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radioJohn 10:10, Judges 17:6, 1John 4:4
My question to young people is how do you do it?
I'm a fairly outgoing person - I spend time with different people not just Christians but I don't have to go to school or college every day and surround myself with the voices and opinions of people who don't know that they are the creation of an Almighty God who sent His Son to bring us into relationship with Him.
How do young people remain pure in a society that is passive about pre-marital sex and believes that a relationship with another person whatever the gender is the fulfillment of love?
How do you hold on to the fact that you are uniquely and fearfully and wonderfully made when you are bombarded with a cosmetic and leisure industry that tells you how you should look?
A couple of years ago at Soul Survivor, a place where the Kings kids gather and bring their friends to be encouraged in the hope of Jesus, an opportunity came for God to minister to those who struggle with eating disorders. So many people responded there was not enough room for them all to go forward, they filled the front, they filled the isles, and they kept coming.
Just ponder that, maybe a thousand, may be more.
Another sobering fact is the shocking statistics I heard concerning young Christians who are cutting themselves.
My question is, are young people surviving?
I so often
hear us say its peer pressure, which implies that they are responsible
in how they respond to the pressure of people around them. Of course
they do have to make choices and be responsible but I want to defend
them. THIS IS NOT just PEER PRESSURE and for their sanity I want to
acknowledge that they are vulnerable in a fierce battle raging around
them because if we can't see it how will they?
As I began writing this I knew I wanted to affirm and encourage this generation of young people by coming against the spirit in this land that distorts everything; to let them know they're doing good, that they're beautiful and unique and that God's got a purpose and plan for them. I want to warn them that "the thief comes to steal and kill and destroy" (John 10:10) their identity to prevent them coming into the knowledge of who they are and who they have been created to be. I didn't understand the fullness of what I felt until a friend called and we had one of those timely conversations that explained why I passionately wanted to express that it's not as simple as peer pressure.
Secular Humanism is a term which has come into use in the last thirty years to describe a world view which believes that dogmas, ideologies and traditions, whether religious, political or social, must be weighed and tested by each individual and not simply accepted on faith. It is committed to the use of critical reason, factual evidence, and scientific methods of inquiry, rather than faith and mysticism, in seeking solutions to human problems and answers to important human questions. To me that sounds like life without faith, life without mystery, body and intellect without spirit, life with no Creator, no God.
We have a Secular Humanistic education system that teaches Evolution as fact and dismisses faith. We have a society that promotes the philosophy if it's right for the individual then that's fine, so if people want to experiment with sexual relationships that's fine if it works for them. Sounds fair on the surface, but does it really mean "it's fine as long as it doesn't affect me"?
"..everyman did what was right in his own eyes" Judges 17:6
This is my revelation today, Secular Humanism is more than a mind set, a way of thinking, it is a spiritual movement in our land because spiritual activity is released by two actions, blood sacrifice and worship. Secular Humanism has reasoned that a decision for an abortion is up to the individual and their responsibility; it is the blood sacrifice of a child. Secular Humanism lifts up worship of the creature through relationships which is continually echoing in the land through songs and media images; worshipping without God makes ourselves God.
Our kids maybe don't understand but they are affected by the spirit in the land and maybe they get worn down by the spiritual atmosphere.
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Zeno made a sad and misleading comment. P.Hocking is fully aware of the 'rational basis for humanism'. However, she, as a person who has experienced the love and power of God (for example enabling her to forgive her Mum and Dad) has noticed another fact: That there is a spiritual law:- A human being who does not worship the true God always worships something. That something is ultimately often him/herself, as although we may substitute things, even other people in the place of our Creator, this false worship is the religion of no-God, that there is no other god worthy of worship. Man is the judge of all things, in the place of God.
One of the dangers of humanism is it leads to belief in the lie that mankind can solve its own problems. But what about guilt and sin, those terrible things? It also denies the truth about them, attempting to explain guilt away as some kind of mistaken thinking. Believers (and even many non-believers) know better. Guilt and sin, when truly dealt with, can indeed be banished forever, filling us with loving gratitude to God, and a joy that truly lasts! Is not the power of even human forgiveness amazing?
Jesus said that only God is able to deal with and completely remove a person's sin. -Back now to the truth that there is a real -and potentially very dangerous- spiritual realm, not just a physical one. As beings who inhabit both, we should know the ways that individuals and the whole of society may be manipulated by forces in both realms.
Simple truth: There is a war going on for the heart and mind of each person. One side wants to deny people any opportunity to be released from their sin. One way is to get them to worship the false god of Rationalism. This is a work of the evil one. Jesus came to destroy his works, and He, as Lord, Creator, and Saviour is going to win that war.