New Lyrics to T. Swift's Wildest Dreams

One Christian Family idea I have is to make up new words to songs.  I do this a lot.  Maybe I will do this with other songs.  Being a Taylor Swift fan in her younger years, I find that she is leaving reality in the song, "Wildest Dreams," in which, in my opinion she wants to have sexual intercourse with a man for one night.

God made sexual intercourse as a wonderful gift for humankind, so that one man and one woman can enjoy this gift in the committed relationship of Christian marriage.  Today sexual intercourse is seen by many as something to enjoy in any relationship.  This also seems to be the message of Taylor Swift's song.  This is nothing new to pop music.  But for the Christian families who have adolescent children, and for the parents, it is good to be reminded of the deception of the song by writing new lyrics.  Many of the lyrics I will keep the same, but add an element of truth to them so that the song is not a shroud of lies.  If you want to find the real lyrics to Wildest Dreams, I am guessing you can find them on the internet much easier than this blog.



"Wildest Dreams"

He said, "Let's get out of this town,
Drive out of the city, away from accountability."
I thought heaven can't see me now.
He won't last forever, but this is gonna take away my virginity

He's so tall and has a handsome face
He's so bad but he manipulates so well
I can see the end as it begins
My one condition is

Say you'll remember me standing in STD,
Staring at the HIV babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just in your venereal disease, ah-ha, venereal disease, ah-ha.

I said, "No one has to know what we do, "
Except that I just put it in a song, my facebook page just blew
a hidden camera in the background,
Nothing lasts forever but this is on snapchat now

He's so tall and has a handsome face
He's so bad but he manipulates so well
And when we've had our very last kiss
My last request it is

Say you'll remember me seeing your wife rip her wedding dress,
Seeing your kids on Prozac, babe
in diapers and rosy cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just to wreck your home, ah-ha, wreck your home, ah-ha.

You see me in hindsight
Worshipping me all night
Burning you down
Someday when you leave me
 I bet my idol shrine
Follows you around

I'll see her in hindsight
Worshipping her all night
Burning me down
Someday when you leave me
I bet her idol shrine
Follows me around

Say you'll remember me with my ever fading dress,
Staring at my sunset, babe
pale lips and cold cheeks
Say you'll see me again
Even if it's just pretend

You won't remember me standing in any dress,
Staring at your sunset, babe
Red lips and rosy cheeks
Will turn to dust again
Even if it's just in your (just pretend, just pretend) funeral stone, ah-ha, in your funeral stone, ah-ha
(Even if it's just in your wildest dreams) ah-ha, in your funeral stone, ah-ha.

Total Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Jesus speaks of baptism when he speaks of his death and resurrection (Luke 12:50).  In this light we can see in baptism the core idea of death and resurrection.  Taken down into the water to die and brought back up raised.  Death and resurrection is the total baptism that Jesus was baptized with.  Jesus Christ was raised from the dead, therefore, the total baptism is when we raise not only to a new life here, but to the total new life forever with God.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is a total baptism in which we cling to our new life not only here and now, but also cling to the hope that Christ will raise us from the dead into eternity with him.

Spirit Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

John the Baptist said the Jesus would baptize with the Holy Spirit (Mark 1:8), and the Spirit of God rested on Jesus at his own baptism (Matthew 3:16).  Acts 2 describes the disciples of Jesus being baptized with the Holy Spirit as Jesus spoke of earlier (Acts 1:5).  We read about the miraculous effects of this baptism such as speaking in other languages, prophecying, seeing visions, etc.  The Holy Spirit is also spoken of as a gift, and so Holy Spirit baptism can be seen as receiving a gift, a very precious gift, God’s own Spirit, which is what makes possible the new life.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is baptism of the Holy Spirit, which makes the cleansing, the new humanity, the repentance (changing of the mind), the new people, and the whole baptism possible.  It is not water that washes us, but God’s own Holy Spirit.

Israel Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Moses and the Israelites were baptized in the Red Sea as they walked through on dry land (1 Corinthians 10:2).  The Israelites were called to be God’s own people, and to belong exclusively to Him.  As Christians we have been baptized into one body (1 Corinthians 12:13), and therefore are a part of a new people.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is also the calling out of a new people, and not only the people of Israel but from all nations.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is not primarily about the individual but about the new community, or new people, which has been baptized into Christ.  

Repentance Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4).  The Greek word repentance means “change of mind, turning” and repentance is often linked in the Bible with a turning to God (Acts 20:21; 26:20).  To think of someone repenting think of someone changing their mind about something and going in the opposite direction.  The Baptism of Repentance means that we are walking a different path and living a different life.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism must raise me to walking a different path than the one I walked before.   C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism is not me getting back on my feet, but it is me getting new feet that walk in a different direction.

