NOTE: When writing about God and Jesus, The Daily Jot means YHVH as God and Yeshua Ha Mashiach as Jesus–the actual original names and the true nature and character of them.
Americans of all ages and demographics are drifting farther away from the basic moral foundation of the Bible. A recent survey conducted by George Barna’s American Culture and Faith Institute asked a 1,000 adults nationwide about the morality of eight family-related behaviors-birth control, divorce, sex outside of marriage, having a baby out of wedlock, watching pornography, having an abortion, polygamy and intimidating or aggressively dominating someone. Barna says that the vast majority claimed that five of those eight behaviors were either morally acceptable or were not a moral issue-birth control, divorce, sex outside of marriage, having kids out of wedlock, and watching pornography.
Almost half of those surveyed (48%) said that having an abortion was acceptable. Barna reports that “at least 15% and as much as 40% of adults do not consider behaviors such as divorce, abortion, and unmarried sexual intercourse to be moral issues. In other words, there are no cultural or religious boundaries that dictate whether such behaviors are appropriate or inappropriate; those behaviors are simply a reflection of individual preferences. For the eight measures examined in the research, an average of one-quarter of all adults (25%) said those behaviors are not moral issues. One-third or more of the public considers divorce, birth control, and having a baby outside of marriage to be amoral decisions.”
Born again Christians were different, according to the survey, except on the use of pills or a medical device for birth control where they were roughly the same (86% said it was morally acceptable). Barna says, “born again Christians were much more likely to embrace a more traditional, biblical moral perspective. Even so, a majority of the born again adults deemed half of the eight behaviors to be acceptable: using birth control (87%), getting a divorce (66%), having a baby without being married (54%), and sexual relations between unmarried adults (51%). In addition, about four out of ten born again adults believe that viewing pornography is acceptable (38%).” Surprisingly, 27% of born again Christians said abortion was not a moral issue.
The most disturbing news in the Barna survey is that of religious skeptics-those who are agnostic, atheist, or indifferent to religion. Barna says skeptics, 29% of which are Millennials and 14% of adults 65 and older, constitute the fastest-growing faith segment in America. Skeptics believe that six out of the eight behaviors are acceptable, saying only polygamy and domination are unacceptable. While born again Christians are closer to believing in Biblical definitions of morality than is the general public, Christianity in America is trending with the world and is losing its children to the world. Christ prayed to God the Father in John 17:15-16, “not that you should take them out of the world, but that you should keep them from the evil. They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.” For many, free will is dangerously overriding God’s perfect will.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day!
PS. Please use the “Share This Email” link below to pass this on to as many people as you can!
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Ghana: Food + Water = Transformation for the poor
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By Pastor William Agbeti
[ NOTE: This is an account of just one of many clean water, feeding and clothing programs conducted by The Daily Jot and our ministry partner Redeem West Africa in the rural areas of Ghana, West Africa. Your donations that make this possible–Blessings, Bill W]
A young African mother, holding a plastic bucket in hand, set off this morning on a 5-minutes walk from her little makeshift home to the Redeemer House, with the hope of fetching water.
On arrival, she was told the water system had developed a fault and was being fixed, and would not be ready until probably the next day. Her countenance changed all of a sudden. The joy with which she came, singing all the way, dissipated. Hope was gone. She didn’t know what to do. There was no other place within a short distance to go fetch water. Being poor, buying sachets of water for her household chores was obviously out of the question. She left with sadness written all over her face.
Undoubtedly, lack of clean water would bring along in its trail various forms of water-related stresses for this young mother and her family; not to mention water related diseases and possible deaths over the long term. The family may have to do without cooking of meals, washing of clothes and utensils today. The stress increases when one has to go to town, school or work, without showering in this 100 degrees-plus weather, with high humidity.
The same goes for food – the types of stress the poor deal with when there is no food on the table or in the stomach is unimaginable. A case in point is that of another young mother and her little child of six who came to our free feeding program last month. Both were hungry and desperate for food. As two disposable bowls of cooked food were handed over to them, the mother set one side and ferociously started eating the other with the child, completely oblivious to onlookers. In this part of the world, like elsewhere, hunger and inability to obtain food can create a vicious cycle of stress for many.
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Children line up to fetch free clean water from our ministry faucet
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The situation leads to child labor, child trafficking, juvenile delinquency, child prostitution, child sales, and various other heart-rending conditions. In Ghana, many parents are reported to have sold their children for less than $5 each, in order to put food on the table! Reports reach us from various other poor communities about very young school girls selling their bodies in prostitution for as low as $1 per swing!
In the light of the above and others, we at Redeemer MINISTRIES have come to learn the hard way that Food + Water = Transformation.
“The little food and water we regularly give out to the needy go a long way to help transform individuals and whole communities. Our water project at Amrahia in a rural section of Accra, and our monthly feeding programs deep inside rural areas, bring about hope, change and inspiration to many; even if it’s for a day!”–Pastor William Agbeti
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| Some children waiting to be served with free meals at one of our feeding programs. |
Without these little efforts, the situation could be much worse, with a spill out that could easily affect individuals, families and communities all the way in the US, for instance, through illegal immigration, refugee crisis and human trafficking.
Therefore, anytime you donate towards the provision of food and water to the poor rural folks in Ghana, know that you may be doing it for yourselves – for your own good.
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The Daily Jot is totally reader supported. My wife, Chris, and I do not take a salary or receive any remuneration for this work. Your gifts go directly to assisting us in maintaining this column, the website, outreach, and the Lord’s work we do in Ghana, West Africa. Thank you for your prayers and support.
Have a Blessed and Powerful Day,
Bill Wilson
The Daily Jot |
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