Popularity, is it worth it?

One of the biggest problems I have with social media web sites like Twitter is “False Followers”. What are they, you ask? Well, they are people who follow you on Twitter one day and then unfollow you the next.The only reason they followed you in the first place was to try and gain more followers for themselves. People think that the more followers they have on Twitter or any social website, the more popular they are. So the idea is, you follow people in the hope they will reciprocate by following you back, when they do, you start to systematically unfollow as many as possible, this makes it look as though you have many followers, but you, yourself are only following a select few. Hence you look and feel more popular then you really are!

This could also be referred to as "dipping", because some people follow those suggested by Twitter in emails, then unfollow or "dip out" within the next day or two. But this is a false conception, because if you were truly popular you would not have to stoop so low as to solicit followers, they would just follow you on their own accord because they had an interest in you. If you have to search through a site, following random people thinking they will return the favor or follow the ones suggested by Twitter emails, you are not popular!

Another thing that really bothers me is when “Christian” people or “Christian” artists engage in this type of practice, because I think being a “false” anything is going against Christ’s teachings. When you see that a "Christian" band has followed you, you might get all excited thinking to yourself “oh here is a cool band and they’re following me! They must like me!”  You feel so honored that they would want to follow you and you weren’t even following them first, so you choose to follow them back, you might even decide to give their music a listen and begin to like it, even tweet about it. Then the next time you check into Twitter, you discover they have gone and unfollwed you, now you feel so dishonored! The lying, cheating fakes! You would expect this type of behavior from secular groups, but not from people calling themselves Christian! How could someone who claims to be a Christian do this to you? It seems so dishonest! So instead of making someone more popular, it only gets them labeled among the deceivers!

What if you have been tweeting about them, telling the world how great their music is? You could always just stop giving them the honor of your tweets and forget about them or you can unfollow them back! I personally hold to the statute of "you follow me, I follow you, you unfollow me, I unfollow you!" I always unfollow people when they unfollow me, since I did not follow them first, because I had never heard of them or just wasn’t interested enough. If they followed me only to unfollow me, then they don't deserve my attention anyway! In the end they loose a follower instead of gaining more! But if you had followed them first and they followed you back, then unfollowed you, I guess then you’d have to decide if you are really offended or not. In all honesty, there may be times when you want to unfollow people or even block them anyway, because their tweets might make you uncomfortable.

An even more annoying aspect of this practice, is when they have the nerve to send you a direct message thanking you for the follow and could you please check out their Facebook page or their music on YouTube or some place. To do this knowing that they will unfollow you soon, is just heartless!

When Jesus walked through the streets and along the shore inviting those around him to “follow me”, He wasn’t doing it to be popular, He had something He had come to share, but He too had “false” followers. Those who just weren’t that interested in Him or what He was offering them, but were more concerned with being a part of the crowd and what they could gain from doing so, which in most cases meant at the very least, a free meal! They were “fans” of Jesus not true followers, when the going got tough they got going, they deserted Christ. But Christ didn’t give up; He kept on calling everyone to follow Him, just as He calls us today. Jesus knew who the true followers were then and He knows who is sincere even now for He knows our hearts.

People today are so insecure, that they will do anything to gain popularity or what they think is popularity and the internet provides a vast web of possibilities and is so easily abused. People can readily conjure up new identities or steal the identities of others, to satisfy their needs. I personally would rather not be popular for the sake of popularity, but have “followers” that are interested in what I have to share, so if I only have a few, that is fine with me! The main reason I’m on Twitter in the first place is to show a little love to the artists I love, so I’m bummed when they don’t show a little love back!

“Christian” or Not?

I recently read a post on Facebook by a Christian radio station which got me thinking about “Christian” music, particularly “Christian Rock/Metal” music. The post basically stated that there were certain bands they were no longer playing on their station and they went on to name them and give reasons as to why they would not be played anymore.

The station starts off by explaining their definition of a “Christian” band first, saying they believe it is a band whose main goal is to win converts to Christ or to encourage believers and sets an example of Christ in their behavior. Their idea is that if you don’t have these goals as a conscious agenda, but still make references to spiritual things, then the band is a “spiritual band” not a “Christian band” which to some extent seems logical.

