Faith Like A child- Let's go bye, bye!

       Being surrounded by three (and soon to be four young children) daily I catch glimpses of what Jesus was referring to when He calls us to have faith like a child!  To receive the kingdom of God like a little child (Luke 10:15) is not easy to do, especially when we grow up and begin thinking/acting/living more like adults and less like little kids.  I hope to occasionally share what God is teaching me through my kids!
       One of the most exciting times in the Robertson household is when we say to our kids, "Let's go bye, bye."  Say these words in our house and the response you will get is absolutely incredible!  Laughter, shouts of joy, dancing, and emphatically pulling on the safety gate to get down the stairs and out the door.  The amazing thing about this reaction is..... it doesn't matter where we are going.  It could be the dentist, the gas station, disney world, the grocery store, church, anywhere.  The kids are just excited about going.... the destination is of little consequence, they are just excited to be going!
       What about us adults?  Do we react the same way when God is calling us to go bye, bye?  Or do we demand to know all the details about when, where, and why?  Do we stay put, refusing to move forward with God, until we have all the information we want?  God is calling us to be and do many things!  So how do you respond?  With excitement, not caring about the destination, because you are just excited to be going anywhere with God?  Having child-like faith means that we follow God with excitement, even when we don't know where He is leading us to!  God is calling you to go with him!  How are you responding?  Are you dragging your feet, and stalling until you find out the destination and results of the journey?  Or are you responding with laughter, shouts of joy, dancing, and emphatically pulling on the safety gate to get down the stairs and out the door?

"THAT'S NOT FAIR"

  

    "THAT'S NOT FAIR" was the protest that came out of my five year old son's mouth last night as we were reading the Bible at bed time.  We had just finished reading the story of Joseph and were talking about how Joseph choose to be nice to his brothers even though his brothers were not nice to him.  Ethan protested loudly and passionately  that it was not fair that Joseph had to be nice to those who were not nice to him.  I agreed with Ethan that it was not fair, because it isn't, but then turned the conversation to God.  We talked about how we do things to God that are not nice, and yet God did something nice for us (nice is a gross understatement, but that was the lingo we were using).  God did something nice for us, He sent Jesus to take our place, to pay the penalty that we deserved, to take the punishment that we deserved.  It is not fair, and I am very thankful that life isn't always fair, aren't you?
      Since life isn't fair we have forgiveness.  Since life isn't fair we can have life to the fullest here on earth and for eternity.  Since life isn't fair we can have a relationship with God.  Since life isn't fair, we can be God's dwelling place.  Since life isn't fair, we have hope!  Life isn't fair, and I am thankful to God for that!  
      The two take aways for Ethan and I last night were....
       1.)  We need to thank God that he choose to be nice to us, even though we are not always nice to
                    Him.
       2.)  As followers of Jesus we need to be nice to those who are not nice to others!

So why are you thankful that life isn't fair???

Why our response to facebook changing AGAIN might reveal a danger in our faith walk

