Does God Love KoRn?

In my browsing last night, I came across a review from last October of KoRn's CD "The Paradigm Shift." Some of you have no idea who KoRn is so I'll briefly explain. KoRn is a "nu metal" band whose noxious lyrics trend towards death, drugs, sex, sadism, pain, bleakness, despair, etc. Just let me say, I'm not a big fan of KoRn's music. The reason I stopped to read the review is because of something that happened in 2005. Brian "Head" Welch, guitarist for KoRn, became a Christian and left the band. For years he has put his time, money and music into outreach and sharing the gospel. Into things bringing honor and glory to the Lord. When I heard that Welch was re-joining KoRn for this CD and tour, I must admit that I had some misgivings. I have seen too many people make the mistake of returning to their old life attempting to witness and influence their old friends, only to wind up being the ones influenced. Conventional wisdom would say that if an alcoholic gets saved and delivered from his addiction, you don't send him back to the bar to witness to his alcoholic friends. At least not right away. Perhaps Brian is grounded enough and secure enough in his faith that he is at less risk in that environment. I really have nothing to say about that part of his decision as it is between himself and God whether or not he is ready for that.

I also have no doubt that Brian's conversion is real. He has shown the fruits to backup his words. But to continue the analogy above, even if the alcoholic is strong enough for his assignment, should he then participate in his friends activities? Yeah, I don't think that's a good idea either. Because of that, I do question Welch's wisdom in going back to an environment that is anti-everything he has stood for in the past 8-9 years. That could be seen by many as an endorsement of their lifestyle, their music and their sin. And as I read more, especially Brian's own words to the Christian community, I am convinced that his return is exactly that. And I believe it's a direct result of the lies being cultivated by the "hyper-grace" theology heresy that is infiltrating the church today. More on that later. Here is a quote from Brian's blog "HeAd's KoRner" on Loudwire.com (warning: the language is a bit rough):

Speaking of God, I was getting some crap from a few Christians that were commenting online that KoRn weren’t “honoring The Lord” in their music. There was a time when I didn’t think God would be very into KoRn’s music and lifestyle, but I’ve learned that He loves everyone where they’re at. And I know God loves KoRn’s music because its passionate and very honest. I just trip out on these people that have the balls to judge people so harshly with their negative, hateful attitudes. It’s crazy how bold people are online. Not one person has come with their negative attitudes to my face. Luckily, most of the Christians are cool and “get it.” I only have to deal with a small number of knuckleheads.

Brian, I don't know you and you don't know me, but I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you face to face and discuss this topic. Until that opportunity presents itself, I'll have to settle for "online", not out of cowardice, but out of lack of access. Don't dis me for not coming to you face-to-face when I have no way of doing so. I also hope that I'm not coming across harshly or negatively or hateful. I love you and I love KoRn. I'm not speaking up because I don't "get it", I'm speaking out because I do love you and I don't want you to be deceived. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that simply because I don't agree with you on this topic, you will automatically label me a "knucklehead" without extending me the courtesy of a civil discussion. That being said, I do have some problems with your comments.

I want to start with a question for the "knuckleheads" as Welch calls them. Why in the world would anyone expect KoRn to honor the Lord in their music? That's just dumb. Unless the bulk of the band has made some kind of public profession of faith, we have to assume that Welch is the only one who is saved. I've never understood people who seem surprised that lost people sin. Christians themselves have a hard enough time living without sin. Why would you hold someone who is lost to a standard you have trouble keeping yourself. But then, maybe I'm not reading this right and that's not really the expectation at all. Perhaps the question really is "why would a Christian return to a band that doesn't honor the Lord with their music?" As I explained above, sometimes that's not very bright either. Why would a Christian participate in making music that does not honor God and in fact, does just the opposite? I can only conclude that you have convinced yourself that God sees nothing wrong with it. Really?

