In an interview with
Beliefnet, Marilyn Manson said, “So
initially I was drawn into the darker side of
life. But it's really just human
nature. I started to learn that everything
that's considered a sin is what
makes you a human being. All the seven deadly
sins are man's true nature. To be
greedy. To be hateful. To have lust.”
Although he undoubtedly was
not trying to do so, Manson
actually gives the Bible more authenticity by
describing human nature the very
same way that the Bible does: Man is sinful
through and through.
Eccles. 7:20 NASB “Indeed,
there is not a righteous man on
earth who continually does good and who never
sins.”
It may be our nature to sin,
but it doesn’t have to be our
destiny. By the provision Jesus made for sinners
on the cross, we can find
forgiveness for our sins and the power to break
free of its seductive
stranglehold of our soul.
DEPRAVITY
In an interview with
MacLean’s Magazine, Alanis Morissette
said, "Like everyone else, I have a huge dark
side… I believe we're
spiritual beings in human form, pieces of God
manifest in this relative realm,
and we're here to define ourselves and to
evolve. We are innately love, and
fear exists to show what love is."
— MacLean’s Magazine,
February 25, 2002, Illustration by Jim
L. Wilson and Dave Bootsma,
Innately love but we all have
a huge dark side? You can't
have it both ways Alanis!
1 John 1:7 NASB “but if we
walk in the light as He Himself
is in the light, we have fellowship with one
another, and the blood of Jesus
His Son cleanses us from all sin.”
DEPRAVITY
In his book, Being the Body,
Charles Colson writes, “What
Oprah is preaching is not particularly new. It’s
just that the combination of
her public access and immense influence, as well
as the particular appeal of
her own earnest search for meaning, make it
uniquely twenty-first century. The
Church of O encourages people to ask all the
right questions about life,
meaning, service to others, identity—and then to
look in precisely the wrong
place to find those answers. Within.”
—Being the Body, p. 181
Illustration by Jim L. Wilson
Unfortunately, the answers
aren’t within—that’s where the
problem lies. We’re all sinners—not Saviors. The
answer is outside of
ourselves. We don’t need personal reflection; we
need a Savior. One who can
forgive us and save us from our sins.
Job 15:14 NLT “Can a mortal
be pure? Can a human be just?”
John A. McKenzie couldn't
wait to get home to start
celebrating his release from Jail.
Unfortunately, his celebrating landed him
right back into jail. McKenzie was riding public
transportation home with his
wife and three kids when a fellow passenger
turned him in for stealing a beer
from him. He began arguing with Northern Indiana
Commuter Transportation
District police over the incident. McKenzie
crossed the line when he made death
threats against the officials and ended up with
a roundtrip right back to the
slammer.
—http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060504/LOCAL/605040498/0/SPORTS0610.
Illustration
by Jim L. Wilson and Mark Tabb.
Proverbs 26:11 (NIV) "As a
dog returns to its vomit, so
a fool repeats his folly."
DEPRAVITY
Thomas McClellan was at home
in Holt, Michigan with Luna, his
5-year-old daughter, while his wife of 3 months
was at work. When Luna woke him
from a nap to tell him she was hungry, he told
her “It’s not time for dinner.”
The 25-year-old man said that his daughter gave
him “more attitude” he “grabbed
the kindergartner by the shoulder and pulled her
onto the floor of his bedroom.
Then he sat atop her torso and used a pocket
knife to stab her in the chest
numerous times.”
At his trial, even his
attorney admitted the confession and
evidence stood for itself.
In Noah’s day, the wickedness
of man cried out to the Lord.
Eventually God sent His son to pay the penalty
of sin. It seems every day we
read of a greater wickedness. A man who could
stab a 5-year-old 9 times and
then burn her body for showing attitude has sunk
to a depraved level. The only
answer for our society is the precious good news
of Jesus Christ. —Jim L.
Wilson and Rodger Russell.
Ephesians
2:1–3
(CSB)“And you were
dead in your trespasses and sins in
which you previously lived according to the ways
of this world, according to
the ruler of the power of the air, the spirit
now working in the disobedient.
We too all previously lived among them in our
fleshly desires, carrying out the
inclinations of our flesh and thoughts, and we
were by nature children under
wrath as the others were also.”
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