Music: The power of words and patterns

Words have power as we see in the book of Genesis where Yahweh Elohim the creator called all of Creation into being. Words then can be used for good and righteousness as we see in the Word of God, the Bible. Words have power for evil and wickedness as we see in the pagan religions and witch craft (James 3: 5-10).

Music also has great power for both righteousness and wickedness as we see in Christianity and the hymns and in contemporary music and the combination of words, drum beat and rhythmic patterns of sound to effectively create spells. These musical spells  have had a massive impact of society and resulted in much of the moral degeneration of the last fifty years.  

I think the reason for this is that a catchy tune set to innocuous words seems pleasant and harmless. Think of songs like the ‘60's folk song “Puff the Magic Dragon’ or the ‘70's favorite the ‘Coke Cola’ song. Harmless ditties you might say. But what if Puff was a song to influence attitudes toward dragons and in particular that old dragon from the bible, Satan. The Coke song was an influential advertisement for a drink which is less than healthy when over consumed and also became an anthem for the peace movement and those involved with the New Age anti-Christian movement of the ‘60's through to the current era.

The thing about songs and particularly pop songs is that the lyrics are often disguised by the beat and the tune. Yet all three components of music combine to make powerful spell into the life of the person who hums or sings parts of the song into their hearts with little thought for the powerful spiritual force that they are inadvertently meddling with on a daily basis.

A song by a well known songstress called ‘Sent From Above’ has a verse which says:  “I can't imagine looking in someone else's eyes; What we have surpasses even paradise; It's hard to fathom; Reaching for someone else's hand; What we share is magic; Heaven had a plan.” Again it seems harmless enough but can what a couple has while courting surpass paradise? Is it right to share magic and when we say Heaven had a plan who in particular are we talking about? The fallen angels maybe?

Not the God Christians worship I’m thinking. Now add to this that many who sing this song and love the rich powerful voice of the songstress. The melody of the tune but don’t know the lyrics particularly well and yet would sing the parts they know quite frequently or hum happily along with the song as it is playing. Would it not be fair to say this song or spell is being sung into their life, their heart. Will it not unknowingly change their moral attitudes toward sex and muddy the waters of who God is and what is right?

What about the music that is sung in Churches. Over the past fifty years that music has changed and so has the Church. Up until the ‘60's the music of the Church was mainly hymns that contained no drum beat and which were written to be sung by congregations with whatever musical support was available. The lyrics were always in praise of Jehovah and any hymns which were considered dubious would not have been sung.

In the ‘70's Scripture in Song began to become popular along with a hybrid musical style which while not being rock ‘n roll it was more contemporary than the previous hymns. As time moved by and the Church began to be more liberal moving rapidly toward the seeker movement and beyond. There has begun to be little difference between the rock music of the secular culture and music that is sung in seeker churches. Even the often cavernous, dark style of auditorium is somewhat forbidding when compared to the light and airy nature of the traditional churches of earlier eras. It almost seems that the music has driven this evolution of moving Christians away from the concept of being ‘In the World but not of it,’ to a new mantra of ‘No need to change anything, just bring yourself.’ The music is certainly a big draw-card or that’s how it seems.

Perhaps it is time for Christians to be cautious about what they read or sing into their lives and Churches to reconsider what is appropriate to be sung by their congregation. The question is what is of God? In the time of Jeremiah in the Old Testament the nation went deeply into the worship of other Gods and idols. God spoke through Jeremiah to warn Israel what would happen to them because of their infidelity. It seems that we are witnessing a similar infidelity in many of our Churches today. Perhaps the messages of Jesus to the Churches in chapters 2 and 3 of the book of Revelation need to be read aloud in many of today’s Churches. Particularly the message to Thyatira and the message to Laodicea about idol worship and being of luke warm commitment. We really do need to be much more careful about what is acceptable when compared to the founding authority of God’s word the Bible. We need to understand the not all of the contemporary music is acceptable to God. In fact quite the opposite if it contains beat, rhythm and lyrics that come out of paganism.

Christianity: Living my best life.

Life can really mess you up and this is even the case for Christians. You wouldn’t believe how many Christians are either the victims of physical and mental abuse, drug and alcohol abuse or have grown up in an overly strict or even overly permissive home environments. Any of these situations are strategies that Satan uses as the prince of this world to mangle the lives of Christians and non Christians. You don’t have to look far to find people who are messed up because of these and other types of stresses and pressures.

