5-13-19<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Another holiday over. Now we can get back to normal. It\u2019s not as bad as Christmas, with those countless little decorations. Maybe more like Thanksgiving. After that one, it\u2019s \u201cturkey this\u201d and \u201cturkey that\u201d until we\u2019re sick of it. Now, a few Easter decorations, but leftover ham isn\u2019t bad, and, well, deviled eggs and egg salad for a couple weeks will never kill anybody.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n I wonder who those new people were at church on Easter. Actually, they didn\u2019t\u00a0<\/em>act\u00a0new; everybody seemed to know them. Maybe they joined since we were last in church\u2026 what? Last year?\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n Such thoughts go through a lot of minds in this land of many churches.<\/p>\n\n Some churches have nicknames for certain worshipers, or perhaps we can call them audiences. \u201cChreasters.\u201d Folks who show up in the pews twice a year, Christmas and Easter. Which is better than no weeks per year\u2026 isn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n\n God doesn\u2019t need your fannies in the pews. He wants<\/em> them\u2026 but He does not need them. The same with your offerings: your money, your talents, your resources? He wants your heart<\/em>, not your pennies. It is about what you want to give, not anything He needs.<\/p>\n\n The spiritual fervor during Lent and Holy Week and Easter Sunday is good; good for our souls as we contemplate, meditate, hide the meaning in our hearts.<\/p>\n\n But we cannot deny that for the most part, society and our culture are little changed \u2013 as they really ought to be changed \u2013 after Easter. This is not totally attributable to human nature, the natural inclination of our wayward hearts. Not in the year of our Lord 2019; not in Western civilization as it has evolved; not in contemporary churches.<\/p>\n\n I believe the reason that the Resurrection means so little today is that we live in a culture of death.<\/p>\n\n When did we become a Culture of Death? What are the signs? \u2013 among many signs are legal abortion and mercy killings (excuse me, \u201cassisted death\u201d) of the elderly; the promotion of homosexuality, which obviously is antithetical to life and procreation; same-sex \u201cmarriage,\u201d by the same standard; the ubiquity and toleration of drugs, which is a suicidal tendency; the prevalence of divorce, abuse, and illegitimacy; the de facto<\/em> abandonment of Christian principles in homes, schools, the public square. \n\n Of the rear-guard battles fought by Christians today, we really ought to surrender \u201cunder God\u201d in the Pledge, and \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d from the currency. Is<\/em> America one nation under God? In God we trust \u2013 really<\/em>? Do we? \n\n Easter Day has passed\u2026 but is Easter \u201cover\u201d? Did Jesus rise\u2026 or not? If He lives, does He live in America? Does He live in your heart? Is this a nation of Life\u2026 or a Culture of Death?\n\n