These scriptures have helped me during hard times, and I’m sure they will help you as well.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke ....]]> Everyone goes through valleys in their lives at times. During these difficult seasons, the only thing we can do is to hold onto the one thing that we know is certain: God loves us. No, we can’t understand why or how, but He still loves us.

These scriptures have helped me during hard times, and I’m sure they will help you as well.

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
~ Matthew 11:28-30

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God.”
~ 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

“I will praise you, O Lord.
Although you were angry with me,
your anger has turned away
and you have comforted me.
Surely God is my salvation;
I will trust and not be afraid.
The Lord, the Lord is my strength and my song;
he has become my salvation.”
~ Isaiah 12:1-2

“Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
~ 2 Corinthians 4:16-18

“He tends his flock like a shepherd:
He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young.”
~ Isaiah 40:11

“The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
Your sun will never set again,
and your moon will wane no more;
the Lord will be your everlasting light,
and your days of sorrow will end.”
~ Isaiah 60:19-20

“But God, who comforts the downcast, comforted us by the coming of Titus”
~ 2 Corinthians 7:6

“Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret”
~ 2 Corinthians 7:10

“O Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.”
~ Psalm 130:7

“Before they call I will answer;
while they are still speaking I will hear.”
~ Psalm 65:24

“In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints in accordance with God’s will. And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
~ Romans 8:26-28

“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”
~ Hebrews 4:16

“Come near to God and he will come near to you.”
James 4:8

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”
James 4:10

“You are my refuge and my shield;
I have put my hope in your word.”
~ Psalm 119:114

“For this is what the high and lofty One says –
he who lives forever, whose name is holy:
‘I live in a high and holy place,
but also with him who is contrite and lowly in spirit,
to revive the spirit of the lowly
and to revive the heart of the contrite.’”
~ Isaiah 57:15

“In you our fathers put their trust;
they trusted and you delivered them.
They cried to you and were saved;
in you they trusted and were not disappointed.”
~ Psalm 22:4-5

“Even though I walk
through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.”
~ Psalm 23

“The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged.”
~ Deuteronomy 31:8

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
~ Psalm 34:18

“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”
~ Matthew 5:10-12

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.”
~ 2 Corinthians 4:8-9

“Shout for joy, O heavens;
rejoice, O earth;
burst into song, O mountains!
For the Lord comforts his people
and will have compassion on his afflicted ones.
But Zion said, ‘The Lord hass forsaken me,
the Lord has forgotten me.’
Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!”
~ Isaiah 49:13-15

All scriptures are taken from the New International Version of the Bible.

A few minutes later I passed a speed limit sign and glanced up at it curiously. Now there’s nothing unusual about a ....]]> I remember when I first got my license. It was an amazing feeling, all that power right under my foot and in my hands. My first thought was, “How fast can this thing go?” and I immediately hit the gas with a vengeance. The feeling of acceleration overwhelmed me, and I couldn’t help grinning as I sped around town.

A few minutes later I passed a speed limit sign and glanced up at it curiously. Now there’s nothing unusual about a speed limit sign (unless you live over in Germany on the Autobahn), but I had never seen one while I was actually driving a car by myself, and hence I had never truly thought about what they meant. Sure, I had seen the signs while getting in my “50 hours behind the wheel with mom in the passenger seat”, but I had only ever had to obey her “speed up” and “slow down” (and “Whoa! You’re going to get us both killed!”) signals, and often this meant going slightly over the speed limit without thinking about it. I had never felt the responsibility of deciding what speed to go, and quite frankly, I had never really thought of it as an issue. Just as long as you aren’t skidding around corners and mowing down people on the sidewalks you’re ok, right? That’s what I thought.

"Speed Limit 35" by Nathan Jongewaard

The Realization

The day I got behind the wheel by myself with no mom, no dad, and no siblings in the car was the day I realized that I really did need to pay attention to my speed, and that I couldn’t just drive as fast as I wanted (even if it was within my definition of “reason”). This may sound like an obvious conclusion to some, but to innocent, naïve me, it was startling.

What made the conclusion even harder to grasp was the fact that throughout my entire life I have been surrounded by people going over the speed limit. I know it sounds so harsh when said like that, but, quite frankly, it’s true. According to law, if you go even one mile per hour over the speed limit, you are by definition speeding. I realized this the day I read the second word on that sign. Limit. If something has a limit, that means you shouldn’t go over it. Funny how you see those signs all your life and never really think about their implications, isn’t it?

