Back in EFFECT!

Sorry for the delays.... it's been a minute since I have made a blog post, and right now I'm in a rush so I'll make it brief:

*I'm in South Korea (back in SK after a 6 month stay as an exchange student last spring) teaching English and serving/going under more discipleship training/preaching training, etc.
*Working on a whole new batch of tracks, this time to possibly be featured on a couple worship albums/demos that will be sent out (we'll see)
*And most importantly, delighting and reveling in the love of the Most High, Hallelujah!

I'm finishing up a new track, called "True Love" which will be uploaded soon

Til then, praise He who is worthy!

Marcus

my thoughts on politics and the Christian revisited

this past sunday (which happened to be my last at grace mission ministries in durham, tear), someone posed a particular question of interest:

what candidate, or what party in the upcoming election should we, as Christians, support?

now, to those who have read my blog over the past month or so (i apologize for the sporadic timing of posts and whatnot) you would remember that a couple weeks ago i posted a particular AIM conversation about this topic that i had with kevin, a brother that i have mentored over the past 10 months... about a week after making the post i deleted it, just because i feared that my words, which at times were very brash, could influence brothers and sisters in the wrong way. a lot of the things i stated i back up wholeheartedly, but i felt it was wiser to delete the post.

however, after this past sunday, i just feel that i must comment once again on this issue (especially after having this conversation with Christian, my mentor in korea).

so, in order answer the question: neither party, no candidate is the best "Christian" party/candidate.

sounds like a cop-out, eh? haha

but really, there has been a notion over the past 30 years (at least since the rise of the Christian Right) that in order to be a "true Christian" or a "real Christian" you must vote republican. while i believe that we as Christians should each individually assert ourselves in the voting booth, i do not go so far as to think that we all should throw our votes behind a specific party or candidate just because we identify ourselves as Christians. as my mentor explained to me, our allegiance is not to a party, our allegiance is to Christ.

true, there are certain issues that are non-negotiable in terms of where we as a demographic stand (abortion being the main one), but other than that, aligning ourselves wholeheartedly (and in some cases, blindly) behind a specific party only will lead us to being manipulated as a voting bloc.

like i said earlier, our allegiance is to Christ, not to a party, and therefore when we seek to assert our political capability by voting, we should seek to do so understanding that when each party's beliefs are held up against the perfect morality and example of Christ, each party has its benefits and its weaknesses, and whether republican or democrat, both parties fall short. Christ is and was the best candidate, given the fact that He coupled strong moralism and perfect leadership qualities with a genuine love for the have-nots, always looking to provide for their welfare. while the republican party from a Christian perspective has the benefit of leaders who are very strong (conservative) morally, they fall short in looking to provide equality and to meet the welfare of those who are less-off. in the book of James, James speaks to how we as Christians cannot afford to just proclaim our faith (and our moralism) while not meeting the needs of others (James 2:15-17). republican economic and social policies which reward the richest citizens of this country while cutting funding from the social programs that the poor desperately need is not cutting it, and is definitely not a line of thinking that a Christian should support. democrats, on the other hand, generally are very much for providing for the general social welfare (through large government programs, advocating universal health care, etc), but from a Christian perspective, they suffer from a moral relativism that falls short. we as Christians cannot tolerate everything being "relative." our yes is yes, our no must be no, and we cannot tolerate politically leaders who suffer from moral relativism, refusing to take any true ground as to what is right and what is wrong in the world.

when we take the bait, when we fall prey to political pandering and declare ourselves affiliated to one party over the other, we are making ourselves vulnerable to the manipulation and political aspirations of politicians and other leaders. like i said twice before, our affiliation is to Christ, and Christ alone. barack obama may be a charismatic figure, john mccain may exude the leadership qualities or the moderation that make him an attractive candidate, but both fall short in comparison to Christ. we cannot lose sight of this truth, because when it comes down it, these leaders are politicians... willing to say and do what they must in order to attain their political goals, and in order to receive as many votes as possible.

