Good morning. I pray you have been having a great weekend and are planning a prosperous week ahead. I am so thankful for the time I have been able to spend in God’s house and with His chosen people this week. If you don’t know the feelings I’m talking about when you are in God’s house and with His people, you don’t know what you are missing.
Do you know what the letters above stand for? For a long time, I didn’t. You see there is a whole other language out there that was as far as I can tell, originated by our young people. There are places you can go online to “learn” this code. I caution you though, it may surprise you as to what you may find. Sadder still, is that adults are beginning to adapt to and go along with this fad. We have become a people that have no time, don’t know and don’t care.
2 Timothy 2:14-16 says, “14 Remind them of these things, charging them before the Lord not to strive about words to no profit, to the ruin of the hearers. 15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.” 2 Timothy 4:2-4 says “2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables“ Luke 12:48 says, “But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Matthew 7:13-14 says, “ 13 "Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. 14 Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” Luke 8:11-15 says, “11 "Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. 12 Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 13 But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. 14 Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. 15 But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.”
The letters above stand for “I Don’t Know” and “I Don’t Care”. Have we really become a world that would “rather not know” and that “really doesn’t care”?
Everything is such a rush these days. Children are expected to be so advanced from where we were back in my day. Are we stupid or slow? NO. After all, all the advancements and inventions we are off and running with today came from the older generations, so we must have not been reared or trained too bad. Our schools are so worried about “no child left behind” that they are spitting out graduates that cannot spell basic words, tell you the meaning of similar spelled words and cannot even make simple change without the assistance of a calculator or cash register machine. For the most part, the chance of a full and complete sentence is almost out of the question. What are we in such a rush for? We are only going to live so long, so why don’t we stop along the way to smell the roses
IDK. IDC. People would rather not know the truth, thinking the less they know, the less they will have to answer for and that is not the truth of the matter. Just because we choose to close our minds to the truth and ignore it, that doesn’t make it less convicting.
I heard a true story of a woman that was raped in a mall parking lot. The woman yelled out for almost 20 minutes as this ordeal played out while many cars and others walked by, and no one came to her aid. No one wanted to, “get involved“. They “didn’t care”.
We are fostering generations of young and some older people, that just don’t care. If you disagree with me, compare the rate of pregnant high school freshmen to 25 or 30 years ago. Compare the dropout rate, suicide rate, single parent homes and number of children on depression medication to the same time period. I am not picking on the young. Some of them care very much and they are showing it everyday. But, statistics are showing that in 20 years, over half our churches will be closed because the older generations are dying off and the younger ones to follow are too busy and would rather not be bothered by it. We are not instilling the root system they need to face the here and now, let alone the future.
Remember: It is ok to be a follower, if you are following Jesus, because then you will be leading others to Him. This, you will, “Know” and “Care” about.
Until next time, please pray for each other and me, as I continue to pray for each of you. Love in CHRIST,
Brian Hanvey
Associate Pastor
Bethel Baptist Church
Bethel Baptist Church
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