Modesty - Jesus-Style

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“One of Us Abstained:” a Powerful Message About Morality

The Serving and Sharing website has moved! Please look for this article (and all other articles) here: https://serving-and-sharing.blogspot.com/.

Civility

Johnny was a Boy Scout, and he was required to do a good deed every day. He was also expected to be home every afternoon by 4:00. One day it got to be 4:30, 5:00, 5:30, 6:00. Finally at 6:30 Johnny walked in the door. Parents upset. “What took you so long?” “I was helping a little old lady cross the street.” “2-1/2 hours late?”  “She didn’t want to go!”

Our culture is civilized, right? To “civilize” is to bring a place or people to a stage of social, cultural, and moral development that is more advanced. It is to enlighten, improve, refine, and cultivate. “Civility” refers to courtesy, manners, and politeness in behavior and speech. So, what happened to it? Why is our world so crude and rude? And what can we do about it?

What is Civility?

To “civilize” is to bring a place or people to a more advanced stage of social, cultural, and moral development. It is to enlighten, improve, refine, and cultivate. “Civility” refers to courtesy, manners, and politeness in behavior and speech.

Civil – from French and Latin for “citizen.”

Civics – study of citizens’ rights and duties.

Civil War – sounds like an oxymoron! It's a war between civilians.

civilize (v.) c. 1600, “to bring out of barbarism, introduce order and civil organization among, refine and enlighten,” from French civiliser, verb from Old French civil (adj.), from Latin civilis ”relating to a citizen, relating to public life, befitting a citizen; popular, affable, courteous,” alternative adjectival derivative of civis ”townsman” (see city). Intransitive meaning “become civilized” is from 1868. 

Last week – Syracuse University permanently expelled the Theta Tau fraternity after footage emerged earlier this week of its members participating in a racist, sexist, homophobic, and anti-Semitic skit, Chancellor Kent Syverud said.

The Daily Orange, an independent student newspaper, obtained and posted a video in which a fraternity member makes another one swear to hold onto hatred for African-Americans, Hispanics and Jews, using racial slurs for those groups. Later, another student, using a derogatory word for Jews, makes a veiled reference to gas chambers in Nazi Germany. In the video the students also exposed themselves to each other and posed in immoral positions.

What is Theta Tau, you ask? From their website, thetatau.org: “Theta Tau is the nation’s foremost Fraternity for Engineers! ... Our mission is to develop ENGINEERING LEADERS for Service, Profession, and Brotherhood. The fellowship, academic support and personal growth our Brothers find in Theta Tau make all the difference in their personal and professional success.”

Bad enough that such events occur. Even worse that they are planned, promoted, and taught. And enjoyed.

The secular world’s answer? Answer? Expose them! Censor them! Expel them! Monitor all fraternities! Threaten them! Make them behave!

Make more laws! Outlaw more words! Put everyone in diversity classes, anger management classes, and tolerance classes!

The secular world treats the symptoms but fails to address the cause of such conduct.

Our US President, with his famous tweets, repeatedly uses terms and phrases that many think lack civility. As one of the more tame examples, he recently used the word “slimeball” to refer to the former head of a federal agency. The slurs and insults go back and forth between the highest officials in our land, not two different from the behavior of rude boys in a schoolyard.

What Difference Does Civility Make?

Contrast: Judges vs. Ruth (same era)

Judges: Chaos Without a King

Ruth: Life Under God’s Rule

Ru 2:4 … Boaz said to the reapers, “The LORD be with you!” And they: “The LORD bless you.”

Ru 2:8-10 Then Boaz said to Ruth …

Note this article, not even based specifically on biblical teaching, about the difference that civility makes in the workplace.

Why Civility Matters in the First Place - Sharone Bar-David

http://www.sharonebardavid.com/2015/02/civility-matters-first-place/

Consider the game of curling, where a stone has to make its way safely into a target area over a sheet of smooth ice. Two team members sweep the ice to allow the stone to move smoothly to its destination.

Civility is the smooth ice that enables people to perform at their best, leading to best results for the team, the organization, and those who it serves. (If you’re a manager, think of yourself as the sweeper whose job it is to ensure the path is clear.)

