Welcome to the July 11th edition of Faith & Life Lessons.
You will see this email full of tidbits from my week. My goal is simple. I hope that from how I live my life, you can find a thing or two that helps you as you try to live a life that matters. I am always trying to do one thing - make Christ-focused decisions in love, work, and life. And this was my week.
The Story of My Week
One of the biggest things that came my way this week was a Christian who went online to say she was starting to give up on Christianity.
She had gotten tired of church and had given up on attending church.
This is not unusual.
I hear people now and again coming out to say they are giving up on the church or Christianity.
The popular word for it now is faith deconstruction.
It starts with been fed up with something Christianity stands for or doubts that then grown so big that they blind from seeing anything else in Christianity or the Church.
The only thing I know that works is to take those frustrations and doubts to God.
To get a better view of Christianity, get a bigger view of what it is.
The only one who can do that is God because He started it.
Once you get the bigger view, you can come back to live better without becoming frustrated with the failings of men in the Church or overtaken by the doubts you have.
No one else can get you to that point.
Only God can.
Things I Learnt
1-God Gives Peace Before Answers: I have a major transaction that I am working on. It's a transaction that I am very committed to. And I want it to go through.
We have had some challenges along the way. At some point this week, it felt like it was not going to go our way.
Despite the emotional investment I have in the transaction, I find my heart at peace if we don't get it across the finish line.
I am working all the angles to make sure - it's not a lazy sit-back-and-watch approach.
It's an assurance that God will bless this work so we can close the transaction.
And if we end up not crossing the finish line, it doesn't mean that God did not bless our work.
At the end of the week, we were closer to the finish line than when we started.
But still some way out. This was something we should have closed out on Monday.
God stepped in. The other party said she needs to address some matters on her side before we can close it.
This has bought us some more time to try and do all we need to do.
I see God at work.
First in the peace, then in the answer.
2-No Distractions from the Message: I was stumbled on a video about the backlash that Christian recording artist Matthew West got for a satirical song & video "Modest is Hottest”.
The song title is an age-old phrase used by Christian parents to encourage their daughters to keep necklines high, shorts lengths long and belly buttons covered.
He got a lot of backlash from people who felt the song placed the responsibility of remaining pure on girls while absolving men of any responsibility. Another Christian singer Audrey Assad claims the song is “demeaning to women and men.”
I was intrigued that no one asked him to explain what he was trying to do with the song.
But I like his response.
He chose to delete the video. After he pulled the song, he released a statement about his decision to delete it, citing people’s opinion of the song is something he took to heart.
He wrote "I’m blessed to be the father of two amazing girls. I wrote a song poking fun at myself for being an over-protective dad and my family thought it was funny. The song was created as satire, and I realize that some people did not receive it as intended. I’ve taken the feedback to heart. The last thing I want is to distract from the real reason I make music-: to spread a message of hope and love to the world.”
By the way, he used his wife & daughters in the song video. And the song & video is laced with humor.
"The boys are coming round 'cause you're beautiful. And it's all your mother's fault," he sings while the camera pans to his wife, Emily, standing in the kitchen.
He continues, "Modest is hottest, the latest fashion trend is a little more Amish, a little less Kardashian. What the boys really love is a turtleneck and a sensible pair of slacks. Honey, modest is hottest, sincerely, your dad."
Somewhere else he sings "If I catching you doing dances on the TikTok, in a crop top, so help me God, you'll be grounded 'til the world stops,"
Some people claimed he chickened out, apologizing for something he shouldn't.
I think it's a better ground that he chooses. This is not worth a fight over.
There are many things to contend with in our battle for holiness.
There are some grounds it better to yield and not make them a distraction
Postscript
May you have the clarity of mind to run away from the distractions that eat away at your faith in God. May you always be found walking with confidence in the ability of God to run the world in the way He likes. Amen.
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