Tuesday 14 July 2009

OMG in USA

What struck me on my recent visit to the United States of America is the abbreviation of the use of the Name of the Lord in vain in the local newspapers! OMG represents the most commonly used phrase on American TV and in daily conversations instilled by Hollywood and the media: Oh My God!
The Bible clearly states that you shall not use the name of the Lord your God in vain. There are clear indications of punishment awaiting those who use the name of the Lord in vain.
The old Jewish holy men did not even dare to mention the word 'GOD' nor would they dare to write it, but preferred the respectful version, 'G-D', in their manuscripts to honor the commnandment not to use the name of the Lord in vain.
But Hollywood and the American TV moguls have succeeded in teaching this generation to liberally use the word of the Lord in vain and they glamorized it as fashionable and common. They took something sacared and made it as common as a dirty rag.
The other thing they succeeded in was to use the name of the Lord Jesus Christ as the most common swear word in movies and TV. The actors never use the name of Buddha or Mohammed in vain. Nor do they swear by using the names of Darwin, Voltaire or Rousseau, or Karl Marx or Freud. It is always ' Jesus Christ - this' and ' Jesus Christ - that'.
Now the latest fad is to abbreviate it in the age of technological slogans based on abbreviations - the underlying implication being that if you do not know what the abbreviation stands for you are obviously not enlightened.
OMG appears in newspaper articles, magazines and soon the TV commentators will start using it and then it will be part and parcel of the movie and TV scripts and then in daily use by teenagers...
America, America, America when will you realise that God has blessed you and preserverd you until this day? When will you admit that it is His goodness and mercy that has made you what you are? When will you remember the warning that using his name in vain is punishable for generations to come? When will you admit your part in influencing the world to curse and use the name of the Lord in vain?
Isn't it time to repent and change your ways?
You call it old fashioned to believe in the bible. You talk about the post-Christian world as if it is gone and as if true believers are no longer part of the world. Yes, you want them to leave and will be glad when they do, for they still prick your conscience and stab your hearts with the Word of God. But you prefert to turn your back on God and follow your own stubborn ways.
I pray for you, I pray for you that you will realise your error before it is too late. Every other kingdom and realm that rejected God were rejected by God. Think of the great Empires throughout history: the Medes and Persians, The Babylonians, the Greeks, the Romans, the British Empire, the Communistic Empire, and now the American Empire...
My voice might be a lonely voice in the wilderness, but I have to raise it for the sake of the ones in your midst that still keep the godly standard according to the Word of God as it is recorded in the Bible.
By shortening the phrase, Oh My God, to OMG, does not reduce the punishment awaiting those who use the name of the Lord in vain.
Turn, turn, turn before it is too late, my friends.
I literally thank God on my knees for all the good America has done for the rest of the world and when I go to preach in that great land I see it as a small part of the debt the rest of the world owes to America, just to say thank you.
My heart bleeds for you America: hear the message I am trying to convey - in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Amen.

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