WHY DO WE WOUND OUR OWN?

I moved back to Indiana, Pa almost two years ago, and it took me almost that amount of time to listen to a Christian program that I now think is very good. That program is called “The Noise,” hosted by Adam Strawcutter on Saturday nights from 7 to 10pm. I listened for the first time this past Friday, and had I known that it was as good as it was then I would have made a point to listen earlier.

1 Thessalonians 5:9-13 tells us, “For God did not appoint us to wrath, but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us, that whether we wake or sleep, we should live together with Him. Therefore comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing. And we urge you, brethren, to recognize those who labor among you, and are over you in the Lord and admonish you, and to esteem them very highly in love for their work’s sake. Be at peace among yourselves.”

Typically I am not one to take many things just at sight or their word, as working in many different forms of ministry and with many different economic situations, I have had many lessons in pre-judging. Though I do continue to teach that we should be presentable (dress, act, and live) how we want to be perceived, as the world is just identified in that fashion, especially in America. Whether good or bad, that is just the way it is. In this case I failed miserably and had to apologize to Adam for judging his show that I had not listened or even tried to see what it was about.

Instead I listened to some people who had a negative image of the programming for whatever reason, and not those that had a more positive image. It may be because Adam dresses different at times, or listens to different music, or maybe they just have heard things and they have judged also without listening. As my last blog says and I believe, it is impossible not to judge, but how we judge and act toward one another is the point. Are we doing it with the right evidence? Did we seek out and search for ourselves what was being accused? Or did we jump on the band wagon and continue to wound one of our own. There is a time to judge our own, and we should when they are sinning, but not because they are outreaching in a fashion that is different from what we would do, as long as they remain Biblical.

I took the time to research Word of Faith and Emerging Church doctrine and beliefs and found both wanting, but unlike this instance, I did not just take people at their word. I listened to the positive as well as the negative out of the movements. I researched the movements and read their material. I took a personal look at the movements. In this case I got stuck in the negative, and all I can say is I do not know why. It was wrong, and to me sin, as I judged my brother in Christ without first listening first hand to what was being said.

Knowing Adam more personally then prior, I can say that he loves the Lord and loves to worship Him through music. He has lead worship at Ransomed on Friday nights a few times and it has been a great pleasure to have him there. He certainly has a gift and an ear for it. Not to mention he brings out the speakers so we can worship loud and then no one can hear me sing, which of course is much more pleasant for everyone (myself included).

As it pertains to “The Noise,” I would recommend it. Based on listening to all three hours Friday night I enjoyed it very much. Adam had guests on and he did a great interview, and you could tell he was having a great time doing it, which drew you into the program. I enjoyed the quick changes of direction now and then and the boldness to talk about issues that I emailed him. The music in my opinion was Awesome!! He had a great variety from rock, rap, worship and contemporary, which is what I like. You were guaranteed not to hear the same songs that play over and over again on typical Christian radio. It was actually refreshing to me.
This is all based on listening to one show, but my guess is that many people that have talked to me based their opinion the same way I did at first and that was not listening at all and only going with what others told them. There maybe some differences between Adam and I on some topics, but from talking to Adam I can say that those are what I would call non-essentials, meaning they do not relate to salvation or the essentials of orthodox Christianity. Those types of disagreements make great conversations and room for growth.

Adam is different on the radio, which I like, and the show moves smoothly. If all his shows are as sound and as good as this one then I am wondering what all the commotion is about out there. Listen to the program and enjoy it, I know I will every chance I get.
Adam my friend and brother in Christ, I apologize for not first listening and judging my brother wrongly. Keep Jammin For Christ!!! For anyone that is interested can click on the link below and listen on Saturday nights from 7-10pm on the Internet, or if you are in Indiana, Pa you can catch him on 105.1fm, WMUG. If you are in the area on Friday nights come and see if Adam is playing at Ransomed at 7:45pm, and you will not be disappointed in worshipping with us.

http://www.wmugradio.org/ then click the link ‘to listen live.’

