Rest in Messiah

Today I had the honor of being involved in something great: a Jew and an Arab, worshipping Christ together.


It doesn't get much better than that!!

I am a Jewish believer in Jesus. I've been to Israel, and I can tell you that the tension in the air there is palpable -- all the time. Jews, Arabs, Christians, Jewish Christians... They've all got their issues with one another and they are all in "survival mode" at any given time. Fear and hatred can permeate life over there -- as evidenced by the extensive security checks at every public place, the racist bumper stickers, and the hushed but serious warnings against going into certain areas.


Don't get me wrong, Israel is a beautiful place! I love it, and I frankly get "homesick" for it on a regular basis! But the remnants and reminders of war are everywhere. The threat of war is everywhere. And the strife -- well, it's everywhere.


I would be lying if I said it didn't affect me, when I was there. I couldn't help but feel a sense of solidarity with my Jewish people, and a loyalty to the nation of Israel. I would be lying if I said I didn't absorb some of the anger and hatred that was in the air. I would be lying if I said that I didn't feel uncomfortable at all going to a Middle Eastern restaurant back here in America, which was owned and operated by Muslims.

But what I realized, shortly after coming back from Israel, is that while my sense of allegiance to my people was not a bad thing in and of itself, my loyalty was FIRST to Christ. I may physically have a Jewish lineage, but my spiritual lineage is Divine. I have been born again, and that not of man, but of God!


It is true that God chose to reveal Himself through the Jewish people, and it is true that our Messiah is Jewish! But ultimately, His purpose is to draw ALL people to Himself, making Jew and Gentile one. The message of God's redemptive plan through Y'shua (Jesus) transcends all people, all cultures, all languages, and all races. The solidarity I feel with my Jewish people may be a normal human response to racial persecution -- but it is, in fact, human. It is carnal. It is not of the Heavenly Kingdom, of which I am a princess (since it belongs to my Heavenly Father!).


Many Jewish people who don't accept Jesus as Messiah argue, "The Messiah was supposed to bring peace. Where is the peace?" Once on an interview on national television, the Executive Director of an organization that brings the Gospel to Jewish people responded, "Peace begins in our hearts. It begins with our relationship to God. If we have peace with God, then we can have peace with each other."


As a Jewish person, it would be very easy for me to buy into the devil's lies about Arabs -- or about any other race of people, really. It would be easy to subscribe to the messages of hatred and resentment that try to permeate my thoughts, at times. And I am sure that my Arab friend, who sang with me in Arabic today in Chapel as I sang in Hebrew, can identify. But I am thankful that he and I have peace with God and each other through Jesus -- and because of that, God Himself enables us to reject the racism that has been a part of our cultures for generations!

In a time of such tension and unrest in the Middle East, what a beautiful picture of peace and rest in Messiah: a Jew and an Arab, worshipping Christ together.

AMEN!

God bless you,
SWCgirl

Excellence

On the 22nd of February I went to a Praise & Worship Workshop given by our Praise Band Director, Tracy Williams. Tracy is an accomplished guitarist, having played with and toured with many well-known artists like Gladys Knight & The Pipps and Bernadette Peters. His passion now is to see genuine musicianship merged with genuine worship in the Church, and through a series of circumstances (the type of which you look back on and say, "That was totally God!!"), he is now an adjunct faculty member of our Music Department.

Tracy has a new vision for church worship. Well, actually, it's a new vision to revive an old vision! He explained that, years ago, The Church used to be the place where creativity and "high art" were made. Over time, we've "lowered the bar," as he put it, so much that now most of what is played in modern churches lacks true musicianship, creativity, and inspiration.

I'm sure there are some who would argue otherwise. But whether you (or I) agree with him is not the issue. The issue is, as Tracy said, "It's okay to be excellent."


Excellence, when pursued with a humble heart, can be a form of worship unto God. How many parents want their children to live up to their full potential? I would have to say, if they're good parents, ALL of them! Why should our Heavenly Father feel any differently about us? If you parents paid for your college education, wouldn't you want to thank them by working hard at it? Wouldn't you want to make them proud by doing the best that you could?

