25 Jul 2017

I’ll Take A Bite Of That

by | posted in: Church, Culture | 14,126

There is a reason we follow recipes, to make something that is good and palatable, and also mostly because certain ingredients do not mix. One may change the type of cheese, or use almond milk instead of cow milk in a recipe. Because some ingredients may be different, they do not ruin the final product. It just gives it a different flavor. However, you may not replace the flower in pancakes with baking soda, because you would not end up with pancakes.

In the same way we must ensure we do not mix in outside worship of idols with the true worship of God. “Well”, one might add, “I only worship God”. Yes, by everything you understand you would believe that, but here lies my point. The worship of idols can sneak into the worship of God without it being obvious to us. Idols don’t always look like little brass statues that you can place on the mantle, though some of them might stick on the car window.

An idol that stands out is easily defeated, but one that slowly works its way in becomes natural and part of a culture. The mixing of idol worship and the worship of God may not seem distasteful to us, but is grossly unpalatable to God. This is where we come to the story of Balaam and Balak. In the book of numbers we find Balak, who was king over Moab, in fear of the Jews. He sends after Balaam knowing that “he whom you bless is blessed, and he whom you curse is cursed”(Numbers 22:6). However, God warns Balaam to only speak what he is told. This does not go over well with Balak since Balaam ends up blessing Israel three times. Chapter 24 ends with Balaam telling what was to happen in the days to come and then vs. 25 of chapter 24 says “Then Balaam arose and departed and returned to his place, and Balak also went his way”.

The next chapter begins with the Israelites playing the harlot with the daughters of Moab, feasting on food sacrificed to idols and bowing to them as well. So the question is what happened? Here was a mighty nation moving along and following God’s plan and all of sudden they are joined to Baal of Peor. We find the rest of the story of Balak and Balaam in Revelation 2:12-17.

Balaam could not curse the people; however at some point he taught Balak how to trip them up. The verse says to place a “stumbling block” in front of them. Balak placed food sacrificed to idols in front of them to eat and enticed them to commit acts of immorality. This false worship and immorality led to Numbers chapter 25 in which the Lord became angry with Israel.

So why did Israel not reject the food and worship of Baal? Simply put, the food looked good and the women were pretty. “And if all I have to do is bow, then I get hot food and hot ladies… I mean this is their culture and I want to be seen as relevant, besides I still observe the Sabbath”. These things don’t seem so wrong, at least after the 3rd and 4th time. The word for “stumbling block” could also mean “snare”. Those that hunt and fish know you don’t catch prey if the bait doesn’t look enticing and the snare or stumbling block is visible. One trips over the “block” because their eyes are focused somewhere else; they don’t see it for what it is.

So what does this mean for us? We are smart people and we have access to more information than a bunch of folks running around in the desert. But knowledge is not as valuable as wisdom. Knowledge knows what it is we do, and where we go, and where we spend our time and money. Wisdom tells us why we do it. Godly wisdom is the key in understanding which items in our lives are idols and which are true worship and which ones need to be prayed about further.

So now we come to the Church in America, which is more accurately the American Church. So what is it, you might ask, that I am getting at? That the idols have crept into the church, which means there are those of us that worship things other than or along with God. The problem is the idols are different for each of us. (James 1:14) We can worship our sexuality, our “cause” be it pro or anti this and that, or even our politics. A person running for office often becomes our savior if we are not careful. “He/she will fix everything, if we can just get them elected.” We can even begin to praise our government, singing its praises in a worship service. We sacrifice our Saturdays to give honor to our favorite sports teams, and spend our weekday nights at ball parks in service to sports.

Now is it wrong to be pro or anti this and that? Is it wrong to want good leaders? Is it wrong to watch sports and let your kids play them? Depends on what you are searching for. You see the problem is not with the meat. All things are made clean and we know that there are no other gods. However, our desire to have those “meats” drives us to compromise and worship the idols that are associated with them. There is nothing wrong with a child playing baseball; it is when the game becomes the desire of our heart, or when we praise our nation as though it is our savior. It is when we miss where the meat comes from that we are led astray. We believe that the idol provides the meat we desire, whether it be peace, justice, happiness, or protection. These things are to be sought from God. Dead idols can do nothing for us.

