A Viral Gospel

In St. Luke's, The Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 8, we encounter St. Philip the Evangelist spreading the message of the Good News of Jesus Christ in the midst of the murder of his brother-in-Christ, St. Stephen, and of persecution as recorded in the aforementioned chapter.

The chapter begins with the brutal stoning of Stephen and ends with the conversion of Saul. It begins with one of the most severe persecutors the Church ever knew and ends with his transformation into the greatest evangelist the Church has ever known. These are the consequences of a viral Gospel, a message that is contagious and rather than sapping life, health and hope from those contracting it's effects, it regenerates, transforms, heals and is life-giving.

Like a virus, the Church was also forced to spread through the neighboring regions of Jerusalem as a result of persecution. As they were scattered and spread, Christians, "went about preaching the word" (v.4). In the midst of dispersion there was declaration. As they were scattered by force, Christians scattered the seeds of love that propagated into new believers. Instead of destroying the Church, it grew and became - indestructible.

Philip was one of the seven original deacons of the Church. Along with Stephen, Philip was selected because he was a man, "of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom" (Acts 6:3). He was reliable and faithful. He was full of the Holy Spirit, therefore equipped with every good thing necessary for the ministry. And he was wise. His wisdom, to be sure, was not his own. It was from God. Without Him - he could do nothing. In the midst of turmoil, seemingly insurmountable challenges and fear, Philip was a faithful servant of the Lord. He continued to serve despite the manifold reasons available to hide, put the ministry aside or give up all together.

We are called to be a virus. We are called to spread, disperse and scatter across our city, nation and the world over. To spread the Gospel is to spread a life giving condition that will never cause death, only life and in unfathomable abundance. May we also experience in the midst of turmoil, opportunities to spread our praises and proclamations of the goodness of our King of Glory.

Paramore: Born to Scream Hallelujahs

I just wrote this article for The Good News, a local Christian newspaper. I wanted to share it with all of you as the theme is, in my opinion, relevant to how Christians view the role of other Christians in the arts. It's controversial thing, to say the very least. As a high school student, I never imagined these bands would ever exist, or for that matter, be embraced to the amazing extent they've been. Being that the Miami Music Ministry is all about bringing Jesus discipleship alongside musical training and development, it's only a matter of time before one of our own is before the limelight. May it always be for His honor and glory.

Here's the article:

Paramore is a band you want to keep your ears peeled for! Multiplying its fans by the hour, Paramore has continued to blow the minds and musical expectations of fans and critics alike. That’s not all, though. Here’s the best news: Paramore is a band comprised of young, talented and unashamed Christians.

In their thank you notes on the “RIOT!” album, all four band members thanked Jesus Christ. Their lyrics speak of misplaced faith, brokenness and of screaming “hallelujah.” A number of sideline observers of the buzz worthy emo pop “punk” band from Franklin, Tenn., are looking for more information on what the band thinks about the so-called “Jesus issue.”

“I try to talk about struggles and imperfections,” says lead singer Hayley Williams about her Christian faith, “and even questioning your faith at times. I don’t have anything figured out that the next kid doesn’t. It’s the people who shove their faith down people’s throats who create the stigma against artists with religious backgrounds.”

Formed in 2004, Paramore has been supported by top notch producers and record gurus. In 2005, Paramore got their first “big break” when they were practically signed “on-the-spot” by John Janick, founder of the record label Fueled by Ramen. Janick, “… was instantly struck,” the official Paramore website cites, “by their presence and their dedication, he immediately signed the band to the label.” Williams adds, “Fueled By Ramen has been amazing to us. So many kids started checking us out because our name is on their roster. It’s like a big family. We all share such a massive unit of fans.”

It seems that current commercial success and touring hasn’t eroded Paramore’s testimony. As musicians, Paramore’s presence, hard work and music is worthy of all the recognition they’ve been duly given. From a Christian perspective, perhaps many who didn’t know Jesus before may now consider Him as they realize that “we are broken” and in need of being restored.

This is particularly true when one reads the very personal blog entry by Williams regarding the controversial use of God’s name and the phrase, “Once a whore you’re nothing more,” in the song, Misery Business. The song, as Williams explains, “… is a true story... written at a time in my life that I felt very bitter towards a girl, who I still haven't forgiven, for a lot of things that she did a few years ago.”

