Friday, April 17, 2009

God of this city


For the story behind the song, watch this one.


To hear the acoustic version of the song, watch this one.

On the way in to work this morning, I was listening to KLOVE, like I always do in the effort to improve my attitude and tamp down my road rage (it doesn't usually work). And before she played this song, the dj asked, "Did God have KLOVE in mind when He sent this song to Blue Tree?" KLOVE is in Anchorage, Denver, San Antonio, Ft. Smith, and so many other cities. And God is there too. The most amazing thing about this song is the way it was written...God was working in a bar in Thailand, maybe the last place you'd expect but the first place in a list of a million where God is needed, His people are needed. It's easy to judge the people in those places. It's harder to love them.

I read recently about Christians wanting to distance themselves from the title "Christian" because it leaves such a bad taste in so many mouths, mainly because of how political lines are drawn. And I understand that. Changing the name means nothing. We've got to be out there working, showing our cities Christ. Being a Christian isn't about how we vote, it's about how we live every day. And we can say it loudly, over and over, but we've got to live it to make the change.

1 Peter 1:21-23

21Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.

22Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. 23For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.