Miley Cyrus; A Product of a Culture Without Boundaries.

If you have social media of any kind, I am almost certain you have heard about Miley Cyrus and her disturbing performance at the VMA’s. I’m deeply saddened by what she has morphed into over the years. The past few days, I’ve been thinking, “How does innocent little Hannah Montana turn into one of the most scandalous and sickening performers of this day and age?” I think God has an answer to the question for us, and I think we can learn a lot from it.

Before I proceed, I would like to remind us that Jesus said in John 8:7, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first throw a stone at her.” None of us can throw a stone at Miley Cyrus, because we have all fallen short of the glory of God. We are all sinners. Jesus did not respond to our sin with hateful words, so let us not respond to Miley’s sin with hateful tweets and blog posts. We must approach her in love and mercy, the way Jesus does, but we should also learn a great deal, as we ponder the key contributors to creating the performer we see in Miley today.

We live in a culture in which everything goes; anything is acceptable. What God has defined as black and white, the world is now painting grey. It’s constantly pushing the limits. Miley Cyrus is not what is wrong with the world, we all have a sin problem.  Miley is merely a product of a culture without boundaries. 

Do you realize that, at one point, Miley claimed to be a Christian? She was once a role model for young girls all over the country. She went from saying she was a follower of Christ to doing a performance that would cause any strong Christian to change the channel. One might ask, “How does that kind of transformation even happen?” Well, it happens by letting culture tell us where the boundaries are, instead of the Word of God. Before you think about how terrible of a person Miley is, I want you to take a look at your own life. How often are we going by “what’s cool”, instead of what God says? Look at the movies you watch, the songs on your playlist, or the other activities that fill your time. Most of the things the world defines as acceptable, God defines as sin. I don’t think Miley is the only one turning to culture to show her where the boundaries are. We can all struggle with that, because we all have the inward desire to be accepted by others. We want to be cool and the sad reality is that many of us are willing to compromise our own beliefs, in order to reach that status. We are letting other sinful people, who really don’t have our best interest at heart, tell us how to live, instead of listening to a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to endure the punishment we all deserve. 

I’m really heartbroken for Miley Cyrus. Culture is constantly encouraging her to push the limits, yet when she does it, they mock her for it. The media laughs and scorns her for doing the things they pushed her to do in the first place. She feels like she has to take off most of her clothes to be loved. She does not even realize that there is a God out there that loves her, despite her sin. Hollywood is acting like they love her now, but in a few years, they will abandon her and she will be on one of those “Where Are They Now?” shows. Miley hasn’t even realized that there is a God out there who will never leave or forsake her, no matter what she does. Are some of you in that same position? Maybe not at the same degree as Miley, but are you striving for the approval of the crowd. It’s exhausting trying to get the status of “cool” in a culture that is constantly changing. You don’t have to live that way. There is a God standing with His arms wide open to you. Fame, fortune, and popularity are all just an illusion. The American dream turns out to be a nightmare. But then, there is God, who will never leave you high and dry. He doesn’t just say that He loves you and then leaves you, like the crowd that many want the approval of so desperately. No, God didn’t just say that He loves you, He showed that He loves you, by giving His life, so that He could offer you the gift of salvation. 

So, here’s the question, are we gonna let culture tell us what to do, or are we going to stand by the Word of the never-changing, always faithful, perfectly loving God? Because, if we do not stand up and say, “enough is enough” at some point, things are only going to get worse. We may be appalled at first, like we are now with Miley, but if we do not draw the line somewhere, the world will continue to push the limits. 

I pray for Miley Cyrus, that she would know that she is not too far gone; God can still save her. I pray that God would have mercy on us, who call ourselves Christians, yet listen to what’s popular, instead of what God says. I also pray for you. I pray that you would turn to the Word of God for your boundaries, that, like insects to a light, you would let the love of Christ shine so brightly in you that others see it and want some of it, too. 

Know that there is still hope, friends. God is on the throne. He is not surprised by how far our world has fallen. God is still God, no matter what Miley Cyrus does on a stage. The fact that our God is still greater than the darkness around us should give us strength to shine even brighter for Him as we walk in it.