In July 2007, as concern grew for her and band members over the lyrics, Williams decided to write a moving and apologetic Buzznet blog entry on the story behind the song. “I’m ashamed to say that, although I’m a believer in Jesus Christ and I claim him as my God, when I wrote those lyrics I wasn't addressing him. I was using his name casually. In vain, to be blunt. if you know much about the Christian religion (which I’m not too fond of addressing my faith as), you'll probably know that one of the ten commandments is "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord your God in vain"... it goes on to say, "...for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain." As a believer in Christ, that last part scares the hell out of me. I don't want to be held accountable for being the cause of so many people using his name in vain. you don't have to believe in what I believe and no one in Paramore is ever going to go around forcing our faith into people's lives... but believer or not, I might have led some of ya'll to believe that I take my saviour lightly. and I don't.” Williams continues, “God brought me through everything that I say in "Misery Business". I believe that I am a stronger person because those things happened in my life. through that situation, I learned so much. when I sing that song now, I’m not the same person I was when I wrote it. when I sing those lines that I used to sing in vain, I mean them in a different way. I don't want to opportunity to be held responsible for causing a lot of people to use my God's name in vain. so, whether or you not you believe in Christ. whether or not you care if it means something when you say God. just know that as for me, when I am singing those lines, I’m telling God that it feels good to stand up for myself and be victorious after long months of confusion and pain. I don't hurt the same way anymore.”

Paramore will perform in West Palm Beach on Wednesday, June 3, at the Cruzan Amphitheatre, opening up for No Doubt.

Being Jonah

On Saturday evening, I had two great friends share how they enjoyed listening to the story of Jonah as it was read from Eugene Peterson's The Message. The occasion was my preaching at The Lighthouse and the focus of the lesson was on our seemingly inexhaustible way of running in the opposite direction whenever God calls us to do His will - His way.

We often feel called by God to do what we claim He has disclosed to us to do. Most of us would say that there is a sense of collective agreement in that. I'm sure there are those who would disagree, but I confess that I do hear that kind of talk often and without much reservation. We get into the dicey stuff when we start to "count the costs" to doing whatever God intends for us to do. Here is where rationalization comes in. Here is where we may start crumbling a piece of paper during our prayer time and tell God that we seem to be having a bad connection and we'll just have to call back. In my heritage, sometimes the wrong, but popular thing to do was to claim limited to no language proficiency (Spanish) and say "no English" and hang up the phone. We can do that to with the language of angels, too.

So, back to Jonah. . .

Jonah was a prophet that continues to brazenly exhibit the quintessential weakness of most, if not all, of God's servants: Pride. Pride gets in the way of our doing what is genuinely God's will & pleasure. Jonah was angry at God because God was merciful to a people that had caused Jonah's people great pain and hardship. It was brutal. Jonah was adamant about the promises God had made to His chosen people, but he would have nothing to do with God's unfathomable grace and mercy, which surpasses our understanding and ability to love - if we are ever truly capable of love - but that's for another day.

We hear so many brothers and sisters talking about their ministry. In light of that, I suggest we rethink the ownership of ministry. If all that I have is God's, including the blessings and privilege of doing ministry on God's behalf, then how is it possible that any ministry I'm involved is in all actuality - mine? It's not you see, that's the problem. Pride convinces otherwise. At the moment that we claim ownership over God's ministry, then we take on a distorted sense of ownership that brings along with it all manner of wrong conclusions, controls and worldly concerns that are actually antichrist. All these things seek to weaken, undermine and misdirect the purposes of the Kingdom of God. I'm not saying we always do this wittingly. I figure that most of us are shocked at the very thought! But, my friends, that's what we do - and this is what Jonah did. Jonah wanted to tell God - and He did - who He needs to save, how He needs to do it and who He shouldn't save. We often tell God how we are going to run His ministry, when and who should benefit from it and why we're subject matter experts on His character, universe, plan and purpose. Pretty arrogant, eh?

May we pray for God's mercy on each of us. May we pray for God to divest us of all pride and to infuse each of us with His Spirit. For only in the Spirit can we be moved toward a greater sense of humility and holiness in our lives. It is through holiness that we begin to see ourselves as Jonah and strive to live in the reality of our reluctant and rebellious attitudes toward God.