We Shouldn't Be Ashamed Of Him

I love Christian music. You know Christian music don’t you? Christian lyrics set to music. Lyrics that talk about God, Jesus, salvation and Heaven. At times there might even be a mention of Mary. I love Christian music because it’s uplifting and it focuses my mind on things about God. Like his love and goodness and Jesus coming to die for me. And it helps in worshipping and praising God. And it doesn’t glorify drugs, sex or the objectification of women. However I must confess that I’m hooked on Christian rock and hip-hop. I remember watching One-Cubed all those years ago and watching the video for Consume Me by Dc Talk. After that I was hooked. Just the other day, I went to a store and bought The Hurt and The Healer, Miracle, Gravity and Believer, the latest albums by MercyMe, Third Day, Lecrae and Kutless respectively.

The other day I read an article in TIME magazine in its religion section where it did a report on how Christian artistes were breaking into the mainstream charts. As an aside, it’s quite interesting that TIME has a religion section. I love news magazines but if you read a lot of magazines like TIME, Newsweek or The Economist, you get the feeling that the editors are of the opinion that people of faith, especially Christians are kooks, people who are crazy and causing all the trouble in the world. If they had their way, they would incarcerate all people of faith. They regularly refer to God as a myth so its therefore something that smacks of hypocrisy that they have a section devoted to religion in their magazine.

In the story, there were talking about how Lecrae and TobyMac had topped the iTunes album charts with music with Christian music. In a particular week, Lecrae had the number 1, 2 and 7 songs on the singles charts. This was achieved in spite of the fact that people normally steer clear of songs that are deemed to be Christian or mention God. However, there were other artistes and groups who were Christian like Switchfoot, who refused to be labelled as Christian artistes. According to one of the members of Switchfoot, they make a point of not mentioning Jesus or God in their songs. They also make a point of leaving their lyrics open to the listener’s interpretation. Which then led me to the question, is Switchfoot a Christian musical group or a secular musical group made up of Christians?

As a lawyer when I started out, my main motivation was winning cases. However, my mind-set changed when I talked to a colleague of mine. When I asked her whether she normally prayed to win cases, she told me no. She explained that while she would do her best in preparing for and prosecuting the case, she would not pray to win the case. Rather, she would pray that God’s will be done. That changed the way I saw what I do. I have no problems with Christians being in a secular musical group. After all, we all live in a secular world. But as Christians we need to bring a Christian persuasion to all we do.

My devotional the other day was talking about how all that we do has to be about Jesus. Even when we do things that edify us like preaching, it has to be about Jesus. However it bothers me when someone says he doesn’t want to be identified as “Christian”. It’s almost as if they are saying that they are ashamed of Jesus and would rather achieve fame and fortune on their terms. So when someone says that the lyrics of their song are open to whatever interpretation the listener wants to give them, I wonder how that is about Jesus. If we can’t say we belong to Christ in song and in our everyday lives, when can we?

The Myth of Equality

The California legislature is at it again. In the name of equality and a fairer society (as they see it) the law makers just passed Bill AB 1266 into law. One of the provisions of the law which comes into the force next year is that a student who is male but feels he is female can choose to use whichever bathroom he (or she wants). That means a guy who has not even had a sex change to into whatever he feels he should be, can waltz into any bathroom he feels like, male today; female tomorrow. He doesn't have to choose either one. On the other hand if anyone tries to stop him from entering either one, then that person will be guilty of discrimination.

The California legislature, emboldened by the Supreme Court's striking down of Proposition 8 and other laws and by a strong liberal lobby have passed this absurd law with a view to creating a picture of 'equality' not realising that equality is a myth and a myth not worth chasing after. When you chase after equality all you end up with is absurdity. Instead of chasing after the myth of equality, what we should be seeking after is fairness. There is a difference between equality and fairness and I'll write about that some other day. However what we have now is the tyranny of the minority over the majority.

People may think that I'm a pessimistic or an alarmist but I don't think so. I just believe that I see things. I honestly believe that the Bible is the Word of God and is the final authority on our lives here on earth. When we fail to adhere to God's Word and we feel something that God says doesn't matter, we will begin to see things we never believed were possible. I believe that when a country establishes as law something that is contrary to God's law, it won't come alone. The spirit of the age is equality and reasonableness. Slowly and silently, the spirit of the age will come slowly with the 'cousins' of that thing that is against the Word. Like I said yesterday, things will get worse. Sometime ago, I heard a lawyer in the United Kingdom asked that the age of consent be lowered to 13. If that doesn't sound like paedophilia, I don't know what is. We need to pray like we have never prayed before. But I believe that just like the Church came together with other people to get Proposition 8 passed, we need to partner with other like minded people to get the law changed.

