We Are Not At War (Are We?)

There were two quite interesting posts on Michael Hyatt’s blog on Tuesday this week. For those who don’t know Michael Hyatt, he was the former CEO of Thomas Nelson publishers and he is the current chairman. The first was a link to a post by someone called Anne Marie Miller. Her post (http://www.annemariemiller.com/2013/08/19/three-things-you-dont-know-about-your-children-and-sex/). She is a children’s counsellor and she was basically talking about the threat Google posed to children. According to her, children were searching for answers to questions they couldn’t ask their parents on the search engine. Not only were they finding unwholesome answers, they were getting pictures as well. Also, children were getting involved in unspeakable acts at a much younger age and there was a need for parents to be closer to their children and develop a rapport with them so that the children would trust them enough to ask them questions they needed answers to.

His other post, Whatever Happened To Modesty (http://michaelhyatt.com/whatever-happened-to-modesty.html) reflected on the attire worn by the artistes at the MTV Awards and some of the comments made. Personally, I think modesty is dead in America and that it has become a dirty word. Unfortunately, I think that has also become the case in the Church. What struck me was how there were people on the comments page who defended people’s rights to wear whatever they wanted. I have no problem with that argument as long as they aren’t Christians. However, there were those who saw the argument about modesty as an attempt by men to control women in the Church. Those are the ones I have a problem with. According to Rebecca Maynard, one of the people I disagree with, the “legalism” of modesty was designed by men to control women. This was allegedly done so as stop men from falling.

I find it hard to understand why men are accused of misogyny or the oppression or suppression of women whenever they comment on female issues. I also fail to understand why it is that women, even Christian women, seem to retreat behind the wall of women liberation and give the impression that we are at war. Even in the Church. You’ll have to forgive me but I believe the Bible is the final authority on our lives as Christians and not the United States Constitution. Not the laws of the United States. I might have said it before but I do believe that most of the laws of the United States are against God’s laws. We have sadly taken the view that human concepts like equality are better than what God says. We believe democracy is better than theocracy. The Bible says women should dress modestly. It also says that a woman should cover her nakedness. I don’t think that’s misogynist. Unless of God and the Apostles are now misogynist. Don’t get me wrong, I believe modesty applies to both men and women. I have never understood why a man should walk about in his vest instead of a shirt. They say the law is an ass. When we take the concept of equality too far, we discountenance the differences between us all in the name of sameness. Whether we like it or not, we are anatomically different. Which is why I think the present rage of women bathing topless in public because “men can do it” is a step too far. Unless of course we take the view that anything the law says is right.

I honestly believe that God’s laws are better than man’s law. At times, we have made the mistake and error of presenting God as a God of do’s and don’ts who is trying to spoil our fun. Nothing could be further from the truth. When God asks us to do or not to do anything, it’s for our benefit. Besides, I really do not see how being naked in public glorifies the God we say we serve. How do we think God is represented to people when we can’t keep our clothes on? The Bible says in the book of Peter that a woman should be known more for her character than the type of clothes she wears. I would add that a woman should be known more for her character than her lack of clothes.     

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBow Press, a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers (bookstore.westbowpress.com/Products/SKU-000194087/Deceptio.aspx). He is also the author of LOST, BUT FOUND,  (www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ) 

Love Christ, Not the World

“A dead thing can go with the stream, but only a living thing can go against it.” – G. K. Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, 1925

“Fallacies do not cease to be fallacies because they become fashions.” – G. K. Chesterton, ILN, 4/19/30

“There are those who hate Christianity and call their hatred an all-embracing love for all religions.” - G. K. Chesterton,

As man deems to progress, cultures change. And as cultures change, men ditch moral values even as they make up new ones as they go along. A few centuries ago, it was frowned upon to break another person’s home and steal their wife or husband. However as society “progresses”, it has become quite acceptable especially in America to set your sights on another person’s wife or husband and break the home up. It doesn't even matter if there are children involved. After all, if you break the home up, the children are going to have a new mother or father in the person who contributed to the break up. I say contribute because I understand that it takes two people to engage in adultery. However it would help if the person who isn't a part of the couple had more discipline. But the current refrain is “We couldn't help ourselves, we were in love” and people are told not “to judge”. The person who was part of the initial couple also claimed to love their wife or husband. I was watching a programme on television the other day where a well known singer who contributed to the breakup of her present husband’s first marriage was being interviewed. She and the former wife have been engaged in an acrimonious battle on both social and publicity media. According to the singer, she found it amusing to be called a “home wrecker”. She seemed to take the whole thing with levity and seemed to find the fact that she contributed to the breakup of a home. All I have to say is there’s a saying that says: “The mistress who ends up marrying her married lover should recognise that the post of mistress has just become available.”

There are those who think Christianity is old fashioned and should be dragged, kicking and screaming into the 21^st century. Therefore, according to them Christianity should be more tolerant of new social developments, even if they are against the teachings of Christ and the Apostles as revealed to us in the Bible by the Holy Spirit and especially against the natural order of things. When Christians talk about how things should be, these people scoff and mock and talk about how we want everybody to be the same and it’s not possible. However they get angry and resort to name calling when we refuse to agree with them on other issues. They have found willing allies in governments and politicians who want votes. I am not so much concerned about the politicians as I am about the people who claim to be Christians but would rather support those who are against Christianity than Christ. They believe that Christ’s teachings should be subjected to culture and the feelings of our flesh. They talk about how Christ loved everybody. They fail to realise that Christ’s definition of love is different from that the world has put on it. Christ loved everyone yet never condoned what they did wrong. Love is a decision which is shown through acts of selflessness. Love is not sex. Cultures might change but truth will always remain the same. Cultures change everyday like quicksand but Christ is the only thing that will remain the same. He will never change. The saying goes, “Show me your friends and I’ll tell you who you are”. Especially when those friends hate Christ. The Apostle Paul talked about how all sins are either those of the "lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes or the pride of life." That is still true today.

