Spread GOD's Blessings

Why I’m Not Protesting the Lady Gaga Concert

Wed, 23 May 2012 21:55:03 +0800

Some clarifications to start:

I’m not saying it’s wrong to protest her. I’m just relating why I’m not doing that.

I don’t think it’s a harmless concert either. I’m aware of much of the message of her music and life and I don’t think it’s eternally beneficial.

I am not talking about parents who don’t allow their children to watch it. God has given parents the authority to raise their children. As far as I’m concerned, if you eat their food, drink their water, use their internet, order their maids around, then they get to call the shots. If you don’t want that life, go live on your own and make your own rules. (Honestly, there are tons of less privileged people who would love that kind of life.)

I’m only talking about protesting the upcoming concert and why I’m not doing that.

How dare you not pander to my every whim! What gives you the right, aside from you clothe me, feed me, shelter me, and provide for my education?!

1. It’s after the fact.

I don’t buy this talk of Lady Gaga’s concert bringing a tide of filth and sin into our country. First of all, it’s not like the songs and their messages haven’t made it here already. So that’s not the concert alone. Secondly, our country is plenty sinful on its own without her concert. Is the concert really going to cause people to morph into rampant sinners?

Here’s a question: Is Lady Gaga’s popularity causing people to live a certain way? Or is she popular because people are already living a certain way? In other words, her music has an audience partially because it hits the core sinfulness of people who want to reject God and His Kingdom. (Some people just like the sound of repeating syllables.) A concert didn’t cause that, and stopping a concert won’t fix it. We need something else.

2. It’s inconsistent.

Does Lady Gaga’s music contain elements that do not honor God the way He must be honored? Yes. Definitely. But then again, what doesn’t? Why are we protesting this concert in particular?

Did we protest Katy Perry when she kissed a girl and liked it? Did we protest Beyonce with her music and movements? Were the Black Eyed Peas paragons of virtue? Why didn’t they draw this much flak?

For that matter, where were these protests when the Spice Girls came and sang Two Become One? (Or did we think that was within the confines of marriage? Heads up, the Backstreet Boys are coming in June to tell people to Get Down.) And what about Frank Sinatra who insists “I Did It My Way?” Are we gonna strike that off our list too?

We’re using a standard that’s different from God’s Word, the Bible, if we act inconsistently like this. It’s like there are “okay” sins and there are “protest-worthy” sins. Where do we draw the line?

Too often, we draw the line where it doesn’t exclude us. But anyone different from us, anyone who makes us uncomfortable, anyone who is “obviously a sinner,” those people have to be outside the line.

Where do we draw the line? And whose call is it?

People notice this double standard too. The mayor of Pasay said he’d allow the concert to continue, but he asked her to refrain from anything blasphemous or morally offensive. Someone commented on the internet asking what about all of the motels and prostitution that proliferate the area. And why stop at sex? What about corruption, laziness, etc.? That’s sin too, right?

How can we honestly condemn one act of sin while guilty of another ourselves? Once, when Jesus was preaching, people brought a sinful woman before him. Some religious people had tricked her and caught her in the act of adultery. Like any good lynch mob, this was lopsided from the beginning – the man was noticeably absent. Two people were in sin, the man was ignored, and they all condemned her.

Jesus, after writing in the dirt said, “Let him who has no sin cast the first stone.” In other words, let the ones who have not made any sin at all, be the first to condemn. In doing this, Jesus was not saying what she did was okay. He did correct her later on.

But He was also pointing out that sin is sin, no matter what sin it is. We must be careful what judgment you insist on others, because we bring the axe down on our own necks as well. None of us are sinless, so none of us can condemn each other. After he said this, he started writing on the dirt again, as each of the accusers dropped their case and walked away. He extended his hand to her, said He didn’t condemn her, and told her to sin no more. (You can’t miss that last part.)

no different from you and me

The story shows that while none of the people could condemn her, there is one sinless person though. And that person WILL judge. And that’s Jesus Himself. The Bible says, He will return to judge every action, word, thought, and motive. At the end of our lives, we all will stand before Him and give an account. Lady Gaga will. So will the Pope. So will you. And we would all fail.

