Football, baseball, soccer, Facebook, Candy Crush, shopping, work, family time, sleep, friends, cars, motorcycles, gardening, eating, cooking, home repairs, cutting grass, shoveling snow, with all these things in life, where is there room for God? With more advancements in technology, entertainment and the comforts of home, we have secluded ourselves from the outside world. We stay home and are entertained with the television, playing games and watching YouTube videos in the heated and cooled environment of our homes. Rarely do we take the time to socialize and befriend our neighbors besides the casual “Hello. How are you?” greeting. I greatly fear that this societal norm is making its way into the Lord’s church. There seems to be a decreased desire to spend additional time fellowshipping with other Christians and studying God’s Word together. I recently conducted a survey concerning Sunday evening services. The majority of those who replied expressed that they did not regularly attend evening services because they were too busy or too tired. We all spend too much time worrying and working towards things we cannot change and not enough time seeking after the kingdom of God (Matthew 6:25-34). Paul stated that bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things (1 Timothy 4:8). It serves as a reminder for us to be more focused on the spiritual than on the physical. What (or who) has made us so busy that we have little time left of our day and week to spend in study

Do you remember the days of good quality television shows such as, “Father Knows Best,” Leave It to Beaver” and “The Brady Bunch”? These were family shows that exemplified the importance of family structure and often had an underlying moral theme that was conveyed to the audience. Today, audiences are riddled with television shows that tout the “joys” of casual sex, drunkenness and the use of vulgar language. I was recently astonished to learn that a Disney show that my daughter enjoyed watching just introduced a lesbian couple. I was also dismayed by the recent events of the 2014 Grammys. What happened to our standards in television? At one time it was taboo to show the bedroom of a married couple with only one bed. However, today it is not just the bedroom that is displayed. What happened to morality, ethics and decency? What happened to respect for parents and authority? What has happened to cause the stanch moral decline of America, a breakdown of the line between truth and lie, a blur of right and wrong, and a reverse of good and evil? There are many examples of people throughout the Bible whose standards were lowered, which led to sin. Eve being tempted changed her thoughts on what God said about the forbidden fruit (Genesis 3:1-6). Lot, surrounding himself with the people of Sodom and Gomorrah, gave his daughters to the menacing crowds (Genesis 19). What happened is a lack of fear for God. In each dispensation, mankind has