I’d say Bounce was class! There I said it. Although I’ve grown up and been part of the Urban Junction story, Bounce was one of them things that I never got to experience and don’t get me wrong, my experience of Urban Junction has been an extremely positive one…but still. I would have loved a rave in the hall with my friends, made a fool of myself dancing (I’m actually great at this, you have my word), and of course listening to some great music. I’ve heard the music was great. Top quality DJ’s making each night memorable to the people that were there. Songs that get you moving, songs that get you singing and excited and happy.
Music has that effect on people. We love being able to connect to something that transcends our current emotions through different beats, and even though everyone is wired that bit differently, we find cohesion in the music, we clap at the same time, we jump at the same time, I’d go as far as to say we “slide to left, slide to the right….criss cross”….. sorry.
I used to love my dance music, okay I still like it, but I save that for the gym to pump myself up or if Rachel, Tara and Peter are going somewhere with me, we are usually having a rave in my car. It gets very loud at times! In the last couple of years my music taste has changed a fair bit. Spotify tells me that in 2019 my ‘Top Songs’ were ones by Stormzy, Hillsong and Robin Mark…who has a fantastic version of ‘Days of Elijah’! Get on it church, thank me later!
Lately though, I have been considering the music I listen to and really thinking about what draws us all into it.
I’m on a bit of an Oasis buzz at the moment and the song I just have on repeat is “Stop Crying your Heart Out” and I’ve figured out where my favourite bit of the song is, and then as I have thought about other music I listen to, it’s that exact same moment that I crave to hear. Its where the chorus turns into another chorus. I’m sure there is a musical term for this sort of thing, but I don’t know it… anyway, moving on. Everyone knows the words to a chorus, it’s usually what makes or breaks a song and that little gap where the chorus begins to repeat itself gives me that satisfaction, where it transcends, where it allows me to go further with the song and really get into it.
Repeating is good. I’m all for it. And so is the Bible. Any time you see something repeated in the Bible you should take note of it because it usually means what is being said is important. If you were just to look at Jesus’ life you can see it. when he was in front of the crowd with Pilate, what did they shout? “Crucify him! Crucify him! Crucify him!”. Probably not the encouragement you were looking for when explaining this idea. The Son of God being given the death sentence by the same people who just 5 days before were shouting “Hosanna! Hosanna! Hosanna!”. Janey! The people living in Jerusalem are a forgetful bunch, aren’t they? How could they turn on Jesus like that? That most certainly wouldn’t happen now. It took them 5 days! Well done to them, I’d give Christianity today about 5 minutes before we wanted rid of him (A blog for another time!). So, Jesus goes and dies a painful death, abandoned by his friends and then rises from the dead! Holla!! And anyone who believes in Him, will have eternal life. What a deal.
I like the idea of eternal life…a lot! The food is going to be great, the catch ups I’m going to have with heroes of the faith will be amazing, I’ve read that the accommodation is quite good too. Jesus already has a room for each of us. And we’ll sing, we’ll sing to the beat of the King of Kings. We’ll sing about Him. We’ll shout for joy “Holy, Holy, Holy!”. The passage in Revelation that talks about this, tells us that it never stops! It’s on repeat, its never ending and we’ll find our transcendence in the light of God right before our eyes. I imagine it will be a Chris Tomlin version because he’s good at this sort of thing!
And while we are here on Earth, we also have to show that beat. It might be an internal thing that you feel but expressing it with our actions is more important.
We need to be able to show that we’re dancing to a different tune to the world. St. Paul tells us to keep in step with Christ, not going off your own way.
Dancing to the beat of the author of life throughout your life is a far better option than going away and doing your own thing. The other options aren’t great! The world shouts “LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE! YOU CAN DO THIS BY YOURSELF!”, when actually the only way to live a life fulfilled, is by following the one who gave that life. And it’s a struggle, and it’s a pain. But I’d rather be keeping to the beat of Jesus’ rhythms of grace, and know that even when I mess up, even when I fall over, the song goes on and I find the transcendence in the one who plays the song, who created the beat, the King of kings, the Lord of lords…the DJ.