Tag Archives: Christ

Sanity and Perspective

Posted on October 21, 2011 by Sherri Lackey

Occupy Wall Street is fraying my nerves. I’ve seen photos like the one below popping up on Facebook lately.

Ha.Ha.Ha. Whatever!

This is perhaps the most fitting joke for OWS. I read most of the Dune series; Frank Herbert was a brilliant writer. His world building was intriguing if not disturbing. So dark and disturbing that I couldn’t bring myself to finish the last book in the series.  In Dune, Emperor Leto II rules with an iron fist, not because he is a power mad tyrant, but because he wants to collapse the establishment. He wants to be assassinated and grooms his own assassin to do exactly that. What the Occupy Wall Street buffoons do not realize is that they too have been groomed for their task as well. They think they are so very enlightened when – to borrow a phrase from Pink Floyd – they are just another brick in the wall. Maddening!

On the other side of the “bizarre” spectrum my fraying nerves have been tweaked by my mother’s hero: Myles Monroe. I admit I had never heard of this fellow before last week. I wish I had never heard of him at all. But my elderly mother maintained that he is a brilliant theologian whose books are too deep for comprehension. With her ringing endorsements I had to find out who this fellow is. So I googled him.

He is just another Word/Faith quack, not a brilliant theologian with deep thoughts or words. Quack isn’t quite the right word for him, blasphemer is more like it. He has one of the most extreme Word/Faith views I’ve encountered so far. He says God has to get man’s permission to do anything on earth. His teaching focus is on “the kingdom” but it is not the biblical view of the kingdom of God. His view makes mankind the rulers of the kingdom and Jesus is just a conduit (he calls Him the door to acquiring this kingdom) to bring that kingdom about. He says you don’t worship “the door (Christ)” which I think is proof that Myles Monroe is a vile, false teacher. The apostle Paul if he were still living today would probably have a few choice words taken from the book of Galatians to say to Monroe, Galatians 1:8,9 comes to mind.

My frayed nerves were restored to order when I read the following article on the true, biblical Kingdom of God, and it restored perspective and offered refreshment to my soul –>The Kingdom of God (What it is and is not) by James M. Renihan

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I’m Worth It, Cuz I’m Human

Posted on September 16, 2011 by Sherri Lackey
A basic digital clock radio with analog tuning

Image via Wikipedia

I am not one of those people who can listen to a song without really listening to the lyrics. Such bliss it would be if I could be one of those people! But I’ve been this way since I was a teen so I guess I’m hopelessly stuck in this rut for life.

Lyrics can be beautiful and lyrics can be ugly, they can be uplifting and they can be irritating depending on who wrote them and what their intentions were. Sometimes the meaning is obscure and those can really drive me nuts at times. I think the completely obscure ones actually don’t bother me too much however. I can listen to them without concern because no one can figure out the meaning; such as the lyric which says, “I’m a scary gargoyle on a tower that you made with plastic power, your rhinestone eyes are like factories far away.” What does that mean? Nothing. So it doesn’t bother me like some lyrics do.

My all time biggest pet peeve is with Christian Pop Music. I try to avoid it as much as possible; but when you don’t like the sound of a ringing alarm clock and prefer a clock radio to awaken you each morning, well, what else can you do? Maybe I should just condition myself to listening to the buzz of an alarm instead.

Currently, my two least favorite Christian Pop songs are Someone Worth Dying For by Mike’s Chair and Human by Natalie Grant. What I dislike about these songs and virtually all Christian Pop songs is the glorification of man instead of Christ. Which brings to mind another, older pop song which illustrates this point so well: “You (God) make everything glorious. And I am yours. What does that make me?” – David Crowder Band

Now, I know that God will glorify his saints one day in Heaven, but still, here is a song that focuses mainly on God and His glory and then shifts ever so slightly, the focus is taken off God for a moment, and the singer seems to say, “Wait a minute! What does that make me? Oh glorious Me, Me, Me! I’m pretty Special! What’s that? Oh yeah, I was worshiping God and got distracted with myself. You’re glorious too, God! Let me try to re-focus on You.”

Enter the two newest songs to rise to the top of the Christian Pop charts. Someone Worth Dying For centers on mankind, telling the listener that Christ died for you because you are worth dying for, which means you aren’t THAT bad of a sinner, you are mostly GOOD and therefore worthy, and if you are worthy then God actually OWES you salvation. Glorious You, You, You! Except…the gospel of the Bible does not back up this human sentiment expressed in the song.