If you have any questions, comments or prayer requests, I hope you will email me at christy@tonynolan.org . Thank you so much for reading. 

In the Waiting Room.

I am not a big fan of waiting rooms; I am not sure if anyone really is. Being in them usually feels like the biggest waste of time. You have things you have to get done, places you need to be, but you have to just sit and wait.

I think there are times in our lives that are a lot like a waiting room. There are seasons where God tells us to wait. There are times where I just wanna go, I want to move on, but God tells me to wait till He gives me the okay to proceed. I can get so frustrated in those seasons. I start to wonder, “What is God thinking? We are just wasting time here.”  Then, God reminds me who He is. He’s God. His timing is perfect. Who am I to tell God when we are going to wait and when we are going to move ahead? God has never been off on His timing, so when He says to wait, it’s to our own benefit that we obey.

When you’re waiting, there is still that feeling that all you’re doing is wasting time. However, waiting time and wasted time are not the same thing. Any moment you spend bringing glory to God is never a waste. So, waiting time will not be wasted if you worship Christ in the waiting. God does not call us to be a light sometimes, He calls us to be a light all the time, even in the waiting room. Just because you’re not in college yet, you’re not married yet, or you don’t have the job you want yet, it does not mean you can’t still bring glory to God. You can do great things right where you are. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am very aware that waiting is still very hard. I am not trying to make waiting sound more fun to you, because it can still be frustrating and difficult to do. I think the story of Isaac and Rebekah in Genesis 24 can help us here. We see in the first few verses that Abraham sends one of his servants to find a wife for his son, Isaac. The servant has to travel very far with ten camels. I cannot even imagine how difficult that journey would be. I can complain if I have to drive for a few hours in my air conditioned car to go on vacation. This servant must have had an incredibly hard journey. However, in all 67 verses of Genesis 24, there is not one of them that says how bad the journey was. In the end, it didn't matter. The hardships in the journey didn't even compare to the pay off in the end, when he found Rebekah. I think the same can apply to our waiting rooms in life. How hard it is will not even be worth mentioning in comparison to the joy we find in trusting God through every step of our journey.

So, waiting rooms can be frustrating, but if you are illuminating praise to God while you are in it, then, you are not wasting your time. God has a plan and His timing is perfect; we just need to trust Him. I pray that, no matter what your season of waiting looks like, God gives you strength to continue to glorify Him right where He has you today.


Also, I have loved getting emails from all my readers! Keep them coming! Email any of your questions, comments, or prayer requests to christy@tonynolan.org . Thanks for reading!

Sing or Stand?

 Penny Lea is a pro-life activist. After giving a speech, an elderly man came up to her to tell her his story. With tears rolling down his face, this is what he said:

 "I lived in Germany during the Nazi holocaust. I considered myself a Christian. I attended church since I was a small boy. We had heard the stories of what was happening to the Jews, but, like most people today in this country, we tried to distance ourselves from the reality of what was really taking place. What could anyone do to stop it?
 A railroad track ran behind our small church, and each Sunday morning we would hear the whistle from a distance and then the clacking of the wheels moving over the track. We became disturbed when, one Sunday, we noticed cries coming from the train as it passed by. We grimly realized that the train was carrying Jews. They were like cattle in those cars!
 Week after week, that train whistle would blow. We would dread to hear the sound of those old wheels because we knew that the Jews would begin to cry out to us, as they passed our church. It was so terribly disturbing! We could do nothing to help these poor, miserable people, yet their screams tormented us. We knew exactly at what time that whistle would blow, and we decided the only way to keep from being so disturbed by the cries was to start singing our hymns. By the time that train came rumbling past the church yard, we were singing at the top of our voices. If some of the screams reached our ears, we'd just sing a little louder until we could hear them no more.
 Years have passed, and no one talks about it much anymore, but I still hear that train whistle in my sleep. I can still hear them crying out for help. God forgive all of us who called ourselves Christians, yet did nothing to intervene.”

 This story always sends a shiver down my spine. There are those who may be quick to judge and would say, “who could possibly just sit by singing while something so horrible was happening?” However, before we look down upon some of the churches during World War II, let’s take a look in the mirror.

