Christocentric

Michael Jackson donning a black veil in Bahrain

Many are asking about Michael Jackson’s family, how are his kids, what about his assets, his debts and even interest in his will but how many of us are wondering where is he with God?  Of course that final answer belongs to God Almighty Himself, but it doesn’t stop us from wondering.

Michael gave many mixed messages about what he believed.  From being raised a Jehovah’s Witness to being persuaded by brother Jermaine to become a Muslim.  But I’m reading some unconfirmed reports that he talked with close friend and gospel music great Andrae Crouch recently and accepted Jesus Christ as Lord.

Michael converts to Islam

The last thing that the public has heard of Michael’s religious interest is his acceptance of Islam back in November of 2008.  According to articles, he was influenced by his brother Jermaine to try out Islam.  Jermaine converted to Islam in 1989 and is now known as Muhammad Abdul-Aziz.  Michael converted and became Mikaeel.

The website Haaretz.com says the following of the Islamic conversion of Michael: 

“The 50-year-old pop star, who changed his name to Mikaeel, pledged allegiance to the Koran at a friend’s house in Los Angeles. An Imam was summoned from a nearby mosque to hold the shahada, the declaration of belief in Allah and Mohammed’s prophecy.”

A video of the same news story:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gke3FhPuOVI]

That news was devastating to me as a believer in Christ and still a pretty huge fan of Michael’s.  I wanted to see him on the right road and that can only come through knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior!

Michael meets with Christian Pastors Andrae and Sandra Crouch shortly before his death

But can it be that Michael IS born-again? It was reported in the WorldNetDaily.com of a possibility of him becoming saved after a meeting with twins Andrae and Sandra Crouch.  According to a spokesman of the Crouches:

“Andrae and Sandra did in fact visit with Michael Jackson two times, once at the recording studio, and once at his home in the last two months, as recently as three weeks ago, asking for prayer concerning the anointing of the Holy Spirit, and how he could make his music more ‘spiritual.’ So Andrae and Sandra explained to him about the anointing and about Jesus. He wanted to know what makes your hands go up, and makes you ‘come out of yourself,’ and what gives a ‘spirituality’ to the music? He then requested to hear his favorite song that he loves and wanted the(m) to sing to him, so they … joined hands and sang together, and he said, ‘It was beautiful.’ He first heard it in New York and loved it and wanted it on tape. He had the engineer tape the song sang to him by Andrae and Sandra. He definitely had an encounter with them.”

Michael looking to spiritualize his music doesn’t necessarily make him born-again.  My own hopes of him being eternally safe shrank as I continued reading about his moment with the Crouches.

The spokesman goes on to say in the article that although Michael didn’t reject Jesus Christ, he didn’t acknowledge Christ as Lord either. Sandra also says the following about those reporting that Michael did accept Christ through them:

“Not sure where that came from,” said Sandra Crouch on her Facebook page. “We loved and respected Michael and will continue to pray for his family. All the extra is not from us.”

Michael Jackson’s judgment left to God

So back to my original state of again wondering about Michael’s salvation. Nothing is a done deal as he has never publicly professed a belief in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

I’m sure when what will be one of the largest funerals ever in American history for Michael begins, many and myself included will once again wonder where will Michael be on that glorious day of Christ’s return!  Hoping for the best . . .but one day we’ll all know.

The Great White Throne Judgment

Then I saw a great white throne and Him who sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away. And there was found no place for them. ¹² And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books. ¹³ The sea gave up the dead who were in it, and Death and Hades delivered up the dead who were in them. And they were judged, each one according to his works. ¹⁴ Then Death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. ¹⁵ And anyone not found written in the Book of Life was cast into the lake of fire. – Revelations 20:11-15

They’re Jewish, believers in Christ and blood brothers.  These brothers are part of a growing group of Jewish believers called Messianic Jews because of their belief in Jesus Christ, “Yeshua” as their Messiah.  No, they don’t stop becoming Jews because of this belief, but their Jewishness has now been made complete with the acceptance of their Messiah, Jesus Christ!

These brothers, Michael and Tony Wray, fall under one of my favorite labels, Lamp Mode. This is the same label that brings to us the theological lyrical rapper Shai Linne, who is featured quite often on my blog.  This label is among a few that are featuring a movement of rappers called the “Reformed Rappers” because of their deeply theological lyrics.

Hazakim is part of this great movement.  With their Jewish ancestry, these two brothers are combining Hip-Hop with the Messianic message to bring many to salvation through Jesus Christ! Here’s a description of this dynamic duo directly from Lampmode.com:

“Founded in 1997, Hazakim (Hebrew for “strong ones”) consists of emcees/producers, Michael and Anthony, who also happen to be blood brothers. Due to an upbringing in the Messianic Jewish movement, as well as multicultural roots which include Jewish ancestry, their sound possesses a trademark Hebrew influence which sets them apart from other hip-hop artists. By applying as their motto the charge of Rav Sha’ul (Paul) in II Timothy 4:2, “preach the Word, be urgent in season and out of season; convince, rebuke, and exhort – be unfailing in patience and in teaching” . . .  (see complete description here on Lampmode.com)

Hazakim has a new album called Theophanies, which was released on June 23rd.  Take some time to listen to their sample video below of what you will find on this Hip-Hologetically* delicious album and BUY it!  (see their MySpace page below)

*(Hazakim explains Hip-Hololgetic = Hip-Hop plus Apologetics) 

Listen to more of Hazakim on MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/hazakimcamp

. . . but after this the judgment  Hebrews 9:27.

