Tag: Christianity
Don’t Hide Your Creativity in 2016
The basement of my friends’ house was filled with art. The art was so incredible, inspirational that I started to cry as I viewed the pieces. I was moved to tears; the art was that beautiful.
And it was in the basement.
The art belonged to her father (at the time she lived with her parents) and he had created lots of work, but then stored it in the basement. I couldn’t believe that he took his amazing work and put it in the basement. I thought it was a sin to put all those beautiful pieces in a dark, unused basement.
Isn’t this what so many people do with their creative talents?
They hide them by putting them in a dark space where no one can see them. I can only think of one instance in the Bible where a man hid a “talent” (in this case the talent was money), and God wasn’t pleased. God isn’t pleased when He blesses us with something of value and we hide it.
When God gives you gifts – those gifts aren’t just for you – they are for you to share.
What if every great intellectual, thinker, writer, entertainer, inventor, and researcher decided that they no longer wanted to share their thoughts, music, gifts, talents, and knowledge with the world?
Can you imagine if all the Adele’s of the world decided to only sing in the shower? What would the world look like? I can’t imagine a world devoid of creative beauty. I don’t want to imagine it.
I believe we are ALL created to contribute in some way. None of us are meant to live in solitary confinement and hide our natural gifts and talents. We are meant to share and build upon the gifts and talents God gives us.
Hoarding your talent is selfish. And selfishness is a sin. Don’t hide your creativity in 2016. If you have a talent, don’t bury it in the ground or place it in darkness. And if you refuse to share your talent, the least that you can do is grow it.
Soul Detox 2016 (A Step-By-Step Guide on How to Detox the Soul)
2015 is finally over…
Some of us had a great year while some of us faced more trials than usual. The good news is that 2016 is here, and we have a fresh start! God’s mercies are new every morning, which also means that His mercies are new every year!
With that said, I want you to consider ditching the New Year’s resolution that you would normally make and consider embracing some ‘Soul Resolutions’ this year. Instead of making a list of resolutions that you probably won’t keep; instead, why not commit to a soul detox for 2016?
The soul detox is deeper than your usual resolution. It isn’t just a list of cumbersome goals and changes that may or may not stick. Instead, a soul detox is about a lifestyle change. It’s about changing who you are from the inside out and allowing the change to permeate every area of your life. A soul detox is about incorporating habits and disciplines that nourish the spirit and leave you feeling that it is well with your soul. Detoxing the soul starts with detoxing the mind, body and spirit.
Detoxing the Body
Choose to eat healthy in 2016! Your health and your soul are related. In the third book of John, the disciple tells the beloved of God to prosper and be in health even as their soul prospers. There is a connection between health and the soul. God doesn’t just desire for your soul to prosper; He wants your health to prosper too. Here are a few ideas for your physical detox:
– Get out of the house for fresh air and walk more.
– Drink more water. Water is life-giving.
– Eat delicious whole foods.
– Sit in the sun.
– Inhale deeply, and then exhale. Do this a few times a day.
Detoxing the Mind
Detoxing the mind requires a release of negative thoughts. Interrupt any negative loops that are replaying over and over again in your head. Choose not to meditate on what went wrong during the day, a hurtful remark, or a memory that still makes you angry. Let it all go in 2016! Replace negative thoughts with God’s word. Think about what God says about you this year.
Another powerful way to detox the mind is to go on a digital detox. Most people desperately need a digital detox! Don’t waste your time on the internet this new year. Make the most of every opportunity. Treat five minutes as if it’s an eternity. Here are a few ideas for your mind detox:
– Meditate on Jeremiah 29:11 which reads: For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”
– Remember the Biblical principle that you are what you think. Monitor your thoughts.
– Simplify your bookmarks. Visit a handful of websites that you really love and delete every website that you simply like.
– Simplify your online life. You don’t have to be on every social media platform. And when you log on to a platform, look at the clock and keep track of your time.
– Choose to spend less time in front of a screen and more time in front of Yeshua.
Detoxing the Spirit
Your spirit is affected by what you hear and see. Here are a few ideas for your spirit detox:
– Be careful and picky about what you watch on tv or browse on the internet.
– Choose to listen to the word of God while you’re sleeping. Stream scripture into you home with a Roku channel called the Streaming Bible.
– Read scripture every single day. Put His words in front of your eyes.
– Confess scripture every day. Speak it aloud and it will build your faith.
– Avoid the news. Don’t read horrible headlines because it affects your spirit. Detox from the news. You’ll be happier and healthier for it.
Are you going to Soul Detox this year?
Aren’t All Religions the Same? Is Jesus the Only Way?
There is a dizzying array of options when it comes to religion, and the culture around us says that they are all equally valid. It seems absolutely bizarre to people that someone would say, “This one way is the truth and the only truth.”
The poet Steve Turner describes brilliantly what many think when it comes to religion: “Jesus was a good man just like Buddha, Mohammed, and ourselves. We believe he was a good teacher of morals but we believe that his good morals are really bad. We believe that all religions are basically the same, at least the one we read was. They all believe in love and goodness, they only differ on matters of creation, sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.”
