122. Rock Goes The Gospel - Aerosmith "Angel"

Aerosmith lead singer Steven Tyler wrote this song with Desmond Child, who is one of the most successful songwriters of his time. With Aerosmith on the ropes after releasing two underperforming albums (Rock in a Hard Place (1982) and Done with Mirrors (1985)), John Kalodner of Geffen Records insisted that they bring in outside writers to help restore them to their former glory. The band balked at first (sharing songwriting credits can be costly), but were impressed when Child helped them refine their raucous rocker "Dude (Looks Like A Lady)" into a surefire hit. Child's next composition for the band was "Angel," which unlike "Dude" sounded nothing like Aerosmith. It's a relationship song with none of the bawdy humor you would expect from the band. With Tyler pleading, "Come and save me tonight," there is a wuss factor to it that horrified longtime fans. Tyler knew he was compromising, and won't be putting the song on his highlight reel anytime soon. As John Kalodner explained in the band's biography Walk This Way: "Tyler says that I ruined his career by making him write 'Angel' with Desmond." There was a huge upside to the song: it was their biggest US hit to that point, charting at #3 and earning lots of radio play. This slick ballad was not typical of Aerosmith's work, but the song was a hit and led to several successful slow songs over the next few years, including "Amazing" and "I Don't Want To Miss A Thing." Since the band had a huge catalog of rockers and a history of unruly behavior, they managed to avoid the Foreigner trap and maintain their status as a Rock band despite the occasional forays into ballad territory. It helped that their next single was "Rag Doll," which picked up the pace.

I'm alone
Yeah, I don't know if I can face the night
I'm in tears and the cryin' that I do is for you
I want your love - Let's break the walls between us
Don't make it tough - I'll put away my pride
Enough's enough I've suffered and I've seen the light

[Chorus:]
Baby
You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
You're my angel
Come and make it all right

Don't know what I'm gonna do
About this feeling inside
Yes it's true - Loneliness took me for a ride
Without your love - I'm nothing but a begger
Without your love - a dog without a bone
What can I do I'm sleeping in this bed alone

[Chorus]
Come and save me tonight

You're the reason I live
You're the reason I die
You're the reason I give
When I break down and cry
Don't need no reason why

Baby , Baby
[Chorus]

You're my angel
Come and save me tonight
you're my angel
Come and take me allright
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight,
Come and save me tonight

Not a song you would expect from Steve Tyler and Aerosmith but it did good. It went to no 3 in the American charts and no 2 in the American rock charts, no 14 in Canada and no 69 in the UK. It was not exactly a tidal wave of a song. The lyrics speaks of a person who is longing to be with their lover after a relationship break up. It's the the thoughts of an Angel more than anything else in the song that has caught me attention, although the lyrics do say "Come and Save me tonight" and the fact that it is Holy week this week that has inspired me to write this devotion today.

In the gospels we find that it was an angel who announced that a miracle happened on the first Easter: Jesus Christ, who had died by crucifixion three days earlier and was buried, rose out of his tomb alive again. Jesus' death was a sacrifice to pay for the sins of our fallen humanity, to make it possible for all of us to connect with a Holy God, the Bible says. Jesus' resurrection was a miracle meant to show all people the real hope that they have of eternal life with God through a relationship with the risen Jesus.

All four of the Bible's Gospel books (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) describe the first Easter -- the day of Jesus Christ's resurrection.

In his book Peace with God: The Secret of Happiness, Billy Graham writes: "...the angel gives the greatest, most glorious news that the human ear has ever heard, 'He is not here; he has risen.'" The women who encountered the angel responded to his dramatic announcement this way: "So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples" (Matthew 28:8). Author Ron Rhodes comments in his book "Angels Among Us: Separating Fact from Fiction" that the angels in heaven must have been excited about the resurrection, as well: "Imagine the deafening cheers and applause that must have broken out among the angels at the moment of the resurrection. … What an awesome moment it must have been when Christ, clothed in a glorified human body, returned to heaven, his natural habitat. What shouts of glory must have been heard among the cherubim, seraphim, dominions, thrones, powers, and authorities of heaven!"

