Air Prayer

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. The Light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

John 1:1-5 NASB

Or put another way…

In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was already with God in the beginning. Everything came into existence through him. Not one thing that exists was made without him. He was the source of life, and that life was the light for humanity. The light shines in the dark, and the dark has never extinguished it.

John 1:1-5 God’s Word

Merry Christmas.

Last night I listened at our church men’s meeting to a man lamenting about what he found on MySpace. He had heard about MySpace and decided to check it out. On a whim he looked up some kids from his old church. As you may have already guessed he was shocked by what he found. One of those he looked up was a youth minister in training but on his MySpace site he had vile language and images and links that where at best questionable, at worst pornographic.

There followed a spirited discussion with a church elder who played devil’s (sic) advocate. His position, and it is an understandable and reasonable one, is that any technology can be used for good or evil. However, he did not come close to condoning what was found on those horrible web pages.

I can understand both positions. For instance, what about renting space in a building? If you are going to open a Bible bookstore, would you want to rent a space in a building that also houses an adult video store? Probably not. But how far do you go with something like this? If the Post Office rents a PO box to me, but also to that same adult video store, do I rent the PO box? Most people don’t worry about things like that but I do. And so does Carl, the gentleman I spoke of ealier, God bless him.

I originally started my blog on MySpace. But as I looked around I was shocked by what I saw. It wasn’t just kids expressing themselves. There are countless pages by girls who profess a belief in God, but on the same page have pictures of themselves barely dressed in provocative poses. There are countless pages of singles looking to “hook up” with someone…anyone. There are swingers. There are occultists. There are witches. There are prostitutes. There are young men who post the most vile, female-debasing, authority-hating, rhetoric I have ever had the displeasure of reading. And now, there are murderers on MySpace. John 8:44

I had to ask myself, do I really want to be associated with this? I closed out my MySpace web page and brought it here to Blogger. But I see many of the same things here on Blogger. They do a better job of removing questionable content to be sure. But again, how far do you take it? I also have a website, AirPrayer.com. Do the servers that host it also host pornographic websistes? I don’t know for sure but my gut tells me that probably they do.

So what am I to do? So what is any Christian who has a presence on the Internet to do? I think we need to excercise due dilligence when setting up a web site or choosing a provider. I am challenging myself and anyone who reads this to not turn a blind eye to where you set up shop. You wouldn’t open a business in a building that had a porn video store in it. Don’t set up your web presence on a site that carries evil, un-Godly content. As for myself I’m going to begin a search for a Christian web hosting provider to transfer my web site to. Since I know Google owns Blogger, and that Google does a fairly decent job of keeping pornography off of Blogger, I’ll keep my blog here for now.

I challenge all Christian web users, take a stand. Don’t be part of an establishment that helps to further evil behavior. Do some research. Find out if your hosting provider hosts pornographic sites. If it does, move your site. Take your business to a “building” that doesn’t rent to pornographers. Maybe even build next door to a church?

Sometimes I feel older than I am. Actually, I’ve always felt old. My mother used to tell me that I was born about 40 years old. I was always very sensible, yet humorous. Maybe God has just made me with an appreciation for how short our time is on this planet. Be sensible. Be full of laughter but be ready because our Lord is coming.

Well, there it is. Nothing deep or life-changing this time.

My wife and I went to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe this past weekend. It still disturbs me to this day that C.S. Lewis chose to cast creatures from English and Roman mythology as the supporting characters in his story. Be that as it may, the special effects in the movie where spectacular. Centaurs and Griffins moved exactly as I imagined they would. The child actors did a wonderful job, espcially the girl that played Lucy. She was adorable!

However, Aslan really stole the whole movie as, I suppose, he should have. They did a superb job showing him as a powerful, yet loving and gentle creature. The way they made his countenance change when he became angry sent chills down my spine. Patient in love and mercy to those whom he loves, quick in anger and judgement toward those who hate him.

Remind you of anyone? If you’re a Christian you’ve been taught from a young age how C.S. Lewis put many Christian parallels in his Narnia series. I’ve been taught the same things: betrayal, sacrifice, resurrection. However, after seeing the movie, I can’t imagine a better parallel to our Lord Jesus Christ. As with Aslan but to a infinitely greater degree our Lord Jesus is strong, loving, patient, and does not tolerate evil. I am so glad I will never see our Christ’s face change as Aslan’s did. I am so grateful that I have been chosen to receive His grace and mercy. Only our adversary and his followers will see that look full of anger and judgment. Pity anyone who is not behind our Lord Jesus Christ on that terrifying and glorious day.

Are you still trapped in your sins? Do you feel the Lord changing your heart? That tug of conscience that makes you feel bad when you do wrong? Your sin will not allow you to enjoy our Lord and our Lord will not allow you to enjoy your sin. Don’t spend your life in misery. Give in to the Lord, do not resist! In the first place, God will ultimately win. In the second place, you will regret the many years you spent running from our Lord. Don’t waste the precious years we’re given! The Lion of the Tribe of Judah is coming swiftly; He will not delay. Nor will He delay His judgement. Come! Stand with us behind our King, be victorious, live forever!

Amen! Come Lord Jesus!

Every once in a while my wife pulls these little gems out of thin air. For instance, we were talking the other night before going to sleep. I told her that I used to know a man who liked being around Christians. He even wanted his children to be Christians. However, he didn’t want to be a Christian. He didn’t want to live by “those rules.” Even though in reality he did live by almost every Biblical rule I can think of.

My wife said that he’s so lost; he acknowledges the sunbeams but not the sun. How true. How many people want to be around Christians? How many people like what we stand for, like our moral life, like our work ethic? Yet the refuse to acknowledge the source of all that good behavior they so admire.

*Sigh.*

Boy are they in for a shock one day.

Adonai, I acknowledge you before all men!