Today's World of Entertainment

Philippians 4:8 (New International Version)

 [8] Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.


There is a subject which will always stir me up; today's world of entertainment. Musics, movies, games, books, what is this generation turning to pass the time with?


Starting this spring I cut movies nearly completely out of my life; I became convicted, realizing that the movies I watched had a direct relationship with my mood, attitude, and actions. They had a handle on my life and time that I should have spent communing with God turned to endorse violence, sexual immorality, crudeness, and vulgarity.
 
"But wait," you say, "Not all movies are like that!"

My answer to that is, Enough of them are. It isn't worth it to me any more to wade through the garbage to find a few good movies--and even 'good' 'safe' movies can take up a good part of your time.

 Horrors and thrillers (generally speaking) open your mind to Satanic influence; it's real and I've seen it happen. Yes there are the few that have good solid themes, but ask yourself this; is it truly worth wading through the pile of pig manure to find one pearl? See No Evil, The Hitcher, Paranormal Activity, Hide and Seek, the list goes on and on and those examples aren't even recent releases. Everything you see and hear has a huge effect on you. Line your movies up with Philippians 4:8, line your movies up with what your conscience tells you, but more importantly, line your movies up with God.



I am truly disturbed at what kids these days are listening to, stuff they call music. Music? It's chalk-full of swearing, themes of sexual immorality, violence, hate, racism, slander, hopelessness... Is that what you want to fill your mind with?


The power of music is incredible, and though I maintain that music in and of itself is amoral--a God-given tool of expression--used wrongly and mixed with today's lyrics it takes a devastating toll. Music has HUGE influences on the mind, it affects all kinds of things simply through the way it is composed at the core. Now let me tell you there are alot of sounds coming out of the record industry that I would be ashamed to call music, and there are words coming out of the headphones of 10-year-olds that I would be ashamed to say to my parents or even my peers.


Christians! Whatever is true! What ever is noble! Whatever is right, pure and lovely! Whatever is admirable or praiseworthy, think about these things!

Christian youth! This is an appeal! Come back to your God, come back to your families, come back to your lives! Stop living in and of the world, stop prostituting yourself to the world and Satan. Come back to your First Love!  Stop living the way you've been living, stop watching and listening to the things you've been watching and listning to; dwell on Godly things! Do not give yourselves up as Israel gave herself up in adultery,to the nations.


This is an appeal; Christians, return to your God. Renew your faith in the great I Am. He is so much more than the world's promise of happiness, entertainment. You cannot serve God and entertainment, so stop and check yourself because He is so much more.

Night Watchman

The night is silent; indeed, silent as the grave. And the mist beyond the window-panes can only add to the illusion and alude the more. The silence is unbroken.
It is a good night to be a night watchman... to be young Samuel, listening to the voice of the Lord. It is a good night to listen. And so here I sit, watching, listening... readying myself for what end I do not know, only that I must be ready.

It is a good day to be ready. It is a good day to be watchful, to listen... It is a good day to hear the word of the Lord. It is a good day for you. NightWatchmen, Samuels, Brothers and Sisters, awake. Awake and see your king coming! Awake and hear the voice of Him. Look and see; tonight is a good night to see. Look, Listen, Trust... Do not slumber!

In the stillness of night... in the Peace of turmoil.. in the place of suffering, there is your God. There is your God, worthy of all worship, honour and glory. Worthy the Lamb who was slain. Even in this dark night, look! Listen! He who is worthy comes. Watchmen to the high places for he comes, and with him a mighty host of heaven to free the captives. A mighty host of heaven. Do not slumber. Do not sleep.

Watch, Wait, Listen... Obey... Trust and Obey.

[6] This is what the Lord says to me:

“Go, post a lookout and have him report
what he sees. [7] When he sees chariots
with teams of horses, riders on donkeys or
riders on camels, let him be alert, fully alert.”

Isaiah 21:6-7

Romans 13:1-7

Romans 13



Submission to Governing Authorities


[1] Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. [2] Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. [3] For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. [4] For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. [5] Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.


[6] This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. [7] Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Being With Jesus

1 John 1:7 (New International Version)

[7]But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.

The Bible calls people who do good righteous. There were many that God specifically named righteous, for instance Job. How do we know that Job was righteous? Because he did right. Yes he was human, and humans aren't perfect, but God was pretty proud of Job, he even considered him blameless.

So how do we live righteous lives? 1 John 1:7 states that purification from all sin comes through the blood of Jesus, and if we would walk in the light as he [God] is in the light, our sins will be purified. So what is light?