The tide is turning and a time is coming where in the name of reasonableness and equality, laws are going to be passed by governments in the West that would make even China, Cuba and North Korea seem tame. However, those laws are going to make those who say they are Christians decide on whose side they are going to be, Christ (the Truth) or the world. Which side are you going to choose?

JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO, 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, http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DPLLEUQ/ a story of love and redemption.

The Myth of Equality (And The Tyranny of Progress)

The mantra on everyone's lips nowadays is that of equality. In everything there must be equality. Even where it is clear that equality has nothing to do with it, equality is used as a yardstick. The crazy notion of equality has also crept into the church. Last year, the Anglican Church in England held it's General Synod and voted against the ordination of women bishops. Comments that I read before and after the vote baffled me. In the end I had to come to the conclusion that the Anglican Church is seen as something of a club both by the media and even its members. I asked myself, whatever happened to having a calling? What happened to being led by God through the Holy Spirit? I am extremely baffled by the people who think that any change in culture automatically equals to some sort of progress.

Equality is a myth and when you chase a myth you end up creating confusion. What people should be looking at is what is just and fair. However in a world where everyone has the wrong idea of what should be and equality is the new fad, trouble is inevitable. I love sport, especially tennis. Thanks to people like Serena Williams and the world media, all the major tennis organisations now give equal prize money. The myth is that the men and the women do the same work. I disagree. If I were to randomly pick a hundred men and women, and ask them which match-up they would prefer to watch, a Roger Federer/Rafael Nadal contest or a Serena Williams/Caroline Wozniacki contest, I'm sure over 90 per cent of the people would want to watch the Federer/Nadal contest. The only people who might want to watch the female match-up would be Americans because of some strange sense of patriotism. That tells me that they are not equal. Especially when the men play five sets and the women three.

If you really want to push the idea of equality, you would find out that the women would be the losers. If all the tennis grand slams deecided that the women should also play five sets, or the army decided that women had to do the same number of push ups and run the same number of miles as the men, the women would find it extremely hard to cope. We only push for "equality" when it suits us. We all heard about how Navy SEAL Team 6 found Osama Bin Laden and assassinated him. How many women were part of the team?

The world has been gripped by the equality fever but the Church must stand firm. We are followers of Christ and we must not be ashamed to admit that we play by a different set of rules. It may offend people, even some who say they are Christians, but Christians but Christianity is not about equality. I have looked through my Bible and the God I love and who loves me is not a God of equality. He is a God of justice. Justice is different from equality. Equality is about what you want. Justice is about what you deserve. And not just because of you or what you've done. God's justice is based on who he is and his love for us.

 

Clash of Cultures

I Kings 18:27 "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till blood gushed out upon them." KJV

I have always been wary of any type of culture projected by the world and its systems. What surprises me is the fact that most Christians are not. In fact, Christians are the most enthusiastic adopters of new things the world brings in, forgetting that they are not of this world. The Bible says we are not to love the world or the things in the world but a lot of Christians don't seem to understand that.

I have always wondered what people see in tattoos. Before people think that I'm an elderly person who doesn't understand young people's fads, let me say that I am an adult male in my thirties. My wariness and lack of understanding has to with the fact that in the process of obtaining a tattoo, blood is spilt. The Bible says that the life of a person is in the blood. Hence any procedure that means my blood is going to be spilt or dealt with any way is something I don't want to go through. Especially when the procedure is not one that is necessary or life saving. A point I have made before which I will continue to make is that I have looked at my Bible and I see nothing about conservative or liberal there. The only definition I see from the Bible is that of Christian. And that is what I am. A Christian who believes wholly in the Bible as the infallible word of God.

The story is told in I Kings 18 about the prophet Elijah's contest with the prophets of the Canaanite god of fertility, rain and harvest, Baal. Elijah had previously prayed to God and no rain had fallen for the past three and a half years. He had disappeared out of sight and God has used raven and a widow to feed him while the whole land was experiencing a famine. At the three and a half years, Elijah showed up in Israel and challenged the prophets of Baal to contest to see whose god would answer the cries of his prophet. When the prophets of Baal prayed and he did not answer, Elijah taunted them by asking them to pray harder as perhaps Baal was sleeping or had gone on a journey. Now agitated, the Bible says "And they cried aloud, and cut themselves after their manner with knives and lancets, till blood gushed out upon them."

For me, the whole tattoo thing looks too much like what the prophets of Baal did, cutting themselves deliberately. It even seems worse to me when I think of what it’s supposed to be all about. A tattoo is supposed to be cool, hip and all about aesthetics. In short, it’s all about vanity. Which makes it even worse. People are cutting themselves to a new god, the god of cool. The god of vanity.

The Bible says we should test all spirits whether they are of God. Spirits not only exist in people, they exist as the force behind movements and waves and cultural phenomenon. Most of what is taken as culturally normal today does not align with the Bible. Yet we adopt them unthinkingly. As a result, Christian culture is being subsumed in secular culture and its getting hard to know who is a Christian and who is not because we are all so alike. And that is sad.


JC Cruz is the author of DECEPTIO published by WestBow Press (www.westbowpress.com), a division of Thomas Nelson Publishers.