As many of you probably know, Mitt Romney seems to be the Republican Presidential nominee and he is a Mormon.  Joel Osteen, popular and well-known Houston pastor, was recently interviewed and among the topics was the faith of Mitt Romney.  This pastor said, among other things, “Mormonism is a little different, but I still see them as brothers in Christ.”  Ummm…WHAT?!

Let’s look at some basic beliefs of Mormonism and you tell me if you consider them brothers in Christ, as we know Him.

• Foundational truths taught in Mormonism is that all Christian churches are an abomination in the eye’s of their god.
• There is no personal salvation outside of the Mormon church
• The god of Mormonism used to be a man on another planet and through good works was exalted to god-hood.  That same god is now living on a planet near the star Kolob with a harem of goddesses making babies that come to earth.
• All Mormons are trying to earn their own god-hood so they can have their own planet with their harem.
• The “Jesus” of Mormonism is the brother of Lucifer (Satan)
• “Jesus” of Mormonism became the savior of the world due to a vote by the council of gods
• “Jesus” of Mormonism is not the Word made flesh, not God come in the flesh but instead is the result of physical sex between the Mormon god and his daughter Mary
• “Jesus” of Mormonism did not die for all sins
• “Jesus” of Mormonism has not always been God
• In Mormonism, people of dark skin are cursed by the Mormon god and this was heavily in practice until 1978
• Mormons believe that the Christian bible is unreliable and incomplete for faith.

Now I ask you, does this sound like the beliefs of a brother in Christ as we know Jesus the Christ?

And shame on Joel Osteen for his statement!  It’s no wonder he was referenced in my previous post on Flavor Flavs in the pulpit.

Yep…there it is.  A Square watermelon.  It’s not photo-shopped or manipulated.  An actual watermelon that is square shaped.  If you asked 100 people to describe the shape of a watermelon, you would be hard pressed to find one that would say square.  But again…here it is.

Yep…it’s square.  Now if you are like me, something just feels wrong about it.  More than likely, if you saw this in your local grocery store, you would keep on walking.  It looks abnormal.  And because the outside is abnormal, I’m not sure I can trust what’s on the inside.

The question you are now probably asking yourself is how and why are these watermelons square?

Well let’s deal with the WHY, first.  Square watermelons are quite common in Japan.  The average grocery store in Japan is much smaller than the ones we have here in America.  Because of the popularity of watermelons, Japanese grocers were wanting to keep them stocked but their odd/unique shapes were difficult, with limited space, to keep stocked .  As a result, the farmers began to develop a way to grow the watermelon into its square shape.

Now for the HOW.  It’s actually quite simple.  They  allowed it to grow naturally…but inside of a box.  As the watermelon grew, it would take on the shape of the box in which it was placed.  This, of course, made the Japanese grocers happy because they were able to stock a higher number of watermelons.

That sounds great, and so far nothing really wrong with the story so far, but there’s more.  The cost of the average normal watermelon is the equivalent of about $15 US dollars.  The average cost of a square watermelon?  Oh, only the equivalent of $82 US dollars.

The Moral of the Story

You were created as a unique individual.  You are the only you that there will ever be.  But the world would love to put you in a box.  Not because it is better for you, but because it is convenient.  Rather than allowing you to become who God created you to be, you get placed in a box.  For many the box looks like this:

1. Go to college
2. Get a degree
3. Get a good steady job
4. Retire from steady job after 40 years
5. Die

For others the box might be that you make music that sounds like what is on the radio.  Use the same beats or chords, same lyric structure and hope to get a deal with a major label.

Still others may have a box that tells them to design clothes that look like everything else on the racks.  Use the safe colors, materials, etc. and maybe you’ll sell a few pieces here and there.

Whatever the box looks like to you, the end goal is to cause you to fit in and become convenient for everyone else.  It is imperative that you do not allow others to place you in a box for their convenience, but that you become the person God created you to be.  The Bible puts it this way in Romans 12:2

Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is–his good, pleasing and perfect will.

The second thing is this…it costs you more to fit inside of the box that someone else created for you.  Some of you have gone to college, racked up thousands of dollars in debt studying something for which you don’t have passion.  So now, you have wasted money on one thing and are miserable in it.  And to pursue what you should have chased in the first place is going to cost you more.  But if you simply pursued the purpose that God has for you in the first place, you wouldn’t have to repeat steps.

So the question is…are you a square watermelon?  Have you been placed in a box and allowed it to limit who you were designed to be?  The challenge to you this week is to break out of the box and grow into the person that God had in mind when He created you.

