When it comes to music, I try to be as open minded as possible. Depending upon the type of mood that you are in, there is a specific style of music that will keep you going regardless of how you feel. Even if this means turning to a group called Strange Occurrence, you’ll be surprised to find another song to start your day. While the name of today’s featured artist sounds bizarre, Reach is a song worth listening to.
Whoever says he abides in Him ought [as [d]a personal debt] to walk and conduct himself in the same way in which He walked and conducted Himself, 1 John 2:6.
Strange Occurrence has a classic rock sound with biblically based lyrics. Like going dumpster diving for something that you need, I found Strange Occurrence in another bargain bin of a Christian bookstore. This pleasant surprise wasn’t merely a one hit wonder. Rather, the Another Day to Start Again album contains a couple of solid songs that rock and roll fans will enjoy.
Six months after graduating college, I attended a Youth Ministry Trade School in Minnesota. These 7 weeks completely changed my life; encouraging me to stretch and expand my comfort zone. One of the techniques that I learned was setting goals from a Could Be/Should Be perspective. From a spiritual standpoint, I learned to take an inventory of where I am currently and where I need to be. While writing a first century letter, Peter challenges his listeners to consider the person that you ought to be in Christ.
Since all these things are thus [b]in the process of being dissolved, what kind of person ought [each of] you to be [in the meanwhile] in consecrated and holy behavior and devout and godly qualities, 12 While you wait and earnestly long for (expect and hasten) the coming of the day of God by reason of which the flaming heavens will be dissolved, and the [[c]material] elements [of the universe] will flare and melt with fire? – 2 Peter 3:11-12
The origin of the term Christian dates back to sometime between 30 and 40 A.D. Citizens in the city of Antioch were impressed by members of their local church. Something was different about these people, a specific quality that set them apart from everyone else in town. As these followers of Jesus began to share their faith with the locals, one person put two and two together. “These people must be Christians, followers of Christ Jesus.
Therefore be imitators of God [copy Him and follow His example], as well-beloved children [imitate their father]. 2 And walk in love, [esteeming and delighting in one another] as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us, a [a]slain offering and sacrifice to God [for you, so that it became] a sweet fragrance, Ephesians 5:1-2.
As this expression spread, the apostle Paul provided other churches with a simple spiritual goal to shoot for daily. As people of faith become imitators of Jesus, the fruits of the Spirit take precedence over the acts of your flesh, Galatians 5:1625. As hearts and minds become renewed by the Bible, Romans 12:1-2, the Holy Spirit steers you toward the person you ought to be in Christ. Prayer, reflection, and worship provide spiritual disciplines to keep your mind on becoming Jesus to your local community.
The Echoing Green is one of those groups that has grown on me over the years. One of their talents is creating cosmic remixes of classic song like Safety Dance. Today’s featured song is another remix that my oldest son James loved to listen to when I first bought Freak Out. The Echoing Green’s version contains the same classic funky beat with a modern style and sound.
For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control, 2 Timothy 1:7.
Fear is one of those aspects in life that often comes out of nowhere. This emotional shock will catch you off guard and will make some freak out. Perhaps, this is why the apostle Paul writes a letter to a teenage pastor who is struggling with fear. If you are always on the defensive and never switch over to a proactive faith, freaking out will wear you out over time. Therefore, lean on the power of the Holy Spirit to overcome fear.
While seeing is believing, feeling Jesus’ hand where a nail once held him to a cross resulted in a touch of faith for Thomas, John 20:27-28. Jesus uses this moment to express how blessed those individuals who have never seen Jesus, but still believe. The authors of the four gospels share their own encounters, personal experiences, and recollections of Jesus. Some of these accounts may stir your heart that produces a touch of faith.
[We are writing] about the Word of Life [[a]in] Him Who existed from the beginning, Whom we have heard, Whom we have seen with our [own] eyes, Whom we have gazed upon [for ourselves] and have touched with our [own] hands, 1 John 1:1.
The touch move rule in chess is the most basic rule when competing in any tournament. If a player deliberately touches one a piece on the board when it is their turn to move, they must move or capture that touched piece if it is legal to do so. From a spiritual standpoint, when you reach out to touch a person or thing, your senses confirm that this object is real. Meanwhile, when your heart is touched by God, the Holy Spirit prompts you to act.
