What’s Rappin’ in Your Head?

I watched the X Factor this last season and saw a 15 year old teenager named Astro perform Rap songs that he wrote.  He had quite the talent to write and sing rap.  The sad thing was, most of the lyrics he sang were very explicit sexually worded or about becoming rich and famous.  When he spoke to the judges or audience, he would always mention that he wanted to become famous so he could make it with the girls.  I know teenage boys are focused on girls, but it seemed to be all he ever thought about.  It was that or the money and fame.  Even sadder than his mis-guided focus in life was the fact that his mother approved of his singing and wanted that famous rapper lifestyle for him.  I have listened to other rappers songs and watched a few of their videos to see what all the hype was about.  Almost everyone I have watched or listened to has been about violence, breaking the law, sex, money or fame.  There have been a few good or clean ones.  They are the minority.  Even worse than the lyrics or the visual demonstrations shown in the music videos is the fact that many of these rappers are living the lifestyle they sing about.  Several have even been arrested for their illegal actions.

The Rap Music World really demonstrates a good Biblical truth. What goes in comes out.  Read what Jesus said in Matthew 15: 17-19.

¹⁷ “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.

As Christians we really need to focus on what the lyrics of the songs say and watch what the videos are teaching us visually.  If the words and visuals demonstrate sex/porn, crime/violence, riches/fame/self-indulgence, or things against God, then we need to eliminate that music from our life.  Eventually that music will have an effect on your thinking and lifestyle choices.  Instead our music and music videos should be helping us to have correct and godly thinking.  The Apostle Paul provides us with excellent instructions in Philippians 4:8.

⁸ Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.

If you really love Rap music, then find some clean rap music.  Or write your own.  Just remember that you are a new creation in Christ and your life should reflect that.  We were born with enough sinful influence in our bodies without adding more sinful influences in to our mind through our music choices.  Memorize Philippians 4:8 and that will help you when you are taking in music, TV, movies or magazine articles.  The Holy Spirit will bring it in to remembrance when you start to stray away from good clean choices.  So what’s rappin’ in your head?

What’s Rappin’ in Your Head?

I watched the X Factor this last season and saw a 15 year old teenager named Astro perform Rap songs that he wrote.  He had quite the talent to write and sing rap.  The sad thing was, most of the lyrics he sang were very explicit sexually worded or about becoming rich and famous.  When he spoke to the judges or audience, he would always mention that he wanted to become famous so he could make it with the girls.  I know teenage boys are focused on girls, but it seemed to be all he ever thought about.  It was that or the money and fame.  Even sadder than his mis-guided focus in life was the fact that his mother approved of his singing and wanted that famous rapper lifestyle for him.  I have listened to other rappers songs and watched a few of their videos to see what all the hype was about.  Almost everyone I have watched or listened to has been about violence, breaking the law, sex, money or fame.  There have been a few good or clean ones.  They are the minority.  Even worse than the lyrics or the visual demonstrations shown in the music videos is the fact that many of these rappers are living the lifestyle they sing about.  Several have even been arrested for their illegal actions.

The Rap Music World really demonstrates a good Biblical truth. What goes in comes out.  Read what Jesus said in Matthew 15: 17-19.

¹⁷ “Don’t you realize that whatever goes into the mouth passes into the stomach and is eliminated? ¹⁸ But what comes out of the mouth comes from the heart, and this defiles a man. ¹⁹ For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.

As Christians we really need to focus on what the lyrics of the songs say and watch what the videos are teaching us visually.  If the words and visuals demonstrate sex/porn, crime/violence, riches/fame/self-indulgence, or things against God, then we need to eliminate that music from our life.  Eventually that music will have an effect on your thinking and lifestyle choices.  Instead our music and music videos should be helping us to have correct and godly thinking.  The Apostle Paul provides us with excellent instructions in Philippians 4:8.

⁸ Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things.

If you really love Rap music, then find some clean rap music.  Or write your own.  Just remember that you are a new creation in Christ and your life should reflect that.  We were born with enough sinful influence in our bodies without adding more sinful influences in to our mind through our music choices.  Memorize Philippians 4:8 and that will help you when you are taking in music, TV, movies or magazine articles.  The Holy Spirit will bring it in to remembrance when you start to stray away from good clean choices.  So what’s rappin’ in your head?