Here are some of the ways—a partial list—that civility supports organizational and team success:

1.   Performance. People who are treated with respect are able to focus. Their mind is not bogged down by worry, their brain is not flooded with memory-impeding stress hormones, and their time is not spent on second-guessing whether or not the uncivil person intended to belittle or dismiss them. With focus, they perform at their best.

2.   Trust and teamwork. Respectful relationships yield trust, and trust in return makes people support each other, collaborate, hold themselves and one another accountable, be flexible, lend a helping hand, deal effectively with interpersonal problems, and work together toward shared goals.

3.   Customer service. The focus, trust and teamwork that civility brings about result in effective, smooth and cheerful service.

4.   Engagement and retention. Employees who feel that the organization treats them with respect and that its managers are actively ensuring that everyone is dealt with in a civil manner are highly invested in the success of the enterprise. They are less likely to depart prematurely.

5.   Innovation. Innovation relies on people’s sense of safety and trust. A civil work environment creates a milieu where new (and possibly unconventional) ideas can be shared and explored without fear.

6.   Health and safety. A civil work environment is a psychologically safe one. In a world of ever-growing rates of mental health illness on the job, a civil environment prevents the triggering or exacerbation of mental health problems (and the associated high levels of absenteeism and benefits costs). Furthermore, focused and calm employees are much less likely to engage in hazardous behaviour or be involved in workplace accidents.

The advantages of upholding a civil work environment are almost common sense. And yet—have you noticed?—incivility continues to exist uninterrupted in most organizations.

What Happened to Civility?

2 Ti 3:1 (ESV) … in the last days … times of difficulty. 2 For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3 heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, 4 treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God …

What are the Principles of Civility?

It begins with God. Mk 12:28ff; Jas 3:9-12

It is patient, kind, not arrogant or rude. 1 Co 13

It builds up; it does not tear down. Eph 4:29ff

It respects others’ hearts and space.

It chooses to rise above. Mt 5:38-48

It begins in the home. Eph 5:22-6:4

It must prevail in the church. Gal 5:13-26

It says “Please,” “Yes, sir,” and “Thank you.”

It is evident – or not! – on social media, TV, etc.

It can transform all who practice / receive it.

It can impact the world and workplace. Col 3:23

It can open the door for the gospel. Col 4:2-6

How Can We Maintain Civility?

2 Ti 3:10 (ESV) You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness, 11 my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra—which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

Civility – Choose it! Teach it! Live it!

Let Me be a Little Kinder, Less of Me

Songwriters: Glen Campbell

Glen Campbell, Roger Miller, Statler Brothers, Oak Ridge Boys

Let me be a little kinder
Let me be a little blinder
To the faults of those about me
Let me praise a little more

Let me be when I am weary
Just a little bit more cheery
Think a little more of others
And a little less of me

Let me be a little braver
When temptation bids me waver
Let me strive a little harder
To be all that I should be

Let me be a little meeker
With the brother that is weaker
Let me think more of my neighbor
And a little less of me

Let me be when I am weary
Just a little bit more cheery
Let me serve a little better
Those that I am strivin’ for

Let me be a little meeker
With the brother that is weaker
Think a little more of others
And a little less of me

Try a Little Kindness - Tim Surrett

Songwriters: Bobby Austin / Curt Sapaugh

If you see your brother standing by the road
With a heavy load from the seeds he’s sowed
And if you see your sister falling by the way
Just stop and say, you’re going the wrong way

You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

Don’t walk around the down and out
Lend a helping hand instead of doubt
And the kindness that you show every day
Will help someone along their way

You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

You got to try a little kindness
Yes show a little kindness
Just shine your light for everyone to see
And if you try a little kindness
Then you’ll overlook the blindness
Of narrow-minded people on the narrow-minded streets

Possible hymns:

Angry Words

Prince of Peace, Control My Will

O To Be Like Thee

Let the Beauty of Jesus Be Seen in Me

I Want to Be More Like Jesus

Precious in His Sight - the Sanctity of Unborn Human Life

More resources and links may be added as this post is revised. 