You can contact him at thenoise@wmugradio.or or check him out on myspace prior to listening to him at, www.myspace.com/iupmug.

Would you survive in the wild? Your Result: Yesiree!.... You could live in the wild if you wanted to! You know what to eat, do, and stay away from! You could get shelter, food, water fast and easy-and the right treatments to injuries, snake bites etc...You know the outdoors like the back of your hand!!
Wouldn't last 2 minutes!.....
Maybe........
Not to sure...
Most likely you'll survive....
Would you survive in the wild? Quizzes for MySpace

This is probably very shocking for those that truly know me. This is only because I have been watching Survivorman late at night when I cannot sleep at times. That guy knows what he is talking about!!

Not to worry though, my idea of camping is a fully functioning log cabin with electric, heat, running water, and at least a decent dirt road in and out. So unless I am in a plane crash or someone kidnaps me, there are not too many worries on my part about having to survive in the wild right now.

Have fun and see if you would make it or not.

Purpose: Vocation or Location?

Matthew 22:36-38, "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 'This is the first and greatest commandment.’”

I was reading this verse and it became apparent that there is something that is not in the greatest commandment, which would incorporate a lot of who we are suppose to be. There is no statement of vocation. There is no statement of education. There is no statement of social standing. Maybe there was a follow up verse that would mention that after we love God with all our hearts and minds then we would know what we are suppose to do with our lives, so I kept reading.

Matthew 22:39-40, “And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

That sure does not seem to help much more in light of me trying to find what in the world I am to do with my life. Or does it? Maybe we are missing the point. Maybe we miss the tree for the forest. Maybe I miss God because I keep looking at myself.

Could it be that our purpose is solely God and God alone and everything that follows is just an outflow of our sole purpose? Kind of confusing? Think of it like this. If you are seeking after Him with all your heart, soul and mind then your desires will be His desires. The desire to play music will come from God and your purpose to play music will be to play music to glorify your love to Him. Not to impress people or to get all ‘A’s’ in classes. Doing your best for God is great, but not for people or yourself, that is selfish pride and sin.

It is freeing to think that I do not have to decide what I need to be right away, but only to know that I am here for God’s purpose. As you move forward, He will give you desires, interests that you will do that will give honor to Him. Whether it is teaching, preaching, safety science, respiratory care, or a garbage man, as long as it is not the vocation that is who we are, but the One where the vocation flowed from in the first place. We should not be identified by the vocation, but the Creator. What is the first question you ask someone? What do you do for a living? Where do you go to school? How come we do not ask instead: Where do you attend church? Are you a believer in Christ?

Both sets of questions can be just as offensive if asked. What if you asked someone that was just fired? It would hurt to be asked that question. What if you were not able to attend college for one reason or another, or had to drop out, or were kicked out? How would the question make you feel? We are more comfortable still asking those questions then the others, because we have made purpose, who we are, vocation instead of God, who we are in.

Purpose is God, and the rest flows from that foundation. Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.”

“When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” – Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Links That Make You Laugh and Think!

Here are three links that will make you laugh, but at the exact same time deliver a great point and should worry you. There is some hard truth to these advertisements, and while they are meant to be funny in their delivery, they are also meant to deliver truth, and I hope you see it and it awakens some concern within you about the destruction the Emergent church is doing to Christianity.

At one point I was one who was caught up as some of those others who liked to point out the good they are doing, and there is some good. But the problem is that if you are going to poison someone it has to be wrapped around good otherwise they are not going to swallow it without a fight. They will know what your are doing right away. On the otherhand, if it is wrapped nicely with a pretty bow (helping the poor and down trodden) and tastes great (fun people centered worship and casual come as you are dress) then it is easy to slip in the poison because the other senses are being numbed.