One of the bands was August Burns Red and the reason was because one of the members had been seen in a video stating that “not to believe in evolution is silly”. Upon viewing the video in question, I find that he is acting kind of goofy and doesn’t really answer any of the questions posed to him. He does not say anything about Darwin’s theory. I believe in evolution myself, but not in that nut case Darwin’s theory! I believe in the evolution of man from man, not a monkey! I believe that Adam and Eve were created by God as early man or “cave man”, in the beginning and we evolved from them into what we are now, although I do struggle with whom Cain, Abel and their little brother Seth could have married, their sisters?

Another was the band As I Lay Dying, which at one point I never thought of as a “Christian” band anyway, but somehow found its way into the genre. After they heard about the lead singer admitting to his dwindling faith and later he was caught trying to have his wife killed instead of just divorcing her! They dropped them and I can understand why.

Next it was P.O.D. who started out on mainstream radio, my son and his friends were really into them when they first came out, had I known at that time that they were really a “Christian” band, I would have gotten behind them too! They were dropped because on one song they had used the F-word.  Unfortunately they have made several songs for movies using explicit language, but again they were never billed as a “Christian” band, although they seem to have cleaned up their act considerably over the years, their music seems to be less tainted these days! I have also heard Sonny, the lead singer, talk about his faith before and it appears to be very genuine.

I was really disappointed when I learned that Derek Webb, of the well known “Christian” band Caedmon’s Call, had gone solo and had used the S-word in a song on one of his albums. I have an earlier album of his that I like, but was really put off when I saw him live at a Christian music festival performing the song in a tent full of adults and young children and he did not omit the word, I had to get up and leave! I don’t believe that those kinds of words belong in any song, Christian or otherwise, so I can see having to preview a song's lyrics and possibly the meaning before playing a song. I don't believe that Christian radio stations should have to "bleep out" or sensor songs to play them on the air, if that is necessary then it shouldn't be played at all!

 

Lastly was Jars of Clay. Jars of Clay! Can you imagine that Jars would not be considered a “Christian” band? Why, you say? All because Dan Haseltine made a comment about “gay” marriage! I’m sure that Dan knows it’s wrong, but he understands that those kinds of people need love too! We are told to love the unlovable. In the Bible it says to set aside our differences and show respect and kindness to others even when we don’t like or agree with the things they do or how they live. We should still be able love them without condoning their lifestyles, how can we disciple them if we shun or ignore them?

I am all for having some kind of filter for the music that gets played on “Christian” radio or any other for that matter; I don’t want to hear foul language on mainstream radio either. To me those days are over, I have moved on. But then again if we filter it by Unchristian like behavior or the fact that everyone in a band isn’t a believer, aren’t we drawing a thin line between Christianity and Legalism? I read an article by Reese Roper of Five Iron Frenzy in which he acknowledged the fact that two people in their current lineup are not believers, does that make their music less relevant? The fact is, I think it’s an amazing thing that they can all work together as a unit; maybe there is a lesson in that!

Then, also what happens when Christian bands cover music by mainstream artists? Does that make them less Christian? So many “Christian” bands have covered mainstream music, when I heard the song “Ordinary World” by Red, I thought it was theirs, but it’s actually by Duran Duran! Reliant K has covered lots of songs by mainstream artists also, like “I’d Like to Rule the World” by Tears for Fears. On the new Seventh Day Slumber album “We Are the Broken”, they covered a song called “Skyscraper” that had been released by mainstream artist Demi Lovato! I told Joseph Rojas, the lead singer, my girls recognized it right away and he said the reason they had chosen it was because the lyrics fit in so perfectly with the rest of the album. The list goes on forever, so many Christian artists have covered so much non-Christian music, but it does not make them believe any less in Christ! Does that mean they shouldn’t be played on Christian stations even if the lyrics are clean and the message is sound?

The Jewish religious leaders in the Bible criticized Jesus for spending all of his time with the lowliest of people and not with those they considered worthwhile, but that is what He came for. There are some musical groups made up of believers who have decided to try to reach the unreachable by going to play in bars and clubs instead of Churches, they also have a podcast show and blog where they get down and dirty, discussing all types of issues, from pornography to homosexuality. Emery is one such band. I believe there are bands that are spurred on by their hope of communicating with the lost generation by getting down on their level, by giving them the kind of music that will appeal to them with a message that is truth in biblical terms.

