The Wages Of Sin

October 16, 2009
With all that’s going on around us today in regards to the news, the economy seems to be in the forefront. -- Especially here in America. - Unemployment is at its highest since the Great Depression, the national debt has quadrupled in just eight short months to $1.4 trillion, home foreclosures are at an all-time high, the failure of up to 1,000 banks is predicted, the dollar is declining in value and is under constant international attack, and on and on...

To dig a bit deeper, let’s look at the state of California. Many don’t realize that she has the eighth largest economy in the world. In fact, if it was its own country, it would be a member of the G-8, a committee of nations with the world’s largest economies.

But now it is being said that California may become America’s first failed state. This is incredible considering that just a very short time ago, she was held up as the epitome of the vast opportunities America had to offer. - For all intents and purposes, the state has collapsed.

From its politics to its economy to its environment and way of life, California is like a patient on life support.

At the start of summer the state government was so deeply in debt that it began to issue IOU’s instead of wages. Its unemployment rate has soared to more than 12%, the highest in 70 years (The Great Depression).

Desperate to pay off a crippling budget deficit, California is slashing spending in education and healthcare, laying off vast numbers of workers and forcing others to take unpaid leave.  - In a state made up of sprawling suburbs the collapse of the housing bubble has impoverished millions and kicked tens of thousands of families out of their homes.

The crisis is so deep that Professor Kenneth Starr, who has written an acclaimed history of the state, recently declared, “California is on the verge of becoming the first failed state in America.”

So what has gone so catastrophically wrong? -- Certainly the secularists will reel off many reasons such as inept leadership, disastrous fiscal management, and environmental decisions that have crippled industry.

While these are all good arguments, I want to submit a more specific reason - and that is its spiritual decline.

As for the nation, California, along with Massachusetts, has led the way in moral decay. To back this up, let me share just a few of the news headlines coming out of California in just the past couple of years:

2/15/07    

“Natural Family” Called Derogatory to Gays

3/3/07

School Kids March in “Gay” Parade

3/8/07

9th Circuit Endorses Censoring Christians

10/13/07

“Mom and Dad” Banished By California

12/18/07

“Gays” Plan to Target 2-Year Olds

3/13/08

“Perfect Storm” Hits California Schools Concerning “Gay” Curriculum

7/16/08

Major U.S. City Officially Condemns Catholic Church (San Francisco)

11/7/08

“Gay” Threats Target Christians Over Same-Sex Marriage Ban

1/13/09

Officials Ordered to Stop Prayer at Santa Rosa School District

5/27/09

Home Is No Place for Bible Study (San Diego)

5/28/09

Mandatory “Gay-Day” for K-5 Students (Alameda Co. School Board)

9/5/09

Angry Parents Suing Schools Over Mandatory “Gay-Friendly” Classes

10/3/09

California City Votes to Say Prayers Before Council Meetings - Faces Lawsuits

To continue, I would like to share just one more example of this public debauchery taking place:

Last September nearly 400,000 people assembled in San Francisco to celebrate the Folsom Street Fair. This is an annual hedonistic orgy to promote “leather pride”, which is a euphemism for sadomasochism, often referred to as “S & M”. This is a type of sexual perversion whose practitioners enjoy bondage, whipping, spanking and torture as forms of sexual expression.

The promotional poster for the event, sponsored by Miller Brewing Co., featured a blasphemous mockery of Da Vinci’s painting of the Last Supper. As the poster displayed, Jesus and His disciples were portrayed as half-naked homosexual sadomasochists. The bread and wine representing Jesus’ broken body and life-giving blood were replaced with sadomasochistic sex toys.

The city of San Francisco sanctioned the event and closed down several city blocks to accommodate it. They also provided police security. But the police were under orders to back-off from enforcing any of the city’s decency laws. The participants were therefore allowed to march down the streets scantily clad or fully nude. Many engaged in public sexual acts, including group orgies and masturbation.

Incredibly, no national media covered the event! They obviously felt it would be so repulsive to the general public that it would hurt the efforts to gain acceptance for homosexuals. Even more incredible was the fact that none of California’s political leaders were willing to condemn the activities.

Romans 1:24-27 says that one of the key manifestations of a society crying out for the wrath of God is “degrading passions” which produce a plague of homosexuality.

For Christians, with these facts laid before us, it is difficult to refute the argument that the loss of spiritual direction is the root cause for these debilitating societal problems. - Unfortunately, for the secular mind this position will make no sense at all. In fact, those of us who support this position will be considered religious “nut-jobs”.

What does God say about these worldly conditions? 2 Timothy 3:1-4 says, 

Sadly, we see these conditions existing in our world today -- and it is not exclusive to just California. - I personally believe that what we are seeing in the “Golden State” is just a mirror of what will take place in our nation, and the entire world in just a very short time.

God is love and He is patient, but how long will He put up with this blatant disrespect for His written word? - Because of what we are witnessing all around us, I believe His patience has just about run its course.

I know that the stock market just hit 10,000 this week, and the word out of Washington is positive, but I somehow do not share their optimism. -- Why? -- Trust me! I don’t enjoy being a constant doomsayer, but until we turn our faces toward Almighty God, all this will come tumbling down.

Remember, my opinion is not based upon what I think because that doesn’t really matter -- it is based upon what scripture tells us will be the outcome of a sinful lifestyle, both collectively and individually. Romans 6:23 states, “For the wages of sin is death.”

So what about hope through all of this? There is and that is the power of knowing Jesus Christ. When we see these things taking place and know through the Word that it is going to get worse before it gets better, the most powerful testimony is that we Christians are wholly at peace. 

While everyone around us is in a state of panic - fainting from fear - those of us who believe will only grow stronger as we see our Lord’s words coming true.

The Bible speaks of that which can’t be shaken -- and that is the praying Christians who will receive more and more encouragement from the Holy Spirit as we face these trying times.

Until next time,

Red