lyrics: "Easier Than Love" by Switchfoot

sex is one of those things... it can be such a beautiful thing; something that produces new life. but if we abuse it, it can also destroy. our culture has misused it... bob will be talking about this sunday at lifepoint. here is switchfoot's take on the subject:

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Sex is currency
She sells cars, she sells magazines
Addictive, bittersweet, clap your hands with the hopeless nicotines

Everyone's a lost romantic,
Since our love became a kissing show
Everyone's a Casanova,
Come and pass me the mistletoe
Everyone's been scared to death of dying here alone

Sex is easier than love, is easier than life
It's easier to fake and smile and bribe
It's easier to leave, it's easier to lie
It's harder to face ourselves at night
Feeling alone, what have we done?
What is the monster we've become?
Where is my soul?

Sex is industry,
The CEO of corporate policy
Skin-deep ministry, suburban youth: hail your so-called liberty

Every advertising antic
Our banner waves with a neon glow
War and love become pedantic
We wage love with a mistletoe
Everyone's been scared to death of dying here alone........

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our culture has created an environment in which teenagers think they have to have sex... if they don't, they won't be cool; they will "die here alone". so in a young person's mind, saving sex for what it was intended is so incredibly hard... it may even be accompanied by criticism from their peers. therefore for them, sex is 'easier than love, easier than life.' in those youthful years, it's simply the easy way out, or the easy way into popularity/acceptance.

but we quickly find ourselves feeling alone; finding it harder to face ourself in the mirror... what is the monster we've become? what have we done with our souls?

there is hope, and the writer of this song did his best to spread it. we need to find our own way of spreading this same hope to the young people around us.

lyrics: "This Too Shall Be Made Right" by Derek Webb

in this tune, derek points lots of things wrong with the world... very moving.

may i emphasize that the statements he makes are being declared as unfortunate truths or unfortunate opinions of people in this world... when he says that "there is a time for children to die," he is commenting on the terrible state of our world, and his hope for what is to come when these sufferings are no more (just in case you only skimmed one or two lines and misinterpreted...).

the 4th & 5th verses are the most powerful to me... Jesus calls us to a higher standard; in his 'kingdom,' there would be no war, no settling the score... no trading in people's lives for our own comfort...

a video that someone put together corresponding to the song is at the bottom. enjoy!

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people love you the most for the things you hate
and hate you for loving the things that you cannot keep straight
people judge you on a curve
and tell you you’re getting what you deserve
and this too shall be made right

children cannot learn when children cannot eat
stack them like lumber when children cannot sleep
children dream of wishing wells
whose waters quench all the fires of hell
and this too shall be made right

the earth and the sky and the sea are all holding their breath
wars and abuses have nature groaning with death
we say we’re just trying to stay alive
but it looks so much more like a way to die
and this too shall be made right

there’s a time for peace and there is a time for war
a time to forgive and a time to settle the score
a time for babies to lose their lives
a time for hunger and genocide
and this too shall be made right

I don’t know the suffering of people outside my front door
I join the oppressors of those who i choose to ignore
I’m trading comfort for human life
and that’s not just murder it’s suicide
and this too shall be made right
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lyrics: "Hear Our Prayers" by The Glorious Unseen

i invite you to check these guys out for some unique, creative, passionate worship music... super authentic. for this guy, the songs came first, then people who loved them encouraged him to share them by making an album... not just, "let's make an album to sell."

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Hear our cries Lord,
Hear our prayers.
Take our burdens,
Calm our fears.

God will you make us
A people that love You.
Please take our offerings
That we set before You.
God hear our prayers
That we're lifting up to You.
God see our tears
That we're struggling to see through.
God, hear our prayers to You.

In our weakness,
You remain.
When we're broken,
You sustain.

God will you make us
A people that love You.
Please take our offerings
That we set before You.
God hear our prayers
That we're lifting up to You.
God see our tears
That we're struggling to see through.

God hear our prayers
As we lift them to heaven.
We're praying the angels
Receive and embrace them.
The hopes of the empty,
The cries of the broken.
We're reaching our hands out,
Oh Lord will You hold them?

lyrics: "Sacred Place" by Future of Forestry

Come into this sacred place
Come into my heart and sing Your song of grace
Pull me safe into the deep
Pull me in to where the depths of love meet

Sing, sing over me until dawn
Pull me safe into the deep


Come and carry me away
Come into my heart and turn this night to day
Come into this sacred place
Come into my heart and sing

'Cause I can hear You now
And You're the only sound
I give You all my love
You've rescued me

You embrace me, and You calm me
You persuade me, You console me

lyrics: "Open" by Jason Morant

It's time for something more real than all these words
While the least of these are broken and dying
We count the pearls in our purse
It's time to live in love
It’s time to live in love

So open up your doors
Let the Son shine out into the night you're hiding from
Let your hearts bleed with love because when all is said and done
Love's the only voice that's heard

With all that we've been given and all we hold to be true
We've thrown away the one key that unlocks the door
We ourselves crawled through
It's time to live in love
It’s time to live in love

Open up your doors
Let the Son shine out into the night you're hiding from
Let your hearts bleed with love because when all is said and done
Love's the only voice that's heard
So let your love be heard

Silver and gold have we some
But is that enough to buy a single soul
A ticket to go home
Silver and gold have we some
But is that enough to buy a single soul
Or our own way to the throne

lyrics: "Gazing," by Future of Forestry

Have I mentioned that I like these guys...? My FAVORITE!! Enjoy.

