Romans 13:11-14

Romans 13:11-14

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. 12 The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13 Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. 14 But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

This is a serious story.

There is this "thing" on the internet.....It is in the realm of okay during the day, giving you something like 45 seconds of seeing people use their screens to do something like skype and see. It is well know in the teen years and college years.

Daytime is fairly good, as I said. People love to see each other. Night time is far from good. A lot of homosexual graphic acts.  And it all out there. This is what internet porn can be - forming a picture in your mind you will not be able to erase and speak of in years to come. These acts are meant to Shock or to lead into Temptation.  One night, 20 people drink quite a bit and gather in a dorm room. And they place 10 on once side and 10 on the other. And the man takes off his clothes to be nude. He takes his male anatomy and makes a gaffe. Like 'Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil'..... but there is not a gaffe like they use in transvestite bars, but it is tucked up. And still there is hair there. And he arranges his face to be very sensual.. The viewing people do not know if he is male or female. The people at his sides look just pleasant and very pleased by design. And the faces of the people watching are HORRIFIED. Because they started very early in the evening.

We have worked in Youth Ministry a long time, we've seen and heard lot.  And we are not easily shocked, sometimes to the sadness of Father GOD.  Our young friend said, well the parts were tucked in. We said. What. That is the Most Horrible Thing ever. Our friend said it was a prank. We said there is a name for that. What. LOW LIVING.

How do you mean, our friend, was a little puzzled.  You know people who want to be in the room with that and it was nudity as well as something else.  There were women in the room.... They thought it was funny. No, my friend, that is beyond being not funny.You should imagine what the Noble Generation, fighting World War II would say. They would throw up. That is called a terrible crowd.

That ended the conversation with a thud. There is a time to quit listening and respond.

As the seasons changed, I heard from our friend.  This young person had gone to Lake Travis with 25 or so friends. I was wary of the conversation.  And asked with trepidation,  and a desire to run away, if fun had occurred.

"Well, we rented a huge boat and everyone went in about $40 for a birthday. And there was something that happened I want to discuss with you. "

(.................Great.........) "Okay. Tell me, I'll listen."

"Well, the girls got loaded. (Oh, here we go.) And the wilder girls were going to get top nude and flash people. (Terrific). And so they got all ready to go. (.........) And. The wilder girls got ready to spring it on the next boat. (Ok,  next.) And the boat came nearer. And then we saw they had a Pirate flag."

"You mean what?"

"We didn't know what it meant. And.... Well it was men. (Ok.) And they were gay......... yes......... they flashed us. And it was.... BAD. And very....... graphic."

"Oh, how awful for you."

"It Was Awful."

"I bet." I said with real understanding.

Our friend went on to say, "The girls, were still dressed, but put on their tops and everyone got very quiet."

"Oh."

And the voice on the phone said," It was the best possible outcome. Right, it made people think. And I didn't want the girls to do it, they were skanks anyway, but it made it all in perspective....". It was the first time for that discussion to be understood about boundaries. And behavior. And homosexuals. You don't have to be mean about boundaries.

So God took something wrong and made it sweep up. 

The young people went in after the other boat laughed uproariously and darted off.

So. Father God, we give You this generation, the expense of college, the willingness of some professors to use their classes to spread disdain for boundaries. The need for affordable education. The shock a friend found in a college apartment as they moved their child in for a first year (or any year). And the need for the adults who used to participate in dorms and fraternity and sorority houses. We lift up the need to educate our country. And a Congress willing to educate the people without crippling debt. In the name of Jesus Christ, the LORD, sort us out Father GOD. Amen.

Amen.

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