R.I.P.  Michael Jackson

R.I.P.  Farrah Fawcett

The San Diego City Council joined Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, Palm Springs, Chicago and New York City in voting to approve a resolution in support of HR 1283, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act which would allow gays to openly serve in the armed forces without fear of discrimination.

As a San Diegan, I am furious that the city council can speak on behalf of the citizens of San Diego, when the citizens have already shown they are against homosexual marriage.  Approximately 78% of veterans voted for Proposition 8 and 58% of Southern Californians voted for it as well!  With that many people against gay marriage, you would think the city council would want to get the people of San Diego behind this endorsement.

But no. Not when the mayor of San Diego, Mayor Sanders, who’s public announcement of his daughter being a lesbian led him to change his stance from against gay marriage to against Prop 8.  The city council voted unanimously, 7 to 0 to back the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.” Speaking for the council members was Councilman Todd Garcia, who is gay, when he said the following:

“I see supporting the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ to be completely in sync with that long tradition of San Diegans standing up for our military and their families,” he said.

Can anyone be more delusional? Speaking on the long tradition of San Diegans? What made him think that the military families are behind him?

James Hartline, an ex-gay Christian activist was the only speaker in support of keeping “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in place. He described the repeal as unethical and said:

“”We have heard from hundreds of citizens, not only in San Diego but throughout America, who are outraged that this City Council is seeking to legitimize sexual immorality in our armed forces,”

That’s exactly what was so bothersome about these speakers in the city council who kept speaking of it being so “morally right” to treat homosexuals as equals. Where do they get their “morality” from? The military expects the highest form of moral character and to allow homosexuality as “normal moral uprightness” is an affront to any human being that truly knows what “moral” means.

Homosexuality is immoral and I agree that as long as their sexual orientation isn’t broadcasted, gays should be allowed but homosexual conduct is grounds for a military discharge. By calling onesself gay, they are already admitting to being an immoral person so why should any employer hire a person of unethical character? I wouldn’t hire anyone who tells me during an interview that they are gay, sexually loose, adulterers and etc.  I see no difference for the military.

Why the cities find the need to spend taxpayer time and money to hold a meeting to endorse a federal issue is beyond me.  Maybe someone can fill me in on that!

Articles

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/jun/23/bn23repeal-dont-ask/

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2009/06/san-diego-council-votes-to-support-repealing-dont-ask-dont-tell.html

(more coming later with videos)

The title may offend some of you while others may think this will be all about negativity towards single parents.  But no, the reason I’m writing this post is to share the pros and cons of raising children alone and to encourage single parents everywhere not to give up and for others to always seek what’s best for children – a mother AND father in HEALTHY marriages!

My Story: Marriage – Divorce – Single-parent

I did the “right” thing by getting married first and what followed during the next 11 years was the birth of five children, three boys and two girls.  My husband at the time was a proud papa – being present at every birth – well, except the first one when the baby was born 20 minutes after our arrival and papa was still putting on his scrub gown when the announcement was made to him, “congratulations! You have a bouncing baby boy!”

I loved being a new mother and nurturing those cute little babies.  They were as the bible says about children – “gifts from God!”(Psalm 127:3) I was so thankful especially knowing that I had the possibility of not having them after being diagnosed with endometriosis and my husband being told he had low sperm count. So much for medical diagnoses!

But by the time the youngest was two years old, the marriage was over and I took shelter with my parents who welcomed me and all five children into their four bedroom home.  At least I had the help of grandma and grandpa who help provide food, shelter, babysitting while I attended school and offered me much moral support!  But something was still missing, and the children reminded me of it day and night.

“Where’s Daddy? When is he coming to visit us? Why doesn’t he come to my school?” It was heart-breaking with the children missing their father immensely while I was missing being married.  The kids not knowing that I had missed their father way before the marriage ended with his many nights he spent away from home (not on business trips).

Read the rest of this entry »

The following two short-film videos are from two tracks of Shai Linne’s latest album titled, Storiez.  The tracks are number 10 and 11 titled respectively, “As the Hour Draws Near” and “Letters from the Grave.”  In the songs there are three people facing death: one, a professing Christian who’s unsure of his salvation, another Christian who was content in knowing that he’ll be with God after death, and another who completely disdains anything spiritual and makes mockery of God.

The first video just shows what happens to these three people to cause their deaths and the second the music begins as they speak in their near death states.

The message is powerful and you can’t help but to ask yourself: “Now if that was me, which one would I be?”

