my all-time favorite RJR.

Insert profanity here. Sexually explicit phrase there.  Track-after-track, I cringe and yet nod my head to the beat, laugh at the clever lyric.  And then all of a sudden, at the end of the album.... I hear familiar words like Jesus, Lord and love....wait, is that a choir?  WHAT is going on?!

*clears throat* It's called the RJR, the Required Jesus Record (yes, I totally made this up)... almost every popular and secular Hip-Hop or R&B artist, particularly in the 90s had one.  Think.  R.Kelly... of course, I Believe I Can Fly or U Saved Me.   Puff Daddy... remember that Thank You record that had all of Bad Boy and "they mama" on it?  Or Missy Elliott, who collaborated with gospel legends, the Clark Sisters.  And we can't forget Mariah.... she loved making hits with vaguely Christian lyrics and her standard "black and big-boned, I love the Lord" background singers.  And the list goes on.....

This is such a familiar staple in urban music, that you almost can't take their message seriously.  Over and over again, you see secular artists express and promote sin all over their albums, and then at the end, there's this glimmer of hope.  And yes, if these records, can cause a non-believer to seriously consider Christ and His love for us... that is beyond beautiful.  But still.....what kind of example is being set?

Ultimately, as a Christian it's super-easy to point the finger.  But the truth is, that judgmental mindset is so far from being justified.  Yes, they are celebrities.... yes, millions of people listen to them.... yes, the world watches them.... yes, they should "know better".  But we should too.   Everyday, people watch us, people listen to us. Thank God the love of Christ constrains and compels us.

So tell the FIF, what's your favorite RJR??  :)

Throughout my life, I've frequently paid the price for an adjustment I rarely make.  For some reason, I have a tendency to fall asleep with my arms on the pillow, above my head.  Naturally, blood rushes down, not up the body.  So in the middle of the night I wake up with numb, tingling, very uncomfortable limbs.   At 3 in the morning, here I am re-learning a lonely lesson, knowing that it will only be a matter of time before this happens.... again.

Facebook. Twitter. CNN. Reality shows. Skype. FOX News. Blogs. Podcasts. Timelines. Live Updates. Digital acronyms. iChat. Uploads, downloads.  

It's so easy to drown in today's low-effort, high-tech, mass media culture.  Our minds are constantly fed bytes of fact and opinion, and after a while you can find your own self confused on where you stand--not only on social or economic issues, but even in your own spiritual beliefs.  Things that were once black or white... begin to look gray. And the big question is, has the information age caused a societal drop in personal integrity or character--or has it simply caused people to become more open-minded to different views, new perspectives and "enlightening" information?

Oh well, it's still a good day.

This may be why we stumble upon so many passion-less people... folks walking through life not interested in the purpose God has for them.  As a society, this culture has caused us to become numb.... but what about Christians?  For some of us, the digital age has saturated our lives--we wake up to our iPhones and fall asleep next to our laptops. As intellects, we're entertained by information. As gossipmongers, we're informed by entertainment.  Some of us feel that our ministries, our careers, our livelihood depend on an external server.  We're more concerned about who's commenting on a blog post than what the Gospel says.  We're more prone to tweet or text our complaints, than to pray about it.  We'd rather listen to a podcast than read the Word.  We live in this "freedom" that we celebrate except when our fingertips are glued to the keyboard.

Many Christians have cited the dozens of tornadoes, earthquakes and volcanoes over the last few months, as the signs of the times found in Matthew 24, and ultimately as wake-up calls to the Body of Christ and the world.  And while these signs are kinda obvious in their nature (no pun intended), maybe we should look right in front of our eyes at the phone, the computer, the iPad, and the TV.  Drowning ourselves in information and entertainment...we are becoming numb to the everyday, extraordinary presence of God in our lives.  Yet we fall asleep and put our arms above our heads over and over again.

As a graphic and web designer, my Macbook might as well be sewn into my legs. And there are days that between watching at a Twitter timeline all morning, working on Photoshop all afternoon, and designing websites all night--I just want to go to the nearest park, turn my phone off, lay under the sun and experience my Father. Let him un-numb me.  So that's what I do sometimes.... go and getaway.  Soak Him in, so that my spirit can come back to Life....back close to Him. No matter how many times I lose myself in technology and forget to put my Saviour first, He has a way of drawing me back to Him and back to the only information I'll ever truly need.

FIF.

"Man, It's just some folks say, "All truth is relative, it just depends on what you believe." You know, "hey man, ain't no way to know for sure who God is or what's really true." But that means you believe your own statement; that there's no way to know what's really true. You're saying that that statement is true. You're killing yourself. If what's true for you is true for you and what's true for me is true for me, what if my truth says your's is a lie? Is it still true? Come on man!" Lecrae Moore.

For countless years, popular culture has injected Christianity into discussions of morality, and placed it on a big stage for the world to see.  But now you find these moments easily accessible on television, online, or all over the media. From Tyra Banks interviewing "exorcism victims", to "there is no God" on MTV's The Real World...the list goes on. By the end of the segment, the general jist is that God's 'ideas' are important, but "we've decided that there IS no right or wrong." More and more, there's this leftover inkling of a feeling that SOMEBODY is dissin' our Creator and His Son.  Not giving them their due props.  Once again, someone is making a mockery of His people. Once again, someone is confusing the masses on what the Word of God truly says and how necessary it is for our lives.  The message is "do what's most comfortable for you, BUT we don't recommend that Jesus thing. No freedom there." WHAT??

As Christians, how do we respond (through word & deed) to the influence of a culture that (consciously AND unconsciously) seeks to make God "gray" & defame what we believe and who we believe on?  Does our stance, or lack of, contribute to the message that popular culture presents to our peers?  If we even have a stance, is it informed by the Word of God, by religion, or even by pop culture? Do we let confusion or untruths rule the convo (or our lifestyles), or Christ the main focus, end of discussion?  Let's realign, folks.

"You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden...." Jesus Christ.

FIF.