Generation of STARS

Have you seen the Disney channel lately?

I did, to my great horror.

I saw 14 year olds behaving like adults.No, more like stars. They were all dressed up, the producers probably trying to ride on the popular "High School Musical" wave.They were parading around with shiny guitars, singing, prancing around MTV style, coyly flirting with each other.

Whatever happened to the prancing Bambis, the castles, the forests,
Mickeys and Donalds?

There's always MTV on channel 20, isn't there?? Is there an urgent need to migrate our teens over so soon?

I saw so many beautiful people on Disney channel.
Happy faces,
Talented teenagers with voices of angels,
Popular and funny

That's reality, the way the media wants it.

American, Singapore Idol, America's got talent, Super Star/Band/Campus Star, Star Search...
The shows go on...
The message is the same.

"We love you if you are Pretty Good."
Pretty and Good at what you do.
Sing,act and/or prance or whatever!
Ha! take that!

Over some years now, i've been watching a segment of the youth population in schools and where ever i can.
There seems to be an overwhelming obsession in the youth culture to look good.
It bothers me big time
Yes, young people are still into sports, hobbies, for some,studies, like the days of old.
AND they want to look good doing these things.

Well there's really nothing quite wrong with wanting to look good, is there?
Everybody does

And yes it's great to look good.
I try too, at times.
But if we allow it to become the prevalent obsession of popular youth culture today,
we've got lots of work to do.
my favourite hokkien phrase-"Jin Bo Eng!"

There's a great lament in my heart when i see the shallowness of youth i meet today
Besides looking good, being popular and having a good time, i can hardly find desire or resolve in them

I heard of a dream team sometime ago
i call them "the nameless and faceless generation".
Please read my post on 'the Vision' again.
In short, they serve God and their generation without trying to make a name for themselves

"The advertisers cannot mould them.
Hollywood cannot hold them.
Peer-pressure is powerless to shake their resolve at late night parties before the cockerel cries.
They are incredibly cool, dangerously attractive inside.
On the outside?
They hardly care.
They wear clothes like costumes to communicate and celebrate but never to hide.
Would they surrender their image or their popularity?
They would lay down their very lives - swap seats with the man on death row - guilty as hell."

This is my dream team.
The longing of creation
The groaning of the Spirit
the very dream of God

Madonna says,"Life is just a party, that's all you need to know
It's your turn to shine, baby let yourself go."-Spotlight

Philippians say,"so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe..."- 2:15

Parents, watch what your children are watching! Disney is NOT cartoon anymore.

Meanwhile,I'll just stick to Football Channel.

cat and dog theology

“Cat and Dog Theology”

Two main characters have “birthed” two types of Christianity. These two differences are
seen in the different attitudes between a dog and a cat.

A dog says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, You must be God.”

A cat says: “You pet me, you feed me, you
shelter me, you love me, I must be God.”

There is a Cat and Dog in all of us! They are constantly fighting. They both look and act
“Christian” but there is a huge difference in their heart attitude.

Getting To Heaven
Cats have a tendency to walk away from hell.Their sole focus is on themselves. Dogs walk toward heaven having fallen in love with God. Many Christians today are joyless simply because they are still focused on themselves and are walking away from hell. (Matthew 13:44)

Obedience School
Both Cats and Dogs want obedience in their lives. Dogs want to obey God. Cats want
God to obey them. You usually see this reflected in their prayer lives.

Quiet Times
Both Cats and Dogs have quiet times. Dogs focus on God’s glory (they think, “How is
God’s reputation being affected by my life?”) and Cats focus on themselves (how can they
better their life…?)

Prayer
Dogs pray to establish God’s kingdom. Cats pray to establish their own kingdom.

Blessings and Responsibilities
Cats want all the blessings and none of the responsibilities.
As a result, two major problems arise in Cat Theology. An incomplete gospel comes
about, and Cats have mixed-up priorities.


