This one will be quick. Yeah, I know, I've said that before.
Today while driving to work the new song by the Newsboys, "God's Not Dead." It's a worship song that's been out for a couple of years. Their version is, well, different. The chorus says "My God's not dead, He's surely alive/ He's living on the inside, roaring like a lion." (It repeats, so for those of you that don't care for worship music, I won't bother.)
While I was listening, this verse came to me: "Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour" (1 Peter 5:8 NLT).
Weird, isn't it, that a worship song about God would make me think about the devil?
As I thought about it some more, the more I realized, there is one key word in that verse: LIKE. Like is a simile. From dictionary.com:
Simile (noun): A figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.”
Think about it. Jesus is called the "Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the root of David" (Rev. 5:5). Satan moves "like" a roaring lion. In other words, he's not the real thing. Jesus called him a liar, and the father of lies. He is a deceiver. That's where this simile "like" comes in.
Deception is one of the enemy's greatest tools. Like Shift the ape from "The Last Battle," last of the Chronicles of Narnia, he disguises himself in a similar manner to deceive Christian and non-Christian alike. (See that? Another simile!) He uses things that sound good, look good, Christian-like to pull people away from the true Gospel. He then devours his prey, catching them far away from what they wanted, far from the God that loves them.
Yes, he is a cunning enemy? What's the solution to stopping him? Keep reading 1 Peter 5:
"Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are. In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation. All power to him forever! Amen (v. 9-11)."
The key is to root yourself in the Word, in prayer, in daily fellowship with God. Then you can resist the impostor, this faker, this false lion. The he will flee from you. In other words, you will send him running like a scared cat. (Another simile!)
There's no faking that.
Wednesday, February 22, 2012
Thursday, February 16, 2012
Support a Good Good Cause Cause
Last year I chronicled the great experience I had going to "Loving Lenoir" and joining other Hibriten High School Band alumni at the homecoming game. It was my most viewed blog ever, and you can take a look back with me by clicking here.
At the end of that article I mentioned how the HHS Band now receives no funding, and depends primarily on charitable contributions and fundraising efforts. Here is one of those efforts, and it is delicious.
The band is raising funds to purchase a sousaphone. These are not inexpensive by any means. A refurbished sousaphone costs $4500. I can attest to the need because the instruments currently at the school are the same ones there when I was a student. They were old then, and I graduated seventeen years ago.
So how can you help?
Go to pizzakit.com. The Hibriten Band is selling Little Caesars Pizza Kits (say it with me- Pizza Pizza). Unlike the fundraisers of my day, you can purchase online! How amazing!
Once on the site, go to "Order Online." You can choose pizza kits, cookie dough (yum), and/or pie kits. Once you add an item to your cart, it will ask you to create an account. After doing that, you can continue to checkout, or continue shopping (strongly encouraged). In the checkout screen, it will ask you for a fundraiser ID. Enter 240322 to support the Hibriten Band. After checking out, sit back and wait for your pizza to arrive, bake, and enjoy! Even more than enjoying the food, you get the enjoyment that you are supporting a most worthy cause.
Also- wouldn't it be nice to put this over the top? To give them more than the needed funds to apply to other things?
Don't wait- the fundraiser ends March 2. Pizza Pizza!
At the end of that article I mentioned how the HHS Band now receives no funding, and depends primarily on charitable contributions and fundraising efforts. Here is one of those efforts, and it is delicious.
The band is raising funds to purchase a sousaphone. These are not inexpensive by any means. A refurbished sousaphone costs $4500. I can attest to the need because the instruments currently at the school are the same ones there when I was a student. They were old then, and I graduated seventeen years ago.
So how can you help?
Go to pizzakit.com. The Hibriten Band is selling Little Caesars Pizza Kits (say it with me- Pizza Pizza). Unlike the fundraisers of my day, you can purchase online! How amazing!
Once on the site, go to "Order Online." You can choose pizza kits, cookie dough (yum), and/or pie kits. Once you add an item to your cart, it will ask you to create an account. After doing that, you can continue to checkout, or continue shopping (strongly encouraged). In the checkout screen, it will ask you for a fundraiser ID. Enter 240322 to support the Hibriten Band. After checking out, sit back and wait for your pizza to arrive, bake, and enjoy! Even more than enjoying the food, you get the enjoyment that you are supporting a most worthy cause.
Also- wouldn't it be nice to put this over the top? To give them more than the needed funds to apply to other things?
Don't wait- the fundraiser ends March 2. Pizza Pizza!
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Hollywood Cannot Be Found on Your GPS
I know, that's not true. But it does get your attention.
In reality, the adverse is true. Hollywood cannot find you on its GPS, and that is the truly sad part.
(CAUTION: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERTS INCLUDED.)
I went to the movies for the first time in a few months on Friday night. My wife and I saw "The Vow," starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. "The Vow" is "inspired by actual events," and says that right at the beginning of the film. To not give too much of it away, here is the part consistent with the actual story. A young couple meet, fall in love, and get married. One day they have an accident, giving her an injury that causes her to lose every memory she has with him.
That's about it as far as the "inspired by actual events" part.
