Tower of the Lord

In this post I would like to take a look at some of today’s Christian artists and how they are leading by a bad example. I would also like to paint for you a picture of what a true leader looks like. When you get on stage you become a leader, no-matter what you are doing or why you are doing it you are put in a position of leadership when you step up and be the one who goes first. When you are a leader everything you do comes under scrutiny, how you dress, what you say, and how you act. People will follow your example and do the things you do because they see you as an example to be followed. So Christian musicians (or any musicians for that matter) are leaders and examples.

What is a leader? What is an example? Well according to the 1828 Webster’s a leader is “One who goes first” and an example is “A person fit to be proposed for a pattern; one whose conduct is worthy of imitation” Now that we know what a leader is I would like to give you a picture of what a leader looks like (not just how they dress but how they act and what they are like on the inside).

A leader is someone who will give all they have to give to fulfill two goals, 1) To complete the tasks given to them by those in authority over them, even unto death. 2) They will give everything they have to those who they lead in-order that they might prosper and grow, this reminds me of a quote from the Lord of the Rings movies, “I give hope to Men. I keep none for myself” this is a great quote and is a great example of what a leader thinks and does.

Now I would like to paint for you a picture of a true leader. The name of this leader is Jesus. He was, is and always will be the best and greatest leader ever. He exemplified all of the requirements of good leadership and He also showed a passion and submission uncommon in most leaders today. I will not cover all of what I believe a true leader should be, I will just cover a few things that relate to this post.

Jesus was humble
When you look at most of today’s leaders you see proud and self-righteous men who think that they are the ultimate authority. These men despite having others in authority over them think that they are in-charge and balk at submitting to higher authority. Unlike these worldly leaders Jesus was humble and knew how to submit, His humility was not just on the outside either. When Jesus and the disciples were eating the last supper Jesus humbled Himself and washed the feet of the disciples, He told them that whoever desired to become great should become the servant of all. (Matthew 20:26-28) Jesus knew that true leadership was proven when you submitted to higher authority and said “Father not my will but yours be done” (Matthew 26:39b & 42b)

Jesus Knew the Power of Words
Numerous times throughout His ministry Jesus would speak and a thing would happen, He knew that words are powerful. In-fact He was the “Word become flesh” (John 1:14a). He knew the power of words for it was by His words that the world was made. In Luke 7:1-10 the story is told of the faith of the Centurion, the Centurion told his friends to tell Jesus “Say the word, and my servant will be healed. For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one ‘Go’ and he goes; and that one ‘Come’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this’ and he does it.” (Luke 7:7b-8)

Jesus Cared for Those Under His Authority
In Luke 15 Jesus tells the parable of the lost sheep and explains how He is the good shepherd. Jesus cares for those who He leads and will give all that He can give to see us safe. He even gave His life for us that we might be saved. That is what a leader does for his followers he seeks their safety and comfort before his own. John 10:11 “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” Jesus cared for the well-being and the hearts of those He led.

So we have these two definitions and we have a picture of what a leader should look like. Now the question is ‘Do today’s Christian musicians fulfill these requirements?’

I believe that the answer is sadly no in most cases. Most of today’s musicians are not following the example portrayed by the best leader in history Jesus Christ. They are not acting in a way that shows them to have a pure heart, nor are they dressing in a modest and pure way. They are portraying a life of rebellion and impurity despite the fact that they claim to be pure. Now I am not claiming to be any more pure or any better then they are, I don’t claim to have all my stuff together. However, I am not in a position of leadership like they are. I am not an example to thousands of young adults and children of what a Christian should be. They are.

I would like you to take a look at these Music videos and think about weather or not they are portraying Christ-like behavior and Purity in their dress and actions.

Barlowgirl: Never Alone Music Video

Jeremy Camp “Take You Back” Music video

Now before you jump down my throat or discredit what I have to say let me make this clear “I am not saying that they are not Christian”. I personally have been blessed and encourage by much of the music done by these two artists. While I don’t like everything done by either of these artists (some of it is too rocky for me) I do like some if not most of their music and have found it very encouraging. What I am saying is that they are setting a bad example in the way they are dressing and the way they are acting.

My Thoughts on BarlowGirl’s Video
I like the song that they are doing, it is a great song talking about how we are never alone even when we feel like no one is there. Christ is there and He will always be with us. What I don’t like is the way that they are dressing and acting. Their clothing is less than modest (by my standards, and i believe by Biblical standards) and slightly rebellious in character. They are dressing in a sloppy and careless fashion as if the way that they look is not worth the effort to keep clean. They are dressing God’s Temple in raggedy and slightly gothic clothing and are not portraying a picture of Christ’s beautiful bride. This is especially true once they begin playing their instruments, they don’t strike me as very worshipful but more attention grabbing which is not modest. Again, I want to say I have been blessed by their music and enjoy listening to it but this video is disturbing especially since they claim to be taking a stand for modesty and this video is not modest.

