Daily Devotional for Thursday April 25, 2019

Recent major events and news stories in the United States and around the world shaping the culture we live in! Part Two of Three

(John 15:19)

***DAILY PERSONAL PRAYER FOR YOU: Dear Lord, help me to never forget how each life is from You and precious. In this culture that puts little value on a human life, let ME stand for You and the fact ALL LIFE IS FROM GOD! May I find courage and strength to never waiver or fail to speak up for this most precious of all gifts! In the name of Jesus I pray. AMEN!

Part Two of Three

“...but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world...” John 15:19

The world we are living in for this season. Today starts a very special 3-PART Daily Devotional series on recent major events and news stories in the United States and around the world that are shaping the culture we live in today. DO NOT MISS PART THREE ON TOMORROW!

It is critical for Christians to clearly understand the culture around us so that we can be the Lord’s agents of change as He has commanded us to be. May the Lord guide us each day by His Spirit as we faithfully serve Him!!!

*Teen Vogue is a publication that is more destructive to the minds of young girls 12-19 (their target audience), than about anything they could ever read. Worse of all, it is for sale to anyone of any age! While Teen Vogue pushes a worldly view of sexuality, basically anything you can imagine at any time with anyone, it also advocates for killing babies which of course are the natural byproduct from illicit sex between a male and female.

Teen Vogue teaches young girls that having an abortion is on the same par as going to the dentist. For a generation of young girls/women who for the most part have never been to church and have no faith foundation in their life, they have had their views and beliefs shaped by a Godless culture, and sadly confirmed in the Godless behavior modeled by their parents/adults in their life.

*Social media is finally being recognized as a legitimate mental health issue! With over a decade of social media being a part of people’s lives, there is a percentage of our society where it literally has become a dominant part of their daily lives. Mental health professionals are just now beginning to break down the issues caused by social media in people’s lives. For all of the positive aspects of social media, there are also very negative aspects. For many, they live their life in a state of alternative reality through social media. They have their real life, and they have their social media life. Whatever shortcomings their real life may have, they have no such issues in their alternative life. They can literally make up a virtual reality where they are perfect in every way they perceive perfection to be.

The sad reality is that social media has literally turned a percentage of our society into social retards, social misfits. They live their real life with as little personal contact and social interaction with others as possible. Due to the relative short time mental health professionals have been trying to assess what damage social media is doing to people, most of the dangers are still unknown. One thing is certain. Social media can have a positive effect in people’s lives, AS LONG AS IT IS KEPT IN PERSPECTIVE AND IS PROPERLY PRIORITIZED. A good quick test is what percentage of your day is spent on social media, and what happens if you didn’t have social media for the next 72 hours?

*One of the most popular new video games is “Rape Day.” Video games have become more sophisticated in their graphics and video production, while at the same time becoming more filled with every kind of evil imaginable and where human life is treated as nothing special. Violence of every kind, sexual assault, murder, are all elements in the most popular video games today. There is an old computer adage, “garbage in, garbage out.”

The Bible talks about the cleansing of our mind and warns about the things we see and hear. It is IMPOSSIBLE for people to “play” this current generation of video games and not have it affect their mind in a negative way. Just the violent/evil/murderous images a person sees when playing these “games” has to do some sort of damage to a person’s mind.

*An interesting court case is under way in Alabama. In what may be the first lawsuit of its kind, an Alabama man is suing an abortion clinic on behalf of a fetus, which he claims “died” a “wrongful death” because his ex-girlfriend decided not to carry her unwanted pregnancy to term. On March 4, Madison County Probate Judge Frank Barger recognized “Baby Roe” as a person with legal rights and named the father the representative of the aborted fetus’ new estate.

Please be praying. As you can only imagine, the multi-billion dollar baby killing industry will fight this case with every legal maneuver possible, since if a baby killed in an abortion clinic is granted the rights of a “person,” it means the entire abortion industry is nothing but a business that kills innocent people...which is exactly what it is!

*New reports are out that Christian churches in the United States are in decline or flat lining, and donations in over 50% of churches are down over the previous 3 years. This should not really be a surprise since older saints are dying and graduating to their rewards in Glory, and aren’t being replaced because the church has virtually abandoned evangelism. The vast percentage of “church growth” seen today is simply poaching members from other churches.

*A byproduct of the 8 years under President Obama has been involvement by Muslims in every aspect of the Federal government. Unlike other minority communities, Muslims NEVER come to a country to assimilate into the culture of that country, but to force the citizens to accept the Islamic culture! A Dutch professor recently stated that not one, ZERO, western countries have ever successfully assimilated Muslims into their culture. While it may not be a big deal to most, upon election to the US House of Representatives, Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar forced the House to change its’ rule that had been in effect from day one 230 years ago regarding wearing a head covering on the House floor.

People are appalled by the anti-Semitic statements made by Congresswoman Omar, her downplaying of 9/11 as being “some people did something,” and recently blaming the United States military for the Blackhawk down incident in Somalia. I really don’t know why since she is simply stating what Muslims truly believe. She has refused to use the deceitful language groups like CAIR use to hide their true thoughts and feelings. In the 1400 year history of Islam, they have gone to every new land with one ultimate purpose, and that is to force that land to become Islamic. If you think I am over-reacting, ask the Germans, the French, the British, the various Scandinavian countries that have been overrun with Muslim migrants from Syria and northern Africa.

* Gen Z, ages 4-24, are set to be the biggest consumers of marijuana as state after state is now turning to legalized marijuana to help pay for their fiscal irresponsibility. This is just what the nation needs, another legal intoxicant that will end up with a percentage of the population enslaved to pot. This nation has unleashed legalized gambling and now marijuana, both vices that destroy the lives of those who become addicted. Researchers state that the current strands of legalized marijuana are exponentially more potent than pot was in past decades. With more data available, it is now known that just smoking pot once a week by a person under 24 when the brain become fully developed, can knock off 5-8 points from a person’s IQ! What a great outlook for the next generations of leaders for our nation.

I love you and care about you so much! This is the real life world we live in my friend! It is a challenge to stay educated about the world we live in but are not part of, in order to the best ambassadors of Christ we can be as we share His love and hope with this lost and hurting world!

In His love and service,

Your friend, brother, and co-laborer in Christ,

Bill Keller