Several years ago, when I was yet to encounter Christ and confess Him as my Lord and Saviour, I was really into hip hop and rap music. This is not to say that there isn’t hip hop today that glorifies Christ but back then it was unheard of. There was a track I used to like by an artist who is late now. It was called ‘Trading War Stories’. Essentially, the artists on the track were talking about swapping stories with other gangsters and soldiers on the streets of black America. Before you conclude that I’ve backslidden, please bear with me as I’m taking you somewhere!
I want to talk about a completely different world in which we as Christian soldiers trade our very own war stories. The moment we become Christians, we put on Christ’s robe of righteousness which to the enemy is like an army uniform. You stand out to the kingdom of darkness and whether or not you like it, you have entered into a war. We all have war stories to share with one another and stir up our faith in the Divine Commander of our army. We have fought battles against temptation in our hearts. We have fought battles against deceitful thoughts in our minds. We have waged war against spiritual forces on our knees. Some of us already bear the scars of our battles either emotionally or spiritually. Those in countries where persecution is rife also bear physical marks of the warfare they faced.
What excites me more than trading war stories as a platform for encouraging other believers is the fact that one day I will get to share my own stories with people like the Apostle Paul, Abraham, David and so on! Trials are a rich source of war stories for the Christian. They not only give us an avenue to glorify the God we serve but they also mature us spiritually. Rather than wish a trial away, we should ask God to grant us the grace to go through each trial and glean every single thing He wants us to learn from it. Never waste a good trial is what I would say.
One day we will be in eternity discussing God’s faithfulness through the ages as we share war stories with the saints of old and rejoice at the victory we all share in common through Christ. Don’t despise your spiritual battle scars. They are precious in His sight.
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Hi Watchman, yes we can all share the war that is going on perhaps in our own lives or within the Church, where often we find Jesus Christ is not considered The Head but man. I Love all types of music except what man distorts or lyric’s that are in error, they upset me.
God tells us to have His balance in Music, Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs, sadly today we don’t always see this in the Churches. Melody in Greek means stringed instruments but whether we play them or we sing it must come from our hearts and we are to be in Unity which comes from God’s Love in our heart and having the same focus and being of one mind which is the mind of Christ -1Corinthians2:9 -16
Music has many wonderful memories for every Generation and we see this in the Church History… Hymns then Scripture or Psalms in Song and what we have mainly today Spiritual songs, most Christian Music falls within these three groups and they all are beautiful but of course words must be checked for error, one Hymn talks about worshiping Mother god and God being weary these are in error. But even some Music classified as non Christian can touch our heart, The Holy Sprit leaves His Truth everywhere.
Ephesians 5:18-20 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;
Colossians 3:15-17And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by Him.
Christian Love from both of us – Anne
Hello Anne. Thanks for this masterclass on music and our faith. I had little or no clue about all these things you mentioned and I’m really glad you went into detail because I for one learnt quite a lot from your comment. I think I’m coming to realise that God can touch our hearts through things that are not explicitly Christian. I used to struggle with that but I’m learning from more mature Christians like you and Ron. Thanks as always Anne.
Hi watchman you are such a humble man so willing to accept Godly advice, do you know the Scriptures say this shows you are wise by God’s standards but of course not the worlds, which tells us to reject advice because we know it all, of course they sugar coat it, you may have heard … I don’t need your advice, just your love….. but you don’t really Love someone if you allow them to continue in error hurting not only themselves but others.
Perhaps we need to do a post about the balance in music God asks us to have, so many do not realise they are disobeying God’s guidelines in choosing to focus on only one type of music but because they have this has caused much division over the years, God always has a balance.
Christian Love Anne.
Such a post would be awesome Anne! Just think how many people are unwittingly erring as a result of not knowing the truth in this area. Thanks for your kind words too. I am learning Anne. Learning that the Body of Christ is a source of knowledge, support, love and encouragement, rather than the competition that it is being turned into. Thanks for caring enough to correct me when the need arises.
Hi again Watchman in answer to you reply, as I shared there are also songs not considered Christian because they don’t say the names Jesus or God but there is great Spiritual Truth in them. I will share one with you that I heard over 30 years ago, I was an Atheist, so lost, so confused and so hurting and I didn’t understand what all the words meant but I couldn’t get them out of my mind and I always felt so uplifted when I heard the song, like I feel now knowing God Loves me, I realised later it was The Holy Spirit talking to my heart and drawing me to the Lord, it was not long after that I heard the Gospel and started my journey with Him.This song became popular because of the Artist Anne Murry but the Song writer Randy Goodrum described it as being about “unconditional, undeserved Love. The Holy Spirit does indeed leave His seeds of Truth everywhere.
You Needed Me
I cried a tear
You wiped it dry
I was confused
You cleared my mind
I sold my soul
You bought it back for me
And held me up and gave me dignity
Somehow you needed me
Chorus
You gave me strength
To stand alone again
To face the world
Out on my own again
You put me high upon a pedestal
So high that I could almost see eternity
You needed me
You needed me
And I can’t believe it’s you I can’t believe it’s true
I needed you and you were there
And I’ll never leave, why should I leave
I’d be a fool
‘Cause I’ve finally found someone who really cares
You held my hand
When it was cold
When I was lost
You took me home
You gave me hope
When I was at the end
And turned my lies
Back into truth again
You even called me friend
Repeat Chorus
Christian Love from both of us – Anne
wow this song is really inspired Anne. Seems as though the writer was talking about God! The Holy Spirit clearly wrote this song!! wow…it’s amazing and humbling to think we are all His vessels even when we don’t acknowledge Him. Thanks for taking time out to share this Anne