I have not read the story, but my wife has. She relays the story to me quite well. The actual couple, Kim and Krickett Carpenter, had been married ten weeks when the accident happened. It's true, she had no memory of who he was. But she knew this: she made a vow, and intended to keep it. The couple had to learn to fall in love with each other all over again.
It makes a good story. It would have made a good film. But Hollywood had other plans.
Now Channing Tatum plays a great character in Leo. I wanted him to succeed in winning his wife back. I could see the undying "fierce" love he had for his wife, and wanted to see him rewarded for it. I also wanted to see the Christian elements of the true story played out. Instead, we got a couple of profane words slipped in, Channing's naked backside (any ladies that read my blog just put their computer down and ran to the nearest theater), and a divorce that never happened in real life. We also got an ending that left it up to the imagination of the viewer. After watching the series finale of "Chuck" a couple of weeks previously, I had to deal with this same dissatisfaction AGAIN, and I was not thrilled with that.
This movie had great potential. There could have been the chance to show the world the powerful force that love is, the power of the wedding vow, and how wonderful the commitment to marriage no matter what is. It could have been much better than what it turned out to be.
But Hollywood missed the mark. It tends to do that.
Right now I'm looking at the Pay-Per-View Choices on TV: "Harold & Kumar Christmas: 'The stoner pals search New York City for the perfect Christmas Tree.'" "Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1," "Paranormal Activity 3,""What's Your Number? 'A woman wonders if one of her past 20 boyfriends could be her true love.'" Coming soon to theaters: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."
Coming out this weekend: "Star Wars Episode I" in 3-D. Previously released? "Beauty & the Beast" in 3-D. Coming soon? "Titanic" in 3-D. There is a new Spider-Man relaunch coming this year, a new Batman movie (no lying- I am excited about that, but anyway) a 21 Jump Street movie, a Three Stooges movie, etc.
What am I saying? Hollywood has no good new ideas. The best-selling things they have are re-releases of old movies, or new versions of old ideas.
When they do get good ideas for a good movie, they have to ruin it. On top of that, you have to give up a week's paycheck to go see the blasted things!
In other words, they are out of touch with you. The funniest part of that is, they don't think they are. They think you're out of touch with them. If you don't believe that, tune into the Academy Awards in a couple of weeks. But when you do, don't forget to have a barf bag close by.
In reality, the adverse is true. Hollywood cannot find you on its GPS, and that is the truly sad part.
(CAUTION: POTENTIAL SPOILER ALERTS INCLUDED.)
I went to the movies for the first time in a few months on Friday night. My wife and I saw "The Vow," starring Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams. "The Vow" is "inspired by actual events," and says that right at the beginning of the film. To not give too much of it away, here is the part consistent with the actual story. A young couple meet, fall in love, and get married. One day they have an accident, giving her an injury that causes her to lose every memory she has with him.
That's about it as far as the "inspired by actual events" part.
I have not read the story, but my wife has. She relays the story to me quite well. The actual couple, Kim and Krickett Carpenter, had been married ten weeks when the accident happened. It's true, she had no memory of who he was. But she knew this: she made a vow, and intended to keep it. The couple had to learn to fall in love with each other all over again.
It makes a good story. It would have made a good film. But Hollywood had other plans.
Now Channing Tatum plays a great character in Leo. I wanted him to succeed in winning his wife back. I could see the undying "fierce" love he had for his wife, and wanted to see him rewarded for it. I also wanted to see the Christian elements of the true story played out. Instead, we got a couple of profane words slipped in, Channing's naked backside (any ladies that read my blog just put their computer down and ran to the nearest theater), and a divorce that never happened in real life. We also got an ending that left it up to the imagination of the viewer. After watching the series finale of "Chuck" a couple of weeks previously, I had to deal with this same dissatisfaction AGAIN, and I was not thrilled with that.
This movie had great potential. There could have been the chance to show the world the powerful force that love is, the power of the wedding vow, and how wonderful the commitment to marriage no matter what is. It could have been much better than what it turned out to be.
But Hollywood missed the mark. It tends to do that.
Right now I'm looking at the Pay-Per-View Choices on TV: "Harold & Kumar Christmas: 'The stoner pals search New York City for the perfect Christmas Tree.'" "Twilight: Breaking Dawn, Part 1," "Paranormal Activity 3,""What's Your Number? 'A woman wonders if one of her past 20 boyfriends could be her true love.'" Coming soon to theaters: "Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter."
Coming out this weekend: "Star Wars Episode I" in 3-D. Previously released? "Beauty & the Beast" in 3-D. Coming soon? "Titanic" in 3-D. There is a new Spider-Man relaunch coming this year, a new Batman movie (no lying- I am excited about that, but anyway) a 21 Jump Street movie, a Three Stooges movie, etc.
What am I saying? Hollywood has no good new ideas. The best-selling things they have are re-releases of old movies, or new versions of old ideas.
When they do get good ideas for a good movie, they have to ruin it. On top of that, you have to give up a week's paycheck to go see the blasted things!
In other words, they are out of touch with you. The funniest part of that is, they don't think they are. They think you're out of touch with them. If you don't believe that, tune into the Academy Awards in a couple of weeks. But when you do, don't forget to have a barf bag close by.
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