Baptism: Dying to Self
Baptism is one of the most memorable events in my life. I was baptized at age seven, and it was something I’ll never forget. In our Southern Baptist church it was traditional for a person to wear white from head to toe – I even wore a white turban on my head. When I stepped into the baptismal pool, (which wasn’t designed for children, but for adults) the water was almost up to my neck.
There was no need to tip me backwards. I was so small that the pastor could have pushed a small wave towards me. However, I was dipped backwards and came back up again. I felt clean and tingly – there were all these emotions stirring within. I knew that I had done something spectacular, and I knew that the angels in heaven were having a party. I knew that something profound had occurred that I didn’t truly understand.
Baptism is one of the most profound aspects of Christianity. It’s an enigma. It’s an esoteric mystery of renewal and cleansing. There are two things that occur when you are baptized. You go under. And then you rise again.
You are submerged and what’s left in the water are the fragments of who you used to be and what rises from the water is a brand new person. Baptism symbolizes dying to self.
Why I Stopped Watching R-Rated Movies
Some Christians can watch anything. I cannot. I have to be careful about what I watch, and I am. One of the things that I watch very rarely is R-Rated movies – unless I have a clear idea of what I’m actually getting myself into.
I don’t watch R-rated movies for the typical reasons. Most R-rated movies are incredibly violent. And if they are not violent, then they’re filled with sex. The ones that are sexless are filled with cursing and blasphemy. PG 13 rated movies are only slightly better.
Violent television and movies don’t just affect you spiritually – they also affect you physically. There are physical changes that actually occur in your brain when you watch the ‘wrong’ TV shows and movies. Studies confirm that when a person watches the ‘wrong’ thing, harmful brain changes start to occur. But it’s not my brain that I’m worried about when I turn on the television – it’s my conscious.
I don’t want to violate my conscious by what I watch. So, I choose to keep my television diet very simple and minimalist.
The Bible describes Job as blameless and righteous. Job made a covenant with his eyes. In Psalm 101, David says something similar stating that he would not set before his eyes anything that is worthless. Yeshua said that the eye is the lamp of the body. The eyes play a remarkable role in our spirituality.
I’m careful what I put before my eyes. I don’t watch just anything on the tele.
Am I missing out on great entertainment?
Maybe so, but I don’t care because my conscious is clear.
I sometimes listen to the sermons of Zac Poonen. He once answered the question from a viewer on whether or not Christians should watch television and movies. His response is harsh. He explains that when people ask these kinds of questions, what they are really asking is “How close to the edge of a train platform can I stand without falling over?”
The real problem is the desire to stand at the edge in the first place.
Treasure in Heaven
It’s hard to separate the idea of success from wealth and material possession – and it isn’t just a Western thing. For the world, success is an accumulation of things. But Yeshua tells His Disciples something quite different – He tells them not to not worry about building wealth on earth – but to focus on the things above – spiritual wealth.
The rich young ruler was an example for us. When Yeshua asked the ruler to sell what he had and give to the poor and follow him, the ruler couldn’t do it. He couldn’t do it because he was rich. If he were poor and had nothing – the decision would have been much easier for him. But when the stakes are high…
Thankfully, there is hope for even those who would rather keep their money than follow Yeshua. When the rich, young ruler walked away from Yeshua, Yeshua turned to His disciples and stated that it was easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven. His disciples wondered if anyone would be saved at all. But then Yeshua offered a glimpse of hope.
Yeshua said that what seemed impossible for man was possible for God – because anything is possible with God.
Cursing Christians
I remember the first time I used a curse word. I was in middle school. My peers cursed, and I rapidly developed the same habit. It was a combination of social pressure and moral degradation. It became an ingrained habit that I found difficult to break.
Curse words walked with me beyond middle school and into adulthood. I have struggled with an untamed tongue for many years. And although my tongue was brushed a little cleaner the further I dove into Christianity, the struggle was still there…
And then I had a child.
If you want to know how to clean your mouth quickly, there is any easy way to do it. Have a child. Prior to having children, my husband and I discussed all of the things that we would need to stop doing for the sake our child’s well-being (and sanity). Cursing was one of the vices that definitely made the list.
We didn’t want our child to grow up thinking that it was acceptable to use such language. I think most people are a little surprised when they hear a child curse. It’s because it’s not the language that we expect a child to use. It’s “grown up” and by “grown up” I mean far less innocent and far more morally corrupt. Some people might see a cursing child as cute while others find it incredibly appalling. But even those who think it’s cute when a child uses a curse word, often cringe if they discover it’s a natural part of the child’s vocabulary and not restricted to one-time usage.
Most of us believe that cursing somehow defiles a child and taints their innocence. Why would we think that a curse word defiles a child? The answer lies in how we perceive profanity. The words are dirty. The simple idea of children and cursing together may arouse nostalgia of an angry mother forcing her child to wash his mouth out with soap. The soap symbolically cleanses the filth attached to the ‘dirty’ word that came from his mouth.
There are plenty of parents who curse in front of children. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re bad parents because I am quite sure that a lot of parents who love their children deeply and would die for their kid may drop an F-bomb of two. I still cringe a little when I hear people curse (especially when they are Christian) but I’m also sympathetic because I know that taming the tongue is an impossibility apart from the Holy Spirit.
BOHO + THEO 