 As terrifying as the thought may be, is it possible that modern day believers are starting to act like the singing church in the story? Babies are being murdered by the thousands in America through abortions. There are 27 million people still stuck in the chains of slavery. There are children around the world that are desperate for a loving mommy and daddy. Drugs, rape, abuse, the list goes on and on.  Are we going to be the church that sings to God and yet refuses to obey Him when it conflicts with our convenience? 

 During the same time period of World War II, there was a man, named Dietrich Bonhoeffer. He was a man who knew that believing in Jesus must lead to action. He was a huge voice against Nazi rule in Germany and he served as a double spy during the war. Bonhoeffer spoke for those who couldn’t speak for themselves and eventually gave his life for the cause. Eric Metaxas, in his book entitled “7 Men”, recorded this:“At one point Bonhoeffer made the incendiary statement that “only he who stands up for the Jews may sing Gregorian chants.” What he meant was that if we were not heroically and courageously doing what God wanted us to do, God was not interested in our public displays of worship. To sing to God when we are not doing what God called us to do was to be a hypocrite.”

 So, here is my question to you, in this day and age, are we going to be Bonhoeffers or are we going to be singers? Are we going to obey God by doing something about the evils around us, or are we going to just sing over the cries of hurting and dying people? The world doesn’t need anymore singers, but we are desperate for more Bonhoeffers. If we really believed the songs we were singing, we would not just sit idle, while people around us are spiritually, emotionally, and physically broken. Is it possible that we can sing “How Great is Our God”, but live like He’s not great enough to use us to put an end to the injustices around us?

 I think my family friend, Jimmy Needham, says it best, in his song “Speak”.

“So open your mouth, open it wide. 

Quit singing songs for a minute tonight. 

You can love with your hands, you can love with your deeds. 

How will they know if we won't even speak?”

 I pray, as the old man in the story, that God forgives his children for singing when we should have been taking action. I hope that you will be like Dietrich Bonhoeffer and obey God, by taking action against evil. We cannot be satisfied with singing, while the darkness consumes us, but we must illuminate the darkness with God’s truth. Are we going to sing, or are we going to stand?

 If you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to email me at christy@tonynolan.org . Thank you so much for reading.

This is my Story.

        I like to think of this blog as an opportunity for me to point others to Christ and one of the biggest ways I know how to do that is to share how God has changed my life. My youth pastor recently challenged us to share our testimonies with boldness and to make it known to everyone that Jesus is our Lord and Savior. So, in the paragraphs that follow, I would like to tell you my story. 

I was born and raised in a Christian home. My dad is an evangelist and, as long as I can remember, he has traveled all over the country telling people the Good New of Jesus Christ. I always knew about God growing up and I knew all the Sunday school answers.  I thought, for sure, I would make it into Heaven because my parents were Christians and because I was a “good kid”.  However, in reality, I was not a “good kid”. No one is good; we are all sinful people, but in my mind I was “good” because I wasn’t as bad as other people I knew. I thought I was doing okay, but in actuality, I was a lost and broken soul on the road to hell.

One Sunday morning, when I was 7 years old, I was listening to Dr. Junior Hill preach a powerful sermon. He was speaking about how you never know when death is going to come and, once it does, you need to be ready for it. After you die, there is no coming back and making a decision to follow Christ then; you have to do it now. It felt as if Dr. Hill was speaking directly to me as he shared the entire Gospel. He said that I was a sinner and that Jesus came and took the punishment I deserve. He lived a perfect life, He died on the cross, and then rose to life 3 days later, all because of His vast love for me. I remember realizing that I needed my own faith and that I couldn’t get to heaven just because my daddy was a preacher. I was overwhelmed with the love of Christ as a 7 year old girl and, that night, I gave my heart and life to Jesus Christ. I was no longer held captive to sin and I became a willing servant of God. 

As the years went on, my faith became stronger, but it really started to grow once I hit middle school. All through my life I had seen God work in amazing ways. My dad had preached in many major arenas around the country, and we saw thousands come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior. In fact, I had seen it so much that I was almost numb to it, until about my seventh grade year. I could see hundreds of people come to know Christ at one time and it wouldn’t even occur to me how astounding that was, because I saw it every night. However, while I was in middle school, God became so much more real to me. I was moved by His presence and I started to crave it more and more. 