       Well, they did it again.  Facebook changed!  Let the status complaints begin!  Let the groups 1,000,000 members to get old facebook back be formed.  Let's face it!  We hate it when facebook changes!  Most of us have just become comfortable with the previous changes, and than they do it again!  But maybe the brains behind facebook are a lot smarter than we give them credit for when they seem to be regularly making fairly large changes.  Because the truth in the matter is that when you and I get comfortable with something, that thing becomes boring, routine, normal.  The initial excitement, the initial exploration of trying to get things figured out, all that disappears.  We get on, do our thing, and get off.  However, every-time facebook makes changes I have to spend a little more time on facebook.  A little more time exploring. A little more time figuring things out.  A little more time experiencing the new features, and what had become common place, normal, comfortable, is all of a sudden new and that is good for business at facebook!  So what does facebook making changes have to do with our faith?  I would argue a lot!
       It shows that we are people who love that which is comfortable.  We love what is predictable.  We love what is familiar.  We are a people who resist change when we have grown comfortable and fond of something, and when the love of comfort, predictability, and familiarity creep into our faith we are in danger.  We are in danger because the Christian faith was not meant to be full of comfort, predictability, and familiarity, but that is exactly what so many of us have worked so hard to make our Christian life.  We want it to be comfortable, predictable, and familiar, and when something becomes comfortable, predictable, and familiar it become boring, and as a result our Christian faith gets put on the back-burner of our lives and really has no meaningful difference in how we live.  So what do we need to do?  Do something uncomfortable in your faith.  Do something not familiar.  Change things!  Start a new ministry, join a new ministry, study a book of the Bible you have never studied before, go and share Jesus with your neighbor, try out a new spiritual discipline!  Change things, do that which is not comfortable, and not familiar.  So decide on one thing you are going to do in your faith this week that will begin to move you out of what has become very comfortable, and go do it.  We have not been called to a comfortable life, we have been called to a life that lives out the great commission, and the great commandment, and that will never be comfortable, familiar, predictable, boring.  It will be life to the fullest and that sounds way better than comfortable!

What are three things you can't live without?

       What are three things that you can't live without?  I am sure many of you upon reading the title to this blog are beginning to determine what three things you would say you can't live without.  I am sure I have answered this question, or questions similar to it, in the past, but the most recent time I heard this question it really, really, bothered me.  I was listening to Christian radio and the DJ asked this question.  A listener called in and answered it by saying.....  Faith, family, friends.  The DJ followed up by saying, if you could choose one more what would it be.  The listener responded by saying, "KTIS" (that was the radio station I was listening to).  While the DJ and listener laughed and the next song began to play I was left not laughing but instead feeling deeply saddened and troubled by the question.  "What are three things you can't live without?" should never be a question that we as Christians ask, and if we answer, we should not be able to come up with numbers 2 and 3.
       The reason that this question so deeply disturbed me is because as Christians there is only one thing that we truly cannot live without and that is the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ that restores our broken relationship with the God of the universe.  That is the ONLY thing that we cannot live without.  As soon as we began to add to the list, we are saying that a relationship with the God of the universe is not enough, and that my friend is a very dangerous place to be.  God is enough, and always will be enough. As great as family, friends, money, jobs and on and on are, you can live without all of them because God is enough.  Praying that you and I would realize that God is enough regardless of what else happens in this life.  GOD IS ENOUGH!!!!
       So the next time we are asked the question what are three (or two, or ten) things you cannot live without may you simply respond by saying, "God"  God is the only thing I cannot live without and because of Jesus Christ, I have God and HE IS ENOUGH!!!!!

What is your goal in life???

       If you were asked what is your goal in life, what would you answer be?  If you were asked what is your goal in marriage, what would your answer be?  What is your goal in parenting?  What is your goal professionally?  What is your goal in life?  Do you ask yourself those questions?  Do you think about that? I hope so, because it really, really matters.  Whatever you goal in life is, regardless of this being a formal or informal goal, will determine how you live your life day in and day out!  It will set standards by which you will decide if you have failed or succeeded in any given task.  It will also determine if you will continue at something, or will simply move onto the next thing.  So determining what you goal in life, is of extreme importance.
       As Christians, Scripture makes it very clear what our goal in life should be.  2 Corinthians 5:9, "So we make it our goal to please God."  Pleasing God, or glorifying God, or making God look great, that should be our goal in life.  I was reading the book Sacred Marriage this morning and reminded of the importance of having, "Pleasing God" as the goal of our life.  Since it is the goal of our life, it will be the goal of our marriage, parenting, work, and on and on we could go.  Gary Thomas states, "The first purpose in marriage- beyond happiness, sexual expression, the bearing of children, companionship, mutual care and provision, or anything else- is to please God.  The challenge, of course, is that it is utterly selfless living; rather than asking, 'What will make me happy?'  we are told that we must ask, 'What will make God happy?'"  In all aspects of life, pleasing God, should be our goal.  We will not reach perfection this side of eternity, but how much different would all of our lives be if we became much more accustomed to asking the question, "Will this please God?" in all areas of our life?
       So will you join me in setting your goal in life to please God in all you do?  May we all begin to ask the question, "Will this please God?" a whole lot more!  As we do I am convinced that we will see change in our life as our attitudes, desires, and passions align themselves more and more with God's attitudes, desires, and passions!  "So we make it our goal to please God."

