When Chairman Mao of China wanted to reach an entire generation, many who were illiterate, he produced his communist message in “comic book" style. It resulted in an entire generation of youth jumping onboard Mao’s red wagon and subsequently tearing down the culture and traditions and the very structures of one of the oldest societies in the world.
In America it is mindless, Godless and feckless TV programming, You Tube and Hollywood’s latest offering of films that pour images on an entire generation. The result is exactly the same as it was in China but on a much larger scale and with so much more to lose.
If you asked anyone who is considering voting for Barack Obama or any liberal why they chose that candidate, the answer you will most likely hear is, “I like him." or “he looks good to me."
If he, she or it looks good that’s good enough for the “media generation." No discernment needed, wisdom is too hard to acquire and who has more than a few seconds of time in this world of screen shots, blips and spot messages to look any deeper. A new language and a new media has developed that thrives on abbreviated communications; OMG could I be talking about texting?
People who read entire books and articles to learn something or to see an authors point are becoming rare. Just getting to this sentence means you probably are one of those people. You may have read some Hemingway, Joyce, even Shakespeare or at the very least the morning paper. You may be one of the rare breed of people that actually forms opinions and conclusions based on a careful weighing of all the facts.
In the Bible (1 Cor 12:10) there is mention of a “spiritual gift" known as “discerning of spirits." Unfortunately that gift is often placed in a list of charismatic type gifts that end up being thought of as something only practiced by a few Pentecostal people. In fact the language of 1:Cor 12:10 connotes the idea of a “judging through" of any and all matters not a fleeting spiritual thought dropping out of the ether.
Discerning of spirits is a God given enterprise that does not work unless God is brought into the equation. He unveils, reveals or shows the deepest meaning of things to the deepest people. They are a peculiar people who weigh everything and refuse to make prejudiced and extraneous judgments based only on what they see or have heard from the grape vine, the media or God knows where!
It is the rarity of such people that serves as only one of a few reasons that can be found for the wholesale blindness that seems to be accompanying the decisions made by the American public about their presidential candidates.
The biblically based reason is far more obvious and it reads like this, “ In whom the god of this world (Satan) hath blinded the minds of them which believe not" (2 Cor 4:4a) It is what allows people to assent to what late night talk show hosts say about candidates instead of listening to the candidates themselves and comparing that to all that has gone before. It is almost perverse, because it is a “spirit" that drives the average person to use no “spiritual" discernment at all.
It is what causes thousands to think Rick Warren is actually helping the American public to choose a better candidate by bringing John McCain and Barack Obama to “Saddleback" so they can smooth out their differences. The program or show (side show) is partly sponsored by Meg Riley who formerly headed up her denomination’s homosexual advocacy office. It raises the serious question of whose purpose is the author of “The Purpose Driven Life" fulfilling? It’s a show, a visual, and a media attraction with or without knowing exactly what is really driving Rick Warren’s purpose. What Evangelist Bill Keller told his over two million subscribers on his daily devotional July 26, 2008, was that Warrens sideshow is a “load of garbage."
Has Keller crossed the sacred PC line and sinned against society? No, what he has really done is used God given discernment based on sound scriptural teachings and mustered the guts to say it out loud to a You Tube generation that would rather watch hours of delightful nonsense and tripe rather than discern anything that matters. Kudos to Bill Keller, shame on Rick Warren!
Sadly, what is really happening is what the Apostle James and other biblical authors predicted would become commonplace as we approach the second coming of Christ. James said,"Are ye not then partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?" (James 2:4) King James Version or not this is exactly the meaning of “choosing between the lesser of two evils." Not much discernment needed to know what that means. This is America today.
The greatest loss from the abandoning of discernment is that America has lost the connection. We are no longer able to discern the “connection" between our morality and all the other issues. The truth is that the economy, our security, and all the other matters of our national life depend on and are inextricably linked to our morality. We have mistakenly allocated morality to an aspect of our religious life and have thereby disconnected it from our own larger national welfare and security.
Political candidates, the news media and pundits rant about the economy, the war, taxes, crime and all the so called “critical issues" while ignoring the gross immorality of homosexuality, abortion, media filth, evolutionary dogma that passes itself of as academic freedom and general sensory driven visual tripe from Hollywood and similar sources. Morality is relegated to the churches and a few PC deficient fundamentalist Bible thumping diehards who just won’t seem to go away.