New resource: Abortion and the Conscience of the Nation, by President Ronald Reagan: http://coryhcollins.blogspot.com/2018/01/abortion-and-conscience-of-nation.html

New resource: Report from Texans for Life Coalition (added to the end of this post): 
http://www.texlife.org/single-post/2017/How-did-we-do-prolife

New resource: "Speaking the Truth: Ani's Oral Report" gives a great example of what a student in a public school can do. 
http://www.epm.org/resources/2001/Jul/16/speaking-truth-anis-oral-report/

New resource: Colson Center's "21 Days of Prayer for Life." Download here:

http://www.breakpoint.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/FINAL-2018_21-Days-PDF_v1_sm.pdf

These are sermon notes, not written in a polished or finished manuscript form. To see the video of this and other sermons: 
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCu4zUK_ahzdiU15PL6dcAXA/videos

Ps 139:13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. 15 My frame was not hidden from You, When I was made in secret, And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth; 16 Your eyes have seen my unformed substance; And in Your book were all written The days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. 17 How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! 18 If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You. 

January 22, 2018, is the 45th anniversary of the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade that legalized abortion on demand in our country.  Since then, approximately 57 million lives have been lost to abortion as a result of that deadly decree. Let’s consider and recommit ourselves to the biblical case for the value of preborn human lives. “Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight!”

January 22, 1973 – The U.S. Supreme Court, in

Roe v. Wade, legalized abortion on demand.

To date about 57 million lives have been taken.

Planned Parenthood’s 2017 death toll: 321,384.

What does God say about that? What do you?

You knitted me together in my mother’s womb.

I praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made!

Ps 139:13-14

God’s Plan: Marry, Conceive, Bear

Ge 1:27-28 He created man (male and female) in His image. He blessed them. “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it …”

Ge 2:24 Leave – cleave – one flesh.

Ge 4:1 Now the man knew his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain. She said, “I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD.”

Ge 4:25 Adam knew his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel, for Cain killed him.”

God’s Gift: Life at Conception

Heb 11:11 By faith even (Abraham’s wife) Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised.

Ge 25:21-26 Isaac’s wife Rebekah was barren. Isaac prayed. She conceived. Twins! The children struggled within her. God: “Two nations are within your womb.”

Ge 29:31 … the LORD … opened [Leah’s] womb (enabled her to conceive), but Rachel was barren.

Ge 30:22 Then God opened [Rachel’s] womb.

Exodus – Pharaoh ordering death of Hebrew males.

What if he had ordered them aborted ten minutes before birth?

Would that be any different in the sight of God?

God’s Gift: Life at Conception

1 Sa 1:19 … Elkanah knew (had relations with) Hannah his wife, and the LORD remembered her. 20 It came about in due time, after Hannah had conceived, that she gave birth to a son; and she named him Samuel, saying, “Because I have asked him of the LORD.”

John the Baptist: at Conception

Lk 1:15 John to be “filled with the Holy Spirit while yet in his mother’s womb.”

Lk 1:24 … Elizabeth became pregnant … 25 “the Lord looked with favor upon me, to take away my disgrace among men.”

Lk 1:36 “And behold, even your relative Elizabeth has also conceived a son in her old age; and she who was called barren is now in her sixth month. 37 “For nothing will be impossible with God.”

Lk 1:41 When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. 42 And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb! 43 “And how has it happened …, that the mother of my Lord would come to me? 44 “For behold, when the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby leaped in my womb for joy.”

The ancient Greeks knew! βρέφος (brephos)  - “baby,” whether preborn or newborn. Cf. Lk 2:12.

Mary: the Virgin Conception

Mt 1:18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit.

20 … an angel of the Lord appeared to [Joseph] in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her (that which has been begotten in her) is of the Holy Spirit.”

The male “begets” that which is “conceived.”

What Our Loving God Hates

Pr 6:16 There are six things which the LORD hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers.

What Our Loving God Commands

Pr 24:11 Deliver those who are being taken away to death, And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.

Tertullian’s Apology (defense)

Tertullian, a church leader in the second century, wrote in his Apology in AD 197: “But with us, murder is forbidden once for all. We are not permitted to destroy even the fetus in the womb, as long as blood is still being drawn to form a human being. To prevent the birth of a child is a quicker way to murder. It makes no difference whether one destroys a soul already born or interferes with it coming to birth. It is a human being and one who is to be a man, for the whole fruit is already present in the seed.”

