Kyle Broad on Unsplash
Did the Super Bowl depress you?
I‘m still thinking about halftime. I didn't watch the game (although I'm always cheering for Tom Brady). But, I did catch the halftime show and something about it gave me the creeps. I knew it didn't seem quite right, at first glance, because often times things just send out that bad vide, right? And all the images flashed so quickly, I wasn't exactly sure what I was seeing. I felt the darkness of all those robots and ghoulish walking-dead mummy heads jumping around, filling the painful void of absent "live" backup dancers. Afterwards, I went back to the internet for a second look and the reason hit me in the forehead like a big black boulder!
Time out!
I do always want to bring hopeful messages to you and I am getting there, so please stick with me today.
Johannes Plenio on Unsplash
What happened Sunday?
I am old enough to remember when seedy, red-light districts were banished locations, where pornographic material and back-alley behavior shamed sections of town and stigmatized their visitors. And, looting, rioting, arson, anarchy, violence, and murder use to be prosecuted for the criminal acts they are.
In the neighborhood where I grew up, most everyone had a measure of faith. Even if they didn't, they recognized its benefit, so if my schoolmates didn't have their own religions or churches to attend, parents sent them along with all of us to the different community Bible schools, Sunday Schools, Church camps, softball events, parking lot fundraisers, holiday festivities, and Christmas craft shows/Nativity displays.
Times sure have changed.
God has been banned for so long now from the public arena, the demons don't even try to hide themselves anymore! That creepy, dark halftime show ushered the subliminal messages of blood, black/red outfits (always with those leather gloves used in Satanic rituals,) dark spirits, graveyards, black clouds/demonic bird images, and fire, into nearly every American home, while neon words highlighted the cramped animated high rises: "touch," "you're alone," "feel nothing,” “enough," “gone”). And, there was even that devilish stage with the ever-so-subtle SATAN backdrop!
2021 Super Bowl Halftime Show
The great awakening has arrived!
My apologies for the weight of such gloom, but It's a great time to recommit, if we haven't already, to our Bibles, prayers, devotional studies, and worship communities. I've notice chatter everywhere I go, and the word around town is calling for a spiritual revival.
The Word is Life!
“(To the chief Musician on Neginoth, A Psalm of David.) Hear me when I call, O God of my righteousness: thou hast enlarged me when I was in distress; have mercy upon me, and hear my prayer,” Psalms 4:1.
"Then shalt thou call and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and He shall say, Here I am... " Isaiah 58:9.
"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places,"
"Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness,"
"And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked,"
"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints,"
"And for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel," Ephesians 6:11-19.
Let us open our mouths boldly.
Doesn't it seem as though the shy days of mentioning God's good gospel news are long gone? Naturally, we want to use discernment to speak appropriately, and at the right times. But, hopefully, we are awakening to the precarious developments in our culture, and I especially see the need to double down in our efforts to protect the children and youth from this relentless onslaught. Light, life, & beauty always triumph over darkness, death, and terror, so all the more reason now to break out the Big Guns of Truth, Love, & Righteousness.
Hope, happiness, and healing are on the way!
The ebook is now finished and I have proofed the softcover for the new book, Heaven Heals (Finding Hope in the Reunion with Your Lost Loved One.) I'm ready to upload files for the hardcover, so I am hoping to meet the release date, now set for March 21, 2021! Thank you so much for the inspiration you give me, and I hope I am able to impart some words of hope, healing, & optimism into your life.
May you always feel God's love, as He leads you along that beautiful and winding road of happiness and success!
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