I truly believe that culture is stronger than politics. It doesn't matter who is in power. Politicians come and go; and governments rise and fall, but culture still remains. Culture is also more powerful than religion. One of the biggest and strongest challenges that church leaders faced during the first few centuries of the church's existence was how to keep those who were coming into the church with pagan backgrounds from bringing elements of their pagan culture with them and blending these with their new faith in Christ. Even today we continue to see the enormous power of culture to the point that many believers and Kingdom citizens display lifestyles that differ little from those individuals who make no claim to be in the Kingdom.
Remember Moses had the same problem with the children of Israel when God brought them out of the land of Egypt. They built a golden calf and went back to their old culture.
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
The United States has a rich historical heritage of faith and, even today, has the highest percentage of citizens who claim to be believers of any of the industrialized nations. But I must state: many live in hypocrisy. Every year in America, at least 200,000 unborn babies are aborted, legally according to this world's system. The most progressive nation in the world murders a quarter of a million, if not more, babies in the womb every year; and the law protects both the mother's who decide to kill their children as well as the doctors who carry out the destruction. This is insanity. It exemplifies the power of culture over religion in its ability to shape the thoughts, values and beliefs of people and to influence their behavior and what they are willing to accept.
Here is another example: gay rights activists in America have made great strides forward in their efforts to legitimize their lifestyle through the legal process. Gay marriage is already legal in Massachusetts and New York, and efforts to legalize it in other states are on the rise. An increasing number of individuals, many of whom claim their faith in Christ, find nothing wrong with homosexual relationships and believe that gays should be afford special "civil rights" protection under the law. That is the results of culture overriding God's Word in their minds. Remember, this is all about how an individual conducts themselves in a sexual relationship. Legislation has even been proposed that would make anti-gay speech or activity a hate crime (which was originally defined in reference to a physically violent act--now they are changing the definition to include speech in an effort to silence opposing views).
I will continue this in part 2, tomorrow.
Exodus 32:1-4
~~W.R. Luchie
Remember Moses had the same problem with the children of Israel when God brought them out of the land of Egypt. They built a golden calf and went back to their old culture.
Now when the people saw that Moses delayed coming down from the mountain, the people gathered together to Aaron, and said to him, “Come, make us gods that shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has become of him.”
And Aaron said to them, “Break off the golden earrings which are in the ears of your wives, your sons, and your daughters, and bring them to me.” So all the people broke off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them to Aaron. And he received the gold from their hand, and he fashioned it with an engraving tool, and made a molded calf. Then they said, “This is your god, O Israel, that brought you out of the land of Egypt!”
The United States has a rich historical heritage of faith and, even today, has the highest percentage of citizens who claim to be believers of any of the industrialized nations. But I must state: many live in hypocrisy. Every year in America, at least 200,000 unborn babies are aborted, legally according to this world's system. The most progressive nation in the world murders a quarter of a million, if not more, babies in the womb every year; and the law protects both the mother's who decide to kill their children as well as the doctors who carry out the destruction. This is insanity. It exemplifies the power of culture over religion in its ability to shape the thoughts, values and beliefs of people and to influence their behavior and what they are willing to accept.
Here is another example: gay rights activists in America have made great strides forward in their efforts to legitimize their lifestyle through the legal process. Gay marriage is already legal in Massachusetts and New York, and efforts to legalize it in other states are on the rise. An increasing number of individuals, many of whom claim their faith in Christ, find nothing wrong with homosexual relationships and believe that gays should be afford special "civil rights" protection under the law. That is the results of culture overriding God's Word in their minds. Remember, this is all about how an individual conducts themselves in a sexual relationship. Legislation has even been proposed that would make anti-gay speech or activity a hate crime (which was originally defined in reference to a physically violent act--now they are changing the definition to include speech in an effort to silence opposing views).
I will continue this in part 2, tomorrow.
Exodus 32:1-4
~~W.R. Luchie
