lyrics lyrics lyrics are more impt than melody

'Lyrics are important. They're just not as important as melody' - Alex Fletcher

this quote i got from watching music and lyrics, quite a while back ago.

the quote above, kinda sums up how we sometimes approach songs of all genre. be it secular or worship songs. the melody; 'the physical attraction', that certain guitar solo; that voice; or a certain chord progression that assumes for a split second, that the author of whichever u are in awe of in that song, is nothing short of a genius by being able to do that. there is nothing wrong with physical attraction, initially, but my concern with the trend, is that when it becomes ALL abt the physical attraction. this is applicable to both secular songs and gospel songs

lets start with the secular. we hear artistes like Jason Derulo, Justin Bieber ( no worries girls its not because i hate him, thats another issue altogether), Lady Gaga, Rihanna etc, the list can go on forever. the melody of the songs that these various artistes have so talentedly written is nth short of amazing, but their lyrics espouse so many ideals and constructs that just go against the teachings of the bible. take Jason Derulo for example, he sure can dance and sing, but what is he singing abt? getting lucky with some girl in the club? how everything is going through in his head? lustful desires, basically sin. and sometimes we sing these songs because we are in love with the melody, nth wrong with that. but the lyrics that we sing to accentuate the melody is. 

are we at an impasse? am i overreacting? i really doubt that i am.  the pt im trying to get across is that if we dun take a second look at the lyrics that we are so energetically singing just because of the melody, we are slowly but surely getting sublimated by these sinful ideals that the songs are singing abt. 

lets take an extreme example, what if the lyrics were, ' the devil lucifer, what a wonderful king' to the tune of hakuna matata of lion king? even typing that phrase made me cringe. what im trying to put across is firstly, is the the melody takes the focus off of what we are actually singing, secondly and more generally, secular songs dun tell u directly that satan is king, but they take a lesser though equally singful form, they espouse sexual habits as commercial, they seem to ' love the way u lie' , and what is happening is a definite compromise of our christian beliefs on our part cuz it just 'doesnt seem that bad.' its still bad isnt it? the devil isnt stupid, he wont make songs that say 'im the king' but he creates themes that suggest ' maybe this is another way to go' and slowly increases the intensity of the message. lets us realise the pitfalls we are abt to succumb to. we have to decide between what is right and what is easier to do.

as for the gospel songs. familiarity breeds contempt. and this i strongly agree, with the way we are committing to these songs and their lyrics. one thing we have to realise that gospel songs are spiritual, they are powerful and they are life changing, simply because they are god given. lets put more effort in firstly, knowing what we sing, secondly, commiting to what we profess when we sing, and thirdly, singing it with a renewed passion. dun go 'auto -pilot' on the songs we are familiar with, dun go 'offline' with the songs u dun like or 'dun speak to you' , dun go superficial on the songs u dun know or dun understand. dun go judgemental on the songs that just arent 'YOU'.

consistency shld be demanded of, from all of us. i assure u of all the purposes of worship, the ones of paramount importance doesnt involve us taking centrestage. we are there merely to facilitate and/or participate, worship is for God, and to allow Him to do His work in the church, be it healing or evangelism etc. we are VESSELS. lets realise the true power of worship songs and give God the respect He is due.

my last point. as much as there is supernatural power in the spiritual songs, so is there in the secular songs. its a matter of which kind of supernatural power u want ruling ur life forever. quoting captain planet " the power(of choice) is yours" 

accept that the lyrics have more effect than mere melody. see the pitfalls, dun fall into them knowing its there.

'give it all to the One whose Life saved mine'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jl06RN5zRxk

Don Moen singing "God is good all the time"

a classic inspirational and truthful song. be blessed =) for all those who just need that extra assurance that God is for you and not against you =)

God deserves it all, unconditionally.

im gonna receive my results for my mid terms tmr. and this thought just came. ill give god praise in my next post if i do well. and then right there and then, i realised, my praise for God, my opinion of God cannot be conditional, cant be based on good results. even till now, im learning day by day abt the process of spiritual maturity. i sincerely have to ask God for forgiveness for giving Him a condition to meet, in order for me to extol Him in my blog, when 2000 years ago He first loved me, unconditionally.

many times things may not go the way we want it to go, but sometimes,we just have to realise its just not abt us.  its abt God, its abt His plan , that is higher and greater than what our minds can comprehend. its abt God using us for something greater. Thank you God for loving us first, unconditionally

