Miki Hardy spoke to the church in Curepipe on Sunday 25th January 2009 about these communications and entertainment tools, like Facebook and personal blogs, found on the Internet, which are increasingly popular amongst the young, and even the not so young.

“In my opinion, Facebook and blogs are not only a waste of time, but they are also a trap for you,” he declared. “You spend more time on the Internet than reading the Bible.” He then went on to ask if all this writing was actually edifying, because, “Some of you might think that it’s a way to evangelise and testify about your Christian life, but is that really the case, when it could in fact be such a snare?”
He reminded everyone present that whatever is posted online, texts, photos, as well as videos, can be accessed and manipulated by anyone, and we have no idea how it can be used one day.

He particularly underlined the point that, even if we feel free to put photos of ourselves online, we can’t allow ourselves to put anyone else’s, including that of brothers and sisters, without the permission or approval of those persons. This also applies to photos of members of the church, and of CTMI. He asked that all photos on Facebook and other personal blogs that fall into this category be removed.

He added that as far as he was concerned, if we wanted to communicate, it would be better to do so by email. Finally, Miki made it clear that he was not asking anyone to stop his or her personal blogs or to quit Facebook. “It’s up to you to do as you wish, when you wish…. But I am telling you this to draw your attention to the fact that it can be a snare… a real trap!” In conclusion, he encouraged everyone to go before the Lord, so as to receive His direction on this topic.

The question I ask my self is, ‘Do I really understand what the gospel of the cross means, or is it just words that I hear and I speak about?’ You know when Jesus said that unless we have a righteousness beyond that of the Pharisees, we will not see the kingdom of God, I realise how I can be the same: full of knowledge but no reality. I’m really starting to realize that talk is cheap. When Jesus says in Matthew 16 vs 24, “If anyone would come after Me, He must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me”, this is big my friends. We really need to cry to the Lord to reveal to us the fullness of this verse so that we can truly follow Him. In 1 Corinthians 4 vs 20, Paul speaks about how the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk, but of power. May the Lord open our eyes to see.

When you look at the music in the Christian Church today a lot of it is geared to stirring up the emotions bringing emotional revival that fires you up and gets you pumped to go out and be a Christian!

It’s all fake I am sorry to say but it’s the sad truth. I became so aware of it recently and I started to try and decipher between when I was praising with my heart, with my head or if it was emotional. I started to get a bit paranoid! If I felt any emotion welling up in me, I would stop myself and say no…that’s just emotional…but with guidance I realized that I’m human and I have emotions and a brain and they are not wrong!

Luke 10 vs 27 says “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, strength and mind.” So all I have to do is come to God with everything and just go for it! I will be careful which songs I worship with – and try find the one with a real anointing, that feed my spirit. If I get emotional or if it only feeds me info to my brain, I don’t have to worry about that. I just need to make sure my heart is open to the conviction of the spirit and humble enough to repent when God convicts me. Let’s loves God more than we love our emotions!