We have had record amounts of rainfall for this time of year recently.  When you combine this with warm weather and children, you get a dirty house.  The floors were muddy, the carpets had dirt and grass in them and the patio door was barely clear.  Tracking dirt into the house is normal all year round, but more apparent at this time of year.

We all leave the house and trudge through the outside world and bring dirt into the house.  The dirt clings to us and we have to take cautions if we don’t want it inside.  We can easily accomplish this if we wipe our shoes off and don’t wear them into the house.  What about the other dirt we can bring into the house?

The other dirt from the outside world is not of the organic type.  I am talking about the dirt of immortality, impurity, lust, and greed.  These things come into the house through various other sources.  We can unknowingly allow this dirt to enter our house through the radio, television, magazines and internet.  Our kids can bring it home from school or it can enter our homes from visitors.

While we can diligently fight the battle against organic dirt by using a vacuum or broom, but how can we fight against worldly dirt?  There are two ways to battle this, offensively and defensively.

To fight against worldliness offensively means to pour good values into your family.  Set standards for your family and teach your children right from wrong.  Teach children and actively practice yourself values such as modesty, generosity, thankfulness, being content, purity, and honesty.  Many of these values are found in the Bible and through a good Christian upbringing.  If you all are actively learning and practicing these values then it is easier not to get led astray by worldliness.

A good defense against worldliness is to protect your mind and heart from bad influences.  These influences are mentioned above and come mostly in the form of media.  The types of media we consume have a great effect on changing our morality and values.  The constant propaganda of the media can over time get us to buy into the world view.  Churches that once considered homosexuality an abomination are now ordaining homosexual ministers.  They were swayed by the changing morality of the world.

Defensive measures are monitoring the media you and your family read, watch and listen to.  You have to actively measure what you are consuming against your values to see if they fit.  If they don’t pass the test then get rid of them.  Rome didn’t crumble in a day; it took years to topple the empire.  Small compromises will also topple your family’s values and the end result is destruction.

Most everyone enjoys a clean house free from dirt and odor, but the dirt of worldliness is less noticeable and requires both offensive and defensive measures to keep your family safe.  Just like neglecting a little dirt here and there can lead to a filthy house, small compromises let the worldliness get a foothold that will eventually take over your household.  Stay clean.  Stay vigilant

Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position.  Some propaganda is obvious such as those used in Nazi Germany to bring Hitler from a political nobody to ruler of the country.  Other propaganda is hidden in plain sight barely noticed for what it is while it works to change the opinions of the population.  Perhaps all propaganda is barely noticeable until looking back and marking the change of opinion and the agents used to make it happen.  That is a whole other discussion, but now we will explore propaganda related to sexual issues.

Today, propaganda is hard at work to change the minds of the masses on the issues of homosexuality and pornography.  Take some time to be an active observer of the messages that are being sent about homosexuality for instance.  News stories are hammering away at the hypothesis that homosexuality is a tendency some folks are born with.  They have no choice so who are you to say it is wrong.  Television shows are featuring gay couples and characters as part of sitcoms.  Weaving homosexuals into TV programs makes them appear more mainstream and ‘normal’.  These shows evoke sympathy and acceptance of this lifestyle choice.

Propaganda to increase acceptance of pornography is active today.  How often do you hear references to internet pornography being dropped as punch line on a sitcom?  I have heard radio talk show hosts talk about internet pornography and how often they use it.  Do you think that articles about first amendment rights and spousal usage of pornography as healthy are propaganda?  There is still a stigma attached to pornography, but I see it slowly being eroded by the propaganda out there.

Whether you agree with me or not regarding propaganda being used to change minds about homosexuality and pornography, can you at least see the general decline or abandonment of values that once ruled?  There has been a breaking away from our moral bedrocks to become more ‘inclusive’ and more ‘tolerant’.  Those who take a stand against an activity that violates their moral and religious beliefs are labeled as haters and intolerant.  This whole issue is best saved for another article.

Breaking from our moral and religious beliefs and accepting the culture’s views does not happen over night.  Little by little our convictions are eroded by the constant propaganda all around us.  Allowing a steady flow of just a small bit of propaganda to our unconscious or unaware minds will plant seeds of doubt and eventually change us.  When we are exposed to something radically different from our convictions continually over time, our convictions can change and we could find ourselves doing and believing something that once was inconceivable.

We must actively look for these sources of propaganda and counteract them personally.  When we see a TV show with gay characters, we should avoid watching it.  If we hear a radio show talking about their favorite pornography websites, we need to change the station.  Don’t allow propaganda to influence your mind.

What do you think?  Is propaganda busily at work to change our minds and attitudes?

Matthew 5:30  And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell.

Matthew 18:8  If your hand or your foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire.

Sin is tough to get rid of.  It is like cancer, if you don’t clean it all out it will spread.  Pornography addiction is tough to kick.  The best thing we can do is to amputate our source of sin.  I don’t mean mutilating yourself.  I mean you need to cancel your cable or internet, throw out your X rated movies and magazines and avoid those places you know will temp you back into pornography.

Pastor Mike Cleveland gave a great sermon entitled “Radical Freedom”.   Mike is the founder of setting captives free – a website that has free bible studes for all sorts of addictions.  You can watch the video of his sermon by clicking here and pushing the Video button on the page:  Pastor Mike Cleveland – “Radical Freedom”

Sermon notes from Radical Freedom