The result of all this distraction derived from the lack of discernment is in a word: judgment. But is it inevitable? Does the sun Rise? Does the sun set? It is God’s judgment that follows the refusal to use our own better judgment.
Using judgment is not a luxury that is reserved for a few and can be ignored by all others. In fact it is a biblical imperative that if ignored will have an immediate and devastating effect on everyone in our nation “The way of peace they know not; and there is no judgment in their goings: they have made them crooked paths: whosoever goeth therein shall not know peace."(Isa 59:8)
The simplest rule for using good judgment turns out to be just the opposite of what is being done in America’s visual generation. Here it is; “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment." Jesus, John 7:24.
If you have any discernment left and you must if you’ve gotten this far into this article then let me suggest that you pray for America to once again make decisions based on sound wisdom and spiritual discernment.
Rev Bresciani is an author and columnist for several online and print publications. With over two million readers worldwide and growing you will enjoy the articles, movie reviews, commentary and much more visit www.americanprophet.org
» left by John Short from Eureka Springs, CO (127 days 10 hours ago.)
Wow, it looks like the author is saying that anyone who disagrees with him is shallow and does not have any discernment. The problem is that his 'facts' can indeed be disputed. Sure, the younger generation reads more in short spurts, but there are many more who are reading now than ever before. 20 years ago Rev. Bresciani would have been complaining that television is leading the younger generation astray. Before that it was 45 RPM records. Before that it was books. Now it's the Internet and YouTube.
I believe that it really comes down to the heart of man. Sure, the Internet and YouTube can be used for vile evil, just like television. But they are just tools in the hands of man, and they can be used for incredible good as well. It just depends on what you are looking for.
I also take exception to the author's assertion that those who would consider voting for Barack Obama would likely do so because "they like him" or because "he looks good". I have talked to dozens of Obama supports to try to figure out why they support him, and all of them have had well thought out responses. I guess here again, it depends what you are looking for.
It amuses me how many Christians in America today are confusing patriotism with Christianity. If you read the New Testament, Jesus was no capitalist. He repeatedly told the rich to give their money to the poor. I don't understand how one could read the New Testament and conclude anything other than Jesus was/is a liberal and his follows should be too. Indeed the Church in Acts functioned as a socialist group, yet today these words could get me kicked out of many churches.
Lastly, when Jesus walked the earth, it was the religious people who gave Jesus a hard time. They said he could certainly not be 'of God' because he hung out and was comfortable with sinners like thieves and prostitutes. I think of this every time I hear someone criticizing Rick Warren for working with 'sinners'.
I hope Rev. Bresciani does not label me as undescerning for raising such questions.
John, I do not label anyone, most folks tend to label themselves. You have made interesting points.
I Don't think that Christianity and patriotism are inextricably linked but neither are patriotism and capitalism. But it does well to remember that the majority of our founding fathers were Christians.
Finally let me say that I always take exception with the idea that the kinds of things that are so sinful today were always around...so whats the big deal? The word is "pervasive" they were not as pervasive but in a permissive society they almost need to be. When so many are willing to yield to temptations then the tempter provides.
Yes, the church was in a manner of speaking "socialist" some would even say "commununistic" as in sharing all things together. But in the early church the individual held great importance while in some socialistic or communistic settings of the day the state is all important and the individual counts for little. Thats a whopping big difference wouldn't you say?
To me the real question when it comes to voting for Barack Obama is not so much "why would you vote for him" but "how could you vote for him." I believe in the sanctity of all human life and that homosexuality is a dark perverse sin that God is going to judge severly. Sen Obama does not see it this way. Its America so he can see it anyway he likes but to vote for him as the leader of this wonderful country for me would be like praising God to his face while I attempted to slap him in the face if given a chance.
Thanks for your comments and know that I am praying for you.
John, sorry I forgot to mention that I do not think that everyone who disagrees with me is shallow. I was speaking in the most general sense that this is a genertation that is content to skim across the surface of most things. This is partly generated by the speed of everything and the information that is communicated daily by all media. It is like a carpet bombing to the mind and I often wonder how more people dont flip or drop out. In fact they do today more than ever.
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