God's Greatest Adversaries are His Gifts by John Piper in "A Hunger for God"The greatest enemy of hunger for God is not poisonbut apple pie.It is not the banquet of the wicked that dulls our appetite for heaven,but endless nibbling at the table of the world.It is not the X-rated video,but the prime-time dribble of triviality we drink in every night.For all the ills that Satan can do,when God describes what keeps us from the banquet table of his love,it is a piece of land,a yoke o oxen,and a wife. (Lk 14:18-20).The greatest adversary of love to God is not his enemiesbut his gifts.And the most deadly appetites are not for the poison of evil,but for the simple pleasures of earth.For when these replace an appetite for God himself,the idolatry is scarcely recognizable,and almost incurable. John Piper, A Hunger for God (Crossway Books, Wheaton, Ill. 60187) Pg 14
_________________Diane
Brother for what it's worth I think you already brought one of them up in a recent posting---if you are willing to pledge your head to heaven then you should hit it straight between the eyes---the idolatry of sports and entertainment...1. What it has become in our homes on TV2. How it has become more of an identifier for us than Christ himself3. How it has been thrusted on our children preverting the priorities of our precious children from an early age4. Such precious time has been squandered...we ought to be redeeming the time, there are no "time-outs" in the kingdom of God...it's real time and the sand is rapidly slipping into the bottom of the hourglass...Entertainment is the devil's substitute for joy...the idolatry of technology...yes we ought to take advantage of technology...but our culture is beginning to allow it to take advantage of us...it is creating passive, non-confrontational people in this day who would rather text than talk face to face...it is undoing the community of family and isolating us from what God has intended us to be...in many ways....also the lust of comfort and ease...woe to those who are "at ease" in Zion.Lord be with you brother...
_________________Brother Kevin