Until the day when He ascended, after He through the Holy Spirit had instructed and commanded the apostles (special messengers) whom He had chosen. 3 To them also He showed Himself alive after His passion (His suffering in the garden and on the cross) by [a series of] many convincing demonstrations [unquestionable evidences and infallible proofs], appearing to them during forty days and talking [to them] about the things of the kingdom of God, Acts 1:2-3.
According to the four gospels and the Book of Acts, following Jesus’ resurrection he appeared to and interacted with over 500 people. Prior to the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, Acts 2:1-6, followers of Jesus were in awe of God’s power to raise a human being from the dead. The Great Commission served as a blue print for the first century Church, Acts 1:8. Yet, when a doubting Thomas felt the scar in Jesus’ palm, this touch of faith is all that he needed to transform his life.
Depeche Mode was a popular group when I was in high school. Finding a similar sound to Depeche Mode wasn’t easy. While in college, I began to listen to a Christian radio program on Saturday nights that featured alternative music. The group that sounded the most like Depeche Mode was Code of Ethics. After buying the Visual Paradox album, Breaking Down reminded me of a classic 80’s feel.
So too the [Holy] Spirit comes to our aid and bears us up in our weakness; for we do not know what prayer to offer nor how to offer it worthily as we ought, but the Spirit Himself goes to meet our supplication and pleads in our behalf with unspeakable yearnings and groanings too deep for utterance, John 8:26.
Breaking Down by Code of Ethics encourages listeners to examine your own life with a new set of eyes. If you are worried about what you’ll find, you may abort this call for reflection before it begins. Yet, as the Lord humbles the proud, humility is God’s way of breaking down walls that humans build and construct. While you may not like 80’s music, the message of Breaking Down is something to think about.
One of the best aspects of the internet is that you don’t have to open up a dictionary every time you come across a word that you’re not familiar with or don’t know. Instead, all you have to do is copy and paste terms like insatiable into your favorite search engine. What I discovered is that insatiable is an appetite or desire that is impossible to satisfy. Peter appears to be referring to an earthly addiction in the passage below. An unquenchable lust that doesn’t stop until you give into what your flesh desires.
They have eyes full of harlotry, insatiable for sin. They beguile and bait and lure away unstable souls. Their hearts are trained in covetousness (lust, greed), [they are] children of a curse [[b]exposed to cursing]! – 2 Peter 2:14
This insatiable thirst appears to be linked to individuals who cherish the world along with the various temporary pleasures that it offers, 1 John 2:15-17. The disciple whom Jesus loved makes a distinction between the lust of the flesh and lust within your eyes. The first aspect of lust craves for sensual gratification like the harlot in the passage above. However, when your eyes become fixated on something that you want, your mind works hand in hand with lust to satisfy insatiable passions.
But every person is tempted when he is drawn away, enticed and baited by his own evil desire (lust, passions). 15 Then the evil desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully matured, brings forth death, James 1:14-15.
One of Jesus’ earthly brothers details the process that leads up to insatiable actions. James removes God from the equation by using a fishing analogy. The Devil relies on temptation like a fisherman seeking to hook hungry fish. Each day the Devil dangles something in front of you based upon a specific weakness that you possess, 1 Peter 5:8. You may not bite initially, but once the seed for sin has been planted in your mind, enticement, lust, and passions will eventually wear you down. If you’ve come to a point in your life where you’re ready to change, look for the way out of temptation, 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Today’s feature song comes from the former lead singer of Sonic Flood. I met Jeff Deyo while I was a youth pastor in Columbus, Indiana which is Jeff’s hometown. Jeff’s story is similar to what happened to Tom Petty. The film Straight Outta Compton illustrates the fact that agents, producers and record labels use new artists to make themselves wealthy. Meanwhile, talented musicians like Jeff Deyo and Tom Petty barely make anything despite releasing top selling albums.
The thief comes only in order to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance (to the full, till it [b]overflows), John 10:10.
Jeff left Sonic Flood to partner with his wife to make a living as a musician. While I haven’t spoken with Jeff for more than two decades, it’s sad how many talented musicians aren’t able to make a career out of doing what they love. Deyo’s album Another Alternative and song with the same name combines dance, hip hop and rap. As the world continues to evolve, the Bible provides instructions of how to live an alternative life fueled by faith. May today’s song and this album touch your heart and stir your soul.