But because He loves us, Jesus died the punishment we should have died. He took away the rottenness of all our sin – the sin in Lady Gaga’s music and the sin in your heart when you couldn’t forgive someone – all of it, when He died on the Cross for us. And to those who believe Him, He gives new life. And that’s the only dividing line between who’s in and who’s out. And anyone who believes will be in. Even Lady Gaga.

So here’s what we can do instead – we can make disciples. We can tell people about Jesus, so that they’ll believe. Then we teach them to follow Him so that they’ll do the same. Incidentally, that’s the very thing Jesus told us to keep busy with. (Matthew 28:18-20)

In the words of my friend, Ryan, when asked about what he was doing about the upcoming Lady Gaga concert, “I’m gonna do what we’ve always been doing. Make disciples.”

from:Pastor Joseph

I wanted to remind you that you are worth dying for and that the Maker of the Universe looks upon you with such love that He is often left speechless at your beauty. How does it feel to sit back and realize that you were carefully, intricately, purposely, woven together by the One who put the stars in the sky?

Sat, 07 Jan 2012 10:22:09 +0800

Yeng Constantino (testimony) - nation transformer

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Yeng Constantino (testimony) - nation transformer

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xoxcherrybaby: Satan doesn’t fear your sin; he knows God can forgive it. He doesn’t fear your...

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xoxcherrybaby:

Satan doesn’t fear your sin; he knows God can forgive it. He doesn’t fear your depression; he knows God can drive it away. He doesn’t fear your luck; he knows God can provide. He fears your discovery of God’s Word, because your ignorance of it is the most effective weapon he can use against you.

Never Alone!

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Never Alone!

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spiritualinspiration: Bible Verses For Stress: 20 Helpful...

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:57:20 +0800

spiritualinspiration:

Bible Verses For Stress: 20 Helpful Scriptures

Stress: you know the feeling; everything is coming undone. You feel as though your whole world is crumbling before your eyes. Your “inward parts are in turmoil and never still”, just like Job (Job 30:27). You may call it affliction, anxiety or tension. You are possibly physically ill with that stress headache again. You would give anything for this stress to be replaced with comfort, happiness and peace.

Good news! The Bible has many helpful scriptures for dealing with stress. Here are just twenty that I hope will encourage you, even on your worse day.

Rest, Peace and Healing

Isaiah 40:30,31 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

Malachi 4:2 But for you who fear my name, the sun of righteousness shall rise with healing in its wings. You shall go out leaping like calves from the stall.

John 14:27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.

Romans 8:6 For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.

Romans 16:20 The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you.

Philippians 4:6,7 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

1 Peter 5:6,7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.

Trust the Lord to Ease the Way

Psalms 37:5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

Psalms 55:22 Cast your burden on the LORD, and he will sustain you; he will never permit the righteous to be moved.

Psalms 103:1-5 Bless the LORD, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name! Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, who forgives all your iniquity, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

Proverbs 16:3 Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.

Jeremiah 17:7,8 “Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, whose trust is the LORD. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Romans 12:2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

James 1:2-4 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.

Give Me Jesus; His Strength is All I Need

Isaiah 55:1-3 “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.

Habakkuk 3:17-19 Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the LORD; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. GOD, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.

Matthew 11:28-30 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Luke 10:41-42 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”

John 12:32 (KJV) And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me. (Jesus words)

1 Corinthians 3:11 For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

spiritualinspiration: www.getoutthebox.org www.facebook.com/naee...

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spiritualinspiration:

www.getoutthebox.org

www.facebook.com/naeemcallaway

spiritualinspiration: www.getoutthebox.org

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spiritualinspiration:

www.getoutthebox.org

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"Don’t dwell on the past. Your history can’t be erased, but your future has yet to be written. Make..."

Wed, 18 May 2011 20:57:47 +0800

“Don’t dwell on the past. Your history can’t be erased, but your future has yet to be written. Make the most of what’s going to happen instead of worrying about what you can’t change. Don’t waste your time being sad, because you’re wasting away moments in which you could be happy. Always remember that.”

- (via runawaytrain)

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a light for revelation: He will Direct; we must walk

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a light for revelation: He will Direct; we must walk:

alightforrevelation:

The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way
-Psalm 37:23

He who walks does not need to think of directing his own steps, for there is One who will direct them for him. The choice is too difficult for you; do not choose your own way, but leave it to Him who sees…

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