The Wisdom of Discipline

Raising up children can be a difficult thing.  I remember as a kid I said that I would never do some of the things my parents did.  Well, I did end up doing some of the things my parents did.  It isn’t until you have children of your own that you see why your parents did the things they do.  The Bible has a lot of great wisdom contained in it for bringing up your children.  The Holy Spirit can also help you raise your children.  Other Christian parents are also a great resource for wisdom on dealing with your children.  In other words, you are not alone.  Both of my children were very different.  We sometimes had to use different approaches when it came to disciplining them.  All children need disciplined at one time or another.  No child is perfect.  Some will test you until you have reached your last straw of control.  Even if you don’t have children yet, or just help baby sit others kids, some good planning and training ahead of time can be of benefit.  For example, knowing what the Bible says will be a good place to start.  Here are three great verses that teach us some wisdom about disciplining children:

Proverbs 13:24 - The one who will not use the rod hates his son, but the one who loves him disciplines him diligently.

Proverbs 19:18 - Discipline your son while there is hope; don’t be intent on killing him.

Proverbs 22:15 - Foolishness is tangled up in the heart of a youth; the rod of discipline will drive it away from him.

Some parents and some parts of society/culture think that children should be allowed lots of choices and freedom.  That they will naturally do what is good for them or learn from their mistakes.  The first thing parents or caretakers for children need to remember is that we are all born with a sinful nature and none of us are ever going to naturally do what is good for us and many of us don’t learn from our mistakes.  The Bible teaches us that if we love our children we will discipline them, just like God disciplines us.  It is out of love that we show them what is right and wrong.  We want to protect them and show them the safer and better way to go.  In the next scripture we see that if we let a child go their own way, we may get so stressed that we get to the point we just want to shake them and wake them up.  I know my teenagers sometimes pushed me to the limit.  Not that I would want to kill them literally.  This verse is really making more the point that when someone keeps going down the wrong path in life it is like you are the one helping them to harm themselves.  It’s like intending to kill them when you don’t help them or getting them going in the direction that is safe.  In the last verse we see the age old concept that young people are fearless and may make foolish decisions based on their lack of experience or wisdom.  Sometimes kind words of wisdom are not enough and they need to be warned much more strongly.  Yes, even the rod of discipline might be needed with some personalities.  For different children that rod may look very different.  It might be grounding, no TV or an actual rod, etc. 

People are afraid to discipline thinking that their child won’t love them, but in reality discipline will keep them safer and they will still love you.  Sometimes we were strong with our kids, but they always knew where we stood and in the end still loved us.  They can look back on things now and understand why we did the things we did.  So use the wisdom of discipline to improve your child’s life and future.

Go Where?

Can you imagine giving up everything you are familiar with?  Like family, friends, career, home.  Its kind of like joining the military.  They literally take you from your parents in most cases and put you in another state in a very barren set of barracks with nobody you know.  They deprive you of sleep and work you to death.  They assault your personality with abusive words.  The military do this in hopes of bringing out the true you and the best in you.  They try to weed out those who won’t be able to handle tough situations they might face as military men.  They try to take out your stubborn streaks and put in some obedience and military skills.  They have good reason for what they do.  It is just difficult to go through the process.  The disciples were not verbally abused by Jesus, but they did give up home, family and careers to follow Him.  They did spend three years in training.  They received instructions, life lessons, demonstrations and real life practice.  In Matthew 10:16 -20 we learn about what lay ahead for them if they continued to follow Jesus after their training ended:

16 “Look, I’m sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as serpents and as harmless as doves. 17 Because people will hand you over to sanhedrins and flog you in their synagogues, beware of them. 18 You will even be brought before governors and kings because of Me, to bear witness to them and to the nations. 19 But when they hand you over, don’t worry about how or what you should speak. For you will be given what to say at that hour, 20 because you are not speaking, but the Spirit of your Father is speaking through you.