.:why Christians vote republican, a short historical interruption::.
historically, before the 1970s, pastors all over america, instead of encouraging their congregations to vote republican, used to in fact encourage their congregations to not vote at all (speaking generally about the evangelical Christian community, the black Christian community has been deeply involved politically since its inception), understanding that neither party is going to come close to the example set forth by our Lord.

it was not until the conservative faction of the republican party (specifically southern democrats who after the campaign of barry goldwater began to align themselves with the republican party) started to forge connections with many of the popular evangelical leaders of that time (pat robertson, jerry falwell, robert grant, james dobson), in part a response to desegregation and roe v. wade, from which these leaders initiated campaigns to mobilize the Christian community behind the republican party. this change is supported by pat robertson's failed attempt to run for the republican nomination in 1988, and the Christian coalition's stated goal of having control of the republican party and the white house by 1996, and the election and reelection of george w bush can be attributed to such a union between the Christian demographic at large and the republican party. however it has not always been this way. many republicans (who historically have been largely state's rights, and championed individual rights) until after the reagan administration asserted that issues of abortion and gay marriage were state issues, if not individual issues. that all ended once they realized that "moral majority" as we as a Christian demographic have been called, is and was central to any chance of republican political success.

i point this out only to show that the Christian community has not always been republican (actually, in the 1976 election, Christians by the numbers supported democratic candidate jimmy carter, who went on to win the election.. this also caused the republican party to seek gaining the Christian vote, which they were successful in doing, by making the reagan campaign and administration one largely centered around reagan's moral superiority/ conservative values).

for many of us (especially us in this new generation, 80s babies and so forth) we have always defined the Christian community as being politically aligned with the republican party, since it was something that began in the years before we were born. it therefore has made it difficult for us to understand that being Christian does not necessarily mean republican. it doesn't mean democrat, either.

it means that we attach our identity, our affiliation, onto the one who freely gave it to us in the first place, Jesus Christ. it means that we place our hopes and our dreams for the world and for america with Him, and with the Father, knowing that He is sovereign over all, regardless of what vote we cast. all in all, when it comes down to it, it is God who decides what leader runs this country, and it is God who uses that leader to do His will. i think that many of us lose sight of this fact when election time rolls around, because we grow so attached to the issues, that we lose that eternal perspective. there are those, even in the Christian community, who think that voting one way or the other means bringing in a leader that will ultimately bring greater and greater prosperity to this country. but saying so forgets the big picture. it forgets the prophetic words of Revelation, of Jesus, and of the OT prophets who told us that as the time of His reappearance rapidly approaches the world will not grow in prosperity (america will not live forever as the greatest nation on earth, that right is reserved for Christ and His New Jerusalem kingdom), but rather in greater sin, war, and destruction. we must trust that God is going to bring about His will regardless of the political leaders that are put in place, and we must instead fix our gaze onto Him, readying ourselves for His coming, seeking to make more disciples, and to preach the gospel to the ends of the Earth.

with that said, we still must seek to submit to whatever leader is in place, praying for them, supporting them so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, understanding that they one day will have to give an account for their deeds, just as we will. just as we are called to submit to our pastors, parents, and small group leaders, we are called to submit to those leaders of nations as well, trusting that God is doing His will through them, regardless of whether we personally agree with the political decisions he or she makes.

for us, as Christians, it is about having that eternal perspective. the things of this Earth are fleeting pleasures, so we should not worry ourselves to death over what candidate is elected, what their effects will be on us economically, or otherwise. we know that our treasure, our home, our citizenship is in Heaven, not here on earth.

so go vote for obama, or go vote for mccain with a clear conscience.
(idk about Hillary tho, haha)

i'm voting for obama. but it doesn't matter.


because when it comes down to it, God is sovereign over it all.
i'd trust His will over 300 million americans any day.

lyrics to who we are

Mighty - Who We Are (zshare link is in the previous post)

[chorus]
hey ladies (yeah)
if you feel that God is outta sight
just trust His love is always right
so stand up strong its time to fight (yeah)
hey fellas (yeah)
dont think just know your really fly
cause of Jesus Christ, you'll never die
so stand up strong its time to rise (yeah)

[verse 1]
yo
defies logic, the way Jesus Christo existo to free souls,
and prophets foretold the coming of a son of esteem,
lord of all the rings, the return of the king, ha
but its not Aragon or Frodo,
make believe characters without real character
nah my God is the opposite of fake,
miracle on the cross sealed the promise of our fate
yeah because of Him my destiny
Is to rest and breathe free in His ecstasy, uh
I was a seed of a deceit, lies, and toil
but to bear fruit He pulled my roots out from Earth soil
now I’m planted in a heavenly realm
in the world, but not of it like the rest of these clowns, haha
but I don’t boast in myself, but Him
the victory is claimed, I know that we win, yeah!