Christians, The Endangered Species

In the last few days alone, 75 Christians were killed in an attack on a church in Pakistan while 62 Christians were killed by members of the Al-Shabab militant group, an affiliate of Al-Quaeda. The killings at the mall in Kenya were particularly gruesome and cold-blooded as there are reports that before the killed anyone, they would first ask the person the name of Muhammed's mother. If the person was unable to answer correctly, he was shot. The attack on the Christians in Kenya occurred because of Kenya's involvement in the fight against Al-Shabab militants in Somalia. Pakistan on the other hand is an increasingly unstable country. I once read a dire report from a Pakistan born BBC reporter who decided to leave the comfort of the UK and go back to Pakistan. According to him, if at least 10 people were not killed in a day in Karachi, then it was considered a good day.

On the other hand, in the US and other Western countries Christians while Christians are not yet being killed en-masse for their faith, we constantly face a barrage of abuse and criticism from non-Christians, the media and other people who claim to be Christian but who don't believe the Bible or don't believe Jesus is the only way to God and don't consider him as their Lord and Saviour, the main argument being that Christianity should move with the times and become more 'modern', whatever that means.

Sadly, I only think it will get worse. Whole not trying to be alarmist, I see a trend where in the West where in name and spirit of 'equality', law makers will try to get Christianity and Christians to conform to the spirit of the age by enacting laws that make it hard for Christians to utter biblically sound doctrine. When we think of China and North Korea, we think of repressive and authoritarian regimes. And we think it can never happen in the West. Now I'm not so sure. It might sound far fetched but looking at the things happening this days, I won't be surprised if churches have to go underground to preach the word. I recently heard of an anti-discrimination ordinances a county in the state of Texas is thinking if passing that critics allege is aimed at Christians.

I believe that more than ever, these are the times to know who and what we believe. And I believe these are the times to boldly speak out about what we believe without fear or shame. I believe that is the least we can do since we have not yet been called on to die for what we believe in. Yet. Jesus said if anyone of us is ashamed of him here on earth, he will be ashamed of them before the Father. We should also not forget to say a prayer for those who live in countries where they are liable to die for the faith they profess. These are the things we must do.


Update: Please read this article by Thomas Marshall of the Hudson Institute: http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2013/09/24/kenya-pakistan-egypt-it-is-now-open-season-on-christians/

How Do You See God?

While doing my devotion a few days ago, I came across the premise that while there is an innate desire to worship God in every man, we will not be able to truly praise or worship him with our lives or in word, song and dance like the fathers of the faith unless we get a true understanding of who he is. According to the writer, if we think God is some faraway being who is not too concerned about our lives but just wants obedience from us, we will never be able to truly worship God. I agree.

Moses grew up realizing that there was something special about him. His real father was a prophet while his mother came from a family of prophets. He grew up in Pharaoh’s palace where he learned governance and administration but he always knew where he was from. He felt the desire stir in heart to deliver his people but he missed God’s leading and timing. In the end he ran away from Pharaoh’s wrath and ended up tending sheep, a far cry from being a prince of Egypt. Moses must have been traumatised by his experience. However, when Moses met God his life changed. From an insipid cowering shepherd, he became a god to the most powerful monarch in the then known world. He led millions of Israelites from Egypt in one while ruining the economy of Egypt. He spoke with God face to face. The Bible says God showed his acts to the children of Israel but to Moses he showed his ways. God later described Moses as the meekest man that ever lived.

One of my favourites in the Old Testament was Elijah. Elijah definitely knew God and had a right perception of God. Whenever Elijah spoke to a king in his days, you would usually find the expression “the God before whom I stand” as part of his comments to that king. He was always conscious of the fact that he stood before God whether in the palace or pit. He famously called down fire not only on a sacrifice to God but on two different battalions of soldiers that came to arrest him. Even though somewhere along the line Elijah got afraid of Jezebel, from the Bible we know that along with Enoch, Elijah was not allowed to taste of physical death.