As I mentioned above, there seems to be a ton of deception creeping into the Church today through what opponents call the "hyper-grace" theology and Welch seems to have bought into it. He says, "There was a time when I didn’t think God would be very into KoRn’s music and lifestyle, but I’ve learned that He loves everyone where they’re at. And I know God loves KoRn’s music because its passionate and very honest." Brian, just because God loves us doesn't mean He approves of or is "into" everything we do. You have children and I'm certain that you love them. Does that mean you're pleased by every decision they make and every action they take? When they do things that are harmful to themselves and others, does that make you happy? Loving someone doesn't mean we endorse or approve of everything they do. In fact, I think that endorsing or approving of destructive behavior shows just the opposite. Seeing those kinds of actions and that kind of behavior should bring us grief, not joy. God is not "into" our sin. It grieves Him. He is not into our destructive lifestyles. He mourns over them. He doesn't love our sin, He loves us in spite of it. And He certainly isn't "cool" with it. These silly notions of God's love brings me to the realization that our idea of love and God's idea of love are two very different things. We simply don't understand what love means from God's perspective. Perhaps C. S. Lewis can state things better than I can.

Divine "goodness" differs from ours, but it is not sheerly different: it differs from ours not as white from black but as a perfect circle from a child's first attempt to draw a wheel. But when the child has learned to draw, it will know that the circle it then makes is what it was trying to make from the very beginning. This doctrine is presupposed in Scripture. Christ calls men to repent - a call which would be meaningless if God's standard were sheerly different from that which they already knew and failed to practise. He appeals to our existing moral judgement "Why even of yourselves judge ye not what is right?" God in the Old Testament expostulates with men on the basis of their own conceptions of gratitude, fidelity, and fair play: and puts Himself, as it were, at the bar before His own creatures - "What iniquity have your fathers found in me; that they are gone far from me?" After these preliminaries it will, I hope, be safe to suggest that some conceptions of the Divine goodness which tend to dominateour thought, though seldom expressed in so many words, are open to criticism.

By the goodness of God we mean nowadays almost exclusively His lovingness; and in this we may be right. And by Love, in this context, most of us mean kindness - the desire to see others than the self happy; not happy in this way or in that, but just happy. What would really satisfy us would be a God who said of anything we happened to like doing, "What does it matter so long as they are contented?" We want, in fact, not so much a Father in Heaven as a grandfather in heaven - a senile benevolence who, as they say, "liked to see young people enjoying themselves" and whose plan for the universe was simply that it might be truly said at the end of each day, "a good time was had by all". Not many people, I admit, would formulate a theology in precisely those terms: but a conception not very different lurks at the back of many minds. I do not claim to be an exception: I should very much like to live in a universe which was governed on such lines. But since it is abundantly clear that I don't, and since I have reason to believe, nevertheless; that God is Love, I conclude that my conception of love needs correction.

There is kindness in Love: but Love and kindness are not coterminous, and when kindness (in the sense given above) is separated from the other elements of Love, it involves a certain fundamental indifference to its object, and even something like contempt of it. Kindness consents very readily to the removal of its object - we have all met people whose kindness to animals is constantly leading them to kill animals lest they should suffer. Kindness, merely as such, cares not whether its object becomes good or bad, provided only that it escapes suffering.

If God is Love, He is, by definition, something more than mere kindness. And it appears, from all the records, that though He has often rebuked us and condemned us, He has never regarded us with contempt. He has paid us the intolerable compliment of loving us, in the deepest, most tragic, most memorable sense.
C. S. Lewis, The Problem of Pain

Brian "Head" Welch, I am in complete agreement with you that God does indeed love KoRn. Or more specifically, He loves every member of KoRn. But that certainly doesn't mean that He loves their music or their lifestyles. Passion and honesty do not make something good or right, and nowhere in scripture do I find that passion and honesty are the ingredients for God's love. KoRn's lyrics celebrate everything that is anti-God: death, drugs, destruction, debauchery. To say that God loves these things is foolishness and I have trouble believing that anyone in their right mind would think so. And yet, it's the natural, evolutionary progression of the "hyper-grace" teaching that says our "post salvation" sins have already been forgiven so they can no longer separate us from God. In other words, they teach that once we're saved it no longer matters if we sin or not since those sins have already been forgiven. You have to completely ignore a whole lot of scripture in order for that to be true, both Old and New Testament, both before and after the cross. So it isn't, sorry. I don't really care what kind of "new revelation" you think you've had, God isn't going to contradict Himself.

