call me crazy after this one...

Jesse, humble, devoted, joyous, servant of my sovereign Lord and Savior (Christ Jesus) to all the people in Christ Jesus at The Cove: Grace and peace to you from God, our Father, and the Lord, Jesus Christ. I present to you, a revelation of Jesus Christ (a few, actually), which God gave me (me, which is Greek for 'me'), to show his servants (you)(and me).

Revelations:

We bring ourselves into this realm of knowledge where God's hand is obvious at work. However, we still rely on our own self knowledge to put these things we know into practice. These kinds of things are books, tomes, about prophecy, the end times, tribulation, and the second, and final, coming of Christ.

The book of Revelation, written by John, while in prison, is filled with all kinds of visuals, codes, and details that people have been trying to crack since day one. Paul's letter to the Thessalonians tells us two things: 1) God is going to return in a very covert way. Paul puts it simple: like a thief in the night.

Now, brothers, about times and dates we do not need to write to you, for you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. -1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 (NIV)

2) God's people know when this is going to go down.

But you, brothers, are not in darkness so that this day should surprise you like a thief. Thessalonians 5:4 (NIV)

The two conflicting concepts here aren't in these passages but when we're told to live in this world, but not of it, because we can not serve two masters. We are told be different, to not appear to be the same as everyone else, we're to go against the crowd, because Jesus did the same.

I won't point fingers, because I'm not a huge fan of the guy, but a well known pastor at a well known mega church said Jesus would be flying around in jet planes and riding in limos if he was here today. I, and many of Christ's follows beg to differ. He wouldn't be riding in planes or limos or metro, because that's what everyone else is doing. He would be walking, riding a donkey, because His ministry was to be different than the world.

Then, why do we get so worked up trying to decode God's supposed secrets in Revelations? Why do we get worked up in the Left Behind series? We are curious people, but in the end, we are selfish people and we need to know when God's coming back so we can get everything we want to get done, done.

We read these books about the secret bible code, watch the TV shows about the impending end of the world. We need to know and because of that God's real plan goes undone.

We're told it won't surprise us, and a lot of people believe that it's because God gave us all these things in the bible, that point to his second coming. A list of things that have to happen for us to go "oh, yeah, He's over that hill" but I say we're missing something.

When has Christ ever given us specific directions? We could argue that the Old Testament is filled with lists, and dimensions, and step by step diagrams. Noah, the Commandments, the Ark of the Covenant, thrones, buildings, a good chunk of the Old Testament are directions, straight to the point.

The New Testament, though, is a bit different. We see Jesus giving people choices. Yes, there are times when He straight out says "drop your lives and follow me" but that isn't a "go home, get your clothes, some food for the road" and actually, maybe when he said "drop it all, now" Jesus may have meant now.

We're selfish, Jesse, tell us something we don't know.

If you really want me to, lets do it.

You, who spend your time wasting away at the pointless number crunching of the bible go against the Great Commission: go and make disciples. We're called to help people find God's holy light and you sit on your asses looking for a loop hole in an breakable contract, written by God. God has no loopholes. None. Finding the time when Jesus returns is pointless because Jesus is already here, in the form of those doing something to better the world God left in our hands. You are not prophets you are profiteers and the God you seek sits in your wallet, in your bank accounts, underneath that double line on your account sheets, that is the God you worship and I pray you will find your way out of that pit of despair and join us in the everlasting light of a God who is unbreakable.

On Vain False Prophets:

This under lying issue of all of this vanity. It isn't about bringing people into the loving fold of God's arms, it's about being vain, money and making a name for oneself.

There are people who claim to be God's people, Westborro Baptist for instance, who are going totally ape shit against everything God tell us. They are firm believers in turn or burn. That being saved is actually being saved. They believe that we are all sinners who are on a one way ticket to hell unless we repent of our heathen ways a give our lives over to God! They're right. We are all heathens, sinners, and we are all going to hell in a pretty floral hand basket, and without the ever redeeming forgiving love of God, we're all fraked.

The difference is, these people are proclaiming to ask for forgiveness is to be forgiven and nothing else. Be saved or die! There is nothing about love. There is nothing about us being very good in God's eyes. There is nothing about being fishers of men, about going and making disciples, nothing about our true mission here on earth: to serve one another.

We get wrapped up in what we should or shouldn't be doing, instead of doing. Churches get wrapped up in their own damn dogma they forget why they're even a church. Leaders use their power to push people to do things their way instead of building those people up. We get wrapped up in how to do stuff, we start to become afraid to do anything and in turn, we loose ourselves to that fear.

Other people use God's name to make themselves look important. I seen it all the time, just look at music award shows when Rapper X whose hit single "Smack Your Ma'ma" gets best album and he thanks God in his speech. You my friend, are using the gifts God, who you just thanked, gave you for your own personal gain and by throwing God's name into the mix, you have now taken His name in vain.

Personally speaking, if I wrote a song about smacking my mother, and it won best album, I'd be more worried about how bad the rest of the albums where but I digress.

I finally can take a firm stand on a problem I've been having. I use to listen to a certain band whose music I'd never want my parents to listen to. Songs about killing cops, rednecks, and having sex with fat chicks in the rear. Said band released a bunch of albums, claiming the end would be coming when their seventh and final full length album released. That all answers to who they were would be clear and when it happened there would be nothing left.

Well, the album was released and the final track stated that if you paid very close attention to what was being said, you read between the lines filled with vulgar toxic words, that you would have seen that they had always followed God, and they hope everyone finds God.

Yeah, I was as shocked as the next guy. At the time I was all "yeah! you go!" but now I'm more like, "Yeah, you go somewhere else..."

These are prophets preaching a fake God. Their god believes it's okay to kill without hesitation for no other reason but anger. Their god believes it's okay to have sex for the fun of it. Their god believes it's okay to spray your crowds with cheap soda and praise drug users.

All in all, these false prophets know who the are and if you read between the lines you know who I'm talking about.

It's not just their music which calls me to arms but the way they present themselves to the run of the mill fan. I've seen interviews and specials all devoted to them (I was a fan, remember) and now I watch the same stuff, in a new light, and see they're just playing people along to make a buck. They don't care about their fans, they don't care about their music, they don't follow God, they care about the dollar, making a buck, and getting whats theirs.

We are always worried about the people doing things in God's name. The murders, the drug heads, the crooked priest, but we ignore the false prophets who hide in a different light, who hide in a light which is meant for God, not use.

In Closing:

We are here to love our God, love our neighbors and make disciples. When we try and put God into our own frame of mind, turn His word into something other than His, or claim our own selfish motives are actually God's motives, we've stepped into it, badly. People are so put off by all these rules Christians have to follow, but it's not like that. God didn't give us ten commandments to follow, He gave use those as guidelines: if this is how we're living our lives, that's when we know we're the closest to him. It's not about rules or fear, it's about a relationship with God, and relationships with one another.

Love God, Love Neighbors, Make Disciples - and everything that will come from those three things, intertwined together, will be blessed, holy and filled with God's joy, not our own vanity.

Grace and Peace,
Jesse

coming soon: your music sucks