Bible study #1 on "I'm Not Ashamed" by Newsboys  [song lyrics]

• originally released on "sharagirl" fansite
• author: "shara" (Sarah)
• please note - original disclaimer: "Okay, if you yell, boo, and hiss at me for this, that's your right. All opinions expressed here are that of the author and not necessarily that of the Newsboys."
  
  
  
• Choose a part of this bible study:
  
  
  • "Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin"
    
    
  • "Buddha + Mohammed = WHAT?????"
    
    
  • "Are You Ashamed?"
    
    
  • "Wait Just a Minute While I Figure Out How to Use the Camera"

	From the album "Not Ashamed" (1992) Read the song lyrics...

part 1:

"Love the Sinner, Hate the Sin"

"What are we sneaking around for?
Who are we trying to please?
Shrugging off sin, apologizing
Like we're spreading some kind of disease.
I'm saying 'No way. No way.' "

"What are we sneaking around for, who are we trying to please?" One of the most obvious examples of religious intolerance I can see is in today's public schools. Religion is kept out of the schools and prayer is banned. They for the most part keep creation out of history, saying it's a religious faith. Well, if you think about it, evolution is nothing more than faith itself:

'What is evolution based upon? Upon nothing whatever but faith, upon belief in the reality of the unseen -- belief in fossils that cannot be produced, belief in the embryological evidence that does not exist, belief in the breeding experiments that refuse to come off. It is faith unjustified by works.' ~ Arthur N. Fields, Australian Geologist

On another point, why are we expected to stand aside and be "tolerant" of homosexuals, when they CLEARLY aren't tolerant of us? Why is it that they can say all the nasty and slanderous things about Christian they want but the SECOND we make a peep we are called intolerant?

"Shrugging off sin. . ." Today's Christians, as far as I've noticed, are getting more and more tolerant of sin. For example: Why is it that some Christians choose to defend homosexuality? God clearly is against it, and if we are following God, should we not be against it also? We're excusing sin, shrugging off a HUGE abomination in God's eyes! Why? In my opinion, it's because society is very "politically correct." As Christians we have to shine our light. And if we are sitting around just letting sin fly around as it pleases, then we are like totally not shining! We have to be beacons of light at ALL times, not just when we feel lke it! Also, I'm sure we all remember the "Clinton scandal." Now, it appears that everyone has just shrugged off Monica's part of the deal and now she is the spokesperson for Jenny Craig. As for Clinton, the country forgave him, I believe only because the economy is booming. Had the stock market taken a tumble, I highly doubt he'd be in office.

"Apologizing . . ." Ever notice that it seems like we aren't allowed to have our own opinion for fear of offending someone? If our opinion coincides with the Bible then we shouldn't be afraid of offending someone. Because the world isn't always going to want to hear what we have to say, but we have to go keep shouting it anyway.

"Like we're spreading some kind of disease . . ." When someone is sick, we naturally don't really want to be around them, and that's how the world sometimes acts around Christians. But we aren't sick, we have the truth and we are obligated not to hide it. In 'Good Stuff' the lyrics say "we have love, we have forgiveness, we have grace without a limit; so if it has been revealed to us, should it not then be contagious?" "I'm saying 'NO WAY! NO WAY!" Our response to the world, when they ask (or tells us) to snuff out our lights has got to be "NO WAY!" Personally, I'd rather be in trouble with the government than with God. They can kill me, but in the end, I'd be with God. Keep in mind, it's not that we hate homosexuals, Monica Lewinsky, etc. God loves them and we should too. It's just the concept of 'hate sin, love the sinner.' We hate what they do, yet we are called to love them. Keep that in mind before you go yelling at me for being intolerant.