Peter and ten of the Apostles walked with Christ for three and a half years. By the time he died, resurrected and went to be with the Father, those who met them realised that these men had changed. Before meeting Christ, quite a few of them were uneducated. However by the time the three and a half years were over, something had changed. Paul never met Christ physically but by revelation. From being a zealous persecutor of the church, he became the pre-eminent teacher of the Gospel of the Kingdom. From their letters that we read in the Bible, we know that all of them were worshipful, thankful men. Their lives and the things they did by obedience were acts of worship. All these men had something in common. They either met God physically or by revelation. And their lives never remained the same. According to Dr. Mike Murdock, you cannot meet with God and remain the same, unless you met with an impostor. I believe they were able to do the things they did because they had a right perspective of God which led them to worship and obedience.

The book of Revelation shows us a picture of everything in heaven, from the elders to the four living creatures, from the innumerable company of angels to the saints in heaven; we see a picture of never ending worship. However, we haven’t yet reached that zenith were we know God totally and we are known totally. While on earth, the Bible tells us that we see darkly as if in a mirror. However, that is not an excuse to press on to know more of God, to have a right perspective him. Paul, as great as he was still pressed on to know more of God. The Holy Spirit has been sent to us to show us Christ and the father. The thought of whether I have the right perspective of the father is one that has continually engrossed my mind these last few days. Like Paul, I want to know him, even as I am known that I might worship him like Michael W. Smith said with my love, my life, my all.  

I'm a Christian (But It's My Right To Be Nasty & Obnoxious)

Some years ago when I was still kind of addicted to Facebook, while going through my timeline, I loved reading Pastor Rick Warren's updates. There were times when I not only loved what he had said, I also wanted to add my own comments. And every time I opened the comment box, as regular as anything there was this guy who was there not to testify to the lie or truth of the comment but to insult and abuse. If you went through every comment on Rick Warren's timeline, you would find at least one comment from the guy being nasty and critical. And the sad thing was that you couldn't put your hand on why he was the way he was. I got into something of an argument with another person following Pastor Warren who assured me that it was the man's right to be nasty and obnoxious because that right was was guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States.

The other day, I looked at a picture posted in Instagram by Dr Mike Murdock. I read through the comments as I love to do. I was therefore shocked to see a nasty comment from a female follower. I don't know about you but I was taken aback that someone would actually take the time to actually follow someone just so you could be nasty to them. I don't have an issue if you have a bone to pick with someone, but why take the time to aim nasty and terrible comments on social media when you could spend that time doing other and better things. If you have a bone to pick with someone, why not start a blog or something instead of practically stalking them on social media because in my view that's what it is, stalking.

The other day, Jars of Clay retweeted a comment by someone who claimed that he the group's new album, Inland proved his point that Christian music was at least 2 years behind the rest of others genres. Personally, I don't know what he meant by that. Maybe he wants Christian ministers to be like Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga for us to be like the rest. Personally that's why I love Christian music because it's about Jesus. A week or so ago, the group also retweeted a comment by another person who had come to one of their shows. According to him, Jesus was not seen because of the people they came to sing with. According to the group, they will retweet people even if what they say is really not complimentary to group. Based on that, my respect for the group has increased. I also respect the right of those who tweeted their comments to make those comments. They were making comments based on their views. However they didn't see the need to be nasty to get their point across.

I love Michael Hyatt. If you want to make a comment on his blog, you see a notice that tells you that he retains the right to delete comments that are snarky and offensive. Sadly that's not really possible on social media like Twitter or Facebook. The sad thing is that the people who go on social media to hurl abuse and insults on people who don't even acknowledge them grow even bitter when they do not receive any validation. I don't have a problem with you having a right to speak but the problem is that when stand on a right we exclude love. Love should be what moves us, not proving a point or being right.

I Want To Give You The Right To Vote (But Not The Right To Worship God)

Sometime last week the Christian town of Maaloula in Syria was overrun by the rebel forces. According to reports, one of oldest Christian churches was sacked and burned to the ground. A few days later, pictures surfaced of the rebel fighters conducting a public execution and beheading of two  men. I haven't heard any condemnation of those acts by either President Obama or Prime Minister David Cameron, the two people most determined to remove President Assad of Syria from power. That to me says a lot. Earlier this month, President Putin accused Secretary of State, John Kerry of lying when he claimed there were no Al-Quaeda members fighting with the rebels. Unfortunately and it's sad to say but Putin seems to be right.

