40 Days of Prayer for America - Google+

40 Days of Prayer for America - Google+

I wanted to make sure I posted this and created an event on the Google+ site.  I haven't given up on our nation, yet.  So, we should be diligent as ever.  Rarely am I ever going to discuss politics on my page, and this is not about that so much as it is about prayer.

Ode to Billie Joe?

Bobbie Gentry recorded a song back in 1967 called, "Ode to Billy Joe" which was a ballad about a young man who threw himself off the Tallahatchie Bridge.  While there seems to be some mystery behind the song, there's no mystery behind the meltdown of Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day.  Recently, he threw himself off into a rant mode at the iHeart Radio festival in Las Vegas.  After being told he had only one minute of performance time,  a frustrated Billie Joe went into a long, profanity-filled diatribe about the music industry.  The end result?  Rehab two days later.

Oh dear!  What a mess!  Well, it seems that Billie Joe is no stranger to controversy, and he will always have that certain smugness that goes along with the pop-punk attitude that showed through in early songs like "Longview," and "Basket Case" from the Dookie album.  As he got older, the songs became more introspective, though negative, which is quite plain in the song, "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."  He has a mocking fascination with Catholic symbolism, as stated in songs like, "Jesus of Suburbia" and "Church on Sunday."

Whether he checked into rehab on his own or whether his management insisted he'd better "clean up," it's very clear that this attitude of absurdism coupled with nihilism has basically burned him inside out.  Maybe this stint in rehab will make him realize just how fallible he really is, and maybe give him a look into his own life.

The Rock of Intercession group spent an evening praying for Green Day, but mainly, Billie Joe.  I've never been a huge fan of his music, but somehow, the Lord impressed on me that we should be praying for him.  Well, we had a bit of prodding from my best friend after reading on Twitter about this episode in Las Vegas. It was necessary to do just that, and I hope more people get on board.  Part of what Rock of Intercession does is helping the Body of Christ understand that our entertainers, though they have a lot of money and fame, are like the rest of us, broken and frustrated.  I believe Jesus said it best when it comes to the whole issue of who is master:

Matthew 6:24 (KJV)
"No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will hold to the one and despise the other.  Ye cannot serve God and mammon."

Those of us who are believers are going to continue to pray for Billie Joe.  Hopefully, he'll find healing inside AND out.

Hymns: Bringing Them Back in a Modern World

I am impressed when I hear how hymns are making somewhat of a comeback. I have been an advocate of doing more hymns since the early worship team days of when I attended a church while at Fresno State University.  Shortly after that, I became a worship team member, playing piano and singing for the entire congregation.  Years, later, I'd be doing another worship team and in a spot where I'd have to learn newer music, but sometimes, I could see that it'd be just a bit lacking in substance.  This is not to say that all modern worship is like that, but I have to wonder sometimes where it all goes.

Well, fortunately, there is a comeback within modern worship circles where hymns seem to get more of a twist.  One of my favorites is Chris Tomlin's "Amazing Grace," that along with the standard hymn, features the "My Chains Are Gone" chorus.  Beautiful.

Now, oc foucrs, it doesn't stop there.  As we have seen in this one, there are others that are just as beautiful.  Here is yet, another contribution to a hymn, with Kristian Stanfill.  This would include a very amazing version of the song, "Jesus Paid It All."  It's true to the original hymn, while adding an extra chorus:

O, Praise the one who paid my debt

And raised my life up from the dead.

And yet, I couldn't possibly show my appreciation for modern hymn adaptations without adding this gem.  Yes, the words come from a hymn.  Very few people actually know this one unless they pick up your average hymn book from the old standard church.  Let's just say that this one will probably escape you, but the band, Casting Crowns did it just beautifully, although they changed the title.

I sure hope more music writers for worship will be willing to venture out and raise up more old standards. Our culture needs to review them and look at what these old writers had to say in these classics.  If we are able to modernize them, that's good.  If not, and we sing them to a modern style, that's good too, but we should never lose them.

What Does Your MP3 Player Say About You?

At least everyone has an MP3 player or ipod, and if you don't, you probably have an exstensive CD collection.  If you're years older, you probably collected records.  I don't know anyone who doesn't like a certain kind of music.  Of course, I tend to go all over the place with my musical selections.  I find that I run the gamut between classic rock, classic Christian rock, classic CCM, moldy oldies, and every type of Christian metal you can find.  It's all there for the taking.  Oh yes, even some goth.  Yeah, I know.  Some dark stuff is very impressive.  My friend Jane suggests that I need more 70's R&B.  Perhaps, she's right.  Oh, and I almost forgot.  I'm a sucker for anything 80's, including the weirdest new wave around. 

So, as I studied the music on this player, everything lyrically ranges from the super-spiritual to the somewhat irreverant.  I don't know.  My mind must be fragmented.  I'm surprised I don't have MP3-player MPD.  Unfortunately, it just shows that sometimes, I'm not always the most super-spiritual in the world.  I don't have to be, but I realize that I'm a fallen human who needs redemption.  My MP3 player probably tells of every triumph, every struggle, every test, every temptation, but most of all, but since I'm finding a lot more Christian music on it these days, itl tells of the very God that loves me and bids me to "go and sin no more."   

Romans 3:23-25 (King James Version)

 23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;

 24Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:

 25Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.

I don't know about you guys, but I'm glad it doesn't just end there with Romans 3:23.  Read further on, and you understand although we are all sinners, we find redemption through our Lord.  No, we can't do anything on our own, but once we seek His grace, we know we can truly be free.  Let's not forget such a great sacrifice He made in order to give us this grace. 

One of these days, maybe I'll change the music on the player to represent more of who God wants me to be.  That might be a good idea in the long run.  At least, in my life, my MP3 player DOES indeed say a lot about me.

So what does your MP3 player say about you?