Lukewarm Christianity

In Revelation 3:16, there is given a caution to those who are "neither hot nor cold" and it involves being spit out like unsavory broth. The mindset of following God but not wanting to "get too radical" is dangerously close to qualifying. The mission statement of this Lukewarm Christianity could read as follows:

"To successfully avoid both blessing and cursing."

The world is passionately devoted to their sin. We will never be able to offer them freedom if we are only casually associated with Jesus. We should be far more tenacious in our grip of the life that comes from God than the world is holding on to the wages of their sin.

They're willing to go to hell for their lifestyle... are we as passionate about our eternal destiny? enough to share it with the world?

Too much traffic on the roads...

You can keep your indecision,
and your callous disregard.
Your expectation for the world
to play along and punch your card.

Fancy loosened feet are free,
to wander and get lost at will.
They always find a deathly trap,
intending to pursue a thrill.

Another pawn to march in line,
whenever needed heed their call.
The ones who do just what they're told,
will always take the hardest fall.

I am not one among your ranks,
in me you'll find no sympathy.
I walk this careful chosen path,
a way you've chosen not to see.

"it's that time of year"

I am reminded of a commercial (circa 1990something) that was singing: "Happy Chris-ma-Ha-na-Qwan-za-ka!" which was simply a conglomeration of multicultural celebrations with calendrical and symbolic similarities to Christmas. For the purpose of my rant however, I am considering all of the relevant Christmas-related holidays to fall under the umbrellic term 'Christmas' and combining the three major winter holidays (which grow in span with every passing year) in chronological order into the Super Season I hereby refer to as: 'hallogivemas.'

Picture a large turkey... dressed as Santa Clause, with a jack-o-lantern for a head. He's making his list and checking it twice, throwing bricks made of fruitcake at those who aren't nice. the stockings are hung by the chimney with care, and the turkey's got plenty of pumpkins to spare. oh, the madness! It all starts with autumn.

Changing leaves and the resultant splashes of natural color are drowned beneath a sea of orange and black. Sugar is sold in every form: shaped as skulls, pumpkins, skeletons, ghosts and goblins. Spider webs appear in otherwise meticulously cleaned homes, and deliberately frightening images are plastered on walls, across lawns, and donned in the form of costumery deception. I shall not here delve into the history of the holiday, for that is another essay entirely; already written by a number of more scholarly folk...

But with halloween out of the way as we enter November, now begins the next stage in this consumerist monstrosity. The creepy death/horror/necromancy-themed decorations and the unhealthy deluge of candy gives way to turkeys and cranberries... We can now buy new living room furniture at outrageously prices! Along with fresh new fall fashions. Everything is on sale! But a sale is not really the low prices they advertise, it is merely the suspension of the intentionally elevated prices. Because at the appearance of such good deals, all the obedient shoppers follow the shepherd around the pen.

Instead of allowing each to grow individually, we should combine the three (they are already beginning to overlap) and thereby save us all some money! Celebrate the beginning of fall, the gathering of the harvest, remember the dead, give thanks for the living; but most importantly, remember the birth of the one without whom no holiday would have any meaning or purpose.

If we marginalize Christmas to the same socioeconomic status as these other holidays, we disrespect the very one who gave His life to secure our freedom: Jesus the Christ.

Whatever else we may do this 'holiday season' I would recommend a little less spending and a little more searching. Find your reasons, instead of blindly following habit, or cultural trends. Find out for yourself why you do what you do. And if you don't like what you find, you have the power to change it. Its your life, He gave it to you. What are you going to do with it?

What will you give to those you love? Are you willing to give yourself? Or does a gift card adequately convey the emotion. I for one am glad that God didn't send us clothes or a plasma screen television. God didn't send us a certificate to His favorite restaurant. He gave us His son, to pay the price for our sins. To wash away the eternal consequences of our past, so that every step forward could bring us closer to Him.

Relationship. That is the purpose, that is the goal. That is the "meaning of Christmas." Whether we give gifts to friends and family or refrain from any cultural celebration whatsoever, where are our hearts? Do we really ask ourselves why we do what we do? I'm asking myself... and you have the mixed-fortune of listening to me try to figure it out. I am praying for us all.

Just outside the fence - (Redemption)

Our front yard, the neighborhood. Our country, the world.

Boundaries abound: legal, physical, mental, and spiritual.

While legal boundaries seem open to interpretation, and physical boundaries are being pushed every day by scientific advancement, I'm going to focus on the last two.

Because the strongest mental and spiritual boundaries we encounter tend to be the ones we have created by our own hand. We lock ourselves into patterns of behavior by the judgments we pass on our actions. We cut ourselves off from spiritual experiences because of what we choose to believe is true.

We draw our map of the world, and sit down in the middle.

Jesus came to draw a new map. To surround us with His promises, and cover us with His presence.