Several months back I made a decision to change my habits of entertainment--namely movies--to walk more in this light that John talks about. And what a practical solution it was! The less negative content in my entertainment, the easier it is to fix my eyes on someone much greater, Jesus. And it wasn't difficult to part with many of my previous modes of entertainment - anything that I felt dragging me down in any way I removed from my life. What a freedom I felt!

A very good friend of mine once told me, "Dark things grow in dark places," there was more to it but that was the jist of it. This is why it is so important to walk in the light. Do you want freedom from bondage? Walk in the light! Do you want healing from sickness, depression, sin? Walk in the light!



Walking in the light means simply to walk with Jesus. Not just a few minutes down on your knees by your bed each night, no. Any and every day, twenty-four hours a day, we must seek an active growing relationship with Christ. This is how we must walk in the light. And when we walk in this light, "...the things of this earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace."

Will you turn your eyes upon Jesus?

Turn your eyes upon Jesus
Look full in his wonderful face
And the things of this earth
will grow strangely dim
In the light of His Glory and Grace

Lifesong

Revelation 12:11 (NIV)

They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

 
There is an incredible power in testimony and today we need to begin to unlock that power. The church sits in slumber because none see the miracles within. In light of that, this is my testimony.
 
Take a moment and read 2 Corinthians 12:7-10. What an awesome passage. Here Paul is telling of a weakness he has--a weakness allowed by God.
 
As I grew up and became more aware of the world around me God allowed me a weakness; or perhaps it was simply a consequence. It all began a number of years ago when I was about ten years old.
 

I grew up believing I could be everything I could be--that is to say, I believed that I had to earn grace and buy my passage to heaven. Until later years I always just figured since I went to church I was, (obviously) going to heaven. And perhaps if I brought my Bible to church every week and learned my memory verse perfectly and did all these things just right, God would love me more. I looked down on most people taller than me, and everyone shorter than me--I thought I had it all. Yep, I was pretty snobby.
 
As I got older I began to realize that I was alone. Sure I had my family--you can never be alone with seven siblings. I had plenty of cousins kicking around too, but that's about all they really seamed to do. And then there was my church. I grew up into it, I knew everyone in it, but the only real friend I had really had then moved away. I was socially challenged, besides, I already knew everyone and didn't know how to go from there. At any rate everyone my age either moved away or was a girl and at that age, this was quite a predicament.
 
It was about this time that, due to a suggestive movie, I fell innocently into lusting after fleshly desires and soon became addicted. For the first six months or so I argued with myself that what I was doing wasn't wrong--and won out. But as I became hooked on porn in the wake of this, my arguments sounded more and more hollow.
 

Overcome by my new secret and loneliness, I fell into depression and turned even more toward my lustful habits for comfort. At the same time I was getting scared. I was convicted of the sin in my life and I knew that if I did not stop my habits, I was going to hell. But I still believed I could earn my way to heaven. So on June 24, 2004 I was baptised--my safeguard on those pearly gates. I thought that baptism was more than a symbol--that baptism was the action itself which it should only have represented.
 
Even though I was baptised I did not feel any different, but now I did have an excuse. When I messed up I could say, "It's okay! I'm baptised! I'm going to heaven anyway!" But even in that I found little comfort. I continued to sink further into depression due to my loneliness, dark secrets, and the feeling that God had abandoned me.
 
2006 was a note-worthy year for me. I was very depressed. I had vowed that year to end my lustful habits, but that vow would not be kept. Because of this I felt that God was failing me--for the simple reason that I was failing him. I was still very tied in to the beliefs that I had to earn God's approval--especially now that I had dark secrets.
 
I thought often of dieing. I didn't have the guts and still believed that even if I was a lost sinner forever I could do something with my life, but these couldn't hold out forever. I remember often praying and crying to God that he would even just send me a friend I could talk to, but no answer seamed to come.
 
 

It was mid-fall of '06 that I met her. Over the last year I had turned to a virtual world on the internet in which hundreds of thousands of people interracted. It was a desperate attempt to gain something of a friendship. I was pushing further and further away from reality and had nothing to do with anyone if I could help it. Brenna was a Christian girl slightly younger than me from the states, and amazingly enough she was in the same time zone as me. Though I never met her in flesh-and-blood, we soon became friends.
 
Brenna was like no one I had ever met before. I told her all about my past and my depression; she didn't judge but loved--did not turn her back but proverbially took my hand and walked me through. She introduced me to a Christian website--little more than a basic blog, but here I met many other young Christians with a faith much like Brenna's; strong, steadfast, based on an undeniable love of God. By the new year I had caught hold of this faith and God began to lift me out of depression.
 

He Conquered the Grave

1 Corinthians 15:54-56 (New International Version)

[54]When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." [55]
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?" [56]The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.