I have not had time to look over the entire site, so I am not in any way endorsing the site, but I do like these three "advertisements." Please do not confuse my recommending these three links with recommending the entire site, as that is not the truth at this particular time. It may be in the future once I have had time to look at it and read it, but at this time this is not the case. Enjoy the links!

http://www.sacredsandwich.com/advertisement18.htm

http://www.sacredsandwich.com/advertisement17.htm

http://www.sacredsandwich.com/advertisement13.htm

CANNOT NOT JUDGE!

I was doing a radio interview the other day and the host and I were talking. He was talking about someone close to him and was really questioning whether or not a certain person is a Christian, because of his actions. The gentleman was a deacon in his church, but he was never observed praying or showing any demonstration of what it means to love as a believer.

He made this statement to someone and the response he received was, “How can you judge someone?” It started me thinking. Here is a question: Why is it that when we judge someone as being a great person or a Christian, no one ever says ‘Hey how can you judge that he is a great person or a Christian?’ No one gets upset when we “judge” someone to be decent and good. Should we start saying, “Don’t judge me being good unless you want someone to say something good about you to.” Sounds ridiculous I know, but isn’t it the same when we make a statement in the opposite fashion.

We are quick to tell someone not to judge if it is negative. Right away we say, “Hey who gives you the right to judge me or that person?” But we do not say when someone says something nice or good. If someone says, “You are a truly gifted teacher, preacher, singer, or business person . . .,” we do not right away go, “don’t you judge me.” “What gives you the right to say I am a gifted person?” If I say that you are not walking in the Christian walk, or question someone’s faith, because there is no fruit or outward demonstration of their salvation then I am in the wrong. “How can you judge me?” “Who made you judge over me or that person?”

It seems appropriate when it is positive, but not when it is negative. Yet both are forms of judging.

What does it mean then when the Bible talks about not judging? Matthew 7:1-2 says, “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:37 says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.”

Taken into context this is not condemning all types of judgment, but unfair, self-righteous, hypocritical judgments against others. As you read on you see in Matthew 7:6 that we have to be able to discern and judge whether something is bad or good. Luke 6:39-45 gives two examples of how we must discern good from bad. We see the parable of the blind leading the blind and the tree bearing good and bad fruit. How could such examples be used if we are not to judge good from bad?

The verses below give ample evidence for our judging one another as Christians.

Luke 19:22-23, “His master replied, 'I will judge you by your own words, you wicked servant! You knew, did you, that I am a hard man, taking out what I did not put in, and reaping what I did not sow? Why then didn't you put my money on deposit, so that when I came back, I could have collected it with interest?'”

1 Corinthians 5:12-13, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. . . .”

1 Corinthians 6:1-3, “If any of you has a dispute with another, dare he take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!”

Leviticus 19:15, “Do not pervert justice; do not show partiality to the poor or favoritism to the great, but judge your neighbor fairly.”

2 Chronicles 6:22-23, “When a man wrongs his neighbor and is required to take an oath and he comes and swears the oath before your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven and act. Judge between your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing down on his own head what he has done. Declare the innocent not guilty and so establish his innocence.”

One area of judgment we should stay away from is those who are outside the church, as they do not know better anyway. They are to be left to God. We should witness to them, but we should not judge them for they act as they are. But those inside our fellowship we are to hold accountable and judge accordingly. Not in a self-righteous way, but in a Biblical fashion.

Did my friend have a right to judge, or discern, that what he saw in this particular person? Yes, because that person claimed to be a believer, yet lived quite outside how a believer in Christ should act. He did not do this out of legalism, or self-righteousness, but out of observation; just as we judge, or discern a believer who is leading an outstanding Christian life.

In the end they are both judgments, but one is always espoused to be wrong, when in fact we can see it is not if done properly. The Old and New Testaments give us examples of how to properly apply judgment. The next time someone tells you not to judge then ask them where they get that from the Bible, and follow up by asking them to finish reading the paragraph in context. Or just ask them, “Why are you judging me for judging?” As they must judge your judging as they ask you not to judge. Interesting?