|
|
|
|
|
|
| Every lie and half-truth carries with it a hidden danger ready to steal, kill and destroy our life in God. There’s an unexpected danger that is threatening a person who’s constantly being barraged with lies. A person can start to think that it’s impossible to know what’s true and what’s a lie and this can give way either to despair or to cynicism, both of which are dangerous paths for the Christian.
|
|
|
|
Those Lies You Keep Hearing? They're Working!
By Steve Gallagher
Every day you are the target of a nonstop blitz of
advertising meant to cajole you into buying some product or service. The more
time you spend watching TV, surfing the internet or reading magazines, the more
you subject yourself to this onslaught. When it comes time to make a purchasing decision, you must
navigate your way through the thick haze of hype presented by marketing firms.
Since manufacturers of both quality and inferior products use the same
advertising strategies (i.e. “Sell the sizzle, not the steak.”), every decision
becomes an agonizing search for truth. The thriving, flourishing Christian book trade is no
different. The level of godliness of the author or the biblical soundness of
what he has written has little or nothing to do with how many books he sells.
Instead, marketing dollars, ministry branding, image consultation and media
campaigns, all go into the worldly mix that persuades the average Christian to
purchase the book.
|
|
| Tweet This: "Many Christians are stuck in a vicious cycle: the more they indulge themselves in the world, the more unbelief clouds their minds; the weaker their faith in God, the more they turn to the world." |
|
But then you know all this, and that is precisely the point.
What you may not realize is how you have fortified yourself against this
constant barrage of exaggeration and falsehood with a deep-seated cynicism of
everything. This pervasive undercurrent of cynicism is one more deadly effect
of being plugged into the mindset of the godless culture in which we live. Have you ever considered how all of this is affecting
people’s faith? The fact of the matter is that the Church is permeated with
unbelief. By and large, Christians are stuck in a vicious cycle: the more they
indulge themselves in the world, the more unbelief clouds their minds; the
weaker their faith in God, the more they turn to the world. The faith of most
“believers” seems to be hanging by a thread. The “things of the world” loom
very large in the minds of most Christians, while the things of God have become
miniscule. |
|
| Tweet This: For the most part, Christians have become
incredibly hardened to the Word of God. It hardly penetrates their hearts
anymore, and consequently it seldom affects their behavior. |
|
This trend is most clearly evident in the way many people
respond when reading Scripture. For the most part, Christians have become
incredibly hardened to the Word of God. It hardly penetrates their hearts
anymore, and consequently it seldom affects their behavior. Why? Because they
don’t really believe what it says. Jesus perfectly described this phenomenon
when He said, “the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and
the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes
unfruitful.” (Mark 4:19) The Christian Body has become hopelessly addicted to
entertainment. We cannot fathom life without the flesh-gratifying world of
amusement. Unless believers do something to break the grip this world has on
their minds, their thinking will continue to be plagued by the cynicism that is
the natural outcome of subjecting oneself to the smooth words of a liar. There
in the dark realm of “the father of lies,” unbelief will flourish and infect
everything it touches. |
|
|
| Steve Gallagher is the Founder and President of Pure Life Ministries. He has dedicated his life to helping men find freedom from sexual sin and leading Christians into the abundant life in God that comes through deep repentance. |
|
Copyright © 2020 by Pure Life Ministries. Permission is granted to use, copy, distribute, or retransmit information or materials on this page, so long as proper acknowledgment is given to Pure Life Ministries as the source of the materials, and no modifications are made to such material.
|
|
|
|
| Truth - faithful to God's Word - is one of the key elements that will help you find freedom in the Pure Life Ministries Residential Program. |
|
|
| | 95 Narrow Way Williamstown, KY 41097 |
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Copyright © 2020 Pure Life Ministries, All rights reserved.
|
|