In that vein, you’ll often here talk of people living their best life. You might envisage them having a big win on Lotto or doing well in business or with their career. Being affluent and successful might describe what is happening here. It is often the desire of people to be living life to the full or thinking that you only get one life so you better make the best of it.

So from a Christian viewpoint what is living your best life? I think it starts with understanding that all of your past sins and the things that cause you regret or shame are paid for through Jesus Christ’s redemptive work on the Cross. More specifically the blood that He shed on the Cross washes away the sins of those who believe on Him. It is essential that you understand this or your inability to move beyond your past will stifle your walk with God. If God can forgive you then you must forgive yourself or you will never live your best life.

I think another thing that it is important to realise is that you must get baptized because through baptism our past sins are forgiven and we receive the Holy Spirit(Acts 2:38). The work of the Holy Spirit is to sanctify us during the course of our life so that we are perfected for the next life (Romans 15:6). God’s purpose for us is to cause us to produce much fruit (John 15: 1-4). Fruit can be righteousness and it can be reaching others for Christ with the gospel. Whatever it is you can be sure it is achieved by walking in the Spirit and is not achieved by walking in the flesh. God’s purpose is for us to be living the best Spirit filled life that we can.

Living your best life in Christ involves that you  surrender control of your life to Jehovah. As men we have will and to live our best life we need to believe on Jesus Christ to receive salvation and eternal life. Once we are saved it comes down to allowing God, in the power of the Holy Spirit, to lead us. Our will needs to be in agreement with God’s will. The more that this is the case the more we will be living our best life. So yes there will be conflict between the flesh and the Spirit and we will always struggle not to go the way of the world but through our relationship with Christ Jesus and the Father and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit (Galatians 5:17). We will overcome the world because Jesus has overcome the world (John 16:33). Thus He can enable us to live out our best life.

The icing on the cake as far as living your best life in Christ goes is this. You need to understand that you are a servant of Christ Jesus and just what that means. Along with that understanding you need to realise that the most important thing in life is people. So your best life includes having a servant heart for the people. As a Christian you have the power of Jehovah at your behest through prayer and fellowship with God in the Spirit. So your prayer and your walk need to show Jesus Christ in your life. You need to be as Jesus  Christ to those around you.

A grave misunderstanding in the lives of many Christians is that they see themselves as incapable. Whereas, if they only knew how able they are because they dwell in Christ Jesus. As long as they walk in the will of God nothing can stop them for what they bind on Earth is bound in Heaven (Matthew 18:18). So, as a Christian your best life is to be a soldier in the army of Jesus Christ. Which is to have a servant heart in Christ Jesus and to love God with all of that heart while you love your fellow man as you love yourself. Do that and you are Living Your Best Life.

Is the Law done away with ???

Another currently controversial subject among Christians is do we obey the law or not? I’m speaking here of the Ten Commandments and the Torah as described in the Pentateuch. This is the Law as given by Yahweh to Moses at Sinai and the Laws relating to daily life given by Moses to the people of Israel.

Most Christians get a little fraught about whether we should keep the Law or not because Jesus fulfilled the Law in His perfect life. He paid the price for our not keeping the Law on the Cross at Calvary. To disobey the Law is sin and in fact the existence of the Law creates Sin.

The Apostle Paul describes the interaction of the Law and Sin in Romans 7: 7-8 “What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law. For I would not have known what coveting really was if the law had not said, “You shall not covet. ”But sin, seizing the opportunity afforded by the commandment, produced in me every kind of coveting. For apart from the law, sin was dead.”

Paul goes on to say in Romans 7: 21-25 ”I find then a law, that evil is present with me, the one who wills to do good. For I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members Oh wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin. NKJV

So in Jesus Christ we are freed from the condemnation of the Law and from death as the consequence of sin and then unto eternal life in Him. The sin debt we amass being born into sin and through sinning is washed a way in the Blood of the Lamb. We are cleansed through the blood sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the Cross.

Do we need to keep the Law then? Well look at the Ten Commandments:
You shall have no other gods before Me.
You shall not make idols.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Honor your father and your mother.
You shall not murder.
You shall not commit adultery.
You shall not steal.
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
You shall not covet.