The angel who announced Jesus Christ's resurrection was one of two angels present in his tomb on the first Easter. Luke chapter 24 describes the angels asking the women at the tomb: "Why do you look for the living among the dead?" (verse 5) and then challenging them to have faith that Jesus fulfilled his promise to rise from the dead: "He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 'The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again." (verses 6-7). Verse 8 records that, "Then they remembered his words." Soon after encountering the angels, the women encountered the resurrected Jesus himself. John chapter 20 records that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene immediately after she talked with angels: "Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus' body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot. They asked her, "Woman, why are you crying?". "They have taken my Lord away," she said, "and I don’t know where they have put him." At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there..." (verses 11-14).

Jesus then appeared many different times over a period of 40 days to a wide variety of people, before ascending to heaven accompanied by angels, the Bible records. In her book Angels in Our Lives: Everything You've Always Wanted to Know About Angels and How They Affect Our Lives, Marie Chapian writes: "After Jesus was crucified, he rose from the dead and walked the earth in his resurrected body for 40 days. Well over 500 people witnessed his appearance during this time as Jesus ate, drank, taught, and fellow-shipped with his followers. Then on the 41st day, as his disciples stood watching in awe, Jesus was lifted bodily up to heaven. The Bible says, 'And while they were gazing intently into heaven as he went, behold, two men [dressed] in white robes suddenly stood beside them' (Acts 1:10, AMP). The angels told the disciples that Jesus would return in exactly the same way they were seeing him ascend."

When ever we see an angel in the bible we need to wake up and take note. They are God's messengers tasked with bringing an announcement of Good News. the Angels were their at the birth of Jesus and are their at the resurrection and ascension as well. How open are we to hearing the news of the death and resurrection of Jesus and responding to that Good News and allowing that Good News with the power of God behind it to re-shape our lives in to lives that have Jesus at the centre.

121.Rock Goes The Gospel - Bruce Springsteen "Thunder Road"

'Thunder Road' is one of the Great American Songs, the tale of a couple down on their luck, "praying in vain/For a saviour to rise from these streets. Springsteen later described it as "my big invitation to my audience", and it remains one of The Boss' most beloved moments, a staple in his live set to this day. This was the first track on Born To Run, a crucial album for Springsteen. His first two albums sold poorly, and he was in danger of losing his record deal if he did not produce a hit. With songs like this one about escaping to the open road, he connected with an audience that proved extremely loyal. Springsteen said during his 2005 Storytellers appearance. "What I hoped it would be was the sense of a larger life, greater experience, sense of fun, the sense that your personal exploration and possibilities were all lying somewhere inside of you." Springsteen took the title from a 1958 Robert Mitchum movie. He did not see the film, but got the idea from a poster for it in a theater lobby. The vocal sound was inspired by Roy Orbison. Springsteen pays homage to him with the line: "The radio plays Roy Orbison singing for the lonely," a reference to Orbison's 1960 hit, "Only The Lonely." The name of the girl mentioned at the beginning was changed several times. It had been Angelina and Chrissie before Springsteen settled on "Mary's dress waves." The original title was "Wings For Wheels." It began as an outtake called "Glory Road." Cars were very important growing up in New Jersey and show up in many of Springsteen songs. Bruce's first car was a '57 Chevy with orange flames painted on the hood.

The screen door slams
Mary' dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
Darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

You can hide 'neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a saviour to rise from these streets
Well now I'm no hero
That's understood
All the redemption I can offer girl
Is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now ?
Except roll down the window
And let the wind blow
Back your hair
Well the night's busting open
These two lanes will take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back
Heaven's waiting on down the tracks
Oh-oh come take my hand
We're riding out tonight to case the promised land
Oh-oh Thunder Road oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road sit tight take hold
Thunder Road

Well I got this guitar
And I learned how to make it talk
And my car's out back
If you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride it ain't free
And I know you're lonely
For words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free
All the promises'll be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes
Of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road
In the skeleton frames of burned out Chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
But when you get to the porch they're gone
On the wind so Mary climb in
It's town full of losers
And I'm pulling out of here to win

