It's Everywhere

    In case you haven't noticed, Star Wars is pretty much everywhere. Bookstores, costume stores, and grocery stores (Not too long ago, a friend of mine got a C-3PO pen from a cereal box). But it's not just stores. Books that really have nothing to do with Star Wars make references to it. I was reading Echoes From the Edge by Bryan Davis and found that it was full of quotes and references. Loved it! Movies also have Star Wars in them. Race to Witch Mountain had Storm Troopers and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian had Darth Vader. But it is not just media that incorporates Star Wars.
    Last winter, a pastor wrote the following article on his church's guide:

A Long Time Ago in a Galaxy Far, Far Away ...

Remember from where you have fallen; repent, and do the works you did at first. If not, I will come to you and remove your lampstand....

(Revelation 2:6)

I don't know whether it's the Christmas season, my advanced age (58) or maybe some strange chemical inbalance in my system, but I find myself remembering with nostalgia the world in which I grew up, a world the no longer exists. I remember when:

• Only one of my childhood friends had divorced parents.
• Friday night high school football games were opened with prayer.
• You had to drive across the country line to but alcohol.
• We seldom locked our doors.
• Every store and gas station in town was closed on Sunday.
• Those who wanted to gamble had to drive to Nevada.
• Homosexual behavior (sodomy) was not only considered immoral but was classified as a mental disorder by the American Psychiatric Association.
• Public school classes began every day with the Lord's Prayer.
• A girl in my high school (in Georgia) had to go all the way to New York to get an abortion.
• Receiving government aid was an embarrassment.
• There was no email, Facebook, cell phones, Twitter or texting and people actually carried on meaningful conversations face to face.
• Living together before marriage was a scandal.
• No one would dare think of organizing sports events on Sunday.
• Astronauts flying around the moon read from the Bible on national television.
• School assembly programs invited local pastors who sometimes finished their messages with an "altar call."
• Sunday evening service was more exciting that Sunday morning.
• Mormonism was a cult.
• I didn't know the meaning of words like pedophilia, anorexia and transvestite and had to look them up in the dictionary.
• The only medication in our medicine cabinet was adult aspirin and Mercurochrome.
• "Gay" meant happy and "straight" meant honest.
• Children could ride their bikes (without helmets) all over town and come home at dark without parents worrying about their safety.
• Moral standards for television forbade scenes showing a couple together in bed, even if it was a husband and wife.

My, how times have changed! I do not want to glamorize the past or whine for the good ole' days, but something has been lost. And though I may grieve for that which is no more, I pray that sorrow will lead to greater efforts of moral and spiritual reformation, not passive despair. Though some battles have been lost, the outcome of the war is yet to be determined. We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work (John 9:4).

Pastor Stan

I agree with everything Pastor Stan is saying. Our society has changed so much. As today (Thursday, May 3) is National Day of Prayer, take some time to pray for our nation, leaders, and to end abortion.