Humanity Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Noah (Genesis 6-8) and the flood spoken of as baptism (1 Peter 3:21).  All humanity dies except those of Noah’s family in the ark.  Humanity was “washed” in the sense that the old humanity died and the new humanity in Noah’s family raised through the ark.  Noah and his family were saved in this baptism because they were the new life. 

Christ is the new Noah and the new ark.  All who are found in Him, as it was those in the ark, are the ones who are saved.  Those not found in Christ are dead.  The old humanity, us before Christ, is dead.  The new humanity, us in Christ, are raised in him.  C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism must raise us to be a new humanity in Christ. 

Cleansing Baptism

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Naaman (2 Kings 5) – baptism in water as cleansing, not only as cleansing dirt and germs but cleansing diseases.

Christ does not baptize his hands (Luke 11:38) nor do his disciples (Mark 7:1-5), and Christ points to the need to cleanse the inner life and not only the outside. Baptism is not just getting the skin wet, but is a symbol of the inner cleansing that is only possible because of Christ.  C.H.R.I.S.T. Baptism must cleanse the inner life, and not just the outer life.

C.H.R.I.S.T. Baptism

During the next seven posts we will be exploring Christian Baptism, under the acronym C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism.  This first day we will introduce the idea of C.H.R.I.S.T. baptism and in the posts to follow will explore each letter in the acronym.

Cleansing Baptism

Humanity Baptism

Repentance Baptism

Israel Baptism

Spirit Baptism

Total Baptism

Baptism has been an important part of the Christian family before the Christian family existed, and yet baptism is not an easy concept to understand.  First of all, baptism is not an everyday word.  This often leads to a confusion of meaning, or a plethora of meanings.  Second, baptism is not explained in detail in the Bible, so theologians and parents and children are left to sort out the evidence.  Third, different denominations of Churches feel strongly about different ways of baptizing.  Some baptize infants while others baptize adults only.  Some baptize by immersion while others baptize by sprinkling.  Some baptize in Jesus’ name while others baptize in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Some say baptism of the Holy Spirit comes with tongues and others say it doesn’t.  Baptism is often a jumbled idea in a child’s mind.  What is baptism?

First of all, baptism comes from a Greek word, as many English words come from Greek words.  When I was learning Greek I learned that it meant dipping or immersing, and often had the idea of washing behind it.  So if I were to translate Baptism into an English word that we use in everyday language I would translate it into “washing.”  No doubt, many would disagree with me because there are many opinions, especially in regards to baptism.  But I will use the idea of washing to describe baptism nonetheless.

The Dowry

Before I asked my wife to marry me I lived in Kenya for 4 months, and there the prospective husband gives the wife’s family a dowry.  Many times in America the Bride’s family gets nothing from the Groom.  I decided to give my wife’s family a dowry.  I write this in hindsight of being connected to my new family for almost 13 years.  Now I see that dowry I gave as even more important than I did then.  Why?  A marriage is often seen as the marriage between two people.  But it is more than that.  It is the marriage between two families (I got that idea from an Indian Christian talking about arranged marriages).  I am FULLY invested in my wife’s family.  By marrying her, I was marrying them.  My wife has two younger sisters and the next in line’s groom also gave the family a dowry.  So when the baby gets married we will have to tell him the dowry requirement.

So what is a dowry anyway?  In Kenya a dowry was cows.  That was and is the most valuable thing to the people of Kenya.  It may not be the most valuable thing to you, but it is to people in Kenya.  So they give cows.  Maybe one cow, maybe ten cows, maybe a hundred cows.

I did not give my wife’s family cows, but I did give them things that were important to me.  I am not going to tell you all of the things I gave them, but I will share a few.  I gave them articles of clothing that meant something to me, sentimental value not marketable value.  I gave them Dave’s Insanity Limited Edition Sauce.  It is the hottest marketed sauce in the world.  Only so many a made each year and it comes in a coffin type box with a warning label.  That may not mean a lot to you, but it means a lot to me.  I also took them all out to eat at Olive Garden (she is the oldest of five kids).  I also gave them a lion figurine I got from Kenya, and who knows, maybe inside that lion is a hundred cows.

So are you thinking of asking a woman to marry you?  Are you planning on giving her family a dowry?  If you do, it may help you and her family to realize that you are marrying into her family.  I can say that my wife’s parents are truly like my own parents, and both of them are my heroes.  I can also say that my wife’s brothers and sisters - and their spouses and children. . . are like my own brothers and sisters and children.  Many the dowry was one small idea that helped continue to foster the idea that when two people get married, two families get married.

So thank you to Chebet Ruto for giving me this idea of giving a dowry to my wife’s family, and in her own words – “It’s Biblical.”

