The State of The World and a Loss

I have to say that my mind has been a flutter with various issues concerning Michael Jackson on his untimely death. I have many opinions, but the one that I will only address at the moment is the one that is very blantantly obvious from my stand point.

Idol worship. Plain and simple.

The Bible states:

1 Then God gave the people all these instructions:
2 “I am the Lord your God, who rescued you from the land of Egypt, the place of your slavery. 3 “You must not have any other god but me. 4 “You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me. 6 But I lavish unfailing love for a thousand generations on those who love me and obey my commands.

Exodus 20:1-6

The death of Michael Jackson and the reactions of the people clearly shows idol worship in its simple form. I have seen many people so very distraught of his death that it seems almost as their whole life has been ruined by the event.

Yes, death of another human is a very sad thing to experience. Any death its self is traumatic and sad. Life is precious and when one person sees a life extinguished is horrible. I know. Just in the month of June, while I was driving to see my Grandma Mert and Generic Dad I saw a squirrel that had gotten injuired in the road. I saw him dragging his little body to the side of the road. The sight gripped me so hard that I couldn't stop crying for a half an hour. I knew the poor think must have been in pain and to the point of death. It was just a squirrel, but still it was life.

Michael Jackson's death was sad and untimely, but he was not a god. I know that to many he was and his public adoration of his fans show it. The crying, the fainting, the swaying. It reminds me of God's word in part.

You must not bow down to them or worship them, for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God who will not tolerate your affection for any other gods. Exodus 20:5

It seems that fans, which is a lot of the world, at least from my stand point from the pictures in the media are worshipping. Worshipping Michael Jackson.

He was only a human. A very eccentric man, warpped by his childhood and by his fame, but still human like us all.

I can't say that I am surprized by all the hype all over the world in the adoration of Michael Jackson. I believe God made us to worship. We are created to worship.

There are 7 ways to worship God as proof.

1. Praise and Thanksgiving by grateful declaration, public or private. This includes prayer. One example of this is Hebrews 13:15

2. Joyful songs. Psalm 100:1-2 is an example

3. Dancing. David danced is an example when he rejoiced over the Ark of the Covenant. You can find that in 1Samuel 6:14.

4. Observing the Lord's Supper. As seen in 1Corinthians 11:26

5. Cheerful giving of money, as found in 2 Corinthians 9:7

6. Giving of one's time through the administering of our spiritual gifts so that the Body of Christ may be edified. 1Corinthians 12:1-14:34

7. Making our bodies a living sacrifice. As stated in Romans 12 :1-2

We were made to worship Him. Simple.

But instead of worshipping Him, through the centuries, the Bible shows how the Israelites worshiped pagan gods of other countries. The Prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah were always trying to remind the Isrealites of the one true God and that God was to be worshiped only and no others.

I seen alot of idol worship in the last 2 weeks. It all started with Michael Jackson's death.

I can honestly say that I didn't cry when I found out about his death. I was very greived about the loss of such a great talent in the entertainment world, but I know his amazing work will always be with us, if he will not be.

But one has to focus on what possibly many people that are grieving over Michael Jackson are missing. They are busy worshiping for the wrong reason, and failing to see the truth. Michael Jackson was not a God. He was just a man. I pray only in time that those people that are grieving so deeply will see the truth.

With the one true God, it has been promised that death is not the end. Last year I bought a key chain that still moves me to this day. It says:

No eye has seen,
No ear has heard,
No mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him
Death is not the End.

I can not judge Michael Jackson on his beliefs or the throngs of people that are grieving over his death for theirs. I can only hope and pray they can come to their senses and see the truth. The prophets warned the nations to mend their ways to avert disaster See Isaiah 1:16-17

16.Wash yourselves and be clean! Get your sins out of my sight. Give up your evil ways.
17. Learn to do good. Seek justice. Help the oppressed. Defend the cause of orphans.
Fight for the rights of widows. Isaiah :16-17

Jeremiah, did not hold back when chastising the people that fell away.

4 Listen to the word of the Lord, people of Jacob—all you families of Israel! 5 This is what the Lord says: “What did your ancestors find wrong with me that led them to stray so far from me? They worshiped worthless idols, only to become worthless themselves. 6 They did not ask, ‘Where is the Lord who brought us safely out of Egypt and led us through the barren wilderness— a land of deserts and pits, a land of drought and death, where no one lives or even travels?’ 7 “And when I brought you into a fruitful land to enjoy its bounty and goodness, you defiled my land and corrupted the possession I had promised you. Jeremiah 2:4-7

I can only hope that as the Isrealites saw from their mistakes that various people might see theirs in their seemingly worship of a simple man.

That is all Michael was. He was talented, but a simple man never the less. Just like Nimrod in Genesis 10:9 , he was just human, which was raised much higher then should have been. Mary, the mother of Jesus is another person has been raised to worship status among Catholics. I was raised Catholic, I would know this very imtimately. All Mary was a simple woman, a human favored by God. That is all.

Please pray for those lost in this world and those who need to find the real truth and the light. We are get lost in our way, but God is forgiving and always takes us back, regardless of our past. His Word shows us that. I thank Jesus that with his ultimate sacrifice that I am saved.

REMEMBER this:

29 Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. 30 And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ Mark 12:29-30