One day we will all approve of God's performance!

       While scanning articles on CNN this morning I came across an article entitled, "Only 52% Approve of God's Job Performance."  After reading the short article I was saddened as I think about how flippant, and I would argue defiant, our culture has become towards the God of the universe.  How has the view of God, even among professing believers, become so small that we would tolerate the idea that we have the right and ability to judge God's performance.  Just like most things in American culture God has been set-up in such a way that it is expected that His sole purpose is to meet our every desire.  When something happens in our life that we don't like, we are quick to blame God and complain about it, we question his love and his goodness, and many people some day expect to stand before God and bring up their laundry list of all the "injustices" that have happened to them.
       We have lost sight of the magnitude of God.  We have done so many things to place God on our level that we no longer understand the transcendence of God.  We have come to the place where the creation feels comfortable to say to the creator, who do you think you are?  You can't do that?  I don't like that?  That was not my plan?  I want it this way?  We have the audacity to say to the one who created us, "YOU CAN'T DO THAT."  We need to get back to a place where we realize that God is God.  Let me remind all of us that some day when this life is over and we stand before God, no one will have the audacity to say, "You didn't do your job very well God.  I disapprove of you."  Instead our response will fall in line with what is revealed in Scripture.
In Isaiah's vision of God here was His response...
"Woe to me!  I cried.  "I am ruined!  For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty."  Isaiah 6:4
Peter, after being commanded by Jesus to put their nets down on the other side of the boat, and realizing who Jesus was responded by saying,
"Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man."  Luke 5:8
       One day when we stand before God we will respond with absolute awe, reverence, and amazement and fear.  We will never, ever, ever stand before God and tell him if we approved us His job.  As we stand before God His in all His magnitude,  and awesomeness, and Holiness, and Greatness, we will see God for who He truly is!  That day will either be most terrifying day a person will experience as their sins are laid bare before the God of the universe and eternal separation from God is pronounced, or it will be the most amazing, exhilarating moment a person will ever experience as the perfect righteousness of Jesus covers us, as sinners, and we will spend eternity in the presence of God who is so magnificent that we can't even begin  to comprehend.
       Praying for you and for me to gain a better perspective on who God is.  May we not find ourselves amongst those who believe that we have any right, and any basis, on which to disapprove of God's performance.  Instead may we daily strive to understand the greatness of God in all of life, and as a result live a life that reflects and demonstrates God's greatness to a watching world!  I recommend reading Job 38-41 today to remind us of the magnitude of who God is!!!

A toad, a lawnmower, and God's grace!

              Last night as I was mowing our lawn a little toad jumped out in front of me and quickly darted out of the way of the blades.  For the next several passes through that area the toad continually seemed to find itself in the exact place where I was trying to go.  As this was going on I reflected on how easily I could kill this Toad, and the Toad could do absolutely nothing to stop it from happening.  Don't worry, the toad is still alive and most likely happily jumping through my back yard as I write this!  After I moved beyond morbid thoughts of my ability to kill this Toad, my mind moved on to think about the grace of God. 
       I imagine that compared to God in his infinite power, glory, strength, greatness, and on and on, we kind of seem like Toads. God at any point could destroy us, and there is absolutely nothing we could do to stop God from doing that!  The verse that came to mind was Psalm 8:3-4.  "When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and stars which you have ordained: what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for Him."  When you think of the magnitude of God it is amazing that God is mindful of us, and that God cares about us!  
       As amazing as that is, it becomes even more amazing when we realize that the same amazing God, who is mindful of us, is also the God that you and I sin against on consistent basis.  Back to the Toad!  Let's pretend that the Toad was able to bite and annoy me like a mosquito!  If that were the case, that Toad would have been chopped up and sent sailing by the blades of my lawn mower in an instant!  Yet, even though compared to God we are like Toads (in reality an ant would create even a better picture) and even though we being so tiny continually sin against God, God did something absolutely amazing.  Romans 5:8, "But God demonstrates his own love towards us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us."  AMAZING!  
       Even though compared to God we are nothing, and even though in our nothingness we continually sin against God, God loved us so much that He sent his Son Jesus to die for us!  That is AMAZING!!!!!!  May you let that sink in today!  May you begin to comprehend how amazing and incredible God's love and grace for you is!  

