Hey everyone. It's Phil. God has laid this on my heart to share with you. May God continue to speak truth into all of our lives and empower us to live more boldly and passionately for Him...
I spoke with an older gentleman the other day and I heard something that has been said a million times before. "Boy things sure aren't like they used to be."
Have I also become "old school" or is God showing me how the world around us is spiraling out of control toward destruction?
Recently, the priority of my prayers has been that God would help me to see things as they really are. This is the problem: I don't like what I see.
I started looking into the catchy pop tunes on the radio and the artists (you know like the ones on Just Dance.) I am shocked to see how the demonic has become trendy! When I was a kid, there were heavy metal bands that were known to be evil but they only attracted a certain type of person that seemed sort of "dark" already. Now it seems that the darkness has permeated all of pop culture (this is the music that our kids enjoy listening to and is played on Top 40 radio stations and glorified on ABC Family, Nickelodeon and Disney channels).
Parents- we NEED to look closely at the influencing artists and their music videos. At the risk of sounding like a grandpa, I will say this: the message being proudly displayed to our youth is absolute garbage. After looking at a few music videos from the songs that I hear our kids humming, I was really convicted... and disgusted.
When I look at the New Testament I see the disciples and the early church living totally devoted to the teachings of Jesus and along with that lifestyle came physical healing, casting out of demons, and conversions to the faith- regularly. I have often asked myself- "Why doesn't God work like that anymore?"
The reality is- He does... just not so much in the U.S.
As I study the places where God is doing big things around the world, I can't help but notice that those people live a radical Christian life. And the difference is- in most of these countries- they do not have the weight of materialism, the impact of media, the problem of consumerism, the dangers of wealth... all of the things that the U.S. proudly associates with happiness and having a "good life"...
I don't know about you but I'm ready for a spiritual revolution to happen here too. I'm ready for us to stop settling for what the world says is "good" for us... Perhaps if we allow God to pull us close enough so that He can whisper in our hearts we might hear Him say this:
"Come on church..... come on."
