The Last Black American Idol: Blessed Assurance

The thought of going home and entering into the kingdom of the Most High is an amazingly joyous one.  No matter what I am going through, I can always think about going home and seeing my Father's face for the first time.  Hallelujah!  It really makes you want to shout!  It makes you want to run up and down the aisles at church like an NFL running back---knocking down ushers and deacons along the way (just kidding). 
But it is that thought that has produced a joy in me that no one can remove, because no one but God put it there.  It is my blessed assurance that because I have repented and believe in Jesus that I am now a joint heir with the son and therefore grafted into the family of God by the spirit of adoption.   That is the joy in every believer. 

That is also the idol that many of us worship.  Many Black Christians hold on so tight to their own salvation; the blessed assurance, that they are not able to move into a deeper relationship with God.  The belief that they don't have to do anything else to be saved is a snare to many in the Black church.  To be blunt, we tend to sit on our blessed assurance and we don't move properly into our roles as God's ambassadors in this fallen world.  We target the thing we want----salvation----and we deny the gift-giver access to our hearts and minds by continuing old patterns of behavior. 

Brothers and Sisters, your blessed assurance is dangerous.  Yes, if you are truly saved that will never change.  However, if you are a Christian and you believe that you can live any kind of way because your are forgiven, then your very lifestyle is a snare and a trap to the unsaved.  There are too many of us in the church who are running around recklessly endangering the salvation of others by calling ourselves Christians and living like the world. 

If you are truly saved, and you understand your salvation, then that should produce in your a thankfulness, a gratefulness that causes you to love Jesus enough to seek his face.  If you understand that every lie, every piece of candy that you stole, every lustful thought you've had about someone who was not your spouse, carries with it a death sentence---then you will understand what God has done for you and it will cause you to be so joyous that you will get serious about working for the kingdom of God, for the glory of God.  Our zeal for God should drive us to understand Him more and better.

But it seems to me that we are woefully ignorant of our faith, of our church history, and of sound biblical doctrine.  If we don't know about our faith then how can we give a reason for the hope that is in us.  How can we be good ambassadors if we are ignorant about the country we represent, and are misguided concerning the King.  It is a shame that Muslims, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah's witnesses know the Bible as well or better than Christians.  It is like we get saved and give up.  We must not sit around on our assurance and do nothing.  Let Him who began a good work in us continue that work.  We must study the word, meditate on the word, and pray for wisdom and understanding. 

In the next few posts, I am going to examine the pillars of our faith, starting with the Gospel.  Until them, watch this brother give a defense of our faith to these two Mormons.  I must say, he could have been more loving, because we are supposed to combine the truth with love.  However, he made his point using the scripture and sound doctrine.  I wonder how many of us could have done the same, or would we have failed when confronted about our God.

  

Black American Idol: Our Black President Part 2

How do you know a tree?  By its fruit, right.  In this post we will examine Barack Obama's fruit.  We will look at the conviction that has been produced in Obama through the Holy Spirit, and what the Holy Spirit has revealed to Barack Obama as the truth. 

1 thought before the post- when I was in college we had what we called a yard.  On the 'yard' there were several decorated plots of land to represent the different fraternities and sororities.  It was marked as their territory.  No one but members could walk on that territory.  If those who were members discovered a non-member had walked on the plot there would be consequences for the that person because that person had disrespected the organization by impersonating a member. 

I would submit to you that so-called Christians are impersonating real Christians and walking in territory where they don't need to be and no one in Christianity is calling them out.  Obama said he was a Christian, but nothing he says or does sounds or looks like what Christians should be doing.  Let's examine the evidence. 

After watching these videos, can you vote for this man with a clear conscience? For me, Like I mentioned before, I am not saying here that Christians should vote for Romney. I'm saying Christians don't have a candidate in this election, thus we don't have a dog in this fight. I cannot vote because I don't think either man is for God. This year I think I will abstain from casting a ballot for President and pray about the results.

Black American Idol: Our Black President

This is going to be the post that gets me ostracized by my people.  So be it.  It is well with my soul.  This place is not my home.  My eternal brothers and sisters will understand.  The truth must be told. 

Barack Obama is an idol.  He campaigned on hope and change.  He got elected on hope and change.  Jesus is the real hope and change.  Obama is merely an idol, who did not, and cannot deliver on those promises of hope and change.  Jesus is the only one who can ever deliver true hope and true change.  Anything else is a poor substitute, an idol.

Black Christians knocking at my door.  I am glad to see them.  Then I realize they don't want to talk to me about Jesus.  They want me to vote for Obama.  Brothers and Sisters, I have been living in the same house now for 8 years.  I have never had one Black person knock on my door and tell me about the Jesus of the Bible.  I have had more than one Black person knock on my door and tell me about Obama.  Let's get this sorted out.  Christians must believe that Jesus is the most important thing.  He is the way to eternal life.  But they don't come to my door to tell me about Him.  They would rather use their time and energy telling me about Barack Obama.  To me that reeks of idol worship.  Tell me God is happy with us going around telling the neighborhood about Obama, but we wont open our mouths to talk about Christ! 

