Daily writing prompt

How do you know when it’s time to unplug? What do you do to make it happen?

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I believe that it is time to unplug from celebrities. We live in a celebrity focused world. People idolize prominent people. They are constantly looking for people to celebritize, but we’re all human and celebritizing people is a form of deception.

Church people really like to celebritize people. They make celebrities out of ministers, out of worship leaders, out of Christian authors, and out of anybody with any notoriety (good or bad) who calls himself a Christian. This is a big “celebritease.”

I posted what follows in several posts early this morning on a blog I read daily. Today’s post there is about reorienting our world view. It is based on Acts 16:16-30 and is the story of a demonized woman who was constantly trying to celebritize Paul and Silas. It’s about how they handled the attention. My first post there this morning was @ 4:04.

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I woke up this morning with this poem that describes the woman in Acts 16:16 developing within me. When I looked at the clock it was 3:33. There are a lot more people like her than we realize.

Some people act like
They have it made
In God’s shade
When they’re really
Hiding afraid
In dark shadows
Of demonic
Deception.

I’m going back to bed now.

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I couldn’t sleep so I posted this @ 4:57.

I couldn’t go back to sleep. Another poem formed in me that explains what the woman was doing.

The devil’s drift
Moves in to shift
People away
From the fresh wind
Of God’s Spirit
And put their focus
On human leaders
So he can sift
Them like wheat
And keep them
In defeat.

I still haven’t read today’s WUC. I think I’ll read it now.

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Then I posted this @ 5:55 having no idea what time it was:

Let’s Reorient Our Worldview

The demon in the woman constantly directed people’s attention to Paul and Silas by loudly promoting them as important leaders and men of God. She kept the fake praise going for many days. Paul eventually rejected it and drove the demon out of the slave woman.

There was such a change in her countenance that her owners knew that she could no longer predict the future through sorcery. They panicked, attacked Paul and Silas, and dragged them to the authorities who had them stripped, severely beaten with rods, thrown into the darkest part of prison, and carefully guarded. Their feet were put in chains.

So, what did those suffering and humiliated leaders do? They prayed out loud, put the focus on God, and sang praises to Him. While they were in such brokenness that they could no longer take any credit, God suddenly showed up and showed out. He shook the place, setting all the prisoners free.

Faced with a sovereign move of God, the jailer wanted to kill himself, but Paul and Silas and the other prisoners hadn’t used their freedom to run away and find personal comfort. Paul shouted to him: “Don’t harm yourself! We’re all here!”

Then the jailer trembled and called for lights. He wanted out of his darkness. Why would his prisoners not run away? Then he saw on their faces that the presence of the living God had overcome their fear and suffering. He fell trembling before Paul and Silas and asked with great awe and respect, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved.” They answered: “Believe on (rely on and depend on) the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved — you and your household.”

Paul and Silas begin to passionately tell the jailer, and everyone gathered around, about the living, resurrected Jesus. Then their enemy, the jailer, began to wash their wounds. The scene gripped the heart of the jailer’s family and his prisoners, and they wanted to be baptized to demonstrate their surrender and obedience to the risen Jesus.

Then the jailer took them into his home for a joyful meal. When we get our eyes off of human leaders and constantly fixed on the living Jesus, amazing things will happen! Let’s “reorient our world view.” Let’s quit talking about Christian leaders and exalt no other name but Jesus!