The mysteries of John Mark McMillan

I can’t help but dedicate one of my blog posts to John Mark McMillan.

Just recently, I stumbled upon one of his [new to me] songs from The Medicine album, “My Only” and I’ve had it on repeat continuously. I can’t help it.

There’s something magical and mysterious about his songs. They give me the truest glimpses of God I’ve ever been able to find through music. His lyrics are raw, verging into the gutsy and gory, at times. But his deep, country voice somehow finds a way to make it sound like a folk masterpiece.

And that’s what I like about him. He’s unconventional. He talks about real brokenness and redemption with no makeup on. He is not afraid to admit that he struggles with God and pain, and sometimes He cries out in desperation for answers. He doesn’t try to hide or sugarcoat how needy and naked we are. And when we see ourselves this way, we are able to admire a great God who covers us in undeserving grace. His songs are the epitome of beauty in the broken.

John Mark sings from the heart. His lyrics are the most beautiful metaphors I’ve encountered. His voice overcomes me. That man has a true gift!

Enjoy some of my favorites from JMM:

“My Only” from The Medicine

“Carbon Ribs” from The Medicine

“Closer” from The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down

“Who Is This” from Economy

And of course, I could not leave behind “How He Loves” from The Song Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down. Pay special attention to what JMM sings around 6:25.

Tonight… But why not tomorrow?

I found this article via Mark Driscoll’s Twitter, “Friends With Benefits Mirrors Growing Teen Epidemic“. It talks about how movies such as this one reflect teen culture today: accepting casual sex as normal, diminishing the importance of responsibility and thinking about consequences. I would go even further and say that music is playing an even bigger role into this.

"Give me everything tonight
For all we know we might not get tomorrow
Let's do it tonight"

"If only For Tonight
You Could be the Only One
You Could be the Only One For Me
Only takes Tonight"

"Oh, let's not think about tomorrow tonight
Just live the moment"

"Live like there's no tomorrow
'Cause all we have is here, right now
Love like it's all that we know"

These are the lyrics to some of the hits that are playing on the radio right now. It seems like the most predominant word in all this club/dance/house hits is the word Tonight. Scan through the radio and you just might prove my point. The word in and of itself is not wrong; the problem with it is the underlying message:

“Don’t think about consequences!”

“Forget about self control”

“Don’t wait till tomorrow”

“What matters is here and now”

“Do whatever you feel like doing right now”

And all these are usually said in a sexual context. I will be adding to the noise by delving too much into how our consumeristic habits affect our whole lives; how technology has made everything so instantaneous that waiting for anything has practically become a curse. No one wants to wait for their online package to arrive in a week. No one wants to wait and save to buy a laptop or whatever. And no one would certainly wait until marriage for sex! Because I don’t want to wait till tomorrow or till next month or till next year. I want it right now, tonight! [Instant Gratification]

The Bible is very clear about the importance of waiting. Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit, probably one of the hardest to exercise and master; very important nonetheless. And when God commands us to wait till marriage for sex, He is not just trying to make our lives miserable. His commands have our best interest in mind–but that’s a subject for another day.

To wrap up, I want to leave you with a question Pastor Adam Greenfield, from Riverside Christian Fellowship, said while preaching at my church a few Sunday mornings ago:

“What do you call a person who gets what they want whenever they want it?” SPOILED.

Esta noche… ¿Pero por qué no mañana?

Encontré este artículo a través del Twitter de Mark Driscoll, “Amigos con Beneficios Refleja creciente epidemia de adolescentes” [en inglés]. Habla de cómo las películas como ésta reflejan la cultura joven de hoy: la aceptación de relaciones sexuales ocasionales con normalidad, disminuyendo la importancia de la responsabilidad y de pensar en las consecuencias. Yo iría incluso más lejos y diría que la música juega un papel aún más importante en esto.

"Dame todo esta noche
Por lo que sabemos, puede que no tengamos mañana
Vamos a hacerlo esta noche "

"Si sólo por esta noche
¿Podría ser la única
¿Podría ser la única para mí
Sólo toma esta noche"

"Oh, no vamos a pensar en mañana esta noche
Solo vive el momento "

"Vive como si no hubiera mañana
Porque todo lo que tenemos es aquí y ahora
Ama como si fuera lo único que sabemos "

Estas son las letras de algunos de los éxitos que están sonando en la radio ahora mismo. Parece que la palabra predominante en todo estos hits de club/dance/house es esta noche. Si escuchas algunas emisoras en la radio, podrías probar mi punto. La palabra en sí no es mala, el problema es el mensaje subyacente:

“No pienses en las consecuencias!”