I soon found out that following the speed limit all the time is extremely difficult. What if you’re going into a valley and want to gain speed to go up the other side? What if someone’s tailing you so close that you can’t slow down? What if you’re following someone in their car and they go over the speed limit? These are all legitimate questions, and you need to come to a personal conclusion that satisfies you and leaves your conscience clear before God.

What’s wrong with speeding?

I’m glad you asked. To understand the true problem with speeding, we have to turn to the greatest authority on what is right and wrong – Scripture. Join me in looking at some verses so that we can, hopefully, come up with a logical and satisfying answer to our question.

In Rom 13:1, 3-4, 6 (NIV), it says that “Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established… Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God’s servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing… This is why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing.”

Then in 1 Pet 2:13-14 (NIV), it says, “Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right.”

From these two verses alone, it is fairly obvious that God’s will for us to is to submit to and obey the authorities over us. I know what you’re probably thinking: “What about those times when our authorities ask us to do something we don’t think is morally right?” There’s a verse for that too. In Acts 5:28 (NIV), it says, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name…” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!” So if someone asks you to do something that would violate God’s standards, you have the right to disobey them. However, does this really apply to speeding? Does the requirement of going under the speed limit somehow go against God’s will? Not as far as I can see. Sometime I wish it did so that I could go as fast as I want, but the Lord won’t remove it from my conscience, so I keep going under the limit.

In the end, it’s really up to you to believe what you will. The goal here is to give you enough information so that your conscience can be clear.

"Drive" by Presidente

Excuses

Here I hope to address some of the excuses I’ve heard while talking to people about my conviction of speeding.

“But the police only pull you over if you’re going 10 miles per hour over the speed limit!”

So? Just because a law may not be enforced doesn’t mean it’s not still a law. Disobeying a law is still disobedience.

If your older brother sees you doing something that you know is against your parents’ explicit instructions, then just because he doesn’t report you doesn’t make it any less worse. You are still disobeying your parents, and according to scripture, that is sinning. The same applies to police men upholding our government’s speeding laws.

“So you’re saying that if I go just one mile per hour over the speed limit, then I’m sinning?”

Quite frankly, yes, that’s what I’m saying. If the authorities say that going one mile per hour over the speed limit is breaking the law, then doing so not only breaks the human law, it breaks the moral and spiritual law. The quantity of the sin doesn’t matter. If you only steal a little thing, it’s still stealing, right?

“I can follow the ‘spirit’ of the law without following the ‘letter’ of the law.”

Some people say that since they feel “comfortable” going a few miles per hour over the speed limit, and since they “know” that they could stop in enough time to prevent an accident, that they are obeying the spirit – if not the letter – of the law. I find this view rather amusing.

Imagine if your children took on this view. One day you tell your young son Johnny to stay out of the street because it’s dangerous. The next day you find him playing ball in the street with the neighbor kids, obviously disobeying your rule. After pulling him off the street and marching him up to his room, you question him: “Didn’t I tell you just yesterday to stay off of the street? Why did you disobey me today?”

Looking up at you innocently, he says, “Well, you said I couldn’t play on the street because it’s dangerous, so I figured that if I kept my eyes and ears open for cars coming then it wouldn’t be dangerous anymore.”

What would you say to that? Something tells me you wouldn’t be too happy with Johnny, even if he did claim he was doing what was “less dangerous”. You need to be able to trust him to do what you tell him to do, if only for his own safety.

The same goes for the law. The rules the government lays down for us aren’t purposed just to hinder our having fun, they are there to protect us and others around us.

Think about this: If every single driver followed the rules of the road, including the speed limit laws, how many less accidents would there be? How many lives would be saved? So what if it takes you five minutes longer to get to your friend’s house? Really, does that matter all that much? If you are obeying the law and going under the speed limit, you are contributing to the cause of saving lives.

Conclusion

I want to thank you for sticking it out and reading this long article. My goal is not to condemn you or to pile guilt on your head, my goal is to make you aware of an area in your life where you might not realize you aren’t pleasing God. I encourage you to pray, ask the Lord for guidance and wisdom, and decide your view on this issue.

If you have read this article in its entirety and still are unconvinced that speeding is a sin, I encourage you to search the scriptures for yourself and let me know what you find. If you find support for speeding within the scriptures, I would love to hear about it so that I can update the article with both sides of the issue.