My Thoughts on Jeremy Camp’s Video
Disturbing. I like this song and have heard it many times, it has a good theme but in the video Jeremy Camp is very gross looking. (at least I think so) He has earrings, which I have a big problem with when it comes to guys, earrings are for girls and when a guy wears them it symbolizes three things. 1) Rebellion. It shows that they are rebelling against God’s designs for male and female by dressing like a girl (the same applies to his shirt it is tight like a girl’s, and just as immodest as a tight shirt on a girl). 2) Conformity. It shows me that he is conforming to the ways of this world in his thoughts and beliefs, he is accepting the world’s lie that male and female are the same and so he can dress like a girl. 3) Immodesty. Earrings in a guy show me that he does not understand true modesty and what it means, he does not under stand that modesty is about being humble and turning all the attention to God and drawing none to ourselves. Now just because this is what earrings mean to me does not mean that I think that Jeremy Camp is necessarily any of these things, but I do think that by wearing earrings he is telling other people that it is okay because he is a leader and he is doing it. As I have said I have been bless by lots of Jeremy Camp’s music and enjoy listening to his work. He is very talented and I know that he has blessed lots of people through his music. However, I think that he should be more careful as to how he dresses and how he acts.

Now to conclude I would like to say that I am not picking on these artists nor do I think that they are alone in their failed leadership. I am using them as examples only because I ran across these videos and was struck at how conformed they are. I know that these videos do not necessarily represent who they really are and what they really stand for. I know that in order to accurately evaluate their actions I need to see more and know more about them. What I have said in this post is not my final opinions about them rather it is only what I got out of watching this video. And since this is what I got from these videos I think that they should be more careful as to how they act and dress when doing these videos because that may be all that someone sees of them and they should desire for people to see Christ in them. I hope that what I have written has affected how you see musicians and challenged you to strive for excellence in all that you do.

Doing it All4Him
Joshua

Today while I was on TheRebelution I came accross this comment.

Hey guys,
This isn’t related to this post, but it is VERY IMPORTANT! There is an urgent situation in the entertainment industry right now that needs to be talked about, prayed for, and acted upon.

You can read about it at my blog. This is the article.

I really would be obliged if you would create a short post linking to the article, or writing about the topic yourself. You have such a large readership and blogroll that I am not able to reach even close to all the people. I hope you will help. This is not about sponsoring my blog or popularizing it: it’s about a young girl (actress Dakota Fanning) who needs protection and prayers from those responsible to do so, and this is about standing up for what’s right.

Thanks,
Kingdom Advancer

I followed the link and was absolutly amazed. Please take the time and read what he has to say and start praying. Once you have prayed please tell others about this we need to get some serrious prayer going if we want this to stop. Here is the link to the article again: Wrong In So Many Ways

God Bless and start praying.

Since being launched last Tuesday, The Modesty Survey has captured over 70,000 answers from around 730 Christians guys, ages 12-50+. Roughly half (55.5%) the respondents have been teenagers (ages 13-19), 32.6% fall between the ages of 20-29, and 10.7% are 30 years old or older.

Most importantly, over 95% of current respondents (1) notice whether a girl dresses modestly or not, (2) agree (or strongly agree) that modesty is important for all girls, regardless of height, weight or build, and (3) say that modesty is an important quality for their future wives to have.

The survey will remain open until 1,000 Christian guys have completed it. At the current rate we should reach that number by next Tuesday, but we’ll need your help. Below are a few ways you can help speed up the release of the final results.

ACTION STEPS for WEEK TWO

GUYS: If you haven’t done so yet, sign-up for the survey and encourage your godly friends to take it too. If you’ve already started the survey, finish the survey. Don’t procrastinate or it may close before you share your opinion on important issues.

GIRLS: Keep recruiting more godly Christian guys to take the survey. If you’ve run out of guys to tell, make sure the guys you’ve already told have completed the survey. The sooner 1,000 guys have completed the entire survey, the sooner the results will be released.

Take It (GUYS) / See It (GIRLS)

Note: This Post is borrowed from TheRebelution.com

Add yourself to the Blog4Him/Jdr4Him visitor map!

With the coming of the new year people make lots of resolutions. Some resolve to lose weight and work out, others resolve to spend less money and eat healthy food. But whatever the resolution few continue in their resolve for long, in a few months they are back to their normal routines of eating, spending and not working out. Some might say that resolutions are pointless and others are afraid to resolve, so the question is, Do You have the Courage to Resolve?

