Happy Friday

WHAT'S BEHIND OUR MORAL DECLINE?
  by C. R. Stam

One does not have to be a prude to conclude that our country is suffering a serious moral decline. Our rulers and law enforcement agencies seem powerless to cope with it. Campaigns to check it seem vain. J. Edgar Hoover of the FBI warned us again and again that the alarming rate of this downward trend would spell ruin for America if not checked soon. But what most people fail to realize is that behind this moral decline there is a spiritual decline. America has departed from God and His Word.

Paul's letter to the Romans tells us how the heathen got that way. Rom. 1:21,22 says: "When they knew God they glorified Him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools," and the verses that follow tell how God finally had to "give them up" to "unclean- ness" and "vile affections"--all because "they did not like [wish] to retain God in their knowledge" (Ver. 28).

St. Paul further describes them in Eph. 4:17-19, as walking "in the vanity of their mind, having the understanding darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart; who being past feeling [conscience] have given themselves over to lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness." This, sad to say, is an accurate description of increasing numbers in America today. They are throwing off restraint and going after uncleanness "with greediness."

But this is not liberty, it is enslavement. It is not a sign of strength, but of weakness. It does not indicate superior intelligence, but grossest ignorance, and is the result of alienation from God.
How much better off are those who have come to know God through Christ! Of these the Apostle says:
"And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He reconciled, in the body of His flesh, through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight" (Col. 1:21,22).



Daily Smile:
A vampire bat came flapping in from the night covered in fresh blood and parked himself on the cave's roof to get some sleep. Soon all the other bats smelled the blood and began hassling him about where he got it. He told them to shut up and let him get some sleep, but they persisted until he finally gave in."OK, follow me." He flew out of the cave with hundreds of bats behind him. Down through a valley they went, across a river and into a forest of trees. Finally he slowed down and all the other bats excitedly milled around him."Do you see that tree over there?"

"YES, YES, YES!!" the bats all screamed in a frenzy.

"Well I didn't!"

In The News:

Vatican Welcomes Obama Gun Control Proposal
The Vatican praised President Barack Obama's proposals for curbing gun violence, calling them a "step in a right direction," the Huffington Post reports. The Vatican's chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Saturday that 47 religious leaders had appealed to members of Congress "to limit firearms that are making society pay an unacceptable price in terms of massacres and senseless deaths," adding: "I am with them. The initiatives announced by the American administration for limiting and controlling the spread and use of weapons are certainly a step in the right direction." Lombardi renewed Vatican appeals for disarmament and encouragement for measures to fight "the production, commerce and contraband of all types of arms." Obama, who is trying to rally support for reinstating a ban on assault weapons and requiring background checks on all gun sales, faces stiff opposition in Congress and from pro-Second Amendment groups. 

Russia Sends Mixed Signals on Adoption Ban
In the wake of Russia’s new law banning U.S. adoptions, parents who have poured years of time and thousands of dollars into the adoption process now wait with bated breath to learn whether they can bring their children home. Since December, they have continued to get conflicting information, but this month, Russia’s children’s rights ombudsman, Pavel Astakhov, reassured American parents that they would be allowed to leave with their children. Russian courts had approved adoptions for 52 U.S. families before Putin signed the ban into law, but many of these families say Russian authorities now refuse to turn over their children. The anti-adoption law, retaliation for U.S. sanctions against Russians identified as human rights violators, was rushed through parliament in December and sped to President Vladimir Putin's desk in less than 10 days. Last week, tens of thousands rallied in central Moscow to protest the law, which the demonstrators say victimizes children to make a political point. Astakhov vehemently defended the new law, saying it would not be revoked "however big the protests are." He also said Russia would honor the previous court decisions, but did not elaborate on a timeline. "All the children who have been approved to be adopted will be able to leave for the U.S.," he said.