Don't be fooled by celebrities, or anyone, just because they are decorated with crosses!
LeBron James sometimes name-checks something called “The Man Upstairs”…. never “the Lord Jesus Christ.” Think about it. Would a real Christian who loves the one who covered his sins consistently avoid open, public praise of Jesus? No. Claiming Jesus makes you look okay to those with no discernment. But some of us are not fooled by these false (or, at best, lukewarm) professions of faith to "God".
James, often called "King James" in a conscious, deliberate mockery of the word of God, is associated with Christianity and seems like a quality person. But there is no real evidence that he is born again.
You might say, "How can you say he's not a Christian when he does all these charitable things to help others?" Good works and a nice attitude won't take anyone to heaven. For all we know, LeBron James is saved and on his way to glory. But that is doubtful. Why do I have the audacity to make such a statement? Mainly, because Jesus said that it is very difficult for the rich to enter heaven, though not impossible. The camel through the eye of a needle is a picture of how hard it is...
The truth is, saved or not, LeBron James cannot truly stand up for the Lord Jesus Christ in a public way. The world that pays to be entertained by James hates Christ and James knows it. Like other celebrities, he must nibble around the edges of true bible-believing Christianity and leave it to deceived people to fill in the rest.
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Carrying the Cross: Churchianity
The idea that we can be godly without acknowledging our sin debt to the Lord is deception. It is the enemy’s slickest and most successful lie. It’s why our nation is full of religious people with “churchianity,” people who have enough sense to act pious at the correct moments… but are ignorant of what the Bible actually says.
When we feel close to God, some of us like to wear the cross around our necks.
"A man must be greater than anything he is able to make or manufacture," said Pastor Dwight L. Moody. "What folly then to think of worshiping such things! The tendency of the human heart to represent God by something that appeals to the senses is the origin of all idolatry. It leads directly to image-worship. At first there may be no desire to worship the thing itself, but it inevitably ends in that."
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The character "Spence" from the "Half & Half" sitcom was a whoremonger (a man who fornicates and enjoys company with almost any woman available) who often wore the cross symbol.
When you watch TV or otherwise are entertained by the world, you will get plenty of this mixture of sacred and profane. This mixture serves to confuse both the professed Christian and the lost person who doesn't know the Lord Jesus Christ.
You must come to terms with this fact: When celebrities whose public works are full of ungodliness wear a cross on their bodies, they are offering something to Satan, which is their father in a spiritual sense. They are signaling to the devil while deceiving many in the world. Maybe no one ever told you that. I just did.
“God is my higher power and always has been,” Marshall Mathers (Eminem) said in a magazine interview. Admitting that doesn’t necessarily make someone a man of God. See: James 2.19>>>
50 Cent, government name Curtis Jackson, is mocking Jesus Christ and Christians by wearing the cross repeatedly. Most modern Christians are caught up in the entertainment system and refuse to see that.
Do you really believe that Ozzy Osbourne, who spent forty years blaspheming the LORD in many fashions, has accepted Jesus Christ as God and Saviour? Stupid question, and you get one guess... Why is it so hard for people to believe that he and other Christ-rejecting folk are openly laughing at "Christian" fans of his? Wake up!
"All the wrong I've done the Lord still keep on blessing me," 50 Cent says in his song "Heat". Judgment seems slow from our human perspective, but God is not mocked. What 50 does not know is that the Lord is being graceful, giving this entertainer, me, and you time to repent.
Jesus Christ did die upon a cross. That object is associated with his death. He died upon a cross, and shed his blood upon a cross. But the cross as a symbol is not to be worshiped.
Big L was one of the most talented, and one of the most profane, rappers that ever lived. His lyrics bore proud witness to a disdain for Jesus Christ. Yet he often wore a cross as jewelry. Like the devil-possessed man in Mark chapter 5, Lamont Coleman found Jesus irresistable... because he was full of envy for Christ.
James 2.19:
THOU BELIEVEST THAT THERE IS ONE GOD; THOU DOEST WELL: THE DEVILS ALSO BELIEVE, AND TREMBLE.
What does that mean? It means that there are people who know and openly admit that a true and living God exists, and yet hate Him in their actions and words and practices.
The Bible says to test every spirit, using God’s words (the Bible itself) as the standard. Whenever we see people sporting the crucifix, especially in large and gaudy ways, we should see if their words and actions match up.
You always read or hear in celebrity interviews, and from our everyday neighbors, that they believe in God (or a force, or a giant slice of cosmic pizza). But that’s a catch-all phrase anymore. The world has become “churchy.” Many people call themselves “believers.” What does a belief in God really mean in this day?
Eminem (aka Marshall Mathers) has been portrayed, both by himself and by observers, as one of the most godless artists in music history. Yet even he claims some version of God. Talking with Vibe magazine in the June/July 2009 issue, after a difficult stretch during which he lost his best friend Proof and recovered from prescription pill addiction at least twice, he grasps for the Lord:
“Spirituality is definitely a part of that process. They tell you in recovery to pray to your higher power–God is my higher power and He always has been. I definitely pray a lot more than I used to. I don’t feel like I’m crazy wacky religious where I’m at church four days a week or anything like that–not to say that that’s a bad thing for anyone who wants to do that. But I do believe in God, and I do pray.”
2 Timothy 3:1-5 perfectly describes the music of Em and other popular hip hop artists, down to the last word. Don’t believe us: Please, look it up and read it. The Bible is amazingly accurate in its dissection of mankind.