The Didache, an early Christian document which dates to the 2nd century AD, states quite plainly: “You shall not murder a child by abortion, nor kill them when born.”

Romans engaged in exposure, putting unwanted newborn babies out to die.

Will Durant estimates that 99 families out of 100 made it a regular practice to abandon all daughters except the first one to die.

Eventually, Christian influence led to laws in the Roman Empire which prohibited abortion and criminalized the practice of abandoning unwanted infants.

Even as late as 1961, National Council of Churches adopted a Statement on Responsible Parenthood which proclaimed: “Protestant Christians are agreed in condemning abortion … The destruction of life [which has] already begun cannot be condoned as a method of family limitation.”

The Right to Life:

Religious – or Also Constitutional?

Declaration of Independence: “We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness …”

The right to life – for all human life!

Nature and Logic

Hippocratic Oath

Named after Hippocrates, c.460-c.370 B.C., Greek physician, recognized as the father of medicine.

“First do no harm.”

Book by Williams, Obstetrics, suggests that an obstetrician can treat the unborn infant as a “second patient.”

Bumper sticker: “Of all the patients that enter abortion clinics, only half come out alive.”

Dr. Paul A. Byrne of St. Vincent’s Medical Center in Bridgeport, CT, wrote: “I have never read a medical text, or heard of a medical doctor writing or stating that what exists at conception is not a new human life ... Abortion destroys human life. Simply stated, before abortion there is life, after abortion there is death.”

California medical journal, just three years before Roe V. Wade, said that the social acceptance of abortion is a “defiance of the long-held Western ethic of intrinsic and equal value for every human life, regardless of its stage, condition or status.”  Reagan, p. 25

Malcolm Muggeridge, the English writer: “Either life is always and in all circumstances sacred, or intrinsically of no account; it is inconceivable that it should be in some cases the one, and in some the other.”

Yet now we have come full circle, back to the values of Rome before Christianity’s influence.

Early Development of Babies

Abortion ends a pregnancy by destroying and removing the developing child. That baby’s heart has already begun to beat by the time the mother misses her period and begins to wonder if she might be pregnant (about 31 days after the mother’s last menstrual period or LMP). Surgical abortions are usually not performed before seven weeks, or 49 days LMP. By that time, the baby has identifiable arms and legs (day 45) and displays measurable brain waves (about 40 days). During the seventh through the tenth weeks, when the majority of abortions are performed, fingers and genitals appear and the child’s face is recognizably human. Source: "Abortion: Some Medical Facts", NRLC Educational Trust Fund pamphlet, 1996.

Brainwaves in babies have been detected as early as 40 days after conception.

An unborn baby can feel pain at least in the 3rd month.

About 3 weeks, one day after fertilization, when the heart first begins to beat, the sound of the little heart is too soft to hear. Very soon thereafter, they can see the motion using ultrasound technology. http://www.ehd.org/dev_article_unit4.php

Dr. Beverly McMillan, an obstetrician and gynecologist, writes: "The baby is human from the moment of conception. When the one cell it is made of has characteristic 46 chromosomes of the human species, it is unique from that moment. Eighteen days after conception your baby's heart is already beating, probably pumping a different blood type than yours. This is almost at the time you would miss your menstrual period. Ten days after conception the baby has planted him or herself in the wall of the uterus and stops your menstrual flow. Forty days after conception (doctors) have recorded brain waves. If you touch a little baby's nose at that point it will draw its head back, so there is definitely some sensation at that time. You can see little arm buds showing up than. By eight weeks we can even hear the baby's heart beat with an ultrasound stethoscope. In abortions done after that time you can see identifiable body parts." http://www.friendsoftheunborn.org/abortion-facts.html

So … What Happened?

The Fourteenth Amendment (ratified in 1868) guarantees various rights to “persons” in the U.S.

But by a 7-2 decision, the 1973 Roe v. Wade USSC declared that the unborn are not persons and therefore have no guaranteed rights or privileges!

Thus they legalized abortion on demand! Against all legal, historical, cultural, and moral precedents.