But we have to give up ours. We have to surrender, to be Redeemed.

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I think that I can pay my way out of this mess...
...if I just work hard enough
That if I really stop to think, I won't react so quick...
...I can still fix this
I think that I can cause myself enough pain...
...I deserve it all anyway
To outweigh all the suffering that I inflict...
...my past mistakes have become my shadow

I know I should've done things a bit different
Chosen the high narrow path from the start
I know I should've payed closer attention
To the secret desires I've held in my heart

The answer is staring me right in the face
But the last thing I want to consider is grace
Someone should pay and I think its me
Freedom is expensive not given for free

I hold myself hostage with these lies that I yell
Condemning myself to this personal hell
Freedom is clawing at my reinforced walls
As I subject myself to life's bitterest galls

I think I have control of my heart and mind
I won't let anybody in because of what I know they'll find
I'm locked inside myself and I've thrown away the key
I've given up on getting out but I still long to be set free

How can I be forgiven if not by grace alone
No sacrifice of mine can earn the love that you have freely shown
I can't keep holding on I've got to let myself go free
Before the wages of my sin become the death of me

When you value punishment above Christ Jesus' sacrifice
You climb inside the grave from which He rose to give us life
You keep your anger and resentment and your poisonous thoughts
You feed the guilt that ties your soul up in a thousand knots

You cannot save yourself with an intellectual design
There's only ever been one way to turn this water into wine
The shed blood of Christ is the key to your chains
To unlocking your heart and releasing its pains

I'm finally ready to let you take command of my heart and mind
I give you the power to destroy what I know you'll find
Save me from myself Take every part of me
I finally surrender I want to be free

How can we be forgiven if not by grace alone
No sacrifice of ours can earn the love that He has freely shown
We can't keep holding on we've got to let ourselves be saved
Before the wages of our sin drag us to our own grave

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Go listen to Redemption - finding the freedom offered through grace
performed by aTemporal Chaos, words and music by Michael Brown

00:00:00

They say there's no time like the present.
Well, there's no time in the atemporal.

We experience life and the world through the lens of time, but our consciousness and spirit are very much untouched by it. And though we have an organizational system for everything inside our little world, the larger topics of spirituality and existence, are very much out of our control. And our best attempts at orchestrating the universe would result in complete chaos.

In this fallen world, we cannot truly effect lasting change in our own power.

Only God, who exists outside time and is all powerful, could ever master this aTemporal Chaos.

Yet he has given us the ability to choose for ourselves... To try it our way, whatever way seems right.

So that in trying, and seeing the futility of our efforts, we might realize that our creator has a far better idea what is going on. And we really ought to let Him be the controlling factor in our life.

The question, it seems, is how many lessons must we endure before we get it?

A state of continual choice - (Choose You This Day)

A generation is hungry for a relationship with God but has instead been fed a mixture of apathy, addiction, and isolation - and they've been told that this is the life in store for them. And the church has been silent on this matter.

The voice of the church has stopped at the walls of its buildings, leaving those outside to fend for themselves. Ministering to the well, and leaving the sick to die. A generation has been abandoned because we don't understand the language they speak, and don't like their clothes and their hairstyle.

Yes, they're rebelling against authority. They've been raised to question everything. What did we expect? Our society is reaping the consequences of its choices. And who will bring change?

We rally behind the banner of change. But you cannot simply "choose change" and let that be the end. Change is not one choice, it is a lifetime of choices.

Choose You This Day, and set the course for your life; but choose every day thereafter to continue in it.

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The time has come, to raise your voice.
The time has come, to make your choice.

Our enemy has found the weakness of the human heart
He knows to keep us in distraction is the surest way
To keep us all imprisoned in this bondage that we've
Really been set free from if we'd only lift our chains
We'd see the cost of sin was paid on Calvary.

The time has come, to make your choice.
The time has come, to raise your voice.
Choose you this day, whom you will serve.
Choose you this day, whom you will serve.

You're not a slave to sin unless you choose to serve
The master of this world and just believe that's all
There is to life. But hear me when I tell you
That your Father is still calling to His children
And His arms are open wide.

You live upon this earth but it is not your home,
Your Father has prepared a place for you, in paradise.
He's placed a purpose and a plan inside you
Hidden in your dreams and deep desires
but the world would like to sell you something else.

Don't be deceived,
This world will drag you down
See the power working from within
and see its tragic end.

"How long will you waver between two opinions?
If the LORD is God, follow him..." - 1 Kings 18:21

"And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD,
choose you this day whom ye will serve;
whether the gods that your fathers [have passed down through generations,
or the gods of your culture that hold sway over popular opinion,]
but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
- Joshua 24:15 (KJV) [lyrical adaptation]

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Go listen to Choose You This Day - the dissolution of indecision
performed by aTemporal Chaos, words and music by Michael Brown

Authority

It all comes back to the Author.

We're here because He made us.

