AS WE EDGE CLOSER TO THE MIDDLE OF THE 21ST CENTURY, THERE ARE SOME OBSERVATIONS THAT ONE MUST MAKE AND DO SO WITH OBJECTIONAL LENS. LET ME BE CLEAR WE ARE STILL A DISTANCE FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE CENTURY BUT MOVING IN THAT DIRECTION. FOR THOSE PERSONS WHO HAVE LIVED THROUGH THE BULK OF THE 20TH CENTURY, WHAT WOULD THOSE EXPERIENCES BE OR LOOK LIKE IN COMPARISON TO TODAY? HAVE THERE BEEN ADVANCEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY? MORE MILLIONAIRES THAN EVER? MORE BUSINESSES ESTABLISHED BY DIVERSITY? MORE PEOPLE SPEAKING THEIR MIND AND HOW THEY THINK THAN EVER BEFORE? MORE WEAPONS FOR NATIONAL DEFENSE AND GREATER, FASTER AIRLINES AND MORE IMPROVED ROCKET LAUNCHES THAN EVER? MEDICAL RESEARCH IMPROVEMENTS?

TO EACH OF THESE QUESTIONS, ONE MIGHT SAY YES, NOW OF COURSE THERE ARE MUCH MORE QUESTIONS TO ASK, SO THAT WE CAN PLACE THINGS IN PROPER CONTEXT. HOWEVER, WE WILL WORK WITH THE LIMITED INQUIRIES MENTIONED HERE. WITHIN SOME MINDS, IT MIGHT BE SUGGESTED THAT WE HAVE ADVANCED AS A SOCIETY, BOTH SECULARLY AND RELIGIOUSLY. THAT KNOWLEDGE HAVE INCREASED AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISPLAYING SKILLS AND TALENTS HAVE BECOME MORE READILY AVAILABLE. IT WOULD BE FOOLISH TO DISMISS THIS RATIONALE REGARDLESS OF WHAT CENTURY YOU HAVE WITNESSED. THERE IS DEFINITELY TRUTH TO ALL OF THE ABOVE.

SO, IF THAT IS THE CASE, WHAT ARE WE TALKING ABOUT HERE OR WHY ADDRESS MATTERS THAT HAVE IMPROVED AND HAVE SHOWN GROWTH? I GUESS THE ISSUE THAT I AM TOUCHING, FALLS ALONG THE LINES OF; WHAT HAVE WE LOST? ILLRESPECTIVE OF ANY SPECIFIC NATION; DISCENCY, DIGNITY AND INTEGRITY MUST BE BROUGHT INTO THE EQUATION WITH OBJECTIVITY DEPENDING ON THE CULTURE OF THAT COUNTRY. I WOULD THEREFORE CONSIDER THE ASPECT THAT HUMAN BEINGS WOULD HAVE IN COMMON. I HAPPEN TO BE CHRISTIAN, SO MY VALUES WOULD SPEAK ALONG THOSE LINES. CAN WE WITH ALL OBJECTIVITY STATE THAT ALL THINGS ARE BETTER BECAUSE OF SOME IMPROVEMENTS?

LET'S LOOK AT SOME OF THE DISADVANTAGES OR LOSSES THAT WE SEE CURRENTLY. THE LEVEL OF DISCENCY, RESPECT FOR ELDERS, PROPER CHRISTIAN CHARACTER, DISCERNMENT, MORAL COMPASS AND SO MANY MORE. CAN WE HONESTLY SAY THAT OUR CHRISTIAN VALUES ARE AS INTACT AS THEY WERE THIRTY, FORTY OR FIFTY YEARS AGO?  SHOULD WE EVEN VIEW SEVENTY-FIVE OR ONE HUNDRED YEARS AGO? NO GENERATION HAVE BEEN PERFECT, BY ANY STRETCH OF THE IMAGINATION, AND EVERY AGE HAD ITS LACK OF DISCIPLINE. ARE WE HEADED IN A FAR DISTANCE OF A BELIEVER'S BEHAVIOR OR WHAT IS APPROPRIATE VERSUS WHAT IS NOT?

IT DOES APPEAR THAT THERE ARE NO BOUNDARIES AND THAT ALL BEHAVIOR OR PRACTICES ARE ACCEPTABLE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER OR NOT IT REVEALS THE LIGHT OF THE CHRIST. THE TEACHING OF THE APOSTLES AND THE FATHERS OF THE CHURCH SET STANDARDS THAT WOULD DEMONSTRATE WHAT IS MORAL AS OPPOSED TO WHAT IS NOT. IT SEEMS AS IF THE WORLD CALLS THE SHOTS OF WHAT IS ACCEPTABLE AND TOLERATED. THEREFORE, THE CHURCH NEED NOT PRESENT A LIGHT FOR THE WORLD TO SEE AND FOLLOW. THE REVERSAL OF A CHILD TEACHING THE PARENT, STUDENT TRAINING THE TEACHER AND THE YOUNGER GIVING DIRECTION TO THE ELDER. THIS THINKING IS NOT ONLY ACCEPTED BY WORLDLY CALIBERS BUT REGRETFULLY THE CHURCH AS WELL.

WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO REVISIT THE SIMPLE PRINCIPLES, SUCH AS RIGHT AND WRONG, PROPER AND IMPROPER, TEACHABLE AND UNTEACHABLE. CONSIDERING THE MEANING OF BOTH SCENARIOS. ONLY THEN WILL WE BEGIN TO RECOGNIZE THE CHAOS THAT WE ARE LIVING IN AND TRULY UNDERSTAND WHAT BROUGH US HERE AND FOLLOWING THE MEANS BIBLICALLY ON HOW TO REPAIR THAT WHICH HAS BEEN BROKEN, WILL WE EXPERIENCE THE PURPOSE, WILL AND DIRECTIVE OF GOD FOR THE HUMAN RACE.