In this age of wokeness, every word you say is policed by social media. Various sites have now hired truth detectors to determine right from wrong, fact from fiction, and the truth from lies. While talking about sinful behaviors, one of Jesus’ disciples refers to blots and blemishes. Like a bad grease stain on a brand-new shirt, this careless error in judgment can ruin an article of clothing. Yet, the Bible is more concerned about what’s going on deep inside of you before it’s too late to change.
Being destined to receive [punishment as] the reward of [their] unrighteousness [suffering wrong as the hire for their wrongdoing]. They count it a delight to revel in the daytime [living luxuriously and delicately]. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their [a]deceptions and carousing together [even] as they feast with you, 2 Peter 2:14.
The context of the passage above is to prepare Christians for Jesus’ second coming detailed in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3. Several first century writers use fear to address personal blots and blemishes. The apostle Paul and Peter both use similar methods to warn Christians of falling back into the sinful ways of their past prior to entering into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. If you can develop the mindset that Jesus is coming back today, you’ll be less likely give into temptation that lie in wait for you daily.
But the [Holy] Spirit distinctly and expressly declares that in latter times some will turn away from the faith, giving attention to deluding and seducing spirits and doctrines that demons teach, 2 Through the hypocrisy and pretensions of liars whose consciences are seared (cauterized), 1 Timothy 4:1-2.
One of the biggest issues of overcoming the blots and blemishes of your past is learning to forgive yourself. Meanwhile, ungodly beliefs that you have picked up over the course of your life will make you feel less worthy of God’s mercy. When you add these factors to prodigals who have lost the ability to think rationally, common sense is asleep until you hit rock bottom. When Jesus’ earthly brother refused to believe his own sibling was the Messiah, he believes it’s never too late for confession so that God’s sanctifying grace will take care of your future blots and blemishes, James 5:16.
Following a conversation with one of my former Red Lion students, I discovered The 116, formerly 116 Clique. This American Southern Christian hip hop group originally from Dallas, Texas met the criteria that I was looking for in new Christian music. Between the lyrics and the beat, I felt an instant connection with this sound. The song Envy became an immediate favorite of my son Daniel and daughter Lydia.
When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; now that I have become a man, I am done with childish ways and have put them aside, 1 Corinthians 13:11.
In this age of wokeness, the Man Up Anthem does not apologize for taking a spiritual stand in life. One of the current problems in society is a lack of leadership. When you’re not held accountable by a church or group, most people end up doing what’s right in their own eyes. The 116 seeks to change this by encouraging boys to leave their childish ways by becoming a man of God. It’s time to Man Up.
The United States Environmental Protection Agency defines pollution as any emissions which are or could be harmful to people. Certain states set their environmental standards based upon EPA recommendations. Meanwhile, the Bible defines pollution as any form of darkness, Matthew 6:22-23, that seeks to diminish the light of Christ. One of Jesus’ disciples refers to one specific spiritual pollutant: the lust of earthly passions.
And particularly those who walk after the flesh and indulge in the lust of polluting passion and scorn and despise authority. Presumptuous [and] daring [self-willed and self-loving creatures]! They scoff at and revile dignitaries (glorious ones) without trembling, 2 Peter 2:10.
Peter appears to be referencing the Sermon on the Mount in the passage above. Jesus spoke about Christians being the light of the World in Matthew 5:14-16. One chapter later, Jesus compares human eyes to the spiritual lamp of your body, Matthew 6:22-23. If your eyes become unhealthy, the lust of polluting passions will fill your life with darkness. The apostle Paul compares this spiritual pollution to uniting yourself with someone during a one-night stand, 1 Corinthians 6:15-16.
For this reason God gave them over and abandoned them to vile affections and degrading passions. For their women exchanged their natural function for an unnatural and abnormal one, 27 And the men also turned from natural relations with women and were set ablaze (burning out, consumed) with lust for one another—men committing shameful acts with men and suffering in their own [d]bodies and personalities the inevitable consequences and penalty of their wrong-doing and going astray, which was [their] fitting retribution, Romans 1:26-27.
When people stop caring about God, these individuals will begin to feed their flesh daily. Like a drug addict searching for a more powerful substance to satisfy their desire to achieve a new high, sexual addictions set ablaze the lust of polluting passions. In the passage above, the apostle Paul reveals the origin of unwholesome desires. When natural affection is corrupted by the lust of polluting passions, spiritual lives become unfit for faith. Hebrews 6:4-6 compares this lifestyle to someone who crucifies Jesus over and over again. May the Bible serve as a form of detox to set you free from lust.
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