Tag: Channeling

Whatever is Commendable

The wisdom books of the Bible, such as Proverbs, teach us that there is more to life than knowledge. Eleanor Roosevelt put it this way: “Never mistake knowledge for wisdom. One helps you make a living; the other helps you make a life.”

Today would be a good time to seek wisdom. Why today? Today is bound to be a full day; there are places to go, things to do, people to see. How about tomorrow? But is tomorrow going to be any different? In the Book of Proverbs, Wisdom is like a woman who cries in the street. The Book also tells of another woman who haunts the street. She is an adulterous lady that will captivate us, taking away our very soul, should she be allowed.

Captivate. It’s a good word. It means to attract and hold interest and attention. It means to charm. Synonyms are: enthrall, charm, enchant, bewitch, fascinate, beguile, entrance, enrapture, delight, attract, allure. These are not good things.

This woman that is opposed to Wisdom, this seductress, charms us, beguiles us. This reminds me of an old song first sung by the Exciters in 1963, Do-Wah-Diddy. It begins like this:

“There she was just a-walkin’ down the street
singin’ do-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-do
snappin’ her fingers and shufflin’ her feet
singin’ do-wah diddy-diddy down diddy-do

“She looked good, LOOKED GOOD
she looked fine, LOOKED FINE
she looked good, she looked fine
and I nearly lost my mind
Before I knew it she was walkin’ next to me” (emphasis added)

What’s a man gonna do but lose his mind? That’s the Siren call. That’s the call of the “other woman” of the Book of Proverbs. How is the voice of Lady Wisdom to compete with this? Psalm 1 tells us:

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers;
but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and on his law he meditates day and night

Here we see the problem, and it’s most likely result. In this case, Madame Seductress is counsel of the wicked. We listen, and we stand like sinners, finally sitting down with scoffers. We follow the counsel of the wicked to gain the world, and lose our souls.

Here we also see the solution: to be blessed, we must be enraptured by the Law of the LORD and in that Law we must meditate. The Apostle Paul put it this way:

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. Phil 4:8

We live today in desperate times. We live with encroaching darkness; the light of day is giving way. Pray for our brothers and sisters in Messiah who are persecuted for living The Word, for believing in the One True G-d our LORD. Many have died throughout the world. Many more are homeless, without food, sick. Pray also for the people of America, as the country is engulfed in darkness as mainstream churches follow Siren song, committing adultery against G-d, as they accept the ways of the world, rejecting the Authority of Scripture. Remember, we have nothing to fear, for these things must happen. And when the Time comes, our Lord and Savior, Y’shua will return. Maranatha!

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .

Channel or Channeling

Channel and channeling are words that makes me shutter. Unbelievably, I heard my wife say something about so and so channeling so and so. Probably too quickly I expressed my distaste at its usage, which was interpreted as a rebuke and she felt offended. Oh, well. That word offends me.

Well, she only meant that the person was imitating another person in the tone or way of speech. And that’s sort of how the word is being used–I think misused–in America. For instance, recently in an article on a country singer, the lead read: “This Oklahoman channels the hip-shaking fifties and more on his sophomore release.”

Here’s my objection: Yahoo! dictionary defines channeling as “The act or practice of serving as a medium through which a spirit guide purportedly communicates with living persons.”

Alright. Common language changes over time. My kids say things like, “Wow. Sick!” Taken on face value, sick means being ill, or having a disease. But in common vernacular of kids it means the same as my generation did when we said, “Cool, man!” To us, forty or more years ago “cool” wasn’t measured in degrees Celsius; it wasn’t temperature related. Neither was “hot,” which is like saying “really cool.” Confused yet?

So why do I object to the world channel? I object to trying to make what is a connotation of evil into being acceptable in common speech. And that’s different from “sick” or “cool” or “hot.”

But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, both for the sake of the one who told you and for the sake of conscience. 1 Corinth 10:28

Paul’s words are not merely about eating meat. There’s more here to what he’s talking about. It’s about doing something that may cause someone to stumble. Let me spell it out. If you don’t see anything wrong with using the word “channel” in common reference to imitation of a person or a type of music–for instance–then you’ll likely be drawn into other people’s usage of channel when speaking about a demonic spirit. If you take a step, you’re more likely to take two or more.

Psalm 1, in the first verse, shows us that we are to guard ourselves from evil, and its progressively taking us down the slope.

Blessed is the man
who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,
nor stands in the way of sinners,
nor sits in the seat of scoffers. Psalm 1:1

If you begin to walk with evil, you’re more likely to stand with evil, and then you’ll likely find yourself sitting with evil.

Lord Bless, Keep, Shine. . .