Seven judges - just seven people! - ruled without any vote from the American people, any law from the U.S. Congress, or any signature from a U.S. President.

Abortion became a multi-million dollar business.

Planned Parenthood, the #1 provider, runs nearly 600 clinics and receives millions of our tax dollars.

They advise women to abort their own offspring.

The pro-abortion lobby is forceful, well-funded.

Political leaders, even whole party platforms, promote “freedom to choose” death for babies.

The Democratic Party has continued to proclaim that the unborn child has no right to life or other guaranteed rights. Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, speaking April 3, 2016, on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” said, “The unborn person doesn’t have constitutional rights.”

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/apr/3/hillary-clinton-unborn-person-has-no-constitutiona/

But nature, logic, science and the conscience all cry out with one voice: babies deserve to live!

Babies now even star in their own movies. They are called ultrasounds!

Be Informed!

“Abortion.” “Fetus.” “Pro-choice.” “Anti-abortion.”

“Abortion” is a neutral-sounding term that refers to the taking of human life.

“Terminating a pregnancy” sounds better than “terminating a life.”

“Pro-choice” sounds better than “pro-death.”

“Fetus” sounds more scientific and neutral than “baby,” but “fetus” is simply the Latin word than means “baby.”

Carol Everett, a former abortion clinic manager who supervised the killing of over 35,000 babies, said the main question they were repeatedly asked was, “Is it a baby?” And the uniform answer they were to give was, “No, it’s only a glob of tissue, [like a tumor or an appendix].”

Fetus is Latin for “unborn baby!” Not neutral. Semantic game.

“It’s my body” misses the fact that the unborn baby is NOT the mother’s body.

“My right to choose” means “my right to end a preborn human life.”

My rights end where another’s rights begin.

Rape, incest and threat to the mother’s life account for 1% of all U.S. abortions.

In 1972 (before Roe vs. Wade) 39 U.S. women reportedly died from illegal abortions.

All who favor abortion have already been born.

About 1 in 3 women – abortion by age 45.

About 85% in the U.S. – unmarried women.

Man’s immoral “solution” to a moral crisis.

Pleasure without consequences. Men walk free.

Yet there are many unintended consequences.

Abortion imposes a death sentence on the victim.

85%-plus will change their minds after seeing an ultrasound.

“I hope it’s a girl!”

Take Action!

Don’t fight or flee. Instead pray, vote, and engage.

What the Church and Each Christian Can and Must Do

Know the Scriptures.  Learn how abortions are performed.  Teach your children.  Win your neighbor to Christ.

Locate and contribute to your local Crisis Pregnancy Center.  Lack of funds and volunteers.

Affiliate with pro-life organizations.

Promote alternatives, including adoption and caring for those pregnant out of wedlock.

Tell your representatives in Congress and the Senate of your convictions.

Support pro-life legislation, including a Human Life Amendment to the Constitution.

Pray for the unborn and for God’s hand to protect them.

Pray for abortionists, that their consciences will be pricked.

Distribute information to others.

Ask questions that prompt thinking and discussion.

“Who – or what – gives human life its value?”

“Is the unborn fetus human, one of us?”

“What is the value of human life, and why?”

“Why was abortion illegal before 1973?”

“Could your mother have rightly aborted you?”

“If one can be ‘pro-choice’ about taking unborn human life, can one be ‘pro-choice’ about taking other human life?”

Take Action!

“Is partial-birth abortion morally acceptable?”

“If so, could you assist with this procedure?”

“If not acceptable, why not?”

“Is abortion in the third trimester morally right?”

“If abortion, why not infanticide and euthanasia?”

“How is the value of human life to be measured? By size? Maturity? Brain capacity? Habitat? Degree of dependency? Contribution to society? If so before birth, why not after birth and in old age?”

The unborn baby is not a “what” but a “who!”

