Hide-N-Seek Set Up
We were playing hide-n-seek in the house this weekend. I used to hide in the shower and when Camryn and Maegan would look behind the curtain I’d throw it open and yell like a monster. They’d scream and then laugh when they saw it was me. I only hid there a few times but they had gotten used to finding me there. Now I’ve found a new hiding place (sorry, can’t tell ya where it is) that allows me to run back to the other side of the house when they go looking in the bathroom.
I’m not usually one to focus on spiritual warfare or blame Satan for things, but something crossed my mind as we were playing. (It drives me crazy when people blame weather on Satan. Nothing says “the sun revolves around me” more than, “We were gonna have a picnic but Satan attacked us with rain”.) With the ages of practice that he’s had, I wonder if Satan sets us up to look for him in certain places while he goes about doing his thing unnoticed in more subtle ways.
Music is an obvious example. I see parents getting all upset about explicit music or music that promotes ungodly values (as they should) but never examining the main stream contemporary christian stuff they are feeding themselves. Sure, they use Christian words but what is the theology behind the songs? Do they have a Godly world view or are they tainted with Narcissism and Relativism? Has the “niceness” of our skewed view of Christian culture suppressed any thoughts of God’s judgement and justice? Do you relate more to the teachings of Oprah than Jesus? If so, you may have been setup.
January 31st, 2005 at 10:54 am
now you need to go see the movie :-p
January 31st, 2005 at 8:45 pm
Interesting point on music. At least with Van Halen’s “Running with the Devil” you know what you are getting.
I’ve been listening to John Piper’s teaching on Isaiah 55 recently (available for free download from oneplace.com). At one point, when he was teaching verses 6-9, he proposed a test. First here is the passage…
Piper suggested that any new age concept of God be held up to this passage to see how it fares. Certainly, any view of God as just like us or winking at sin would not pass the Isaiah 55 test. But, how much popular Christian music would pass?
February 1st, 2005 at 8:22 am
As long as its safe for the whole family, who cares.
February 1st, 2005 at 8:23 am
Most of the Contemporary Christian Music ™ is the spiritual equivalent of Cap’n Crunch. It’s better than going hungry, but it leaves you with a bunch of cavities.
It reminds me of the story someone was telling me about this insanely low-cal ice cream that tasted fantastic. Some people tried it and thought, “this is God’s gift to dieting,” while others said, “this can’t be a diet ice cream.” Sure enough, the labeling was wrong and it turned out to be 95% lard or something.
The point is, just because something is labeled as something doesn’t mean that’s what it is. It seems like an obvious statement - but isn’t that what Jesus was going at when he said “by their fruits you shall know them?”
February 8th, 2005 at 10:43 pm
someone told me last week: satan has a stronghold in every christian home. it’s called the television.