Our history in this nation has blinded many of us.  We don't trust white people.  We don't believe they have our best interests at heart.  They have shown us time and time again what they think of us.  So when a viable Black candidate arrived on the scene we got behind him.  We would have our Black president to announce to the nation and the rest of the world that we have arrived.  Unfortunately, if you ask the average Black voter why they support Barack Obama, they would be hard pressed to give you a substantive answer.  And if they gave you one, it'd probably be one of those facts that have not been checked well.  If you don't believe me---try it.  So our best reason for supporting him is the hue of his skin, or so it would seem.  Interesting that our people shed all that blood, sweat, and tears so that people would recognize us for more than our skin color; but we don't seem to be able to get past skin color ourselves.

So, instead of looking at Barack the brother, Barack the ball player, Barack the community organizer, Barack the dancer, Barack the orator, Barack the lover who married pretty Michelle, or Barack the father; I want to look at Barack the Christian man.  He called himself a Christian, let's examine the evidence.  You see brothers and sisters, I don't care about all of the public policy as much I care about how much further the next candidate will take this nation away from God. 

I have a 17 year old boy, and a 6 year old boy.  I love them dearly, and I pray that they are shielded from the ungodliness of this American culture as long as possible.  While I am here, I can steer them through this terrain.  But if I died tomorrow, would this ungodly place swallow them whole without them even knowing it?  My sons cannot walk through a mall without having to to look at pornographic images in the store windows.  They cannot turn on the radio without hearing the most blasphemous, ungodly things.  Let's not get started on TV.    As a Christian myself I must let my faith be my guide.  So how Barack Obama measures up to word of God will inform me of all I need to know.  I hope you will let it inform you as well.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm no Romney supporter either.  Mormon's are not Christians.  The Christ in the book of Mormon is not the Christ in the Bible.  So don't think I'm attempting to sway your vote in that direction.  What I would like is for every Black Christian to know who they are voting for before they cast that vote.  I've already decided not to vote at all this year.  I cannot, without reservations, support either man.  I wish there was someone else to vote for. 

In my next post, we will examine Barack, the Christian.

Now that I have your attention, please check back soon for the 2nd installment. 

Black American Idols- Does your popularity condemn you?

No, Brothers and Sisters, we are not going back to high school.  Perish the thought.  However, High School may be a great place to begin this post. 

I know high school.  I should. I went to 4 different schools between 9th and 12th grade.  If there was one thing that I understood, it was this---the overwhelming majority of people wanted to be popular.  We all wanted in some way to be accepted by the peers we attended class with everyday.  As such, we were all sheep when it came to our taste in clothing, music, and other people.  Unfortunately, things have not changed much since high school.  Why do you think Facebook has a 'friends' counter on it.  Because it tells us how popular we are.  I've even heard grown people lamenting the fact that someone had ceased to be thier friend on Facebook.  

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Let's examine this through a biblical lens.  First, the word church means 'called out.'  Those of us who make up the body of Christ are 'called out' of the culture to be set apart for God.  Peter says it this way:

1 Peter 2:9-10 - 9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light. NIV

If this is true, why do we as Black Christians seek the approval of the Black culture at large when we know the standards of the black culture are very different from those of God?  If we belong to God, why do we seek mans approval?  What are we doing getting our ideas from various media outlets that are spewing out unchristian ideas that sound good to the unsaved, but should be shunned by the Christian. 

Being popular means we must put aside Christ and embrace the world, because the word says the world will hate us like they hated Christ.

 John 15:19 If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

  So if we are popular with the world, then the world is seeing us and not Christ in us.  We are called to deny ourselves, and our selfish desires to be like the world so Christ can be glorified. 

 Matt 16:24-26 - "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and
take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose
it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. 26 What good will it be for a
man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul?

The danger is that our desire to be popular will cause us to sin.  It will lead us to do things so we can 'look' like the culture we so desperately want to be accepted by.  Your desire to be popular will cause you to compromise your relationship with Christ in favor of a union with this world.

But our Bible teaches this:

Eph 4:17-24 - 17 So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no
longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking. 18 They are
darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of God because of the
ignorance that is in them due to the hardening of their hearts. 19 Having lost all
sensitivity, they have given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every
kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. 20 You, however, did not come
to know Christ that way. 21 Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in
accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. 22 You were taught, with regard to
your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by
its deceitful desires; 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and
to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and
holiness. NIV

I will end with this thought.  More is not always better. If you have a plethora of worldly friends and worldly relationships, you may want to question your commitment to Christ.  If your friends have not turned on you because of Christ, then you may not be showing enough of Christ in your daily walk.  If the Bible is true, then people will hate you because of Him.  You will not be popular.  You will not be beloved.  You will walk the narrow road which does not allow many to walk with you.