In this song Springsteen covers many themes in the one song. There are thoughts in this song of love and adventure as well as loneliness and hope. The narrator in the song places al the hope in the car that he is driving and invites the girl - "Mary" to join him in "Pulling out of here to win. The song is also laced with thoughts of Journey into a unknown future and more than that there are lines that suggest the vanity of waiting for a saviour to rise from these streets 

You can hide 'neath your covers 

And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain 

For a saviour to rise from these streets  

It's these thoughts that have convinced me to write a little this morning about the last adventure for Jesus from Palm Sunday to the cross on Good Friday that it is not vanity to to pray and hope that a saviour will rise from these streets. Surely this is the Easter theme.

Let's journey together briefly through each of the four important days in Holy Week days that we celebrate - Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter - and look at how in each day Jesus surprises us and defies our expectations of who he is.

It begins yesterday with Palm Sunday, when Jesus rides into Jerusalem and everyone thinks he`s coming to kick out the Romans and bring freedom to the Jews so they lay down Palm branches and shout, "Hosanna " King of the Jews." You can understand why they are so excited because for centuries they have been oppressed and conquered by everybody - the Assyrians, the Babylonians, the Persians, the Greeks, the Romans. They are so excited because finally they think Jesus is going to give them a political victory, but that`s not what Jesus came to do. He didn`t come to Jerusalem to kick out the Romans; he came to die to take the punishment that we all deserve on himself. That is not what they expected or wanted. Palm Sunday represents all the times that we get really excited about Jesus because of what we think He can do for us rather than about who he really is and what he really offers.

The second important day of Holy Week is Maundy Thursday. This is the night that Jesus celebrates the last supper with his disciples. It`s also the night that Judas betrays him, and the gospels imply that the reason Judas betrays Jesus is because he`s exasperated that Jesus seems more concerned about saving souls than about starting a revolution. So because Jesus doesn`t follow the script, Judas turns his back on him. Here again we can relate because this sometimes happens to us. We get disappointed with God because he doesn`t do what we want him to do. We just ignore him or do our own thing or maybe come to church, but don`t really give our lives to him. Like Frank Sinatra we do it "our way" and follow our own path. Maundy Thursday is about all the ways we turn our back on Jesus, as everyone does that first Maundy Thursday 2, 000 years ago. It`s the most sordid night in human history. The disciples fall asleep instead of praying with Jesus; the chief priests put Jesus on trial in secret at night. Then the priests get afraid and pass him off to Pilate, who passes him off to Herod, who passes him back to Pilate. Pilate finally caves in like a house of cards to the angry crowds, who just a few days before were praising Jesus but now demand his death.

Maundy Thursday is about all the ways that human beings fail God, but here again Jesus surprises us. You would expect him to give up on such a sorry lot, but that is not what he does. Instead he keeps pursuing us and chasing us, and as much as we run away from him, he never gives up on us. Do you know who held the seat of honour at the Last Supper? Judas - because God never gives up on us. And do you know what Jesus does BEFORE the Last Supper? He washes his disciples` feet. Think about it -- in a culture where people walk everywhere in dirt and dust, no water to take a bath, nothing but leather sandals absorbing all those odors, and what does the son of God do? He kneels down and washes those dirty feet. Maundy Thursday is about how Jesus loves us in spite of our dirty feet, in spite of our failures, fears, and weaknesses. It`s about how he cleans us up and makes us whole.

This brings us to the third important day of Holy Week, Good Friday, the day Christ was crucified. Surely there is no bleaker moment in human history than when we decided it was expedient to kill our Creator. But here again Jesus defied our expectations and surprises us, because - as the name suggests - this horrible event turns out to be good. Not because of what happened on that day, but because God used that day to make us good by paying the price we deserved so we could be reconciled to God. It`s the best worst thing that ever happened and that`s the paradox of Good Friday, the irony of Good Friday. Unlike other religions that just pretend there is no such thing as evil or say if only you meditate right you can escape the illusion of suffering, Good Friday tells us the truth. Evil really does exist and suffering really does hurt, but God can take even the worst events and make them good. Unlike other religious figures, Jesus doesn`t AVOID SUFFERING and SIN, he absorbs them and transforms them into something good.

