Daily Devotional for Monday November 10, 2008
Couple Swapping in your Living Room in Prime Time on a Major TV Network
(1 Corinthians 6:18-20; Ephesians 5:3; Hebrews 13:4 )
Couple swapping in your living room in prime time on a major TV network. First the major TV networks brought you sex between men and women. Then it was sex between men and men and women and women. Obvsiouly that was too tame, so now it is a prime time series that glorifies the swinging lifestyle. Good old CBS, the same network that found Liveprayer so offensive it cancelled our program, has brought into your living room a prime time program that deals with wife swapping.
Oh, and if that wasn't enough, they will also now be airing on select Saturday nights, ultimate fighting matches, where two men are locked in a cage and literally beat each other into a bloody pulp until one man simply can't fight any longer. This is the same network that just 40 years ago gave us timeless quality programs like Andy Griffith, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Burnett, and so many other great family programs.
I share this with you today as another shining example of how this is no longer a Christian nation and how deep into the spiritual abyss we really are. If CBS or any of these networks would have tried to air the garbage they do today 40 years ago, there would have been a swift backlash and great outcry from the Christian community. As a matter of fact, no TV network would have even dared to dream of putting on the type of programming they do today, even 20 years ago.
IN THE YEAR 2008, NOBODY IS AFRAID OR CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT CHRISTIANS THINK. WE NO LONGER HAVE ANY VOICE OR INFLUENCE IN OUR CULTURE AND THE MAJOR MEDIA KNOWS IT!
The reason a program like Swingtown is a big deal and why you should be concerned is because it not only further pollutes the airwaves with sexual immorality, but it will affect very real lives. People grossly underestimate the power of the media and the influence it has on real people's lives. As the years have gone by and more children are growing up in broken and blended homes and not getting the proper modeling of how to live from their parents, their thoughts and views on life and who they are, are being greatly shaped and influenced by the media.
This is why I have complained so loud and for so long about Christians abandoning the secular media. People are only hearing one side, the lies of satan. They are not being exposed to the Truth of God's Word, so when they do hear it, it is foreign to them and they reject it. I tell you often the better percentage of two full generations now has never even been to church. They have been raised with virtually no exposure to God's Truth and have totally bought into the lies of this world about sex and everything else. A program like Swingtown that glorifies this abominable practice of wife swapping WILL produce a whole new group of people to this debauchery, that in the end, destroys marriages and lives!
So what is the answer? First, don't watch the program and pray that the viewership is so low it will eventually get cancelled. The program's first season ended in September and no decision has been made to pick it up for a second season. However, the creators of the program has a contract with CBS that calls for them to develop another prime time program called "BiCoastal," another program featuring illicit deviant sexual relationships.
Second, despite the calls for boycotts of advertisers and of CBS by some, NOBODY in the Christian world currently has the clout that will make efforts like that effective. With everyone in the trough fighting for their piece of that pie and the divisions that exist in the Body of Christ, there is no real voice or any sort of unity that is necessary for efforts like that to succeed. This is why the Jonah Project is so critical, to bring together as one, true followers of Jesus Christ.
So it is up to each person to speak out about this abominable program and don't be afraid to tell others that this is NOT God's plan for sex or marriage. Each person who loves the Lord needs to speak out! It is our silence that has led us to this point, so while one voice may not be able to cancel a network TV program or influence an advertiser, your voice can change how someone else views programs like this. By speaking up and taking a stand for righteousness, you will not only strengthen others who believe God's Word, but plant His Truth in the hearts and minds of those who don't. Don't underestimate how God can use you when you take a stand on an issue like this!!!
I love you and care about you so much. It is a shame to see the major TV networks sinking to put such filth on TV for ratings, with no concern for the lives of the people who will watch such a program. Not to mention the reality that so many children have little supervision and be watching things a mature adult shouldn't even see or expose their mind to. It is very sad. I pray today and ask you to pray with me that this program will be cancelled. I also pray for the people who are going to have their lives damaged because they bought into these sexual fantasies straight from the pits of hell.
I will be praying for you today as well. I pray for the Lord to give you boldness and fearlessness to speak out at work, school, when you are in social settings, as people talk about this program. People need to hear that this is NOT God's plan for sex, nor is it something any married couple should ever think about. Sadly, I have dealt over the years with people who have been involved in this type of sexual immorality. There is NOTHING glamorous about it and it always ends in lives being damaged and destroyed.
While to most this program will have no meaning to your life, sadly, it will be responsible for hurting and damaging many lives. On a larger scale, it is just another log on the fire that is helping to pollute and destroy our culture from within. Swingtown is just another example of the spiritual freefall we are in as a nation and how far from God we are as a people. It is another opportunity for satan to roar as he seeks to devour as many souls as he possibly can. Sadly, he is leading souls to hell with virtually no opposition. It is time to speak out for righteousness!!!
In His love and service, Your friend and brother in Christ, Bill Keller