Stop trying to find loop holes!!!!

Saints,

I don't agree with a gospel artist teaming up with a secular artist at all. Sorry just don't. How does that work? Isn't our music supposed to be glorifying the Lord? How do you do such things with a secular artist on a track that does not hold the same moral values as we do? I mean as Christians we can't go into something like that thinking we will hold them to our moral standard on that project. They don't understand our moral standard and we cant expect them to. They are not the ones that are claiming Christ, we are. Therefore, we are the ones that will be held accountable when people hear that one track you do with whoever and then they hear the tracks after that and associate you with it. They will think it is hypocritical because the world is always trying to make excuses for what they do and will jump all over an opportunity to point out a Christians fault in the spotlight. They wont hear your message and they will call you out on it.

If you are saying that you are using the opportunity to try to speak into the artist, in hopes that they will come to Christ. Well if you got it in good with them like that and they ask you to work on a project with them, then I would say pass on the project and minister to them anyways. They are not just going to come out of the blue like that and ask you to get on a song with them. You more than likely would have a pre-existing relationship with them in which you probably, I would hope, have already been witnessing to them and therefore you would have no need of urgency to jump on the project cause you don't know if you will ever have a chance to speak into their life again.

I do get tired of hearing people say, "Imagine if 50 got saved, the damage he could do for the kingdom of God." Well 50 isn't saved and thats that. I am not saying he cant be, but we got plenty of gospel artist that are just as bangin doing it big for God NOW. How insulting is that to God? Lord your tools are not good enough, but if you had that "50 tool" man show would be over. That is what we are essentially saying when we say such things.

Jesus was amongst the sinners, but he was not a sinner. The moment a Christian artist hops on a secular track, they just went from being amongst the sinners to being part of a sinful image.

Thats how I see things...

Grace and Peace
Redeemed In Prayer

Angel Sighting

Image Management...

We live in a culture where you can be whoever you want to be. That can be a good thing, if you are really putting in effort to better yourself and your life. However, it also can be a very bad thing. In these days you can have a internet blog through Myspace, Facebook and others that you can pretend to be someone you are not. It is so easy! You just simply use a fake name and a fake picture and presto! You have a whole new life in under 5 minutes. I realized this when I opened up a myspace artist account to start networking my music. I would click on an artist page to become there friend and it would turn out that it was not the artist they were portraying. I started to think, how many people are on these blogs that "are not really on these blogs?" How many of these people are pretending to be someone they are not, just for the simple reason that they do not like who they really are or they are ashamed of who they really are?

We all want to be know for something good. Whether it be for good grades in school, having a great career, having good looks, have a good life style or simply just being a good parent. No one walks around and says that I want to be know for beating my kids or I want everyone to see this report card with three "F's" and two "D's" on it.

The fact of the matter is that we all have our problems in life, some more serious than others. And when we have these problems we tend to want to keep them to ourselves. We conduct "image management" in which we only allow people to see the side of us that we deem appropriate for other people to see. See, when there is a gap between what you want to be know for and what you really are, that is a problem. Because when there is a gap there are secrets. For example, my wife and I are not the all cute-see perfect couple that most people see us as. We have our problems like any other normal married couple but when it is Sunday morning and we roll into the church parking lot, the disagreement gets put aside and we smile, laugh and shake hands. That is image management to a certain degree. I would not go into church being all frustrated at my wife in front of other people because that is none of their business. However, as believers, there are some problems in our lives that have more power over us in the secret dark shadows of our lives than they would in the public.

James 5:16 says,"Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective."

Now I am not saying that you should stand in front your entire church this Sunday and tell them your deepest darkest secrets that you have been hiding for the past 10, 20, 30 years! But you need to understand that we all had a gap or have a gap! We all practiced "Image Management" at some point in our lives! Trust me, we all want to be known for something good and positive, but what we need is to be known by someone! Someone who loves us to much to leave us the way we are. Who is praying for your gap? Who knows who you really are?

Johns Dark Hour...

Luke 7:18-20
18John's disciples told him about all these things. Calling two of them, 19he sent them to the Lord to ask, "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?"

20When the men came to Jesus, they said, "John the Baptist sent us to you to ask, 'Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?' "

21At that very time Jesus cured many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. 22So he replied to the messengers, "Go back and report to John what you have seen and heard: The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy[b] are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor. 23Blessed is the man who does not fall away on account of me."