So, excellent musicianship in the Church is not a sin -- unless, of course, it becomes an idol or a source of that ugly thing we call pride. But Tracy's workshop reinvigorated my desire to reach the full potential that God has placed in me. One way I am pursuing that is by going to college. I am not just working to get a piece of paper that will potentially make me more money; I am pursuing an education in the things that God has called me to do. I am going to Southwestern, specifically, because I want to see (through my teachers and fellow students) what it looks like to be an excellent musician/scholar/teacher/(fill in the blank) within the context of an "intentionally Christian" life!


We all know that the Kingdom of God is a upside-down Kingdom; or rather, the kingdom of this world is backwards from what God intended! For example: I used to think that an excellent performance trumped an excellent character! This is typically what we see in the world. But, since coming into a real relationship with the Living God through Christ, I have begun to understand that God is primarily interested in my character! My character is developed through an intimate relationship with Him. Ultimately, excellence in other areas is actually a by-product of that character; it is a response to God's great love and grace toward me.

What about you? Are you working to reach your full potential, for the glory of God? What things in your life are helping you reach that potential? What things are hindering you? Are you caught up with "performance" (music, grades, sports, being a "good Christian")? Or are you caught up in your wonderful, exciting, dynamic, and mysterious relationship with God?

I'd love to hear your feedback!

God bless you,

SWCgirl

Open Mic Night

So about a week and a half ago, I went to Open Mic Night at Southwestern. I meant to write about it right away, but I've been so busy! I guess that's what happens when you're a full-time student, haha...

Anyway, I expected it to last maybe two hours. I was WRONG!! It was three and a half!! But it truly just flew by like nothing. Who knew there were SO MANY talented people at our school?! And so many who were willing to share those talents with the rest of us?! There was such a great variety of acts -- bands, individuals, rock music, folk music, Christian music, original music, spoken word poetry and readings from Scripture, stand-up comedy, sing-a-longs, hip-hop dancing, beatboxing, a video, and even a response to one of my blogs! It really was a great night.

About a quarter of the school showed up -- a great turnout, I think!

I have to say that I was amazed by the comraderie and sense of community I noticed among the student body. Everyone was so supportive, eager to encourage, and everyone genuinely enjoyed each other. I felt like I got to know my fellow students a lot better, just by seeing them share their hearts onstage. I really love the student body here! I think we have a really special group here. I'll tell ya, the cheering and laughing got so loud at one point, I couldn't help but think to myself, "Whoever says Christians aren't fun is CRAZY!!"

I am looking forward to, hopefully, many more Open Mic Nights in the future! And I'm looking forward to many more of you coming to share your gifts with the rest of us!! I'm thinking of drama, mime, drawing, scatting, rapping -- who knows? The possibilities are endless!

Special thanks to Heather Cole for initiating Open Mic Night, and to Ben Jimenez for running sound!

*SWCgirl*

A little about ME.

Okay, so here goes...

I used to be an atheist. "Truth" seemed to be subjective, depending on who I talked to -- people believed whatever they wanted to believe -- about God, about religion, about "right" and "wrong." (I put those words in quotations because with everything being subjective, as it was, who was to say what was "right" and what was "wrong"?)

Which was all fine and good -- convenient even, because it meant I didn't have to answer to anybody about my concepts of reality or morality. I could believe whatever I wanted, and I could do whatever I wanted, as long as it didn't violate MY OWN sense of morality (which, of course, was different than the person next to me, because we all had our own "truth." And sometimes, even if I did violate my own moral code, I would sometimes come up with ways to rationalize or justify my behavior to the point where my conscience was eased.

But then that posed a problem for me: when looking at life, the universe, and everything, and wondering if there was any meaning to existence, I kept hitting this brick wall called SUBJECTIVITY. The more I tried to find some kind of answer to what was "right" and what was "wrong," the more I found that there WAS no answer! It all depended on who you talked to (or what book you read, or whatever). Each person or group had their own mind made up, but who was to say what was right? And when it came to justice...? With truth, reality, and morality being subjective, how could anything like justice be possible? Person A might agree that person B wronged person C, but person D might argue that the opposite was true! And both person A and person D might be equally convinced that their convictions represented truth, reality, and morality. So... where is justice?

Was the universe really this chaotic, that there were NO REAL ANSWERS? Or was there an order to the universe? Was there some kind of OBJECTIVE "Truth" by which the universe operated -- by which we were supposed to live?