Question: Do you not keep the Ten Commandments as a Christian already? Which of these commandments do you not agree with? Do you have other Gods? Do you make idols? Do you take the Lords name in vain? Do you not keep the Sabbath? Do you not honor your father and mother? Do you murder? Do you commit adultery? Do you steal? Do you lie? Do you covet?

The answer is that as mere human beings we fail and break many of these commandments but Christians have access to the blood of Jesus and our sins are forgiven in His name. However, there is not a commandment in the list above that any true believer would disagree with.

So do we keep the rest of the Torah. Well we have societies and we have civil laws and as Christians we will find that many of our civil laws are the same as those kept by Israel, in the Bible. So if we know the Torah and see laws that are relevant to life today and that equate to civil laws in society. We keep them. I believe that as Christians we have a duty to be law abiding and good citizens.

The apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 13 1-7 “Every person is to be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those which exist are established by God. Therefore whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God; and they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same; for it is a servant of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid; for it does not bear the sword for nothing; for it is a servant of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. Therefore it is necessary to be in subjection, not only because of wrath, but also for the sake of conscience. For because of this you also pay taxes, for rulers are servants of God, devoting themselves to this very thing. Pay to all what is due them: tax to whom tax is due; custom to whom custom; respect to whom respect; honor to whom honor.”

So what can we conclude? Are we bound to obey the law as those who know not Jesus. I believe we are not bound to the Law in the Old Testament sense. That those who know not Christ strive of themselves to keep the Law that they have neither the strength nor the predisposition to keep as fallen mankind. However under the New Covenant the Holy Spirit writes the Law of God on our Hearts and puts them in our minds (Hebrews 8:6-13).

Therefore, in Christ we are predisposed to keep the Law of God in it’s entirety. It has become out nature to obey the Laws of God without even thinking about it or realising that we do it. So are we set free from the Law. Yes we are but not to disobey it rather to have the ability and the spiritual nature to keep it. Therefore when the apostle Paul said walk in the spirit (Galatians 5:16). That is what He meant, for in the Spirit we do the things of God in Christ Jesus. We are set free to be the righteousness of God.

Faith with out works ???

The apostle James made the controversial comment that “Faith without works is dead.” In James 2: 14 -18 he describes faith without works thus. ”What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. But someone will say, “You have faith, and I have works.” Show me your faith without your works, and I will show you my faith by my works.” NKJV

The Lord Jesus spoke of the need to bring forth fruit. In John 15: 1-8 he describes the situation like this ““I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me.“I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. If anyone does not abide in Me, he is cast out as a branch and is withered; and they gather them and throw them into the fire, and they are burned. If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. By this My Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit; so you will be My disciples.” NKJV

To me these two scriptures are essentially intimating the same thing. If you have faith in the redemptive work of Christ Jesus on the Cross then you abide in Him. If you obey Acts 2:38 which says “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” NASB
Then the Holy Spirit abides in you and you in Him. In Christ you are justified and in this life the indwelling Holy Spirit is perfecting your faith while at the same time sanctifying you and producing works which will generate much fruit.

So if a person claims to be a Christian and to be abiding in Christ but there is not a visible sign of this relationship and no fruit seem to be produced. Then this is faith without works which is dead faith and as Jesus said if we don’t abide in Him we whither and die and are gathered and thrown in the fire.  

Faith without works is dead (James 2:4-18).

Why Christians Share the Gospel

I am a Christian and my family are Christians also. In being a believer there is a verse in the bible that to me is my key verse about salvation. This verse is found in the book of John in chapter three and it is the sixteenth verse. John 3:16 says this “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” This verse to me is the essence of the gospel and all who believe on Jesus shall not perish but inherit eternal life

I believe that Christ Jesus took the sins of all mankind on Himself on the Cross at Calvary. Thus He took all of our sins and paid our sin debt with His perfect sinless life as the Son of God and our Messiah. This is the core of my belief and why I believe I am saved in Christ Jesus.

So, now I’m saved and my family are saved. Why then should I feel obligated to share the gospel so that others can be saved as well? I guess that if I’m saved and am comfortable about my decision to trust in Christ Jesus and if I believe He is the only way for anyone to obtain eternal life and to not perish. Then the least I can do for my fellow man is share with him that he, or she, is dead in his, or her, sins and can only be saved if he, or she, believes that Jesus can pay his, or her, sin debt and that he, or she, should believe on Christ Jesus as their Saviour. You can see I’m trying to be inclusive here.

