Tag Archives: Remedy Drive

I Hope So

When it comes to music, timing is everything. Some songs aren’t recognized or uncovered until a band is well past their prime. Each day countless songs are available to listen to or buy on itunes, Pandora or You Tube. Unfortunately, many within this graveyard of songs from the past merely collect dust, forgotten and ignored until the right moment arises.

May the God of your hope so fill you with all joy and peace in believing [through the experience of your faith] that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound and be overflowing (bubbling over) with hope, Romans 15:13.

Last week I stumbled upon the song God I Hope So. I didn’t think much of this 2012 song from Remedy Drive until I reached the chorus. “Maybe this is just the way it had to be, maybe there’s a beauty in this tragedy I don’t know but I hope so.” These lyrics seem to apply to the Coronavirus pandemic. Despite being released eight years too early, this song challenges people to reflect upon the frailty of life.

Personally I am satisfied about you, my brethren, that you yourselves are rich in goodness, amply filled with all [spiritual] knowledge and competent to admonish and counsel and instruct one another also, Romans 15:14.

In the 1994 film Shawshank Redemption, Morgan Freeman refers to hope as being dangerous during a lunch time conversation with good friend Andy Dufresne played by Tim Robbins. For a prisoner serving a life sentence, hope is the only thing you have to get you through each day. Likewise, as the world fights the invisible disease known as COVID-19, hoping for a cure is leading individuals to pray. Although no one knows the day and time this cure will arrive, I hope it comes quickly so that joy will return to America.

by Jay Mankus

I’m Not A Lost Cause

In my early years, I suffered from bouts of depression.  Unable to clearly communicate to others due to stuttering only complicated this issue.  While in junior high, I considered suicide as a viable option.  I guess at some point the Devil convinced me that my life was a lost cause.

For the Lord will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught, Proverbs 3:26.

One of the ways to escape depression is through regaining confidence.  Unfortunately for me, I was volatile, fluctuating between cocky and worthless.  Since the only thing I had going for me early on in life was sports, I lived and died with each game or result.  This type of emotional roller coaster wasn’t healthy as I lacked the substance necessary to endure for the long haul.

Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God, 2 Corinthians 3:5.

In the lyrics of Remedy Drive’s song Resuscitate Me, there is a line which reminds individuals like me that my life is not a lost cause.  Rather, when you enter into a relationship with Jesus, Romans 10:9-10, purpose and meaning is found.  Instead of living a self serving life focused on a “what about me mentality,” Jesus takes lost sheep and shows them the way, John 14:6.  Join me on this journey to convey to others “you’re not a lost cause.”

by Jay Mankus

Something Made to Last

If you are a purest, its hard to find anything today that is built to last the test of time.  Somewhere over the last hundred years, a younger generation has chosen cheaper prices over reliability.  Subsequently, most of the items for sale are temporary, often breaking much sooner than promised or before their warranty is up.

I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in and go out, and find pasture, John 10:9.

In 1970, Coca-Cola began an advertising campaign claiming that their soft drink Coke was the real thing.  Essentially, executives were trying to convince consumers that Pepsi Cola and RC Cola were artificial, unlike their product.  Today, other manufacturers are making similar boasts.  Unfortunately, unless you are willing to pay a premium price, rarely will you find something made to last.

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full, John 10:10.

Remedy Drive sings about this topic in their 2012 song Something Made to Last.  One of the issues they address are things in life that promise satisfaction, but end in disappointment.  Since every life has the same finale, death, its vital to find something that is eternal.  This is where Jesus enters the picture, promising an abundant life to those who chose to believe.  Therefore, don’t allow yourself to settle for a life void of meaning.  Rather, step out in faith by taking the hand of Jesus, who has left you the Holy Spirit which gives you something made to last.

by Jay Mankus