This lesson is probably the most risky thing I've ever written, and I'll readily admit I'm a bit anxious to see what you guys might write back. If you were a bunch of strangers that I didn't know, then it wouldn't be such a problem, but I talk with most of you a lot (online or off). I consider you guys friends, and naturally, I don't want to upset you, but I'll be darned if I don't believe that what I am saying is right in God's eyes. If you disagree with my views on homosexuality or anything else for that matter, feel FREE to e-mail me about it. I wouldn't say this if I didn't feel at least pretty confident that I could back it up.

My sincere prayer for each and every one of you is that God will bless you to the fullest, that you will have a supernatural relationship with God and that your faith will be firmly grounded in HIm. If you need anything, feel free to contact me. . . I'm always here.
In Christ, TMTYL (Sarah)

part 2:

"Buddha + Mohammed = WHAT?????"

"This one says it's a lost cause,
Save your testimonies for church time.
The other ones state
You'd better wait
Until you do a little market research.
I'm saying 'No way. No way.' "

Let's face it, the world isn't very loving toward Christians, and that makes it that much harder to fulfill Jesus' commandment to "love our neighbours." There is much hatred toward Christians, there always has been and will be until the very end. Name a place and chancees are that at one time or another, there was persecution of the church there. But this week, I'm not exactly tapping on the topic of violent persecution. I guess it's more of less encouragement. When the world tries to coaz us into silence, we have to scream louder. I was going to say that we should bite the finger of those who try to silence us, but I'm thinking that isn't a good message. If you haven't already, at one time or another you will run into someone who will try to put down your faith, saying it's 'a lost cause.' Quite the contrary! Christianity has lasted over two thousand years, through good times and bad, droughts and floods, times of plenty and times of little. People will say that we should only talk about God in a church. If we are to only talk about God in a church, trhen I think God should have created just one big church instead of going to all the trouble to make the universe. The theory of talking about God only in a church makes about as much sense as onlyl talking about bread at a bakery. "Shh! Come here! In here! Okay, now that we're IN here, this place has the best bread on the earth, but wait . . . you can't tell anyone, except in here . . .okay?" Then there are the people who will say that we need to 'shop around.' In this day and age of shopping around for the best price for the item, why not do it with religion? Well, I like Christianity's churches, but I like Buddhism's Buddha guy, and I like Mason's secrecy, so, hmmm, which one? Well, I think I'll take ALL THREE! Seriously, there are actually people who do that. But really, the logic to 'shopping around' is, if we strongly believe that we've got the truth, we shouldn't have to 'shop around.' We shouldn't need to. I also have a word of caution to "weak" or new believers: don't totally give up on God when and if He doesn't give you every thing you want the first time around. Everything happens in God's timing, and believe it or not at the moment, it all will work out for the best in the end. My encouragement to all of you is to stand strong in the faith, don't waiver because of the popular opinions of the world, and don't shop around for the religion that 'best fits you.' If you doubt your faith in God, I strongly encourage you to talk to an adult that is a strong Christian and find out why you believe what you believe. And if you are in a situation where you have wandered from God and wants to come back but are ashamed, don't worry. You are God's child; He loves you, wants you back and is always ready to forgive you. All you have to do is ask. (The words of "Entertaining Angels" that impacted me most are the ones that say 'I've ran so far, will you take me back again?')

part 3:

"Are You Ashamed?"

"I'm not ashamed to let you know
I want this light in me to show
I'm not ashamed to speak the name
of Jesus Christ"

What do you think of when you think of 'ashamed'? I think of someone flatly denying something out of fear. Fear of rejection, fear of harm, fear all the same. However, there are more subtle ways to be ashamed. Maybe it's when you pass on the opportunity to share the Gospel with a friend. Maybe it's just going with the flow, even when you know it's wrong. Maybe it's not sticking up for someone who is going against the flow and is getting beaten like a rock in a river. Or how many times have you toned down your beliefs because of popular opinion? These are all forms of shame. I strongly encourage you to speak up for your beliefs, even if it means some sacrifices. Speak up for the Gospel; your friend may not accept Christ on the spot, but at least you have planted a seed in his heart.

