ELEVATION

For the next couple of weeks or so, I'm going to analyse song lyrics , in relation to God and worshiping, surrendering to, and serving Him.

To start with, I gonna use an U2 (I'm gonna use a few of theirs) song, Elevation. It's kinda a power rock song, best known for having Angelina Jolie (Tomb Raider) in the video. The song could be about romantic love, but if so, it's asking alot. How can any any woman "explain all these controls" to our soul. Anyway, here's the lyrics and my thoughts. Comment me or e-mail me if you know of any artists or song that you think I'd like.

ELEVATION

High, Higher then the sun.
You shoot me from a gun.
I need you to elevate me here.
In the corner of your lips is the orbits of your hips.
Eclipse. You elevate my soul.
I’ve got no self control.
Living like a mole, now going down, excavation.
Iodine in the sky. You make me feel like I can fly. So high.

ELEVATION

A star, it looked like a cigar.
Still got like a guitar,
Maybe you educate my mind.
Explain all these controls.
Can’t sing but I’ve got soul.
The goal. Is elevation.

A mole, digging in a hole.
Digging up my soul, now going down, excavation.
Iodine in the sky. You make me feel like I can fly. So high.

ELEVATION

Lift me up from these blues.
Won’t you tell me something true, I believe in you.

A mole, digging in a hole.
Digging up my soul, now going down, excavation.
Iodine in the sky. You make me feel like I can fly. So high.

ELEVATION

Bono addresses in this song, someone higher then himself. If we take this to be our heavenly father. The song takes on a depth of meaning.

In the first verse, Bono acknowledges God ‘s highness (higher then the sun), his control over his own life (You shoot me from a gun) and possibly his beauty (in your lips is the orbit of your hips). Maybe eclipse is him acknowledging that his knowledge of God is pretty much blind in view of God’s infinity or maybe he’s admitting that in spite of God’s power, we don’t always see him.

Bono goes on to say he’s got no self-control. I can relate. I know from my own experience that my lack of self-control invariably leads to sin, which leads to distance from and blindness to God. Eclipse.
In times of spiritual darkness, we’re like the mole, digging ourselves deeper. It’s God’s mercy that He uses these “hole” experience to examine the deeper hurts and desires in our soul and begin healing the. “Digging up my soul – excavation”

The second verse seems to be concerned with our image, inadequacy and asking for God to teach us. Bono, I thinks compares our God-given image with our feelings. “A star, it looked like a cigar.” He see some good in himself. “Still got like a guitar” and asks God to teach him how he use what he has “…educate my mind. Explain… controls.” He is not perfect yet, but know sthat in his God-given soul he is good. “Can’t sing, but I got soul.”
The goal isn’t to recreate himself from scratch but allow God to elevate him by surrendering to Him.

I recommend reading Psalm 139 in relation to what I guess you could call a modern psalm and look at the parallels.

Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
(Psa 139:23-24 ESV)


“You make feel like I can fly. So high. Elevation.

Only Quality Music (no not Phantom FM)

While Phantom FM did finally give us good radio, the web's done one better.

Pandora is a website that creates dynamic individual radio stations based on your taste of music. Just enter in a song or artist (or many) and Pandora creates a playlist based on musical properties. It even tells you precisely why it selected each song (all way over my head but still nice to have).

A negative though is that it doesn't base its lists on lyrical content. So, while I like heavy stuff, I only like songs with deep lyrics and Pandora is offering some not-so-good ones.

No problem though; you can give music a thumbs up or down so Pandora gradually gets used to your taste. The music genuinely gets better the more you use it.

I think Pandora is just example of the new phonomenen know as Web 2.0, a emerging web with more user control and communication spearhead by such net giants as YouTube, Wikipedia and Bebo.

Thanks to Mike Kingsley for making me aware of Pandora. You done good.

No Risk Tithing

8 "Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me. "But you ask, 'How do we rob you?' "In tithes and offerings. 9 You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. 10 Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this," says the LORD Almighty, "and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. 11 I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit," says the LORD Almighty. 12 "Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land," says the LORD Almighty.

I used to hear these words from Malachi 3 every week in my old Pentecostal church and cringe. Every meeting, rather it be a small group or Sunday morning, included a 5 -10 minute sermon on this same passage and encouraging if not quite demand giving. This drilling rather unsurprisingly has put me off the whole concept of tithes. I far from believe that they are a central part of the New Testament church and I definitely depised the fact that promises of financial gain were used as a motive.

However, one chuch is taking this challenge literally and inviting people or test God on tithes or get their money back.

http://www.lifechurch.tv/p/465/Default.aspx

LifeChurch is challenging people to give for three months and if they're not satisfied that God has moved to bless them, they can ask for their money back.

Will I tithe in light of this promise? I believe that God doesn't ask for a tithe anymore but for complete surrender to his will. So, as for me, I will try to be a steward of every cent I have and every hour I watch go by. The link is above so do as you will.