Know your Bible

We must be diligently growing in our knowledge of the Word. This discipline, however, comes with a price. It becomes difficult to sit still when others do or approve of things that are sinful or even blasphemous which are so obviously spelled out in scripture. 
   My wife and I sat through a play last night, whose setting was the night before Martin Luther King Jr.'s murder. This scenario was used as a vehicle for blasphemy against the Word of God. It was all very "spiritual" and made allusions to God and the afterlife, but no truth was contained in the words. Why we never got up and simply walked out, I don't know. 
It was all very "christianized" but there was no Christ in it. Worse yet, it totally misrepresented the seriousness of sin and evil that we must continually struggle against, all the while the characters were sinning in the progression of the story line. And the nail in the coffin was its total disregard for Christ's work on the cross. Rather than that saving grace that redeems us from sin, the play presented this idea that after we die somehow we are sent back to Earth as angels to accomplish a task to earn that forgiveness! UGH!!! Hopefully you can see more than just two things wrong with that line of thinking. 
   And now for the topper... I would say that Carla and I, even at our age, were by far some of the youngest people in the room. At the very end, the actor portraying MLK Jr. addressed the audience and called out, "Can I get an Amen?" And he got it... TWICE! After it was over, many stood up and applauded cheering on this hour and half long blasphemous drivel with so called Christian-overtones. Where was the wisdom of elders in that place?!? Where were the Bible Scholars and Sunday School Teachers? (Probably at home with good sense enough not to be there in the first place)
  Many of you who know me, know that in that public spectacle called "the arts," it is my opinion that we need to "bring back the boo." All too often, due to social convention, we applaud those who shouldn't be applauded which only gives rise to those few who actually thought it was good, so they in turn give a standing ovation to something that really isn't worthy, which in turn only adds to the peer pressure of the moment for others to stand up because "that's just what you do" at things like this.
   I didn't applaud, I didn't stand. But that is my problem this morning. Pray for me today as I seek forgiveness from Christ, my Lord and Savior that I didn't stand up for Him in that moment. When that actor called for an amen, I so wanted to exhort (loudly), "Read the Bible and learn about the God you've been blaspheming for the past hour and a half!" But I didn't. I even got a second chance a moment later! The actor had the audacity to call out to the audience again, "I said, can I get an amen?!?" Again I failed. Social convention got the better of me. There are times however, where "proper etiquette" needs to be shunned. Last night was one of those times. As my brothers and sisters in Christ, I ask your forgiveness for not standing up for our Lord. He was persecuted and hung on a cross for me and I couldn't even say a single sentence to honor Him. May I never be silent again.
       Lord, forgive me. 

Romans 1:32 and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things {unrighteousness} are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

James 4:17 Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

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