Blind?!?! How can you say that?

Remember these guys?

WHITESNAKE

This morning I heard "Here I Go Again" from the 80's and it got me thinking ... what an absolutely well written song ... both musically and lyrically that describes the mindset of the people of this world. Check this out:

And here I go again on my own ... Goin down the only road Ive ever known ... Like a drifter I was born to walk alone ... cos I know what it means ... To walk along the lonely street of dreams ...

There are countless songs written like this describing a lonely existence. This world is all they know! They've been hurt so many times by people that they've had enough! They say, "You can't trust anybody so I'll just do life to myself!" The amazing thing to me is how many Christians buy into this philosophy and say they relate. But that is not what the Bible teaches. Christians are being lied to by the philosophy of the world and they are buying into it ... they are being distracted ...

Let me ask you this.

How can a follower of Jesus Christ know if they are being affected by the lies of the god of this world? If you don't think you are being lied to consider this ...

- Are you being DISTRACTED ?-

Once a person has been redeemed by Jesus Christ's blood which was sacrificed for their sins (1 John 2:1-3), the Bible teaches that they have been adopted into the family of God (Ephesians 1:4-6).

ADOPTED INTO GOD'S FAMILY! ... not to be DISTRACTED!

The Bible teaches that they are joint heirs (Galatians 4:6-7) with Jesus Christ. They are also part of a universal Body called the Church (Romans 12:4-5; 1 Corinthians 12:12-27) which Christ is the Head. The Bible says they are not part of this world just as Christ was not part of this world (John 18:36). Do you want to see a really cool word study? Check out this one using the phrase of this world.

.

So what?

If you think you already knew all that, ask yourself if you have a purpose in life.

Do you know where you came from?

Who you are?

... and where you going?

The Bible teaches that if we are God's people we should know all these things. A mature believer knows who they are in God's eternal plan. The Bible also teaches that Satan is a deceiver and leads people away from truth. He wants to devour people and destroy their potential in Jesus Christ (1 Peter 5:8). Satan wants to cloud our vision ... keep us busy ... distracted.

The question is not whether you should listen to secular music or not. The question is whether or not you are allowing your mind to changed by what you hear!

Be aware what people who don't know God are saying to you! Don't buy into it! If you know Jesus Christ the Bible says you are a child of the King! You are not of this world.

Do you want to live your life by what the Bible teaches? Then let me challenge you with these verses until my next post ...

James 4:4 says, "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world is hatred toward God? Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. "

1 John 2: 15-17 says. "Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For everything in the world—the cravings of sinful man, the lust of his eyes and the boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but the man who does the will of God lives forever."

Bummin'

This one will be short.

Did you ever fast before? ... like, from food? Honestly ... this "fast" from music written and performed by brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ is really starting to bug me.

It's amazing to me how much strength to overcome evil in my life comes from music written from a biblical perspective. Listening to the mindset of the world is really bugging me. I'll be honest and say it starting to make me angry.

You know that hymn "This Is Our Father's World"?

That is a stupid song. That is not what the Bible teaches.

This isn't God's world.

This is Satans's world
(2 Corinthians 4:4) and there are a whole lot of blind people running it. The blind leading the blind. The only difference between the secular rock audience and the performers is that most of them are good musicians. But they're all hopelessly blind. What a shame.

Our Lord Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit's power as an example for us. He told us that we would do even greater things than He did! And what is His Church doing about the blindness we see in others? We are busy keeping up with the world so they think we are cool! We are dropping the ball ...

... an even bigger shame!

I am motivated ... Pray that I find time to write what I am really thinking ...

... back to it ...

It's been a couple days of my Christian music fast. I've been listening to the classic rock and current metal stations here in PA whenever I would normally listen to our local Christian rock station. It's amazing to me the feelings it is bringing out in me.

You know ... hhhhmmmmm ... here's the deal ... I've been a follower of Jesus Christ all my life ... meaning ... I was raised to love Jesus. Once I was old enough to understand Who He is and my sinful state that keeps me from Him I realized that I had to yield myself to Him and accept His free gift of salvation. That was 36 years ago when I was 9.

PERSONAL STORY - Here's some inside information that I don't think I ever publically shared before ...

One of my relatives (not the guy in the photo) really gave my family a hard time while I was growing up. We had a nice family and all of us (I mean aunts, uncles, grandparents ... everybody) went to church and enjoyed the blessings of God, good family get togethers, a lot of laughter, etc. ... except for one person. Out of respect for that person I will leave out the details but understand that this person's sinful lifestyle probably singlehandedly caused me to get into ministry to the rock/metal culture. They would probably be surprised to hear that.

