streaming through my brain

when i first started driving, one of the most exciting things for me was to reprogram all the radio stations to my liking.  no more family talk radio or whatever those AM stations broadcast.. my presets would include all the hit stations with alternative and r&b and hiphop.  basically my presets determine my level of coolness among ..well, me.  however, i'd always leave one preset for the lone christian rock station.  only because that's what i should do..

i love worship music and there are specific christian artists where i could sing through their entire history of discography, but i've never been much of a fan of .christian rock.  i now realize it's probably because i never spent enough time listening to them to understand the words that were so thoughtfully penned.  instead, i was rocking out to eiffel 65's song blue, in which the lyrics, hands down, spoke leagues into my heart.

i'm blue da ba dee da ba die... 

i have a blue house with a blue window.
blue is the colour of all that I wear.

epically profound, agreed?

about a year ago, having scratched all my hillsong cd's, i started toggling between klove and air1 in my car to avoid the horror of skipping tracks.  admittedly, i was slightly unimpressed.  how can anyone dance to this?!  it's like all of mainstream music had excelled in musicality, leaving christian music behind in the dust.  i know now that i was completely oblivious.  have you listened to katy perry recently?  -___-

the more i listened to the station, the more i became familiar with the songs and come to like them ..a lot.  i still furrow my eyebrows sometimes at the commentaries and stories they tell on air, but mostly i'm completely humbled by the fact that god is indeed changing lives everywhere and i'm too stubborn and cynical to believe it.  and so when i heard a lady's experience about taking klove's 30 day challenge, i was once again shot down.

apparently klove hosted the 30 day challenge where each participant would only listen to klove music for 30 days straight.  nothing else.  according to this lady, angie's experience, it changed her life.  going from an embittered woman who found out she couldn't have her own biological children, to one who rejoiced at the circumstances god had placed her in.  my first reaction was O_o pah.  really?  yet as soon as my sardonic mind flipped into action, the words from psalms floated through.

sing to the lord a new song, sing to the lord all the earth

he put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our god
i will sing of your strength in the morning, i will sing of your love

doh.  that is far from what goes on in my mind these past few mornings.  at work we have our comcast station set on the hit list.  so everyday, for 8 hours, bruno mars and rihanna and co. stream into my mind at point blank.  even though i might not consciously pay attention to it or scribble down the words to memorize later, i attest to waking up with

cuz baby toniiiight, dj got us falling in love againnnn

so dance dance like it's the last last night of your life

perhaps popping and locking out the door is a good way to brave my morning walk to work but otherwise, maybe not such a good way to start the day.  i don't think i could commit to the 30 day challenge considering all the .noise. that's around me.  but that's just it, there's so much noise, and there's always going to be noise whether or not i choose to dial the radio to 89.9.  the evil that is battling for our hearts is not stupid.  in fact, he's rather crafty and amazingly good at what he does.  last week in small group we talked about what it's like to not fall in love with the things of this world during our days living on this earth.  at least for me, it's something i'd consciously have to think about.

submit yourselves then, to god.  resist the devil and he will flee from you.

come near to god and he will come near to you.  

is usher the devil?  is listening to .secular. music bad?  yeahh.. i don't know.  he's got some crazy talent.  but if it is obstructing my relationship with my heavenly father, as early as the time my first alarm goes off, then maybe there's something not quite right.  last sunday, mr. newton challenged us to make this our prayer - to know god more.  it's not quite as fancy and flashy as klove's 30 day challenge, but i think it's a good place to start.  afterall, he is my creator and loves me despite how bad i've messed up his creation that is me.

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable - if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things.

now about klove's next great love song, i'd love to have a conversation with you about that!