The last important day of Holy Week is EASTER, the day Jesus was raised from the dead. Easter is a powerful symbol that with God there is no such thing as a dead end. God can conquer even death itself and can take the worst defeat and turn it into victory. There is a semi-famous painting called "Check Mate" that depicts a chessboard where the king is supposedly in check mate, but one day a master chess player was studying this painting for hours and finally said, "It`s not true; the painting is wrong. The king is not in check mate; he has one more move." That`s Easter and again it defies our expectations. You would expect death to be the end of the game, but not with God. He can make even the worse defeat a victory. As bleak as things get, God always has one more move left. Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter - four different ways that Jesus defies our expectations and surprises us:

1) By pursuing his agenda, not ours, and making us holy
2) By loving us at our worst
3) By using our sin to save us
4) By turning a dead end into a new beginning

But there is one more day left, and we don`t celebrate it, but I think it is the most important day of Holy Week - Saturday - the day between the crucifixion and the resurrection. What do you think the disciples were doing on Saturday? Here they have seen their friend and their Master killed the day before but also have this vague promise, which probably seemed ludicrous at the time that he would rise again. So what do you think they were doing on Saturday between the tragedy and the promise? Most of life is Saturday. We`re in a terrible position, but we have a promise from God that we only half believe. It`s after the doctor tells us we have cancer, but before we`re cured or find a new depth of faith to cope with it. It`s after the marriage breaks up, but before God heals the grief. It`s after we`ve been laid off, but before God uses our gifts in a new place. Most of life is Saturday. It`s waiting in faith and hanging onto the promise that God is going to come through for us in spite of how bad things look. Most of life is Saturday.

I don`t know where you are this Holy Week. Maybe you`re in a Palm Sunday kind of mood wanting God to get on board with your agenda and maybe he will, but if he doesn`t know that his plans are always good. Maybe you`re feeling a little unlovable because of something you`ve done or haven`t done. Maundy Thursday means that God loves us no matter how dirty our uniform gets from the game of life. Maybe you`re in a Saturday kind of place - between a hard time and a promise you only half believe. Know this for sure that God`s Easter irony is still at work, and he can use even the worst tragedies for good, and he always has at least one more move left. No matter how bleak and dark Saturday gets, Sunday`s coming, and it`s coming sooner than you think.

120. Rock Goes The Gospel - Police " So Lonely"

"So Lonely" was written by Sting and is the second track on The Police's debut album Outlandos d'Amour. This song is a straightforward broken-hearts theme with a reggae flavor. The whole Outlandos d'Amour album is a mix of different styles from punk to hard rock. But the album was ill-fated, being a commercial flop initially but eventually being pulled up to popularity once the iconic "Roxanne" single gained a popularity with a vengeance that still stings today. Pun intended. Please note that Outlandos d'Amour was re-released by A&;M Records in 1979, and singles from this album then began to chart, now that DJs had been playing them on repeat and the fans were paying attention. Sting wrote the lyrics while he was in his previous band, Last Exit, then "grafted them shamelessly onto the chords from Bob Marley's 'No Woman No Cry,'" he explained in Lyrics By Sting. "This kind of musical juxtaposition - the lilting rhythm of the verses separated by monolithic slabs of straight rock and roll - pleased the hell out of me. That we could achieve it effortlessly just added to the irony of a song about misery being sung so joyously."

Some listeners didn't hear the words "So Lonely," and thought Sting was singing "Sue Lawley," the name of a popular BBC TV presenter. "It was played on national television as an homage to Sue, but we didn't complain. Blessings are often unexpected," Sting recalled. The music video, directed by Derek Burbidge, follows the band through the streets of Hong Kong and on the subway trains of Tokyo. Sting explained that the songs for Outlandos d'Amour were recorded during late-night sessions in a studio above a dairy in Leatherhead, Surrey, England, before the band was signed to a record label.

