Well, we ARE at war and I agree that kids (and adults) should get fired up about the crap we have to put up with everyday...and I mean the crap in many churches too!
The Bible is clear about who the enemy is and he's not one we can see. We see him IN behavior, and in man's contempt for God and the truth of God. The enemy is the one who is the "accuser of the bretheren" and who appears as an "angel of light".
I also see Christians trying to convince the world that "Hey! We're cool too!" as a gimmick. Honestly, we've done far too much of that pandering and it has made much of Christianity a parody of itself.
The world will ALWAYS hate us. The world hated Christ first. This will NEVER change. Christ's righteousness magnifies and exposes our UNrighteousness, and that makes us uncomfortable. After all, in all of our arrogance and pride we exclaim "It's myyyyyy life and myyyyyy choice!". God gave us this life, this ONE life, and we DO have a choice, many choices in fact.
But God doesn't want us to dress Him up to make Him more easily digestable for the world. It takes us coming to the end of ourselves to surrender to Him. No man seeks after God. God came down to us, to seek the lost and draw them near to Him in reconciliation.
Many people misinterpret what *I* do as re-packaging God or think that I do it as some kind of disengenuous act to more or less "trick" people into getting saved. But you, and any of my other friends know that I actually DO love the kind of music I play. I listen to many non-Christian bands because I appreciate their excellent musicianship and/or songwriting abilities. Abilities that I believe God gave them. Yeah, it sucks that they don't use it to honor Him and that they spew lies and filth within their lyrics, but hey...Slayer, CoF, and Strapping Young Lad ROCK, OK? If I wasn't a musician, I'd listen to these bands, I don't do it to take music and fashion pointers and then try and copy them to lead people to Christ...I let the Holy Spirit do the leading and if He wants to use me as a vessel to reach them, then I am honored and willing to do that.
I've had personal contact with many un-saved people doing what I do. You know what usually surprises them the most? That I like many of the same things they do. That I don't condemn them off-the-cuff and look down my nose at them. Many of them are used to being told they're going to hell and that they need to cut their hair and burn their Megadeth posters and such. I just tell them that Jesus asks us to come as we are. All our baggage, all our hang-ups and stains, and just follow Him. He will prune the branches to help us grow and He will sanctify us. A Christian life is a lifelong journey, I know *I* haven't "arrived" yet. But He is with me, and His grace & mercy are new every morning.
Too bad the Rolling Stone writer doesn't know Jesus. He'd understand why we ARE called to battle and why we are not to remain silent and let the enemy run rampant. Yeah, we shouldn't hinge our lifestyles on gimmick and parody, but we should arm ourselves with truth and never back down. Christ never asked us to do that. In fact, He commanded just the opposite. (Mark 16:14-20)
no subject
The Bible is clear about who the enemy is and he's not one we can see. We see him IN behavior, and in man's contempt for God and the truth of God. The enemy is the one who is the "accuser of the bretheren" and who appears as an "angel of light".
I also see Christians trying to convince the world that "Hey! We're cool too!" as a gimmick. Honestly, we've done far too much of that pandering and it has made much of Christianity a parody of itself.
The world will ALWAYS hate us. The world hated Christ first. This will NEVER change. Christ's righteousness magnifies and exposes our UNrighteousness, and that makes us uncomfortable. After all, in all of our arrogance and pride we exclaim "It's myyyyyy life and myyyyyy choice!". God gave us this life, this ONE life, and we DO have a choice, many choices in fact.
But God doesn't want us to dress Him up to make Him more easily digestable for the world. It takes us coming to the end of ourselves to surrender to Him. No man seeks after God. God came down to us, to seek the lost and draw them near to Him in reconciliation.
Many people misinterpret what *I* do as re-packaging God or think that I do it as some kind of disengenuous act to more or less "trick" people into getting saved. But you, and any of my other friends know that I actually DO love the kind of music I play. I listen to many non-Christian bands because I appreciate their excellent musicianship and/or songwriting abilities. Abilities that I believe God gave them. Yeah, it sucks that they don't use it to honor Him and that they spew lies and filth within their lyrics, but hey...Slayer, CoF, and Strapping Young Lad ROCK, OK? If I wasn't a musician, I'd listen to these bands, I don't do it to take music and fashion pointers and then try and copy them to lead people to Christ...I let the Holy Spirit do the leading and if He wants to use me as a vessel to reach them, then I am honored and willing to do that.
I've had personal contact with many un-saved people doing what I do. You know what usually surprises them the most? That I like many of the same things they do. That I don't condemn them off-the-cuff and look down my nose at them. Many of them are used to being told they're going to hell and that they need to cut their hair and burn their Megadeth posters and such. I just tell them that Jesus asks us to come as we are. All our baggage, all our hang-ups and stains, and just follow Him. He will prune the branches to help us grow and He will sanctify us. A Christian life is a lifelong journey, I know *I* haven't "arrived" yet. But He is with me, and His grace & mercy are new every morning.
Too bad the Rolling Stone writer doesn't know Jesus. He'd understand why we ARE called to battle and why we are not to remain silent and let the enemy run rampant. Yeah, we shouldn't hinge our lifestyles on gimmick and parody, but we should arm ourselves with truth and never back down. Christ never asked us to do that. In fact, He commanded just the opposite. (Mark 16:14-20)