Great Post on Time Management

HERE

Did God really say?
It began that day,
The craftiest of the creatures plotted the play
Prodded the prey,
Teasing the feast that he was preparing to slay
..."Stop, Away."
If only it had ended that way,
Instead it continued down a path to decay,
To their utter dismay
Devastated listeners could only hope and pray.

"Then what happened, Moses?" the littlest blurt.
So he continued sharing about Mr. and Mrs. Dirt.
His own brother?! came next,
and then "They all died?"
No, I said God saved Noah and his sons and their wives.
So many lost lives...
Only sorrow it seems,
A bite of a bit of fruit ripped the world at its seams.
And then a single bowl, and other brothers were split.
Trouble and trials, they couldn't see the end to it.

If only there were the means to reconcile this breach.
The enmity must be removed to permit man's reach.
But no man can offer up.
So God offered down.
Sent His only Son to people the kingdom of the ground,
From the Lost to the Found,
He carried the message around,
He had come as He promised so that joy might abound.
But He was rejected and despised just like in the Garden,
Dismissed, but He kept on the mission He had charted.
Unlike men, His heart was guarded,
He would endure the shame.
He was executed and then crushed,
Bearing man's blame.
This is why He came,
To show the greatest love born in the greatest pain.
That's why He's got the greatest Name.
That's why He ever reigns.
He's worth more than the praise from all things
Praise be to Jesus, the Lamb that was slain.

Being mastered

Just some quick thoughts

Have you ever wondered why most rappers don't publish their lyrics (and when YouTubers do, the song suddenly stuns you with its graphic nature or stupidity)? My guess is they realize how foolish their messages sound when spoken without the aid of trance-inducing harmonies and deafening bass rhythms. "I'd pop a 9-milli off my hip, and let it emit." That's inspiring. Not. And yet, that crass music is shaping our culture - or should I say destroying it...poisoning it. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying that all music with great harmonies and deep bass are bad. I'm talking about lyrics, lyrics which ride on the coattails of auto-tuning and take advantage of ignorant youth. These lyrics are poorly written, immoral in most matters, and just plain dumb. Perhaps there have been a few sophisticated rappers in the genre's history who have cleverly engaged political, social, economic, and religious issues, but they are exceptions. I believe that a fundamental shift is occurring in the genre. Whereas in past days the best rappers were secular and they offered color-commentary on the racial divide in the States along with goofiness and fun-loving street stories, today's secular leadership raps about demonic possession (Eminem's new song as well as Jay-Z's self-glorification in hijacking the transliterated name of the Hebrew God prove this point), illicit sexual immorality, and all other forms of iniquity, today's best rappers are Christian, trading places with those of yesteryear. Whereas the old-school Christian rappers were rather laughable in ability in comparison to their secular counterparts, today's Christian rappers are both adept in skill and provocative in their message. They have something NEW to say to this people-group, and they're sharing their message much better than everyone else is sharing theirs. Now, to be sure, I'm talking about a small group of the overpopulated genre bloated with money-chasers and fakes, but that's how all categories are often defined - by the group that becomes large enough and visible enough to determine whether there is something good or beautiful for others to desire or enjoy. When an art form reaches a point at which it's respected, that's when people begin listening. With Christian rap, that point is being reached. With secular rap, that point may be lost - I can only pray. You can too.

It's not "just music" my friends. Just like the hijacked planes on 9/11/2001 were not "just planes." Vehicles can cause real damage.

To make the imagery as vivid as possible, the smutty rap that's being shoveled to my youth these days is like a sexually transmitted disease that these fame and ephemeral glory hounds are spreading like male cult prostitutes for Baal seeking satisfaction by means of darkness. And the heinous nature of this disease is that as my youth have spiritual intercourse with this trash, they begin reproducing it in kind. They bear the fruit of this darkness.

Whereas good issue (Biblical terminology) brings forth good life, these prostitutes spoil good waters with their filth.

Low profile preacher, with a lion-fire heart,
Wouldn't equivocate with truth, but just obeyed it from the start,
His knowledge wasn't power, but it fueled the fire,
Inspiring his worship of the God he admired.
Though weak and tired,
God's presence desired,
Waiting on his Hope to light the Liar's pyre.

to be continued

end time

His gait was paced and his muscles tight,
You could isolate him in the crowd as they split left and split right.
He tried to be a normal guy on any normal night.
But it wasn't a normal night that night.
It was the end of their time.

He called out like a man possessed, a man obsessed,
Loud shouts with his words, terse at best,
Calling for a city-sized hearse to wrest,
Our lives from our grips.
That judgment would shut our wicked lips - no more quips.
It was the end of our time.

For a few days he didn't stop, he just kept on,
Calling out over and over, as the truth started to dawn
On us, that his words weren't wrong, no fuss
Would resist, as our hearts started to insist
That his words did consist of all we had missed.
And it was the end of the time.

So from east to west, we broke and wept,
The power of the Almighty swept
Over and made us fear,
That the judge man was coming near,
The coming judgment was clear,
And it was the appointed time.

But God showed great patience,
He didn't do away with the wrath, but reserved it for the Ancient.
That in our stead would stand one day on That Occasion,
The King would die for enemy-subjects, Amazing!
So why wasn't the judge man more elated?
It was the end of that time.

He thought God's judgment was already too belated.
But, God had known that the man and they were related.
The judge man sulked, but God's word wouldn't be debated.
God is good, all the time, too great to be graded.
His mercy in Christ, would you degrade it?
Just be-aware that we near the end of time.

God wins.

Ill-dippin', cloud-equippin', sight-spittin' phenom,
Squelchin' waves with a blaze that doesn't die with the dawn.
He makes wolves lie with the fawns,
Brings back the dead when they're gone,
Flexing His brawn, crushing all injustice,
Yo, He's never been wrong.
Even His weakest is strong,
The meekest wait, for His coming is never too long,
By the word of His power upholding this planet we're on,
Until it's time for the song,
As from the hearts of the saints His praises prolong.
No more cries for judgment will spawn, It's done.
Like a theft, with the offer withdrawn,
He was but casting for a moment, but now His show goes on. He won.

Truth matters

This discussion has ignited the zeal (good and bad) of some and is revealing the positions of many.

1. Why do we defend people before defending the truth? Which is more valuable in God's eyes: His name and the truth, or men? Are they always/never/sometimes mutually exclusive?
   
2. Jesus said He is the truth, and so when we suggest the truth matters, but not enough to separate people, we must then ask if we're also saying that not standing with Jesus and thus opposing Him would result from standing with men who teach what Jesus did not and especially teach that which Jesus opposed.
3. If facts about one's teaching have already presented themselves from which a man will not separate himself, shouldn't that be admitted evidence that what a man will teach about on the same subject can be surmised until proven contrary? If not, why not?