You need to listen to this song!

       As I have begun working on my sermon for June 5th the song, Pray, by Kendall Payne came to mind. I am assuming that most of you have never heard of Kendall Payne, which is why I want to encourage you to listen to this song.  I had the opportunity to hear Kendall at National Youth Workers Convention and the lyrics to this song blew me away, and challenged my ideas of what we should be praying for.  It reminded me how often we pray for the American dream not the Biblical dream, and the two are vastly different dreams.  Here are the lyrics....

I will pray for you now, for you have been my faithful friends
While the road we walk is difficult indeed
I couldn't not ask for more than what you've already been
Only that you would say these prayers for me
May your heart break enough that compassion enters in
May your strenght all be spent upon the weak
All the castles and crowns you build and place upon your head
May they all fall, come crashing down around your feet
May you find every step to be harder than the last
So your character grows greater each stride
May your company be of human insignificance
May your weakness be your only source of pride
What you do unto others may it all be done to you
May you meet the One who made us
And see Him smile when life is through
May your blessings be many but not what you hoped they'd be
And when you look upon the broken
May mercy show you what you could not see
May you never be sure of any plans you desire
But you'd learn to trust the plan He has for you
May your passions be tried and tested in the holy fire
May you fight with all your life for what is true
I have prayed for you now all my dear and faithful friends
But what I wish is more than I could eever speak
As the way wanders on I'll long to see you once again
Until then, would you pray these prayers for me?
Oh, that you would pray for me

You can watch her perform this song here....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdrRSCL-EL4

You might not like this one...

      You might not like this post, but I am going to write it anyways.  When I turned on the news this morning, I quickly found out that Osama was killed.  The news talked about it, and it was even the leading story on ESPN this morning.  As I jumped on facebook I quickly noticed that the vast majority, though not all, of my friends who were commenting on the situation were rejoicing.  Sadly, I fear that many Christians in America will see this as God using his chosen nation, America, to purge the world of evil.  I struggle with the idea of rejoicing with the death of anyone.  Jesus said, we are to love our enemies, and love is not rejoicing in their death.  Love is actively desiring God's good for their life.  The ultimate good for Osama would have been a relationship with Jesus Christ and forgiveness of his sins (even though he would still have received many consequences on earth for his actions).  May we as believers be careful how we talk, think, and live during this time.  We as followers of Jesus are not to be like everyone else.  Maybe instead of rejoicing in the death of Osama, we should be mourning that in all likelihood, Osama has been ushered into an eternity without God.  Lastly, the thoughts of one of my seminary professors came to mind today,  "Osama has killed thousands, but we in America have killed over 35 million of the most innocent by abortion.  Maybe someone should attack us."  Food for thought.

