaven is for those who obey the Lord, not those who go against him. Marriage is a holy covenant made before God. If you don’t make that covenant, don’t expect the Lord to like it. He’s not going to accept all those mealy-mouthed evasions that your family and friends are expected to swallow.

Hell. Nobody wants to admit that this is where those who disobey God go. No. We think we can go our own way and God will just have to let us into heaven anyway.

It doesn’t work that way.

So is marriage just a piece of paper? Of course not. But, if it were, it’s one important piece of paper. It could easily make the difference to where you spend eternity.

Wondering about wandering

Action begins with thought. So if you’re wondering about wandering away from the word of God and listening to the secular messages out there, don’t. Secular messages tell you that equality among men is impossible, while the Lord tells us that he is doesn’t play favorites. Secular messages tell you that America has to be a “content-neutral zone,” while the Lord tells us to put on his righteousness, write his word in our hearts, and preach his gospel. The world will tell you that you are made free by choosing to sin. In fact, the world will tell you there is no such thing as sin. The Lord will tell you that sin leads to captivity. Every thought and action that runs contrary to that which the Lord has set forth puts us in bondage.

So think about your thoughts for a change. Are they Christ-centered, or are they based on the fickle winds of popular bias? Only those who build their foundations on the Rock shall stand. All else shall fall.

Born that way

Were we really born to sin? Or were we born to serve the Lord in righteousness? Which does the Bible teach us to do — sin, or obey the Lord?

Nobody’s born to sin. Everyone is born here with the mission of walking in the Lord’s ways and shining the light of Christ for all to see. The Lord is no respecter of persons. He doesn’t make some of us capable of obeying him and others incapable. We have to choose to follow our Shepherd.

Choice. The enemy would like us to think we don’t have any. A lot of people are buying into that argument. They choose a “lifestyle” that the Lord has warned them is destructive and then they say they had no choice.

Really? The Lord said his sheep listen to his voice. If you choose not to, then you’re the one to blame.

No sheep is born so that it can run away from the fold. Open your ears to the word of God before the wolf drags you away in his teeth.

Fatal mistake

We can learn a lot from the world of our Creator. Female fireflies of the genus Photuris, also know as “femmes fatales,” trick male fireflies of the genus Photinus into being their dinner. The females trap the males by sending a flash signal that looks a lot like the Photinus female.

This is a lot like that old enemy, Satan. He lures people in with deception that leads to destruction. Secular learning, for example, has led a lot of people down the paths of darkness. Thinking themselves wise, they run after the enemy and away from the Lord.

We should take a lesson from the firefly. False shepherds are never in it for your benefit. Only the Good Shepherd leads us to safe pasture. Every other voice leads you right into the jaws of the predator.

CHOMP!