We live in sleepy times. Times when people would rather shrug their shoulders and turn the other way than stand for something decent. On the other hand, there seems to be no trouble in finding people willing to stand for what is immoral, and hold it up as the highest of virtues. Alarm clocks and wedding bells.

Look at LGBT activists. They have no problem mustering people and passion to parade the streets, flood social media with their propaganda, and guilt those riding the fence into falling off on their side. Then they marginalize those who think differently with all kinds of name-calling. The marginalized ones, shrug and say they deserve it because of past mistreatment of the LGBT community. As a result, favor for the LGBT cause has nearly doubled since 2001.

But the church sleeps—Jesus weeps, and alarm clocks ring—trying to wake us from our deep apathy.

Another evil that is extolled as a high virtue—and almost held as a sacrament by those who espouse it—is abortion. Once again people are manipulated into supporting it. The focus is taken off the fact that a baby is being killed. Instead they look at the right of the woman to choose what happens with her own body. Christians are once more marginalized, though not quite as effectively. If you oppose abortion you might be considered a woman hater. You want nothing more than to continue an oppressive patriarchy, keeping women in subjection and at home toiling in misery and in the slavery of child birth, while men go on their merry way.

And even through this murderous outrage, the church sleeps—Jesus weeps, and alarm clocks ring—ever higher in pitch as times become more desperate.

Adolescents are on drugs, cutting themselves, engaging in sexual promiscuity, and playing with every dark thing. They need empathy and understanding we are told—but let there not be any effort to teach them a better way. So they continue to stumble in darkness, since no one has the courage to light a torch on their path—though we contain an everlasting light within us.

Yes, the church appears to be sleeping—Jesus is probably weeping, and so I could continue with every evil thing under the sun that we have been conditioned to tolerate.

But there is something more I hear, above the noise, confusion and distraction. The peal of bells pierces through even the loudest roar of the enemy. Are these the alarm clocks I’ve been writing of? Perhaps. But they double as something far more majestic—wedding bells.

That’s right, through it all, we must not forget that as the world and parts of the church fall into slumber, the bride-groom is ringing His bells—waking up his bride to separate her from those who slumber. The true bride of Christ will not be found with blemish or wrinkle. We will not be manipulated by the world to tolerate evil, but we must be found wearing robes of righteousness. This robe can only be received as a gift from the bride-groom.