Last month I wrote about my 50 Year High School Reunion. What a great time as I met with old friends, and renewed some friendships from way back. I sort of revelled in the good time I had for about a week. Then, I started thinking about how different it was 50 years ago.
Some things I wouldn’t change. I love my computer. I love how far cars and other transportation have come. How would I make it without my 52 ounce Big Gulps, and diet soda that doesn’t taste like diet. Color TVs are great, and malls are so much more fun than the little nickel and dime store we sent to. Baseball, football, and basketball have all become so much more sophisticated, and now through cable I can see my favorite team (St Louis Cardinals) just about any time I want. Interstate Highways have made travel much easier, Airbags have saved thousands of lives. No doubt, 50 years have brought some amazing changes to make our lives better.
Not all has been good in the past 50 years. Now we have armed guards in our high schools. We have taken God out of our schools and out of a lot of our churches. It’s hard to find a place where you can just take a walk without fear of being gunned down by an irate gang member. What we once called good, we now call bad, and what we once called bad, we now call good. We once called the innocent killing of unborn babies wrong, now we just call it a fetus and think abortion is just fine. We once called a man having sex with another man and abomination, now we not only approve it, but think it’s just fine for anyone who “thinks” they identify with the opposite gender can just go ahead and use whatever bathroom they feel like on that particular day.
The Bible tells us that in the last days He will turn people over to reprobate minds who think like this. (Romans 1:28) Now if we try to stand for what is right, we are lambasted and accused of being hate mongers. When did this mindset take over our country?
What’s even worse is that this kind of thinking has infiltrated our Gospel Music and the Church herself.
Sexual immorality, crooked business dealings, pride and just plain sinful living has become to common place.
So, back to my thinking about 50 years ago. How I miss that time in church where the Holy Spirit moved and convicted sinners to accept Jesus as their Savior, and convicted Christians of sin in their lives drawing them to an altar of repentance. I rue that fact that my kids and grand-kids have not seen the Spirit of God sweep across congregations as waves of glory would touch hearts and change lives, or at least uplift them from where they were, giving them a refreshing and encouragement to continue the fight to live as true to the Lord as possible. What happened to the shouting Baptist and Methodist, the emotional Nazarenes and the holy roller Pentecostals. It was a time when the Spirit of God was able to touch the hearts of people that they could not contain their emotions. It had to come out some how and it would be in the form of shouting, crying, lifting of hands, and other outward means indicating that the Spirit of God was touching them on an individual basis.
It was a time when preachers weren’t afraid to preach against sin, and singers weren’t afraid to sing songs about how God saved them, changed their lives, and testified as to what God had done for them.
Where have the sermons gone that preach against sin and about Heaven. Why would anyone think about going to Heaven or have a goal of going to Heaven when they never hear about it in church. Where have all the Heaven songs gone in Gospel Music.
OK, I’m getting off my soapbox. Let me know if you agree or disagree.
