"I have my issues with Jesus," West began during the interview, which lasted for over an hour. "There's a lot of stuff I went through, and I prayed, and I ain't see Jesus show up."

https://www.christianpost.com/news/kanye-west-says-he-has-issues-with-jesus-im-god.html

Countless Christians worldwide think quietly like Kayne West recently said about Jesus, God, and himself. I can see the silent agreement and nods permeate the atmosphere. Issues with Jesus and Jesus don't come through.

I give people a lot of grace when it comes to communication. You have to say something repeatedly for me to assume you know what you are saying. And sometimes, once if you are articulate and brass. The quote above I give Mr. West room to explain. Maybe he is frustrated like many Christians get when they find out Jesus is Lord and they are not, which leads to the second quote from Mr. West that I don't give a pass.

'Cause I'm God," he said when asked about his success in the music industry and how he hasn't "disappeared." "And anyone who wants to disagree, I'm the God of me. You can't tell me who I am. I can't tell y'all. I could tell y'all. It's your job to listen. I'm the God of me. I don't know if I'm in heaven already." – Kayne West.

Mr. West seems to have revoked Jesus from being Lord in his life and has returned like a dog to his vomit, thinking he is god, at least thinking he is god over himself. And that is the quiet part out loud. I have no bone to pick with Mr. West; he has never been part of my world. But I hear and see what he said in the Christian world all the time, just not out loud. I do think Mr. West had an authentic encounter with Jesus. Mr. West has suffered a common Christian failure found in 1 Timothy 3. A new convert should not be given a place of leadership because of their wealth, place in society, talent, or communication skills. A time of discipleship in humility is required lest one falls into the same condemnation as the devil.

The hashtag #ChristisKing is making waves in the online world of social media. Some people who are using it are being called anti-semantic. I have checked some posts, and they might be. But most who are using the hashtag are confessing their faith in the resurrected Jesus as Lord of lords and King of kings.

The controversy mostly centers around Candice Owens and Ben Sharpio. I will let you search it out if you want to know. But my issue is with the devil and his ability to gaslight Christians. From the Garden, God has set life and death before us and given us the keys of the kingdom to choose life. Our adversary, the devil, who likes to co-opt the principles of God and use them for evil, is doing just that in the #ChristisKing controversy.

The devil sets before us death and death, giving us a sense of autonomy, and doesn't care about our choice because they both lead to death—more on this in a future newsletter.

Is Christ King? Well, that depends on who you are and the timing of God. We are celebrating Passion Week this week, and 'Christ is King' was the issue when Jesus took up His cross and died to take away the sins of the world. The governor Pilot didn't want to judge Jesus for the charges that the Jews accused of Him. Jesus was accused of blasphemy for claiming to be God and could rebuild the temple in three days. Pilot answered the Jews to judge him themselves because it wasn't a Roman issue. But the Jews then claimed Jesus said He was a king and was going to overthrow the Roman empire. The Jews started a political controversy that led to a riot that Governor Pilot could not ignore. History always repeats itself, but not in the same way.

Salvation is not about perfecting our doctrine while our heart is of no change. Customer service for businesses, credit card companies, and the like seem to have all their i’s dotted and t’s crossed on how to respond to customers, yet it feels pretentious. The language and response seem right. It is all about presenting your best but not putting the customer first. Doing the right thing without genuine love is manipulation. Jesus quoted the Old Testament: people say the right things, but their heart is far from mine.

I cannot teach doctrine as if it is a discipline of the world that comes to fruition through much study. Jesus is not a science that we gain information to earn a Ph.D. and a relationship. We must believe from the heart and confess from the mouth that God raised Jesus from the grave after paying the penalty for our sins on the cross. If Jesus is our Lord, it must be from a bowed heart before a bowed knee. Because of the fleshes' desire to cleanse its outside to have an appearance of salvation, I come from an abstract position that can be used to judge the hearts and attitudes of those I am speaking to.

You have your p’s and q’s, but do you? Is your mouth speaking from the heart, or is your mouth speaking from a Christian education?

What are you seeking to get out of life? What drives you to get out of bed? What are your heart's desires that you consistently bring before God? You may be mentally searching for the right scripture to respond to this question, but is it the answer of your heart, good or bad?

Let’s walk through scripture and look at what people in bible days sought.

Some people seek power. If their life was to be summed up by their thoughts and actions, it was one of seeking power. Now, I’m talking to people who have changed the trajectory of their lives to follow Christ. People who have decided to go a different direction when they met Jesus. Let me also remind you that Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus, also left his life behind, took up his cross, and followed Jesus all the way short to the end. But what was Judas seeking? Was he seeking the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Jesus? Or was he seeking something else that derailed him before crossing the finish line of grace and truth?