[chorus]


[verse 2]
yo,
who am I? my works aint blameless
a saint, but sin taints, so im still (steel) not stainless
but im goin through a process of progress
Earth's playin checkers, while God is playin chess, haha
im sayin He's planned the next step
in fact, He planned the stairs, the house, the architect
His blueprint's His word, here's a hint
29:11 jeremiah son, read the print
because of Him my destiny is to prosper
Heaven's my home, and Earth's my hostel
God said His house to me was mi casa
opened all the doors and gave me wings to soar
i'm flyin in the heavenly skies
this caged bird was freed to flee, and so I rise
but I don't boast in myself, but the Son
the victory is claimed, I know that we won!

[chorus]

[bridge]x2
yeah, Jesus our savior
gave us a life to live, give, and savor
paid for the cost in seizing God's favor
undeserved so serve our true maker

[chorus]

new track!

Mighty (my rap name, no gimmicks haha) - Who We Are

http://www.zshare.net/audio/10564458df517b12/

spiritually, i have no feeling from the neck down

.::::first, the title is not meant to demean or lighten anyone's suffering. if so, i apologize.

but really,

spiritually, sometimes, i have no feeling from the neck down. i just feel that my heart isn't always in it, that as a man of God, the connection, the feeling that i should have in this eternal relationship with God, there are some moments where i feel that it is really something that is lacking. lacking in depth, lacking in emotion, lacking in touch, lacking in commitment shown through action, lacking in the kind of radical devotion that i feel that an everlasting relationship with God should require. and there are times when i don't feel that... in fact, i feel.... paralyzed.

ever stuck your hand in a big bucket of ice, or iced a broken or swollen limb before? you know that feeling of disconnectedness that you feel with that particular limb for those seconds (or minutes) it takes for the blood to come rushing back into those iced veins? that's a perfect analogy for how i would describe my walk with God at times. drenched into a bucket of ice, limp and numb, separated from the rest of the body, separated from any connection with Him. the reason i say i feel that i have no feeling from the neck down is because for many of us men, especially myself, the problem is not necessarily what is going on in our heads... because we know what is right, we know the law, we know the scripture, we know that God is present and God is righteous and God is just..... but rather what is going on in the rest of our body, in our hearts, in our hands, in our legs and feet.

i mean, just sitting in the church sometimes and being in the company of many of the fellas in my congregation there are times when i wonder if we only love God in our minds... or if our love for God is something that not only flows from our heads when we sing the songs of praise, when we read scripture, when thinking about complex theological concepts, when we say "amen" and nod our heads in an approving fashion to the convicting or powerful things that the pastor has said, but rather that a love for God flows into our hearts, where we actually feel a change, a call to act, where we feel conviction that surpasses our own mind's ability to conceive it, or to our hands, where that love of God is shown unequivocally through outreach (pun intended), where as men of God we actually go out and use our hands to help those brothers and sisters around us who are struggling, where we go out and build relationships, where we go out and build families, churches, houses, communities... i wonder if our love for God is not just in our heads but in our legs and feet, forcing us to walk that extra mile in serving our community through leadership, if our legs are so filled with a love of God that we stand strong on our convictions, on our promises, on our expectations of ourselves and of others, and most importantly, we stand on the truth that is the word of God, we stand on Him as our foundation...

or if we are paralyzed, numb, only thinking these things... only saying them with our mouths, only paying God lip service, without paying him real service.