Speaking of human sentiment. Natalie Grant’s song Human is a human wonder in and of itself. It is simplistic, a gifted five year old could have written it, and yet it is a glorious anthem of Humanism.  God gets a small part, very small, as it mentions God’s children…once again the focus of the song is on man after all! The gist of the song is this and I quote: “I’m human. You’re human. We are human.” Do you see the simplicity of this lyric? The rest of the song encourages humanity to “do better than this“. Why is that, Natalie? “It’ll be what makes the difference. It’ll be what makes us human.” Oh, OK! But wait, Natalie! I thought God was the one who is supposed to make the difference through sending His Son to die on the cross offering undeserved mercy and grace to His children. It seems to me that the focus of the Bible is on God and His glory which He says He will not share with another. He seems to be the central character in the Bible and the central theme is about what He does, not about what we humans do. We kind of messed up long ago in the Garden of Eden and we’ve never been able to overcome that no matter how much we try to “do better than this“.

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Pink Post

Posted on November 12, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

My ladies Sunday school class just finished a study on Galatians and so I needed a new study to do. I have decided to return to Pink, A.W. Pink to be exact. I’m basing my new study on his book titled The Nature of God. I began a study based on this book years ago. The book is split into two parts. One part is on the Godhead and the second part focuses on Christ. I covered the first part years ago and so now I’m returning to the second part.

As I was working on my lesson one particular quote stood out to me yesterday. It says:

How slight and shadowy, how petty and puerile are those things from which the trials of men arise! They all grow from the one root of the overvaluation of temporal things. Money cannot purchase joy of soul. Health does not insure happiness. A beautiful home will not satisfy the heart. Earthly friends, no matter how loyal and loving, cannot speak peace to a sin-burdened conscience, nor impart eternal life. Envy, covetousness, discontent, receive their death wound when Christ, in all His loveliness, is revealed as the “chiefest among ten thousand” (Song of Songs 5:10).

Once again I am brought back around to what I look at as my life verse, or perhaps I should say my life prayer – Psalm 73:25. And so as I read the above quote and more in the opening chapters of part 2 in The Nature of God I once again prayed that my day might be filled with thoughts of Christ my Lord and Savior.

Is it possible though to have ones thoughts remain on Jesus without having to purge ones thoughts of self? I don’t think so. Our minds turn so readily onto that which is troubling us most. And so my day ended with my emotions leaving me feeling like I had a gaping wound laid open raw and ragged. And I wonder if this wound will ever close before I die, for man is “born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward” (Job 5:7). One trouble seems to be replaced by yet another and another never allowing the previous wound to heal before another injury occurs.

Yet my hope is still in God. And why is that? I can only say that I am being held by His hand and His strength alone sustains me. I can agree with the apostle Paul when he says:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed….For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward is renewed day by day. For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, …but the things which are not seen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:8,9, 16-18)

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A Narrow Gate

Posted on October 15, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

But the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it. – Matthew 7:14

At one point in my lifetime I thought there were so many Christians in the world. I no longer think that. The reason I thought there were so many was because of the many churches that graced the landscape, the many Christian television networks, the many Christian radio programs, the many Christian bookstores, the many Christian colleges and seminaries, etc.

As I’ve continued on my life’s journey I have seen many things that lead me to believe that there are not many who obey God but there are many who profess Him as Lord of their lives. Yet, Matthew chapter seven goes on to say:

7:21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ 24  will enter into the kingdom of heaven – only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven. 7:22 On that day, many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, didn’t we prophesy in your name, and in your name cast out demons and do  many powerful deeds?’ 7:23 Then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you. Go away from me, you lawbreakers!’

Merely professing to be a Christian does not make one a Christian. Likewise all that seems to be Christian based such as the aforementioned things like Christian television, Christian radio, Christian churches, Christian bookstores, etc. are not always what they appear to be at face value either.

Sometimes I wonder about the usefulness of some of these institutions. For example, I listen to a Christian radio station every morning. This particular week is the one week I dread each year. This is the week of the fundraiser which they playfully call a friendraiser.

I have listened to many Christian radio stations during my life. This particular station has not been a favorite, but since it is the only one our clock radio will pick up it is the one we listen to the most.

Every year as friendraiser starts I become uncomfortable. I do listen to this station for one hour a day. Should I send them a contribution? They consider themselves a valuable ministry and view themselves as spreading the light of the gospel every year as they continue to expand their transmissions to more and more areas.

