Lost: Part 1

The other day I was watching TV and saw one of those commercials for a set of CD's of music from the 50's.  I think it was one of those Time Life CD specials.  I'm in an emotional mood, so bear with me.  :)  I don't know what it was about these songs, but it made me cry.  It made me reflect on how times have changed since then.  I wasn't alive in the 50's, I was born in the late 70's and remember 80's music better than anything because it's what I grew up listening to.  You know how you hear a song and it just takes you back to that time?  Well, when I heard some of these 50's songs, it made me think, "Wow...back when music was really music."  I started crying listening to some of the memorable songs and I said to my husband, "Honey, think about it...can you imagine someone like Lady Gaga being around back then?" and it really broke my heart.  Now I'm going to get a bunch of hate mail from Lady Gaga fans.  Please hear my heart.  I love music and I love all kinds of music.  Before I was a Christian when I was in high school, I actually used to love listening to Marilyn Manson because I sincerely thought, "Hey, he's a music artist too and he's got something to say just like everybody else." and it's true.  Here's the thing and this is the point, no beating around the bush, I'm gonna get right to it.  Every human being on the face of the planet is born with a soul and that soul is going to end up in either heaven or hell when they die.  That's true for Marilyn Manson or Lady Gaga, the female version of Marilyn Manson.  It's true for Britney Spears, Lindsay Lohan, Paris Hilton, the school janitor, the homeless man on the street, and EVERYONE who has ever lived or will ever live.

Now this is the point I want to make about music and this is the best way I can think of to explain it.  "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." ~Philippians 4:8  This verse sums up everything I want to say and says it way better than I ever could.  Let me talk about what this verse DOESN'T mean first.  I am not trying to say that just because you're a Christian then that means you should only listen to Christian music.  I'm not that close-minded, but what I AM saying is that if you really are a Christian and the Holy Spirit sincerely dwells inside of you and inside of your soul, then you should want to listen to Christian music.  Let me explain that a little further.  Before we became Christians, we were existing in our sinful flesh.  When you become a Christian and ask Jesus into your heart, the sinful flesh is still there...it's still a part of you.  The DIFFERENCE is that when you ask Jesus into your heart, He also gives you the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit is there to convict you, and to be your conscience to remind you of right and wrong.  So, desiring to listen to Christian music is a desire to find out more about God, draw nearer to His heart, and get to know Him more.  This desire doesn't come to you naturally, but it is given to you by the Holy Spirit and should come from the overflow of a heart that desires to be close to God.  For example, the other day my husband had the Country Music video station on and a Luke Bryant video was on and he was singing, "Shake it for me girl, shake it for me girl, shake it for me..." over and over again.  I thought to myself, "How can a person sing the phrase 'shake it for me girl' with passion and conviction?" and then my thought went even deeper and the Holy Spirit said to me, "Luke Bryant and his lips were designed to give glory and honor and praise to God...but he doesn't know it."

And that's just it right there.  Every human being on the planet was designed to bring glory, honor, and praise to God, but they all don't know it.  Why?  Because they're lost.  I believe that what you dwell on with your mind will eventually come out of your heart.  I have to ask myself, "What do I spend time thinking about? What does my mind dwell on? Do these thoughts honor God?"  When you ask Jesus to be Lord of your life, then you have to give Him your WHOLE life and all the little stuff too, from the music you listen to, to the way that you dress.  Girls, when you get dressed in the morning, ask yourself, "Does this outfit honor God? Would God be pleased with the way I am dressed?"  I know it's hard...when the world is telling you what to listen to and how to dress, you feel outnumbered.  I know it might not seem so at the time, but it is WORTH IT to go against the grain.  I don't know how many people have ever seen the music video for Switchfoot's "I Dare You To Move" but in the music video, there is a man who gets up and makes a choice to run with all of his might, but he runs right into a crowd.  The crowd is going the other way, and he is running against them with everything he has.  To me, this is what that song is trying to say.  It says, "I dare you to move, I dare you to move, I dare you to pick yourself off of the floor..." and it's saying, "I dare you to make a choice today. I dare you to turn the page today. I dare you to do something different today. I dare you to stand up for Christ today."  Even when it's the unpopular thing to do.  Even if you will lose a friend over it.  I dare you to forget about what the world has to say and to worry more about what God has to say.

Watch the video and tell me what you think it means.  I think it's a picture of an individual who has chosen to stand up for Christ and run in relentless pursuit of Him...no matter what the rest of the world has to say.

What do you think?  Click on the video below:

"Dare You To Move" by Switchfoot