There are mainstream bands too, like U2 with a similar need to make music that has a purposeful meaning, encouraging and up lifting, another such band is Collective Soul. Their hit song “Shine” is about asking Heaven to shine a light on man! Lead singer, Ed Roland’s father was a preacher and Ed writes music that shows his love for his father and for his father’s faith! Even going so far as to write a song called “Hymn for My Father” in which he states he will follow his father’s teachings, I believe Ed is referring to both his earthly father (now in Heaven) and his Heavenly father.

There might even be such things as “closet Christian” bands that don’t label themselves as Christian, but actually have Christian beliefs that they openly share in their music. I believe its ok to not have to label ones music, just to be honest and make sure whatever music you are presenting, is edifying and glorifying to God or at least presentable to the rest of the world!

So although I will miss hearing August Burns Red, P.O.D and Jars of Clay playing on their station, I will still listen to it along with many others in order to get my fix of “Good Christian” music!

The Pilgrim

The Pilgrim made the long and difficult climb to the mountain top where the guru sat in deep meditation, then breaking the silence asked the age old question "what is the meaning of life?" Looking up the guru spoke without hesitation "have you not heard? The true meaning of life is only found in Christ!" His gaze resting on the tired Pilgrim, lifting his hand he motioned and bid "come, sit and I will tell you of His Magnificent Glory!"

Stepping Into Action

One small act can make a difference!

The other day I stopped into my local Quick Chek store to pick up a sub, some lunch meat and bread. The first thing I always do is to place my sub and lunch meat order on the automated kiosk screen, which I did, then walked around the store gathering all the other things I’d come to get. I returned to wait for my order to be filled, as I stood there I noticed an older woman go up to the machine and start punching the screen. I say older because she was older than me and I’m pretty old, so she was probably in her late 70s or early 80s. I watched for quite awhile as she punched at the pictures on the screen with her fingers, becoming more frustrated by the minute! Finally I got the nerve to go over to her and ask if she needed any help, to which she said yes.

So I then set about to try to help her, but I found that somehow she had gotten the screen into the Spanish mode which I couldn’t get it out of, so we moved to the other machine. I managed to direct her in the operation of the machine and she was able to order her half pound of ham thin sliced. She seemed happy that I had taken the time to help her! By this time my order was done and I walked away feeling like I had actually accomplished something!

Although it wasn’t a feat of magnificent strength, it was a small gesture which I believe was showing this woman a hint of God’s love! I didn’t have to rattle on about the attributes of Christ; I just had to be willing to take the time to show her one in a little act of kindness. I believe that even the smallest act of kindness can show God’s love to anyone! If we want people to see God through Christ, we need to present ourselves as a mirror of Jesus!

It’s important to remember that all we do should be done for the glory of God, every act; every word should be done as a conscious thought, in love. Matthew 25:40 reads “The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” And in verse 45 of the same chapter, “He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’”

Look at all that Christ did for us on the cross, if we truly believe; we should be willing to step into action for Him!

Rock Redemption!

I have been listening to and collecting music since the early ‘60s, starting with “45s” as they were called back then, which were small vinyl records with a single song on each side. Side A was the hit song from the radio and side B was another song offering. I then began collecting full size vinyl records or albums, which were around 12” in diameter containing 5 or 6 songs on each side, I managed to accumulate about 300 before moving on to cassettes and now CDs are my fancy. I never got into 8track tapes though; since I didn’t own a car when they were popular and they came and went so quickly. When I finally got my own car I had a cassette player put in. At one point I even owned a reel to reel tape recorder which I ended up using to record my friend’s band and later on I bought a cassette deck that I also used for recording the band.

I’ve been attracted to all types of music over the years and all types of music groups. Even when I got married and started having kids, I still collected music. But after awhile, I realized that as I was listening to the radio or a cassette in a car full of kids, something didn’t seem right. These kids were listening to the music too and sometimes the words that were being used in the songs were not what I would want to hear coming out of the mouths of my children!

Around this time I had decided that I needed to get back to church, I had been brought up going to church every Sunday and for some reason I felt I had to give my children the same in their upbringing.  Although all of my kids went to public school, all but one of my six kids went to a Christian preschool, basically because my sister-in-law had sent her kids there so I just trusted her judgment.  My son had ADHD and went to a special Ed preschool run by the public school system.