Are you afraid of dieing? Does death seam like the ultimate unknown to you? Let me tell you a short story.

God had a plan from the very begining (do you ever wonder when the begining was? It was a long time ago that's for sure!) When the time was right, he came to us in the body of a man whom his earthly mother named Jesus. Jesus walked our earth and felt our human pains. He even felt the pains of sin when he lifted your sins onto his back in Gethsemane. You know this story, I'm sure. But there's more - the best part.

Jesus took our sin--the sin of all humanity--on his shoulders and he bore it to a hill where separation from God broke his heart and killed him. But that was not the end. When Jesus said, "It is finished," he didn't mean it's over. He didn't say, that's all there is left of me. He said, it is finished! I did it! It's done! He said, Victory is mine! I've paid the price. And then he died.

Jesus was laid away in a tomb just before the Sabbath, and after the Sabbath he rose up from the dead. He conquered the grave, and the ultimate plan of salvation was complete. Jesus conquered the grave.

So what does this mean to us? It means that a) we are sinners saved by grace, b) Jesus knows about death. The second of these I will emphasize. Jesus lived on this earth in complete obedience to Father God. When he took up his cross and died on it, his obedience to the Father was complete - he lay down his life and became obedient even to death. Paul sums this up quite thoroughly in Phillipians 2:

[6]Who [Christ], being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, [7]but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness. [8]And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself and became obedient to death—even death on a cross!
-Phillippians 2:6-8 

What then is the result of Christ's obedience to death? Let's read on through the next few verses:
 
[9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name,
[10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, [11] and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Wow. Because Christ was fully obedient, even to death, God the Father gave him the victory and exalted him. (It wasn't a small exaltation either). Jesus was victorious over death!

[9]For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him. -Romans 6:9

Where, O Death is your sting? Where is your victory?! Why do you fear death? Why are you afraid to suffer? Jesus done it already. Why do we fear for those about to die? Jesus holds the keys of death itself!
If you don't find this exciting then please, wake up!

God holds the keys to hell and one day he will open that place for Satan. Jesus holds the keys to death and one day, many of us who are now alive will die. Many have already died. It will be disputed possibly till Jesus returns what will happen to us when we die, but be at peace in your heart, because Jesus is victorious over even death itself.

When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." -1 Corinthians 15:54

The Good Shepherd - Being a Follower

We've all seen a Nativity or Bible story picture with shepherds in it. They're the guys with sheep and bent sticks. When I was younger I wondered where they got those neat bent sticks from and how they got bent in the first place. I want you to keep that image in your mind as you read this post.




John 10 (New Internation Version)

[2]The man who enters by the gate is the shepherd of his sheep. [3]The watchman opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4]When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice.

How do we as Christians relate to following Jesus? How can we know that what we are following really is Jesus and not someone else? And how do we become better followers?

Hearing God's Voice. Do you believe that God still speaks to people as he did to people in the Bible? Believe it or not, He does. I fully believe that I hear God's voice. But is hearing His voice enough? Sheep can hear anyone's voice, even the theif and the robber who climbs over the wall of the fold. So what do we do when we hear God?

As I was talking to God a week or so ago I asked him, ironically enough, how to hear his voice. He gave me three words: Listen, Believe, and Obey.
Listen. Listen for the voice of God. "...and the sheep listen to his voice." Anyone can hear God if he wants to be heard, but you must listen to his voice. He will call you out, even by name, to lead you. If you listen attentively, the voice of God will become unlike all the rest - you will know his voice.

Believe. Believe it is the voice of God calling you out. Knowing and believing are two separate actions. I may know that people use and study all kinds of advanced chemistry science all the time, but I will never believe that anything down to a molecular level is of any use! You must believe in your own heart which voice to follow--for there will be many other voices--and then, follow it!

Obey. You can listen and believe all you want, but there's no use in either if you will not follow the call of God. You cannot remain in the fold within the four walls of the Law and Religion and the fear of striking out, you must follow the call of God.

These are the three steps you should take to hearing God and initially, following him. But what about false shepherds? This would be what some refer to as the anti-christ.

[4]"When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice."

A true shepherd does not go behind the flock and prod with the stick. He does not nudge them on their way from behind. No. The staff serves a purpose but this is a case in which following truly means following.
A leader leads by example - so Christ led by example - and he continues on ahead of us. We must listen to his voice and follow. If we will follow him, he will lead us.

Psalm 23 (NIV)

A psalm of David.

[1] The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. [2] He makes me lie down in green pastures,
he leads me beside quiet waters, [3] he restores my soul. He guides me in paths of righteousness
for his name's sake. [4] Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
[5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil;
my cup overflows. [6] Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever.