 Thursday, Oct 23, 2014
It hasn’t happened yet, but some government officials in the Russian Federation want Halloween off the calendar. They charge that “horror-themed parties induce lowly feelings and turn into orgies.” The Culture Ministry has been approached with attempts to shut down any recreational establishment from featuring “youngsters dressed as corpses and monsters scaring children.” Last year a leading representative of the Russian Orthodox Church, Vsevolod Chaplin, called such practices dangerous, declaring, “At first, people play with the evil spirit as a joke, but then they begin to play seriously with these things. This leads to serious problems: sickness, sadness, and despair.” While I’m not for the kind of censorship that currently chills some dissent in Russia, one has to wonder: What kind of upside-down world do we live in when America, the country with the largest Christian population in the world, fails to significantly protest what Putin’s Russia laments? In losing our spiritual bearing have we ceded the moral high ground to a country that was dominated by systematic atheism for more than a century? Whatever the fault in logic by Russian Halloween protestors, you’ve got to at least admire their rectitude. That’s more than I can say for our fear-filled leader above.
An encouraging word: GOD SEES YOUR STRUGGLES Ever feel like God isn’t there when you cry out to him? He is there. Psalm 10:14 tells us, “But you, O God, do see trouble and grief.” The Lord is aware of all our struggles and pain. He wants to intervene, but sometimes even the Lord must stand back due to our sins and disobedience. People whom I counsel sometimes say to me, “Why has God allowed so much misery in my life?” But probing deeper I find they have allowed themselves to be filled with anger and bitterness. Sometimes they have sought out psychics or other forms of divination to get answers. Know this. God does see your trouble. Your task is to make sure that your own failings are not in His way of intervening in your life.
Bob Larson has trained healing and deliverance teams all over the world to set the captives free and Do What Jesus Did� (Luke 4:18). You can partner with Bob and support this vision to demonstrate God’s power in action by calling 303-980-1511 or clicking here to donate online. |
