Made in China

Have you ever noticed that nearly everything we lift nowadays has three little words on the bottom? ‘Made in China’. Now I have a problem with this statement and it is not anything to do with a dislike for the Chinese. I have a problem with the use of the word ‘made’.

When we really sit down and think about it, people don’t really make anything, we just rearrange things that already are there. We speak about making lunch, but really we just prepare lunch. Sometimes we hear people bemoaning the decline of the British manufacturing industry and they say, ‘Britain doesn’t make anything anymore’, the truth is we never did, we might have rearranged things but we never made anything. The metals that go into manufacturing anything come from various ores already present in the earth, the food that we eat whether it is bread or beef is just rearranged soil nutrients, that we might prepare into a loaf or a sausage but we didn’t make them. Even things that are so called man-made like polyester or plastic are made from elements already in existence in nature.

The Scientist in the lab can experiment all day on chemicals and compounds, he can observe them and arrange them, taking bits out and adding bits in, he can arrange them and rearrange them but he cannot MAKE them. Man has never made anything that is make something from nothing. No Sir, only God can do that. In his introduction to his Gospel the Apostle John speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ (who is God) said.

‘All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.’ John 1 v3

God is the true source of all created things! The Greek word translated ‘made in this verse is the word ginomai, it literally means to come into existence or begin to be. No man has ever brought anything into existence this is the act of an omnipotent God. Let’s give credit where credit is due.

‘For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:’ Colossians 1 v16

Made in China? No! Rearranged in China would be better.

Eating Rubbish

‘Don’t be eating any rubbish before your dinner you’ll ruin your appetite!’ I’m sure we can all recall our parents saying this or something similar as we grew up. Diet is of course extremely important to our physical well being and our parents were right to make sure we have a sensible and balanced diet.

Just as our physical diet is important so is our spiritual intake. I wonder what you have been feeding on recently. There is an old saying ‘you are what you eat’ and it is very true. If we fill our minds with the garbage of this world then t will have a detrimental effect on our walk with God.

One area of real concern to me is in the area of music. Many young Christians are feeding on the diet of the music of this world, they listen to it on their ipods, in their cars, in their bedrooms and I am even hearing of God’s people who are going to the concerts where the current pop artists are performing.

I don’t listen to the music of this world, but I do try to keep culturally aware of what is out there as I need to be relevant to the young people I minister to. In the past few weeks I have become increasingly alarmed by this trend of worldliness and I decided to have a closer look at what some of today’s most popular acts are singing about. I was not surprised to learn that things have not change much in the pop world in that past 40 years, they are still pumping out a message of materialism and sexual perversion. Here are a few examples.

Rihanna

I saw some pictures recently of a Rihanna concert on a Christian’s facebok page, she doesn’t wear a whole lot when she is performing (maybe it’s warm up on that stage). Here are some lyrics from her song ‘Rude boy’.

Come here rude boy, boy, can you get it up?
Come here rude boy, boy, is you big enough?
Take it, take it, baby, baby,
Take it, take it, love me, love me.
I don’t thing I need to explain to anyone what that’s all about, it’s filth.
Then she has a song called bad girl, which is a glorification of materialism. Here are some lyrics.
Shopaholic is what they call ‘em
My addiction, my prescription
Gimmie shoes and give me bags
How much you want I need ‘em bad

This encourages the sin of self gratification, which is the oldest sin in the Bible, remember Eve, she saw, she wanted and she took.

Lady GaGa

My wife was in her hairdressers recently and the lady mentioned that she had taken her daughter to see Lady Gaga. She said she regretted taking her as the show was extremely raunchy and that Lady Gaga’s language was blue. This lady who told my wife this is not a Christian and she has enough wit to see how filthy Lady Gaga is and yet I hear of Christians going to see her. What are they thinking? Her are the lyrics of Lady Gaga’s song ‘I like it rough’.

Shiny and I know it
Don’t know why you wanna blow it
Need a man who likes it rough
Likes it rough, likes it rough.

Lovely!!! She also has a very popular song called ‘Just Dance’ this song glorifies the lifestyle of going to a club and getting smashed out of your head.

I’ve had a little bit too much, much
All of the people start to rush, start to rush by
How does he twist the dance? Can’t find a drink, oh man
Where are my keys, I lost my phone phone.
What’s going on on the floor?
I love this record baby but I can’t see straight anymore
Keep, it cool, what’s the name of this club?
I can’t remember but it’s alright, alright.

Sorry Miss Gaga (cause let’s face it your no lady) it is not alright to be so out of your head that you don’t know where you are. Why would a Christian want to listen this garbage?

Girls Aloud

What, Girls aloud, what’s wrong with Girls aloud? I’m risking it here talking about Girls Aloud, the nations sweethearts with sweetheart in chief Cheryl Cole as popular as Barak Obama. Well I’m sorry to say these girls are just as bad as all the rest, they strut about their concert stages in immodest clothing and dance in a provocative manner, it’s all about the sexuality. Here are some lyrics for their hit song ‘Jump’.

Your eyes, tell me how you want me
I can feel it in your heart beat
I know you like what you see
Hold me, I’ll give you all that you need
Wrap your love around me
You’re so excited, I can feel you getting hotter, oh baby.

Another song about sex and the sad thing about it is primary school children are going around singing this filth, you have to wonder do they know what they are singing, I fear many of them do.

This little trip through the song lyrics of three of the most popular acts has just been a drop in the ocean; there are multiple examples of this kind of rubbish being pumped out over our airwaves everyday. Surely as God’s people we should be saying No. No, I won’t listen to this stuff, No, I won’t go to these concerts, No, and I will not be conformed to this world. We should be conformed to the Word not the world.

‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’ Philippians 4 v8

Hated for just being there!

The Nation of Israel once again finds itself on the wrong side of international opinion and is being condemned for the actions it took earlier this week to defend it’s citizens when IDF teams boarded a flotilla of ships carrying supplies to the Hamas run Gaza strip.

To my way of thinking Israel actions were perfectly reasonable. Hamas has continued to smuggle rockets into Gaza under the banner of humanitarian aid and then fire those same rockets as Israeli citizens. Israel has the right to check these shipments to ensure that they are what they say they are. When boarding the flotilla the IDF team were carrying guns with paint balls and not live ammunition, they were only forced to use their back-up handguns as it got ugly and they came under attack. Do IDF members not have a right to defend themselves? This was a reasonable course of action by Israel and her armed forces.

But poor Israel just cannot win in the court of public opinion. There is a saying ‘you can please most of the people all of the time, you can please all of the people some of the time but you can never please all of the people all of the time.’ In the case of Israel they don’t seem to be able to please anyone any of the time. Why is this?

To understand this question we must understand that the nation of Israel is still God’s covenant people and are under His special protection, how else could they have survived as a nation through the onslaughts of Popery, Hitler and the Arab block. Satan as a hater of God hates God’s people and as Israel is God’s covenant nation he hates them with a passion. He is behind all of the world’s hatred toward the Jews and he is inciting the Arabs to try and wipe Israel out.

I have news for an Israeli hating world they are not going anywhere. God has promised them that land and there is still more of it to be occupied by them in a day yet to come. The world should remember God’s words to Abraham, them that bless thee I will bless and them that curse thee I will curse.

‘In the same day the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, Unto thy seed have I given this land, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates:’ Genesis 15 v18