this blog is my attempt to shine some light on why this music is so influential to me in my worship experience. It is an hour long mix.... and I hope you will put your headphones on and listen to it as I describe each song to you below...
I hope it is a blessing to you...
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before we begin, I would like to offer the following words from Jesus for your consideration:
Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration. John 4:23-24 Message
track 1. East - Humate
this is a groovy little trance/breakbeat track that is a bit repetitive, but really has alot of intricate beats. I like this as my first track because it requires an intentional decision on my part to start into my "groove". It symbolizes life to me.... it can be very monotonous at times, but if we make a conscious decision to embrace life and seek truth through the mundane.... well.... you get the idea. When I listen to this, I simply start with a slight nodding of the head to the beat.... close my eyes a bit.... and that leads us into the next track....
track 2. Love - Icey
absolutely timeless Orlando classic.... the vocals are "Do you feel my love for you..."
Obviously I am intentionally inserting this in my mix to symbolize God's persistence in wanting us to FEEL His love for us. This is a great opportunity to begin the journey into EXPERIENCING the love of God personally. We were each created to worship God.... our Creator and Father.... personally. I am not saying that this music is the only way to worship God, but it is one of my favorite ways. I hope to inspire you to engage with YOUR Spirit in the pursuit of Truth.... so YOU can know for yourself how much you are LOVED.
track 3. Age of Love - Sven Vath
This is where I introduce for you a theme that I find in this mix. When I worship to electronic music such as this, I picture in my mind two Spirits on the dancefloor... one is my carnal/human Spirit... and one is the Spirit of Christ.... they are engaging in an intimate groove to the beat.....
in this track, the vocals are "come on, dance with me... move your body..... come on, come on..."
to me, this is the Spirit of Christ within me calling me to follow His lead.... as it is through a revelation of Him within me that is the true mystery of the Gospel...
also.... the title "Age of Love" is symbolic to me because we all live in the Age of Love right now!!! 2000 years ago, God revealed what real love was to this world through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus...
track 4. Out of Body Experience (Burning Spear mix) - Rabbit in the Moon
Well.... this is one of my all time favorite tracks. To me, the beats lure me into a very deep state of worship... I picture my Spirit and Christ's looking deep into each other as they groove.... there is a bit of a struggle of wits here..... my human Spirit is consumed with carnal thoughts, while Christ's is just wanting me to submit to my true identity in Him..... the vocals "Lost.... Loneliness.... Time..." represent my carnal thoughts..... and Christ's response to me is "....Fly Away...."
track 5. Stella - Jam and Spoon
groovy little track, and again the theme of struggle between my Spirit and Christ's.... you hear subtle vocals that say "Love Me".... "Hold Me"....to me, this is the true yearning of my carnal Spirit.... to FEEL and experience the Love of God.... personally, I believe that there needs to be a deep, intimate, and seductive relationship in the Spirit.... (not sexual, as that is carnal.... it is deeper than that)
track 6. I Love You - Electrotete
now this, to me, is the response of God to my yearnings to know Him..... the vocals "I Love You" are repeated over and over again..... I picture the Spirit of Christ embracing with my Spirit and beginning to reveal all of the mysteries to me of who I really am...... a simple expression of my Father's Love.... fully empowered with His Spirit and Abilities to Live..... REALLY LIVE!!!
track 7. Love Stimulation - Humate
Now.... as I finally begin to submit to the Love of God that is revealed to me through Christ.... something funny starts to happen.... I begin to experience TRUTH.... I picture my Spirit and Christ becoming ONE.... dancing like a fire in the center of the dancefloor.... it is intimate.... pure.... and natural..... it is not forced..... it's like it was always supposed to be this way...... "why have I resisted you so long?", I ask............ but that thought immediately is removed by His peace.....
I can't really explain this much better for you, as it is my revelation..... but I now get the desire to really, really groove with my Maker....
track 8. Escape - Icey
we now enter the deeper, dancier part of my mix..... this breakbeat track brings in more bass, while continuing a bit of the dreamy, trancy sound.... It is my experience that to escape.... to truly embrace and dance in the Spirit.... is the ultimate worship experience.... (just my opinion...)
track 9. Security - Beat Club
now this is one of my all time favorite dance tracks.... very sultry, almost dark and distorted sounds.... the vocals are "a subtle wink... familiar smile...a certain scent controls the air.... another day... another night.... another place.... another time..... security...... security....."
this symbolizes to me the real security we can receive only from experiencing our creator.... every time I dance to this song, it is a different day, night, place, time.... and yet, the same peace is there waiting for me.....
it also asks us "what is this thing called.... security....... trust....... seduction....... trust......"
again, for me this is just a further symbolic interaction between my Spirit and the Spirit of Christ that is within me...
track 10. Don't stop the Rock - Freestyle
"Freestyle's freakin in the house tonight.... move your body from left to right.... to all you freaks don't stop the rock.... a freak-athon...."
"there's a party in the house, and we'll be rockin tonight.... so bring your body with you baby, and I'll make you feel right.... it's a freaky celebration of the natural kind.... and the pleasure you'll experience will blow your mind...."
this is basically a party song..... and, well.... if you haven't had the revelation that you have a party God.... then you just might not understand..... I think that an intense encounter with the Spirit of Christ within us is a "freaky celebration of the natural kind..."
track 11. Made of Stone (808 mix) - Stone Roses
now this track is on here more for it's sound than it's lyrics.... I think it transitions us out of the breakbeats perfectly.... I do like the lyrics "sometimes I fantisize...", as I think that our imagination is the place where we can experience the Spiritual connection that we have with God.... I don't think He gave us our imagination for all the perverted uses that most of mankind has used it for...
now, this song could probably be taken the wrong way.... certainly I am bold enough to say it wasn't written with my ministry in mind.... but this is my point: With an established foundation of Truth through a revelation of our true identity in Christ.... the Holy Spirit can minister to us through any music.... when I hear lyrics that don't line up with Truth, my Spirit simply says "God's not like that...." or, "That's not true"....
my point is, I don't think that Jesus would get up and leave the dancefloor if he heard some lyrics that weren't perfectly lined up with truth.... I believe He would simply dance away, and rest in the Truth that His Spirit reveals to him...
track 12. Dream On - Depeche Mode
simply put.... I love Depeche Mode. This is a cool track that takes us further out of the dancy tracks I played earlier. The lyrics are awesome (google search and read them)...
my favorite is "Can you feel... a little love..... dream on, dream on..."
again, I think our imagination is the place where we can dance with our Maker.... where we can leave the intellectual.... and enter the experiential.....
dream on, baby....
track 13. I wann be Adored - Stone Roses (Lunasol remix)
....."I don't have.... to sell my soul............... He's already IN me.........."
...... " I wanna be adooooooooooooored........"
In closing..... I just want to say that the most inspiring revelation I have ever had is that my God is interested in what makes me tick.... so much so, that He takes up residency within me and meets me where I am. I stumbled into an experience with him years ago on the legendary dancefloors of Orlando's former night club scene. He pursued me through this music.... through my very basic desire to know Him for myself. Now, He has made it clear to me that through this very same music.... He intends to spread His love to a generation that needs to experience it.... and I get to go along for the ride.....
;0)~
....Groove On, Baby........
