So, I love hearing fresh music. And, yes, I know, this song comes from an album that was released for last Christmas, but in the lifetime of Christmas songs it is still in its infancy. So, take a listen, and let me know what you think.

I Celebrate the Day
Relient K

Thursday, June 7
Friday, June 8
Saturday, June 9

On thursday I might be able to make some of the shows. I’d like to see Sanctus Real, Building 429, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Skillet on that day. I’m not sure that I’d be able to make all of them, but I will plan on it. I am going to try and reschedule whatever I need to to see everything. On Friday I’d like to see Jeremy Camp and Mercy Me. Saturday I’d like to see The Afters, Jars of Clay, David Crowder, Relient K, and Falling Up.

Don’t worry if you think all the bands that I mentioned were lame and you don’t want to see them, that’s cool, you can still have a ticket and go hang out by yourself at the Chris Rice concert.

I plan on comutting every day and not camping, if you are into that kind of thing be my guest. Email me or leave a comment if you’d like a ticket, at the moment I have six tickets available. Oh and by the way you can get them from me for free (since I’m such a nice gu. That’s a lie, I got them for free) or buy them from itickets for about $80 imagine the airsoft gun that you can start saving for by not having to pay for the concert.

I think that blaming video games or tv or rap music is just an easy way out of having to confront the real issue.  We don’t want to believe that anyone can do this apart from some outside influence, and we claim that that influence caused the tragedy.  This just simply is not true.  Even if we find some violent video games at the shooters apartment, that does not mean that games are responsible.  He is responsible.  Video games did not make this guy pick up a gun and start just randomly killing people.

We have got to get away from this idea as a society that everything else around is is to be blamed for our problems.  No.  We are to blame. 

In the story they list 10 or 15 different games to blame for why this kid shot his fellow students, and only one of them is a game that is actually played today.  The majority of the violence in video games that this guy sites are from games 5-10 years old, and no one plays them today.  I am not arguing away violence in modern games I am just making a point that it is so cliche to blame games that as a knee jerk reaction the media continues to blame the same games.  And something has happened since the years of those games such as “DOOM”.  Video games have gotten extremely popular.  Which makes me believe that the media wants to recall the day when only loners played them to get off on violence, instead of having to admit that video games as an industry is more popular than any other form of entertainment today.  I mean look at the Wii, even grandmas are playing it.

Yes, a lot of games have violence in them, but it is not the game that causes death it is the evil inside a person, their slavery to sin that causes death.

What do you think about this topic?  How do you think that video games shape the minds of individuals and our society?

Paul says that…

“I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel.”

1 Cor 9:22-23

It is an OK thing to take on the look and feel of the culture as a Christian if it is your purpose as a Christian to lead others to Christ. This means simply that as a Christian you should become a skater to the skaters and a rocker to the rockers in order to meet people where they are and bring them to the truth, just as Jesus did with the people around Him. He met them where they were, He didn’t make them come to Him (although they did, as it is the nature of mankind to want to know the truth.)

The point of this is to say that Christian music in the secular (non-Christian) world is OK as long as it stays true to its message. You see, that’s the bad thing about Christian music (and culture in general) becoming more popular in secular society; it often times looses its message. The culture doesn’t like to speak of Jesus, although most people are fine talking about god. Yes, that was an intentional lowercase ‘g’, because the “god” people are comfortable talking about is more the idea of the all encompassing idea of god, such as allowing it to mean “whichever god you worship, allah or Jehovah”. The God of our faith is not an all encompassing idea, He is Jehovah the one and only unique God. The only God, and that’s not something people like to talk about; absolute truth, but more on that some other time.

Anyway, the idea of a general, all encompassing god (one for all religions), is one of the things that is so dangerous about just talking about God in general terms, rather than getting specific about who He is and what He has done. That’s one of the things I like about this song, it is direct. It is not ashamed to say that Jesus is the point of everything. And the unique thing is that this song is very popular on secular radio and among non-Christians.

Song: I Can Only Imagine
Artist: Mercy Me
CD: Almost There

I can only imagine
What it will be like
When I walk
By your side

I can only imagine
What my eyes will see
When your face
Is before me
I can only imagine

[Chorus:]
Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still
Will I stand in your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all
I can only imagine

I can only imagine
When that day comes
And I find myself
Standing in the Son

I can only imagine
When all I will do
Is forever
Forever worship You
I can only imagine

I love those words. “What will my heart feel? Will I dance for you Jesus or in awe of you be still?” Read the chorus again. Just imagine that moment for a minute. What will it be like standing before God? What will it be like to finally be done with this crazy world and to be standing before the Creator and Savior of our souls? Is this a picture that you try to paint in your mind from time to time? I know I do. And every time I do, I am amazed that I even get the opportunity to meet my Heavenly Father, let alone live with Him as a loved child for all eternity.

Alina and I used this song in our wedding during our taking of the Lord’s Supper as a newly united couple. We used this song remind people that our marriage was a great thing, but would mean nothing apart from God. We wanted it to be clear that although it was a great moment for us as a couple, there was a greater moment in store for us because of the mercy that God showed to each of us individually. We wanted to say to our friends and family that this is how we will live our lives; as people anticipating the coming marriage of Jesus to His bride (the church).

Let me just encourage you to stop and listen to and think about the meanings of the music that you listen to. And when appropriate, give all the glory to the one and only true God.

MercyMe is a great group that puts the focus where it should be. If you want some good, passionate worship, go grab one of their CD’s.