Another, reason to share the gospel is that there is a commandment from Christ Jesus for believers to do so. This command is found in Matthew chapter twenty eight at verses eighteen to twenty Matthew 28: 18-20 reads “And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

A question that Could be asked is that if I didn’t share the gospel at all would it make a material difference to the overall outcome in relation to currently non believing people having a change of mind and becoming Christians. I guess the answer is yes and no. In the case of people that God used me to reach who became saved as a result. You could argue that these people may not have been drawn to Christ Jesus if I hadn’t shared the gospel with them. Ultimately though I believe that all of the people that God intends to save will hear the gospel from someone and will become believers as a result.

What I’m pointing to here is that the enemies of God point to His weakness and inability to remedy the effects of sin on mankind. They try to make it seem as though God is weak and they are strong. It is true there is persecution of Christians around the world and some people die for their faith. The reality is that God is playing the long game and He will win. Those who are His servants who die for Him will gain a crown and eternal life in the name of Jesus Christ. Those who are unbelieving are misguided into thinking that there is no God or that other religions are more to their liking than Christianity. They will ultimately perish in the second death and be thrown into the Lake of Fire.

Finally, God has complete control and all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (Romans 8:28). Ultimately, Christians like myself share the gospel because we believe on Jesus Christ and we are called to do so in the Great Commission. We also love the lost as Christ Jesus does and want desperately to see them come to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ through His Grace. We also know that God is going to triumph over sin and over evil.

We believe that the Second Advent of Jesus Christ is nearly upon us. The Kingdom of God is at hand. At the moment there is a great falling away from the faith that was spoken of by Jesus, (Matthew 24:10). However in the end, the not too distant future, there will be a huge tribulation which will result millions of people accepting Jesus as their Lord and Saviour even though it will be at the cost of their Earthly lives. They will be saved to eternal life (Revelation 6: 9-11).

So we believe that it is imperative that we who believe on Christ Jesus share the gospel to all that we can. That the through the preaching of the gospel the Holy Spirit is poured out upon all who will hear the gospel of salvation and that they will be drawn to Jesus Christ and in His redemptive work to obtain salvation in His name. For there is no other name under heaven by which you must be saved (Acts 4:12). Thus Christians share the gospel with all that they can.

Guarding the Door to Your Heart

You will hear it often said that there is no contradiction in scripture. If that is so why are there so many denominations in the Church and why can’t any two believers agree on just about any given doctrinal issue? The reality is that most Christian’s use the scriptures like a pick a path book to provide evidence for their perspective and that the denominations likewise have key verses of scripture and books by their current leading lights to back their bible view.

Complicating this situation in our time is the fact that in the Western World, where I live, the only Churches available all have an axe to grind over their particular doctrinal standpoint. Whether they be Pentecostal, Calvinist, Salvation Army, Church of England, Seventh Day Adventist or Catholic. These bodies each have their own doctrinal distinctive’s and in many cases catechism.

So what do we do as believers. It is just about impossible to find a body of believers to fellowship with that are what I would define as normal at this time. What is normal I hear you say? Which cult  do I belong too?

Well I take my perspective from my personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I am a Christian first and foremost. I probably base my faith in the Old Testament Judaism. I worship Yahweh and I keep His Commands, Gods Laws, in the New Covenant as instructed by Jesus Christ. I believe that Jesus Christ is the Messiah, the Son of God. I believe that at the behest of Jesus Christ the Holy Spirit is sent of the Father to help me and to reveal the nature of Jesus Christ in me arriving ultimately at my sanctification. I believe this is the case for all who believe on Jesus Christ.

I am what I would term a John 3:16 Christian “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” NKJV I believe that Christ died on the Cross, as our sacrifice, to provide a way for all to be justified even though not all will have faith to believe on Him.

This is the simple truth as I see it. I believe that our faith should be child like and that we should not embark on a highly doctrinal path. This is because the enemy often uses this head knowledge approach to the word of God to distract and divert Christians causing them to argue over their different perspectives and to break the Church into different sects.

Should we not read the bible. By no means. We need to know and understand scripture thoroughly and be aware of false doctrines. What I’m saying is that we need to be much closer to the Saviour in all that we do. We need to pray and seek His will and let our simple and uncomplicated faith lead us to a walk that is simple, pure and child like. Jesus is the way, the truth and life. No man comes to the father but through Him. (John 14:6)

Let the Holy Spirit be the guard at the door of your heart. Discuss what you believe with Christ Jesus in prayer. Let it be that He keeps your heart true and pure and your actions righteous. Let His knowledge and wisdom permeate your heart. Let it also be that nothing false is found in you. As the psalmist says “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart Be acceptable in Your sight, LORD, my rock and my Redeemer.” NASB (Psalm 19:4) Please oh Lord. Amen.