“Olvídate del auto control”

“No hay que esperar hasta mañana”

“Lo que importa es aquí y ahora”

“Haz lo que desees hacer ahora mismo”

Y todo esto es, por lo general, en un contexto sexual. Sólo redundaría si profundizo demasiado en cómo nuestros hábitos consumistas afectan toda nuestra vida, cómo la tecnología ha hecho todo tan instantáneo que esperar por algo prácticamente se ha convertido en una maldición. Nadie quiere esperar a que su orden de compra en línea llegue en una semana. A nadie le gusta esperar y ahorrar para comprar una computadora portátil o cualquier otra cosa. Y, sin duda, nadie esperaría hasta el matrimonio para tener relaciones sexuales! Porque yo no quiero esperar hasta mañana o hasta el próximo mes o el año que viene. Lo quiero ahora, esta noche! [Gratificación instantánea]

La Biblia es muy clara sobre la importancia de esperar. La paciencia es uno de los frutos del Espíritu, probablemente uno de los más difíciles de ejercer y dominar. Sin embargo, es muy importante. Y cuando Dios nos ordena esperar hasta el matrimonio para tener relaciones sexuales, no está tratando de hacer que nuestras vidas sean miserables. Sus mandatos buscan nuestros mejores intereses–pero eso es un tema para otro día.

Para terminar, quiero dejarlos con una pregunta que el Pastor Adam Greenfield, de Riverside Christian Fellowship, dijo mientras predicaba en mi iglesia hace unos domingos:

“¿Cómo llamas a una persona que consigue lo que quiere cuando lo quiere?” MALCRIADO.

Be Intentional: Prepare to serve

I love music. I do. I’m the kind of girl that does just about everything while listening to music. There’s something about music that transports me to some other world. And yet, with all my love for music, I’ve never learnt to play any instrument (and I’m not counting the flute lessons I had in third grade). I don’t even know if I’m good at playing instruments because I’ve never tried to play any. Playing an instrument had never occurred to me.

Lately, though, it’s like I’ve gone from never feeling desire to play an instrument to wanting to learn to play an instrument: the guitar.

And I admit there are three reasons:

1. SONGWRITING

Yep, I admitted that, a secret most people don’t know about me. I like to write songs. I’ve written many, I just never show them to anyone. Nonetheless, there are a few songs from the batch that I feel truly have potential. The problem is that they are just lyrics. I’ve tried to make up melodies for the songs, but it’s a big fail. And I know it would be so much easier to do if I knew how to play an instrument.

2. WORSHIP

I love to sing when I have my personal time with the Lord, and many times I’ve found myself wanting to sing to the chords of a guitar. Every time I listen to a specific song, I really wish I knew how to play it: Chris Tomlin’s “Majesty of Heaven” (Acoustic version). You can listen to the song here.

3. SERVICE

This is the most important reason why I want to learn to play the guitar. A couple of weeks back, our small group leader said something that struck a chord. He was playing the piano to start our small group worship time, and we were surprised because we didn’t know that he knew how to play the piano. And he said this: “When I was young–I had recently become a Christian–I knew that God had called me to serve him in some way. But I didn’t know at the time where he wanted me to serve. So I decided to learn how to play the guitar and the piano, so that if God wanted me to serve in this ministry, I would be ready.”

I think I should clarify that my small group leader doesn’t serve in the worship ministry at our church, even though he once did when he was younger. I don’t think that he aspires to become a worship leader either. But whenever he’s on a missions trip, small group, evangelizing or any other activity where some music is needed, he’s completely qualified to serve by playing the guitar. And the best part is that the guitar is an instrument that can be easily carried anywhere and doesn’t need electricity.

Preparing, gaining knowledge or learning how to do something doesn’t guarantee center stage at a specific ministry, and that should not be the intention of our hearts either. But it does guarantee that we are ready to serve when the opportunity arises.

I don’t know where exactly the Lord will have me serve in the future, but I want to be ready to serve in as many possible ways as I can, whenever the opportunity arises. I encourage you to find something where you can be helpful in the service to the Lord, something you might enjoy doing, something you feel like you would want to know how to do, and be intentional! Start to learn how to do it! You could take photography lessons, go to Bible Institute, learn how to operate the audio consoles, learn a new language, or who knows? learn how to play an instrument. You don’t know what you’ll be doing years down the road, but you just might be able to serve God with your talents and knowledge in situations where those talents are required. Be ready!

“[...] so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.”   -2 Timothy 3:17