When I talk about having the courage to resolve I am not talking about resolving to lose weight or work out, I am talking about resolving to be pure, resolving to give your all to Christ and further His Kingdom. It is not that losing weight is bad, actually it is desirable in 1 Corinthians Paul talks about how our bodies are holy and how we should take good care of them (1 Cor. 3:16 & 17). What I am saying is this, we should put the spiritual things before the carnal and the resolutions of the spirt before those of the body. Matthew 6:33 “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” if we worry first about what Christ wants for out spirits then the physical things (health, finances, etc.) will fall into place.

I would like to issue a Challenge, I challenge you to make a resolution not a resolution of the flesh but one of the spirit. I challenge you to strive for purity, and commit yourself to the furtherance of the Kingdom of Heaven. In a letter to his mother John Wesley asked for a list of sins he should avoid his mother replied with this “Whatever weakens your reason, whatever impairs the tenderness of your conscience, whatever obscures your sense of God, whatever increases the authority of your body over your mind, whatever takes away from your relish for spiritual things, that to you is sin, no matter how innocent it is in itself.” Think about that, that covers a lot of things. My challenge is this avoid those things, avoid the things that increase the influence and control of your flesh over your spirit, and take away your desire for God. I am not saying take it on all at once, start with the small things and go from there. Ask God for guidance and strength, ask for the wisdom and knowledge to stand strong and take out those strong holds one at a time.

The stakes are high and the risk is great, once taken this commitment will lead to death, death not of your spirit but of your flesh. This is not a resolution for the faint at heart, it will require Courage and Resolution beyond the physical. It will require supernatural strength from God and a ernest desire to give your all to Him. As an example I would like to use the story of Daniel and his friends when they were training to become wise men. The king of Babylonia told Ashpenaz, chief of his court officials, to bring in some of the Israelites from the royal family and the nobility- young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning [Daniel 1:3b-4a NIV]. Among these were some from Judah: Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. The king assigned them a daily amount of food and wine from the king’s table. But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, instead he asked “Please test your servants for ten days: Give us nothing but vegetables to eat and water to drink.” At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food. Now you May be thinking “you said you were talking about spiritual resolutions, but Daniel resolved to go on a diet.” and you are partially right, I am talking about a resolution of the spirit, Daniel and his friends resolved to honor the Lord by refraining from eating the food of the king and instead devote themselves to God and seek first His wisdom and knowledge before the things of the flesh. What they were doing is fasting, not the kind of fasting where you eat no food but the kind where you stay away from things that your flesh desires and spending your time praying. You see the story does not end with them eating veggies for ten days, they continued this for three Years, however their fast was not in vain. Because “To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning.” [Daniel 1:17a NIV] You see Daniel and his friends resolved to please God before men and before the flesh and they were greatly rewarded. They were set aside to learn language and literature of the Babylonians and God rewarded their Resolution by giving them more than they asked for. It took great courage to eat only veggies and water when everyone around them was eating steak and drinking wine, I would guess that they were made fun of, laughed at and scorned because of their resolution. Most likely they suffered from a great desire for the things of the flesh but they had resolved to do something and by strength given to them by God they had The Courage to Resolve.

Today I was visiting a website to read an article on Fasting that my Pastor told me about. (by the way it is a great article) While I was there I found two great articles on Modesty, one was written by a guy the other by a pastor’s wife. I thought that with the Modesty Survey well underway it might be benificial to have some resources on modesty for us guys to use when answering the questions and also to help the girls understand a little more about what modesty really is. Most people (girls and guys, young and old) don’t understand that Modesty is not about how you dress but about the attitude and motive of your heart and it applies to guys as well as to girls. Anyway here are the articles, if anyone else knows of any great articles on this subject I would love it if you would post them here (as a link).

Modesty Matters
By Pam Hardy

And
Should Christian Women Dress In A Sexually Provocative Manner?
By Robin Brace

Both of these articles are available on inplainsite.org (hyper-linked above) they also have a great article about Biblical fasting which is the reason I visited the site, I had never heard of them before, but now I have.

I hope you find these articles helpful and beneficial.

Note: both of these article are the property of their respective writers.

Sadly in my switch to WordPress my old blog article will not transfer. So I have uploaded my old blog site to this one (link in side-bar) I hope to add all of my old posts one by one to this blog but it will take some time cause I have to reformat each one and redo the pictures.

Update:

I have Fixed the problem and my old blog is now uploaded, it is even categorized and dated with the original dates.

I have made the switch!

I have been using the blogging program that is built into my web-building program, but as great as it is for making websites it is no good at blogs. So I have made the switch to WordPress. Most everyone I have heard says it is great and from what I have seen (during setup and finding some plugins and themes) it is everything I have heard and maybe some more.

What this means to you. Less problems with feeds, different layout, new deisgn, and hopefully more blogging soon.

Stay tuned for a post that I am writing for the Peculiar News, it should be on the blog early next week.

The Modesty Survey Is Launched

Take It (GUYS) / See It (GIRLS)

Note: This Post is borrowed from TheRebelution.com