A couple of weeks ago I posted about feeling convicted about listening/dancing to music that doesn’t glorify God.

In this sick poem Music, Christian poet Jose Palos gets at the hip hop culture today and breaks down exactly what I was trying to say. My favorite lines:

And I know we gotta pray that they repent and understand/ but you know Islamic cats wouldn’t take it if they were talking about Mohamed, man/ so why do we sit back casually and not even twinge at these blasphemies?/ coz if we know God’s heart for real then we would mourn over these tragedies.

serving left-overs to a Holy God

1 A prophecy: The word of the Lord to Israel through Malachi.

2 “I have loved you,” says the Lord…

6 “A son honors his father, and a slave his master. If I am a father, where is the honor due me? If I am a master, where is the respect due me?” says the Lord Almighty.

“It is you priests who show contempt for my name.

“But you ask, ‘How have we shown contempt for your name?’

7 “By offering defiled food on my altar.

“But you ask, ‘How have we defiled you?’

“By saying that the Lord’s table is contemptible. 8 When you offer blind animals for sacrifice, is that not wrong? When you sacrifice lame or diseased animals, is that not wrong? Try offering them to your governor! Would he be pleased with you? Would he accept you?” says the Lord Almighty.

9 “Now plead with God to be gracious to us. With such offerings from your hands, will he accept you?”—says the Lord Almighty.

10 “Oh, that one of you would shut the temple doors, so that you would not light useless fires on my altar! I am not pleased with you,” says the Lord Almighty, “and I will accept no offering from your hands. 11 My name will be great among the nations, from where the sun rises to where it sets. In every place incense and pure offerings will be brought to me, because my name will be great among the nations,” says the Lord Almighty.

Malachi 1:1-10

what we can learn from CERN

I think Christians have a lot to learn from the scientists over at CERN. Since 1954, these men and women have dedicated their lives, energy, money to finding a sub-atomic particle called the Higgs Boson, which is key to their understanding of how the universe and life within it came to be.

Obviously, as a Christian, I do not share their views on the origin of life and the universe. What I cannot fault them for is their dedication. The Economic Times called it one of the longest most expensive searches in the history of science. 58 years and billions of dollars it cost to get to this point.

How much have I given up to follow Christ? How dedicated am I to knowing God through His word and prayer? How eagerly do I give of my abilities, my time, my money to serve and love others as He called us to? (Luke 18:21-25; Matthew 5:43-47)

We like to go on about how atheism and world-centric views are taking over our media, poisoning our minds and our children’s minds. But I think instead of whinging, our response should be to love more (Romans 12:9).

Love unselfishly and sincerely, give more generously, not expecting anything back. In Matthew 5:16, Jesus tells us to let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and glorify our Father in Heaven. That way, no one will be able to deny the power of His Spirit that is at work in us, because the fruits will be evident in our lives (Galatians 5:22).

nowfollowing…

Last night, some friends and I went to see this house/jazz fusion band playing in Cape Town. As these things go, we went to a club afterwards. I don’t go out a lot anymore, so when I do, I prefer it to be fun.

But as I was dancing to these songs and singing, I stopped for a second and listened to the words - these were/are words that I use to praise my Lord, the Most High God - to say I love You, there is no one above You - and yet here I was using the same words to sing about “love”, alcohol, money. I was so convicted by a feeling of not being genuine about my love for Christ at all.

Joshua 24:14-15 reads:

14 “Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt, and serve the Lord. 15 But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.”

Now, I know I wasn’t doing anything immoral, but I was singing along to songs that glorify the immoral. And I certainly wasn’t doing anything to glorify God or to bring me closer to Him. This faith isn’t a long list of do’s and don’ts - I think God just wants us to realise that what we have in Him is better and more real.

Paul puts it wonderfully (as always) in 1 Corinthians 10 when he talks about our freedom as Christians:

23 “Everything is permissible,” you say—but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible”—but not everything is constructive… 31 So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.

The worst part is that while I felt that I didn’t belong in that club, my actions had (for a while) cost me the closeness that I usually enjoy with God in prayer and worship. Lukewarm is a horrible feeling.

I had to choose who to follow. I thank God for that slap in the face last night. And I’m not saying Christians should be recluse party-poopers - but I learnt last night, that even when I’m having fun I want to be certain that it’s not going to pull me away from God. 

God knows that the renewal of our minds is not easy, and He doesn’t expect us to do it of our own strength. For this, we have been given grace.

…Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. 5 Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the Spirit He caused to dwell in us longs jealously? 6 But he gives us more grace. (James 4)
I pray for grace.

Enough For Me

I recently started a study of the women of the Bible. There is so much that we can learn from the stories of Ruth, Hannah, Ester, Lydia, Mary and the others that aren’t mentioned by name like the woman at the well. As a Christian woman, I don’t think I could find better role models than these.

Anyway, in my study of Hannah this morning (1 Samuel 1 and 2), I discovered a couple of interesting things. We all know the story of Hannah - a barren woman who prayed to the Lord for many years before He gave her Samuel. A woman of great faith.

1 Samuel 1:5 says that the Lord had closed Hannah’s womb. It was His will that she not have children. In verse 8, Elkanah, her husband asks her: “Hannah, why do you weep? Why are you downcast? Don’t I mean more to you than ten sons?”

To me, these 2 verses reveal something about why God lets us go through difficult times: so that He will be enough for us. It is so easy to let the things we have, the people we love take the place of God in our hearts - even when these things and relationships are blessings from God Himself.

In lack, we realize how much we need the Lord. It is much harder to stay devoted when we don’t lack anything. We are all trusting God for something at one time or another. If it feels like He is “taking His time on it”, it might just be that He wants us to question ourselves - do I want this blessing more than I want the God who is giving it to me? Is God enough for me?