I came to this painful realization: I wasn’t devoted to God. I was devoted to my devotion to God.
Your true character is revealed not by how you act when life goes your way, but how you act when the bottom falls out. Though.
The decisions I’ve made in my personal life have helped me resist the temptations I face in my professional life. I was lucky early in my career and was given wise counsel to cap my salary and live below my means. Money itself isn’t evil, but the love of it is the root of all kinds of evil. So these things helped me to stay grounded. I.
Life on earth has sharp teeth. It has a way of wounding us. The only way to begin nursing your wounds is to name your wounds. There are few guarantees in life, but you can count on this: if you ignore your wounds, they will not go away. They will get worse and grow infected.
I make a point to show off my scars because I want others to know that they aren’t alone. Talking about wounds is important, but talking about our healed wounds is just as important.
Money itself isn’t evil, but the love of it is the root of all kinds of evil. So these things helped me to stay grounded. I began realizing that people on yachts weren’t happier than people in rowboats. Bentleys break down just like Nissans. You can get a great night’s sleep at a Hampton Inn just like at a Ritz-Carlton. And flying in first class won’t get you to your destination any faster than riding in coach.
I remember when my oldest son took his first step. My wife and I were so excited, but we expected him to fall right after he took it. And he did. But we didn’t condemn him for stumbling. We were patient and encouraging. We clapped when he got back up and cheered him on for continuing to try. Each time he attempted to walk, he would take more steps than the last time. But he would still fall, and sometimes he hurt himself. By letting him fail and loving him through it, he eventually succeeded.
It’s like God knew that one day I’d need a little extra something to keep showing up when it felt awkward, to keep walking when no one noticed, to keep making music even though many dismiss it before even listening to it.
There is no such thing as Christian rap and secular rap. Only people can become Christians. Music can’t accept Jesus into its heart. So I am not trying to make Christian music or secular music. I’m just making music. Hip-hop, like all music, is a good thing. I could use it for evil by filling it with violence and misogyny and profanity. Or I can use it to glorify God.
Everything a believer touches and uses in a way that honors God is, in a sense, no longer “secular.
None of us realized that each act of violence was training us to perpetuate the cycle when we were grown up and could graduate from abused to abuser... I’ve had to learn that my natural responses aren’t normal, that the only way to live a future that’s better than my past is to cling to God in the present.
You’ll actually experience more temptations, not less, after you become a Christian. Following Jesus doesn’t mean you’ll start living perfectly overnight. It certainly doesn’t mean that your problems will disappear. Rather than ridding you of problems or temptations, following Jesus just means that you have a place – no, a person – to run to when they come. And the power to overcome them.
I hid my struggles. Why? Because I didn’t think it was supposed to go down like that. And because too many Christians I know lived by the same lie and condemned, shamed, and rejected other Christians who messed up.
I’m a lifelong wanderer trying to love God and be who I was created to be.
If you are a politician, you don’t have a “secular” job. If you are a computer programmer, you don’t have a “secular” job. The term secular is defined as an attitude, activity, or thing that has no religious or spiritual basis. But there is nothing on the planet that God isn’t ruling over. Everything a believer touches and uses in a way that honors God is, in a sense, no longer “secular.
Old habits die hard, and if you’re not careful, the person you used to be can overtake the person you’re trying to become.
I am no longer willing to accept Christian expression that refuses to hear voices from the margins. Christ’s body is global and diverse. The perspectives that come from the people who make up Christ’s body reveal the brilliance of our Creator, like the different facets of a diamond. Erasing the edges is equal to denying the beauty of God. Others have different contexts and areas of emphasis, but they should be heard and valued as legitimate.
I believe that we are all one family in Christ despite our ethnicity, but each of us as unique distinctions and gifts. That’s how God desires us to live. To say we don’t see color is to say we don’t see the beauty of that diverse kingdom.
I’ve had to learn that my natural responses aren’t normal, that the only way to live a future that’s better than my past is to cling to God in the present.
Sometimes we don’t want God to be real because we want permission to sin without consequence. We want an intimate God on Sundays and an impersonal God who looks the other way for the rest of the week.