But here’s the thing…it is not enough to think/step outside the box.  You must also destroy the box so that it will never again limit you.

Be the best you that you can be.  Not the next square watermelon.

In one of my previous posts, I talked about how God has a plan for you.  From the very beginning of time, God has had an assignment for your life.  One of the great things is that he doesn’t hide it from us.  In fact, many times when we get a word from God, we immediately move to make it happen.  Unfortunately we end up doing it in our own strength and end up out of sync with God.

The bible talks about the steps of a good man (a righteous man) having his steps ordered by God.  In other words, the man who would be in right-standing (righteousness) with God is following the steps and timing of God.  I like how the Message Bible puts it… “Stalwart walks in step with God; his path blazed by God, he’s happy” (emphasis mine).  When God reveals His plan for us, it is important to walk in step with Him and not get ahead of Him.

It would be great if we could move from the place where God gives us His plan/vision and move directly to the fulfillment.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way naturally or spiritually.  It would be wonderful if, when I decide to drive back home to Chicago to visit that I would instantly arrive there.  I would love to avoid the 10-hour drive, the smelly rest stops, the boring/flat landscape and the inevitable construction detours and delays.  It would be great, but there is a process and a journey that I have to take to get there.  Likewise, there is a process and a journey to get where God has designed for us to be.

To make it even clearer, do you remember as a kid doing a “connect the dots” puzzle?  Often times, you could look at the outline of the puzzle and you knew what it could possibly end up being.  You can look at the placement of the dots and make a wise guess as to what the completed image will look like.  But until you connect the dots, the image is not complete.

However, it is not just enough to connect random dots to each other.  Most of these puzzles have dots in either alphabetical or numerical order.  Just going straight from A to Z, does not complete the image if you have missed B, C, D, etc.   To make the image complete, you have to connect the dots in the order that they are given.  To do otherwise is to leave you with either an incomplete image or utter chaos.

This is often what we do when we get a vision and a plan from God.  For example, one is feeling God calling them to preaching/teaching ministry and immediately go print business cards calling themselves Super Queen Apostle-elect.  Or maybe God has shown them a business and they go in the next day and quit their job to start this business.  Sorry, it doesn’t work that way.  You must follow the steps that God is ordering for your life.

Can I take it a step further?  Some “connect the dot” puzzles are basic and some are elaborate.  Some puzzles have 10-15 steps while others have 30-40.  Some of us have God-ordered steps that bring us to His destination quickly while others have an extended period of time before we reach it.  Don’t look at someone else’s “puzzle” and try to work your puzzle based on their’s.  Your steps are ordered for you, not anyone else.  Likewise, the steps you see others taking are meant for them and not for you.  Don’t try and mimic the life God designed for someone else.

Get the plan of God for your life and connect the dots.

I’m sure you have a past.  I have a past.  Your neighbor has a past.  Your spouse has a past.  Your pastor has a past.  We all have a past.  In fact, everyone on this planet has a past.

For some, their past is wonderful and full of great achievements, great successes, and great times.  These folks take great pride in what they’ve done.      They can tell you about scoring the winning touchdown in a high school game 20 years ago.  They will tell you about who they used to know, where they used to lead and what car they used to drive.  Their past has defined who they are.

For others, their past is full of heartache and turmoil.  Their past is littered with failure, pain, abuse, and horrible memories.  Maybe there was molestation or rape.  Quite possibly, their past included being rejected by parents, friends and others.  They speak of the past as in “what could have been”.  They view the past with regret and sorrow.  Their past has defined them as well.

The problem with both of those individual or types of people is that God never intended for them to live in the past.  You see the past is very limiting.  The past is the past.  To continue to live in the past is to limit the potential that God is placed in you.  Unfortunately, too many people allow their past to define just who they are.  It’s the reason that pro sports players sometimes have a difficult time making the transition to retirement.  Because for so long they have been defined as a star player and now in retirement they are having difficulty being just a person with all the limelight and stardom that comes with it.  It’s the reason that married people will continue to act as if they are single because they have not learned to deal with the change from the past.  It’s the reason that new converts have a hard time staying saved.

The world itself is overly concerned with the past.  We ask each other, “where did you grow up” or “what school did you go to”?  Companies ask us for resumes to tell them what we have done in the past.    We go to high school reunions to remind each other of stories from 10, 15 and 20 years ago.  We listen to old songs and remind ourselves of what we were doing when we first heard that song.  We do all of these things, yet none of them match up with what God has intended for us.

