As we are continually bombarded with the seduction and enticements of this world, we must have our minds renewed and be looking to God’s word as to how to live our lives in a manner pleasing to the Lord. The world, the flesh and the devil are drawing our affections and desires away from the one true God and as a result we end up worshipping the created things rather than our Creator. Read this article and let it be a reminder to us to, “Therefore prepare your minds for action, and being sober minded, set your hope fully on the grace that was brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

1 Peter 1:13

Mr.B

 Receding Men and Rotting Hollywood

By Denny Burk on December 19, 2012

Peggy Noonan takes a hard line against the vulgar fare that seems to be so ubiquitous in the material coming out of Hollywood. She begins by noting the general malaise that has fallen over our country. She writes:

We are making more sick teenagers and young men now, not fewer, and this is going to continue as our culture breaks up. I think we all know this, deep down.

Let that land on you. She says “we” are making more “sick teenagers and you men.” By that, she means that we as a society are failing to raise up boys to be good sturdy men. I agree with her. The fact that the majority of young men today fail to make all the major transitions to adulthood until they’re nearly 30 years old easily proves the point (e.g., moving out of their parents home, becoming financially independent, getting married, having children).

I also agree that much of the material that Hollywood churns out every year is not helping. It is coarsening our culture, not ennobling it. On this point, Noonan really takes Hollywood to task, and it is worth quoting her at length:

Everyone who has warned for a quarter-century now that our national culture has become a culture of death—movies, TV shows, video games drenched in blood and violence—has been correct. Deep down we all know it, as deep down we know our culture has a bad impact on the young and unstable who aren’t sturdy enough to withstand and resist sick messages and imagery.

When Hollywood wants to discourage cigarette smoking it knows exactly how to do it, because it knows exactly how much power it has to deliver cultural messages. When Hollywood wants to encourage environmentalism it knows how to do it. But there’s a lot of money to be made in violence, and God knows there’s a market for it—in fact, the more people are fed violence the bigger the market grows, so it’s an ever hungry, always growing market. This is exactly what you want if you’re in a tough business and don’t have a conscience.

Republicans have no sway in Hollywood, none. They are figures of mockery, sometimes deservedly so. If they get into the act here, Hollywood will be able to ignore them, and nothing will change. But the Democrats and the president are in a different position. They could change things for the better.

President Obama should have a Nixon-to-China moment. If he tells Hollywood it has made America sicker, Hollywood will be forced to listen. It won’t be so easy for them to turn away.

If the president had strong, clear, uncompromising words—if he made an address aimed only at them, a clear and unsparing one that told the truth as everyone knows it—that would make a real difference

In light of the events that unfolded in Newtown,CT. last week, I think you will find this article by Doug Wilson enlightening .Please continue to pray God's grace and comfort over the families and the town of Newtown.

Mr B.

That Will Be Soon Enough

Written by Douglas Wilson

Lest it be misunderstood, I wanted to follow up on my post about the propriety of certain kinds of arguments in the immediate aftermath of something like the Connecticut tragedy. The issue is not relevance, but demeanor and spirit, in this case measured by timing. The issue is not whether you are right, but whether you are right all the way down. If you do not know what spirit you are of (Luke 9:55), the wrongness down below will work its way to the surface, and one day you find yourself among the Westboro Baptists. Suppose you lived in a neighborhood where a horrific murder took place, and the grieving family members were clustered on the front lawn. Suppose the neighbor on one side of the victim's family was a salesman for security systems, and he believes that had they only purchased it last month like he asked, all this could have been prevented. And suppose the neighbor on the other side of them had a bad experience with that very same security system, and started to argue with the salesman neighbor about it. Does it really matter who is right? Let me illustrate it another way. I believe I can say without controversy that I have dedicated a significant part of my life to getting Christian children out of the government school system. Those are my convictions, and I haven't altered them. I am a declared and open foe of the whole system, as I think many may have gathered by this time. And yet, I want to say that Victoria Soto, the first grade public school teacher who gave her life for her students, was everything a teacher ought to be. There is no greater love than that (John 15:13). There is no finer teacher than that; she was no hireling (John 10:13). And I don't care if she was a member of the Connecticut Education Association. If she was, then a member of the CEA crowned her teaching career with greater glory than I have done. If my politics on the thing blunt my ability to see that, I am more ideological than principled. Dragging in irrelevant issues is obviously wrong-headed because the issues are irrelevant. Relevant issues -- like abortion and gun control -- need to be brought in at the right time, and at just the right time. If you crowd them in early, you come off like an opportunist trying to sell something. If you bring them up after the memory of the tragedy has faded completely, you have missed a genuine opportunity. If the security system salesman had a good heart, and a good security system, he would have had a long talk with his wife that night about what they do to make the neighborhood safer, and they would do so in a way that will likely be appreciated. My father taught me many years ago that the point is to win the man, not the argument. If you win the man, the argument follows. And if you have won the man's attention and respect, you will have the opportunity to present an argument that will be heard. There are issues that we must address, and address in the near future. But I don't just want to say them with no one listening. That is not a prophetic voice -- that is just venting. In the aftermath of this, we will make decisions, and we shouldn't make stupid ones. As we debate those issues, we must do so intelligently. As Christians, we must begin with the gospel issues. We have to know and understand that we cannot cultivate a culture of death and expect life to be honored and respected in that culture. The abortion culture has had consequences, and if you compare the president's recent remarks with his abortion record, the irony really is flabbergasting. We need to say so, but we need to say so at the right time -- not because the issues are unimportant, but rather because they are crucial. We will also debate gun control. But if people are introducing legislation before the funerals are held, the only thing we should say in response is that we believe that respect for the victims dictates waiting until a more appropriate time before we get into it. When we get there, which will be pretty soon, another issue (a relevant one) that must be placed on the table is the place of prescription drugs in all this -- in the last ten years, out of all the school shootings by young people, what prescription drugs were they on? May we talk about that? Yes. When the time is more appropriate, and that will be soon enough.

The Story of God

For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given:
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace
Isaiah 9:6





Forgiveness 
Click here to hear Matt Chandler, Pastor of The Village Church, as he speaks on the importance of Forgiveness at Christmas!