mary j blige

The Biblical Remix – Just Fine

February 27, 2012

The Biblical Remix – Just Fine

Acts 12:20-23 – http://bit.ly/biblicalremixjustfine

Herod the King was pissed off at the people who lived in the land of Tyre and Sidon.  They were so shook they quickly made peace with him.

Just to show off, Herod threw on his kingly best outfit and sat on his blinged-out throne and he spoke to the masses.  He loved the praises and the screams of the people and they made sure they gave it to him.  In the crowds you heard the shouts of “He ain’t no man. He is a god” and “This is the voice of a god”.

While Herod soaked it all in, this Mary J. Blige song was playing in the background:

“You see I wouldn’t change my life, my life’s just fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Fine, Oooo…”

Reflection:

Even when people are loving us and giving us mad props it can be very easy for the masses to think we got it going on.  If they only knew the truth.

How many of us are smiling on the outside but have a slow death going on the inside?  We are not fine at all.

Some of us need the glory of other people praising us in order to combat this inner void.  The adulation and adoration empowers us to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to.  In order to make up for the lack inside, we thirst for the praises of mankind (Side note: I can attest to having been at this place.  Even today I still have to pay attention to make sure I don’t revert back.)

This is all too prevalent in our entertainment society. We idolize musicians, athletes and actors.  They grace magazines and awards shows, but are they fine? How many stories have we seen or read regarding their battles with alcohol/drugs/jail/gambling/prostitutes/extra-marital affairs?  These “heroes” rise and fall daily on tabloid television.

I wonder how many of them give glory to God.  I wonder how many of us give glory to God.

I close today by asking: Are you fine?  No, really are you fine?  How is your life?  Are there things you would like to change?  If so, go ahead and do them.  Just make sure you give God the glory for the great things He has done by giving you life and the air that you breathe.  I wouldn’t want you to end up like King Herod…

P.S. – Oh yeah after the song played King Herod was struck with a disease where worms ate him from the inside.  Within five days he died.  Why?  Because he did not correct the people calling him a god.  He did not give the rightful honor to the one, true living God.

Um, yeah.  It’s like that.  Remember pride comes right before a destruction.

The Biblical Remix – My Life

October 31, 2011 — 1 Comment

The Biblical Remix – My Life

Job 30:1-31 – http://bit.ly/biblicalremixmylife

Job was the epitome of swag.  He had property, money, and plenty of children.  Then in one day, it was all taken from him violently.

After that, dude then had painful sores show up all over his body.

His boys came through and saw how jacked up Job was.  They were speechless.  All they could do is sit with him for seven whole days and not say a word.

Job had it so bad, his skin would scab, turn black and fall on the floor.  His breath became atrocious, his wife was disgusted with him, he had fever, excessive thinness and was in pain day and night.

Even bums Job knew from back in the day, that nobody would listen to, they were now making fun of him and spitting in his face.

In the midst of his pain, this Mary J. Blige song played in his mind:

“If you looked in my life, and see what I’ve seen, You will see I’m so blue, Down and out crying everyday, Don’t know what to do or to say, If you looked in my life, and see what I’ve seen…”

Reflection:

Job’s life was jacked up.  And the same is true for some of us.  If we were honest, our emotional and/or spiritual lives are all over the place. We don’t have it all together.

Yet we persevere and stand.  There are some days we are limping, some days we are crawling.  Wherever you are, I encourage you to keep on the journey.  Don’t give up and throw the towel in.  Too many people have killed themselves or damaged their lives because they just “couldn’t take it anymore”.

Your life is precious.  Your journey is precious.  Keep the faith.  Don’t give up.  Stay fightin’.

PS – Job’s end was greater than his beginning. If you want to know how, peep Job 42.

The Biblical Remix – Getting By

February 24, 2011

The Biblical Remix – Getting By

Genesis 12:10-20 – http://bit.ly/fjR3mc

Due to a famine, Abram decided to bounce to Egypt with his wife Sarai. Shook at the idea the Egyptians would kill him to get Sarai, he had her agree to say she was his sister (in actuality a half-truth – read Gen 20:12).

As they walked side by side in Egypt this Method Man/Mary J song played in the background:

“You’re all, I need to get by, ahhhh, You’re all, I need…”

The Biblical Remix – Woman at the Well

September 30, 2010

The Biblical Remix – Woman at the Well

While in conversation Jesus decides to blow up this Samaritan Woman’s spot by telling her she had five husbands and the dude she’s with now wasn’t even her husband. Why did he do that?

Because Jesus quickly identified this Samaritan Woman’s theme song was by Mary J Blige:

“Real Love, I’m searching for the Real Love, Someone to set my heart free, Real Love, I’m searching for a Real Love…”

John 4:16-18 – http://bit.ly/bd7NDk