Generations Sing

I invite you to join me as I go on a journey into the heart of song and songwriters. I have a strong love for music and the musical giftings of various artists, and I'm continually amazed at how music and it's messages are such a powerful force.

I often just browse and listen to the music that's been popular over the last few years. I listen for the questions of the hearts of the writers. I've heard it said that we can take the pulse of a generation by a sampling of it's music. I believe that and I do see that songs often reveal the deep need of the human being to know and understand themselves, and often their creator. Songwriters seem to be gifted with a healthy curiosity about the world around them and the great and small things that life is made of. They look into many subjects with a deep longing to seek wisdom and then to share what they are observing through their musical giftings.

One great example of these artistic giftings is this song written in the 1970's. The song really opened up a curiosity in me.

Each time I go back and listen to this song, I am astounded at the giftedness of the writer and singer. He exhibits a remarkable talent for capturing the spirit of the times and events he lived through. We who were of an age to remember these times will recognize this gifting by our own recollection of the things he spoke about in rhyme, and we wonder at the skill he demonstrated. The song is called an American classic.

Excerpt from Wikipedia article about this song....

"American Pie" is a folk rock song by American singer-songwriter Don McLean. Recorded and released on the American Pie album in 1971, the single was a number-one U.S. hit for four weeks in 1972. A re-release in 1991 did not chart in the U.S., but reached number 12 in the UK. The song is a recounting of "The Day the Music Died" — the 1959 plane crash that killed Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr.). The importance of "American Pie" to America's musical and cultural heritage was recognized by the Songs of the Century education project which listed the song as the number five song of the twentieth century.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bye_bye_miss_american_pie

The song does blow some smoke. It has some truth but it's seasoned with lots of untruth. However I was impressed with gift of the writer. He was so skilled in the way he wove it all together and packaged it. That's why the song is so interesting!

I love listening for the messages in all writings, I'm just wired that way. So I wondered "What does this song say exactly? What is the cen6tral message?" I noticed how the deep things that touched this songwriter as a child were a part of the story. The tragedy of a plane crash; the shock of the death of several well loved music celebrities. And he saw it as "The day the music died." That seemed to me an extreme thing to declare because of the tragic deaths of three well known and loved singers of the time.Very dramatic. The song goes on to say that the devil was singing Bye Bye to "Miss American Pie" and that the church bells stopped ringing and the Father, Son and Holy Spirit began singing along with the song and left America. Wow! What a journey from the death of some music idols into a statement like that. That caught my attention!

I began to seek the Lord for some answers . Who knows the things of a man except the spirit within the man? He alone has the answers to the questions we all ask .As I was considering these things, the Lord began to explain some things to me. The spiritual climate in our nation at the time was very serious. Sadly, it was a time when rebellion was becoming honorable. The 1960's had ushered in a great decline in the respect for life, morality and godly authority. This nation fell into a sad moral decline.

The "Hippie" generation and the "free love" revolution among the nation's youth was in full swing. There was a great falling away from right moral values, family unity and purity. It was a time when many men were even declaring "God is dead!"

Excerpts from a Wikipedia article on the :death of God" based on a book written by Germanphilosopher Friedrich Nietzsche

"The death of God is a way of saying that humans are no longer able to believe in any such cosmic order since they themselves no longer recognize it. The death of God will lead, Nietzsche says, not only to the rejection of a belief of cosmic or physical order but also to a rejection of absolute values themselves — to the rejection of belief in an objective and universal moral law, binding upon all individuals."

The cover of the April 8, 1966 edition of Time and the accompanying article concerned a movement in American theology that arose in the 1960s known as the "death of God". The death of God movement is sometimes technically referred to as "theothanatology"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_is_dead

I knew for a fact that God had never died because many talk to him regularly. However, truth is not always as some present it in song or word. The spiritual man learns to study and learn but to try the spirits. Lies can be recognized and weeded out.

Truthfully, American society, "Miss American Pie", at this same time was in the midst of a great Jesus revival. God had not left America but many had left God to believe lies. God did birth a movement called the "Jesus Revolution" and today many leaders and artists who were gathered by God in that time are now doing great things for the kingdom. God never left the nation but for the parents of many young teenagers who loved decency and morality it was a scary time. It seemed that all the world news insinuated that all the young people had gone crazy. Drugs culture was born and crazy was exciting to so many. This very gifted songwriter and singer seemed to be on a deep search. Was he on a trip? Laughable question. But truthfully, the music never died.

Lovers of God know that now, and always, God uses music to communicate with man, and scripture teaches that God sings songs of deliverance to his children.

And there are also songs of worldly fables and thoughts. Music can be made to be a positive life giving gift, or a negative one which is instrumental in sowing lies and glorifying evil. I'm convinced that those who have chosen to use their gifts for the glory of God and never turn back will always prosper. There is a need to use our gifts in righteous ways that will benefit society. He is the giver of every gift and has the answer to so many questions for any who will set the whole heart on seeking his will.

The good news for the present day is that the Holy Spirit is on the move and is birthing a mighty revival a lot like the Jesus Revolution in the 60's, yet beyond anything we've ever known. I'm glad to share that great good news with you! And I want to be a part of it.

John 3:17-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.