CT: New Year, New Technology, Same God - Thank God!

I first posted this on New Year's Eve on Caffeinated Thoughts.

As we greet 2010 – a brand new year, I marvel at the changes brought by 2009 and how fast-paced our world has become. The constant flood of information we receive through our radios, TVs, computers, and phones is endless. Technology greets us as we wake up in the morning and follows us to our cars, our beds, and sometimes even joins us in the bathroom.

It is understandable that we have succumbed to this technology bug because the access to the information it provides is amazing. As a result of our immersion into this sea of iPhones and internet we are able to remain abreast of the current news ready to share and comment on the events of the day by the minute.

We need not wait for a paper to be delivered or for an editor to receive our letter – for the blogosphere and social networks like Facebook have made it so convenient to read, research, and communicate our thoughts and ideas.

But when do we turn it off?

Today I was reading in Isaiah – my favorite Old Testament prophet. He writes:

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord, is the Rock eternal. He humbles those who dwell on high, he lays the lofty city low; he levels it to the ground and casts it down to the dust.

Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.

Lord, you establish peace for us; all that we have accomplished you have done for us. Lord, our God, other lords besides you have ruled over us, but your name alone do we honor.

Isaiah 26: 3-5, 8-9, 12-13

Sometimes I forget that this world rests in God’s hands and that nothing escapes his notice. The concerns and the challenges that each new day and new year hold can grip my heart and mind pressing me to seek out more and more information rather than turning to God and his Word for rest and comfort.

I was reminded over Christmas as I spent time with family and friends that missing a day or even a week worth of news was not the end of the world. The truth is one day this earth and all that is in it will pass away. At that time I won’t be writing an article or commenting on a blog. I will be bowing down in worship.

Though I put little stock in New Year’s resolutions, I will make one this year. My desire is to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. I pray that as I continue to write and comment on newsy items, His name and renown will be the desire of my heart, and that rather than yearning for more news and information my spirit would long for the Spirit of God – for only the Spirit of God prompts me to act in ways that have lasting value.

Happy New Year!

When is it OK to Exploit Children?

Have you heard of Roman Polanski? Let me introduce you...

The filmmaker/pedephile was arrested Saturday, September 26th, regarding a three-decade-old underage sex case as he arrived to receive a lifetime achievement award at the Zurich film festival.

Celebrity, Debra Winger claims that the event was “exploited in an unfair fashion,” but last I recall it is the thirteen-year-old victim who was exploited – through use of drugs, alcohol and forcible sexual relations by a forty-four year old man who then fled to France the evening before his sentencing. This man now seventy-six is unrepentant and just “not sure if anyone was hurt.” Yes, those are his words.

His advocates claim we should let bygones be bygones. Others state that, “It’s really no big deal because we have so many other important items to deal with.” Since when is justice a choice? Do we give someone a pass because they are popular, or because they claim to be an artist given to the radical circumstances of the times?

We as a society should condemn those who support a pedephile like Roman Polanski. And I mean we should be taking down names! I’m disgusted by some of the articles I’ve read listing celebrities and public officials who support this fugitive of justice. I’m shocked by the people I’ve heard call into radio programs to justify Polanski’s actions and attack our justice system’s recent arrest.

How is it that we reward criminals and admire their outstanding achievement in business while ignoring their moral depravity? This man was set to receive a lifetime achievement award for his work as a director in film. He has scores of followers crying out for his release. But where are the voices crying out for the children? Where are the voices that demand justice?

Let me be clear. This is not about Roman Polanski.Is it any wonder that there still exists in our world the wholesale exploitation of people through the slave trade? We have set the table for the appetites of those who continue to degrade women and young children. We need only look as far as our own computer and the bloodlust of the Porn industry. To borrow a quote from Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu in his recent UN address, “Have we no shame? Have we no decency?”

Below are a few statistics concerning modern day slavery and human trafficking. I would ask that as you read them you first consider your own children, and then that you please pray considering how learning these statistics might move you to action.

Lord have mercy on us. We have excused ourselves through ignorance for too long.

Statistics:
An estimated 27 million people are held in slavery worldwide, meaning there are more people enslaved in the world now than were taken from Africa during 300 years of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

After drug trafficking, human trafficking is tied with the illegal arms trade as the second largest criminal industry in the world, and it is the fastest growing. (hhs)

Approximately 800,000 to 900,000 victims are annually trafficked across international borders worldwide. (Dept of State)

In the United States alone, it is estimated that there are 200,000 slaves.

The average price of individual slaves is less than a new cell phone or about $90. (nfs)

By 2010, Human Trafficking will be the # 1 crime worldwide. (Dept of State)

Every 10 minutes, one person is trafficked into the U.S. Around the World, a victim is exploited every minute.

Each year, more than 1 million children are exploited in the global commercial sex trade. Approximately 80 percent are women and girls and up to 50 percent are minors. (Dept of State)

The majority of transnational victims are trafficked into commercial sexual exploitation. (Dept. of State)

13 is the average age of entry into pornography and prostitution in the USA. (FBI)

(*Source for statistics http://www.free-international.org/)
For more information check out: http://www.notforsalecampaign.org/