HAS THE CHURCH ACCEPTED SO MUCH SIN, WE HAVE BECOME IRRELEVANT IN TODAY'S SOCIETY

Once upon a time, the church had moral standing in America. Most people had a basic understanding of and belief in God, recognizing His moral requirements and judgements.  Today, society has forsaken any semblance of a fear of God and has embraced sin and evil, just as the Jesus  told us would happen in the last days.  Unfortunately, the church has accepted and participated in so much sin,, our message is becoming increasingly irrelevant to the lost.  Matthew records for us the teachings of Jesus concerning the future in Chapters 24 and 25.  See if this quote from Christ does not describe much of the world we live in today: 

Mat_24:12  And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.

We cannot deny that lawlessness has become the de facto law of the land.  If you happened to turn on the Grammy awards this year, you would have seen, very clearly, how far our society has devolved.  The opening number was performed by Beyonce Knowles - who has openly admitted to being possessed by a spirit that empowers her to perform on stage. (she has even identified this spirit with a name)  The entire performance was dark and sensual - appealing to man's basic desire to please the flesh.  The performance of Katy Perry was unashamedly evil, representing demonic forces, blatant sex/magic depictions,and undisguised witchcraft.  Perry who at the age of 15 released a gospel album with the intention of following in the steps of Amy Grant has, on numerous occasions admitted to selling her soul for fame and fortune.  Many of the themes of her popular songs are demonic in nature.  Possibly the most blasphemous performance of all was the pro homosexual  rap performed by Macklemore.  The pro homosexual theme of the song is problematic enough from a Biblical standpoint, but add to that the fact that the performance was done in the setting of a church complete with a choir is a direct attack on God and his moral Law.  Things sink even further into depravity as numerous couples, both gay and straight take to the stage for a marriage ceremony performed by pop musician Queen Latifah.  At the close of the ceremony, occultist icon Madonna emerges on stage to sing "Open Your Heart".  Everything about this performance defies God and His order of things.  The book of Revelation tells us that Christ stands at the door and knocks, a clear reference to the door of our hearts.  Somehow I doubt Madonna is calling for us to open our hearts to the Lord.  What are we being told to open our hearts to?  It is the blasphemous religion of "tolerance" that endorses everything unholy and condemns all that is pure. (see my previous blog "what does the liberal say part 2).  

Why should I care what goes on at the Grammy awards?  These anti-God artists are selling millions of records to people who claim to follow Christ.  If you are a parent, how well do you police the entertainment your child buys and enjoys?  How can the church be holy as Christ is holy if we are continually filling ourselves with blatant celebrations of sin and evil.  Years ago, the messages from the entertainment industry were much subtler, but today, occultism and sin are right in our faces, unmasked and unapologetic.  

In the book of Acts, we see a town that was steeped in witchcraft come to Christ.  The people realized that the articles of witchcraft were not compatible with their new found Christian faith.  The people gathered and burned all the items that were in opposition to God and His Word.  I am not calling for book burning at the public library, or attacking record and video stores, what I am calling for is believers to cull through your CD collections, your books, your  DVD and VHS cabinets and see how much is displeasing to God and get rid of it.  Check your kids IPods and internet history.  Be involved in what you allow into your house and the things that may be influencing your children against God.

The Bible clearly states that this current world is under the dominion of Satan.  Satan's goal is and always has been, to be worshiped by God's creation.  The more we are influenced by his brand of entertainment, the more we slip into complacency.  If we truly believe the Bible, we cannot sit idly by while popular culture robs our blessings and poisons our children against God and His truth.  As those who claim to follow Christ continue to allow the influence of sin through our entertainment, we will allow more and more sin to remain unchecked in our congregations, and our message of transformation and salvation through Christ will become increasingly irrelevant to the very society we are called to evangelize and disciple.