Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Sacrifice

God's love, amazing. Incomprehensible. As a parent, I have a level of understanding, and disbelief that I could ever have done that.
But what would I do for humanity? Or better yet, what will I do? Will I sacrifice that they may know? Will I sacrifice for their good?
Sacrifice. There's a word that I scarce believe most understand. I feel like it's a sacrifice to fast through one day. Or to give a $100 to a missionary. To get up early and pray.
Sacrifice, is what I long for. That should be my song, I'd venture to say that those who've learned true sacrifice are a long way towards holiness.

Monday, October 5, 2009

Holiness

I think of how many times I have sung the song "Holiness" with groups of people who claim Jesus as Lord. The lyrics are:
Holiness, holiness is what I long for. Holiness is what I need. Holiness, holiness is what You want from me. Holiness, holiness is what I long for. Holiness is what I need. Holiness, holiness is what You want from me. So, take my heart and form it. Take my mind and transform it. Take my will and conform it. To Yours, to Yours, oh, Lord. Faithfulness, faithfulness is what I long for. Faithfulness is what I need. Faithfulness, faithfulness is what. You want from me. Brokenness, brokenness is what I long for. Brokenness is what I need. Brokenness, brokenness is what You want from me.
Then I think of our collective pursuit, or lack thereof, of holiness.
Recently, I've noticed the huge movement in the church to be kindred spirits with the world in our pursuit of entertainment, specifically television, more specifically the TV show The Office.
I have watched The Office until I started noticing the fac that it's humor is typically based on sexual content.
So I watched again, paper and pen in hand. I counted the sexual references that go against God's Word. I was astounded, 37 references in 30 minutes!

Holiness, is what I long for? I don't think that's the case.

Paul told the Corinthian church this:
You say, “I am allowed to do anything”—but not everything is good for you. And even though “I am allowed to do anything,” I must not become a slave to anything. You say, “Food was made for the stomach, and the stomach for food.” (This is true, though someday God will do away with both of them.) But you can’t say that our bodies were made for sexual immorality. They were made for the Lord, and the Lord cares about our bodies. And God will raise us from the dead by his power, just as he raised our Lord from the dead.
Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts of Christ? Should a man take his body, which is part of Christ, and join it to a prostitute? Never! And don’t you realize that if a man joins himself to a prostitute, he becomes one body with her? For the Scriptures say, “The two are united into one.” But the person who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with him.
Run from sexual sin! No other sin so clearly affects the body as this one does. For sexual immorality is a sin against your own body. Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.


I'm pretty sure that my mind is part of my body and it's my ascertainment that joining my mind with 30 minutes of The Office isn't far from joining with a prostitue, if seperated at all.