Down the Amazon

There is a distinct contrast between the ways of the world and the principles of Christ, and we know that the gospel thrives when worldliness is diminished. We should place our trust in God, who calls us to a higher standard. 1st John 2 states:
15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life--is not of the Father but is of the world.
17 And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

The ideologies of this world that are centered on human endeavor and wisdom are going to be in stark contrast to the principles of Scripture.  The Word of God is a reminder of not only the love of our Creator, who designed human beings to function best when submitted to Him, but a reminder of the devotion that He requires and the consequences of disobedience. Those who choose to reject those ways are somehow thinking that mankind can supersede the all-powerful God.  We have to make sure we are not blending worldly thinking with the mind of Christ.

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The 4th chapter of the book of 1st Peter, which was contained in my daily Bible reading yesterday, is centered around the Biblical view of suffering and specifically suffering with Christ.  Consider these 
words:
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind, for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,
2 that he no longer should live the rest of his time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God.

Later, Peter writes:
14 If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified.
15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or as a busybody in other people's matters.
16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

The Amazon River in South America has acquired quite a reputation for its danger - those who attempt to navigate it have to be aware of the pitfalls that await.

And, an adventure through the mega-shopping site of the same name can sometimes be less than a pleasure cruise. The site has acquired a reputation of removal of material that reflects a Christian worldview.  

For example, just last year, Anne Paulk, the leader of Restored Hope Network, who has been a guest on The Meeting House program, discovered that her book, Restoring Sexual Identity, had been banned by the retailer; that's according to an article on The Stream website, which related that: "In early July, Amazon quietly removed more than a dozen books from the world’s largest e-commerce marketplace. The titles, most by Christian authors, address issues of same-sex attraction and homosexuality from a faith-based perspective."  Anne Paulk, a former homosexual, says her book, "is designed to help women who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction and want to leave homosexuality."

A couple of weeks ago, Faithwire published a story about a pro-life film that had been removed from Amazon Prime.  The article stated:

Amazon has removed a pro-life film from its platform, citing poor customer reviews as a primary reason for the action – the only problem with this claim is the movie had mostly 5 star reviews.

“It has over 340 reviews on Amazon, most of them – 90% – are five star reviews,” filmmaker Marcus Pittman said. ‘I was trying to figure out what about the reviews would make them determine it was not suitable for Amazon Prime..."

Pittman is described as "an advocate of the ministry End Abortion Now, which equips churches in the fight against abortion." The film in question is called Babies are Still Murdered Here. It "released in October 2019 and made its way onto Amazon Prime Video by December 2019. It’s the sequel to the film Babies are Murdered Here, also by Pittman."

Pittman believes that the key words included in reviews caused the movie to be pulled; he says: “Some of those key words were words like pro-life, end abortion, pro-life movement. That, to me, is the only reason why they would remove the movie.”

And, days ago, John Stonestreet of the Colson Center and Breakpoint tweeted this out:

Just received from @amazon: “We are writing to let you know that the following detail pages have been removed from our catalog:

Title: Growth into Manhood: Resuming the Journey During a review, we found the subject matter of your book violates our content guidelines for books.”

As Stonestreet later clarified, he did not write the book; it was one he was trying to sell. But, the point is made: a book that offers a Christian perspective faced restrictions because of so-called "content guidelines."  Reminds me of the former Atlanta Fire Chief,  Kelvin Cochran, who was fired because of the book he wrote offering a Biblical view of manhood.

Truth is, the messages of the Scriptures may not be the most popular, but are certainly the most powerful. But, in order for them to be effective in a person's life, he or she has to surrender and commit to laying down one's self.  That's certainly not the way of the world these days, it seems. Well, the world's independent spirit is driven by submitting to something else - a perspective that leaves out the ways of God.  Just like the Bible said it would be.

But, that doesn't mean that we do not contend for the presence of the Christian message in the marketplace of ideas.  Which makes what Amazon and other media giants despicable.  Why, even yesterday, the brilliant Christian satire site, The Babylon Bee, was banned from Twitter!  A really creative bunch that uses the literary device of satire to help us confront the truth about ourselves and our culture...banned for some sort of "violation."  We are not necessarily trying to win a popularity contest or rise in the polls, but we are acting in order to please, as Big Daddy Weave puts it, an "audience of one."  That means we continue to stand for Him and disseminate His truth however we can.