Good Friday, Easter and worship music

Today is Good Friday. I worked, then I went on a 20 mile bike ride. During the bicycle ride, which was on the Greenways in Springfield, I enjoyed nature. I looked at God's creation, and it was good. I saw squirrels, rabbits, birds, trees, flowers and a lot of people. How anyone could possibly look at all that I saw today and think it all came from nothing. That there was a time that space, time and matter didn't exist and it all came into being from a "singularity" or that it just all existed just so and now we have life springing from non-living matter without the guidance of a master's hand is beyond me......and totally irrelevant to this blog.

Instead, I want to look at what I did when I got home on Good Friday. I came home and have spent the last 3 hours in front of the computer signing worship songs. I love to worship, and I have listened to my favorites tonight: Brandon Heath, Casting Crowns, Mercy Me, Third Day, Sanctus Real, Tenth Avenue North, Matt Maher, John Waller, David Crowder, Jeremy Camp, Newsboys, Chris and Conrad, Kutless, Chris Tomlin, Finding Favour and Jonny Diaz. Hillsong and Sidewalk Prophets. I am sure that I left some out, and as for the women and rap worship that I listen to.........I just can't hit the notes or rap well enough to sing on a night of worship.

I just want to share a couple of songs with you that really stood out to me. It is not on me to judge anyone, but there are a lot of people that have forgotten what it means to be a Christian. They have forgotten what Good Friday and Easter are about. Christ died for us, and yet we are afraid to look different to the world. We may go to church, we may tithe, we may raise our hands in worship. That does not make a Christian. Are you cussing, fornicating, drinking to inebriation, drugging, lying, stealing, gossiping, etc. I ask you to listen to this Matthew West song and ask if it describes you. Are you going through the motions:

So, are you just going through the motions? If so, you don't have to anymore. You're past sins no longer matter. God is a God of love, and He loves you regardless of what you have done. He loves you anyway:

Jesus loved us so much, that He did not want us to be bound to death. He wanted us to have the opportunity to be forgiven:

How could He possibly remove the debt of sin that we all owe? He paid the ultimate price for us. Jesus paid it all:

But that is not enough. It was not enough for Jesus to simply die for us. Many have died for others. What He did was come back from the dead. For us, He is risen:

Jesus died and came back three days later. Today we remember His death. On Sunday we celebrate His resurrection. Because of His sacrifice and resurrection, we are changed once we accept Christ. He gave us amazing grace and our chains are gone:

So in closing, we are created new because of the Grace that was shown to us not only when Christ died, but when He was resurrected. Because of that I am a new person, I'm not who I was:

What I really want you to focus on as we approach Easter Sunday is that we were born into sin. God loved us so much that He sent Christ to die, so that we could have eternal life. The problem is that most of us take the Grace we were given for granted. We continue to live our lives as the world does. Christ said that they would hate us as they hated Him. We are not on Earth to fit in, but to shine like a lamp on a hill. You are no longer who you once were, so live like it! If you truly believe that Christ died for you, show it. Your attitude of gratitude should set you apart from the world. Your life should do one thing, like a beacon in a world of darkness it should shine:

A CALL TO CHRISTIANS

I have had the misfortune recently of running into a lot of Christians lately who have made me remember why I stayed an Agnostic for so long. I remember as an Agnostic looking at the Christians that I knew and thinking to myself, "If that is what those Christians are like, I want nothing to do with them!" What I saw was complete hypocrisy. I was sickened by the conduct I saw. I was sickened by my own conduct, too. But at least I knew that I was living an amoral life, I just didn't care! They thought that how they were living was fine, and justified it with Christ's forgiveness. All I knew wa that I was the same as most of the Christians that I knew.

In my past I saw people who were doing exactly what I was doing, but there was a difference. I knew that I was not a good person. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a drunk, a convict, a drug addict, a drug dealer, a thug, a whore, a thief! I could go on, but you get my point. I knew what I was. The Christians I knew had no clue what they were. They thought that they were doing great, that they were saved because they were baptized, they went to Church once or twice a week and they spoke in "tongues" once in a while. Therefore, it was okay for them to sleep around, do drugs, get drunk and pick fights, cuss every other word and look down on other people who were not Christians "like them." They were only fooling themselves. The Bible tells us differently.

We are told to be a light shining bright to the world. As it says in Matthew 5, you cannot hide a city on a hill or a candle on a stand.  We should shine our light before men that they may see our good works and then they too will glorify God! I want you to ask yourself one question right now, "Am I a light shining brightly?" The song by the Newsboys, "Shine," come to mind here. It says that we should shine to make those around us wonder what we got and make them wish that they were not on the outside looking in! How can we cause that to happen when our lives and their lives are carbon copies of each other. The only difference is that we have given ourselves a different title. We don't need to a different title. What we is a different package. We need to live our lives differently. How is that done????