This brings us back to us, the church. When we are enticed by the things of the world, we must be careful that they do not become the object of our affection. Because when they do, we will mix them in our true worship. The idols will compete with our worship of God and if not thrown down we will bow our knee to them and give Sunday lip service to the one true God.

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    The Sixth Sense director, 54, dressed as the villainous Joker for his ‘Shyamaween’ bash.

    His makeup was perfectly creepy and his costume was
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    Josh Hartnett draws comparisons between his new
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    The couple’s daughter, Isha Shyamalan, 25, attended the party dressed as a blood-soaked cheerleader. 

    The Shyamalans throw the party annually to benefit the M.
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    The foundation ‘supports the grassroots efforts of emerging leaders as
    they work to eliminate the barriers created by poverty and social injustice in their communities,’ according to its website.

    M. Night shot to fame in 1999 with his film The
    Sixth Sense, which celebrated turning 25-years-old in August.

    Shyamalan recently opened up about that film’s impact on his career in an interview with People.

    ‘At this point, there’s so many generations of
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    Dubbed ‘Shyamaween,’ the Sixth Sense director, 54, dressed as the Joker
    from the recently released film Joker: Folie à Deux starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix

    His makeup was perfectly creepy and he wore a woman’s nurse’s uniform to complete his
    costume

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    year

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    that ultimately ended with the release of Lady In The Water (2006),
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    Lady Gaga fans are begging the singer to do a global tour –
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    The pop superstar, 38, is preparing to release her seventh album, with fans hoping this
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    Variety reported the Grammy winner’s label Universal Music put out
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    The Star is Born actress also shared a photo of what appeared
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    And fans are hoping that this announcement marks the start
    of the singer’s comeback.

    Following the news, many took to X to beg the Judas songstress to go on tour for her latest project with some jokingly saying they would give her everything they owned for her
    to tour.

    Lady Gaga teased the release on her Instagram, sharing
    a teaser clip from the viewpoint of an approaching vehicle,
    with her seen running away from it

    The Star is Born actress also shared a photo of what appeared to be her figure
    splayed across the front of a car with the phrase ‘Disease’ painted on the street, and a series of dates, times and cities 

    One fan said: ‘GOD PLEASE TAKE MY BANK ACCOUNT, TRIPLE IT
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    Others wrote: ‘Can’t wait for the tour #DISEASE will be
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    ‘I MISS YOU GO ON TOUR!!! 

    ‘My bank account will hate me once Lady Gaga announces the new tour! 

    ‘It’s so wonderful, I missed this, come with a tour soon

    ‘I NEED A WORLD TOUR MAMA’ 

    Following the news, many took to X to beg the Judas songstress to go on tour for her latest project with
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    The singer, whose hits include Bad Romance, Born This Way, Just Dance
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    her album Harlequin, which was inspired by her film, Joker:
    Folie à Deux.

    Among the tracks on the album included two new songs, and standards such as
    That’s Entertainment, That’s Life and Get Happy.

    Like the film, it was not an initial commercial success, marking her lowest
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    20.

    Joker: Folie à Deux saw Lady Gaga play Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, who earned the Best Actor Oscar for
    his performance in the franchise’s 2019 film

    But the sequel was critically panned and became a huge flop, with it being
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    break even.

    The singer, whose hits include Bad Romance, Born This Way, Just Dance and Poker
    Face, is headed back to her pop persona following the September release of her album Harlequin , which was inspired by her film,
    Joker: Folie à Deux (pictured last month)

    The film saw her play Harley Quinn opposite Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, who earned the Best Actor Oscar for his performance in the franchise’s 2019 film (pictured)

    But the sequel was critically panned and became a huge flop,
    with it being reported it ‘ could potentially lose $150 to
    $200 million ‘ despite studio insiders saying it would break even

    The Warner Bros. film has made $192.2 million worldwide, with $56.6 million in domestic box office revenue,
    according to Box Office Mojo.

    Some fans have said that despite the film’s initial failure financially and with critics,
    it will be looked upon favorably years from now.

    Lady Gaga has had some commercial success in recent months with her pairing
    with Bruno Mars on Die With a Smile, which was released in August, landing in the
    third spot on Billboard’s Hot 100.

    In 2020, she put out the studio album Chromatica, which initially landed in the top spot upon its debut and included the hit single
    Rain on Me, a collaboration with Ariana Grande.

    InstagramOasisSpotifyLady GagaColdplay

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