Well someone told me yesterday
That when you throw your love away
You act as if you don't care
You look as if you're going somewhere

But I just can't convince myself
I couldn't live with no one else
And I can only play that part
And sit and nurse my broken heart

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely

Now no one's knocked upon my door
For a thousand years or more
All made up and nowhere to go
Welcome to this one man show

Just take a seat they're always free
No surprise no mystery
In this theatre that I call my soul
I always play the starring role

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely

(guitar solo)

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

So lonely
So lonely
So lonely

Lonely, I'm so lonely
I feel so alone
I feel low
I feel so
Feel so low
I feel low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
I feel low, low, low
Low, I feel low
I feel low
I feel low
I feel so lonely
I feel so lonely
I feel so lonely, lonely, lonely, lone
Lonely, lone
I feel so alone, yeah

So lonely...

Almost half of all adults in England say they experience feelings of loneliness, according to a BBC poll. Commissioned as part of the Faith In The World Week, the survey showed that 48% of adults feel varying degrees of loneliness. It also showed that people who practise a religion feel lonelier than those who do not. London is said to be the loneliest place with a figure of 52% compared to 45% in the South West of England. The survey, which was carried out by polling company ComRes on behalf of Radio 2 and BBC Local Radio, also showed Loneliness is an emotional state, but one which experts say can have a adverse effect on our physical health. Nor is feeling lonely confined to the elderly. 

According to the BBC poll, 18 to 24 year olds experience it just as much as those who are in their 60s and older. If you're in your 30s, 40s or 50s, you're less likely to be lonely, probably because you've got a houseful of children or teenagers and are busy working.But experts say it is those decades when you should start getting healthy and building up your friendships and contacts outside work.Having a hobby or joining in a community activity could create a long-lasting social network and make all the difference when your children leave home or if you lose a partner.

Interestingly, people who practise a religion are more likely to feel lonelier now than they did ten years ago.That could be because older people are both more likely to be lonely and more likely to belong to a religion.Equally it could be that more people who feel lonely are turning to faith groups for support.One in five people say they are more lonely now than they were 10 years ago People who live alone suffer from loneliness more frequently than people who share their homes with others And the highest number of people who live alone are those aged 65 and above. On Friday, the Health Secretary said society had "utterly failed" to confront the problem of loneliness. Quoted was figures from the Campaign to End Loneliness that suggested 800,000 people were chronically lonely in England.

Mervyn Kohler, a special adviser for Age UK, said he was not surprised by the results and believed that loneliness was a "serious problem". "We find fairly horrifying the number of elderly people who feel the TV is their best friend," he said. "Loneliness is on the increase for a variety of reasons, mostly because of the changing nature of society with families becoming split up as children move away." So-called befriending schemes have become one way in which those experiencing loneliness try to meet others. Liliane Mitchell said she suffered from loneliness when she moved to a new town, split up with her husband and was diagnosed with cancer all in a relatively short period of time.

She said: "Post-treatment we had a very severe winter and I was very poorly and housebound for three days. An adventure "I thought, 'I don't believe this is happening to me, I'm on my own - totally on my own'." She then joined a befriending scheme. "They become friends, but it's different I think, because they want to be there and they want to help you," she said. Homelessness can also lead to people feeling lonely and detached from society. Matthew Fowler, 26, lives and works at the Emmaus Community, in Brighton, which helps homeless people. "The loneliest I've felt would have been in the daytime when people are going about their business on their lunch breaks and work - going on living their lives - and I'm basically strolling the streets. "That makes me feel really lonely and really detached from society."

Mr Kohler, from Age UK, said schemes which aim to help tackle loneliness have come under financial pressure in the current economic climate. He said."Austerity undoubtedly has had an effect. "In the context of public sector cuts, community centres and other publicly-owned meeting places are struggling to exist." He said the problem needed to be tackled by "rekindling some of the local community glue that we can see operating in rural areas". "However, I think the elderly population also have to change their attitudes and approach to this," he said. "They have to make sure that they are joining in with local community activities and have a grip of modern technology to be able to communicate."

