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Is
this generation guilty of
the seven deadly sins, as
catalogued by medieval
theologians?
ARE
WE ALL GUILTY OF THE 7
DEADLY SINS?
YES,
WE ARE GUILTY of the 7
deadly sins! And this
consensus of opinion comes
from groups as diverse as
ecologists, historians and
theologians!
According
to Richard Pollay, historian
at University of British
Columbia, the values behind
modern advertising look much
like the seven deadly sins.
States
Pollay, "But the other
side of the coin is almost
absent. Ads don't encourage
compassion, selflessness and
the values that build a
strong community"!
The
business community has for
many years succumbed to the
"dog eat dog"
value system, in aggressive
and often unethical
competition among its
members. And we've known for
a long time, that
advertising agencies exploit
everything available, in
their quest for business.
ADVERTISING
AGENCIES EXPLOIT THE SEVEN
DEADLY SINS
Like
sex (lust), for example.
Scantily dressed, sensual
females, selling anything
from holiday packages to
automobiles, to a night out
at the cabaret!
And
a ruggedly handsome cowboy
promoting
"cancer-causing"
cigarettes, or an elegantly
dressed, jet-setting young
couple, standing beside a
deluxe car in the driveway
of a super expensive
home...promoting vodka!
(greed)!
Recently
(Dec. 1998), Alberta’s Telus
(phone company) came out
with a Christmas television
commercial with 3 wise men
bringing gifts, supposedly
to the Christ-Child (He was
not shown). Their gifts
consisted of gold,
frankincense & a mobile
telephone from Telus.
After a lot of callers
objected, the ad was pulled!
When
contacted by the TV media, I
voiced my opposition
declaring, "Nothing is
sacred or holy anymore!
Nothing is off limits to the
materialistic, secular
humanistic MINDSET! It shows
a terrible lack of
sensitivity and reverence
for God & the
Bible!"
"This
is but another calculated
move by an unthinking,
secular & materialistic
advertising agency to
utilize a part of the
Christmas Story to further
the economic goals of the TELUS
Corporation. We do not agree
with that concept. They have
crossed over the line of
decency and good taste! This
practice must stop! We
won’t put up with
it!"
Now,
an advertising historian is
saying the same thing. Our
advertising value-system is
seriously flawed! And that's
upsetting, when you consider
the thousands of ads we are
all subjected to through
radio, television,
billboards and printed
materials!
WE
HAVE BECOME GREEDY, ENVIOUS
PEOPLE, FULL OF
PRIDE &
SELFISHNESS
IT'S
NO WONDER THAT A LOT OF
CHILDREN ARE GREEDY,
SELFISH, ENVIOUS! They
want everything they see,
and have a problem sharing
what they have with others!
The
same could be said about
many adults who have become
narcissistic and hedonistic
in their approach to life.
This corrupted value system
helped spawn the Me
Generation, 'if it feels
good, do it' attitude and
the present YUPPIE and DINKS
mentality!
THE
WORLD HAS BEEN PLAYING GOD
& ABUSING THE PLANET
The
Asian economic recession has
taken a big bite out of the
economic pie and a lot of
people are frustrated and
let down!
And
the news about the depletion
of the ozone layer causing
enormous increases in skin
cancer, possible global
warming, a deteriorating
eco-system and the
stampeding HIV and AIDS
endemic, is causing people
to rethink their philosophy
of life.
Unfortunately,
large numbers are rudderless
without any proper spiritual
and moral grounding in God's
Word, the Bible...so become
fair game for the deceptive
occultist and pagan
teachings of the New Age
Movement and other cults!
Several
years ago Newsweek named the
guilty nations which are
adding to the destruction of
our planet. They presented
their own list of the
"seven deadly
sins" in an attack on
polluters!
Newsweek's
special report titled, Earth
at the Summit details the
three important items on the
table at Earth Summit '92,
in Rio de Janeiro:
 1)
Global Warming: A treaty
intended to curb emissions
of "greenhouse
gases" - principally
carbon dioxide - but without
specific target or
timetables.
2)
Agenda 21: A plan for
the industrial nations to
help poor countries develop
their economies without
ruining their environments -
or the planet's. Estimated
cost: US $125 billion per
year.
3)
Biodiversity: A treaty
to slow the loss of
endangered species. One
approach, give countries
royalties for products (such
as drugs) that are developed
from indigenous plants and
animals.
ECOLOGIST'S
HAVE MADE THEIR OWN LIST OF
THE SEVEN DEADLY SINS
The
Newsweek report stated,
"Adam was supposed to
be the first
environmentalist - the
caretaker in Paradise, even
a vegetarian. His fall
doomed us to repeat his
sins, time and again
despoiling the garden, and
casting ourselves into a
more imperfect world".
Here
are the Ecologist's 7
SEVEN DEADLY SINS: despair,
gluttony, temptation,
hubris, neglect, envy and
hatred.
