LayGuy

Paul says..

“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To THE WEAK, I BECAME THE WEAK, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.  I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings.” 1 Cor 9:19-23

In modern expression, this would read, “I do whatever it takes to connect to people wherever they are so that what I say about Jesus can be understood clearly by them in their situation.”

In this day of pluralistic generations…baby boomers, Gen X, Gen Y and whatever other label the marketers impose on us, one thing remains very true – the way we engage life is vastly different amongst the generations. What’s normal for the baby boomers is seen as stupid by the Gen Y’ers and vice versa.

To legitimise one view over the other is a foolish exercise on a number of levels as each camp will hold on fast to what they believe.  Having said that, if baby boomers look down on Gen X or Y for their “foolish ways” they need to remember that they helped create this generation in their pursuit of profits and share holder return.  Yes we are the product of your greed – much like the current financial crisis.

It’s no wonder then that a generation of rebelious and angry people are the result of the seeds planted by previous generations.  And one of the ways this generation get’s it’s therapy is from music – and the angrier the music, the more dark it is, the more the young resonate to it – just ask the growing emo subculture.

And that’s where I take my hat off to a Christian band called Flyleaf.  These guys are heavy, these guys are dark and they dwell in dark areas of the human experience.  But what sets them apart is that through their music, they connect to a lost and hurting generation by dwelling on their level of human existence and point people to a God able to meet their needs at exactly the place they are at.

One of my favourite passages of scrpture is this:

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.” 2 Cor 1:3-4

Flyleaf’s lead singer, Lacey Mosely, had a tough life.  From the bands website she says:

“My mom was a young single mother of six. We didn’t have money and things were hard for all of us. We moved whenever we couldn’t make ends meet in one place, and that happened pretty often so there was a lot of struggling, suffering and character building.

“It’s easy to get depressed when you’re dealing with that kind of stress,” she continues, “especially when it looks like things will never get better. There was nothing constant in my life, and nothing to believe in. I got into some really bad stuff that I thought would make me feel more loved, or maybe just numb, but it cost me everything that was important to me, and literally almost took my life.”

This is so typical of many of the young these days.  As a result of the behaiviour of parents, the kids get all messed up – like I said, we are the offspring of our parents issues.

Flyleaf’s self-titled debut album echoes with songs about abuse, neglect, addiction and dysfunction, and messages about overcoming adversity – a true light at the end of the tunnel for todays generation.

Check out the following interview to get into the band’s mindset:

Below are a bunch of songs from the band for you to enjoy.  But before you check them out, play the next video to see them impacted by the poverty in Africa:

World Vision Trip To Rwanda

This band is truly connected to the western young and are impacted by the devestation on this planet and are compelled to do soemthing about it. These guys are truly missional and before any of you religous people freak out, get a life, get humble and get “changed”. And now for their music…

It’s nice to see that the talent from Fellowship Church is made available for all to view and share.  Pace Hartfield is in charge of all the creative stuff at the church and now has a Vimeo account where he makes available the graphic content.  Below are some of my favourites and I hope you enjoy:

Upside Down
A cool little clip showing the renewing of the mind.

Upside Down from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

Send Love
A great song with a great message and backed up with great artwork

Send Love Video Content from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

New Creation
Another great song where I’ve posted before.

New Creation from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

But for only the artwork, check this out:

New Creation Video Content from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

Trans Siberian
The perfect mix of classical and rock music with awesome artwork.  Trans Siberian is a favourite of mine and to see this played in a church is a huge blessing to me.

Trans Siberian Element Only from Pace Hartfield on Vimeo.

Have you heard of Jamendo?  You probably have already.  But in case you haven’t and you love free music you can download to your hearts content, then Jamendo is a place you should check out.  At the time of writing this post, they have 11,160 albums you can freely download.

Of course this is a site for aspiring new artists so you won’t get your mainstream music through Jamendo.  But you cab still pick unbelievable music legally and free.

I personally really enjoy listening to electronic, ambient and atmospheric music as I read, study and surf the net.  Below is a widget with tracks from one of my favourite bands on Jamendo.  Hope you enjoy the songs and be sure to check out Jamendo!