God’s Love
Ok, lets talk about something controversial…music.
One of my favorite parts of The Shack, is when they (God and Mack) are in the kitchen working on dinner listening to music and God says He loves the music. What is ironic is that the singer is a popular secular artist. It is confusing to Mack (and to most readers) that God verbally says He loves the music. My first reaction was….”wait a minute. This is crazy. God should only love the music that is sung in a certain key, behind a certain piano, by a certain Holy person, singing certain Christian lyrics”. Ok, so maybe I didn’t take it that far, but I was concerned with the theological accuracy of the concept. God loving a secular song. But, like several other great concepts of The Shack, it started working on me.
In the dialog of the book, God starts talking about how He loves to hear His ‘kids’ sing. Truly, we do not know what happens in God’s mind when we sing a song about stuff other than God. However, the writer takes a stab at an interesting concept. The concept is that God gives us all the raw talent, and when He places it in us, it is good. When we take that talent, whether it is singing, playing an instrument, dancing, etc, and use it for selfish reasons He is still proud of and excited about the skill we have. Maybe He is not moved by the motive of the song, but the raw talent is enjoyable to hear because it originally came from God. Where does it cross the line and become a stinch in the nose of God? What message or motive offends God to the point of turning His ear. Because believe it or not, God listens to every song ever written or recorded. From the Platinum to the childish. Every song might not go before Simon Cowell, but God hears it.
A bigger point beyond the secular music concept is the idea that God loves everyone, even sinners who sing secular songs. God is exited about all His kids and wants every single one of them to know about Him. I think one of the biggest failures of modern day Christians is failing to love the sinner like God loves the sinner. We are so afraid to hug, welcome, and minister to those who aren’t ‘acceptable’ because of their track record. I believe God loves the sinner all the way to hell and even after they are in hell. God still loves us all. Living in the fullness of the Gospel reconnects us “kids” to the father. We convert from sinner to saint, but the love of God doesn’t increase at this point.
Now, the “favor” of God? That is a different story, and that is what we talked about on the Weekend at PSM.
So, what are your thoughts?
-robin
Jesus Grew in FAVOR with God
Here is the diagram I used to help my memory for this weekend’s message.
Click to expand… You will be amazed at my artwork!!!!
Just kidding, I really need these types of drawings/graphs to digest the message.
submitting to the seasons 2 « johnragsdale.com + john’s blog
every season has a person
i have heard it said many times
the reason david was blessed
was because he was submitted to authority
that is true
kinda…
he was actually submitted to the season
that GOD had him in at that time
but every season has a person
the person in david’s life
during his shepherd season was his father jessie
as long as dad said tend the sheep
he tended the sheep
when samuel came to anoint one of jessie’s sons king
david did not even show up at the gathering
until…
his father called for him
when his brothers went to battle
he did not force his way onto the battlefield
until…
his father sent him
how many seasons have we charged into too early
wanting something so bad
that we lost all regard for council or advice
oh sure we “ask” people for their opinion
but really we are just telling them what we are going to do
and hoping that they will agree
not david
he waited until the person in his season
called for him
and gave him orders for he battlefield
orders that carried destiny in them…
it is also needful to point out that
while david did not rush his seasons
he did not shirk from the next season when it showed up
he readily made his trip to the battlefield
even though it meant leaving his familiar place
knowing that he could face danger
even death
but he could walk into his next season
because he had the permission of the person in that particular season
he submitted to that person
because they were the person for that season
and he was submitted to that season
and every season has a person
NEW POST
My friends…I am sorry for the delay in posting a new blog. There is so much going on this week, that it has been put off. I hope to get a new post on here soon. In the meantime, you can comment ideas for me.
thanks – robin
TEXT ALERTS
If you want to get Reminders or NEWS Alerts from PSM, click link below. Standard rates apply on your end (if you don’t have unlimited texting you will be charged each time we send one.) We plan on sending one per week or less.
Robin Steele 