A puking kind of hope

       Yesterday, as I was driving to church to Celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ my heart was filled with joy, excitement, and thanksgiving!  I was excited to gather together with brothers and sisters in Christ as together we would proclaim, "HE IS RISEN."  I was excited to see how God was going to work in the lives of those who did not have a relationship with Him.  I was excited!  (and the sun and blue sky that finally decided to make an appearance in MN also added to the excitement of the day).  Shorty after leaving my house I noticed a car pulled off to the side of the road, and than also noticed the woman with her head hanging out the door puking.  In the midst of all my joy, and excitement, and anticipation, I see a woman on the side of the road puking.  What was her story I wondered?  Long night drinking?  Leaving work because she became sick?  Leaving church because she was sick?  Or many other options that ran through my head.  The truth is I don't really know, and probably never will know what her story is, but it made me think.  I was joyful, excited, thankful, and very hopeful as I was heading to church.  She, on the other-hand, was probably not in the same frame of mind.
       I asked myself the question, "what does the easter message offer to this woman puking on the side of the road?"  What does the easter message mean for all those who were not able, or willing, to join us in worship of Jesus Christ?  The answer that came rushing into my mind was, "hope."  The easter message means that as long as someone is still alive there is hope.  Hope that does not fade or disappoint, regardless of circumstances.  It is a puking kind of hope, because even if we find ourselves pulled over on the side of the road puking we still have hope.  Hope for this life and for eternity is found in Jesus Christ BECAUSE of His death and resurrection.  My mind was drawn to Romans 8:38-39, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation (including puking), WILL BE ABLE TO SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF GOD THAT IS IN CHRIST JEUS OUR LORD."  Praying that wherever you find yourself today, and tomorrow, and everyday, you will realize that the hope we have is an everlasting hope BECAUSE of the Easter message!  May you allow that to fill you up, and may you have the opportunity to share that hope with those God places in your life today!

Waking the World One Cup at a Time!

As I drove by my favorite coffee shop this morning, Rendezvous Coffee shop in Isanti, MN, I noticed that they changed their sign to read, "Waking the World One Cup at a time!  While I am sure many of us appreciate coffee, and how it wakes us up, it also made me think about the mission that we as Christians have been given, which is to wake people up to the glorious truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!  My question for you and for me is simply this?  How are you doing?  Are you living your life in such a way that God will be revealing Himself to others through you?  Do your actions reveal Jesus to others?  Do your words reveal Jesus to others?  Do your priorities reveal Jesus to others?  Do your attitudes reveal Jesus to others?  Does your parenting reveal Jesus to others (including your kids)?  Does your marriage reveal Jesus to others?  Do your friendships reveal Jesus to others?  If a coffee shop strives to wake the world up with their coffee, we as Christians should be striving so much more to wake the world up with Jesus Christ!  So, how are you doing?  Doing pretty good?  Awesome, keep it up!  Keep looking for ways to live in such a way that others will see Jesus through your actions AND your words!  Not doing very good?  Why not start today?  Just ask God to begin to use you to wake others up to the glorious truth of the Gospel, and be ready to follow His leading!  You will stand amazed at the ways God will use you to wake others up!  Waking the world up to the glorious truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!! Will you join me?

Staying focused in prayer.

