Everybody’s heard about the legal troubles of quarterback Michael Vick. In the midst of it, guess what? I just read this quote from Vick in Time magazine. “Through this situation, I found Jesus.”*
Some are skeptical, but I hope he did. I hope he allows God to do a great work in his life. I hope for years to come we will hear from Michael Vick about what the Lord is doing in him and through him.
You know what we need to do? Pray fervently for Michael Vick.
Here’s another news item, reported Monday by WCTV television. And to tell you the truth, it kind of shocked me. They said that the high school graduation rate for black males around Tallahassee was, quote, “hovering around 50%.”**
Now just let that sink in. Think about what kind of job you can get without a high school diploma. It’s bad enough what you can get with just a high school diploma, but without? That is not a bright future.
And speaking of bright future, Florida makes it so easy to get a good education. First of all, the public schools are free. And if you do a good job, the state offers the Bright Futures Scholarship to cover your college tuition. It’s an incredible opportunity.
And yet roughly half the young black men around Tallahassee will miss the boat entirely. I don’t know how many that is, but let’s just say it’s around 500 kids a year. In ten years, that’s 5,000 young men with very little education. What are they going to do? How are they going to get a job or support a family or have any kind of stable life?
You know what we need to do? Pray fervently for the young black men around Tallahassee, and also for those who are trying so desperately to reach them.
Here’s a news item you won’t read about in your local paper. I am deeply concerned about this issue. I think it is a plague that is tearing its way through our country, and I have no idea how to stop it. I feel like I’m standing on the beach looking up at a 100 foot wave. What else can I do but yell in fear?
I am talking about the plague of internet pornography. It is an onslaught from hell. It dehumanizes and degrades. Computer users become peeping toms, and begin to see people as mere objects for their own pleasure.
And here’s the thing. When you dehumanize people, you become capable of all sorts of evil.
The plague of internet pornography operates at the moral microbial level. Its initial effects are unseen, taking place in the hearts and minds of the viewers. But so many viewers! Millions of viewers.
I think about this generation being raised with easy access to the internet, and all the filth it belches out. An entire generation influenced. I look at what is happening, and all I see is a 100 foot tidal wave. I think about my own daughters and who they will end up marrying. Will they find a Godly young man, unscarred by internet porn, a young man who won’t treat them as an object?
I read about the high percentage of pastors who have problems with internet porn. Not that long ago a porn problem would have immediately disqualified a pastor from the position. You cannot have a man as a spiritual leader who is taking little hits of the porn drug when he gets the chance. But the hellish part of it is that it’s so easy to get away with. And if that many people are doing it themselves, who’s going to bring it up? Who’s going to confront someone, if they don’t want their own computer’s hard drive examined?
I’m telling you, it is a flood of filth that is washing over our nation, and though we may not see the effects on the surface, they are coming. They have to. There is no way a nation can have such a morally rotten influence that is so prevalent, yet continue to function normally. It simply cannot happen. There is a big price tag on this one, folks, and I don’t have any idea what to do about it.
But I know one thing to do. Pray. Pray and intercede that God will somehow stem the tide of moral decay.
If there ever was a “stronghold,” pornography is a stronghold. Thank God Second Corinthians 10:4 says, “…the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds…”
Thank God James 5:16 says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Thank God there IS power in prayer!
It is not just the idle mumblings of the fearful. It is spiritual warfare! Things happen when we pray and call God to action! “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
So what can we do for Michael Vick? Pray!
What can we do for the young men whose futures look bleak? Pray!
And what can we possibly do about the plague of internet pornography? Pray!
Our nation’s future hinges on the effectual, fervent prayers of God’s people.
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May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold, I’m Doug Apple.
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