Choose Your Altar

Introduction — The Altars We Don’t Notice

There was a time when altars were unmistakable.

Stone. Fire. Blood. Devotion. Awe.

Everyone knew the moment of worship.

Everyone knew to whom they were offering themselves.

Today, the altars have changed.

They glow. They scroll. They entertain.

They fit in a pocket.

No priest stands beside them.

No fire burns upon them.

Yet worship continues.

Every click, every stream, every swipe

is shaping souls to bend toward a particular god.

And the striking thing is

the whole world calls that normal.

We used to ask children, “Who do you want to be like when you grow up?”

Now children are discipled to ask, “Who do I want to be seen as today?”

The altar call has moved.

It no longer waits at the front of the sanctuary.

It waits inside TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, Netflix, Snapchat.

The choices we make there

shape what we surrender here.

Today the Spirit of God asks a question not just to teenagers

but to every generation still breathing:

Which altar are you bowing before?

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Scripture Foundation

Let’s root ourselves in the Word.

Hear the apostle Paul:

> “Do not be conformed to this world,

but be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”

Romans 12:2

And Jesus said:

> “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:21

Translation:

Your habits reveal your worship.

And Moses warned God’s people about the very spirit that still prowls today:

> “You shall not give any of your children to be sacrificed to Molech.”

Leviticus 18:21

The altar of Molech was a place where the innocent were offered

to gain the approval of culture.

If you think Molech retired…think again.

He simply updated the platform.

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1 — Darkness Is Being Made Cute

We are entering Halloween season.

Let’s be honest: most people love the candy, the community, and the costumes.

But I want you to notice something subtle.

We have learned to dress death in glitter.

We have taken fear and made it fun.

We have taken the demonic and made it decorative.

We call it harmless.

God calls it unwise.

Paul wrote:

> “Have NOTHING to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness,

but rather EXPOSE them.”

Ephesians 5:11

We don’t hate evil anymore.

We find it ironic and entertaining.

The serpent doesn’t hiss.

He jokes.

He memes.

He trends.

If Satan can get us to laugh at him,

he can get us to listen to him.

If he can get us to listen,

he can shape what we love.

We are raising generations who flinch at holiness

but laugh at hell.

Church, that is not funny.

That is spiritual anesthesia.

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2 — Entertainment Is Discipleship

Make no mistake:

Every screen is a pulpit.

Every app is a teacher.

Every feed is a catechism.

The question is not whether our children are being discipled.

The question is by whom.

There was a children’s cartoon years ago called Cow and Chicken.

The “devil” character wasn’t frightening — he was funny.

He tempted. He lied. He schemed…

and the audience giggled.

The enemy doesn’t need horns and a pitchfork.

He only needs to stop looking dangerous.

The less serious we are about sin,

the more serious sin becomes about us.

We have forgotten:

Sin didn’t just break rules.

Sin murdered Jesus.

We don’t reject entertainment.

But we reject entertainment that disciples us toward death.

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3 — The New Molech: When Screens Raise Our Kids

Ancient Israel’s greatest shame was the altar of Molech —

children laid on burning arms of an idol

while drums drowned out the screams.

Let’s bring this home gently but truthfully.

Now the sacrifice is attention.

The fire is addiction.

The screams are silent.

Parents give phones to toddlers

just to get a moment of peace.

And we don’t realize

that the god on the other side of that device

has real plans for that mind,

that imagination,

that identity.

We do not allow strangers to raise our children physically,

but we allow strangers to raise them digitally.

We let the algorithm become the shepherd

and then wonder why our kids

no longer recognize the Shepherd’s voice.

This is not about condemnation.

This is about awareness.

About taking back our priesthood in the home.

You are the appointed guardian

of your children’s altar.

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4 — AI and the False Promise of Immortality

Our world now speaks in a new language:

Upload your consciousness.

Preserve your voice forever.

Your digital self will never die.

One day tech will defeat death.

That is not innovation.

That is imitation.

A counterfeit resurrection without a cross.

Eternal life without repentance.

Hope without holiness.

A savior who never bled.

And the church must ask plainly:

If machines can save me,

why did Jesus have to die?