It is not done by taking communion, attending church, raising your hands in worship, tithing or by speaking in tongues. It is not accomplished through baptism nor by small group attendance. Those are good habits, don't get me wrong. But more is needed. It is also not done by ignoring the sin of those around us and lessening the differences between us and those of this world. We need to stop dividing the secular and the spiritual. There are not two standards for us to live by, one at work and another at church! Our entire life should represent Christ, not just on Sundays and when among other Christians.

If our light shines, we will not conform to the urges and temptations of this world. Our actions should generally be in contrast to those in the world around us. If they are gossiping at the lunch table, do not join in. Leave the table, or change the subject. If they are cussing and carrying on, do not join in. The apostles and early Christians did not have people becoming Christian by the thousands around them because they were like everyone around them. They never wavered, even when faced with death. Be a steady and bright light, not one that is tossed about in the wind and constantly flickers.

We must not exhibit self-indulgence, but instead display self-denial. There is a moral darkness all around us. We must be a steady and pure light for those around us so they can find their way out of the darkness. This occurs when we focus on heavenly desires, not earthly ones. How can we show those who know us what a radical change occurs when we are reborn if there is no change. I can call a circle a triangle, but that does  not make it so.

How is it that we fear losing our popularity more than we fear the wrath of God. Instead of letting people know what the Bible says and what we are commanded to do, we will remain silent so as not to offend people. Inaction and silence when action and edification are warranted is wrong. It is just as much a sin to do nothing as it is to commit sin! We would not stand by and watch a women get raped but we will watch people condemn themselves and say nothing! What is wrong with us????

For starters, we believe false doctrine. Once saved always saved is a joke the way it is preached by most pastors!!! The Bible says that faith without works is dead. 2 Timothy 2:12 it states, "if we endure, we will also reign with him. If we disown him, he will also disown us." How can we be disowned if we are always saved? By not living our lives to be like Christ. When I see atheists and agnostics who have better principles, morals and manners than the Christians surrounding them I get a righteous anger that consumes me. It sickens me that Christians have the reputation that they do. Even worse, the reputation is warranted!

Next doctrine I am done with is that all we have to do is believe that Christ is the son of God and that He died to forgive our sins and we will go to heaven. Are you kidding me? I guarantee you that the Devil knows who Christ is and what His sacrifice meant. So, do you think that you will see Satan in heaven? Not a chance! We are dead to sin and reborn. That means that we are different from head to toe. Does that show? Do people see Christ in how we conduct our lives? I bet for most of us the answer is no!

Ghandi's quote said it all, "I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ." We need to take this excuse away from the masses! We do this by shining the brightest when we are among non-believers. It is hard for me to see the light of a candle when the sun is radiating down. This is when we are in small groups and in church, when the light around us shines brightest. Our conviction and faith is seen best when we are in the secular world. That is when our actions should contrast the most from those around us. It is easy to praise Jesus in the midst of fellow believers, it is not so easy when we are surrounded by those who do not believe. COME ON PEOPLE, REPRESENT!!!

As much as we do not want to admit it, we are all called by Christ to have different roles that still are used in the same service to Him and to our fellow man. Ultimately, there is no difference between a pastor and a maid or a missionary and an electrician. We are all called to go out into the world and bring others to Christ. This is not a part-time job, but full-time employment. What we need to do is ask ourselves several questions: 

1. Do I live Monday - Sunday all day every day as a witness to what being a Christian means?  
2. Do I believe that how I act and what I do while I conduct myself throughout the week are as important to God as how I act and what I say on Sunday and in small groups?
3. Do I know that the job I have is just as important to Christ and advancing His Kingdom as the job that my pastor or a missionary have?

You see, what we do every minute of every day is important. Most of us are not called to the pulpit at church to preach the sermon on Sunday, nor are we called to move and evangelize in foreign countries. Instead, we are called to the “pulpit” at work and to live the sermon every day instead of just preaching it on Sunday! To steal a slogan from the military, "Be all that you can be."

There is no one who is almost saved, you either are or aren't. There is no one who is almost a Christian, you either are or are not. You decide what and who you are. But I will tell you this, Matthew 7:21-23 tells us that many will call on the name of Christ and tell of the miracles they performed in His name and yet He will tell them to get away from Him. The only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven is to do the will of the Father. His will is not to sin and make excuses to continue, but to sin and then figure out why it happened and work to insure that we do not do it again.  We were not called to be perfect, but to try our best. Instead of giving ourselves excuses to sin we should have a long list of reasons not to.

So I call you to do a few things from now on in your life. First and foremost, pray and meditate so that you can hear the voice of God and follow that instruction. Next, don’t be the reason someone has for saying Christians are hypocrites. Lastly, when it comes to being a Christian, BE ALL THAT YOU CAN BE....................and SHINE!!!!!!!!!