According to Jeremiah, God has some plans for us.  He has some desires for our lives, some things that will bless us and prosper us.  But here’s the key thing…  His plans, his designs, and his will for us are not in our past.  The things they God has for you are not wrapped up in what you did 20 years ago, 10 years ago, or even last year.  God has some things that he wants to accomplish in you and through you.  But you will never walk into to them if you are constantly looking backwards to the past.

Not only does God want to accomplish some things in and through you, but His plans are designed to give you hope.  The word “hope” is defined as the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best or  to look forward to with desire and reasonable confidence.   God wants you to have something to look forward to because His plans are the best for us.

Simply put, if you are stuck in the past regretting past mistakes and reliving past successes you can not move forward.  Even Paul, who was in a former life the chief accuser of believers had this to say,

Philippians 3: 13, 14  Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, ¹⁴ I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Make today the day that you let go of your past and press on towards where God is leading you.  The past happened…get over it.  Let go of what happened and move into what God has planned and designed for you.

Anyway, this topic is something that I have kinda kicked around for a few years and finally decided to put it in writing.  I want to address what I call the “Flavor Flav” spirit in the pulpit.  Now before you raise a fuss, I am not one of those guys that starts calling every thing a spirit and a demon.  You know…the spirit of excess, demon of dirt, demon of ice cream and so on.  But when I say spirit in this sense, I am simply talking about the similarity of actions and attitudes that we see exhibited in some pulpits and the celebrity Flavor Flav.

To begin, let’s look into who Flavor Flav is…

As you may know, he was a member of the 90′s rap group Public Enemy.  As stated in Wikipedia, Public Enemy was known for their politically charged lyrics and criticism of the American media, with an active interest in the frustrations and concerns of the African American community.  In fact the term “socially conscious artist” can rarely be used without this group coming to mind.

Flavor Flav’s role in the group was the “hypeman”.  Typically, the hypeman is an important supporting member of the group.  The hypeman does just what his name implies…he is the man that gets the crowd hyped or excited.  Whether it is through call and respond chants or echoing the words of the main artist, the hypeman is supposed to support the overall message of the artist/main performer.

In all honesty, we should all be hypemen for Christ.  We should all support the overall message of Christ.  Our lives should echo His words and message.

However, Flavor Flav is a hypeman of a different breed.  Flavor Flav actually distracts from the “socially conscious” message of Public Enemy.  In fact, many would say that he is the direct opposite what that group espouses.  From his “reality” TV shows (so fake and scripted), his buffoonery and numerous run-ins with the law it is difficult to reconcile the overall message of the group with the lifestyle of one of its members.

See, because Flavor Flav was willing to compromise the overall message of the group, doors opened that allowed him to become larger than the group that he was supposed to support.  In the African-American community, many look at him and shake their heads because he embodies all of the negative stereotypes.

Now, on to the real purpose of this post…

If you have been in the church (body) for any length of time, you have probably heard or come in contact with some of the Flavor Flav-style ministers.  Men and women that purport to represent God, but the life is in direct conflict with the message of Christ.  They shuck and jive in the pulpit drawing attention to themselves, hyping up churches on emotion without giving them Word.  They compromise the Word and therefore become larger than the One they were supposed to support.

As a follower of Christ, I shake my head every time I turn on the TV and see a pastor trying to settle out of court to quiet accusations of homosexual affairs.  I wince when I watch a pastor hem and haw, then finally eke out a wimpy “Homosexuality is not God’s best” response.  I get disappointed when I watch a pastor run around the country fleecing the flock and having them pull imaginary casino slots, yelling Money Cometh.  It irritates me when a pastor divorces his wife, and marries another woman less than a month after his divorce and says God told him the new woman was always supposed to be his wife!

Why?  Because these people have gotten people so hyped on their eloquence of words and personality that they have taken away from the true message and messenger.  They have positioned themselves in direct opposition to the message of the main “artist” …Christ.

What makes matters worse is when those that have received the “hype” ministry (LOL…couldn’t resist!)  defend the actions and become a follower and defender of the hype man.   They will pull out the misinterpreted and misused “Touch not mine anointed” scripture as a reason to excuse and overlook the actions.  They have, in effect, placed a higher value on the off-key background singer than the main artist.

As followers of Christ, we have to stay focused on Him.  Our pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc should point to the Most High God.  We should never exalt them above God.  And as ministers, we should ensure that we don’t compromise the message to get a larger stage or upstage Him.

In the words of Public Enemy, when it comes to these Flavor Flav preachers…Don’t Believe The Hype!