I find this scripture very interesting. Why would John question Jesus' authenticity. At this point John was in prison for a better part of 10 months. He was put there for basically rebuking Herod and his adulterous marriage. If you don't know, the jail cells in those days where not like they are now. They were very dark, cold and damp. You didn't see a lot of daylight. Anyhow, in that better part of a year John had a lot of time to reflect on his life and how he measured up to that point in time. For a better part of a year John has his disciples coming to him and telling him all these "different" things Jesus, the one John spoke of, was doing. Jesus wasn't what everyone thought the Messiah would be. Among many other things, he socialized with prostitutes and tax collectors, he attended parties and social gatherings and he did not fast in the same way and manor as everyone else did. So, John just hearing this and not being able to witness and experience the amazement of Jesus' miracles, found himself having a dark hour, an hour of doubt. Did he just waste his life? Was Jesus really the Messiah that the scriptures spoke of? In having the questions of doubt, he sends two of his disciples to ask Jesus, Are you really the one that we were expecting? The response that Jesus gives here is perfect. He didn't just stand there and talk to these two men and give them a list of reason why he is best fit to be the Messiah. Jesus knew that John was a man that lived his life according to scripture. And that just words from Jesus was not enough to prove his authenticity to John. So without saying a word he turns cures many who had diseases, sicknesses and evil spirits, and gave sight to many who were blind. This would make perfect sense to John because John knows that the Messiah is supposed to do all those things. Then he tells them to simply go back to John and tell him what they have seen.

See when we are in that dark hour of our lives when we question God. Is he real? Does he really care? Why can't I feel him anymore? Is there really a point to this walk or am I just a fool wasting my time? Those are the times we need to follow the example that Jesus' laid out for us and not turn to a bunch of gimmicks on how to get closer to God, but to simply turn to the scriptures. They are the actual words of God and there is nothing that is going to make you feel closer to him that reading his actual words he laid out for you and me.

Passing Thought...

As Christians we need to find the things in our lives that strengthens our faith to the Lord Jesus Christ and constantly come back to those things. For example if you have a houseplant and you want it to grow you need to water it. Any two year old could tell you that, it is just one of the basics of life. All living things are dependent on something else to keep them alive. Well, the same with our faith. Those things that give us goose bumps because they make us see without a doubt that Christ is who he said he is, those things need to be filtered into our daily lives to keep our faith alive!

Grace and Peace

Christ Has Already Done What He Had To Do!

Christ is not obligated to give you that one more chance just before you die to take him back into you hearts. That is what Him dieing on the cross was for! Hebrews 6:4 says, "It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit, who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age, if they fall away, to be brought back to repentance, because to their loss they are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subject him to public disgrace."

Those are some heavy words to swallow, but take them down! Because if you walk away from the Lord once you have experienced his love, what can bring you back? Nothing! If what God has to offer to us is not good enough the first time, it will NOT be good enough the second time...

JESUS IS NOT OBLIGATED TO DO ANYMORE THAN WHAT HE ALREADY HAS GRACIOUSLY DONE FOR US!!!

Grace and Peace

Got the Bible?

I was recently asked the question, "What advice do you have to give to a new Christian?" It was a young man and he said this to me referring his fiancé. I looked at the both of them and then looked at my Bible, paused, pointed to the book setting in front of me and said, "This needs to be your best friend."

It is true. How often do we see people come to Christ, but then never comeback to Christ? I mean, they accept Christ into their lives and all he has done for them, but then never comeback to meet with him in fellowship through His word. People say, "I want to know God." As a Christian you are called to know and walk with God. That is impossible to do if you are not digging into the scripts. The Word tells us everything we need to know about God and who He is. That needs to drive us in our lives.

What happens if we don't read the word? If we do not read to learn and fellowship with our Lord we will know nothing about him. We will be calling ourselves Christian aka Christ Followers, but not knowing whom we follow. We would resort to human wisdom to explain a miraculous God, which is inconceivable. (1 Corinthians 1 talks about how ridiculous human wisdom is.) The message of the cross is not comprehendible unless approached through faith and your faith cant be straightened unless you spend time with God, which includes the very words he breathed.

If a Christian fails to connect on a personal level with God they will always be second guessing themselves in their security in Christ. Every time they sin, they will feel like they are going to hell, get all down and depressed about it and in a sense try to hide from God like Adam and Eve did. Instead, they should be going to the Lord about it and talking it over with him. Christ didn't die on the cross for nothing. They need to truly come to a full understanding of what Christ dieing on the cross really means and that will not happen if you are not in a familiar relationship with the Lord Jesus the Christ.

So, if you are a new Christian, read your word. It is the best think you can do for your walk with Christ outside of prayer. Then again those two things should be going hand in hand.

Grace and Peace