Recently Added

I recently added several songs to my 2014 Playlist.

It may not be immediately obvious why a couple of them made the cut.

Faithful by Hawk Nelson: This song made the list because one line stuck out when I heard it on the radio. "No matter how many times I break, you promise always to keep me safe." No one, least of all God, ever promised that life would be trouble-free. In fact, Jesus promises his disciples the exact opposite in John: "In this world you will have trouble." I may fall apart or be broken more times than I care to count, but I will always be held and put back together by expert hands. In the ways that really count, I am made whole. (Check out Col 1:18-20 in the Message)

Touch This Light by House of Heroes:  When I've mentioned the open hands theme to people, one of the first images that comes to their minds is hands lifted in praise or surrender. The first image that comes to my mind is of hands cupped, holding something. This song brings to mind an entirely different picture of open hands, hands that are not passive, but rather active. Reaching. Seeking. Embracing.  I also love the line that describes Jesus as a rebel king. At every turn, he challenged the social and religious mores and the staid traditions of his time. Yet even in this, Jesus is the example of living with open hands, toward God and others. "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me...I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."

With the majority of the other songs, you can see by the titles alone why they made the list.

Surrender by Tina Jenkins Crawley:  This is the one and only song suggested by someone else (so far), but definitely one of my favorites!  The first time I heard it, it was like a good friend sitting down to share her heart with me and speaking the very thoughts and feelings on my heart. I will be coming back to this song in a later post...

Sanctus Real has been a go-to band for me the past year. I included two of their songs, Closer and Pray, on the list. 
     Closer is a song I have listened to countless times because it reminds me to live in gratitude, in the wide open space of grace--a slave set free.  This song also challenges me to direct my thoughts and feelings in such a way that God is "the only tie that binds my heart."  This is most definitely an aspect of "open hands" because what holds our hearts is also what we cling to the most tightly. "If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give it up for me, you will save it." (Matt 10:39)
    Pray very simply describes those times that I have to acknowledge that I have no control over a particular situation or person and that...I'm gonna "lift my hands and pray."

Release the Panic by Red: No playlist is complete without at least one Red or Skillet song and besides, I had to have a counterpoint to all the softer, mellower, more reflective stuff on the list.  Sometimes ya just gotta scream and release the panic--this song lets me do that.

Let It Go by the Neighborhood:  I loved the sound of this song the first time I heard it and the title made it a shoe-in. There are things you just have to choose to let go. Regrets. Control of the future. How others feel about you. Failures.  Pre-conceived notions that only "Christian" music can point you toward God. =D  (I am definitely not advocating that you listen to something crazy and claim you hear God's voice in it, but if a song inspires you or motivates you to positive change, who cares whether it has a Christian label or not.)

I'll use these songs and the others on my list as jumping points, inspiration and prayers throughout the year. 

If you have a focus, goal or theme for 2014, I would love to hear about it! Tell me which songs are part of your soundtrack for 2014.

Imagine Dragons--Demons

In the midst of a pulsing crowd, in the chaos of life, we go unnoticed by those around us.  We carry secret hurts and sorrows and afflictions. We struggle with ourselves--with our past, with our present, with our future. We relive nightmares of our own making or those imposed on us by others.

It's dark and lonely, a hell that no one else sees. We're out of control, beating ourselves black and blue to set our caged souls free. We cry out, but no one hears. This cannot be real, this mess cannot be who we really are. We want someone to look inside and tell us the truth, but no! They'd only find a beast, a monster. We'd be misunderstood, rejected and more alone than ever.

We think no one understands.

That is a lie.


³ He was despised and rejected and forsaken by men, a Man of sorrows and pains, and acquainted with grief and sickness; and like One from Whom men hide their faces He was despised, and we did not appreciate His worth or have any esteem for Him.

⁴ Surely He has borne our griefs (sicknesses, weaknesses, and distresses) and carried our sorrows and pains...  (Isaiah 53:3-4)

 

 

²³ When He was reviled and insulted, He did not revile or offer insult in return; [when] He was abused and suffered, He made no threats [of vengeance]; but he trusted [Himself and everything] to Him Who judges fairly.

²⁴ He personally bore our sins in His [own] body on the tree ^[g][as on an altar and offered Himself on it], that we might die (cease to exist) to sin and live to righteousness. By His wounds you have been healed.  (1 Peter 2:23-24)

 

 

 

 

 

The Unlikely Candidates - "Follow My Feet" [Official Lyric Video]

The Unlikely Candidates

I heard The Unlikely Candidates song "Follow My Feet" for the first time on the local alt rock radio station several week ago.  I was driving but pulled out my pen and paper (which I always have with me) to write down the band's name and a snippet of the lyrics so that I could look up the song later. 

Something about the song really struck me.  I guess it's the fact that we're constantly faced with choices. Some big. Some small.  We can choose the high road or the low road. We can take what we want or do what we want simply because we can. Or, we can give everything and love others, simply because we can.  Our choices, the paths we choose, are determined by our motives.  Why do we do what we do?  The answers to this shape who we are and play a part in shaping others.

The song begins and ends with a note of uncertainty. Maybe this is why it resonates as well--who hasn't struggled with the question of identity? Of not knowing where the path will lead?

Isaiah 42:16, the Message version, says:

"But I’ll take the hand of those who don’t know the way,
who can’t see where they’re going.
I’ll be a personal guide to them,
directing them through unknown country.
I’ll be right there to show them what roads to take,
make sure they don’t fall into the ditch.
These are the things I’ll be doing for them—
sticking with them, not leaving them for a minute.”

The songwriters say that they don't know the way, but they guess that they'll follow their feet. I'm not sure about them, but I want to be deliberate about where my feet take me. There are so many things in life that are out of my control, but the choices I make are mine to own and I want them to mean something positive.

Several other songs came to mind as I thought about choice and identity.

All Along--Remedy Drive; All I Want--A Day to Remember; All the Pretty Things--Tenth Avenue North; Be Somebody--Thousand Foot Krutch; Breathe--Anberlin; Change Your Mind--Sister Hazel; Faceless--Red; Walk--Foo Fighters; It's Time--Imagine Dragons; When Love Sees You--Mac Powell; All of Me--Matt Hammit; Stubborn Love--The Lumineers; New Low--Middle Class Rut; The High Road--Three Days Grace; Run--Sanctus Real; Maybe--Sick Puppies; Tonight--TobyMac

What song(s) would you add to this list?