The danger of over celebrating a celebrity

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The danger of over celebrating a celebrity...

We all love famous people. Yes we all do, they are famous for a few reasons - either they are handsome, pretty, talented, rich or influential in one way or the others. We all have famous people we admire, we call them celebrities. They are either actresses, actors, singers/songwriters or directors. We have famous singers and songwriters both in the secular as well as the religious (Christian) sector. Is there anything wrong with them? No absolutely not. Is there anything wrong with them being famous or popular? No of course not. Is there anything wrong with celebrating them and their success? Why of course not… Than why I'm talking about it? There is absolutely nothing wrong with them being famous or popular nor is there anything wrong with celebrating them and their success, but it becomes a different issue altogether when we start to idolise them. This can become very tricky in the Christian music industry as compared to the secular ones.

Why am I talking about it? Well, it is because we can subtly fall into the trap of idolising these Christian artistes without us realising it. Why subtle, because the line is very thin and we can cross it without realising it. Is it possible you ask? Yes, it is. How do I know? Well, it is because I personally have fallen into a trap which took me years to get out of. I didn't even realised my sin until I was convicted by the Holy Spirit that I've made my subject of adoration into an idol!

There are many famous and influential Christian celebrities be it band or individual - Kari Jobe, Hillsong, Planet Shakers, Bob Fitts, Chris Tomlin, Michael W Smith, Paul Baloche, Darlene Zschech and Israel Houston just to name a few and my personal favourites Don Moen and Lenny LeBlanc…. What are the roles of these people? They are called to lead worship and bring us into God's presence…

We all love them! And there's nothing wrong with loving them, but it becomes wrong when we over celebrate them to the point we lose our focus on Jesus… They go from town to town bringing their band along to sing and lead worship… We all enjoy their presence, singing their songs and worshipping God together with them. But when does a concert intended for us to worship God becomes just another performance we enjoy watching? That line is very thin, and we do not know when we might accidently cross it.

I'm not saying this because I'm against anyone. No, that's not true, in fact I have my own favourites that I look forward to meeting them when they come to my country. But like I've mentioned the line that divides a worship meeting from just another artiste performing their songs is very thin. We just ought to be very careful how we treat this, because we are not careful, we might end up worshipping the worship leader instead of the Lord whom the leader is leading us to worship. I personally have crossed this line many years ago, and it took me as many years later to finally get out of the pit. So is it the fault of the worship leader? No it is not! Don't be mistaken, the fault lies not with them, but with us! Our focus is out of whack! At least mine was! I still adore and love my favourite singers, (who are now my friends) but at least now I'm more careful that I don't treat them (one of them) like an idol like I used to. But the transition from dethroning my idol to become a status of a friend is hard, I sometimes still struggle to find the balance of trying to maintain a healthy friendship with him without trying to become overly obsessive in getting him to reciprocate it. I still fail at times.

I give this warning to all so that you do not fall into the same trap as me… Let me be very clear that I am not against any celebrities, I'm not even saying that my favourite artiste (whose identity I shall not reveal), is the one who caused me to stumble. I repeat again that it wasn't anyone's fault, not his, just mine! These awesome favourite artiste of mine has done a lot of good to me, their music has ministered so much to me, they have encouraged me on a very personal level, I had the privilege of meeting them a few times, I send them cards on every special occasions such as birthdays, wedding anniversary, Thanksgiving and Christmas and we correspond with each other over emails (I do most of the sending). I am personally very grateful to these wonderful people whom God has placed in my life, I'm so thankful our paths have crossed, I love them and I'm so thankful I can call them my friends! They will always have a special place in my heart that no one else can replace, yet God is still over them and I cannot allow them to take over the place of honour and adoration that only Jesus rightfully deserves. And I ought to be careful not to let them become an idol!

So let's get back to the point. Is it wrong to be famous? No, there isn't. Is there anything wrong with liking and celebrating them and their success? No, but we must be careful with way we treat them. We thank God for the works they do, we celebrate their success in ministry, we enjoy their songs, we attend their concerts and all these are purely neutral and fine as long as we know when and how to draw the line and not let them become the object of our adoration instead of Christ!

Disclaimer: I respect and honor every Christian celebrity and this blog is not intended to belittle anyone. If any one is offended by my blog, please accept my most sincere apology!