Yet I get the feeling that they just don’t get it. I am not sure that the radio announcers truly understand the gospel. This morning the female announcer was giving her testimony over the airwaves. Her testimony was this: One night she came home to find out her older sister had listened to a preacher on the radio station and had prayed a prayer to receive Christ. Her mother asked her if she would like to do the same thing. She said that she had a sisterly rivalry with her sister and didn’t want her sister to have something that she didn’t have and so she too prayed to receive Christ. Does she realize that she is portraying her acceptance of Jesus as sibling rivalry, like children fighting over a toy?

This is why I don’t particularly enjoy listening to this radio station and it’s why I’ve never contributed to friendraiser. I feel like there are ministries that do give a clear and accurate portrayal of the gospel and if I contribute to any ministry I want to feel like my contribution is going to a reliable source.

Still, though the announcers seem to not understand much of the gospel and though some songs they play also reflect their shallow understanding, they do play some songs that have a true gospel message and broadcast some preachers who also clearly portray the gospel. God can still use this radio station to reach the souls He is calling to Himself.

My sincere desire however is to see more ministries rise up which have a message of true passion and hunger for God. This topic has filled my mind lately and it seems that I am not alone in this.

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Revive Us Again?

Posted on October 13, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

Come to church this week! We’re having a revival! There will be food, fun, gospel singers, and door prizes for all who attend! You don’t want to miss it! Please come and bring a friend! Please! Please, please, please come! Please?

The above is based on an assortment of messages I’ve seen off and on from someone on my Facebook friend list. He’s the pastor of a Southern Baptist church somewhere in the deep south. When his church is not having revival his pleas for church attendance usually start on Saturday night with him begging his congregants to please attend Sunday morning service because if they do they will be blessed. His pleas are usually backed up by his dutiful wife who chirps in, “I’ll be there, Honey!”

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not making fun of this man or his wife. I feel their pain; perhaps even more acutely than they feel it themselves. When my husband began in the ministry we were very much like this couple.

My husband had just graduated from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and the graduating class marched out to the tune of Martin Luther’s magnificent hymn “A Mighty Fortress is Our God”. We left Fort Worth, Texas ready to conquer our little sphere of the world for Christ using all the time-honored traditions of the Southern Baptist Denomination. Five painful years later we went through a church split.

But before that we had revival meeting after revival meeting just like any good Southern Baptist church would do. The only thing was that there was no real revival taking place. Revivals have simply turned into just one more dysfunctional church program within the Southern Baptist church structure.

I see things differently now with much more clarity of vision. I’m sure God is not finished wiping the soiled windows of my vision and I will see things even more clearly in days to come. But here is a little of what I do see now.

Revival cannot be planned by church committees. People cannot be revived with offers of food and material prizes, and good entertainment. The world around us offers those things in abundance already.

Christ never offered these sorts of things to His disciples. He offered them eternity with Him and suffering while they lived out their temporal existence on earth. And they responded to His call to suffering and eventual eternity in Heaven. They responded because He opened their eyes and they saw the truth and they embraced it and knew that food, material prizes, and entertainment could never give them the joy and rest that He alone would give them. They knew that all the suffering was worth knowing and being with Him for all eternity. He was their treasure.

So now I do pray for revival; revival that only He can bring. We can’t plan it, mark it down on our calendars and timetables. We can’t coax it out with flimsy temporal trinkets. Only Christ can wake His people up, shake us to our core, cleanse us from our stupid self-seeking pleasures. But I can pray for it and encourage others to pray for it. Together we must mortify our flesh and pray until we see Christ formed in His church. That is all we can do to bring revival in the Church. Christ will do the rest as we bow the knee in humble submission to His Excellency.

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Willing to be Hated

Posted on October 7, 2010 by Sherri Lackey

 Ten years ago God confronted me with Psalm 73:25 – “Whom do I have in heaven but you? I desire no one but you on earth.” I responded by praying that He would make this true in my life. I consider that phase one.

Now it seems like phase two is being implemented in my life with these verses in mind:

“If the world hates you, be aware that it hated me first.” John 15:18

“Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.” 1 John 3:13

“Bloodthirsty people hate someone with integrity; as for the upright, they seek his life.” Proverbs 29:10

“You will be hated by everyone because of my name.” Luke 21:17

I recently listened to Gianna Jessen in the video below and something she said made a deep impression on me. She said, “I’m hoping to be hated by the time that I die so that I can feel God about me, to understand what it was like to be hated…He was hated, Christ was hated.”

That is certainly not something you hear a Christian say everyday. She went on to say, “I’m already hated because I declare life.” Her statements were born of Truth. She is a frail human being but God has infused her with courage. Her story is inspiring. After listening to her story I began to feel the need to speak the truth more boldly than I have before and be willing to be hated for what I believe in.

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