Monthly Archives: June 2019

Indecent Communications

I once heard a story about the days of the industrial revolution. There was a factory in England that spoiled the apple crops of some local farmers. When those farmers brought the factory owner to court, the judge ruled that the economic advantage of the factory owner took precedence over their claims of damages. Hence, they were refused justice. I suspect that’s only one page out of a long, long history of government corruption in the name of “the greater good.”

The 90s-era Communications Decency Act is just another example of this corruption. The stated purpose of the law was to protect “the little guy” from liability. The result, just over 20 years later (roughly, a generation), has been that “the little guy” is subject to massive liability. We may not have been able to predict that it would have manifested in sweeping censorship, but this result is ultimately unsurprising.

I support Senator Hawley’s proposal to rein in the social media titans. Ultimately, nobody should be shielded from liability, but that kind of corruption runs very deep in our society, so I’m happy to take a small step in the right direction.

Prodigal Son

It strikes me that I have never heard the expression “Prodigal Son” spoken without sarcasm.

“Ah, the Prodigal Son returns!”

The parable is meant to demonstrate God’s reaction to his wayward children returning home, so I wonder what the sarcasm says about one’s commitment to godliness.

Pedophile Story Hour

I grew up in the 80s and 90s. I remember quite clearly the Christians who were against the increased acceptance of homosexuality in the culture, and how they were mocked and pilloried by the mainstream media at the time.

“They’re coming for your kids, just you wait!”

“Oh come on, that slippery slope isn’t going to happen!”

And now, we have this:

So normalized has such deviancy become that we can no longer say, “This is bad! This is evil!” without being mocked.

What I honestly have a hard time understanding is how parents can let their children be exposed to this. Are your children not important enough, precious enough, to be protected from those who would prey directly on their innocence?

The whole point of childhood is to bring up your kids to be functional adults. Part of that is providing them with morals so that they can discern between good and evil, and choose the good.

Yes, they will need to be aware of what evil looks like, but you don’t hand over your child to pedophiles to teach them about evil any more than you throw them off a bridge onto a busy interstate to teach them about the dangers of heights and traffic.

#NotAllDragQueens, sure. But you know what? They don’t appear to be doing much to strip pedophiles from their ranks. And if they’re not going to take that responsibility, you must.

My Greatest Sin

I had something of a revelation today. It is ultimately no surprise, as I quite literally asked for it last night.

The Lord revealed to me my Greatest Sin.

By “Greatest Sin,” I mean, what is my biggest stumbling block? What temptation do I most easily succumb to?

I don’t know if there’s a specific Biblical word or phrase for it but, for me, it’s isolation.

It never occurred to me before today to class it as a sin, but if sin is what separates you from God, then, for me, isolation is it.

What made me realize that this was my sin was that I’ve been increasingly withdrawn and spending more and more time alone over the past year. Now, I certainly needed a vacation, but we’re well beyond that point now.

I was driving my car, taking a long route to just keep moving rather than sit in traffic, and the thought came to me:

“It is not good for man to be alone.”

That repeated several times, and a few more related thoughts emerged:

“We shall make a help-meet for him.”

“Male and female created he them.”

“Whenever two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them.”

The thoughts continued:

“If I never spoke to So-and-so again, would I regret it? Say they died tomorrow and I lived another forty years. Regret that choice? I most certainly would.”

I then realized that this level of isolation is Satanic. I had a brief flash of rage at what my parents did so many years ago, but I quickly regained my footing–if not led back to the path I was on. My parents, unfortunately, laid some deep foundations for these temptations, and Satan used that experience to his benefit.

Regardless of what my parents chose, I have been and still am making my own choices in this regard. I’ve chosen to remain isolated, to increase my isolation. Evil doesn’t force you, it entices you. It seduces you.

Then something rather wonderful happened.

I realized that this was My Greatest Sin. That is, it is my stumbling block. It renders me helpless. I fall to its temptation all the time. And it is what is keeping me separated from God.

I felt pain, joy, and gratitude at this realization. I realized that my Greatest Sin was being revealed to me for my benefit. It’s why I need Christ. Only He can heal these wounds; only He can help me out of my sin.

Were I to attempt to master this without God, I might make some progress, but the reason I’m doing so is in order to avoid misery. I’ve lived over forty years at this point, and I have tried many, many things. Nothing has really worked.

It’s even more of a joy for me because it’s an answer to prayer. “Be careful what you wish for,” they say.

Indeed.

Now, yes, I have many other shortcomings, just like everybody else. I doubtless have several Great Sins, if not many. But, from where I currently stand, I finally understand at forty what I did not understand at fourteen:

I am helpless in my sin. I cannot perform my way out of it. I cannot compensate for it. I cannot make up for it.

All that I can do is give myself to God, have Him pay, and live in pursuit of His glory.