145. Rock Goes The Gospel - Led Zeppelin "Thank You"

"Thank You" signalled a deeper involvement in songwriting by singer Robert Plant: it was the first Led Zeppelin song for which he wrote all the lyrics. According to various Led Zeppelin biographies, this is also the song that made Jimmy Page realise that Plant could now handle writing the majority of the lyrics for the band's songs. Plant wrote the song as a tribute to his then-wife Maureen.The song features Hammond organ playing by John Paul Jones, which fades into a false ending before concluding with a crescendo roughly ten seconds later. This has created a problem for radio stations wishing to play the track, which must decide whether to accept the dead air or cut it off. Some stations run an edited version with the silence eliminated. For the recording of this track, Page played on a Vox 12-string guitar.  It was also one of the few Led Zeppelin songs on which Page sang backing vocals.As already said "Thank You" is a song written by Robert Plant and Jimmy Page that was recorded for Led Zeppelin's for 1969 album Led Zeppelin II. Robert Plant dedicated this to his wife, Maureen.The song is about sharing life together.

If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.

Kind woman, I give you my all, Kind woman, nothing more.

Little drops of rain whisper of the pain, tears of loves lost in the days gone by.
My love is strong, with you there is no wrong,
together we shall go until we die. My, my, my.
An inspiration is what you are to me, inspiration, look... see.

And so today, my world it smiles, your hand in mine, we walk the miles,
Thanks to you it will be done, for you to me are the only one.
Happiness, no more be sad, happiness....I'm glad.
If the sun refused to shine, I would still be loving you.
When mountains crumble to the sea, there will still be you and me.

Zeppelin's song is a song of thanks and this morning the devotion is on the "thanksgiving of Jesus" with the five loaves and two fish. John the apostle writes as an excalmation of thanks giving at the provision of God over feeding so many with so little.

Can God use kids? According to John's record of this same story, the five small barley loaves and two small fish that Jesus multiplied belonged to a young boy. Perhaps it was his lunch. Regardless, I'm sure that boy never forgot the day when his few loaves and fish fed five thousand men and women or more. 

This story shows us that God can take what little we have to give and make it into something that can bless a lot of people. We may think, like that little boy, that we don't have very much to offer. But God can multiply what we have. 

I've always wondered what it would have been like to see this miracle. Specifically, I've wondered when the food actually multiplied. Did it multiply only in Jesus' hands, or did it also multiply in His disciples' hands? It seems reasonable to conclude that it was both, due to the fact that so many thousands of people were fed.

I think it is also very likely that the bread and fish continued to multiply in the hands of the people sitting in the groups. If so, that could be how they all knew that a great miracle had just taken place (see John 6:14). Wouldn't that be something to see---food multiplying in your own hands?

Regardless, this story is one more proof that Jesus was God. At least five thousand people witnessed what happened, and there is no record in history that anyone at that time even attempted to claim that it didn't happen.

This story also shows us how much God loves people. Jesus and His disciples were trying to get away from the crowds just to rest for a while and eat a meal without interruption. So they journeyed by boat across the Sea of Galilee to a desolate spot. But when they arrived at their destination, a vast crowd was waiting for them. Amazingly, Jesus displayed no aggravation, but rather, He felt compassion for them and ministered to them by teaching and healing (see Luke 9:11).

Then, late in the afternoon, He was concerned that the people needed food to eat, so He provided a meal for them. Our God cares about us. He wants to supply our needs. We shouldn't ever feel that we're bothering Him. He loves us dearly and how he supplied the need that day was by taking something insignificant and sharing it with others. For that a big "Thank you" is in order, for that is the way Jesus provides for us.

Jesus called for the bread and fish to be brought to Him (Matthew 14:18). He then gave thanks for the meal, broke the bread, and gave it to His disciples to give to the crowd. Amazingly, the entire multitude was fed with that small meal. Jesus provided “as much as they wanted” (John 6:11), and “they all ate and were satisfied” (Matthew 14:20). Christ did not just meet the need; He lavished them with so much food that there were “twelve baskets full of broken pieces and of the fish” left over (Mark 6:43).

133. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Foo Fighters "The Best Of You"

"Best of You" by the Foo Fighters, is the first single released from the band's fifth studio album, In Your Honor (2005). Dave Grohl notes that the song was written following appearances at 2004 American presidential candidate John Kerry's campaign trail and is "about breaking away from the things that confine you." To date, it is the band's only single to reach Platinum status in the US. The song holds the band's highest chart peaks in the US (#18), the UK (#4), and Australia (#5), and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rock Song. The song won the Kerrang! Award for Best Single. It also topped Billboard's Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks chart for four weeks and Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart for seven weeks. Following the band's performance at Live Earth, the song again entered the UK charts at #38.

I've got another confession to make
I'm your fool
Everyone's got their chains to break
Holdin' you

Were you born to resist or be abused?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?

Are you gone and onto someone new?
I needed somewhere to hang my head
Without your noose
You gave me something that I didn't have
But had no use
I was too weak to give in
Too strong to lose
My heart is under arrest again
But I break loose
My head is giving me life or death
But I can't choose
I swear I'll never give in
I refuse

Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
You trust, you must
Confess
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Oh...

Oh...Oh...Oh...Oh...

Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
The life, the love you'd die to heal
The hope that starts the broken hearts
You trust, you must
Confess

Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?

I've got another confession my friend
I'm no fool
I'm getting tired of starting again
Somewhere new

Were you born to resist or be abused?
I swear I'll never give in
I refuse

Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Has someone taken your faith?
Its real, the pain you feel
You trust, you must
Confess
Is someone getting the best, the best, the best, the best of you?
Oh...

"The Best of You" is about breaking away from the things that hold you back and imprison you. Things that dominate you and hold you from being free. If something or someone gets the best of you it means they have you in submission. In effect they triumphed over you. they have conquered you. You are a slave to them. In this mornings devotion we will be reflecting on Romans 6:17-18. This is a "prayer of freedom" for Paul as it begins with "Thanks be to God" if contrasts "Sin" and "Righteousness" and focuses on slavery of the heart.

The very idea of “slavery” is appaling to the western mind. I say “the Western mind” simply because slavery is still very much practiced where the worldview inherited from ancient Christendom has not yet shaped the outlook and practices of those who have power to exert their wills over others. More people are kept in some form of slavery today than ever before in world history.

Thoughout the nations of the world“freedom” is just another word for “power.” They alone are “free” who can wield power against others, to do whatever they wish, whenever they please. But in a larger and more mystical sense, slavery of another kind exists, even in the nations of the West, and it threatens to clamp down both on those who regard themselves as the freest of all people, and those who are seeking freedom for the first time. This is the kind of slavery that Paul in Romans 6 is getting at - The slavery of Sin. (An evil power that seeks to dominate and rob life from the people it has power over)

If we were we to consult Jesus on the state of “freedom” among the nations of the world, it‟s not difficult to imagine how He might respond. Everywhere, freedom is at risk, if not altogether already forfeited, and the tentacles and shackles of sin threaten to enslave and destroy unsuspecting people in every culture and clime.

Paul says to the Roman church "You were once slaves to Sin" Slaves are not free to know liberation from the oppression that grips and grinds them every day. Those who are sin addicts are slaves to powers they cannot control, and from which they seem powerless to escape. The recent recession has shown us what can happen throughout the world when people become enslaved to making money, indulging in all manner of economic trickery, or wielding political power. Unscrupulous bankers and financiers, egocentric politicians, and greedy consumers – all the slaves of one idol or another – plunged the world into an economic tailspin from which we have yet to recover.

People who just want a job, a home, and a steady income, have instead become slaves of want and to want some more. Even now, in parts of our world, people are seeking to throw off the slavery in which they have been kept, and are determined to break its shackles once and for all. But what sin and what bonds of slavery await them on the other side of dictatorship?

The Apostle John speaks of dictatorship when he says “Sin is lawlessness,” (1 Jn. 3:4). “Everyone who makes a practice of sinning,” he explained, “also practices lawlessness.” All who practice sin, therefore, are slaves to lawlessness; they are in revolt against God and their own consciences (Rom. 2:14, 15), and they are helpless, on their own, to extricate themselves from their plight, or even, in many instances, to acknowledge their enslaved condition.  What can set us free from sin? And what does it mean to have such freedom? If sin is a form of enslavement, and if we cannot break the shackles of sin by our own efforts, then who or what shall deliver us from this body of death? Jesus said, “The truth shall set you free” (Jn. 8:32). Paul says in Romans 6:17-18 That it has something to do with the heart, that it has everything to do with the gospel of Jesus. this is what he meant when he writes "The standard of teaching to which you were committed" It was the gospel that freed the Roman church and it will be the gospel that frees you and I from a life of slavery to our sinful heart.

