Always Reforming

In this life we are often presented with the choice to do what is right or to follow our feelings.  This is simply the reality of fallen men living in a fallen world.  Traditionally it was considered respectable to deny oneself for the sake of doing what one knows to be objectively right and good, but the superiority of following your heart has now been a popular notion for some years (the arts have glorified it for centuries, actually).  This is regrettable, but it is man's natural compulsion.  On a modern, local level, the American public has imbibed the glorification of man's heart through the influence of the likes of Hollywood, Freud, Dewey, and Disney.  As we have denied the authority of God, replacing Him with man as the ultimate authority in our universe, we have slidden further and further down the path of subjective morality.  Once again, none of this is surprising.  What is alarming, however, is how thoroughly the Church has embraced this c...

    Pop music of the last decade is not particularly known for its excellent songwriting.  Still, some of the lyrics that have graced our airwaves are especially appalling and revealing.  Take these lyrics from Nickelback's charting hit "Animals." No, we're not gonna quit, Ain't nothing wrong with it, Just acting like we're animals, No, no matter where we go, 'Cause everybody knows, We're just a couple animals. How profound!  The depth of meaning is outdone only by the potency of the rhymes.  Let's look at a similar song.  Take Maroon 5's super original song, "Animals." Baby, I'm preying on you tonight, Hunt you down eat you alive, Just like animals, animals, like animals-mals. This recapitulation of this oft-repeated theme at least features some repetition, which allowed it to become ubiquitous for longer than it deserved to be.  "Hungry Like The Wolf" (Maroon 5's "Animals" was...

    Want to start an internet debate with your fellow Christians?  Simple.  Just tell someone that something they want to do is wrong.  Tell them that some part of their appearance, entertainment, worship, or general lifestyle is wrong, and you're certain to get a visceral response as hordes of hedonists ignore plain mandates from Scripture in order to protect their personal pleasures.     Let's be honest.  We all have a tendency to defend the things we really want to do.  We humans have this innate ability to rationalize behaviors that, if we were to view them objectively, would be obviously inconsistent with a profession of Christianity.  The truth is that we are all hedonists from birth. Our depraved natures are regenerated at the time of our conversion, but remnants of the old man (or flesh, if you prefer) are left over.   Hedonism  is one of those subconscious attitudes we struggle with as we seek to become more Christli...