Why Christian rock music is like eating food sacrificed to idols

After having posted several non serious doctrines, I thought I would tackle a little more serious subject. Not that music is serious, but compared to discussions about ties… I realize that a lot of you are going to disagree with me. Some you will say I’m too liberal on this subject, others will say I to conservative. But anyway, this is my position on the topic of Christian rock. Since I will be indirectly/directly addressing 1 Corinthians 8, it might be good for you to really quick read that that chapter (don’t worry it’s short.).

My belief is that Christian rock music is like eating food sacrificed to idols: its ok for some people, but not others. Now is there specifically anything wrong with Christian rock music? No. I don’t believe that the music itself is the problem. With that said, is Christian rock wrong for some people and in some circumstances? Yes I believe it is. I think most of us have probably been in situations where we’ve seen people “rockin’” out to Christian rock. Now is rockin’ out to a wholesome song wrong? No, not really. What gets me is when people and churches start calling this worship. But you say, “can’t I worship God while I’m rockin’ out?” Yes you can. You can also worship him while you play basketball or washing the dishes. But I believe there is a difference between worship and Worship. worship (lowercase) is the act of living a set apart life for God. Worship (upper case) is the act of coming before a holy God and confessing our unworthiness and his Holiness. Now are some people able to Worship while listening to Christian rock? I believe some are. However I believe that there are many how aren’t able to. And as 1 Corinthians 8:9 says “be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.” I think it’s fine for some people to listen to Christian rock, but when Christian artists, Christian radio, and Christian churches start to say that Rockin’ out is Worship, I disagree. I think we see a lot of churches today that only play Christian rock music, and deceive many people into thinking they are Worshiping, when all along it’s just an emotional roller coaster ride. Now there may be some in those churches that can worship to that music, but referring back to 1 Corinthians, it’s important that the exercise of our faith does not become a stumbling block to others. I think many churches today have lost true worship and have replaced it with over-hyped emotionalism. And when we deceive ourselves and try to lie to God and say that we’re worshiping - that is, confessing God’s holiness - when all we’re doing is pleasing our flesh, I believe that’s an awful sin.

In summary, I believe that Christian rock is ok for some people, but those people should be careful when and where they listen to that music, and that they never tell someone else that Rockin’ out is Woship. 1 Corinthians 8:13 Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause him to fall.

The lost awe effect – part 2 - Jesus vs. Moses.

A quick summery of Pastor Dax’s Sunday school class on Hebrews 3.

After saying that Jesus was better than the prophets, and better than the Angels, the writer of Hebrews goes into this section of saying that Jesus is better than Moses, the Israelite’s beloved hero. Hebrew 3:2 says…

He (Jesus) was faithful to the one who appointed him, just as Moses was faithful in all God’s house.

To understand what the author is talking about here, we must look in the old testament to Numbers 12 where God is rebuking Aaron and Miriam for there opposition to Moses.

"When a prophet of the LORD is among you, I reveal myself to him in visions, I speak to him in dreams. But this is not true of my servant Moses; he is faithful in all my house. With him I speak face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the LORD. Numbers 12:6-8


First we see that Moses was Faithful in all my(God’s) house, In Hebrew 3:6 we learn that “Christ is faithful as a son over God's house.”

Next we see that that God spoke to Moses face to face and with clarity instead of riddles, but even more awesome is the fact that when Jesus spoke, it was God who was speaking.

Third and finally we see that Moses saw the form of God. But Jesus was the form of God.

Moses was an Israelite celebrity, he was entrusted with bringing the law to the people, but Jesus was even more awesome than he.

Two embarrassing incidents (and three dollars worth of quarters later)

Well the first one happened Last Thursday. It was a very rainy day, and as I was going to school, I turned on the headlights in my car. When I got to school, I thought I turned off my lights, but somehow I left the parking lights on (the light switch in that car is really weird. It’s a knob that you pull out to turn the lights on and back in to turn the lights off, but if you push it back in to far it turns the parking lights on). So by the time I came back out to my car the battery was dead. I had to call my parents (with a pay phone) to come and pick jump my car.