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From this blessed morning
My love constant has been pouring
Pouring out like rivers to Your heart
Glory bells are ringing
I can't keep myself from singing
Singing out like rivers to Your heart

Oh, Lord, I have found my place in this home, this home inside of You
And here, my Lord, I can see Your face
In this home, this home inside of You

Like a child I'm gazing
Into wondrous grace
For You have been the love that fell like sun upon my face
Like a child I'm gazing
Into wondrous love
You're taking me to places that my heart is dreaming of

Broken I was crawling
And You saw my tears were falling
Falling down like rivers to Your heart
When my world was folding
God, You saw my prayers were flowing
Flowing out like rivers to Your heart

Hear the sacred songs that touch the earth and the sky
See them rise until they move like stars within Your eyes

"You & I" - Future of Forestry lyrics

i have to emphasize, once again... i think that looking at the lyrics of song is a lost art... since we often don't have the hard copy of them anymore (those days are gone... but i still love iTunes), i wonder how many people truly examine the lyrics of good artists... if it is a good artist, then there is usually a rich, deep texture to the lyrics that provokes questions, thoughts, and memories... just like a good painting.

man do i remember the days of buying a tape or cd.... sitting by my stereo and listening to the entire album, all the while reading the lyrics off of the album insert.... gone are those days... gone is my stereo...

here is a simple expression of what someone perceives God to be...

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"You & I" - Future of Forestry

Water for the thirsty
Wholeness for the meek
Shelter and foundation for the weak
Friendship for the lonely
Riches for the poor
Fulfillment for the ones who yearn for more

You are what I long for
You are what I need

When it's You and I
Then my heart can sing
When it's You and I
Then my soul is free
You are all my life
You are all my strength
You are all my hope
You are everything

So take me to the inside
The inside of your heart
Take me to the depths of who You are
Shake me with Your wonder
Stir me with Your grace
Lighting every dark and empty space

You are here, You surround me
Glory falls from the fountain of Your beauty
You are now, You surround me
Glory falls from your tender hand of mercy
You are God, You surround me
Glory falls from Your love

lyrics: Robbie Seay Band

I want to state that I love this band, before they get huge... this song is actually being featured on one of the American Idol commercials... so it's only a matter of time, right?

"Rise," by Robbie Seay Band
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Slow down, be still
Let go, we will
Be here, be now.

If you choose to love,
To know that the call
Is to give all you are
To give love away

Rise, rise, people of love rise
People of love rise,
Give yourself away


Slow down, just breathe
Be still believe
Be here be now

Slow down and see
It's all you need
Be loved and free


And to hear the call
is to give your love away

We're not safe
But we will rise
People of love rise
Give yourself away
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This is an obvious call for people who care about the world to act on those beliefs... not just talk about it but do it.

I love the line, "and to hear the call is to give your love away"... Jesus didn't just go around speaking spiritual ultimatums... he showed people a truly better way of life; he gave himself and his love away in all that he did.

"Sunrising" by Future of Forestry

In the gold flood of light
Where the earth meets summer skies
In the satin chill of night
Where dreams await to rise
You bend, you kiss me
You pull me in
I can feel you
Running to me, running through me

Hear the call of night
Open the borders of time
Hear the song of the stars
Sound like a whisper
I've fallen deep from the day
Into eternal, eternal visions of our love

I am diamond, I am rust
From the place a love of love and pain
Made from heaven made from dust
Where dreams will live again
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this is a moving song... when listening to it, sometimes i feel like i have no idea what it means... but yet i know exactly... it's just a state of mind that can't be explained... a great work by these artists.

O Holy Night

i've always loved the song "O Holy Night," but i am just now starting to see the depth to some of the lyrics... when you sing something all your life it tends to turn into empty words. i am starting to see the profound statements in this song. especially this verse:

Truly he taught us to love one another,
His law is love and his gospel is peace.
Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.


this sounds like the lyrics of a song you would hear written today; it emphasizes the kind of revolution Jesus stirred up in that time... that rather than violence and hunger for power, there was a much better way to live... the way we were created to live: in peace with one another and experiencing life to the fullest.

lyrics: "Surely We Can Change" by David Crowder Band

well said, mr. crowder... all too often we like to "pray for change", but not take part in that change at all... just wait for divine intervention to change the world... but it's up to us. i believe that our prayers for change are important, but are only as meaningful as the actions behind them. [lyrics to follow].

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And the problem is this
We were bought with a kiss
But the cheek still turned
Even when it wasn’t hit

And I don’t know
What to do with a love like that
And I don’t know
How to be a love like that

When all the love in the world
Is right here among us
And hatred too
So we must choose
What our hands will do

Where there is pain
Let there be grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Help them be brave
Where there is misery
Bring expectancy
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Something

And the problem it seems
Is with you and me
Not the Love who came
To repair everything

Where there is pain
Let us bring grace
Where there is suffering
Bring serenity
For those afraid
Let us be brave
Where there is misery
Let us bring them relief
And surely we can change
Surely we can change
Oh surely we can change
Something

Oh, the world’s about to change
The whole world’s about to change