ECOLOGIST'S
7 DEADLY SINS LIST
The
ecologist's blame the
condition of the world on
their own list of the seven
deadly sins. This is
the list they have devised:
despair, gluttony,
temptation, hubris, neglect,
envy and hatred.
Ecologist
Sin #1 - DESPAIR
Despair:
For the poor in the large
city ghettoes of Third World
nations like Brazil, the
only real concern is getting
enough to eat, staying alive
using whatever means to do
it!
With
open sewers and inadequate
clean water supply, speaking
to them about pollution
control and global warming,
is totally irrelevant. They
are filled with worry and
despair.
Ecologist
Sin #2 - GLUTTONY
Gluttony:
Americans have an insatiable
desire for raw materials.
They can consume anything.
The European immigrants cut
down all but 5% of their
forests, since arriving in
the New World. Ecologists
are blaming the rich
Americans for consuming more
than necessary, further
polluting the planet!
Ecologist
Sin #3 - TEMPTATION
Temptation: Polluters cannot
resist the temptation to
dump raw sewage in the
rivers, lakes and streams of
the world. The greatest
offenders are nations like
Mexico and US companies
which have moved their
operations there, to take
advantage of lax pollution
laws.
Ecologist
Sin #4 - HUBRIS
Hubris:
The meaning of hubris is
insolence or arrogance
caused by inordinate pride;
exaggerated self-confidence.
For
years the Soviet Union tried
to play God with nature. In
1960, it diverted two rivers
that fed the Aral Sea in
order to irrigate the arid
lands of Central Asia. The
chickens have come home to
roost and the water level in
the Aral is down two-thirds,
leaving boats and towns
stranded and drifting salt
storms.
Ecologist
Sin #5 - NEGLECT
Neglect:
The pollution caused by
decades of communistic rule
in the East-Bloc nations -
with their disregard for
human life - has severely
retarded these nations,
affecting the health of
millions. Unsafe nuclear
plants - like Chernobyl -
and the virtually unchecked
dumping of raw, hazardous
wastes into waterways like
the Elbe River has turned
them into "sewers of
death"!
Ecologist
Sin #6 - ENVY
Envy:
In her rush to catch up to
the west economically, China
has thrown caution to the
wind and also endangered the
population with deadly gases
from hundreds of factories.
In Benxi - the world's most
polluted city - 200
factories spew out more than
87 million cubic meters of
gases each year. And Beijing
is so smoggy that at times
it vanishes from satellite
photos!
Ecologist
Sin #7 - HATRED
Hatred:
When Saddam Hussein - Iraq's
cruel despot - retreated
from Kuwait - he
deliberately ordered the
destruction of 700 oil
wells. Black smoke hung over
that nation for nearly one
year, polluting the entire
region, until the fires were
put out!
He
also released millions of
gallons of oil into the gulf
waters, polluting, killing
and destroying marine life,
birds and insects,
endangering the underground
water supply and causing
respiratory diseases in
humans!
The
damage of his terrorism will
last for years to come and
the cost of the clean-up
could total $20 billion,
says Ibrahim Hadi, president
of Kuwait's Environmental
Protection Agency!
GOD
HAS THE FINAL WORD ON THE
SEVEN DEADLY SINS
The
Bible has a lot to say about
sin. Jesus was outspoken on
the subject.
Jesus
used the word "eaven"
as an analogy of sin, which
rises and expands like
leaven. The Lord Jesus
also paralleled it with
tares or weeds in a field,
that seek to choke out the
good grain.
THE
BIBLE STATES THE SEVEN
DEADLY SINS ARE:
The
Bible very clearly states
the seven deadly sin are:
Pride, greed, lust, anger or
hatred, gluttony, envy and
sloth.
Deadly
Sin #1 - PRIDE
#1
- PRIDE, which makes one
feel superior to others is
totally wrong. This sin was
Lucifer’s downfall! The
Bible says, "Pride
goeth before destruction,
and an haughty spirit before
a fall." (Proverbs
15:8)
Deadly
Sin #2 - GREED
#2
- GREED has caused more wars
and created more gangsters
and promoted more theft than
any other sin.
The
Bible says, "Thou shalt
not COVET..." (Exodus
20:17) "For the
love of money is the root of
all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have
erred from the faith, and
pierced themselves through
with many sorrows. But thou,
O man of God, flee these
things; and follow after
righteousness, godliness,
faith, love, patience,
meekness." (1
Timothy 6:10-11)
Deadly
Sin #3 - LUST
#3
- LUST is the desire for
something not lawfully
yours. A sensual desire for
the forbidden fruit! It
includes an inordinate
desire for power, control,
sex, substance abuse or
wealth. Lust always brings
spiritual death, in the end!
