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Dripping Springs Weekly Bulletins
The 'Mess' We're In
Almost four decades ago Paul Harvey wrote an article for his syndicated column entitled: “They” Misled Us. Having been in radio broadcasting for over fifty years, Harvey is still one of the most listened-to and respected newscasters in history. In that column, he addressed a subject that may even be more relevant today than it was back in the 60’s. The trend of thought is even more pronounced today that it was then.
Consider the following excerpts from Paul Harvey:
“They” told us if we would relax about sex
and not get uptight about it, that there would be
no more sex crimes.
So, we “let it all hang out”, and the incidence
of rape has increased by 10% in just one year.
Maybe we would be wise to question some of
the other advice “they” gave us.
“They” said that churches were too “old
fashioned,” that they must modernize, liberalize
and compromise. But those that compromised
most are shrinking the fastest.
“They” insisted our schools must leave God
out and rely on enhancing Junior’s intelligence.
So we graduated a generation of Juniors with
refined intellects and undisciplined emotions.
“They” told us alcoholism and drug addiction
are sicknesses. Now, we are gagging, choking,
strangling on forbidden fruit.
This is just a part of Harvey’s article, but there are some very familiar sounds to it. America has fed on this “they said” philosophy for decades and we still have not connected the symptoms with the disease. Why can we not see the connection? Things have not improved. In fact, they are dramatically worse. But we are still hearing those same platitudes from that same segment of our population, and even more off-the-wall “solutions” from others, and people are still “buying it.”
When Paul Harvey wrote those words he could not have known that America would soon begin voluntarily to kill millions of our own children by legalized abortion.
He could not have known that our cities would become literal battlegrounds for the drug wars we witness today.
He could not have foreseen that homosexuality would be idealized as it is today.
He could not have foreseen the multiple killings of and by our own children in the public schools of our land.
He could not have expected the epidemic of AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases that are rampant in our modern society. But here they are, because people believed what “they” said, and now we must live with them and suffer the consequences.
As Harvey said, it’s time for us to take another look at the “advice” we got from those individuals thirty-to-forty years ago. It doesn’t seem to be working the way those who gave us the advice promised.
It is no surprise to us, but God’s Word, the Bible, has anticipated the very things that many were too blind to see. God knew the end results of caving in to the carnal cravings of human thought. In a time when many of today’s problems were already being experienced, God caused inspired men to write and warn us of the consequences of sin. Don’t you think it is time we listened to what He has to say about the “mess” we’re in?
“Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, will inherit the kingdom of God,” 1 Corinthians 6:9-10.
“Fornication, and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; Neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting: but rather giving of thanks,” Ephesians 5:3-4.
“Professing to be wise, they became fools…who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women did change the natural use for what is against nature: And likewise also the men…and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due,” Romans 1:22-27.
[All quotes are from the New King James Version]
Just as the Bible says, we humans often get carried away with our own “wisdom,” even to the point that we think our “wisdom” is greater than God’s. That’s how we get ourselves and those who listen to us in deep trouble. Yes, “there is a way that seems right to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death,” Proverbs 16:25. So, let’s quit making the same mistakes over and over, and instead listen to and trust God’s wisdom.
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“O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps,”
“Advice is like castor oil, easy enough to give, but dreadful uneasy to take.”
“No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man so wise that he may not easily err if he takes no other counsel than his own. He that is taught only by himself has a fool for a master.”
“Woe unto them that are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!”
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"If I Am Authorized. . ."
Last week I took my car to a shop to have some work done. After explaining to the auto mechanic the problems I was having with my car, he speculated as to what might have been causing the problem. He said that if he had guessed correctly, a certain mechanical procedure would have to be done to correct the problem. He said, “If I am authorized to do it, I will take care of it for you.” As he spoke, I thought about the words: if I am authorized.
The man implied by his statement that he recognizes the need for authority. This is a common sense principle that we use every day. If a mechanic is asked to service a car, he is NOT authorized to overhaul the engine. If a patient says to a dentist, “I have come for a checkup,” the dentist is NOT authorized to sedate the patient and do a root canal. If a carpenter is hired to build some kitchen cabinets, he is NOT authorized to build the cabinets and add on a new bathroom. These simple illustrations show that people who think rationally, recognize and follow the principle of authority every day.
It would be a wonderful thing if all would follow the only-if-I-am-authorized rule in spiritual matters. If every religious person would allow the Scriptures alone to be the standard of authority, many practices and innovations in worship would be abandoned. For example, there would be no instrumental music in worship services, no christening of babies, no celebrating of Christmas and Easter as religious days, no eating the Lord’s Supper at weddings. No, these things would not be allowed for the same reason the mechanic who has been asked to service a car does not overhaul the engine – there is no authority for these things! Let us follow the principle of authority in secular AND in spiritual matters. “And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him,” Col. 3:17.
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