Incomplete Gospel
Over time, Cat Theology develops into an incomplete gospel.
Cats are saved from hell and it stops there.
This is not incorrect, but it is incomplete.

Dogs are saved from hell, FOR WORSHIP.

-In Our Prayers
Praying “Father, thank you for dying on the
cross for our sins” is not incorrect, but it is
incomplete. He died on the cross for our sins
SO THAT we might point to God and glorify
Him.

-In Our Blessings
Cats focus on gathering all of God’s blessings with a bucket. And once they have them, they
keep them.
Dogs gather as many blessings as they can from God and pass them on to others.
They know that the blessings are meant to go through them to others.

Mixed-Up Priorities
-Blessings and Glory
Both Cats and Dogs want to see God glorified and want to be blessed by God. Dogs hunger
more for God’s glory whereas Cats hunger more for the blessings.

-Worship
Dogs worship God primarily for who He is.
Cats worship God primarily for what He’s done for them.

Why all these differences? Dogs study “Theology” while Cats study “MEology.”

Dogs see God’s glory like a stained glass window. Each bit is called a “tessera.” Each
tessera uniquely displays God’s glory, such as the animal kingdom, the family unit, taste, the
stars. “Glory is any revelation or expression of His excellency in His presence, creativity
and/or character.” One way God chooses to reveal His glory is through blessing us!

Satan’s Strategy
Satan doesn’t want Christians to focus on God’s glory. His strategy is to get humanity
to focus in on something “safe” and “close to God’s heart” so their focus is off of God’s
glory.

As a result, we begin to think that life is all about us. Because of this, we make a
foundational shift in our theology. Our focus goes off of God glorifying Himself through
blessing us. Our focus is on receiving the blessings from God, and we become primary;
God’s glory becomes secondary.

Cats Are Living For Themselves
Cats are basically living for themselves in a Christian context. They’ve rejected other
“ways” of life and have chosen Christianity as the best way to live for themselves. Life is
still all about them.

WDGG?
Dogs ask one key question as they go through life: What Does God Get?
As a result, they realize that life is for God, it is not for us. They see the joy
God had in Genesis 1 while He was creating!




The Eight Dangers of
Cat Theology!
************
Laying centuries of Cat Theology brings about
many dangers in the Christian life.

Danger #1:
Feel Good Theology
Cats only read verses that make them feel good. If they read verses that don’t make
them feel good, they skip over them and simply say, “That doesn’t apply to me” or
“That doesn’t make sense.”

Danger #2:
Cats Always Look For Themselves
Cats are constantly looking for themselves in the Bible. They constantly say “How does this
affect me? How does it affect my life?” When they find themselves, they rejoice, but
they are never thinking about God.
Cats and Dogs read John 3:16 totally differently.
Dogs focus in on the fact that God loves anyone unconditionally and Cats focus in on themselves in the verse.

Ephesians 2:6,7 gives a perfect example of how we focus in on ourselves. The text basically tells us that God has saved us to show off His glory, and all we can do is focus in on “us” and say “it’s all about us!”

Danger #3:
Cats Expect Life To Be Fair
Look at three lives: Jabez, a “young girl” in 2 Kings 5, and Stephen.

Jabez was greatly blessed. The young girl was sent away as a slave and reached another
Gentile leader. Stephen was stoned to death.

Which life was God fair to?
It is the wrong question. Life wasn’t designed to be fair!
Life was designed to be a series of opportunities to reflect and reveal the glory of God.
These three lives did that—revealing God’s glory is a “golden thread” that runs throughout the entire
Bible!

