Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Some words in songs make me think…
Especially the ones we sing in our church!

I don’t know about you, but I want to mean what I am singing.
I don’t want to say things like ‘I lift my hands’...and not do just that.
I don’t want to say I am happy to praise God...and not mean it somehow.

It is part of the dna of our generation to not like hypocrisy.
We like things to be real. To have meaning.
We don’t like boring cold religion.
We want what is true and good and real in our lives.

The other week we had a guest worship band at church.
Citipointe Band played all their own material. Most of which I hadn’t heard before that night.
But as I stood near the front trying to keep up...trying to be real and go after God...some lyrics really hit me. And to be honest I haven’t been able to shake them from my mind.
I haven’t heard the song since then so that is not the reason why it always comes to mind. I
t was simply the phrase.
It has caused me to meditate on its meaning for me.

Very simply the chorus goes…
Louder now, louder now
Break out in praise to God

On the face of it, it simply looks like the writer encouraging us to sing louder.
To scream and to shout.
But for me it has meant so much more than passionate singing!
The louder now phrase rings through my consciousness.
And what it says to me is that I need to find ways for my life to be louder now.
God wants my life to be loud to our world.
To have an impact.
Not as a protestor! Not as someone just being loud because I am arrogant!
But for bigger things…
God wants my love for others to be loud!
God wants my passion for him to loud!

Like the vision of our church talks about, we want to be known more for what we are for, than what we are against.

Matthew 5 (niv)
14You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.

So this week, maybe you can think about how God might turn the volume up of your life. How your loudness can change your world for the better.
There is a sound that can come from all of us that is awesome if we let it!

Something to think about...

2 comments:

Breno said...

For Christ sake, what's the name of the band and the name of the song?! I've heard it in the World Youth Day event and i absolutely loved the song!

Locky McNeill said...

They are the worship band from Citipoint church in Australia.
Email me on locky@elim.org.nz and I will give you more detial :)