It all comes back to the Author.
We're here because He made us.
He gave us each authority, to be submitted to the authority of another.
This July, on the 4th day, we celebrate our nation's insurrection against an authority it believed to have unjust power. Our nation established itself as a free entity, to pass those freedoms on to its citizens.
If, in the course of your celebrations, you choose to knowingly transgress upon the laws of this country (state, city and county are included) what are you really celebrating? Our freedom from tyranny? Or self-justified rebellion?
I have in years past, stood torch-in-hand with a mostly-clear conscience as I set about the "celebration" of our country's Independence Day with "rocket's red glare" and "bombs bursting in air".
Not this year.
I've only just recently repaired some rather extensive damage to my conscience. Patterns of behavior that I taught myself to accept through ignoring my conscience until "the voice of reason" went away completely. I have set those issues right in my life, and am now seeing the same seeds of dissent, the roots of rebellion, in other areas.
I will not, this time, be so easily swayed into discounting my convictions for "a bit of harmless fun". I've made that mistake before. And I know where it leads. Compromise will bring corruption. If I yield my principals even slightly for some small reason, I have surrendered them completely.
I intend to hold tight to what I know and believe, despite what people may say. Whatever arguments they may pose. I've absorbed this truth to a far deeper level than I had before:
The degree to which I obey the authority over me is the degree to which I can be trusted with authority.
If I only "respect" the authority that I agree with, I am pretending to obey while living in practical Anarchy.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Dabbling in the World
In John 8:44, Jesus tells his disciples (and us) that Satan "was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a falsehood, he speaks what is natural to him, for he is a liar [himself] and the father of lies and of all that is false."
This should rather firmly establish his character as one we should avoid, right?
In Luke 10:19, Jesus tells his disciples that they (and we) have "authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions..."
It seems as though some in the church have taken this to mean that we can go out and play with serpents and scorpions. Maybe even bring them home and keep them as pets. God gave us authority and power over them because they are a tool that the enemy uses to attack and ensnare us. I think we have seriously misread Jesus' instructions if we think that these tools of the enemy are not a threat.
Witchcraft, sorcery, and much of what masquerades as 'philosophy' these days come straight from the mouth of the Chief Deceiver. If you think for a second that curiosity only killed the cat, you could be next.
We have been warned, and we have been equipped.
This should rather firmly establish his character as one we should avoid, right?
In Luke 10:19, Jesus tells his disciples that they (and we) have "authority and power to trample upon serpents and scorpions..."
It seems as though some in the church have taken this to mean that we can go out and play with serpents and scorpions. Maybe even bring them home and keep them as pets. God gave us authority and power over them because they are a tool that the enemy uses to attack and ensnare us. I think we have seriously misread Jesus' instructions if we think that these tools of the enemy are not a threat.
Witchcraft, sorcery, and much of what masquerades as 'philosophy' these days come straight from the mouth of the Chief Deceiver. If you think for a second that curiosity only killed the cat, you could be next.
We have been warned, and we have been equipped.
Music and Lyrics
Is it possible to unify thrashing guitars, thundering drums, and growled/screamed vocals into a Christian message? I believe not only that it is possible, but that it is absolutely necessary to do so. It seems to me that 'mainstream Christianity' is shying away from what the human heart is crying out for, opting instead for what it considers best.
People are hungry for music that stirs their emotions. I believe that God is the originator of both emotion and music, and that He had a purpose in mind when He tied them together.
Music is a language. It speaks to us in ways that words cannot. It can often find entrance to the heart and mind when a person's defenses would ordinarily block out the intended message. It is completely possible to pair music that can speak to a persons heart with words that they would not normally be receptive to.
Point in case: Christians who listen to Metallica, Slipknot, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, et cetera. They find something in the music that resonates within them, but are (perhaps unknowingly) getting some pretty twisted lyrical content in a sort of package deal. A musical Trojan Horse, if you will.
Consider this, though: The same aggressive musical stylings, but with Christian content... Music that resonates in the soul of a generation and the message paired with it is actually life-giving! This is what I am endeavoring to create. To take what the world has twisted from God's original plan, and set it right again. I want to reach out to my generation with a message of hope and truth based on these facts:
- God has given us life: The sacrifice of His Son washed away all our sin.