Part of the reason I grew so much during my middle school years is because of a girl named Brittany. She worked for my family and would go with us when we traveled places. I can honestly say this girl is one of the most pivotal people in my walk with the Lord. She is quite a few years older than me and, at the time, I wanted to be just like her. I wanted to be like her in every way. So, when I saw her reading her Bible, it inspired me to read mine, as well. I started doing some of the same devotionals she did and they helped me as I launched deeper into God’s Word. I will never be able to thank God enough for putting Brittany in my life. Even now, I strive to be the “Brittany” in other people’s lives. I want to inspire others in their walk with Christ, the same way Brittany inspired me in mine. 

In my 8th and 9th grade years, I went through some hard times. From some difficult friendship troubles and significant life changes, it was a lot for me to handle during such a tough age. I made a lot of mistakes and I am so grateful that God’s grace knows no limits. Even in recent years, I have made mistakes and been through some very difficult times, watching people I care deeply about choose to make very harmful and hurtful decisions, but God has been with me through every one of them. I have learned to trust God on a whole new level, because of the trials I have been through. Because of all God showed me through these hard years, I wouldn’t trade any of them.  Through the hurt, the life transitions, and relationship changes, I have experienced immeasurable growth and I’ve come to know Christ in a more intimate way.

Today, I strive to grow more and more in Christ. I am continually amazed that God would love a wretch like me. When I look back on my life I can say, without hesitation, “Thus far the Lord has helped me” (1 Samuel 7:12). I can trust God with my future, because He has always been faithful in the past.

Well, that’s my story, the one He is writing through me. I am nothing without Christ. He is my Redeemer and I am dependent upon Him. I pray that, if you do not have a relationship with Jesus, you would cry out to Him and make Him the Lord of your life. He loves you so much that He sent His Son to give His life for you. No matter what you have done wrong in life, He knows and He still loves you. I pray that you would come to know Christ in a very real way. If you have any questions about anything I have said, feel free to email me at christy@tonynolan.org or leave a comment. Thank you for taking the time to read about God’s work in my life. I hope you will stay connected with my blog and read more of the story that He is still writing!

Welcome to the IllumiNATION.

       Hello, my name is Christy Nolan. I am an ordinary girl who serves an extraordinary God, and I would like to invite you to join me on a journey. Let me first tell you the direction in which we are going. I don’t think I have to convince you that the world we live in is a dark place; you already know that. As it seems to me, the world is only getting darker. Culture today is continually painting grey what God has already clearly painted black and white in His Word. You don’t have to go any farther than your own heart to know that sin is real. Divorce rates are higher than ever. Murders happen every single day. Rape, slavery, and other forms of abuse are happening all over the world.

Here’s where our journey comes in. I invite you to join me in striving to be the light that God calls us to be in Matthew 5:13-16. He says to us, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” I invite you to the IllumiNATION, where we are not satisfied with living in the dark, but where we let Christ shine through us. As I said before, this is a dark world getting darker, and now is not the time for us, Christians, to keep our light to ourselves. It’s time for us to illuminate this world with Christ’s love. We cannot conduct ourselves like darkness and expect to change the darkness around us. As one of my biggest heroes, Martin Luther King, once said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that.” 

So, the invitation stands. Will you join the IllumiNATION? I pray that you will. I hope that you would not be satisfied with settling into the darkness, but that you would be bold and be the light of the world, as Jesus called us. I pray that you would walk with me on this journey and that it would challenge and encourage you in your walk with Him.

So, I hand this blog over to the Lord. I pray that every single word I type will bring glory to His name. I hope that God will use my posts to inspire my readers to be illuminators in a dark world, that they would let Christ shine through them in everything they do. If you have a question, comment, or prayer request, please feel free to write it in the comments. Also, if you have a topic you would like me to write about, you can also tell me about it in the comments and I will try my best to give you a Biblical perspective on that topic. 

Thank you so much for reading and welcome to the IllumiNATION.