A few years went by as I pondered this question, still believing that there was no God. Eventually I came to the conclusion that for the universe to have order and objective Truth, there had to be a God. But that was preposterous! How could there be a God? That was ridiculous!! I had long since given up on that idea!!

Until one day when this analogy came to my mind: A mother tells her son, "You won't get any dessert if you don't eat your vegetables." The son crosses his arms and defiantly says, "I don't believe you!" He refuses to eat the vegetables. The mother shrugs and says, "Okay. Your choice!" The son sits there at the table for a while, expecting his plate to be taken away and dessert to be placed in front of him. When he complains about being sent to bed without dessert, she says, "Look, those were the rules! Just because you chose not to believe them didn't make them any less true!"

I realized that IF there was one OBJECTIVE "Truth" in the universe (such as a God to create some kind of moral standard and deliver justice, for example), then my NOT believing in it didn't make it any LESS true.

Now let me make clear the fact that at this point, I didn't necessarily BELIEVE that there was one objective Truth -- I just reasoned that IF there was, then my denial of it didn't make it any less true. Which meant that I COULD be believing a LIE, or at the very best, a HALF-TRUTH. What I wanted, if there was such a thing, was TOTAL TRUTH. Which meant that, IF there WAS an objective Truth, then I should find out what it was!!

So one day, I decided that I was not going to put any restrictions on what "Truth" might be! I was not going to limit MYSELF by trying to dictate what Truth must or must not be. I was ready to put all of my own preconceived notions aside and genuinely wanted to know.

So I just sat down at my desk and "prayed." I just said, "Okay -- if there's a God out there, I want to know who You are. I don't care if You're Mohammed, or Buddha, or Jesus, or even Satan himself -- but if You exist, I want to KNOW you!"

*I'm gonna take a break. (Stay tuned for more..!)*

What is Freedom?

So recently I watched "Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed" at school. I had always wanted to see it but hadn't until now. I have to say it was rather interesting, and disturbing... And it made me think.


Ben Stein reminded us that our country was founded on the principle of "freedom." Freedom from being told what to think and what to worship. And yet, the supposed intellectual society blacklists and belittles those who even mention the phrase, "Intelligent Design." They are deemed "intellectual terrorists."

This is a frightening situation. According to Ben Stein, "Science" has become a multi billion-dollar industry that is limiting our academic freedom. Scientists, researchers, and professors are no longer able to pursue truth at any cost. One scientist said he simply wants "the ability to follow the evidence, wherever it leads."

What if it leads to God? What if it leads to Christ?

This is what the powers-that-be in the field of "Science" don't want! And so they put undue pressure on those who dare to ask the question.

Does this sound like "freedom" to you? Is this freedom of religion? Freedom of thought? Freedom of worship?

Interestingly enough, we have come to the opposite side of the pendulum-swing than we were at before. It used to be that "The Church" governed people's thoughts, worship, and levels of education. Those who questioned "The Church" were called heretics, and some were put to death. People wanted the freedom to study and research and find out TRUTH for themselves! They wanted the freedom to worship any God they wanted -- or none, if that was their inclination.

Once given that freedom, they became hypocrites: now THEY are limiting what can be taught in the schools and what type of research Federal grant-money will go to. Now THEY are the ones telling the masses what to think and who (or what) to worship. Those within their cultural sphere who utter the words "Intelligent Design" are called the modern-day equivalent of a heretic (the "intellectual terrorist") and they are put to death professionally.

Those who were oppressed have become the oppressors... And all in the name of Freedom.

So where is the balance? Is there one to be found? What is "freedom"?

A couple of definitions: (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/freedom)
1. Exemption from external control, interference, regulation, etc.
2. the power to exercise choice and make decisions without constraint from within or without; autonomy; self-determination.

What is the nature of "oppression"? (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/oppression)
1. the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner.

So what IS the nature of freedom, anyway? Is "freedom" synonomous with "anarchy"? Is it possible, in a fallen world, to have freedom? Will someone always be the oppressed, and someone always be the oppressor? Does freedom for one group eventually lead to oppression for another?

Just some thoughts that came to my mind as I watched this film.

What do YOU think?