       Do you ever struggle to stay focused in times of prayer?  I know I do!  Often times when I enter into a time of prayer it is not long before my mind begins to wander and begin to think on things that have nothing to do with what I was praying about it.  Over the years I have done several things that have helped me stay a little bit more focused.  I would have to say that one of the most helpful things that I do in regards to this has been using a journal in prayer.  It helps me to have items written down on a piece of paper that I am able to look at and recall.  It helps keep focused. 
       This morning I was reading, "The Practice of the Presence of God" by Brother Lawrence.  In one of the letters that he wrote he specifically addressed the issue of wandering during prayer and had something very insightful to say.  "One way to recollect the mind easily in the time of prayer, and preserve it more in tranquility, is not to let it wander too far at other times."  It really is no surprise that so often I struggle with staying focused in prayer when the rest of my day has very few, if any, thoughts of God.  Too often we have moved God to a specific time each day, and that is "God's time."  When we get to that time we often leave feeling like it was wasted time, as we are unable to focus upon prayer, and the study of God's Word.  However, should we really expect anything different?  We spend all day, every day consumed with everything but God, and when we try to enter into our "God time" is should not be a surprise that we can't remove from our minds and hearts those things that consume our life.  I know that I need to spend a lot more time throughout my day focusing on God, praying to God, thinking about God, praising God.  If I do that, if we do that, I really believe that our "God time" will become so much more beneficial as it is not a break from the rest of our lives, but a continuation of the rest of our lives. 
       Brother Lawrence lived in a monastery, so you might think that all he had to do was pray, and read his Bible and think about God, but that was not the case.  While Brother Lawrence did have set times of worship, that was not all his life consisted of.  Brother Lawrence's primary duty at the monestary was to work in order to free up time for the monks to worship God.  He was a dishwasher, and it was through doing dishes day in and day out that He learned how to practice the presence of God continually.  So it doesn't matter if you are a stay at home mom, a youth pastor, a teacher, a plumber, or a CEO, you too can learn to always be about practicing the presecence of God, regardless of what you do.  My encouragement to me, and you, is that today we would think much, pray much, and praise much in whatever situation we find ourselves in.  Then the next time we enter into "God time" it won't seem so foreign, instead it will seem very common, we will feel at home.  

Hall Pass- What is your reason for doing what is right?

       The movie Hall Pass, which comes out this Friday, is about two married men who are given a "Hall Pass" from their spouses.  A hall pass is a one week break from marriage where they can do anything they want with no consequences.  The idea behind the movie, and sadly probably right on, is that if there were no consequences we would quickly, and excitedly engage in activities that we knew were wrong.  I think that most people would.  Even us as Christians, because often times the motivation for why we do what we do is simply this:  We don't want to get caught and suffer the consequences.  We don't want to ruin our image.  We don't want to ruin our family, or marriage, or education, or athletic career.  For many Christians the reason we avoid sin is because we fear the consequences.  Yes, this way of living for many of us will cause us not to fall into "major sin" but tragically it will lead all of us into living "luke-warm" lives.  You and I both know that is the last thing this world needs more of. 
      
       The truth of the matter is that fear of consequences might lead us to avoid cheating on a spouse, committing murder, and on and on, but fear of consequences won't make us, "deny ourselves and take up our cross."  Fear on consequences won't lead us to love our enemies.  Fear of consequences won't lead us to forgive those who have hurt us.  Fear of consequences won't lead us to live in humility.  Fear of consequences won't cause us to love the, "least of these."  Fear of consequences leads us to do the minimum.  We do the least amount of work we can do to "get by" and stay out of trouble.  Fear on consequences does not change us on the inside, only on the outside. 

       Thankfully, we are not called to live life out of fear on consequences, we are not called to be obedient out of fear of consequences.  We are called to live life out of a love for God.  Out of a love that cannot comprehend that the God of this universe would have his Son murdered, tortured on a cross, to restore a relationship that WE have broken because WE have sinned against the God of this universe.  When we get grace, when we get that we can't earn it, deserve it, or pay it back, our only response is great thankfulness and love.  While fear of consequences causes us to do just enough to get by, love will lead us to begin to live the way Jesus has called us to live on the inside and outside.  Love changes us, love motivates us to do anything!  Are you motivated by love or fear?  I pray that you take time today reflecting on the amazing gift of grace that we have been given, and as you do that your whole being would rise up in love and adoration for the God of the universe who loved you more than we can EVER comprehend, and as a result you begin to live, look, act, and talk more like Jesus, because you WANT to, not because you HAVE to.  If God gave you a hall pass, I hope that nothing would change in your life because you are living for God out of love, not out of fear of consequences.  Ask yourself this question (as I also ask myself this question).  If God gave me a Hall pass for the next 7 days, how would I (honestly) live the next 7 days.  The answer should reveal a lot about why you do the things you do!  Rest in the amazing grace and love of God today. 