Welcome, all you loyal (and maybe not quite as loyal) readers, to the new and improved ArrowUp! We have a whole bunch of news and new features to tell you about on the site, so let’s get right to it.

The first thing you will notice about the new ArrowUp is the fact that the blog has gone through a huge design change. If you remember, the old design was rather, well, old, and it looked dirty and grungy. ....]]> Aaaaaaannnd…We’re back!

Welcome, all you loyal (and maybe not quite as loyal) readers, to the new and improved ArrowUp! We have a whole bunch of news and new features to tell you about on the site, so let’s get right to it.

New Design

The first thing you will notice about the new ArrowUp is the fact that the blog has gone through a huge design change. If you remember, the old design was rather, well, old, and it looked dirty and grungy. Here’s a screenshot of what it once was:

As you can see, it’s not that bad, but it just isn’t lively enough for my liking. That being said, I decided to take things into my own hands (or fingers), and type up a completely new design the for site. And, well, you’re looking at it! I tried to make it as clean as possible in addition to incorporating lots of arrows and sky-like things into it.

The result, I must say, is better than I could have hoped for.

Request an Article

Look at the bottom of this page. The very bottom. Go ahead, do it. Do you see that cloud thing, and on the right side of it a heading that says “Ask a Question”? That is where you can contact us and ask us to write about a certain topic.

So if you have been thinking and wondering about how to pray recently, just use that form and say “How should I pray?” in the body. We’ll get your message and (hopefully) write about it soon. Cool? I think so!

Great New Articles

Last but not least, we have a whole selection of great new articles lined up to post here on ArrowUp. Our hope and prayer is that they would be edifying to all who read them and that they would encourage you in your Christian walks.

One thing that we plan on doing is encouraging more discussion than we have before. The great thing about posting challenging articles is starting challenging discussions, and hopefully that will become a big part of ArrowUp in the future.

That being said, I hope that you guys will get some great discussions going here, and that we will pump out some great articles!

Furry is a subculture, a wide group of people who utilize a world of anthropomorphic animals to create different types of artwork. The artwork varies between drawn or painted works, written ....]]> This week, neither Ben nor I will be posting. I have asked my friend Dillon Lucas to write something about a movement he is working on in a certain subculture. But he can explain it better than I, so without further ado:

What is Furry, anyway?

A Guest Post by Dillon Lucas

Furry is a subculture, a wide group of people who utilize a world of anthropomorphic animals to create different types of artwork. The artwork varies between drawn or painted works, written stories, or even crafts like making mascot suits by oneself, but that’s more of a rarity, despite the publicity that the mascot suits, or “Fursuits” get. “Furries” as they are called, generally hang out in Internet Relay Chatrooms (IRC) or on forums, at which they exchange their works that they’ve created. Some like to roleplay within their respected IRCs or forums as a means to play out their own furry characters that they’ve created, also known as “fursonas”. If Furries get the chance, they love to meet up and hang out together. This is generally because the subculture isn’t all of a big thing, and it’s exciting for them to meet with another Furry, or “Furr” for short, due to how rare it is to see one.

Some Furries are really big cartoon buffs, and gear their artwork more towards a cartoonish style. Others are intrigued by realism in the Furry universe, and incorporate that into their works. Here are examples of some of the artwork:

http://furry.org.ua/pic/bbbasil.jpg, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a3/Anthro_vixen.jpg, http://fc04.deviantart.com/images3/i/2004/142/d/5/sci_fi_rp_tiger_anthro.jpg, http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/509157/Apples-Marten.jpg

I may or may not have given it away with the above links, but Furry art generally utilizes anthropomorphic canines and felines. You normally won’t see a “Furry” turtle or something like that… unless you watched the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles when you were little. Those count.

Here are a couple examples of the fursuits:

http://pics.wildillusions.com/albums/userpics/10003/normal_Fursuit_v1_Comparison.jpg, http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8c/Fursuit_TaniDaReal_top.jpg, http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/509157/DSC_0553.jpg

Fursuits take a LONG time to make, months even, and are VERY pricey (800+ to 2000$+). Others are too lazy to express their “Furriness” with suits, so they just make tails or ears, or wear collars (so, it’s not always the Goth kids!). The suits are generally worn at conventions, where a large number of Furries can congregate and show off their work to each other. Never been to one myself, but they generally have lots of fun from what I’ve been told.