Being alone and being lonely are two different things. One can be alone without being lonely, and one can be lonely in a crowded room. Loneliness is, therefore, a state of mind, an emotion brought on by feelings of separation from other human beings. The sense of isolation is very deeply felt by those who are lonely. The Hebrew word translated “desolate” or “lonely” in the Old Testament means “one alone, only; one who is solitary, forsaken, wretched.” There is no deeper sadness that ever comes over the mind than the idea that we are alone in the world, that we do not have a friend, that no one cares for us, that no one is concerned about anything that might happen to us, that no one would care if we were to die or shed a tear over our grave.

No one felt loneliness more keenly than David. In a series of earnest, heartfelt appeals to God, David cried out in his loneliness and despair. His own son was risen up against him, the men of Israel went after him, and he was forced to flee from the city, and leave his house and family. Lonely and afflicted (Psalm 25:16), his only recourse was to turn to God and plead for mercy and God’s intervention (Psalm 25:21) because his only hope was in God. It is interesting to note that the word “lonely” is never used in the New Testament to describe people. In the New Testament, the word “lonely” only occurs twice and both times refers to desolate places (Mark 1:45;Luke 5:16), where Jesus moved off into the wilderness to be alone.

Whatever the cause of loneliness, for the follower of Jesus the cure is always the same—the comforting fellowship of Christ. That loving relationship with our Master and freind has reassured and encouraged countless thousands who languished in prisons and even went to their deaths for His sake. He is the friend who “sticks closer than a brother” (Proverbs 18:24), who lays down His life for His friends (John 15:13-15), and who has promised never to leave us or forsake us but to be with us until the end of the age (Matthew 28:20). We can take comfort in the words of the old hymn that says it best: “Friends may fail me, foes assail me, He is with me to the end. Hallelujah, what a Saviour!”

"

119. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Byrds "Turn,Turn,Turn"

Written by Pete Seeger in the late 1950s. The lyrics, except for the title which is repeated throughout the song, and the final verse of the song, are adapted word-for-word from Chapter 3 of the Book of Ecclesiastes, set to music and recorded in 1962. The song was originally released as "To Everything There Is a Season" on The Limeliters' album Folk Matinee and then some months later on Seeger's own The Bitter and the Sweet. The song became an international hit in late 1965 when it was covered by  The Byrds, on October 23, 1965, before reaching #1 on the Hot 100 chart on December 4, 1965. In the U.S., the song holds distinction as the #1 hit with the oldest lyrics (Book of Ecclesiastes)

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything - turn, turn, turn
There is a season - turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it's not too late!

In a 1988 interview with Paul Zollo, Seeger explained: "I don't read the Bible that often. I leaf through it occasionally and I'm amazed by the foolishness at times and the wisdom at other times. I call it the greatest book of folklore ever given. Not that there isn't a lot of wisdom in it. You can trace the history of people poetically." Seeger added: "I got a letter from my publisher, and he says, 'Pete, I can't sell these protest songs you write.' And I was angry. I sat down with a tape recorder and said, 'I can't write the kind of songs you want. You gotta go to somebody else. This is the only kind of song I know how to write.' I pulled out this slip of paper in my pocket and improvised a melody to it in fifteen minutes. And I sent it to him. And I got a letter from him the next week that said, 'Wonderful! Just what I'm looking for.' Within two months he'd sold it to the Limelighters and then to the Byrds. I liked the Byrds' record very much, incidentally. All those clanging, steel guitars - they sound like bells."

One man rushed to the ticket desk at Leeds station breathlessly and asked when does the 8:00 am train leave? "At 8:00" he was told. "Well its 7:59 by my watch he said" 7:57 by the clock on my mobile and 8:04 by the station clock, Which am I to go by? "You can go by any clock you wish but you can't go by the 8:00 train, for it has already left."