(film Intro – Go Hard by Lecrae)

I recently read on a WordPress.com featured blog where a blogger described in detail the reasons why he left Christianity.  This blogger was quite surprised at the number of responses he received: nearly 1,000 comments as of the writing of this post.  What was very sad to me (but not surprising) was the number of people who congratulated this person for leaving Christianity.   I was quite amused and always want to know what’s behind these people who claim to experience the joy and salvation given to them by believing in Christ, only to turn their backs and not believe in Him at all.

But what I’m finding out is that perhaps there was never the joy and peace from the very beginning.  It’s quite possible that this person and those like him were never truly a Christian to begin with!  This was made evident by the writer’s own words:

Last fall, I finally moved past guilt and admitted to myself that I no longer believe in Jesus or the god of the Bible. Surprisingly it was a relief. Not because I wanted to run wild and sin freely, but because I no longer felt the weight a Christian carries. The weight of guilt, unworthiness and fear of god’s judgement.“  the BEattitude: Losing my religion. Why I recently walked away from Christianity.

The last part of his very last sentence I highlighted because it carries the crux of his entire problem – the fear of God’s judgement.   Should Christians ever carry the weight of guilt and fear of God’s judgement? What is actually happening to this person’s relationship with God?  This person is indicating by his own words that he was working his way to earning God’s acceptance.  The burden of knowing that he was always falling short of God’s approval – no wonder he had no true peace or joy as a “Christian!”

This atheist also said in his previous paragraph:

“The change was a culmination of things that I could no longer ignore. Faith is belief in the unseen and unprovable, but still requires a foundation for that faith. With the countless religions of the world, I began to question why the god of the Bible is more believable than all other gods worshiped on earth. With the mountain of evidence staring me in the face, my faith began to die.”

What an amazing statement for a person to make who called himself a Christian.  His faith died because of a mountain of evidence staring at him? He lists some of those things on his site such as the following (numbers 4-7 on his list):

• Bloody animal and human sacrifices are illogical demands by a divine god as payment for petty wrong doings. These actions are no different than the rituals of archaic pagan religions. Not to mention the bizarre ritual of symbolically drinking human blood and eating human flesh.
• If God loves us and wants us to know and believe in him, why be so completely invisible? What is the purpose of being so illusive to those who believe and worship him?
• God never manifests himself or performs miracles as he regularly did for the Israelites in Old Testament stories.
• Prayers are never answered. Certainly not in the way Jesus described. Prayer has absolutely no affect on the world around us.

Sadly, he either ignored the supporting evidence for biblical truth or he asked the questions and received the wrong answers.  Those reasons he lists for rejecting Christianity could have easily been dealt with – if he had an opened heart and mind!

There’s so much more evidence that gives credibility to Jesus Christ’s existence and Lordship over us all that I won’t begin to cover in this post.  Any Christian apologetics website will give tons of information for the existence and reasons why Jesus Christ in Christianity is far superior to any religion.

It was apparent to me that this person never knew Christ or even understood what he believed by calling himself a Christian.  For this person perhaps there is still hope.  But if this person and others like him truly did taste of God’s forgiveness through Jesus Christ, then to turn their backs on Him, these following verses gives a very dire warning:

“For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, ⁵ and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, ⁶ if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame.”  Hebrews 6:4-6

Wow! We should never want any person to fall into the category of being an apostate – a complete falling away from the faith to never go back! No repentance is possible here.  True Christians can never lose their salvation so the person that these verses are speaking about are still the unsaved.  Does this atheist fit the description of these verses? That I truly cannot answer.  That judgement is left to God.

Well, that’s my take on this whole Christian turned atheism/agnostic thing.  Apostate or not? My hope and prayers is that this person and others like him are not apostates but people with hope for a true redemption!

Verses for assurance of Salvation

According to God’s word, NO MAN can ever earn God’s acceptance on his own!

“⁸For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— ⁹not by works, so that “no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9

And why’s that?

Our righteousness is like filthy rags to God!

“But we are all like an unclean thing,
And all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags;
We all fade as a leaf,
And our iniquities, like the wind,
Have taken us away.”  Isaiah 64:6

We are dirty before the Lord so much so that even our righteousness is considered filthy!  How then do we become acceptable before God if none of our own works can gain eternal acceptance.

Christ became sin so that we can then become righteous before God.

“²¹God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” 2 Corinthians 5:21

⁹That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.  Romans 10:9-10

It took the perfect lamb of God – Jesus Christ – to atone for our sins! By believing in Him we THEN become the righteousness of God!  And once we believe this, we are saved!  Not saved with doubts but saved and given the assurance that we belong to God once and forever more!

The assurance of eternal security:

“¹¹ And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. ¹² He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. ¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal lifeand that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.” 1 John 5:11-13

As a Christian, with all the questions that may be present, the one thing I do not doubt is Jesus Christ, His death, burial and resurrection.  Knowing that He suffered and died AND rose again, gives me the peace and joy I now possess in knowing that He will one day come back for me!  The peace and joy knowing that I belong to God and will never taste of His eternal judgement to Hell. God does want us to bring our doubts and fears to Him, but we must believe that He exists for Him to speak to us!