The second embarrassing moment happened Tuesday (yes the Tuesday right after the Thursday battery incident [my Tuesday/Thursday classes must be bad luck for me]). I got to school. Went to one of my classes. Came back out to the car to drop off some of my stuff before heading off to another class, but after unlocking my car, I set the keys down on the seat, dropped off my stuff then locked and shut my door. The second I shut that door I felt my pocket for my keys. Nothing. I turned around and there they were, sitting just feet from me. How can something be so close and yet so far away? Again I had to call my parents (with a pay phone) and have them unlock my car. Yes in-between these two insidents I wasted $3 on phone calls (did you know that those stupid pay phones don’t give your money back if you reach an answering machine?)

To lay all my humiliation out before my blogging sphere I should mention that this is the second time I have locked the keys in the car. The first time was in Santa Clara California a few years ago when dad and I were on a business trip. Yes this was before I had my own keys and yes I was using dad’s keys and yes they were the only pair of keys that we had. We had to pay someone to come unlock the car for us.

The lost awe affect – part one – Entering the holly of Hollies

I actually posted this post back in July, but now I'm going to call it part one in a short series i'm going to do.


Hebrews 10:19-22 therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.


Some people think that the New Testament portrays God as a much more reachable and down to earth God than the God of the Old testament. I Love how this verse uses Old Testament examples to remind us that God is just as powerful now as he was in the Old Testament, and yet God allows us to pray and commune with him. This passage is so awesome.…we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place… the Holy of Holies was a place reserved only for priests; and only after they had been ceremonially cleaned. This awesome passage says that we can enter the Holy of Holy’s. All the ceremonial washing, all the set apart line of priesthood, all the special things that the priests would do has been replaced by one thing: Jesus Christ. Because of Jesus Christ we are able to enter into the Holly of holies: the throne room of God.In the holy of Hollies is the Ark of the Covenant. The same ark that Uzzah reached out to steady, and was struck down by God. How amazing is it that we have access through Christ to this powerful God? I know you all know how awesome of a gift it is to pray to God, but I just love how this passage reminds me of just how amazing that gift is.

Swiffer

My favorite commercial

God is good

Well this quarter I actually have two of the same instructors I had last quarter [math and PE]. I’ve only had one Speech class, but I already really like my instructor. However I can’t imagine him EVER giving a formal speech. I can’t imagine him in a formal tux. He’s bald. Has a pirate’s goatee about three inches long, and wears a necklace. But he has a great sense of humor

My physics teacher, however, is another beast. He is convinced that evolution is a fact, global warming is real, and the Democratic Party is awesome. I am told by a former student of his that the class will have to watch All Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth [aka an inconvenient lie]. I also feel that this teacher thinks of his students as a job – and a job he doesn’t particularly like at that. Before classes began I checked with the college on what books I would need. They said I there were no required texts. I get to class the first day and the teacher tells us that while the text isn’t required all the homeworks are going to be out of it. Furthermore, the college bookstore doesn’t carry this book so the only way to get a hold of it is to check it out for two hours at the campus library. Fortunately I was able to find an inexpensive copy of the book on Amazon.

On Friday [the second day of class] I was walking towards my physics class, totally dreading it when I realized how awesome our God’s planning is. He wants me to be tested by tough situations like a teacher who totally sucks, but he has given me three other classes that I really like. So I am being challenged, but not to the point where every day I dread going to school. I realized that both this quarter and last, God has given me one class that was a challenge [last quarter it was English], and all the others were great. How awesome our God is.

Oh, P.S. Thursday I lost my bank card. I was quite scared at first, but the card is canceled, by balance is what it should be and the bank is sending me a new card.

5 things I did during my break

Well tomorrow I go back to school for my Winter Quarter at Whatcom Community College, but I thought I would real quick update you all on what I did during my break. I had a very nice, long break [Dec. 12th- Jan 1st].

1 The first large project I undertook during my break was to straighten up the garage and fix up the game room by painting the ping pong table.

2 Next dad and I built doors for the bookshelves in our family room. That was actually a lot of work.

3 For Christmas our family just stayed home by ourselves to celebrate. It was a very nice family day.

4 After Christmas Janel and I invited a bunch of our friends over for ping pong and games. It was a lot of fun.

5 For new years we had my grandparents [dads folks] over. We did puzzles most of the might.

Lately our family has been doing a lot of redecorating around the house [for which I am very thankful]. We bought new carpet, a new couch and chairs for the living room, new dining room chairs, new molding, new shelves, and refinished old shelves. It’s been very nice. I’ve also [as always] been decorating my room. I should post some pics of my room sometimes.

Well it’s off to bed for a good nights sleep before it’s back to school tomorrow.