Love can forbear, and Love can forgive... but Love can never be reconciled to an unlovely object... He can never therefore be reconciled to your sin, because sin itself is incapable of being altered; but He may be reconciled to your person, because that may be restored.
Traherne. Centuries of Meditation, II, 30.

To say that because God loves us He also must love our sin and sinful lifestyle is false. It's delusional. It is impossible for God to love our sin. To do so would put Him at odds with His own Word, make Him a liar, and He would cease to be God. It is precisely because God loves us that He does not and cannot love and condone all of our actions. It is because of his great love for us that He has gone to such extremes to reconcile us to Himself. He loves us far too much and has invested far too much to leave us in our lost condition. Brian, I again extend an open invitation to sit down and have an open and honest, face-to-face dialogue on this subject. I realize I'm a nobody. I'm just a brother in Christ who loves you and wants the best for you. I long to see you living a life "worthy of the calling to which you were called." Grace and peace to you.

Speaking of God, I was getting some crap from a few Christians that were commenting online that KoRn weren’t “honoring The Lord” in their music. There was a time when I didn’t think God would be very into KoRn’s music and lifestyle, but I’ve learned that He loves everyone where they’re at. And I know God loves KoRn’s music because its passionate and very honest. I just trip out on these people that have the balls to judge people so harshly with their negative, hateful attitudes. It’s crazy how bold people are online. Not one person has come with their negative attitudes to my face. Luckily, most of the Christians are cool and “get it.” I only have to deal with a small number of knuckleheads.

Read More: HeAd’s KoRner: Making the ‘Shift’ Back Into Korn | http://loudwire.com/heads-korner-making-the-shift-back-into-korn/?trackback=tsmclip

Speaking of God, I was getting some crap from a few Christians that were commenting online that KoRn weren’t “honoring The Lord” in their music. There was a time when I didn’t think God would be very into KoRn’s music and lifestyle, but I’ve learned that He loves everyone where they’re at. And I know God loves KoRn’s music because its passionate and very honest. I just trip out on these people that have the balls to judge people so harshly with their negative, hateful attitudes. It’s crazy how bold people are online. Not one person has come with their negative attitudes to my face. Luckily, most of the Christians are cool and “get it.” I only have to deal with a small number of knuckleheads.

Read More: HeAd’s KoRner: Making the ‘Shift’ Back Into Korn | http://loudwire.com/heads-korner-making-the-shift-back-into-korn/?trackback=tsmclip

"There is always hope."

I love a good story. I always have. I love stories in every form; books, poems, comic books and movies. I've even written a story or two of my own. One of the things I always look for when reading a book or watching a movie is something beyond the entertainment factor. I look for a lesson or statement or even a good quote that impacts me and helps me remember an essential truth. I usually find them too. Most story-tellers have a point to make or a message to get across and if you look for them, you will find them, even if you don't always agree with them. In the movie "The Two Towers" Aragorn is looking at the men and boys preparing for battle. Legolas is telling him how hopeless it is, 300 against 10,000. Aragorn refuses to despair and says, "There is always hope." That's something I have been forgetting of late.

If you are a conservative and especially if you are a Christian, things have been looking rather bleak lately. The liberals sneer at our opinions and immediately discount them just because they don't agree with theirs. We're viewed as stupid and uneducated just because we have a conservative world view. Christians, particularly evangelicals, are increasingly mocked or viewed as ignorant. Every week we see attacks against our basic religious freedoms and civil rights. Christians are fired for sharing their faith or exercising their freedom of speech, while Muslims with their prayer rugs are accommodated and praised for their courage. Pastors are increasingly coming under pressure for preaching the truth in their churches, even to the point of incarceration. Children are suspended from school for inviting a friend to church or offering a bible and words of comfort to a hurting friend. The list goes on and on and it's increasing nearly daily. And it's not just the special interest groups either. Our own government is getting in on the action. Jesus warned that this day would come.