A Love Letter

I was given a love letter this morning!  (Don't worry Heidi, it was from a sweet old lady).  Most Monday mornings I spend about an hour at Rendezvous Coffee Shop reading.  This morning while I was waiting for my drink to be made I was asked by a sweet old lady, Mona, if she has given me one of her love letters.  I said that I have not and she gave me one.  We talked for a few minutes about faith, and God before she left.  It was a great love letter, that reminded me of the greatest love that I, or anyone, can ever receive.  That is the love of the God of the universe reaching out to us, sinners.  The story of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation, truly is a story of love.  A story that shows God's for us.  A story that shows from the beginning God's endless pursuit to deal with our sins so that our relationship with Him might be restored.  A love story with an amazing sacrifice, because the only way that our sins could be dealt with was through the perfect sacrifice.  That perfect sacrifice was God's own son, Jesus Christ.  It was amazing love that drove God to sacrifice His son, for us.  And the thing that makes it SO incredible is that there is absolutely nothing that we can do to earn or payback the Love of God.  We can't.  That is why it is called grace.  We have been given something we can't deserve, can't earn, can't payback.  I am no more deserving of God's grace than the worst person I can possibly think of, and neither are you.  Grace is a gift, and amazing gift, that came from the amazing love of our amazing God!  Romans 5:8 states, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us!"  What a great love letter the Bible is!  I hope you are reading God's love letter, because it is God's amazing love for you and me that gives us the motivation, and ability, to live out this Christian life.  Spend some time reading God's love letter today, and I pray that like sweet Mona, we will be sharing the love letter with those who God brings us in contact with!  

Lada Gaga- Born this Way. A little truth, a lot to be concerned about.

       I  recently read the lyrics to Lady Gaga new song, "Born This Way."  Lady Gaga has the audience and the potential to speak for an entire generation of young people, and that is why this song concerns me so much.  Yes, there is much in the music scene that at first glance would seem to be much more concerning than "Born This Way" but what concerns me so much is the element of truth that is found in Lady Gaga's song.  With lyrics such as...

"There's nothin' wrong with lovin' who you are"
She said, "'Cause He (God) made you perfect, babe"
"So hold your head up, girl and you you'll go far,
Listen to me when I say"
I'm beautiful in my way,
'Cause God makes no mistake"

       There is much truth in those lines.  Truth that speak about how each person has been created by God and as a result there is much "worth" and "value" in each and every person.  Psalm 139 makes this abundantly clear.  "For You created me in my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place."  So Lady Gaga hits on an element of truth in her words, but she misses another element of truth.  She misses the truth that while God has created each one of us, we have all been corrupted by sin.   

       Romans 3:23- "For all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."  Yes, created perfectly by God, however each of us have been corrupted by sin.  Lady Gaga fails to acknowledge that and this is what scares me.  This "anthem" for young people is simply this.  God created you perfectly, so just do what you want to do.  Here are some more lyrics from "Born This Way"

Don't hide yourself in regret,
Just love yourself and you're set
I'm on the right track, baby
I was born this way  

      Lady Gaga arrives at the dangerous conclusion that since God created you, just be yourself and you are on the right track.  That is scary because this song is calling millions of young people to live life being who they are, which sadly is not perfect, but sinful.  Who we are, however are humans with a ugly sinful nature that affects everything about who we are.  So while Lady Gaga says being yourself is putting you on the right track, in reality it is the wrong track that has devestating consequences for this life,and for eternity. 

      Yes, we have been created perfectly by God, however we have all been corrupted by sin.  The only way we can recover "perfection" is by admitting our desperate need for Jesus to heal us of our sin, and one day, when this earthly life is over, we will be restored to perfection.  Born this way- sinful.  The only remedy is the grace of God through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ!  Praying that the whole truth will be revealed to all of us!  WE HAVE BEEN CREATED BY GOD!  WE ALL ARE SINFUL!  WE ALL NEED JESUS!  WE ALL NEED GRACE!  WE CAN ALL RECEIVE IT!