 Time is important in our culture. We are much more time conscious than at any other age. Computers are continually being upgraded for milliseconds are too slow. Clocks rush and whirl, and control our lives. The question remains, "Are we following the right clock?" God does not follow our timing. We are in subjection to his timing. Someone said life is like a coin, you can spend it any way you want, but you can spend it only once. You can never repeat it.

Time changes things. More correctly I should say that things change with time. When I returned to my home town the last time it was not the place I remembered it as a child growing up. The huge back garden that I remembered had shrunk considerably, new buildings were put up in place of the school I attended as a child. Little tiny trees were now huge and overgrown. Neighbours were mostly gone. What happened to it all? Time passed and things change. But there are things we can take security in. Time. It has a pattern. We can trust that in 24 hours a new day will greet us. We can pattern our lives around 7 days and call it a week. We measure our Holidays by months within a year. This is all part of a gift from God to bring consistency in our inconsistent lives.

The writer of Ecclesiastes has a beautifully written view of time in Hebrew poetry that reveals important truths of time. Time is in the hand of God. The question is, "Are we?" Whose clock are we going by? For we can rush around with wrist watches on but as far as eternity goes, many don't have the foggiest idea of what time it is. Solomon explains some things from God's time table. There is right time for doing things, and there are wrong times for doing things. All things are under God's sovereignty. Are you walking in the plan and will of God for your life? Are you running and functioning according to God's time table or yours? As hard as man tries to control his life he is not its master. There are reasons for things that happen to us. There are two words Solomon uses: time and season. As they are translated for us one emphasizes an opportunity or moment that is important. The other seems to emphasize the sequence or chain of events on the other. Both are of God.

You don't have to be a philosopher or a scientist to know that time and seasons are a regular part of life no matter where you live. Were it not for the dependability of God-ordained natural laws, both science and daily life would be chaotic, if not impossible. There is an overruling providence in our lives. From before our birth to the moment of our death, God is accomplishing his divine plan. The consistency of the world’s rotation allows within a day to be the God divine pattern for our life on earth. The seasons also are ordered by God as we rotate around the sun experiencing the pattern of summer, winter, spring and Autumn (not in that order). From that pattern we govern our days, work, and life. With consistency there are things that we plan, like birthdays, and holidays, and times of planting and harvest. We see our body needs sleep within a day. Work patterns are organised around the clock that serves us 24 hour segments. From beginning of creation it seemed there were two main divisions of daily time- Gen 1:5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning-- the first day. Gen 1:14-18 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. God made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night…And God saw that it was good.”

In spite of the many changes there is also the awareness that tomorrow is a new day given to us by His grace. Today is a day that is a gift. You have 24 new hours. It is not an accident. It is from God. It was patterned after His creative time table. The 7 days became a week. The week was divided up so Sabbath was a day of rest. The weeks turned into months also regulated by the rotation of the moon. The months into years. The pattern of God’s world into which we are born is seen as good. It shows us not only his creative genius, but consistency upon which we can depend the functioning of our lives.

118. Rock Goes The Gospel - Shinedown - "Ill Follow You"

The verses of “I’ll Follow You” are reminiscent of classic Elton John, and the melodic guitar solo over violins is similar to the approach that Slash and Guns N’ Roses took with “November Rain,” but the song is far from derivative. If anything, it rises above the din of modern-day hard rock music for its unique sound. Of course, Shinedown can take musical leaps that many others can’t because of Brent Smith’s vocals, which are virtually unparalleled in the genre. Although the poetic lyrics give listeners room to interpret what the song is really about, the emotion of the song is intensely conveyed by Smith’s powerful delivery. Even without knowing the exact meaning, “I’ll Follow You” makes you feel uplifted and a bit melancholic at the same time. Like many great songs, “I’ll Follow You” stirs your emotions, and makes you turn up the volume every time that it comes on the radio.

Not surprisingly, Shinedown released this song off of their 2012 Amaryllis album as it  is yet another song that promises to have significant staying power.

[Verse 1:]
If I could find assurance to leave you behind
I know my better half would fade
And all my doubt is a staircase for you
Opened out of this maze

The first step is the one you believe in
The second one might be profound.

