"You Know Me"
Music. Song. Worship.
It's one of the most powerful communication gifts we have. It's deeper than words, though the words matter more than we realize. It touches us in a place too powerful for us to resist. It sticks in our minds. It comes out with no thought. It shapes us, whether we want it to or not.
Why?
God created with a word, really with the Word. So, God spoke, right? Did He? That's probably safe enough to say. But, what does it sound like when God speaks?
When the Apostle John wrote The Revelation of Jesus, he said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,..." (Revelation 1:10)
Then, after the letters to the seven churches are dictated, he writes, "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” (Revelation 4:1)
So, is it musical when God speaks? I believe it is. Sometimes or always, I don't know. But, I think that would explain a lot about the power of music, not to mention the power of the words the music carry. We are created in the image of God, aren't we? I think that means when we speak, it creates and/or shapes reality.
Perhaps that is why C.S. Lewis creates Narnia through song in The Magician's Nephew. Perhaps it why the whole story of creation and history is found in the resonance of divine song in J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillian. Maybe they were onto something without really knowing it, something innate.
Really, when are words most powerful? When do you receive them before you even comprehend them? In Music. In Song. And, when we sing, when we join in the music, then our song becomes Worship. When we sing, we are celebrating... praising whatever it is we sing about: a lifestyle, a lover, a friendship, a game, a movement... a god.
This reality, the power of Music and Song, is why we are careful about what we listen to in our family. It's why we avoid certain stores. It's why we don't eat out very often. It's why we surround Ahava with worship. It's why I won't... can't work certain places. Because I know Music shapes us. I mean, I still have some songs (really stupid ones!) from High School that spring up unwelcomed in my mind over 20 years after I first heard them! That's pretty powerful.
Ok, so enough introduction... enough generalities about why Song matters, and why it matters what Music we listen to. I posted this blog because of a particular song and because of the words in that song. I'd like to invite you to watch and listen to "You Know Me." Olivia received this song from a dear friend of ours in the Lord. We listened to it over and over in the hospital before Ahava was born, and it really encouraged us.
So, wherever you are in life, whatever your day looks like... I want you to listen to this song. Listen all the way through. Listen to it more than once. Come back and listen to it tomorrow. Because this is a song worth being shaped by.
It's one of the most powerful communication gifts we have. It's deeper than words, though the words matter more than we realize. It touches us in a place too powerful for us to resist. It sticks in our minds. It comes out with no thought. It shapes us, whether we want it to or not.
Why?
God created with a word, really with the Word. So, God spoke, right? Did He? That's probably safe enough to say. But, what does it sound like when God speaks?
When the Apostle John wrote The Revelation of Jesus, he said, "I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice like the sound of a trumpet,..." (Revelation 1:10)
Then, after the letters to the seven churches are dictated, he writes, "After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” (Revelation 4:1)
So, is it musical when God speaks? I believe it is. Sometimes or always, I don't know. But, I think that would explain a lot about the power of music, not to mention the power of the words the music carry. We are created in the image of God, aren't we? I think that means when we speak, it creates and/or shapes reality.
Perhaps that is why C.S. Lewis creates Narnia through song in The Magician's Nephew. Perhaps it why the whole story of creation and history is found in the resonance of divine song in J.R.R. Tolkien's Silmarillian. Maybe they were onto something without really knowing it, something innate.
Really, when are words most powerful? When do you receive them before you even comprehend them? In Music. In Song. And, when we sing, when we join in the music, then our song becomes Worship. When we sing, we are celebrating... praising whatever it is we sing about: a lifestyle, a lover, a friendship, a game, a movement... a god.
This reality, the power of Music and Song, is why we are careful about what we listen to in our family. It's why we avoid certain stores. It's why we don't eat out very often. It's why we surround Ahava with worship. It's why I won't... can't work certain places. Because I know Music shapes us. I mean, I still have some songs (really stupid ones!) from High School that spring up unwelcomed in my mind over 20 years after I first heard them! That's pretty powerful.
Ok, so enough introduction... enough generalities about why Song matters, and why it matters what Music we listen to. I posted this blog because of a particular song and because of the words in that song. I'd like to invite you to watch and listen to "You Know Me." Olivia received this song from a dear friend of ours in the Lord. We listened to it over and over in the hospital before Ahava was born, and it really encouraged us.
So, wherever you are in life, whatever your day looks like... I want you to listen to this song. Listen all the way through. Listen to it more than once. Come back and listen to it tomorrow. Because this is a song worth being shaped by.
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