Are we bothered that people everywhere are slaves to sin? Are we bothered as in the Foo Fighters song, someone or something is getting the better of people? The people of God have had a real turbulant track record in speaking about sin. For the most part people have been condemned for it. As if the life of all church people nd followers of Jesus was squeeky clean. What good will it do in the long run  to condemn people for their slavery to a power they cannot escape? That is not what is needed. Should we not rather have compassion, and should we not rather be urgent to make known to all who are slaves to the sin that is destroying them, that Jesus offers life and freedom to all who come to Him.

116. Rock Goes The Gospel - Magnum "Different Worlds"

In a March 1988 interview with Kerrang! magazine, lead guitarist and songwriter Tony Clarkin said he wrote this song in France, and that it was inspired by a visit to Nice. Somebody lent him a house in the old town, an expensive area; one day when he walked through the market and "literally 20 feet away, there were people laying in doorways." He added: "It was like walking from luxury into a den of thieves. Two worlds living back to back." "Different Worlds" came off the album wings of heaven in 1988. 

On narrow streets old men lie
In the doorway sleeping
While working girls comb their hair
See the young men peeping

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

No satin sheets on your bed tonight
How you feeling?
While running feet always disappear
From sirens screaming

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

I said
Some of us take what we want
Some of us take what we need
Some of us break
Some of us bleed

Where velvet gloves and your diamond rings
Lose their meaning
For those we love, if they really care
Keep on dreaming
Dream on

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

I said
Some of us take what we want
Some of us take what we need
Some of us break
Some of us bleed
Don't want to bleed

Some of us take what we want
Some of us take what we need
Some of us break
Some of us bleed

Different worlds
Only a walk across the street
Different worlds
You never know what you might meet

Some of us take what we want
Some of us take what we need
Some of us break
Some of us bleed

Some of us take
Some of us take, oh, no
Some of us break
Some of us bleed, bleed, bleed
Some of us take
Some of us take

This song is about the divide between rich and poor. The divide between those that have and those that have not. The references to "Velvet gloves and diamond rings" and also the lines "Old mean lie sleeping while working girls comb their hair" Tony Clarkin saw the scene on a visit to Nice. It's not only Nice that this is happening there are other countries that the divide between rich and poor is ever widening. In the UK the gap is widening as well. Today, Britain is a country where one in five people live below the poverty line and life expectancy in some areas is lower than in some developing countries. Yet the rich keep getting richer opening up a massive inequality gap. In fact, the UK is on course to become one of the most unequal countries in the industrialised world. One of the greatest challenges in the UK at the moment is food poverty and there are a number of key organisations that are helping with this. Food poverty is affecting health. Food banks that have been set up in many of the major towns and cities are not meeting the need. Of course, we are drawing into the time when all politicians are saying that they have the answer to Britain's economic needs.

Once elected many politicians are saying that they will reverse the trend. Somehow I'm suspicious and convinced even more that the general British public can see through the schemes and debates of all the major parties. Everyone thinks they have the solution and the solution is often linked with other issues for example welfare and immigration. One thing I am sure of is that the answer to the widening gap in towns, communities and cites in the UK is not as easy as the politicians who are rallying for seats will lead us to believe. We are "Broken Britain" and the politics of the past are not going to be a match to the needs of the present. In the midst of the poverty gap there are a number of wonderful organisations that deserve mention for the work that they are doing in Britain. these organisations are working to meet the needs of ordinary people and change the policies of local and national government. Oxfam, Christian Aid, The Hunger project, Save the Children, BuildOn, Junk food Project, are to name but a few of the excellent organisations that are currently working and recruiting volunteers in the UK to work in areas of deprivation. These are organisations that are working to meet peoples physical needs, there are of course many others that are working to meet peoples health, spiritual, practical, social needs.

There is one occasion that for me stands out in the gospels that Jesus participates in that meets more than just physical needs, but bridges the needs, of mental health, social, physical and community needs and provides for us an example of how food, community, and care can work hand in hand to help in the areas of equality and cohesion. The occasion I am speaking of is the feeding of the five thousand.