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Love the sinner NOT the sin

Love the sinner NOT the sin

Short reflection…

There's has been much controversy about the LGBT agenda… Some are for it and some are against it. It is clear in the Bible that God made us Male and Female and homosexuality is clearly forbidden as taught in the Scriptures. Yet, today we are not talking so much about what the Bible says is wrong with being gays and lesbians. I want to discuss about how we relate to the people involve in such activities.

While most LBGT accused us Christians as being intolerant and unloving saying that we despise them and treat them as outcast of our society. I want us to reflect on the life of Jesus and see how he relates to the sinners. We should be following the example of Christ. I entitled my blog "Love the sinner NOT the sin… Isn't that what Jesus did for us as well? But before I dive into this topic I would like to clarify that loving someone DOESN'T MEAN that we accept what he/she does to be right.

Jesus loved us despite our sin, but that doesn't mean He closes His eyes to our sin and says, "Hey buddy, you can continue to do whatever you like because I accept you and love you as you are.." No, no that's not what Jesus did…

Remember the incident when a group of Pharisees caught a woman in the act of adultery and brought her to Jesus saying, "Teacher, we found this woman in the act of adultery, and the law of Moses allow us to stone her to death, what than do you say?"  But Jesus kept quiet and continue to draw on the floor, when the Pharisee pressed Jesus for an answer, he finally stood up and say, "Let him who is without sin, cast the first stone at her".  After hearing theses words, every one left including the Pharisees. When the woman was left alone with Jesus, He asked the woman, "Woman, where are they, has no one condemn you? The woman replied, "No one sir." Jesus answered, "Neither do I condemn you, now go your way and sin no more". (John 8:1-11) 

Jesus accepts the sinner as they are. When He called Zaccheus and found him on the tree, saying "Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house" And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. And when they (the Pharisees) saw it, they all began to grumble saying, "he has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner." And Zaccheus, stopped and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much." And Jesus said to him, "Today, salvation has come to this house, because he, too is a son of Abraham, For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost." (Luke 16 4:-10)

The heart of Jesus is that He is always seeking out the lost and He loves them just as they are, but just like the incident of the adulterous woman, Jesus tells her to go and "Sin no more". Jesus still does have to deal with our sins even as He loves and accepts us.

Now back to our dealings with the gays and lesbians. We are not saying that we hate them, as what most of the guys and lesbians thinks that we do. No we don't hate them, we just don't agree with their lifestyle.  We just need to love and accept them just as Christ loved and accepts us despite our sins and continue to pray for them, that eventually the love of Christ will transform them to change. Remember it is not us who cause them to change, it is the work of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit to bring about the conviction and transformation. Our part is just to be the instrument of God's love to them.

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King

Let go and surrender to God

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Has it ever occurred to you that sometimes, you yourselves may be the very hinderance that is preventing the blessings of the Lord to come upon you? Yes, that's true! Sometimes, we are the ones who are preventing God from blessing us...

How so, you may ask. Well, let me share with you what I mean...

Let's imagine you have something in your hands. And when you do, your hands would naturally be in a clasp position. What do you have to do if you want to receive something bigger that God is giving you? Common sense tells us that, we would have to open up our hands and let it go before we can receive the greater things of the Lord.

But sometimes, that is our problem. We don't want to let go of the things that we are holding on to and that's why God cannot bless us...  God is not able to bless us because our hands are full, and we cannot receive any more unless we open our hands and let go. We must be willing to empty everything and lay them at the foot of His cross.

That's why whenever we receive prayers, the posture that we always have is to open up both hands, palm facing upwards to the Lord. This is a posture of both receiving and surrendering, we are telling God that we want to receive from Him and yet at the same time we are willing to surrender whatever He ask of us.

God is a gentleman who will not force His way into us, if we refuse to give in... He will not try to pry your hands open, if we refuse to do so, but He will always gently pursue us with His love until we ourselves are willing to submit and surrender it to Him.

Is there anything that you're holding on to that God is telling to you let go? May the love of God gently pursue us so that we are willing to surrender it all to Him, and see that what He is about to give us is not greater than what we used to be holding on to.

Oh Lord, I thank you that You desire to bless me, but I confess that unless I let go of what I've been holding on to, I'm not able to receive the greater blessing You are waiting to pour out on my life. Father, I ask for Your grace and the willingness on my part to surrender what You are asking of me. Forgive me of my unwillngless to submit and surrender and help my unbelief. In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Serving with you in His Kingdom with love;
Princess Michelle -
Beloved Daughter of the Most High King