- God has saved us from an eternity of separation: He is as close to us as we allow Him to be.
- God has given us authority: we are only as weak as we choose to be.
- God has given us power: everything we need to accomplish our destiny is already inside us.
I think a big reason that screaming/growling is so misunderstood in the church is because people think that secular music did it first. I disagree. I think the David we read about in the Bible was the original metal pioneer. When he and other people in the Bible are described to be crying out to God, or "pouring out [their] soul before the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:15), I don't see this as being a composed or dignified ritual. Yet that has become our culture's perception of prayer and to a sad extent, even worship. Solemn. Reverent to a fault. Devoid of passion.
I think David screamed. If there had been electric guitars in his Tabernacle, he'd have been lining up the meatiest gnarliest chords he could find. I think they would have moshed (or rather, that they did, but predating the activity's current name). I've gotten pretty goofy while dancing, but I know I haven't danced "with all [my] might." (2 Samuel 6:14) That's a kind of focused surrender that just isn't practiced in 'proper culture'.
While some bands clearly take the theme of heavy guitars, fast drums, and deep 'gurgling' vocals to a dark place, I don't believe that any instrument or style of music is evil at its core. It is exclusively where you take it that it resides. When I worship God in my personal time, sometimes I am singing softly, sometimes loudly; sometimes screaming at the top of my lungs, at others (the best description I've heard so far:) screaming from the bottom of my lungs. It is the only way I know to release the emotional energy that I feel in His presence.
People are hungry for music that stirs their emotions. I believe that God is the originator of both emotion and music, and that He had a purpose in mind when He tied them together.
Music is a language. It speaks to us in ways that words cannot. It can often find entrance to the heart and mind when a person's defenses would ordinarily block out the intended message. It is completely possible to pair music that can speak to a persons heart with words that they would not normally be receptive to.
Point in case: Christians who listen to Metallica, Slipknot, Static-X, Cradle of Filth, et cetera. They find something in the music that resonates within them, but are (perhaps unknowingly) getting some pretty twisted lyrical content in a sort of package deal. A musical Trojan Horse, if you will.
Consider this, though: The same aggressive musical stylings, but with Christian content... Music that resonates in the soul of a generation and the message paired with it is actually life-giving! This is what I am endeavoring to create. To take what the world has twisted from God's original plan, and set it right again. I want to reach out to my generation with a message of hope and truth based on these facts:
- God has given us life: The sacrifice of His Son washed away all our sin.
- God has saved us from an eternity of separation: He is as close to us as we allow Him to be.
- God has given us authority: we are only as weak as we choose to be.
- God has given us power: everything we need to accomplish our destiny is already inside us.
I think a big reason that screaming/growling is so misunderstood in the church is because people think that secular music did it first. I disagree. I think the David we read about in the Bible was the original metal pioneer. When he and other people in the Bible are described to be crying out to God, or "pouring out [their] soul before the Lord" (1 Samuel 1:15), I don't see this as being a composed or dignified ritual. Yet that has become our culture's perception of prayer and to a sad extent, even worship. Solemn. Reverent to a fault. Devoid of passion.
I think David screamed. If there had been electric guitars in his Tabernacle, he'd have been lining up the meatiest gnarliest chords he could find. I think they would have moshed (or rather, that they did, but predating the activity's current name). I've gotten pretty goofy while dancing, but I know I haven't danced "with all [my] might." (2 Samuel 6:14) That's a kind of focused surrender that just isn't practiced in 'proper culture'.
While some bands clearly take the theme of heavy guitars, fast drums, and deep 'gurgling' vocals to a dark place, I don't believe that any instrument or style of music is evil at its core. It is exclusively where you take it that it resides. When I worship God in my personal time, sometimes I am singing softly, sometimes loudly; sometimes screaming at the top of my lungs, at others (the best description I've heard so far:) screaming from the bottom of my lungs. It is the only way I know to release the emotional energy that I feel in His presence.
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