Jesus in his day is concerned about the physical needs of the people who are coming to him. This is clear from the passage and Jesus does something to meet some of those physical needs. When John writes this in his gospel he is attempting do do two things. The first thing he is doing is showing that Jesus is not just interested in the spiritual needs of people he is also interested in their physical     well-being and Secondly this illustration fits within John's framework of Jesus being God in the flesh. In other words who can do miracles like this except God himself. We are not going to get too deep into the theology of this here but it does need some bigger reflection. One thing that I would like to say in this devotion is that Jesus is concerned with the physical well-being of people. He is interested and concerned about the increasing gap in economics and the gap that splits the poor from the rich.

He is also interested in the laws and acts that make that gap bigger. Soon we are going to have to face the elections. For some, they will not vote. For those that do they will have the responsibility of voting into power a party that will reduce the poverty gap or widen the poverty gap. I've been praying and asking God what to do. I'm still thinking about that one. The body of Jesus, (The Church) have a responsibility to justice and works of mercy. they also have a responsibility to speak to power and challenge the status quo, so that marginal communities, people and individuals benefit in and from the upcoming elections. It's not just make your vote count, but make your prayer count too.....on behalf of others.  So that the "Different Worlds" sung about in this song by Magnum are firmly on the page for discussion, debate and godly action. 

110. Rock Goes The Gospel - The Beatles - "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

Eric Clapton played lead guitar on this song. He and George Harrison were good friends, but George had to convince him to come to the studio because Clapton was worried the other Beatles wouldn't want him there. Clapton's presence eased the mood in the studio at a tense time for The Beatles. They were at each other's throats during recording of The White Album, but they all relaxed when Clapton showed up.Harrison often had to fight to get his songs on the albums. John Lennon and Paul McCartney were not interested in this at first, but came around when Harrison brought Clapton to the studio. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is a song written by George Harrison, first recorded by the Beatles in 1968 for their eponymous double album (also known as "the White Album").

"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" is ranked at number 136 on Rolling Stone '​s "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time", number 7 on the magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time, and number 10 on its list of The Beatles 100 Greatest Songs.

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you

I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
Every mistake, we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you

I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at you all
Still my guitar gently weeps

This song begins and ends with the statement "I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping" You could say that this is where the songs is going from the opening line to the ending. There is a comparison going on right from the opening lines. There is something about this song that speaks of opportunities lost and people who do not realise the overarching call to compassion. the guitar gets it but we don't.

The Hebrew and Greek words translated “compassion” in the Bible mean “to have mercy, to feel sympathy and to have pity.” We know that, according to the Bible, God is “a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness” (Psalm 86:15). Like all of God’s attributes, His compassion is infinite and eternal. His compass ions never fail; they are new every morning (Lamentations 3:22-23).

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, exemplified all of the Father’s attributes, including His compassion. When Jesus saw His friends weeping at the grave of Lazarus, He felt compassion for them and wept alongside them (John 11:33-35). "While my guitar gently weeps"

Moved with compassion for the suffering of others, Jesus healed the large crowds who came to Him (Matthew 14:14), as well as individuals who sought His healing (Mark 1:40-41). When He saw the large crowds as sheep without a shepherd, His compassion led Him to teach them the things the false shepherds of Israel had abandoned. The priests and scribes were proud and corrupt; they despised the common people and neglected them, but Jesus had compassion on them, and He taught and loved them. "While my guitar gently weeps" 

When asked what was the greatest commandment, Jesus responded that it is to love God with all our heart, mind and strength. But He added that the second commandment “is like it: 'Love your neighbour as yourself’” (Matthew 22:34-40). The Pharisee had asked Him which single command of God is the greatest, but Jesus provided two, stating not only what we are to do, but also how to do it. To love our neighbour as ourselves is the natural result of our loving devotion toward God. "While my guitar gently weeps" 

First John 3:17 asks, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” "While my guitar gently weeps" Originally made in His image, man is to exemplify God’s traits, including compassion. From this it follows that “If anyone says, ‘I love God’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). The Bible is clear that compassion is an attribute of God and of God’s people as well. "While my guitar gently weeps" 

May we know compassion in our lives today. May we know a soft approach to life. May we know a caring side to dealing with people. Grace, Meekness and Love is compassion on show. "While my guitar gently weeps"