In the world but not of it..

As a Christian I feel a pull from the other Christians that I know to be separate from the world. It’s a strange business really because culture has such a huge input into what being a Christian even means. For instance if you were to compare a Christian from New Zealand to a Christian from Afghanistan. You would likely find the Christian from Afghanistan to be much more conservative in their outlook.

The way they dress, attitudes toward women and children. I would imagine that they would have much more in common with other Afghani citizens than they would to New Zealand Christians and visa versa. So really the society that we live in determines many of our perspectives on life. For instance how Christians in New Zealand view and use birth control or how we view the place of women leading in the Church is distinctively Western in nature.

Which is interesting because in relation to birth control some refuse to use it citing scripture to advocate having as many children as God gives them while others have no compunction in limiting the number of children that they have. Bearing in mind that women with a knowledge their menstrual cycle can to a large extent regulate the number of children they have simply by not copulating at certain times.

What I’m talking about here is the hypocrisy or paradox of how we may advocate one thing and yet because of the pull of the world against us or, even simply because we bow to our carnal nature. We actually purposefully don’t do what we advocate at a more spiritual level. Hence we perhaps believe we shouldn’t limit the number of children we have but we use birth control to limit that number anyway because we may feel we could not financially afford to have more children or, for some other reason.

There are many other issues in life that a similar type of hypocrisy applies too. How we dress compared with what the bible has to say about that. The language we use in relaxed settings with non Christians or whether we smoke or drink in certain situations. Our interests in worldly pursuits for instance can certainly fall into the area of being in the world and of it as opposed to being in the world and not of it. Hence Christians in the Western World look like non Christians in the Western World and not like Christians globally.

I’m not claiming to perfect in this regard. Quite the opposite in actual fact. I’m writing this piece to establish what I actually think about the issue of ‘being in the world but not of it’ and how I measure up and what or how I need to change myself. For instance I practice a form of escapism by reading science fiction. What I read is errant rubbish but it is interesting and distracting. I probably read it to avoid being trapped in the harsh reality of life. This world is a long way from the paradise that God intended in the beginning. Excuses I know and you would think that being a Christian that escapism would be the last thing I would be doing. But there you have it. It is what I do but not perhaps the side I would show to my brothers and sisters in Christ.

I guess that what I’m saying here is that although as Christians we are all called to be a temple of the living God, to sanctification. We are inexorably drawn to being sinful and stuck at times in the human condition. Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...” NKJV Thus as the apostle Paul said of himself in Romans 7:15 “For what I am doing, I do not understand. For what I will to do, that I do not practice; but what I hate, that I do...” NKJV Hence while intending to be in the world and not of it we are instead in the world and of it.

 
Sadly it all so plain to view under the clear light of God’s Word. Yet as Christians we are more than capable of deceiving ourselves that we are right before God and that we have little to achieve before we are without blemish in His sight. In reality we are more often in the situation described by the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah 64:6 “All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away.”NIV

So what can we do about this terrible situation of ‘Being in the world and of it.’ Well sack cloth and ashes and fasting in ultimate humility before the Lord has always seemed to work in the past. I do think though that a contrite heart and humble spirit could be the start of a solution here. There is a three step solution in fact. Firstly, identify the things in your life that are at odds with scripture and bring them to God in prayer. Secondly, acknowledge that these things need to change and it will require a change of attitude at heart to bring that change to be a reality. Thirdly, ask God for the power to bring about that change of heart but understand that it is you that must make the change.

A friend said to me a while ago that we all have will but that it is about how much of our will aligns with the ‘Will of God.’ You can’t say Lord help me not to be a glutton,’ and then decide to eat a 4 litre tub of ice cream. You know God doesn’t want you to be a glutton. So you don’t buy a 4 litre tub of ice cream in the first place. Then you’re aligning your will with God’s. Ultimately sanctification and ‘Being in this world and not of it.’ Comes down to hard work and the God given ability to resolve to abide by God’s will. It is not easy for the Christian but it is necessary. I guess I have my answer then.