Dedicating Children

We decided to have a family ceremony of dedicating our kids to Yahweh.  We had some extended family over and had a special time of prayer for them.  Another thing we did was to pour some kind of perfume on their heads as we prayed for them.  Then we wrote the Hebrew name Yahweh on their stomachs, to declare that they belonged to Him, that they were His.  As we would dedicate the younger kids the older kids wanted to have their stomachs written on too, so we would all get Yahweh written on our stomachs.  We also typed out something on the computer and signed it saying they were dedicated to Yahweh.  We keep these like we keep their birth certificates.

We offer our children to Yahweh, but in another sense they were never ours to begin with.  He has entrusted his very own children to us for a time to spend time with them and show them his love so that they can grow up as his children.  Thank you so much, Almighty Yahweh, for the children of yours you have entrusted to us.  Please make up for our mistakes.

The 16 year rite of passage

The 16 year rite of passage is the third and final rite of passage, and the most important.  This all started when my brother and I and a good friend of ours went hiking the Appalachian Trail before our friend's wedding.  We hiked and hiked and hiked, and talked and fasted for a day, and saw an amazing waterfall, and broke the fast at McDonald's buying every burger on the menu.  It is something that the three of us look back on a lot.  For my brother and I it was our rite of passage.  I wanted my sons to have a similar experience so that's what started me thinking. . . So when he turns 16 my eldest son knows he gets to go on his mountain hike.  He knows that he gets to have some other important men in his life go with him.  He knows that we will fast for one whole day.  He also knows that after this hike he will be a man.  He knows that is the turning point.  Throughout these rites of passage our kids have had more privileges and more responsibilities.  We also want this time to be a time when our sons can be around men and get advice and wisdom from men who have lived as a man for many combined years, and to be prayed for.  During that day of fasting we will all be praying for him.
With my daughter I thought that it would be good to have a similar experience, but with women.  I have not totally thought all this through, but hopefully we will be able to have a weekend or a week where she and the important women in her life can go to where she wants to go (beach, mountains, etc), and spend time in much the same way, praying for her and talking to her about being a woman.  We want her to know that she is a woman, and to see the privileges and responsibilities.  I also have planned to take her on a fancy date to a very fancy restaurant and some kind of symphony or concert.  Hopefully Les Mis will be playing then.
This are some of the ideas regarding our rites of passage.  I have not written all of them.

The 12 year rite of passage

This is the second of three rites of passage that we do in our family.  This rite of passage focuses on the child's relationship with other people.  In a lot of ways this is the rite of passage that I have the fewest ideas about.  I think that we will probably do some kind of family tree thing (I just thought that up while I am typing).  We also had some soapstone carvings made in Kenya, East Africa to give to our kids representing that we are like livingstones (1 Peter).  We will also give them some kind of sentimental thing.  Maybe you have some ideas for us.  Share with me. . .

The 8 year rite of passage

As I said before, the eight year rite of passage focuses on the child's relationship with God.  We try to talk to them leading up to it about their relationship with God.  We also try to model what personal time with God is.  When I was a young Christian the man who discipled me taught me about "God-time" and he gave me my first prayer journal.  Ever since journaling my prayers and spending daily time with God has been the most important part of each day.  This is something that we want to pass on to our children.  I have found one way to do this is by having my time with God with them, doing the things that I do in my time with God with them.  Sometimes we walk and pray, sometimes we read the Bible, sometimes we have communion, and sometimes we journal.  A big part of each rite of passage is the gifts that each child gets.  We make a box which is half the dimensions of the arc of the covenant in Exodus together.  This is the child's box, and it symbolizes that we are the new arc of the covenant, the place where God's presence dwells.  It also is meant to be a place for the child's special things that are theirs.  I have a shoebox that I have had since high school with all of my special things and this spurred on the idea of a special box for them.  I have also run a marathon for each of my children, and as every marathoner knows, the shirt is special.  I give the shirt to them on this day to symbolize that I would literally do anything for them, no matter how hard or crazy.  My wife gives them something special as well, something from her childhood that she passes on to them.  Two of our four kids have went through this rite of passage, and it has been a very meaningful time for all of us.

Rites of Passage

When we lived in East Africa, they had a rite of passage when the kids were entering puberty that was very involved and even more controversial, both from the Western and newer African perspective, because it involves the circumcision of girls and often excludes girls from an education.  This rite is so important for the youth though, that even if their families tell them not to do it, they often sneak off to do it, to have a name.  I want to share our rites of passage in our home, how we tell our kids who they are.  We have three different rites of passage, at 8, 12, and 16 years old.  Each rite of passage has a different focus.  The 8 year rite of passage focuses on their relationship with God.  The 12 year rite of passage focuses on their relationship with people.  The 16 year rite of passage focuses on their relationship with themselves.  More on these rites of passage in coming posts.