In Matthew 24:4-14, Jesus tells us, 4"Don’t let anyone mislead you, 5for many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Messiah.’ They will deceive many. 6And you will hear of wars and threats of wars, but don’t panic. Yes, these things must take place, but the end won’t follow immediately. 7Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines and earthquakes in many parts of the world. 8But all this is only the first of the birth pains, with more to come. 9Then you will be arrested, persecuted, and killed. You will be hated all over the world because you are my followers. 10And many will turn away from me and betray and hate each other. 11And many false prophets will appear and will deceive many people. 12Sin will be rampant everywhere, and the love of many will grow cold. 13But the one who endures to the end will be saved. 14And the Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.

That sounds just like Jesus is watching our evening news or reading one of our newspapers. Anyone who doesn't believe we're living in the last days is being deliberately obtuse. With a landscape like that, it's easy to despair, to give up, to lose hope. And that's exactly where I found myself recently, spiraling into depression and feeling like we'd been abandoned. Until I had an encounter that made me realize that all is not lost. There is still a light shining in the darkness. We have not yet reached the point where God cannot find even 10 righteous men.

This past weekend, I attended the 2013 Youth Fine Arts Festival with several talented young people from my church. And while they are all talented, it wasn't their talent that gave me hope. At the awards ceremony, they showcase several winners of various categories. This year, the winners of the Short Sermon, the Spoken Word and the Large Group Human Video had the opportunity to present. What I heard amazed me. These young High School students brought me to tears when I realized that while they were the ones growing up in this bleak landscape and had the least reason to hope, they were far from despair. Here they were using their talents and abilities to proclaim God's greatness; to stand up for truth; to declare the value of living a holy life; and to testify that Jesus was, is and always will be the only means of salvation and our only hope. It shames me to admit that I had begun to forget that for a believer, there is always hope. And it took a bunch of High School kids to remind me.

What's All The Fuss About Easter?

Tomorrow, on Easter Sunday, Western Christianity will celebrate the resurrection of the Lord, Jesus. It is typically the most well-attended service of the year. So, why all the fuss?

Non-Christians are quick to point out the pagan origins of the Easter holiday and its true that the name "Easter" does have its roots in ancient polytheistic religions or paganism. I doubt any educated Christian would dispute this. The name "Easter" is never mentioned in the original scriptures, nor is it ever associated Biblically with the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. For this reason many Christians and churches prefer to use the term "Resurrection Sunday" rather than Easter to refer to the day we celebrate the resurrection of Christ.

Many reference books claim that the name “Easter” derives from Eastre, the Teutonic goddess of Spring. While there is some connection, the actual origins of the name "Easter" lie much further back in history. All the way back to shortly after the Biblical Flood and the Tower of Babel to a King named Nimrod. (No, I'm not making this up!) Nimrod was the powerful, talented (and evil) great-grandson of Noah. I won't go into detail (you can Google or Bing for more information if you want), but basically, almost every vile, profane and idolatrous practice you can think of originated at Babel with Queen Semiramis, the Mother Goddess and Nimrod. As the people scattered from Babel with their different languages, they, of course, used different names for Nimrod (Tammuz) and Semiramis. Some called the Mother Goddess “ISHTAR” (originally pronounced “Easter”). In other lands, she was called Eostre, Astarte, Ostera, and Eastre. The Mother goddess was frequently worshipped as the goddess of fertility - and as a sort of Mother Nature and goddess of Spring and sexual love and birth. 

Also, just so you know where the Easter Bunny comes into the picture, the rabbit is well known as a sexual symbol of fertility. In various parts of the world, religions which developed from Babel also associate the rabbit with periodicity, both human and lunar (Egypt, China, etc.), so the bunny basically symbolizes the Mother Goddess. The egg figures into the picture as well and is also associated with the Babel origins of Easter, but as this is already getting to be longer than I intended, I'll let you look that one up on your own as well.