He gave us each authority, to be submitted to the authority of another.

This July, on the 4th day, we celebrate our nation's insurrection against an authority it believed to have unjust power. Our nation established itself as a free entity, to pass those freedoms on to its citizens.

If, in the course of your celebrations, you choose to knowingly transgress upon the laws of this country (state, city and county are included) what are you really celebrating? Our freedom from tyranny? Or self-justified rebellion?

I have in years past, stood torch-in-hand with a mostly-clear conscience as I set about the "celebration" of our country's Independence Day with "rocket's red glare" and "bombs bursting in air".

Not this year.

I've only just recently repaired some rather extensive damage to my conscience. Patterns of behavior that I taught myself to accept through ignoring my conscience until "the voice of reason" went away completely. I have set those issues right in my life, and am now seeing the same seeds of dissent, the roots of rebellion, in other areas.

I will not, this time, be so easily swayed into discounting my convictions for "a bit of harmless fun". I've made that mistake before. And I know where it leads. Compromise will bring corruption. If I yield my principals even slightly for some small reason, I have surrendered them completely.

I intend to hold tight to what I know and believe, despite what people may say. Whatever arguments they may pose. I've absorbed this truth to a far deeper level than I had before:

The degree to which I obey the authority over me is the degree to which I can be trusted with authority.

If I only "respect" the authority that I agree with, I am pretending to obey while living in practical Anarchy.

Dabbling in the World

In John 8:44, Jesus tells his disciples (and us) that Satan "was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false."

This should rather firmly establish his character as one we should avoid, right?

In Luke 10:19, Jesus tells his disciples that they (and we) have "authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions..."

It seems as though some in the church have taken this to mean that we can go out and play with serpents and scorpions. Maybe even bring them home and keep them as pets. God gave us authority and power over them because they are a tool that the enemy uses to attack and ensnare us. I think we have seriously misread Jesus' instructions if we think that these tools of the enemy are not a threat.

Witchcraft, sorcery, and much of what masquerades as 'philosophy' these days come straight from the mouth of the Chief Deceiver. If you think for a second that curiosity only killed the cat, you could be next.

We have been warned, and we have been equipped.

Music and Lyrics

Is it possible to unify thrashing guitars, thundering drums, and growled/screamed vocals into a Christian message? I believe not only that it is possible, but that it is absolutely necessary to do so. It seems to me that 'mainstream Christianity' is shying away from what the human heart is crying out for, opting instead for what it considers best.

People are hungry for music that stirs their emotions. I believe that God is the originator of both emotion and music, and that He had a purpose in mind when He tied them together.

Music is a language. It speaks to us in ways that words cannot. It can often find entrance to the heart and mind when a person's defenses would ordinarily block out the intended message. It is completely possible to pair music that can speak to a persons heart with words that they would not normally be receptive to.

Point in case: Christians who listen to Metallica, Slipknot, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, et cetera. They find something in the music that resonates within them, but are (perhaps unknowingly) getting some pretty twisted lyrical content in a sort of package deal. A musical Trojan Horse, if you will.

Consider this, though: The same aggressive musical stylings, but with Christian content... Music that resonates in the soul of a generation and the message paired with it is actually life-giving! This is what I am endeavoring to create. To take what the world has twisted from God's original plan, and set it right again. I want to reach out to my generation with a message of hope and truth based on these facts:
- God has given us life: The sacrifice of His Son washed away all our sin.
- God has saved us from an eternity of separation: He is as close to us as we allow Him to be.
- God has given us authority: we are only as weak as we choose to be.
- God has given us power: everything we need to accomplish our destiny is already inside us.

I think a big reason that screaming/growling is so misunderstood in the church is because people think that secular music did it first. I disagree. I think the David we read about in the Bible was the original metal pioneer. When he and other people in the Bible are described to be crying out to God, or "pouring out [their] soul before the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:15), I don't see this as being a composed or dignified ritual. Yet that has become our culture's perception of prayer and to a sad extent, even worship. Solemn. Reverent to a fault. Devoid of passion.

I think David screamed. If there had been electric guitars in his Tabernacle, he'd have been lining up the meatiest gnarliest chords he could find. I think they would have moshed (or rather, that they did, but predating the activity's current name). I've gotten pretty goofy while dancing, but I know I haven't danced "with all [my] might." (2 Samuel 6:14) That's a kind of focused surrender that just isn't practiced in 'proper culture'.

While some bands clearly take the theme of heavy guitars, fast drums, and deep 'gurgling' vocals to a dark place, I don't believe that any instrument or style of music is evil at its core. It is exclusively where you take it that it resides. When I worship God in my personal time, sometimes I am singing softly, sometimes loudly; sometimes screaming at the top of my lungs, at others (the best description I've heard so far:) screaming from the bottom of my lungs. It is the only way I know to release the emotional energy that I feel in His presence.