men of God are called to serve their families, their communities, their churches... and that is something that cannot happen when we allow our hands, our hearts, our feet to grow disconnected from God, to grow disconnected from the love of God that we know we should have, a love of God that we may even think we have... We should not be like the poor servant in the parable of the talents, given such an unbelievable amount of wealth by his master, only to squander it by refusing to act, by refusing to take deliberate action to bear fruit, to multiply what had been so graciously given to him... we, similar to that servant, have been given talents.. true talents, skills, spiritual gifts, and the best gift of all, love that God has intended for us to use in order to serve Him, and we should go with our hands, hearts, and feet to put them to use... if not, as Jesus said, "whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him" (:matt 25.29:).

i am talking about being wasteful men, i am talking about being paralyzed people, i am talking about how us as believers should not aspire to be individuals who scream as those in luke 6.46, who say "Lord, Lord", but then choose to disobey Him through inaction. look at the statement in full, luke 6.46-49 NIV:

.:why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what i say? i will show you what he is like who comes to me and hears my words and puts them into practice. he is like a man building a house, who dug down deep and laid the foundation on rock. when a flood came, the torrent struck that house but could not shake it, because it was well built. but the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. the moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete:.

.:::::i think that Jesus is speaking directly to us men who are disconnected at the head. us men who are paralyzed in our relationship with Him, in our actions, in our convictions, us men who experience that disconnect from what we know as believers to what we do as men of God. Jesus is talking about us. i mean its clear as to what the benefits are for us when we put our hearts and hands to use, building up our faith and our love of Christ by putting his words into action, into practice in our lives.. its clear that when we stand strong on the right foundation, and our legs are firmly grounded in Him that whatever our hearts and hands build, whether it is a house, or a family, or a church, or a community, or a relationship - it is destined to stand up in those times when the rain and the difficulties of life come pouring down upon us. this is a call to us as men to not just be there.. it is not enough just to stand in the churches, it is not enough just to sing the songs, just to be present, counted attendance in the pews, or to be seen on sunday just so that we can go back to our daily routines during the week - no, we must as men stay actively engaged in putting the words of Christ into action..

but i guess before we can talk about what we can do, there is need to talk about what paralyzes us, what disconnects us from our belief and our love of God in action in the first place..

...: it all comes down to worry:....
i once heard a statement that said "worrying is like a rocking chair, it takes you back and forth, but you don't ever go anywhere." i think that statement alone can describe really what worrying does to us... it paralyzes us. it makes us think about things to the point where those thoughts are not followed by a conviction to act, but rather a conviction towards inaction..
example.
i used to be the biggest nerd in high school when it came to the opposite sex. completely and absolutely afraid of girls. but, like most guys in high school, every so often i would meet someone or i would grow to have interest in a particular girl that i would meet. however, instead of ever asking the girl out or approaching her to tell her of my interest, i would think about and worry about all the possibilities and all the various permutations that could possibly arise in the situation that could cause it to go terribly bad. what if she didn't like me? what if she thought i was ugly? the mere possibility of rejection, of public humiliation caused me to worry and worry and worry without ever doing anything about it. now, i know some people would laugh and say "hey look on the bright side, at least you didnt get rejected," but instead the constant worrying about the situation(s) caused enough mental and physical damage on its own, without ever experiencing any kind of joy or payoff.

the reason i use this example (for a better idea of what i am talking about, read matthew 6.25-34) is because as men nowadays many of us approach doing things for God with our hearts, hands, and feet in the same way. instead of being men of great risk, daringly and courageously going out doing the will of God, we shrink to being shells of the men that God has intended for us to be, so afraid and worried that if we risk it all for God, if we throw all our efforts, concentration, resources, and reputations on serving God in a radical and devoted fashion that somehow we will end up receiving the short end of the stick, open to failure, open to public ridicule, open to being singled out amongst those around us. that worry, that fear is not a call to action and perseverance in many of us, as we would rather then turn our backs on God's call to enjoy some comfort in the safety valve of our own worries. we would rather be disconnected, paralyzed in our state of misplaced devotions and half-hearted praise, content with being agents of ineffective efforts, instead of being God's agents of miraculous change and vibrant ministry. that is why men today would rather use their hands to play xbox than to build relationships, to build communities, would rather be promiscuous and self-serving than to stand on character and God's favor by being faithful and abstinent, would rather lie, manipulate, and ridicule instead of speaking God's love through encouragement from an overflow of their hearts, and would rather stay silent in the face of others' mistakes, instead of offering a truthful rebuke standing on the authority of God's word.

