What Goes In, Comes Out

We all agree that defensive driving is a good idea. What about defensive viewing, listening and thinking when it comes to media intake. Road blocks to clear moral thinking can confront you anytime in the media. “Media can lead us to accept some things without any discussion.” This statement from talk show host Jo Rathmanner on Connecting Faith (KNWC AM) really got my attention. Failing to be discerning about media happens all the time. You are responsible for how you think. How you think comes from what you allow into your mind. Beware of mindless TV or video viewing. It can impair and erode you and your family’s morals!

 An example would be watching a popular situation comedy or a soap opera portraying people compromising their values, swearing or making unwise decisions, presenting all of this with humor so we are sympathetic and feel empathy for the characters. It never ends. An agenda is apparent if you watch with a discerning eye and listen for what the show is selling in the way of acceptable behavior.

There is a rather strange commercial for a casino/hotel that uses images and words one after the other or pairs of words that challenge good, right and correct as though the ideas these words express are wrong, boring and confining. The effect is strange because it leaves a person wandering why this barrage of negative ideas is in any way related to a hotel reservation.

Another complaint I have is swearing continuously in a talk show, movie or TV show. Unbridled cursing is unattractive – period! It simply shows a lack of ability to express one’s self, a limited vocabulary and a mind filled with garbage. I can never take anyone seriously who uses obscene words on a regular basis because it seems to me they are not too bright. Yes, that is a bias I have about people who curse. Just say what you mean, please!

To conclude, I have to get back on my initial idea that indiscriminate viewing and media consumption is destroying morals in our culture. Maybe someone will think twice about what they take in.                                                 Doma

Famous Last Words Reveal Love

When I was recently reading the last words of Jesus on the cross (in John’s gospel, chapter 19, verse 30), I came to a startling realization - Even though I understand that Jesus came to earth to die for the sins of man, according to the Father’s will, these words affected me most profoundly. According to what I read, Jesus chose the moment He would die, saying, “It is finished.” He then bowed His head and gave up His spirit.

We know He could have called a legion of angels to rescue Him as He was tortured and hanged on the cross. We know He prayed to be spared from the agony of death by crucifixion, yet He chose to hold in check the power He had as the Son of God for our best good – forgiveness and the gift of eternal life for those who believe in Him.

He did exercise His power while on the cross. He audibly asked His Father to forgive those who crucified Him that day. He provided for His mother in giving her into the care of the apostle John. He exercised His authority to not only forgive, but to assure the repentant thief of a place in Paradise. Seeing the words that tell me Jesus chose to release His spirit makes it clear His death is an offering, a sacrifice deliberately made on our behalf. We know this is true through reading and studying scripture, but seeing it so plainly has impacted my thinking and made Christ’s love even more real to me. I pray that contemplating these words will fill you with gratitude as it does me.    Doma

Don't Lean on the Wrong Understanding

There is nothing more limiting than human understanding. Bound within the confines of our mental capacity, our experience, and the culture in which we live, our understanding goes no farther than what we allow into our minds.

 I am thinking about our limited understanding because it is challenged by the writer of Proverbs chapter three, verses five and six. These verses say, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. In all your ways rely on Him and He will direct your path.”

The debris and pain of those who rely on what their own hearts and understanding tell them litters social media pages. Broken relationships, revengeful and hasty comments, snide remarks and bitter, caustic statements display a lack of proper understanding.

If, in all our ways we rely on the LORD, He who has completed understanding and can be totally trusted, there would be a wonderful change. God would be directing our path. He who knows the past and future would be in charge. We would not be pushing our way through life trying to make things happen and trusting what little we know as a guide to our direction.

So, can God be trusted to direct our path? The Almighty who created the heavens and the earth, the seas and the galaxies and who holds everything together by His word; He can be trusted to provide guidance. When doubt enters into our thinking (because it is injected there by the evil one) we need not fear. It is not sinful to have questions, but to deliberately decide that God is not trustworthy and we ourselves are, is wrong.

Lay your doubts and questions before the LORD and ask Him for His understanding. Actively seek to clarify any matter you have by reading the scripture, talking to a pastor who believes the gospel and praying with Christian friends. Another passage comes to mind in Matthew that says to ‘. . . ask, seek and knock”. These questions bring rejoicing to God for He loves to answer, be found and open the door of deeper faith to you as you are willing.

So please do not depend on your own puny understanding of things that come your way. Consistently depend on God to lead you and He says He will do it. I do not know about you, but I am choosing to rely on Him.                  Doma