In the olden times, people worshipped all kinds of physical items as gods.

Jehovah, Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, instructed the Israelites not to worship any graven image. In many countries and societies today, people still worship all sorts of graven images.

However, there is a new set of gods, that has been subtly introduced into the world and has become more devastating than anything that has ever existed. Now these gods are not really new in human society, but they have completely taking center stage in a world that has become more mental than physical. Let's take a look at these new gods.

1. Pleasure
In many societies, it is no longer fashionable to serve physical objects. So pleasure has become a new god.

A god is simply an object of worship. Something you commit your life to. Something you will give everything for. That is why Jesus declared to us in Matt 6:24 that you cannot serve God and mammon (money). Jesus refered to money as an alternative god. An object of worship. Jesus told the rich young ruler to go sell all he had and come and follow Him.

Why did Jesus do that? Because the man's possesions had become his god. Jesus did not ask Joseph of Arimathea, another rich man, to go sell all his things. The simple difference was that Joseph was not tied to his riches. The problem with the so called prosperity teaching in the church today is that it is really materialism that is being preached. There is nothing wrong with a Christian having the good things of life like nice cars and houses. But the simple question is, can you do without them?

There was an interesting story in Matt 10:17-27, where Jesus told the rich young ruler to go sell all his things. The bible tells us that the man became very sad. That was when Jesus declared that it was easier for the head of a camel to pass through the eye of the needle than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. Jesus wasn't saying it was bad to be rich, he was simply telling us that many rich people are slaves to their wealth. They worship their possesions. Their money has become their god.

This is the unfortunate thing being promoted on our TVs today. The gospel of worship of money. Interestingly, those who have really impacted the world positively and changed lives are those who have been detached from possesions. Even in the secular world, Ghandi, Mandela, Mother Terresa are great examples in our time.

1. Fame
Probably even more dangerous than money and possesions today is fame. Fame has become the new high. The new drug. They have now coined a word for it. Celebrity! What exactly does that mean? It simply means someone who has become popular.

The big question is, how does just being popular really mean anything?

Well, welcome to the new world! Now you turn on your TV and you are greeted with a host of reality shows. Meaningless programs about how a lady goes out to shop or what kind of hair she wants to do next or how a guy is tired of his marriage and how he his cheating on his wife.

No moral, educational or even intellectual value. But suddenly, the person on the screen becomes a "celebrity". Celebrated for what, you can't tell. No wonder some are even willing to spread negative news about themselves now to attain that celebrity status. Fame has become not only a captivating god, but a very dangerous one.
Every kid now wants to be a celebrity. Excellence and hard work and values have been thrown out the window. Interestingly, even many preachers have joined the celebrity bandwagon. Christians now argue about the size of their church and the polularity and wealth of their pastors. I can tell you that if many of these pastors come out today to sell all their possessions, their churches will be empty the following sunday.

A friend of mine was telling me how a fellow pastor advised him to start his ministry. He told him to get some money and if need be, he should go borrow. Then he should get serious sound system and put together correct music. Then he should get a fantastic venue. All the while, God's will and direction was never a part of the deal. It was just about attracting people. That guy is building a church for himself, not for God. God is very far from him. A church that cannot function without heavy music is not a church but a clun house. They now defend it by saying we are in a modern age. How a modern age can change an ageless God is amazing. There is nothing wrong with great music, but music is not God and God is not music. Infact, there are some kind of music that are more of a distraction from God than a blessing. I have seen some of the greatest moves of God's spirit in small gatherings without musical instruments and public address sytems but with glorious united hearts worshipping in purity and in spirit and in truth. God requires our hearts worship, not pianos and drums! Never replace the glowing, magnificient presence of God with a golden calf from Aaron!

3. Nature
This one is very subtle but a serious god. Now there is nothing wrong with taken care of our environment and planting trees and making the world a better place for us all to live in. But many have now crossed that line into worship of nature. From tree huggers to animal protection groups, some are now worshipping nature. Earth is not our mother or god. Earth did not create anyone or anything. Earth is our subject and as our subject, we have a duty to maintain it and make it look good, not worship it. God told Adam clearly:

Gen 1:28
"Be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth and subdue it" not worship it! Replenish and subdue it!

4.Vanity

This god is similar to pleasure but still very different. It has to do with strong lust for things. But it is even deeper. It is actuually a result of a sense of incompleteness. A crave and a drive to gain relevance and self worth. From dressing excessively so we are noticed, to buying more cars than we actually need just so we look better than our neighbour and friends. Now this is not to say it is wrong to dress elegantly and glamourously, but there is a difference between dressing and feeling happy and good about yourself and dressing to gain attention so you can fill the void in your heart or look important and have value in the eyes of the people around you. Jesus said a man's life does not consist of the abundance of the things he posseses. In other words, your cars, houses, clothes and bank account is not your true worth. If it was, armed robbers and criminals will have more worth than Mandela and Mother Terresa. Your real worth is the value you add to society around you and how you transform their lives with God's love and grace. Your real worth is the level of God's love in your heart. Once you begin to develop God's love in your heart, you will never feel inadequate again in your life. You will loose all sense of lack. You will become complete. Love completes you. When man fell in the garden, he lost the sense of love. Jesus came to restore that. Now the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. Love restores all. Love completes all!

Rebelion
Now this is a serious one. A real demonic god hatched from the pit of hell. They come with subtle words like "be what you want to be". "Do what pleases you". It sounds inspiring but it is the direct opposite of God's love. For God so love the world that he gave. He gave! That is God's way. That is God's character. But the new age message is to take, take and take. It is now aggresively promoted through the media. In songs, movies and magazines. They call it being yourself. It is the doctrine of babel. The doctrine of self worship! The doctrine of 666! The doctrine of the antichrist. 666 is not about putting a tag on someone's forehead. It is about man worshiping himself in direct rebelion to God! It is the worst kind of idolatory and it is the kind that will lead to men destroying themselves.

These are some of the new gods that hell has unleashed upon men. If you truly are born of God, you will do well to check yourself daily. The apostle Paul said, I die daily. He also declared
"let him that thinks he stands take heed, lest he falls". 1 Cor 10:12

Keep your eye on the mark. Don't be distracted. Jesus is coming soon!

Come lord Jesus!

1 Kings 12
28. Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

29. And he set the one in Beth–el, and the other put he in Dan.

30. And this thing became a sin: for the people went to worship before the one, even unto Dan.

31. And he made an house of high places, and made priests of the lowest of the people, which were not of the sons of Levi.

32. And Jeroboam ordained a feast in the eighth month, on the fifteenth day of the month, like unto the feast that is in Judah, and he offered upon the altar. So did he in Beth–el, sacrificing unto the calves that he had made: and he placed in Beth–el the priests of the high places which he had made.

33. So he offered upon the altar which he had made in Beth–el the fifteenth day of the eighth month, even in the month which he had devised of his own heart; and ordained a feast unto the children of Israel: and he offered upon the altar, and burnt incense.