Now, there are a very large range of misconceptions about Furries; I’ll rattle off a few.

1.) Furries seriously think that they’re animals. Why else would they wear the suits?

No. People, in general, who believe that they’re animals, or believe that they possess the soul of an animal are known as Therianthropes. Some Therians happen to be Furries, but those are a minority (Wikipedia Therianthropy for more info).

Furries wear Fursuits for a couple of reasons… but generally just for the heck of it. Also, like I said previously, “Fursuiting” isn’t all that big, it just gets a lot of publicity.

2.) Furries have absolutely no life and just waste away online.

Again, no. Some furries do, but I’ve also met my fair share of very successful, and good Christian Furries. One Christian Furry I know works with NASA!

3.) Furries are sick, disgusting perverts who condone and perform zoophilia, or beastiality.

ICK! Sad to say, but there are furries that do this. HOWEVER, they are a minority and are known as “Furverts” within the subculture.

4.) Furries are sexually confused.

No. There are some homosexuals who happen to be Furry, but that’s not what Furry is.

Sadly, the Furries who dance with all these sins get the most publicity, and are also the most bashed by those who know what a Furry is. This causes newcoming Furries to keep their interest in Furry a secret from friends and family, and they find themselves sinning too sometimes, because no one’s holding them accountable. When I say the sinful Furries get the most attention, you’d get that immediately if you played with Google Images for awhile (DON’T. You’ll regret it for the rest of your life).

With all the bad stuff around, it’s hard for a lot of people to see how it could be a good, God-glorifying thing, especially when people are keeping it a secret from people that they care about. When I was still a Furry myself, I was guilty of keeping it a secret too, especially because of a darker past that I struggled with (for more info on that, see my blog and scroll to the very bottom of it: http://oncebound.blogspot.com). I eventually did tell Mom and Dad, but they were less than friendly with it; by now you can see why.

If you look at the Chronicles of Narnia, that would be considered a piece of Furry literature by the subculture. That’s all I can think of off the top of my head, but I’m sure there’s other Christian works that happen to utilize the Furry world, and many more could be made… but the problem is, some Christian Furries are keeping their interest in the subculture a secret, because they’re afraid of judgment by their peers, their Church, and their parents. Some of them treat it like a sin because they keep it so hidden, and for others, it becomes one.

This is a terrible, terrible picture folks! Here you have a pretty cool world full of ways in which God-glorifying things could be created, but it’s also in the midst of a subculture that’s looked down upon because the sinners within it get so much publicity. So, what’s my mission? Why am I writing this to you guys?

I’m writing for prayer, for hope. This secret has to be broken! A day has to come when Furries can give all they do to the Lord, and do so without shame! Some I have spoken to have considered starting a new Furry movement, a Christian one, and rebranding the works of art and the interest as a whole. Whether or not that’s the way to go, only God knows. So, I’m begging you guys, be praying that God moves these people, and that the shackles of the sins they don’t want to be accused of are broken.

Here are some Christian Furry forums you can take a peek at!

http://christianfurs.net

http://www.furrsfurchrist.com/forum/

Questions

If you have any questions, you are more than welcome (encouraged, in fact) to post them here, or you can contact Dillon with any of the following:
E-mail: dillon1990@hotmail.com
Skype: kail200x
AIM: kail200x
MSN: bereftofdream20xx@msn.com

I really encourage you to pray for this movement. Pray that:

1. God would work through Christian Furries to help other Furries who are lost.
2. God would help Dillon and his comrades to clearly present the gospel in an understandable way.
3. God would take away the shame felt by many furries and cause them to come out in the open with their interest.

With the growth of these things, some inappropriate content has started to seep into the internet.  Many Christians have for the most part turned their backs on technology and decided to stay with “old school” media just for ....]]> Let’s face it – computers, the internet, and social networking have grown in popularity exponentially in the past few years.  Everyone seems to be using them – if not at home at their desk, on the go with their PDAs or phones.

With the growth of these things, some inappropriate content has started to seep into the internet.  Many Christians have for the most part turned their backs on technology and decided to stay with “old school” media just for this reason.  This does block out all the bad influences on the internet, but it also takes away the many good things it has to offer.  In the list below, I’ve summarized a few of the ways the internet can help you in your Christian walk.