Looking at the bombings and the violence in Iraq, the question remains whether it was the right thing to do. Looking at what's happened in in Syria right now, the question remains, would it be the right thing to attack just because you want to remove Assad? Do we know what the people who replace him are going to be like? Christians have been in Syria for centuries, yet like in Iraq and lately Egypt, they are leaving in droves, leaving behind their lives as they knew it, their homes, their heritage. If the people who are beheading others are the ones going to replace Assad, then what have the Syrians gained. Most likely, if a government is put in place to replace Assad, the Christians won't have a say as they're in the minority. Sadly, the major powers seem bent on imposing their view of democracy. A place where you might get to elect your leaders but you won't have the right to worship God. As Christians, I do not believe taking sides is what matters, but Anne Marie Miller says in her blog, we should all pray for our leaders and for Syria.


JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, a political thriller published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson publishers available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx. He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a story of love and redemption available here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ

THE KING AND A KINGDOM

The more I go further in the faith, the more I believe that Christ didn’t really so much come to establish a religion as he came to capture the hearts and show them a new way of thinking. He wanted people who believed in him to have a new perspective about certain issues. The question then is, what did Jesus want us to think differently about? Going the Gospels, Jesus spoke a lot about the “kingdom of heaven”. In fact, he spoke so much about the kingdom that his disciples and all those who heard him thought that he was going to establish a physical kingdom. In the book of Acts in the first chapter, we are told how he kept on talking about the kingdom till he ascended to heaven. At that point, his disciples asked him if he was going to restore the kingdom to Israel.

I do not believe he was talking about heaven where God dwells and is reserved for God alone. However I do believe he was referring to a place here on earth where we could get heaven and earth to meet and where heaven’s laws would displace those of the earth. Jesus did this regularly by feeding multitudes with practically nothing, walking on water, opening blind eyes, unstopping deaf ears, making the lame to walk and generally being a blessing. He brought heaven to earth on a regular basis with the help of the Holy Spirit. And according to him, greater works than he did we would do. Going through the Gospels, Jesus rarely referred to himself as the Son of God. His favourite way of referring to himself was as the Son of Man. I believe he did this to show to us that he had no greater advantage than we did. That if he as a man was able to do the things he did, then we too could do them. Not as a one-off but on a regular basis.

The question then is, why are we not doing the things Jesus told us we would do? The fact is, Jesus never said raising people from the dead or healing the sick was for preachers alone. I believe the sad fact is that we have not relied on the Holy Spirit as much as we should. I also believe we have not taken him literally at his word as we should. Rather we prefer to quibble and argue about whether the words are figurative, literal, allegorical, or parables. If only we all realised that we are ambassadors of a great kingdom on this earth and that kingdom wants to find expression through us to this world. Not only through our words but also through our actions. God, the king of our kingdom, wants to show forth the power, the glory, the awesomeness of his kingdom through us. If only we would allow him.   

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, a novel about politics and persecution. DECEPTIO is published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers and is available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx. He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a novel about love, rejection, loss and redemption. LOST, BUT FOUND is available here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ

I Won't Judge (But Can I Say You're Wrong?)

Anyone who has read the first chapter of the book of Galatians would immediately realise that the Apostle Paul was quite annoyed, possibly extremely angry and livid when he wrote the letter. He could barely wait to write his usual gracious greeting before laying into the Galatians. The first few verses are a greeting blessing them and praying for the grace of God on their lives. Then he switches. While reading it, I thought to myself that the first verse should have given us a clue what was coming. In the first verse, Apostle Paul practically gave us his resume and the reason why he was qualified to write the letter. According to him, he was not an Apostle ordained by men both one ordained by God himself. Then he proceeded to tell the Galatians where they had got it wrong.

There is a constant refrain everywhere today both in the church and the world about how we shouldn't judge. I have begun to think this is another way of saying we shouldn't tell people about their faults just because we have our own. The other day I listened as a female artiste laughed away accusations of being a home wrecker even though she ended up with someone else's husband. We seem not to want to hear about the things we are doing wrong just because we feel no one is perfect.

For me, judging is not telling people what they've done wrong. It's about making a conclusion about what would happen to someone based on what they were doing wrong. For instance, telling someone it's wrong to have an affair with a married man is not judging. It's telling them what is biblically correct. However, saying the person will end up in hell and be damned and will never be happy is judging. Maybe I'm looking at it from a lawyers perspective. To put it another way, telling someone what they've done wrong with an attitude of love cannot be judgment. Telling them the consequences of their actions is judgment. And I think that is the way it should be. Or am I missing something? 