Why?

Because as a boy, I watched this person go through hell on earth and drag my family through some of the worst pain all because they chose to reject Jesus Christ and plunge into the world's pleasures. To this day, it is very hard for me to listen to music from this person's youth (late 60's into the mid 70's) because I associate it with the wounds of this person's past. Yet I still love this person as a family member and pray that they would connect with their Creator and give their life to Him.

When I listen to secular music, I clearly see the confusion, anger and point of view of people in the world who do not know Who Jesus Christ is. It makes me sad. But it also motives me ...

Over the years I have come to realize several reasons why people reject Jesus Christ.

1. SPIRITUAL BLINDNESS - The first reason is that they have been blinded by Satan (2 Corinthians 4:4). The Bible is very clear that some people have never been able to even make an honest decision for Jesus because they are blind to Who He is.

2. DISGUST FOR CHRISTIANS - Some people have an idea of Who He is but their view has been tainted by the stupidity of His followers. Hypocrisy hurts people's views of the sinless Jesus Christ. So do Christians who live worldly lifestyles. Inconsistancy in followers of Jesus causes passerbys to shake their heads in disgust and keep walking or running away ... God cries out because of our carnality.

3. REBELLION - Some people think they have a better way. King Solomon said it best in Proverbs 14:12, "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death." In John 14:6 Jesus Christ said, ""I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." I guess that is why people hate Christians so much because Christians follow Jesus Who said He is the only way ... an exclusive statement. You either give your life to Him or you don't. Many choose not to.

Here's the deal ... once you understand all I've written above, you can understand why we hear the things we do in music that is not written by followers of Jesus Christ.

In my next post I'll give you an example of what I am talking about. I gotta go help take down the Christmas tree ...



... later ...

Only secular music!

Hello from Pennsylvania,

Doug Van Pelt from HM Magazine has asked me to do a little experiment for him. I've known Doug for over 15 years on a professional level and recently he asked me to help him with an experiment which he wants to feature in an upcoming article of his magazine. Remember the guy who ate only McDonalds food for a month which was featured in the DVD "Supersize Me"? ... yeah, kinda like that. HM Magazine wants me listen to only non-religious (secular) music for the month of January and journal my thoughts. The editor asked me predominantly because he knows I normally listen to almost all Christian music and Bible teaching. So I created this blog to share my thoughts with whoever wants to read them.

Oh, by the way, there's another guy doing the exact opposite. This will be interesting ...

Why do I listen to almost all Christian music? Mainly because I am a follower of Jesus Christ and I have learned to fill my mind with music that enhances my relationship with Him and not distract me in my love and obedience to Him. I was taught as a child the importance of filling my mind with things that honor God. Philippians 4:8 comes to mind:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.

I am also a rock/metal singer and musician and God has allowed me to use my talents to build His Kingdom here on earth. The photo to the right was taken in 1994 as the vocalist for the power metal ministry band SARDONYX. Our music is available on iTunes, Amazon, etc.

I believe music is a tool for teaching the Bible. You must understand that I take the Bible literally when Jesus commanded His followers to make disciples of Him (Matthew 28:19-20). People today call it proselytizing. Yeah, I guess that is what it is. I have accepted the idea that I want to be an agent of change in the culture God has placed me in. I want to use every tool He gave me to point people to Him.

A little more about me ... I have been married to my wife Ruth for over 22 years and I have three children who are 15, 12 & 11. I am the founder and director of LightShine Ministries. You can visit our music website at http://www.lightshineministries.com/ and see some of what we do as music ministers. You can also visit our other website which shows our missionary work in Alaska http://www.lightshineministries.org/. I am not doing metal that much anymore but I am still a musician who loves to point people to Jesus. This is a recent photo of me below.

I guess I want to start this blog on my Christian music fast by giving you the context of my observations that will follow in the coming days.

So thanks for reading. I may say things that bug you. Feel free to respond. And those of who are also followers of Jesus Christ, pray for me. I will need it. I am 45 years old and I learned a long time ago that feeding your mind with things that are contrary to God's Word is sometimes harmful to your life. Pray that I would learn some things about the world around me and develop a deeper love for people. I appreciate it a lot!

And pray for the other guy ... the one who usually listens to only secular music. Pray that God would greatly encourage him in the coming days.

... more soon ...