The world is full of sin ...and at some time, it will affect each & every one of us to some degree. (Okay, it always affects us ...but, we often don't think it does or we fail to acknowledge it.)

If we claim that it does not affect us ...then we are totally out of touch with reality.

I am giving each of you credit ...that you don't like sin, and are not wicked.  And hopefully you are not so diluted to think I am. So, it may be safe to say none of us are thoroughly happy with every aspect of our lives (assuming again, that we are not out of touch with reality ...and do care about others also).

So, we can all relate to discomfort, dissatisfaction, discontentment, disrespect ...and just being dissed in general.

Few would propose any argument when another says, "Life isn't fair!"

And why should we be satisfied with a world that doesn't seem fair?? Why should we be satisfied with unsatisfactory things?? Why should we be content with wrongdoings and injustice?? Why should we be comfortable when others are living in areas of war and famine??

The specifics do not matter, it seems we can all agree that we don't like our present status quo.  So, we can all unite ...not necessarily on any particular issue, but we can unite against certain groups that we feel are responsible for our combined grievances.

And if we really feel confident, or froggy ...we can unite for causes that we feel others are against.

Yes, if we experience the result of sin in the world ...we can call it other than sin, and blame others for their intolerance, while claiming that others are responsible for what we brought on ourselves.

At times we view the negative emotion as an opportunity to celebrate our angst. And it becomes very easy to get others to identify with an emotion of rebellion, as this worthy cry of "I'm not going to take it anymore!"

This appears to be the dominant underlying feeling of those who believe they should have more than they already have. But, what of those who do have generally more??

In the 3rd Chapter of the Book of Genesis, the serpent asked Eve if God was holding anything back from her.  Eve likely had so much ...that she didn't possibly miss not having one thing. That is, until the serpent told her why.

The serpent told one person, one thing.  Suppose a half dozen people meet at a bar or coffee shop ...to hear one person's disgruntled remarks??  Or what if it is a classroom of near a hundred students??

What if it is millions of viewers listening to the evening news?? Or what if it is a feed of constant minute-by-minute negativity within the social media discourse on Twitter or Facebook ...with millions more only a click away, and attached often to an IV-type venomous drip of contagious conversation??

For years, the schools have sown the intellectual seeds of evolution ...and it feeds on its own absurdities, promoting anything that is not included the Bible's version of Creation.

Sigmund Freud was one who also took sin out of the picture, because sin was causing us to look at our lives with such degrading guilt.  And by removing the guilt, we remove the standard.  A much different message than the Bible, which teaches that we all sin and come short of the glory of God ...we are all guilty, and need a Savior.

Yes, a few influential leaders can lead thousands ...or even millions. These kind of leaders set the tone for kingdoms. Right after Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist ...Jesus was met by Satan in the desert. The third and last attempt to tempt Jesus was for Satan to tell Him that all the kingdoms of the world & the glory of them would be given to Him, if only Jesus would bow down and worship him (Satan). And it kind of shows what kind of influence that Satan has within worldly kingdoms. But, Jesus speaks of another kingdom which is not of this world.  And Jesus said He came into this world to bear witness to the truth.

I am thankful for Pastor Tom's very important message.  Satan is not made up.  Satan is a real character ...yet, as Pastor said, he can't be everywhere at once. But, he doesn't need to be.  It's not like the fictitious jolly ole' Santa Claus ...knowing whether everyone is naughty or nice. 

Though we may consider ourselves with the 'nice' group ...of believers, members of one body, Satan is like a skillful surgeon.   He is experienced enough to know just what part of the body to cut.  But, unlike a surgeon, who aims to get rid of the bad and is committed towards working to achieve good health ...the difference is that Satan knows the procedures, but uses them to our demise while making us feel otherwise (without making us feel other than wise).  Yet, sadly that qualifies us as wise in our own conceits.

Satan knows we spend more time in school than in church.  And he knows the churches have their own struggles and competitive one-upmanship between congregations, and slight variations in church dogma and interpretations that continually keep us at odds.  So, the schools and science have been able to build rather unscientific cases to make believable statements out of simple teachable untruths ...so that all can appear intellectual.  And so, the schools have been rather successful in trumping the authority of the churches.

Politics to rule the world, and a media to inform a people who are thirsty for knowledge ...creates a need for a readily available source for that very sustenance. It's like a life support system ...that, without it, we fear we will flatline. And this secondary umbilical cord connection is through an internet ...that can be accessed through a small hand-held devise as big as a Kit Kat bar, that seldom leaves the person.

The media helps to set the mood...with only occasionally a heartwarming human interest story. We don't want to be lied to ...so when they uncover a story, it holds much interest.

The problem is, with so often what has lately been called "Fake News", it doesn't seem to matter so much if the reporting is true ...just as long as it satisfies the mood and narrative.

Over two thousand years ago, Jesus came to live with us a man ...but, He was, and is, also part of the Trinity of God. And that is what we need to be connected to.

Even our dogs may be affected by how we respond to the everyday events in life. They don't understand all our trials and tribulations, nor why we may be having mood swings. Yet, dogs can be very forgiving??

Yet again, perhaps even they can tire of us barking up the wrong tree.                                             Superbowl ...or no Superbowl.

Well, even in winning ...there is a certain amount of frustration. (And it's no small achievement winning two Superbowls, one apiece for two separate teams.  Yet, for a dog, a super bowl may be one filled with a nice juicy steak.)

But, we are told to be like little children ...not the temper tantrum moments, but those moments of unmatched joy.  (Or maybe just a bit matched.)