THE POWER OF INFLUENCE

The story is told in Daniel 3 of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego who withstood King Nebuchadnezzar by refusing to bow to the idol he had made. The three Hebrew boys were part of the contingent of Israelite slaves taken to Babylon after their country had been attacked, overrun and sacked. Nebuchadnezzar had made a statue and he had made a proclamation that at the sound of the music instruments, everyone was to bow to the statue. However, out of the multitude of people who bowed, including their fellow countrymen, they alone refused to bow. We all know the story and what happened next.

I have recently been thinking about the influence and the things that cause us to do the things we do. This has become quite relevant to me in light of the outraged voices following from Miley Cyrus act at the MTV Video Music Awards. I have earlier said while I do not condone the performance or think it was right, I do believe if had been Lady Gaga or Madonna, there wouldn’t have been that much of a reaction http://herstheword.blogspot.com/2013/08/while-men-slept-culture-came-in-unawares.html. I said that people were probably reacting to fact that they could still remember her as Hannah Montana and the picture she was projecting via her performance was incongruent with that of Hannah Montana, hence the outrage. Personally, I think she’s trying too hard to shed her good little girl image so that people will see her as an adult.

However the most important thing for me is not what she did but why she did what she did. A lot has been made about the power of influence. Miley Cyrus wants to sell plenty of albums and make a lot of money while at it. She obviously wants fame and all the accoutrements that come with being rich and famous. She has also constantly been told that sex sells and she sees it in ice cream and car adverts. But that then raises other questions. Her father, Billy Ray Cyrus is a famous and rich musician; did he have to do all that? She could argue that the requirements for succeeding as a country musician and as a hip-hop artiste are quite different. She could also argue that things are much different for men and women. While I could point her in the direction of Adele as a female musician who has succeeded without having to go in the sex-selling direction, I think the problem is more than that.

Reading Daniel 3, you get the impression that there was a vast number of people gathered before the statue, either in their hundreds of thousands, probably millions. People don’t need to speak to influence others. They can influence by their actions. Hundreds of thousands of people, probably millions, all bowing to a statue is a powerful influence. A lot of people were bowing because there was a law in place but the majority was bowing probably because they were afraid for their lives. Seeing a sea of people bowing to a statue, no matter how stupid it may seem, is a powerful influence.

When a child is born, he comes without any preconceived notions or ideas about anything. However, the words, actions, opinions and thoughts of family, friends and loved ones shape what one believes and the values that guide your life. However, I believe that there comes a point when that child or adult becomes autonomous. By that, I mean that there comes a point at which influences that person comes in contact with are not accepted at face value anymore. The influences are measured against some internal system which decides whether or not to accept the influence. The three Hebrew boys had grown up being taught that there was only one God and his name was Jehovah and he was the only one they were obliged to bow down to and worship. Therefore when Nebuchadnezzar came along asking them to bow to the statue he had made, something in them compared what he was saying to what they believed and rejected it. Something in them refused to accept not only what Nebuchadnezzar was saying but what their eyes saw. I remember once leaving school with some friends. There were ten of us and at some point, eight people stopped to buy cigarettes. Something in me wanted to join them so that I could be one of the boys. However by then I knew cigarettes were addictive and that they could cause cancer and a cigarette wasn’t something I wanted to get enslaved to.

A lot is made of peer pressure and the power of influence. However I believe the greatest influence as to whether to accept or reject influence is the strength of the inner man, our spirit. The world is full of influences, some blatant and other insidious. I however do not believe we are helpless puppets who have no choice in the matter. I believe the power of influence lies in the power we give to it. Daniel served as prime minister to about four different kings of Babylon yet the culture of the age could not change him. The Bible says he had an excellent spirit. The Bible in Romans 12 asks us not to be conformed to the pattern and ways of this world but to renew our mind. Every battle is won or lost in the mind. The Bible constantly asks that we build our minds and strengthen our inner man by the word. That is the only thing, along with the Holy Spirit, that can keep us from caving under the cares and pressures and influences of the world we live in.


Update P. S. Just saw this http://video.foxnews.com/v/2659425980001/

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, a thriller about politics and the persecution of Christians. The novel is published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers. The book is available here http://bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-194087/deceptio.aspx. He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND, a story of love, loss and redemption available here http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00dPLLEUQ