If you're still reading at this point, you may be wondering just exactly where I'm going with all this. Is my intent to bash the Christian celebration of Easter? Absolutely not! While one might wonder (in hind sight) if there might have been a better way for the Church to witness to the World and to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus than to "Christianize" a pagan celebration (like we have also done with Christmas), I still believe that the celebration of these events is essential to our faith and to the spread of the Gospel as long as we are emphasizing the Biblical reasons for doing so. Easter has been celebrated by the Church without interruption since New Testament times. However, given the World's commercialization of both Easter and Christmas, it is even more crucial that we as Christians assert the basis for our celebrations. Most of us know that Easter isn't simply a ­commercial festival about dyeing and hiding eggs or wearing new spring attire. Easter is the Christian observance of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his resurrection days later. His death and resurrection are the central basis for our faith.

Think about this; every time you write a date, you are making reference to the death of Jesus as a focal point. And His resurrection proves Him to be what He claimed to be, the Son of God. Why exactly was Jesus sent to the cross? From a legal perspective, even after going through six trials, He was ultimately crucified for claiming to be the Son of God. Most people who have heard of Jesus have already formed some kind of opinion about Him. They believe: 1) that He was a liar; 2) that He was a lunatic; or 3) that He is Lord. You can't say you think He was just a good man, or a good teacher, or even a prophet. None of those are compatible with being a liar or a lunatic. Jesus Himself said a couple of things, "I am God" and "I am the only way to heaven", that force you to make a decision about Him. A good man or a good teacher wouldn't say those things unless they were true. Jesus also said that He would be killed and that God would raise Him from the dead. That's exactly what happened on Resurrection Sunday and that's why Easter is so important. “... by being raised from the dead he was proved to be the mighty Son of God, with the holy nature of God himself.” (Romans 1:4, LB)

In some sense, Jesus is still on trial today. When we as Christians celebrate Easter and emphasize His death and resurrection, with all the significance it demands, we remind others that there is still a decision to be made about Jesus and His claims. Easter is more than a celebration of nature, Springtime, and fertility. It's also more than just the memory of a good man or religious teacher who lived more than two centuries ago. Because of His sinless life, His death, and His resurrection; we no longer have to pay the penalty for our sin. Jesus did for us what we could never do for ourselves and it's His resurrection that gives us hope that we too will one day be physically resurrected with Him in addition to the spiritual resurrection we've already received. In spite of the burden of competing with the pagan roots and commercialization of Easter, the significance of what we as Christians celebrate during this holiday cannot be denied. 

The Melancholy Personality

Most people wouldn't immediately think of me and melancholy in the same sentence. I'm pretty much choleric, as most of you would suspect. I do, however, have a fair amount of both sanguine and melancholy as well. This blog will be my outlet for those deep (and not so deep) thoughts, opines, and pithy observations. To get things started, I thought I'd begin with a discussion of the melancholy personality type, since it's the driving force behind me starting this blog.

The melancholic temperament is fundamentally introverted and is given to thought. Melancholic people often are perceived as very (or overly) pondering and are both considerate and very cautious. They are organized and schedule oriented, often planning extensively. Melancholics can be highly creative in activities such as poetry, art, and invention - and are sensitive to others. Because of this sensitivity and their thoughtfulness they can become preoccupied with the tragedy and cruelty in the world and are susceptible to depression and moodiness. Often they are perfectionists. Their desire for perfection often results in a high degree of personal excellence but also causes them to be highly conscientious and difficult to relate to because others often cannot please them. They are self-reliant and independent, preferring to do things themselves in order to meet their standards. One negative part of being a melancholic is that they can get so involved in what they are doing they forget to think of other issues. Their caution enables them to prevent problems that the more impulsive sanguine runs into, but can also cause them to procrastinate and remain in the planning stage of a project for very long periods. Melancholics prefer to avoid much attention and prefer to remain in the background; they do, however, desire recognition for their many works of creativity.

Moses (borrowed from Carol Wilkins)

Gifted is one word that describes a melancholy like Moses. The Bible has many famous names of the same temperament: Jacob, Solomon, Elijah, Elisha, Jeremiah, Isaiah, Daniel, Ezekiel, Obadiah, Jonah, John the Baptist, the Apostles John and Thomas, and many others. Potential is another word to describe Moses. Melancholies have great potential if they do not give in to a negative thinking pattern.