[Chorus:]
I'll follow you down through the eye of the storm
Don't worry I'll keep you warm.
I'll follow you down while we're passing through space
I don't care if we fall from grace
I'll follow you down

[Verse 2:]
You can have the money and the world
The angels and the pearls
Even trademark the color blue
Just like the tower we never built
In the shadow of all the guilt
When the other hand was pointed at you

Yeah the first step is the one you believe in
And the second one might be profound.

[Chorus:]
I'll follow you down, through the eye of the storm
Don't worry I'll keep you warm.
I'll follow you down, while we're passing through space
I don't care if we fall from grace
I'll follow you down...

...to where forever lies
Without a doubt I'm on your side
There's nowhere else that I would rather be
I'm not about to compromise,
Give you up to say goodbye
I'll guide you through the deep
I'll keep you close to me!

[Chorus:]
I'll follow you down through the eye of the storm
Don't worry I'll keep you warm.
I'll follow you down while we're passing through space
I don't care if we fall from grace
I'll follow you...

If I could find assurance to leave you behind
I know my better half would fade
I'll follow you down.

A young couple in love picking dandelions in a hazy, dreamlike field in the mountains…walking hand-in-hand to the mountain’s edge, gazing out at the water below. A romantic moment captured at the base of a cascading waterfall. A solitary place to wash the world away and live in the moment for two people who seem to need nothing but each other to enjoy true happiness. A bird’s eye view of an evolving relationship that culminates in a wedding and a white picket fence. Images like these would seem to be out of place in a hard rock music video, but Shinedown makes it work perfectly within the confines of the video for their most recent single, “I’ll Follow You,” off of their hit album, Amaryllis.

"Ill Follow You" is an uncompromising song. Literally, It's a song about "No Compromise" It's a song that is about not settling for anything else, not settling for second best. The song is full of illustrations of that. Shinedown use the lyrics like an artist uses a paint brush to tell the story of no compromise devotion. In the song it is devotion and no compromise to a person but you don't have to go too far to appreciate that this sentiment could be carried over to most spheres of life.

The theme dedication and no compromise is in the reading for today. We join uncompromising Elijah on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal in 1 Kings 18. This is where Elijah taunts the prophets to prove whose God is greater, that that he might get his uncompromising message across to the people of God.

This is a fairly well known passage in the Bible because it relays the story of one man, Elijah, making a stand for God against an evil king and 450 prophets of Baal. Elijah recommended that they have a competition to see whose God was stronger, and the prophets of Baal set up an offering on a wooden alter, asking Baal to send fire from heaven to consume the offering. After they failed, Elijah instructed the men to dig a trench around the altar and pour water over the offering until it was so saturated that the water overflowed and filled the trench. Elijah then called out to God, who sent fire to consume the offering, the water, the alter, the rocks, and even the dust around the altar. Seeing this, the people fell on their faces and worshipped the Lord. Elijah is unflinching in his devotion - He Follows God, the prophets of Baal do not, Elijah shows no compromise in delivering God's verdict in this situation in order to have God's people change direction and turn back to God.

The problem for the prophets was that they were faltering between two opinions. this also was true of the nation as a whole. This is the definition of compromise. In Shinedown's song we find the opposite sentiment "Without a doubt I'm on your side, There's nowhere else that I would rather be, I'm not about to compromise,"  The uncompromising truth that Elijah stands for is displayed in verses 36-39.

Elijah was uncompromising in delivering the message of relationship through these circumstances to all who were present and to all who would hear. That God wants to turn hearts towards himself in relationship. Elijah would not give up on this message. He was devoted to it and would not back down, give up or compromise on it.  We too are invited to be like Elijah in the passage, we too are encouraged to stand our ground in an age where people are drawn away from God by other things. We too are heralds of a message of God's desire for relationship. We too are ambassadors of his kingdom and his rule. We too are to be uncompromising in out character and manner of life. all for the benefit of others. Elijah had bottle, The question is do we?