12Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
13But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
~ 2Ti 3:12-13
You don’t have to be a fan of someone to recognize and appreciate their talent. I’ve never owned a Whitney Houston album, but I did watch The Bodyguard and was impressed by her musical talent and that she would act as well. Some of the special effects in her early music videos seem a little corny now, but back then everyone was experimenting and hers at least had a spirit of fun.
Of course, not everything was well, as we know. I don’t care to drone on and on like the 24/7 news stations about her foibles. Perhaps the most shocking thing is that we are not shocked any longer by certain types of lifestyles.
It’s sort of strange to see old videos of Whitney Houston belting out the national anthem. You know, I have yet to hear anyone mention the very minor flap over what she wore then. There was, as I recall, some people who thought that wearing what appeared like a running suit was inappropriate. It seems funny now in a way, because it still was a sports event, after all. However, not a peep about it that I’ve heard.
Then again, compare this to another so-called icon who wasn’t satisfied until his face looked more like a wax representation of a face than a real one (in all reality, a little lipstick and it would resemble The Joker’s face) and was so incapable of normalcy that even the events surrounding the birth of two of his children are like scenes from a bad novel. I guess some things just don’t seem as shocking after things like that. Even the small flap over what Houston wore at the Super Bowl pales in comparison to wannabe superstars giving the finger during a performance and openly mocking Christianity during a mainstream awards show. The latter is one thing I rarely watch, and it appears that it will continue to be something I rarely watch if at all.
Ancient civilizations weren’t satisfied with sports that simply showed off the skills of the competitors. Losing became the death penalty. If the bloodlust wasn’t satisfied by that, then lions and other wild animals were used to violently rip apart human beings. Today, we have much of that channeled into video games, but as the games become more and more realistic it seems strange to ponder why violence seems so prevalent in our society. As the shock factor wears off, “entertainment” must become more and more shocking in a bizarre spiral that is already out of control.
Of course, violence isn’t the only aspect that will continue to grow worse. Basically, anything that can be attributed to selfishness will be exerted as a “right”, and legitimate concerns about society and culture will be ignored as “intolerant”.
That’s why the first verse of 2Ti 3 says “perilous times shall come.” Paul then goes on to enumerate exactly how and why. Twice he lists “the truth” and how mankind resists it.
Paul compares that resistance to knowing “doctrine”, that is the system of teaching of the “manner of life”. Paul continues on to exhort Timothy to continue in the things he has learned and to remember where he learned them. Where did Timothy learn these things?
15And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
16All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
17That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
All these things should lead to “good works”. Compare good works with the attributes of others listed at the beginning. Human behavior ruled by carnal lusts figures that whatever feels good is good and whatever feels bad is bad. That, coupled with the belief that human beings are inherently good, really is the problem. It was the problem that Adam and Eve had by rejecting what God told them is good and instead choosing for themselves what looked good.
Paul tells here in v 8 that people become “reprobate” by continuing to resist God. He said the same thing towards the end of Romans 1, in which those with a reprobate, or unfit, mind did not like to retain God in their knowledge. They did not do the things which are “convenient”, that is fitting. So, we have unfit vs fit.
Now, it is most likely that if drugs were involved in Houston’s death, then it was legalized prescription drugs that did her in. So, how unfit and downright strange and illogical is it for Tony Bennett to then go on a rant about how legalizing drugs will make deaths like this not happen? According to The Guardian article “Tony Bennett calls for drug legalisation following Whitney Houston’s death”:
According to Bennett, drug laws were responsible not just for Houston’s death but for the premature ends of Michael Jackson and Amy Winehouse. This is a bizarre claim: Winehouse died of alcohol poisoning, while Jackson was killed by the effects of a legal drug, administered by a doctor. Houston’s death has yet to be explained.
I question if there are very many left in the entertainment industry with a fit mind, indeed! However, as time goes on, I am beginning even to wonder if there are many fit minds left in the society at large or even the world. How many riots have occurred because of sports games? In fact, the last one in the news was a riot by those who had won! How reprobate is that? Not that I excuse rioting, but at least in the past it was usually by the ones who were the sore losers!
Can this happen to us? Can we become reprobates?
15Unto the pure all things are pure: but unto them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure; but even their mind and conscience is defiled.
16They profess that they know God; but in works they deny him, being abominable, and disobedient, and unto every good work reprobate.
~ Tit 1:15-16
62And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.
~ Lk 9:62
We need to keep ourselves spiritually separated from the world. We cannot get immersed in the cares of this world. If we wallow in a pig pen, we will get dirty. We cannot love the world. Remember Lot’s wife. We can either keep our eye upon our Savior and walk on water, or we can look at the blustery storms of life and sink. And, storms will come! Perilous times will come! Will we be like Lot and escape or like Lot’s wife and let our minds wander back to Sodom?
Beautiful voice, very talented, and good looking on top of it. But there’s something about that pop-star/ Hollywood lifestyle that leads to so many tragic deaths.
Anyway, did you notice how the media manipulated the big push for homosexual marriage? Every time the subject came up on the evening news, they’d hit you with a sudden clip of homosexuals kissing. And Hollywood promotes images of it almost non-stop.
When they keep slamming you with surprises – images and clips – then you eventually become numb to it. Once people are numb to it, the door opens.
I had turned off the TV at one point when it was bigger news last year because I was tired of my stomach turning. Today is Valentine’s Day, of course, so did anyone notice the Google video? Very subtle and very sneaky.
Been thinking about this myself the past few months more and more. It occurred to me a few years back – and this stays very much in the forefront of my thinking – that Christ was referring to the state of humanity as much as the obliviousness to Christ’s return in Matthew 24:37-39. Genesis 6:5 tells us: “Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” And that very aptly describes the world we live in now.