Not a Camouflaged Soul

Category: Faith

  • Feel Like… an Apostle?

    For I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate. Now if I do what I do not want, I agree with the law, that it is good. So now it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me. For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.
    (Romans 7:15-20 ESV)

    Can anybody else relate to Paul? I’ve been thinking about this passage a lot since a recent youth worship service at church. The praise band broke out a rendition of Monster by Skillet. I played bass.

    If you are not familiar with their music, Skillet is a modern-metal Christian band. As such, their lyrics tend to be a little obscure. One needs to pay close attention to catch their lyrical content, because it is not always clear what they are saying. When you can understand their singer, the listener still has to fill in some blanks to get their meaning. Not a good choice for all, but they provide a hard rock alternative for Christian metalheads or new Christians that are metal fans. (Music editorial ends here.)

    I am very careful about the lyrical content of the songs sung in our church. I feel that words mean things. The lyrics to songs impact us in a deeper way, because music is a force that penetrates to our innermost beings. I have regretted the times I have been lackadaisical in this, because when I let my guard down, we as a church have the potential to sing specials or other music that does not correspond with Scripture.

    This song intrigued me. Here are the lyrics to the first verse and the chorus…

    The secret side of me, I never let you see
    I keep it caged but I can’t control it
    So stay away from me, the beast is ugly
    I feel the rage and I just can’t hold it

    It’s scratching on the walls, in the closet, in the halls
    It comes awake and I can’t control it
    Hiding under the bed, in my body, in my head
    Why won’t somebody come and save me from this, make it end?

    I feel it deep within, it’s just beneath the skin
    I must confess that I feel like a monster
    I hate what I’ve become, the nightmare’s just begun
    I must confess that I feel like a monster

    (© 2009 Atlantic Recording Corporation)

    Sound familiar? I read that as a paraphrase of what Paul was talking about in Romans 7. We all have a sin nature, lurking in the shadows, and sometimes it feels like we could lose control at any moment. Thankfully…

    No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.
    (1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV)

    We all feel like a monster sometimes. Such is the Christian life here on Earth.

  • Innovation

    As Fall approaches, churches everywhere are gearing up for the restarting of many of their programs. As we do so, I have been thinking about innovation. How necessary is it to stay ahead of the curve creatively when dealing with church programs? Why is innovation important?

    What was the first task God gave Adam? Name EVERY animal on the earth. That took some creative thinking, don’t you think?

    We are the body of Christ – a living, vibrant entity. God is the Creator, and He created us with a creative spirit. God is glorified in the music, art, writing, dance, and other expressions of His people because He gave us the creative spirit used to produce these offerings. God delights in our offerings, the same way we delight in the works of the hands of our children (wrote about that here.) By God’s standards, they are infantile. But He desires our worship and our praise.

    When dealing with church programs or ministries, it is easy to be complacent. After all, there are already people coming to our church, and things seem to be working. But to what extent is that good enough? What is the spiritual temperature of our church? How faithful are we at making disciples and giving the Gospel? If this church disappeared tomorrow (God forbid), would the community notice? WHAT CAN WE DO?

    Dr. Jerry Falwell used to say,  “If it’s Christian, it ought to be better!” (I’ve quoted him before.) “Good enough” ought not be in our vocabulary.

    At my church, we recently adopted a new vision statement: To reach the lost, and to grow the saved to be like Jesus. As church leaders, the tricky part of that philosophy is that there are SO MANY ways to do this! Are there any we should ignore or be afraid to try?

    Because we are from within trying to draw people in from the outside, our outlook can be limited because we deal with the same people, facilities, personnel, and situations on a daily basis. I have learned that it is important to take a step back from time to time and try to look at my church from a visitor’s perspective. While no facility, music program, or Bible study will reach the lost on its own, we should strive to make our church as accessible, pleasant, and welcoming to those on the outside as we can. And we should constantly be on the lookout for methods, technology, policies, literature, PR, materials, and other things we utilize that would be more effective if handled differently.

    Bottom line: we all learned in physics class that everything is in motion. If the church stops moving, we stop being effective.

    God created us to be creative. What should we create (or recreate) that could impact our church and our community for Christ?

  • Seinfeld and Cherry-picking

    Pastor Johnny Hunt of First Baptist Church Woodstock often says that he rarely has an original thought. I’m the same way. Thus…

    Jonathan Acuff posted the following video on Stuff Christians Like…

    You know what that video is missing? Laugh track? Yes. Continuity? Sure.

    Context.

    In context, every single one of those scenes is hilarious (have I mentioned that I am a HUGE Seinfeld fan?). But take bits and pieces out of several episodes and the humor is masked.

    Christians and non-Christians alike try to do the same thing with Scripture. Non-Christians use verses out of context to add to God-breathed doctrine or to take away from the Bible’s meaning. Christians will “cherry-pick” verses to justify their own behavior or condemn someone elses.

    We’ve all heard examples of both situations, haven’t we?

    Judge not, so you won’t be judged.

    People use this to castigate anyone who ever forms a negative opinion about someones sin.

    God is love, so He wouldn’t send people to hell.

    God IS love, which is why He sent His Son to die so that all who call upon the name of the Lord will be saved.

    God won’t give me more than I can deal with.

    Actually, the verse says you won’t be TEMPTED beyond what you can ESCAPE. God FREQUENTLY stretches us spiritually.

    Understanding scripture is vital. We have to know what the Bible actually says so we can be prepared to put it into practice when the time comes.