Passover, not passed over.
Apr1
What a wonderful time of year. Not only is Spring finally here but with it comes the sounds of life. Passover is in full swing for the Jews and the Body of Christ rejoices in that we know who is the Passover.
What is the Passover?
Remember the Jews were in exile, slaves to Egypt. They had moved there during the days of Joseph due to the famine that God had revealed to Joseph in a dream. Those days were now long gone by and the new Pharaoh knew nothing of this once great Jewish man that was second in command of Egypt. The joy they experienced under his command was now passed. All that lay ahead of them was burden anguish and woe. But, the Lord heard their cry. Moses was raised up for such a time to lead God’s people out of bondage and onto the promised land into liberty. Moses was sent time and time again to plead with Pharaoh to let Israel go, but over and over again he declined. If Pharaoh had but inclined his ear unto the Lord and yielded his will and let Israel go, the firstborn need not to have died. Or, did it?
The Bible tells us that before the world ever began God the Father and His son Jesus made a covenant to redeem fallen man. That covenant required the the death of Jesus Christ. You see, sin entered in to Gods creation back in the garden. God wanted to right mans wrong, for man, out of love. Christ had to die but He being the firstborn and only begotten son of God was the only firstborn that needed to die.
What do you think of when you hear the word passover? Now certainly many of us have been passed over in this life. Maybe you were not picked for the job, the team, the position or as the adopted child. Not so with our Lord. Because of the Passover we will never be passed over again.
Is it not like our Lord to cause the festival of Passover to land at this time of year? The long, dark, cold, dank of winter is over, soon the lifeless limbs of foliage will begin to move sap, the songbirds have returned to give praise to their Creator and the warm fresh air of a brand new year and endless possibilities is here, old things are passed away behold all things are new. Now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer by this Son. Happy Resurrection!
Washington White Out
Feb0
Against all the votes of good people in some 30 states, the Homosexual lobbyists continue to ram their agenda down the throats of the American people. On December the 19th D.C. Mayor Fenty signed the “Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009” or another Same Sex Marriage Bill. I watched with interest and sadness as a crowd of people gathered together in the All Souls Unitarian church in Mount Pleasant for the “historic” event. One could not help notice all the signs hanging in the church referencing the word love. Love? Are you serious?
Last week the Alliance Defense Fund along with the Stand4marriageDC group petitioned the Board of Elections to open this issue to the voters. On Thursday February4th the BOE denied their request. I find it interesting that on the very next day Washington DC was hit with one of the greatest snow storms in history.
Think it’s a coincidence? The ADF has reminded the BOE that the D.C Charter guarantees the voters the right to vote on any act passed by the D.C Council. How about the civil rights of those opposed to the redefinition of marriage? Think the ACLU will come to their aid? Don’t hold your breath. I think the Lord is trying to get the attention of someone there in our Capital. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be white as snow. Isaiah 1: 18
What Bait To Use.
Sep1
Often times I listen to other Christian stations, not to critique them or to discover better ways to do what we’re doing, but genuinely to listen to them. You see, much like television or the Internet, I like to surf the airwaves looking for something to listen to. Sometimes I like to listen to Bible studies other times I listen to conservative talk radio and then there are times I want to hear good Christian music, music that we don’t play on WZXV. I know, right now you’re saying, “I can’t believe he listens to other stations.” But I do.
Now before I go any further, I want you to know that my reason for posting this is purely out of observation, experience and to get your opinion. Let me assure you that I am not here to criticize. Let me start by asking you a question. When you tune into a Christian radio station what is it that you hope to hear? You want to hear all things Christian, right? You want to hear about the love of Jesus, the hope of Heaven and that no matter what you have done or will do, there is forgiveness at the Cross, right? I know I do. Then why is it that many, (not all) but many Christian stations resort to using secular music to lure the unsaved or the “un-churched?” Did you notice a few years back that there were Christian artist being played on some of the local secular rock stations? You would hear music by DC Talk, Toby Mac and even Mercy Me’s, I Can Only Imagine. Something about hearing Mercy Me playing on a station that would then play a song by Brittany Spears called “If U Seek Amy,” and I can tell you that seeking Amy is not what that song is about. Do you see my point? The messages are not only contradictory but they are mutually exclusive, there is no point on which they can agree. To me it is a message of confusion and God is not the author of that, is He?
Should we be playing secular songs on Christian radio? Some of you may be saying, “yes, use it as bait to get them to listen to the rest of the message, besides there is a Christian song coming up next or a great Bible study and they might get saved.” My question to you would be. Did Jesus use the the Mosaic system to bait new believers or did Jesus say beware the leaven? I am not trying to be legalistic here but let’s at least be realistic. Jesus did not tell individuals that they could continue in their dead works and follow after Him. When Jesus ate with the publicans and the sinners, do you think He talked with them about their need to get to Temple, or did He tell them about their need for Him? Why do you think they liked being with Jesus? I believe that it was because He was different, His message was different and He made them feel right at home in the presence of a pure, holy, loving savior without using the trappings of the world. Sure, Jesus said “I will make you fishers of men,” (Mark 1:17) but the bait is Jesus. When will men be drawn to Jesus? When we lift His name up. (John 12:32)
I have spoken to other representatives of Christian stations and quite honestly I understand their point of view, but I don’t agree with it and even if I did, it wouldn’t it make it right? Say you go to a local hamburger joint and you order a hot dog, but they bring you a hamburger. What would you say? This isn’t what I ordered, I know you would because I would. What if they said, “well we would like you to try our hamburger first and then you can by our hot dog, we just thought you would really like our hamburger too.” What would you do then? You might take the hot dog but you certainly are not going to pay for both of them are you? Now think in terms of Christian radio. Why is Christian radio here? Is it evangelistic? In many ways, yes, it is, but I would suggest to you that the greater ministry of Christian Radio is to encourage believers to stay close to Jesus. There are so many voices out there calling us to forsake our Lord and many of them seem to be innocuous, but I am sure Eve thought the fruit was innocuous too. What about those Christians that want nothing to do with the old life, it’s thoughts, it’s music? Are we as concerned about stumbling them as we are about baiting someone with a secular song? When I was a teenager I did everything in my power to prove to my parents that a particular artist was Christian so that I could buy their album. Do you want your young child to listen to the rest of, for example, the Brittany Spears album just because one song on the album may be innocuous? One gentleman at a local Christian station told me that the message of a song was more important than the lifestyle of the Artist. I’m sorry, what would you think about Jesus if His lifestyle did not line up with His message? At the least you would not respect Him and at the worst you would not follow Him. If you say you would then you’re deceiving yourself.
I think we need to be very careful with what we allow to go on in our lives, myself included. When attaching the title of Christ to our lives, to a political figure, an artist and a radio station should we expect Christ and Christ alone to be exhibited? I know that we are imperfect people living in an imperfect world but we’re serving a perfect Lord and He wants us to present Him to the world. What are your thoughts? I would like to know.