We can clearly see that 2 Timothy, chapter 3 has already read Eminem’s mail. Verses 1-5: This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Only the Lord knows a man’s heart. Jesus could simply gaze at you and know every detail there is to know. The rest of us would do better to keep examining our own hearts. According to the Bible, we have all fallen short of a holy God.
However, He has gracefully, graciously left a door open for us to avoid our “living death,” a way named Jesus Christ. That is the best news the world has ever known!
The fact that Mathers talks about the Lord without mentioning our debt to Jesus is S.O.P. not only for celebrities, but many of the rest of us. Our good works won’t get us into the Promised Land. Acknowledging that there is a God won’t, either. Getting to heaven (in other words, escaping judgment in a literal, fiery hellfire) means believing on Jesus Christ and nothing else. Thinking anything else changes the word, says Deutoronomy 4:2.
When Eminem says, "I do believe in God," fans who don’t want to release his self-admitted antichrist lyrics and image then walk away thinking he is simply conflicted… or even Christian. These supporters are deceived. James 2:19 tells us plainly that even the devils (demons) of hell believe in God and tremble.
“I don’t believe in that stuff,” you might say. But pretty much every rapper and other musical artist does. Most have at least one song in which they are talking to demons, making deals with the devil, and so on. If it is all make-believe entertainment, why would they all use that theme? It’s not because musicians are unoriginal. It is because they know the truth in their hearts… they just prefer the world and Satan over the Lord Jesus Christ.
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“The Bible says Judge not,” is one of the unbeliever’s favorite lies, using the most misquoted verse ever. But the spirit of discernment does allow for judging another man’s actions and words. Heart comes out through the mouth. Talking about his progression as a musician under major media attention, Mathers says at one point he thought:
“Well, I’m in the public spotlight. Maybe I should tone it down just a little bit. Nah, f— that… Anyone who takes my s— literally has got a f—— problem themselves. When you hear the music, it’s not different than what the f— is going on in South Park or Family Guy. It’s just warped. It’s dark humor. Because at the end of the day, I just got a f——up sense of humor. I’m a goofball with a warped mind.”
We must understand what is actually being said here. Mathers is defending his desire to walk with the world. But James 4:4 declares that a friend of the world is an enemy of the Lord. Mathers compares his mindstate to admittedly lowest-denominator television shows. Birds of a feather flock. He defends these things using defiant language (2 Tim. 1-5 again) and, most importantly, it is a conscious decision on his part. Anyone who is not with me is against me, Jesus said. (Luke 11:23)
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To open your mind in meditation to a series of pagan gods and occult powers is Satanic. This is strictly forbidden in the Bible. We are to trust in God, none other.
Reality television seems to take a particular glee in poking at Christianity. Devout believers get placed into situations where they forget Who they serve. Unsaved observers wipe their foreheads and are glad they don’t go to church with “crazy people like that.” And the faith suffers, because perception is reality to a media-addicted population.
That’s why one of the “characters” popular in recent reality fare usually includes a religious person. Or at least one who appears godly. (Back to 2 Timothy once more.) This is a no-win: either the Christian will be made to look ridiculous in the face of ungodly people and situations… or he will lose his grasp on Christ and show his worldly side. The true believer should never go on these shows, and likely wouldn’t in the first place.
Yet the crosses are popular here, too. Worship, mockery, ignorance? The devil is good at confusing us. Entertainer Jim Jones’ partner, Chrissy Lampkin, is rarely seen without a crucifix on their VH1 show. Yet on one episode of Chrissy & Mr. Jones, she and Jones are participating in yoga with music mogul Russell Simmons.
Yoga is not of the Lord. One pastor wrote, Yoga and meditation are much different than mere stretching or thinking. The idea is to “extract guidance or information from a pagan god–the mother god.” Yoga and meditation are the “means” of extracting that guidance and information. Hence, yoga and meditation are nothing short of pure witchcraft.
Miss Lampkin and others could be simply ignorant of the word of God. But if a cop pulls the driver for speeding, it doesn’t matter if the driver saw the SPEED LIMIT sign or not–ignorance will not be an excuse when we are standing before that throne.
Yoga is a cousin to sorcery. In Galatians 5:19-21 we see that participants in witchcraft will not inherit the kingdom. From experience, it’s almost certain that if this was pointed out to her (or you, if you claim Jesus but are unknowingly worshipping other gods on a floor mat), she would become indignant at being rebuked. She and the rest of us should be glad when the Spirit corrects, whether through Scripture reading or through someone else. That is proof that He cares. If not, He would simply leave us in our mess.
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According to Pastor Moody, Dr. R.W. Dale said worshipping these crucifix decorations “makes our worship and our prayer unreal. We are adoring a Christ who does not exist. He is not on the cross now, but on the throne. His agonies are past forever. He has risen from the dead. He is at the right hand of God. If we pray to a dying Christ, we are praying not to Christ Himself, but to a mere remembrance of Him. The injury which the crucifix has inflicted on the religious life of Christendom, in encouraging a morbid and unreal devotion, is absolutely incalculable. It has given us a dying Christ instead of a living Christ, a Christ separated from us by many centuries instead of a Christ nigh at hand.”
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Reality TV star wears the cross (ultimate humility) with an I’LL ROCK YOUR WORLD shirt (supreme haughtiness)
Much of the world is religious but does not recognize the power thereof. What is that power? Jesus Christ. Most of us are religious, but lost. We want God, but not His son’s saving blood. We call on Him, but flee from his loving correction, which is impossible to balance.
He is the Father, and responsible fathers must correct his children from time to time. We should be grateful that the Holy Spirit cares enough to chastise us.
The truth burns away impurities, or it destroys us. Bretheren: Let us gladly take the former.