However, there are certain times when it might be best to remain silent, when your words may do more harm than good for your cause. In this situation, I think prayer is the best method. Jesus wasn't popular, certainly not with the 'in-crowd'. He stood His ground, although he had more authority than you or I do. There are times when I want to stand my ground and fight to the end, but I can't always. I don't want to do more harm than good. I, no doubt, strive to put God first in all I do, but when do you draw the line of going too far? I think it's when you put a person or persons close to you in jeopardy for your cause. I would be willing to jeopardize a lot, but the possibility of hurting someone else I just can't take. So I back down, at least for the time being. When it is His will, THEN it will happen.

As I said earlier, God will plant seeds through you. When we can't speak, we have to LIVE our example. We have to "walk the talk". People should be able to look at you, and just by seeing your actions, know you are different. You can't say that you are Christian and then go live a totally secular lifestyle. Not that I doubt her salvation, but look at Amy Grant. Lately (okay, like in the past ten years or so) she has become more and more mainstream and less Christian. Her songs started to contain less godly lyrics, and her lifestyle became less 'Christian' to the point of divorcing her husband and marrying another man. To a secular person, it's just another "whatever" but to a Christian, I think this is rather appalling. She talks Christian, but her divorce papers sure appear differently. I could understand if her ex was an abusive, drunken guy, but no, he was a good Christian man. Just out of curiousity, is Vince Gill even a Christian? If he isn't, then she is 'unequally yoked' with an unbeliever, which Jesus said NOT to do.

Walk your talk, and talk your walk. If you stumble, pick yourself up and start again.

Have a wonderful week, may God bless you. Thank you all for your support and special thanks to my parents this week for ideas (the thing on Amy Grant and Jesus' unpopularity were all theirs, I just ran with it.) Sarah (TMTYL) <><

part 4:

"Wait Just a Minute While I Figure Out How to Use the Camera"

Romans 1:16
'For I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ,
for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes,
for the Jew first and also for the Greek.'

By living the truth we can impact lives. We may not know it at the time; we may never know how we changed someone. That is why we have to live unashamed every day. I know it can be a struggle, especially when we are having a really bad day. When you fail that big test you needed to pass, or when your friends give you the cold shoulder, stuff like that are good reasons why we would want to blow off people and go hide in a corner. I'm sure that the Newsboys have had days where they don't want to get off the tour bus, instead they want to hike it on home. Yet almost every night (and on some days twice!) they go out on stage and perform. Then they go and shake hands with bunches of people backstage, talk to them, and smile for pictures -- even when the people can't figure out how to use their own cameras. I really commend them for it, I know I couldn't do it. Hey, I can't even go through a crowd in a mall without nearly hyperventilating, let alone go and shake hands with everyone IN it. These guys just radiate Christ, I'll tell ya! At the concert I went to, after Peter gave his speech, he stood in the center while the crowd was singing "Hallelujah" and bowed his head. I was just so amazed. I don't know why it struck me like it did, but it did. Their humility, they know they aren't out there for themselves, but for God. They are really down to Earth, they don't think they are better than you in any way, and what really blew me away was the interest they take in you. Here you are, some person they've never seen before, and there are people everywhere, but they pay attention to YOU. It really has taken me aback and made me think. I really would like to be like that. I would like to be able to have people just talk to me for a minute and say, "Man, she is SO Christ-like!" I want people to be able to see a definite difference in me from the rest of the world. In conclusion, how do you think the world sees you? Do you think they can tell a difference in you as opposed to the people around you? Lastly, are there any improvements that you'd like to make, in your walk, in your talk?

"Now unto Him who can keep us from falling and present us faultless before His glory. . ." Breathe (Benediction)

In Christ, Sarah (TMTYL)

I would really appreciate it if you guys could give me some feedback. I can take negative feedback, so be honest! What do you like, what don't you like. what would you like me to write on , songs, topics, stuff like that would be sinderely appreciated