1. Online Bibles

By far the best tool that computers can offer you is the online Bible.  You say, “what’s wrong with the Bible on my shelf?”  The answer is that your Bible is only one translation, has a limited concordance, and doesn’t tell you the Greek meaning behind all the verses.  Online Bibles do all this and more.

My personal favorite online Bible, Blue Letter Bible (blueletterbible.org), has not only all of the features I mentioned above, but it also offers daily devotionals, commentaries (text, audio and video), images and maps, study tools, and again, much more.

Some other online Bibles are BibleGateway.com, OnlineBible.net, and Bible.com.

2. Christian Forums

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.” Acts 2:42

If the early Christians devoted themselves to fellowship, then I believe we should as well.  This is one reason why going to church is so important – it gets us together with other Christians so we can encourage each other.

But you don’t have to just do this on Sunday.  With online forums or discussion boards, you can talk with other Christians about your faith, what you’re going through, and even ask for prayer.  My favorite Christian forum is The Rebelution forum (therebelution.com/forum), but there are many others like ChristianForums.com, ChristianForums.net, and ChristianChatForum.com.

3. Christian Videos

Another way that you can be encouraged online is through Christian videos.  Whether they be slideshows, sermons, or songs, they can really help you in your Christian walk.

My favorite Christian video site is by far tangle.com.  It not only has great videos, but it also has a great Christian community.  You can connect with your friends, comment on Bible verses, and even post prayers to the prayer wall.

Conclusion

I’m not saying that whoever doesn’t use the internet because of its inappropriate content is wrong, I’m just saying that you should consider all the good that it can be used for.

If you are struggling with bad things on the internet, I would highly recommend getting an internet filter for your computer.  My favorite is K9 Web Protection.  It is by far the best web filter I’ve come across, and is even free from their site.

Over all, I think the internet has a lot to offer us as Christians.  We do need to be careful of what we let into our eyes and minds, but we shouldn’t shut out everything that it has to offer.

No, I’m not referring to Oscar Wilde here. One of the things I have observed in my struggles with time management skills is that it is incredibly important to be earnest in your desire to grow in this area. Otherwise, it’s like trying ....]]> If you will allow me, I would like to return to the issue of time management. Recently, I have been thinking about it some more, and I have a couple things to say.

The Importance of Being Earnest

No, I’m not referring to Oscar Wilde here. One of the things I have observed in my struggles with time management skills is that it is incredibly important to be earnest in your desire to grow in this area. Otherwise, it’s like trying to build a sandcastle with too much water in the sand: it just crumbles when you remove the mold.

Does this mean that we have to hold unwavering resolve in order to make any progress? Of course not! Our God is a forgiving God, and is used to working with flawed clay (Heck, He’s been doing it since the Fall). He does not require that we be perfect to improve; that would be absurd, but He does look for a willing heart.

Post-It Notes®

Post-Its are wonderful creations. They stick almost anywhere. They come in all shapes, sizes and colors. And they are actually really useful for time management purposes. Though it may not be abundantly obvious how they help, they really do. It’s something my mom encouraged me to do.

In the morning, you take your various responsibilities and hobbies into account. Pray it over with God. I journal about it, but not everyone benefits so much from writing prayers down. After getting a sense for what God wants you to do, pray about what priority different items on the list take. Then work out an order in which to tackle them.

Here’s an example Post-It for me (with names of people in asterisks):

1. Math
2. Read The Brothers Karamazov Sections 6.1-6.3
3. Write letter to **** and *****
4. Check in on ****’s progress
5. Finish Translating “Known For What We Do” and post.
6. Study Danish

As you can see, I put my schoolwork (Math and The Brothers Karamazov in top priority, because those were absolute musts for the day. Then came my secondary responsibilities, pertaining to the Rebelution Translation Project. Only after that did my truly optional task begin (Danish). Of course, your tasks and the order you put them in will be different, but I hope you get the gist.

