“... it's not realistic to think we can fill our minds with corrupting images yet hang on to what we know is right. When we continually expose our minds to the standards of the culture, those standards begin to seep into our lives. The fatal change comes so gradually that, like the frog in the kettle, we don't even notice it. First we are no longer shocked by evil. Then we become accustomed to it. Then we tolerate it. Then it's only a tiny step to accept it as normal.” EvilCorruptionTolerance Author:Michael W Smith
“We have the assurance that God's grace is sufficient for us, freeing us from the bondage of legalism. We are no longer locked up by a sense of duty; instead we are compelled to holy living by his great love for us. Because of this grace we are free to live our lives in a way that reflects his purity. We can refuse to lower the bar in order to justify our failure. We will never grow into the glorious creatures God knows we can be unless we keep his high standard as our goal, not the standards culture sets for what is righteous and what isn't. We can increase our capacity for obedience to God's leading by keeping our eyes and ears attuned to what is good, lovely, uplifting, encouraging, and positive.” Positive ThinkingObedienceHoliness Author:Michael W Smith
“I fear that we are being led to become morally lazy. Our affluence has given many of us almost immediate access to virtually anything we want. We have grown comfortable with indulgence, and we don't want to feel guilty about it. Guilt prods us toward the hard work of changing. That's why we want our heroes to be flawed like we are. They assure us that our weaknesses, addictions, moral lapses, and compromises are not unusual. Such heroes become mirrors reflecting a comfortable image that says, Hey, don't get so uptight about your failures and lapses. We're all like this.” GuiltEntertainmentHeroesIndulgenceAffluenceMoral Laziness Author:Michael W Smith
“God created us in his own image. Of course, that doesn't mean we can be God as he is; it means we can become a little duplicates of him. We won't achieve the glorious potential God has in store for us if we keep our eyes lower to the mirror of merely what is; we must lift them to the window of what can be. That's why the anti-heroes of today's entertainment can hurt us they keep us glued to the mirror instead of the window. If we want to do more than just drift along in the cultural stream, it helps to search up models of goodness, purity, honor, character, and courage, both in our entertainment and in real life... The great advantage to having such heroes is that they don't badger us into changing; they inspire us to want to change.” EntertainmentPotentialRole ModelsHeroes Author:Michael W Smith
“My guess is that you have, at times, unwittingly prayed for adversity. Think about it. What are you asking for when you pray for patience? You are probably asking for trying situation that will demand that you be patient. What are you asking for when you pray for humility? It's likely you are asking for your ego to be brought down a few notches. What are you asking for when you pray for more reliance on God? Well, you may be asking for God to take away those things you rely on instead of him. When you pray for God's blessings, you are praying for the kind of character that will desire to be holy and do what it takes to get there. Whether you realize it or not, you may be praying for some form of adversity that God will use like an obstacle course to condition you into a strong and fit soldier for his service.” CharacterPrayerAdversity Author:Michael W Smith