Worship leading 101

the story of how God showed up.

it was a frustrating morning practice. everything wrong with our ministry just began to surface one by one. musicians not prepared for the songs, some. some co leaders singing at the top of their voices just to be heard. the choir screaming even more since they dun have microphones. everything was just so loud and noisy. it was so clear, that everyone was individual. there was no team effort at all in making the practice work.

i was so tempted to just let them sing all they want and then speak my mind during the morning prayer, but i knew in my spirit that that was the thing i wanted to do, not what god wanted. i started to moan and ask why is this happening? am i missing something?

prac ended and i headed straight to the prayer room. i was close to tears.im 20+ years younger than most of my team here. what can i do. this is not what i thought worship ministry would be. these ppl were full grown adults acting like little children. how was this supposed to work for the glory of God.

i was praying for an answer. praying and praying. then i recalled my theme for worship service,and then i realised what was happening, God had the whole world in His hands. was god taking me on a real life situation of the theme of my worship service? it looked certainly like it was. everything was literally out of my control. what else could i do besides mere shouting? what else could i do besides probably asking the sound technician to turn down the co leaders' mic volume. at that point of uncertainty and a lack of control, only God could do something.

9:25am, time to go up stage. i lingered in the prayer room for a good one minute, and muttered, 'God, take control. ive realised my ways are not higher than yours. show me your way. all i want to do is worship.' i walked up the stage, took a breather, and started. 

results: whatever that went wrong during practice, simply worked itself out during the service itself. and i realised right then, its not abt how u want god to use you, we dun get a say, we just need to be available and obedient. Man may disappoint, but God never does. trust had to be placed in the right person.

kari jobe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fsrQFWb-xc

prayer meeting (He's Got The Whole World In His Hands)

it was friday, and i dun usually go for prayer meetings because of sch and tuition. after the session with pastor bob, it ended quite late thus i decided to just go for prayer meeting. 

during the prayer meeting, prayer requests werent the only things on my mind, during the worship, i just felt every unhappy thought that i had towards the church, towards the youth grp, towards everything i felt was going wrong. nth seemed to work in terms of persuading them to see the correct way to go abt doing church as a team. it was a time when God just listened to my every problem, i felt i was the most problematic child in His kingdom. i couldnt bring myself to think abt anything else. i wanted to seek God and seek His ways, to know that His ways are higher, I somehow required more assurance.

this next part of the story is gonna sound ridiculous to some and hopefully meaningful and applicable to most. 

during this whole time, i was holding one of those stereotypical stress balls, and it was modelled after the globe, it belonged to josiah who received it from his geography teacher. this whole time while i was complaining and whining and being a little baby in the presence of God, my hand still held on to that globe stress ball, squeezing it everytime i had a complaint. 

worship ended and it was a time of free worship and spontaneous prayers, and we were all seated. ppl were praying aloud and i just couldnt seem to get a prayer out. i just agreed with them, nodding my head in approval and acknowledgement. i was still looking for an answer, and i got so frustrated, i just started to play with the stress ball, squeezing it, tapping it, still asking God why hasnt He given me an answer yet. i was kind of resigned that His ways are higher, in that non-chalant kinda way, and simply sat back. at that point of time, everyone was probably wondering why haven i prayed for smth yet, i was the only one left who hasnt muttered a single word.

Then, as i sat the stressball upright on the palm of my hand and looked at it for a moment, the complaining stopped, it just came to me, as clear as it was, " He's got the whole world in His hands' and it just kept repeating and it just kept coming to me ' he's got it covered ivan. why are u worried? He's got the whole world in His hands!' then i looked at the stressball sitting on my hand, thinking, this ball was 1/4 of my hand, and then another thought struck me ' now multiply that by a hundred times, thats how small the world is. thats how much he is in control. that is how big our God is' 

right there and then i started to worship, incidentally, it was the closing song, and i just sang my heart out more than ever, knowing my faith though seemingly shaken, had been strengthened once again. the phrase didnt stop coming to me, ' I've got the whole world in My hands, ivan, im in control" 

what a unique encounter with God, with His Holy Spirit speaking truth into my life and uplifting me once again.

God is good. He's got the whole world in His hands. and when you ask, it will be given, u just have to wait for the opportune moment.