Jesus tells them that things will not be comfortable, because He is sending them out on a dangerous mission.  This is much like what many of our military men face.  They end their training and they go out to do what they have been trained for.  Jesus wants them to understand that they are not going in to the midst of men like themselves, but rather out in to the midst of wolves.  They will be out in the middle of those who would harm them.  For the disciples and for us as followers of Christ, it is important to start with this piece of wisdom.  We are in the world and Jesus expects to go out in it.  To go to those who don’t know Him, even to those who are against Jesus and would harm us as a result.  With this piece of wisdom we will be wiser in how we proceed in the world.  We will watch our testimony knowing full well the wolf pack is waiting to pounce on us when we stumble.  We will be wiser in our choices of words and actions.  We will be wiser about who we befriend.  Remember you are a sheep and should act like one.  Remember you are a sheep and are therefore prey to the wolves.  Remember you have a shepherd who will take care of you.

 

 

In the Habit of Being Thirsty

When I am hot and thirsty, somehow over the years I have programmed myself to think that a nice glass of soda with ice will satisfy me.  My thirst will be quenched.  Unfortunately, the result isn’t always as good as I hoped.  The soda helps, but doesn’t really do the trick.  My habit of reaching for a soda is not really wise, when I am thirsty.  When I was young I should have trained myself to drink water, even if I didn’t prefer its taste in the beginning over soda.  Drinking water regularly may have been difficult, but it would have been better for me in the end.  My body would have been a whole lot healthier.

It is the same with our spiritual life.  Most humans have a tendency to reach for items that bring us pleasure.  We enjoy our hobbies and our friends, more than we enjoy spending time with God.  We enjoy a good adventure movie more than we enjoy reading our Bibles.  We enjoy our accomplishments in our careers more than our accomplishments in our work for the Lord.  In the end those choices will not be the best for us.  They are temporary pleasures that make us spiritually unhealthy.

David was running from King Saul and had ended up in the wilderness.  A place that was very dry and desolate.  While he was there he took the opportunity to pen Psalm 63.  His life was difficult and he had no clue how it would all end.  Yet, in this Psalm we see David’s wise heart.  He declared to us his habit of being thirsty for the Lord:

“1 God, You are my God; I eagerly seek You. I thirst for You; my body faints for You in a land that is dry, desolate, and without water. 2 So I gaze on You in the sanctuary to see Your strength and Your glory.”

What do you thirst for in this life?  Are you in the habit of wisely thirsting for the Lord?  Are you pleased by just seeing His strength and glory as you spend time looking at Him through His Word or His Spirit’s eyes?  You are in a dry, spiritually desolate place in this world.  This alone should cause you to thirst after the Lord.

Picking and Choosing

We do a lot of picking and choosing in life.  We might have a whole classroom of people we spend time with at school, but we pick and choose who will be our friends.  We may look at a whole pile of apples in the fruit section at the grocery store, but we pick and choose from them only a few to buy.  We thump our way through the melons.  We pick and choose off the marquee which movie we will watch.  The list goes on.  Picking and choosing is natural for humans.  We love choices.  When you talk to missionary kids who have grown up in other countries and then come back to the United States to go to college, you find out that they have a very difficult time, when going to a store to purchase even a simple item like Aspirin.  They say there are so many choices that they just stand there and stare and don’t know what to do.  They will even leave the store confused with no purchase in their hands.  However, our habits as people, especially Americans, of wanting choices and wanting to pick and choose all the time can go too far.  When it comes to God and His instructions, we are not allowed to pick and choose.  Read Deuteronomy 5: 32-33:

³² “Be careful to do as the LORD your God has commanded you; you are not to turn aside to the right or the left. ³³ Follow the whole instruction the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live, prosper, and have a long life in the land you will possess.”

God makes it very clear that we are not to turn to the right or left, but do as He has commanded. We are to follow the “whole” instruction of the Lord.  We are not to pick and choose which passages are applicable and which are just too “old school” to follow.  God is so good to us as to even give us a reason why we should follow the whole instruction of the Lord.  He tells us that we will live, prosper and have a long life.  In other words, God’s instruction might keep us from harm’s way, self-destructing sins, and there by help us to live and maybe live longer.  His instructions will help us to prosper spiritually.  God will bless us for our faithfulness.

So are you picking and choosing what you will obey in God’s Word?  Or do you take time to read the whole Bible and know what instructions God has in it for you?