Remember that the melancholy is prone to be pessimistic, very sensitive, moody, critical, and a perfectionist. Another thing to remember is that Moses lived during the time when the Holy Spirit did not indwell people as He does today. No one needs reminding about the intellect of Moses. Stephen, in Acts 7, says that Moses "was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and was mighty in words and in deeds." Acts 7:22.

Self-sacrificing.
Melancholies are prone to give themselves to some sacrificial cause. This may even be directed by a sense of pride. Self-sacrifice must be God-directed. No one should be motivated by a sense of guilt. Why did Moses make the decision he made to leave the comforts and ease of the palace? The Bible reveals the answer in the book of Hebrews. Moses chose to live by faith, and to trust God. Hebrews 11:24-27.

Self-depreciating.
Melancholies may feel inferior when in reality it isn't true. They may also have a hard time accepting praise or commendation. They may tend to remember their mistakes instead of their accomplishments. Criticism to a small child with this thinking may discourage them for the future. This may also result in making excuses for not doing things. Melancholies tend to hate criticism. All this may lead a melancholy to live far below their ability level. A melancholy personality should never trust their feelings alone to guide them. How did Moses react:

I don't have any talent.
Exodus 3:11. "Who am I?"- What was God's response? Exodus 3:12. How does a melancholy get help? A study in the Bible of God's provision.

I don't know theology.
Exodus 3:13. "What shall I say?"- Many people offer the same excuse today. Moses didn't need ability, but availability.

No one will believe me!
Exodus 4:1. Fear of rejection even though God had promised they would listen. Exodus 3:18. All Moses could think about was his rejection 40 years earlier. Instead of focusing on failures, we need to see needs and possibilities. The service and the cause of Christ are more important than our pride. His fear was selfish. We are not responsible for the failure or success of our witness, but we are responsible to witness.

I can't speak in public.
Exodus 4:10. The question isn't what you can do, but what God can do. Moses ended up being saddled with Aaron. God doesn't ask for eloquence, but He does ask for obedience.

I don't want to go.
Exodus 4:13. Sometimes when a melancholy makes up their mind they can't, even good reasoning won't change them. God had answered every question and even demonstrated His power to Moses. Moses was suffering from deep resentment. He had had forty years in the wilderness to brood over his rejection and isolation. His thinking had been poisoned and it was hard to change. All of Moses' excuses seemed reasonable to him.

Anger.
Exodus 16:2; 32:19. Moses not only suffered from fear, but anger as well. Failure to control his anger cost him. Anger usually causes problems. James 1:20. Some anger may be right, Exodus 32:19, but some is wrong. See Numbers 20:3-5, 9-12. Anger and unconfessed sin can bring about early death. 1 Corinthians 11:30-32.

Perfectionism.
In writing the first five books of the Bible, Moses shows his ability to carefully give all the details as laid out by God for the Tabernacle, the priest, for sacrifice and worship. Moses also demonstrated a problem melancholies have with delegating authority and responsibility. Exodus 18:17-18. D. L. Moody said, "Instead of doing the work of ten men, get ten men to work." We need to learn to trust God to use other people.

Depression.
Numbers 11:10-15. Moses was one of three in the Bible who became depressed enough to want to die. God never asked Moses to carry all the burden and load. Read Moses' words carefully, "If this is how you are going to treat me, put me to death right now." It's a good thing God doesn't grant all our requests. In everything, give thanks.

Loyalty.
Because Moses remained loyal, the people of Israel remained loyal. His devotion grew over the years. Moses is a good example of what God can do with a fearful, insecure, doubtful, pessimistic, compulsive, and depressed man. He became a great leader. He was a great instrument in the hands of God. He is a perfect illustration of the fact God doesn't use perfect men & women, but men & women of faith who trust Him.

In conclusion, while I'm primarily a choleric, having a bit of Moses personality can't be a bad thing, can it?