LivePrayerDaily Devotional for Friday June 9, 2006
We've Lost our Kids to the Lies of the World
(Psalms 119:9; Titus 2:6,7)
We've lost our kids to the lies of the world, including most kids who are in church! A reoccurring theme that I share often is how much damage has been done to our culture and society by Christians taking the salt and light out of the marketplace and hiding in the "Christian trough," or the Christian subculture we have created for ourselves over these past 40 years. The end result has been the better percentage of two-full generations now who have NEVER been to church regardless of the numbers you may hear from people like George Barna.
Also, because of the spiritual vacuum we have created in the culture, it has given rise to false hope merchants like Oprah and Dr. Phil, cults like the Mormons, the JWs, Scientology, and Kaballah, as well as the false religions like Islam. All have seen a tremendous increase in their power and influence over millions of people who are simply looking to fill that spiritual void in their lives.
In addition, we have seen an unprecedented and unrestrained proliferation of pornography, abortion, homosexuality, pedophilia, other deviant forms of sex, gambling, alcohol, drugs, and just about any kind of sinful activity and rebellion to God and His Word that you can name. All of these activities that just 40 years ago were understood by most people to be harmful and damaging to a person's life, activities that the Bible identifies as sinful, are now socially acceptable and part of the fabric of our culture in 2006.
AS I HAVE STATED IN THE PAST, THE LIES HAVE BEEN TOLD LONG ENOUGH AND LOUD ENOUGH THAT THEY ARE NOW ACCEPTED AS THE TRUTH!
Sadly, I see the evidence of this each day here at Liveprayer, both on the Internet and the TV program. One of our main demographics we reach on the Internet and TV are those 22 and under. These young adults and kids have grown up their entire life exposed to pornography on TV, the computer, in games, in their music, in advertising, and in the movies. They have been told that it is normal, even healthy to watch porn. No matter how sheltered they may have been, they have been exposed to pornography from a very early age and have become desensitized to it because it is literally everywhere. That is why most young adults see nothing wrong with having sex outside of marriage and have a perverted view of this gift from God..
This group has also been exposed to women having the freedom to make the choice to go to a local clinic and kill her unborn baby. They have been told since birth that it is a woman's right to do whatever she wants with her body. They've been told that it isn't really a baby until it is born. Having an abortion is simply a choice that is available if a sexual relationship results in a woman becoming pregnant. It is a minor inconvenience that costs a couple hundred dollars and a few days of discomfort.
This is a group that sees nothing wrong with gambling. They have grown up being told that gambling is simply a form of entertainment, a way to go out and have a good time. After all, when they buy a lottery ticket, they are told it helps the state pay for education. Things like going to casinos, betting on sporting events, even betting on the horses used to carry a stigma to them. They were things people of poor character did. Respectable people simply didn't go to casinos, bet on sports with bookies, hang out on the rail at the track. Now gambling is not only socially acceptable, but is so accessible you don't even have to leave your home any more.
This group has also been a primary target for the homosexual activists. Through the media and the schools, those who promote the sin of homosexuality have targeted this 22 and under group to indoctrinate them with the lies that 10% of the population engage in homosexual acts and that this is how God created some people, therefore there is nothing wrong with it. They are even taught to lash out at the "religious bigots" who call homosexuality a sin, teaching them that only hate-mongers, intolerant and narrow minded people take such a view. The bottom line, they have been told there is nothing wrong with men having sex with men and women having sex with women.
While I fully understand that young adults 22 and under who weren't raised in a Christian home, didn't go to church as a kid, have lived their lives void of God and Biblical Truth buy into these lies, the sad reality is that so do young adults and kids who HAVE been raised in Christian homes, HAVE gone to church, and HAVE experienced God and been taught Biblical Truth! Let me explain to you why.
Most young adults and kids have very little interaction with their parents. Mom and dad are busy working, living their own lives, and the amount of time they actually spend with their children each day is really minimal. Church is usually only a few hours a week at best. I hate to say it, but even in those few hours they are in church they rarely hear someone with the guts to call sin what it is and preaching unadulterated Biblical Truth.
In the meantime, these young adults are being pounded 24/7 with the lies of the world every place they go and in every way possible. Through their friends, through their schools, through their teachers who in many cases spend more time with them and have a bigger influence on their lives than their parents, through the media, through the messages they are receiving from the world around them, virtually every second of every day these young adults are being bombarded with the lies of this world, and rarely if EVER are hearing Biblical Truth! Their views on life, what they believe, what they see as "truth," are all being shaped by the lies of this world and NOT the only Truth there is, God's Word!
I love you and care about you so much. We have a real spiritual crisis in our nation since the vast majority of young adults and kids 22 and under do NOT view God's Word as the Truth it is and have bought into the lies of this world. They live their lives void of God, void of His Truth, and without a relationship with Jesus Christ. The older saints are dying and heading on to their rewards in Glory, and left behind is this new generation of young adults who "know not the God of Israel" or His Son. This is the generation we MUST reach for Christ since they are now starting to have children and it will be yet another generation who lives void of God and Biblical Truth.
VERY FEW young adults in this 22 and under demographic have a real relationship with the Lord. The fact their parents are Christians, the fact they go to church, doesn't mean THEY have a real relationship with Jesus! You can't experience Christ through your parent's relationship with Him. Sitting in church or youth group isn't having a personal relationship with the Lord. You only have a real relationship with the Lord when you make the conscious choice to surrender your heart and life to Jesus and begin to live for Him each day. You pray every day, read the Bible every day, go to church and church actives because of your relationship with Christ.
We need to be praying today for God to help us reach this generation. That job is made more difficult since they have already grown up buying into the lies of this world and have rejected God's Truth. However, there is great power in the Word of God and it is still able to bring men under conviction and to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. However, this is why we must get serious about getting back into the marketplace and taking that Word to this 22 and under generation since they are not going to come to church, they are not watching Christian TV, they are not listening to Christian radio or music, and they are not reading Christian books or magazines.
It is time for God to raise up men and women who aren't interested in playing games, in playing church, in entertaining the saints, in simply preaching to the choir, but who are interested in going out into this world armed only with the Truth of God's Word and the power of the Holy Spirit to reach these lost and dying young people for Christ. The fact is, we know the lies of the world destroy lives, so these young people will come to a place soon where they are looking for help and hope. There is only One who can help and there is only One to put your hope in, Jesus. May we boldly and without shame take Jesus to these young people who need Him so desperately!