Danger #4:
Selective Application
Many times we only apply those passages of scripture which make us “feel good.” Rarely
are we reading (much less memorizing) passages which deal with God’s desire to
glorify Himself through giving us the tough times… 1 Peter 2:20; 1 Thessalonians 3:2-4

Why aren’t we taught lessons like…
•
God wants you to live, breathe, eat and die
in slavery to teach future generations a
lesson?
•
Your siblings are going to sell you off as a
slave so God can use you in a foreign land?
•
God may want you to marry a person from
another culture just so you can bond with
your in-law and be shown kindness after
your spouse dies?
•
You are to be a prophet to the church, be
jailed, and see no fruit for the majority of
your years of ministry?
•
God may want our country to be invaded
(devastated) to get the Gospel out?
•
God may want you thrown into a blazing
fire to show His power?
•
God may want you stoned to death?
•
God may want you taken from your home
(forcefully?) to become a leader in another
country and then be cheated and thrown
into a lion’s den?
•
God may want a famine to come to your
land so you move to another country and
share your faith?
•
God may want you to become a slave to
reach out to another people?
•
God may want you in jail to share your
faith with others?
•
God is going to test you by having all your
assets taken away, by having your children
killed and inflicting you with severe pain?
•
God may want you beaten with rods,
stoned, shipwrecked, naked, cold and
hungry, alone in the sea, beaten with 39
lashes multiple times….?

Danger #5:
Winner’ Circle Mentality
When Cats read the Bible, they always focus on the major character, never the minor
character—falsely assuming God loves the major character more than the minor.
Why don’t we ever relate to: Job’s children?
The 70,000 fighting men who died because David sinned? David and Bathsheba’s
firstborn? The firstborn of all Egyptians who died? Korah’s wife and children? Wandering
around in the desert for 40 years? The 14,700 who died of the plague? The wife and
children thrown into the lion’s den after Daniel was found innocent?
We don’t relate to them because we only want to relate to the “winners” in the Bible.

Danger #6:
Cats Develop Wrong Priorities
A Cat’s first priority is to stay alive and be healthy.
Their second priority is safety and security. They do whatever they can to be safe and
secure in this world.
Their third priority is the desire to be blessed by God for their own gain.
Their fourth priority is that their church meets their needs. If their church isn’t meeting their
needs, they quickly switch churches.

After these are brought before God, they may pray for God’s glory. But rarely is the glory
of God a first consideration when they first say their prayers.
Way down on the Cat’s priority is world missions. They rarely talk about it, and if they
do talk about it, they are usually trying to address the needs locally.

Danger #7:
Humanism Creeps In
Humanism essentially means: “the reason for all of existence is the happiness of man.”
Humanism has so permeated our society that it has crept into our Christianity in two
predominant ways.

1) Liberal Humanism says, “The reason for Christianity is the happiness of mankind when
they are alive.” Out of this is born the “health and wealth theology.”

2) Evangelical Humanism says, “The reason for Christianity is the happiness of mankind
after they die (i.e. make sure people don’t go to hell).

True Christianity says, “The reason for Christianity is the glory of God.”

Danger #8:
Worship Is A Part Of Life!
When Cats are so focused on themselves, they worship God during their quiet times, during
Sunday morning services, and possibly while listening to worship music. Everything
outside of those times is “everyday life.” But “everyday life” was designed to be one
big worship service. This can happen when we start to ask the simple question, “What
Does God Get?”

What does God get when you hug a child?
What does God get when you see a
sunset?
What does God get when you listen to
music?
What does God get when you look at a
flower?
What does God get when you see a
butterfly?
What does God get when you taste a
chocolate covered strawberry?

When you begin to look for what God gets, life can become one big worship service!
When this happens, you don’t do anything differently in life, you simply do it with an
entirely new perspective!


A Prayer To The Lord:
Lord, we do not live for ourselves, we live
for Your greatest glory.
Bless us with all things or give us nothing.
Honor us before others or bring us low.
Put us to doing or appoint us to suffer.
Give us work or keep us unemployed.
Send us overseas or keep us home.
Shatter any dream that is not yours.
We freely and wholeheartedly yield all
things to Your pleasure and disposal.
All we ask is that we delight in Your
glory!