worry is the plague that has stricken many men's hearts, as we worry about our standing amongst others instead of our standing with God.. and it has us hurt, disconnected, standing in the pews on sundays singing the songs but not feeling the conviction, hearing the words but not being called to act, reading the truth but not being strong enough to stand on it... so how is it changed, how can the bloodlines from our heads to our hearts, hands, and feet be renewed and opened up again? how can we take our bodies out of a debilitating icebath of worry so that we can be filled with an active, fiery passion for God?

well, you gotta know who ya are, and who ya serve, trusting God at His word fellas.

understanding and embracing our identity in Christ is the first step that we as men of God can begin to combat the enemy's tactics of using the world and worry to lull us and pressure us into being inactive reservists in the battle against the enemy.

....:::but our citizenship is in heaven. and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ:::.. phil 3.20

you hear that? we are citizens of heaven, men! we are princes of the Most High, sons of the God of the universe, heirs to an inheritance that is beyond our own imagination (romans 8.16-17)! i mean really, as much as i like my US passport, and my NC drivers license, i'm waiting to get that Heaven ID card. haha but really, we are children of God, loved above any and all other creation. we as men must understand that and embrace that view of ourselves if we are to ever rise up in Him to defeat the worry that we are bombarded with. why? because worrying attacks our identity. worrying is a reflection of us not knowing who we are, not understanding that we are children of God. we do not take those things that we know and push them to things that we do because we are not fully undertaking and understanding what it means and what comes from being a child of God, an heir to what He has given us to inherit. we lack the eternal, Godly perspective to eagerly wait for Him, and for what He has to give us, and instead we fall into concerns and a fixation on things of this world, things that as it says in 2 peter, "will be laid bare," rendered meaningless. so fellas, its time to stand up, to rise up, and remember that God is our Father, and that God is a God capable of all things, who has promised us that He would be with us, and nothing through Him is impossible, empowering us to overcome all obstacles through Christ. knowing that should be more of an incentive, an encouragement to go out and put our hearts, hands, and feet to work.

i say all these things also understanding that through all of it must come a determination and a realization that much supplication and dependence on God is required ultimately (and i say ultimately meaning more than anything else) to open up the lines in order to give us the feeling from the neck down that we so deeply desire... but, and i say this not to decrease the importance of prayer, because it is very important, we as men while being prayer-filled, must also be willing to act as well

i hope that we all may stop to remember who we are in Christ, and that we will hold onto that in order to put the things that God has so graciously given us to good use in a way that glorifies Him most.

til next time

marc

why

why start a blog?

idk. seemed like a good idea at the time.

no actually, i feel led to start a blog (even though i feel that it can be a tad cliche at times) because i just feel that i need a visible place to put my thoughts, ramblings, rants, on the different issues that i face everyday as a man guided by God in a fallen world.

really, my hope is that in reading these things someone, somewhere (maybe even close to me, in my church or in closely connected limbs of the body that i associate with) will be blessed and will give glory to God. that's my hope. glory to God. but i admit, maybe part of it is my own narcissism that is leading me to put these thoughts out here instead of just saying the things that are on my mind, instead of journaling them privately (a discipline that i, like many christian men supplanted in a world with hi-definition televisions, xbox360s, cell phones that can call, text, vote, record, and cook your dinner, struggle with), or just keeping these things to myself... but i would hope not. i would hope and i would wish that this blog, this collection of thoughts backed up by the word when it is truth, and preceded with an admission of failure in humility when it is not, would fall somewhere in the unbelievably perfect picture of brilliant design that we call His Will, and would not just be something that is defined by my own, imperfect, scattered, collage of thoughts that is my own will.

consider this first post my mission statement. what is to be accomplished. the platform to which policy will be derived. et cetera, et cetera.