The
Bible says, "Then
when lust hath conceived, it
bringeth forth sin: and sin,
when it is finished,
bringeth forth death." (James
1:15)
Deadly
Sin #4 - ANGER
#4
- ANGER or HATRED causes
high blood pressure, ulcers,
violent confrontation and
even murder!
Jesus
said, "But he that
hateth his brother is in
darkness, and walketh in
darkness, and knoweth not
whither he goeth, because
that darkness hath blinded
his eyes. “Whosoever
hateth his brother is a
murderer: and ye know that
no murderer hath eternal
life abiding in him."
"If
a man say, I love God, and
hateth his brother, he is a
liar:
for he that loveth not his
brother whom he hath seen,
how can he love God whom he
hath not seen? And this
commandment have we from
him, That he who loveth God
love his brother also."
(1 John 2:11; 1 John 3:15; 1
John 4:20-21)
Deadly
Sin #5 - GLUTTONY
#5
- GLUTTONY is an over
indulgence in eating. A
phobia or inordinate desire
to eat food, even when one
is not hungry. A good rule
is: Eat to live, not live to
eat! A day of fasting &
prayer each week does
wonders for us - spiritually
& physically!
Let’s
use the extra money we save
through fasting to give to
the poor & needy and to
support the poor and the
orphaned!
Deadly
Sin #6 - ENVY
#6
- ENVY will also cause the
blood pressure to rise and
the demons of jealousy and
pride to fabricate lies and
even fantasies in a person,
given over to this wicked
sin!
The
Bible says, "Let us
walk honestly, as in the
day; not in rioting and
drunkenness, not in
chambering and wantonness,
not in strife and envying.
But put ye on the Lord Jesus
Christ, and make not
provision for the flesh, to
fulfill the lusts
thereof." (Romans
13:13-14)
Deadly
Sin #7 - SLOTH
#7
- SLOTH goes hand in hand
with laziness and poverty.
St. Paul stated, "Be
not slothful in
business". (Romans
12:11)
"For
God is not unrighteous to
forget your work and labour
of love, which ye have
shewed toward his name, in
that ye have ministered to
the saints, and do minister.
And
we desire that every one of
you do shew the same
diligence to the full
assurance of hope unto the
end: That ye be not
slothful, but followers of
them who through faith and
patience inherit the
promises." (Hebrews
6:10-12)
REMEMBER
- GOD HAS THE FINAL SAY IN
EVERYTHING
The
Bible is the Word of God.
Don't ever forget that God,
our Lord keeps the books.
God, the creator or the
world has the final say in
everything.
There
is only one way to be freed
from these ‘seven deadly
sins’ and that is through
the process of the New
Birth. Only faith in Jesus
Christ's death for us on the
cross and His glorious
resurrection from the dead,
brings us into a vital
contact with His saving
blood!
Jesus
said, "Come unto Me all
ye that labour and are heavy
laden and I will give you
rest." (Matthew 11:28)
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Bible
study
scriptures /
verses on
IMPORTANCE
OF BIBLE
STUDY
Matthew
6:33
Jesus
said,
"But
seek ye
first the
kingdom of
God, and His
righteousness;
and all
these things
shall be
added unto
you."
1
Peter 3:15
The
Bible
instructs:
"But
sanctify the
Lord God in
your hearts:
and be ready
always to
give an
answer to
every man
that asketh
you a reason
of the hope
that is in
you with
meekness and
fear."
1
Timothy
6:17-19
"Charge
them that
are rich in
this world,
that they be
not
high-minded,
nor trust in
uncertain
riches, but
in the
living God,
Who giveth
us richly
all things
to enjoy;
That they do
good, that
they be rich
in good
works, ready
to
distribute,
willing to
communicate;
Laying up in
store for
themselves a
good
foundation
against the
time to
come, that
they may lay
hold on
eternal
life."
Psalms
119:2
"Blessed
are they
that keep
his
testimonies,
and that seek
him with
the whole
heart."
Isaiah
55:6
"Seek
ye the
LORD while
he may be
found, call
ye upon him
while he is near."
Proverbs
8:17
"I
love them
that love
me;
and those
that seek me early
shall find
me."
Isaiah
1:18-19
God
invites: "Come
now, and let
us reason
together...
though your
sins be as
scarlet,
they shall
be as white
as snow;
though they
be red like
crimson,
they shall
be as
wool." (Isaiah
1:18-19)
MARK
8:34-38
Jesus
said,
"What
shall it
profit a
man, if he
shall gain
the whole
world, and
lose his own
soul?"
(Mark
8:34-38).
JOHN
3:16-17
"For
God so loved
the world,
that he gave
his only
begotten Son,
that whosoever
believeth in
Him should not
perish, but
have
everlasting
life."
"For
God sent not
his Son into
the world to
condemn the
world: but
that the world
through Him
might be
saved:"
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