Report from Texans for Life:

• Felony ban on partial birth abortions that Texas can enforce
• Ban on dismemberment abortions
• Ban on sale, donation or research of fetal remains from elective abortion
• Humane disposition of fetal remains required
• Felony ban on forced abortion in connection with sex trafficking
• Clinics required to post sex trafficking hotline in restrooms
• Alternatives to Abortion fund doubled
• Conscience protection for foster families not wanting to assist with abortion
• IVF patients to be informed of embryo adoption option

• Hospitals required to report abortion complications apart from maternal health complications
• Ban on insurance coverage of abortion
• Expanded reporting of minors' abortions
• DNR reform to protect patients' rights
• 
  
• http://www.texlife.org/single-post/2017/How-did-we-do-prolife 

“Gone with the Wind” – More than Just a Movie

It was sensational. It was controversial. It was historic. In 1939 the film “Gone with the Wind” crossed a major line in the movie industry, provoking excitement and criticism. The producers also drew huge profits by doing so, as they intended. Their shocking move was immensely successful, at least from an economic point of view.

What was it? Simply this. The movie included the word “damn,” in the very famous last line. Rhett said to Scarlett, “Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a _____.”

Prior to the film's release, censors objected to the use of the word in the film. The word had been prohibited by the 1930 Motion Picture Production Code. Yes, prohibited! Why? Well, to those with traditional values and religious convictions, to “damn” a person was to wish that person condemned to hell. That is how the word originated. People who feared God, and believed in the reality of hell, did not use the word in polite speech. They would shudder if they heard someone else say it.

But the risk paid off. True, the producers had ridiculed current social values and offended the consciences of many. But they likely anticipated a huge payoff, and they got it. They may have figured that the initial criticism would die down, and it did. Most people would pay to see the film anyway. After all, any customers who hesitated would hear how outstanding the film was as a whole. They would justify seeing the movie – overlooking what they found offensive – and they would buy their tickets. After all, they might ask, was it really that big of a deal after all?

The more I have thought about the explosive step that those producers took, the more I have realized what is going on in our declining culture.

In my years I have seen this "Wind" strategy used effectively many times. The movie industry, a major national retail chain, or another commercial interest decides to add something questionable, objectionable, or even outright immoral. Then these events seem to follow in order:

The instigator (movie company, merchant, etc.) proudly goes public, advertising its bold new move.

Initially, many with conservative values publicly object. They may refuse to support the agenda with their money, because it genuinely violates their consciences. They are also concerned about the potential damage to society that may result.

Then those who accept or embrace the change, or see it as rather harmless, accuse the conscientious conservatives of being self-righteous or of making much ado about nothing. “They are so strict and so judgmental!”

The instigator enjoys the publicity and the profits that it has generated.

The boundary line of acceptable practice moves farther left once more.

Those who have not moved with the shifting sand are then ridiculed and marginalized as bigots or fanatics. They are treated as a tiny majority and called the “religious right;” they are defined as being off-center, on the fringe. It is they, not the instigators of the new morality, who are the extremists. How dare they say that people should not support such changes with their money or their influence? How picky and mean can people be?

Those in search of bigger profits and more customers then look for the next controversial move that they can make to repeat the cycle on a grander scale. It may be disturbing. It may hurt marriages, families, children, and friends. But it will make money for sure. And, hey, people will get over it and even reward it.

In my generation I have seen this pattern used effectively to move many boundaries. These include the growing acceptance of premarital sexual relations, the promotion of adultery, the breakup of the traditional family, the use of rude, crude, disrespectful language, the open description of private body parts and functions, the weakening role of the male in the American family, social and gender engineering, abortion, and more. I have seen high standards lowered and seemingly eliminated. I have seen movie ratings like "PG-13" slide all over the place.

I fear that I will see the "Wind" pattern again, and again, and again. I am even more concerned for the generations that follow me.

The title itself, “Gone with the Wind,” was intended to describe a culture that was becoming a thing of the past. The life that Rhett and Scarlett had known would exist no longer. Ironically enough, we must ask ourselves in this post-Christian era, “Will the God-fearing, Bible-believing, people-loving culture that we have known become … ‘gone with the wind?’”

I am alarmed. I am ashamed. How have people with solid convictions – how have I myself – allowed such intrusions to occur? Where are the defensive linemen, who will plant ourselves and say, “Enough! You are not taking one more inch of this field!”

Join me in affirming what Scripture says:

Rom 1:28 And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29 being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31 without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

"Gone with the Wind." It really is more than just a movie. It's a movement.