After you write the list of things down on the Post-It, you should stick it somewhere where you will see it all day. Maybe that’s on the dashboard of your car, or on your fridge, or maybe you need to stick it to your body (I have to do that sometimes ). Then just follow the Post-It to the best of your ability (not that it’s a god or anything, but it is a guideline)

Pick it up to put it down

Of course, things rarely go completely according to plan. No matter how much we may try, we can never control the world. So that’s where another piece of my mom’s wisdom comes in: sometimes we make a plan just to practice laying it down. (Sorry, if that wasn’t her thought originally; she’s who I heard it from)

For example, on the day for the above Post-It that I wrote, I did not accomplish everything I had hoped. In fact, I only got through item 4; the rest had to wait until the next day. But that does not make that day a failure. That had been my fatal mistake: thinking of a day as a success if and only if I accomplished everything I had hoped for. Even though I didn’t finish all my tasks according to my list, but I did finish God’s list for me, which is the only important one. We must remember to “trade our dreams for His,” (Casting Crowns) but hopefully they’re not in conflict.

First, we must make one thing clear, and that is that the word “brother” in the Bible often refers to all Christians. That doesn’t matter, though, because out siblings should be under that category anyway.

The first verse that I want to look ....]]> Is it wrong to argue and quarrel with your siblings? This question is asked many times by young people. Today, I want to look at some scriptures that could help shed some light on the subject.

First, we must make one thing clear, and that is that the word “brother” in the Bible often refers to all Christians. That doesn’t matter, though, because out siblings should be under that category anyway.

The first verse that I want to look at is a rather confusing one. It is Proverbs 17:17. Does it mean that we are intended to quarrel with our siblings? No – in this passage, the “brother born for adversity” is just being used as a contrast to show how much a friend loves. Take a look at Psalm 133:1. It pretty much shows that God wants us to be united with our brothers and sisters, not adversary.

But does it really matter if we fight with out siblings? From the world’s perspective, no – it doesn’t matter at all. In fact, they might even call it “survival of the fittest”. But does it matter from God’s perspective? Is it true that He hates quarreling and fighting? Yes – it is true, painfully true.

Remember the story of Cain and Able? Cain got upset with Abel over a little matter of sacrifices, and he got so angry that he killed him. Later, God appeared to him and questioned him about his brother. You can read about it in Genesis 4. Because of Cain’s killing his brother, God cursed him to be “driven from the ground, which opened its mouth to receive your brother’s blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it will no longer yield its crops for you. You will be a restless wanderer on the earth.” That was a pretty serious punishment, even though the crime was murder.

Another example of how much God hates brotherly adversity is in Matthew 5:21-26. Here, Jesus is saying that if you simply called your brother a bad name, you would either have to face the Sanhedrin, jail, or even the fire of Hell. That’s a pretty harsh punishment for a simple name-calling incident, don’t you think? It just goes to show how much God hates quarreling and rivalry amongst siblings.

By now, you are probably convinced that God is opposed to sibling rivalry and quarreling. So that means that you can just go home and totally ignore your siblings, right? Wrong. God not only wants you to not fight with them, He wants you to love them.

Read 1 John 2:9-11. It pretty much says that whoever loves his brother lives in the light, but whoever hates his brother lives in darkness. Later on in 1 John, read chapter 4 verses 7 and 8. Here, Paul is saying that whoever loves his brother knows God, but whoever does not love his brother does not know God. Still later on in 1 John, read chapter 4 verses 19-21. Paul is saying again that whoever claims that he loves God, but hates his brother, is a liar. Whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Although we should love our siblings and not argue with them, we should still correct them if we see them doing something wrong. Read Matthew 18:15-17. It says that if your brother sins against you, you should first try to settle the dispute between yourselves. If he doesn’t listen to you, then you should get some of your friends together as witnesses. If he still doesn’t listen, then you should take him in front of the church, and if he still doesn’t listen, then you should treat him as an outcast. Now I doubt that all that will happen to you and your siblings, but it shows that God wants us to correct as well as love each other.

Another verse on this is Luke 17:3-4. The word “seven” in this passage means “infinity”. So if our brother sins infinite times, yet asks his forgiveness the same amount of times, we should forgive him.

So in conclusion, God wants us to not argue with our siblings, to love them, and to correct them whenever they sin. This not only applies to your siblings, though. It applies to everyone we meet. So next time you are tempted to be short or argue with someone, think again.

But when it comes to Christians, the music can often be a stumbling block to us.  Usually we either allow any type of it into our ears, or we try to listen to a select genre that we feel comfortable with.  Sometimes we don’t really ....]]> Music is almost essential to life as a human being.  God created us to enjoy music, for it to lift our spirits, to comfort us, and to provide a means of praising Him from the heart.