Anyway, through my sister-in-law and another friend, I found the bible Chapel I now attend. The more time I spent there the more I learned and soon it all seemed to make sense! The music being sung was of a current contemporary kind and I began to like it! Pretty soon I preferred to listen to it over some of my old fare because of the kids; there was even a new local Christian radio station I could listen to in the car!

Now, the music I listen to most is music that is not necessarily all about God or even what’s known as “Christian”, but is more God friendly than that of the past. One thing I have noticed a lot recently is that many of the people I listened to in the past keep popping up in the strangest places! Guys like Alice Cooper, Lou Gramm, Richie Furay, John Michael Talbot, Bob Dylan and even Charlie Daniels have shown up in Gospel and Christian Contemporary music.

Actually there are many genres of “Christian” music, Hip-Hop, Pop, Ska, Rock, Alternative, Punk, Punk Rock, Metal and I’ve even heard of Rastafarian!  Whatever kind of music genre you can name there is a version of it with a Christian theme. I like mostly Christian Rock or Hard Rock, bands like Blindside, 12 Stones, Thousand Foot Kutch, We As Human, Kutless, Spoken, Project 86, Stryper, Seventh Day Slumber, Demon Hunter, etc., the list goes on forever!

So imagine my surprise when I’m listening to internet stations like Broken FM, Reign Radio, Static Radio and URrock Radio and all of a sudden I hear “Salvation” by Alice Cooper or when I’m at a Christian festival in my state and one of the groups playing is The Lou Gramm Band, whose front man just happens to be the former lead singer of the band Foreigner! Or when I find out that one of the founding members of a band I listened to as a teen back in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, Mason Proffit, has gone rogue and joined a Catholic Brotherhood as did John Michael Talbot and is writing worship songs about God. We have heard over the years about Bob Dylan finding faith and the songs he has written professing it, along with Johnny Cash. I even found some Charlie Daniels albums in my local Christian book and gift store!

Then I found out that Richie Furay of the bands, Buffalo Springfield, Poco and the Souther Hillman Furay Band was pouring out music with a new theme and that he has become a Pastor of a Calvary Chapel in Colorado! Or when I find out crazy stuff like, Michael Sweet of Stryper was the co-lead vocalist and guitarist for the well known group Boston, from 2007 – 2011, it just blows my mind!

My latest find has me reeling as well; I was listening to a mainstream rock radio station in my car that I’ve listened to for years that plays what’s known as Classic Rock. They played the song “Never Been Any Reason” by a group I had only vaguely heard of before, Head East. Over the years I think I’ve only heard that name once or twice, but the song sparked my interest and I had to find out more about the group! So the second I got home I googled it (thank goodness for modern technology!) and what I found out freaked me to no end, turns out that the lead vocalist was none other than John Schlitt of Petra fame! I also found out that John Elefante of the band Mastedon was once frontman for the band Kansas from ’81 – ’84! Wonders never cease! You never know who has turned their life over to the Lord!

Over the years I have come across many groups with songs that hit a spiritual cord, like Blindfaith’s “Presence of the Lord”, Eric Clapton’s “Tears In Heaven”, Bruce Cockburn’s “Lord of the Starfields”, The Hooters’ “All You Zombies”, Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit in the Sky”, the Rolling Stones had “Prodigal Son”, Rush’s “Peaceable Kingdom” or Collective Soul’s “You”, along with tons of others as well. The first time I heard the album "Far From Home" by Steve Winwood and Traffic with the songs “Here Comes a Man”, “Holy Ground” and “State of Grace, I couldn’t help but notice the spiritual message ingrained throughout. Not all of these people were devout believers; many were just searching for something to fill the void in their lives at one time or another, others were just trying to spark more interest in their music, but some actually found God!

So it does my heart good to learn that many of the people in the mainstream music world have turned to the Lord. It’s actually a good thing when bands don’t flaunt their “Christian-ism”, because people can be drawn in by the message in the music and not scared away by the thought of listening to Christian music! Bands like Emery, actively look for venues that are “outside the box” to play at, bars, clubs and mainstream music festivals like Vans Warped Tour, just as Jesus reached out to those around him, tax collectors, lepers, drunks, the demon possessed and harlots, anyone in need!

So it just goes to show, you can’t always judge a rocker by their appearance or the type of music they play! They might just be ROCKIN’ FOR The Lord!