But when it comes to Christians, the music can often be a stumbling block to us.  Usually we either allow any type of it into our ears, or we try to listen to a select genre that we feel comfortable with.  Sometimes we don’t really know what we’re allowed to listen to as Christians, so we simply listen to nothing.  All of these approaches have their benefits and dangers, and I’m not here to push my own view on anyone, but I believe that there are three major questions you should ask before listening to any type of music.

Does it glorify God?

The Bible has a lot to say about music.  Especially throughout the Psalms, there are many verses that emphasize the importance of praising God, or glorifying Him.

Psalm 71:23 – My lips will shout for joy when I sing praises to Thee; And my soul, which Thou hast redeemed.

Psalm 75:9 – But as for me, I will declare it forever; I will sing praises to the God of Jacob.

Psalm 96:2 – Sing to the Lord, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day.

Psalm 98:4 - Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

Psalm 105:2 – Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; Speak of all His wonders.

There are also many references to other types of singing in the Bible.

James 5:13 – Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise.

Colossians 3:16 – Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

Ephesians 5:19 – Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.

As you can see, there are many references to singing in the scriptures.  However, all of the verses I just listed have one thing in common – the songs are being sung to the Lord, praising Him for what He alone has done.

The importance of using songs to praise God can’t be stressed enough.  In fact, it is one of the only verbal ways mentioned in the Bible of offering up praise to Him.

So, judging from the Bible’s stress on praise, I believe that most of the songs we sing/listen to should be centered on praising God and giving Him glory.

Will it build me up?

Not all music, even if it is praising God, is suited for every occasion.  Some songs are simply meant to be sung when you’re sad, and some when you’re happy.  For example, if you’re all happy and excited about everything God’s doing in your life, I don’t think you should sing a slow, sad song such as “He dragged me up from the pit of despair, where I could never have escaped on my own”.  Don’t get me wrong – these sorts of songs are great if you’re feeling down and out, but sometimes they can dampen your spirits and even make you depressed.

Not only is not all music fit for every occasion, but some music just isn’t edifying for our spiritual walk.  For example, some songs these days are simply made up of “Hallelujah” or “Praise God” repeated over and over (and over).  These can sometimes be good, maybe when you don’t necessarily want to think deeply about profound lyrics, but most of the time we need something with more spiritual depth to encourage us.

This is one thing I don’t like about some contemporary Christian music.  Often times, the lyrics have almost nothing to do with Christianity, and if they do, it doesn’t add anything to my walk towards Christlikeness.

This all depends on what you personally find encouraging in your own life as a Christian.  If classical music helps you quiet your heart and focus your mind on God (Psalm 46:10), then that’s great for you.  If rock music can do the same for you – and yes, this is possible, I know from my own experience – then listening to it is perfectly fine (as long as you take into consideration the next question).  The thing that is important here is choosing music that will build you up, not just create “noise”.

Will it cause others to stumble?

This question is more of a music question as opposed to a content question.  Let’s face it – not everyone is attracted to hard rock music.  Then again, not everyone is attracted to classical music.  If you want to be the best example you can to someone, sometimes you need to meet them where they are.

If there’s a teenager in your school who likes to dance around with a radio booming rock music, you are more likely to make an impression on him if you show him some Christian artists on the harder side (Skillet, Pillar, and Disciple come to mind).

On the other hand, if there’s another kid in your school who listens to only classical music, you’d be more likely to open doors if you played him some of the old Christian hymns, or maybe artists like Chris Rice, Selah, and Shane & Shane.

The key here is balance.  Believe it or not, people can be turned away from Christ if the first people they hear talking about him are a scream-o band.  The same can go for classical music.  If someone hears an old hymn being played on the radio, they might feel like they can’t connect with Christians because they have no “good music”.  Music is an extremely important aspect of life, and we don’t want to overlook its power to influence.

Secular music

You’re most likely wondering – “does this mean that I can never listen to secular music?”  This is a hard question to answer, and opinions vary.  My personal view is that secular music, if the lyrics aren’t anti-Christian, can be fine to listen to.  Some songs can help you quiet down your mind, and others can have good lyrics with lessons to be learned.

However, your main music library should be one that praises and glorifies God.  Don’t praise anyone or anything other than Him, be it genre, song, or artist.  He is the One who created all things, and saved us from the depths of despair.  He should occupy your thoughts, actions, and yes, the music you listen to.