'Sometimes the only pay-off for having any faith Is when it's tested again and again everyday'... 'Immortals', Fall Out Boy In the run up to moving to Turkey I have a sort of mini bucket list of things to do with some of my closest friends in the UK. I've always been quite eclectic in my music taste but this year I've wanted to experience some more live music- Leeds is great for the music scene, from small intimate venues like The Hifi Club and then the fairly new Leeds 13.000 seater massive Leeds First Direct Arena. This where I got to see Fall Out Boy this weekend, bearing in mind I don't get out loads with a toddler at home. And it was brilliant , yes we were sat at the very top with the cheapest tickets, but the memories right back from university with 'Dance Dance' - listen to it here, to more recent beautiful melodies like Young Volcanoes, which the band performed stripped back and acoustic. Of course most of the crowd were teenagers, but it reminded me of the bands I used to like as a teenager, mostly punk rock and melodic rock, and its because the songs draw you into a special place. A place where your voice is heard as a young person, a place where you can express your longing for a life beyond this earthly one. A cry for faith in something or someone. As a youth worker, I applaud bands like Fall Out Boy for using their platform of fame and power to engage young people with that. One reason we go to enjoy music or the arts in general is because they transport us to a different place, they take us out of this broken world and away from our problems for one evening, of escapism into a world of unchained melodies and wishful lyrics. Peter Wentz the bands bassist took an opportunity to address this at the gig with the following parable... Wentz addressed the brokenness of the world, and the bad news and pain we see on the news everyday. He then recalled a Cherokee parable of a conversation of a grandfather with his grandson.
An old Cherokee chief was teaching his grandson about life... "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. "One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, self-doubt, and ego. "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. "This same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too." The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?" The old chief simply replied, "The one you feed." So what was the message the crowd took from Wentz? To be a better person? To surround yourself with goodness and positivity? I've found a few explanations on how it means we should take control of our thoughts and banish bad ones and just think good and positive thoughts, Well, both as a human and as a Christian I can confirm that is simply not that simple. We know that the sin and destruction in our world starts off as an evil thought from the evil wolf. The Bible has something to say about how we deal with these thoughts- 2 Corinthians 10:5 says; 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Sometimes I let negative thoughts into my mind. I get carried away by fear or feeling angry with someone. The great thing is with Christ is that God helps you 'take those thoughts captive'. John Piper says that we can cry out: “Oh, God. I know that mere intellect will not dismantle the deeply rooted errors of my mind so I avail myself, I open myself, to the Holy Spirit and I seek your face.” When my thoughts tempt me to make bad decisions, or to be anxious or fearful I simply ask God to make my thoughts obedient to Jesus - that is he takes them away and my mind is renewed to be like his. And it is an ongoing process. So, overall, my evening of rock and roll, drew me closer to God, and was good for my faith. I always believe we can see the hand of God in everything, nature, business, the arts - after all it was all made by God for our enjoyment. I am thankful that Fall Out Boy 'went there' they dared to address the brokenness of the world and their role of making music to offer an escape for people and a way of expressing themselves. Of course I believe the only true hope for mankind lies in faith in Jesus Christ. Wentz parable, although far from Biblical, told his young and impressionable audience, that to overcome evil, we merely don't feed the bad wolf in our minds. However I am reminded that we can only do that with the Holy Spirits power in our lives, and have our minds renewed like the Bible says. What about you? How do you cope with negative thoughts What bands remind you of your youth? What song lyrics continue to move you to believe in a better place, whether here on earth or somewhere else? Where does your hope lie for a better world in the midst of the chaos? Thanks for reading and keep rocking on... Some keen groupie filmed some of the gig on Saturday so for a taster of Fall Out Boy Live in Leeds Oct 2015, have a look here.
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AuthorBHK, a wife, a mother, believer. Loves to swim, journal, create fantastic Shellac nails, shop and eat chocolate. Negotiating life, parenthood and community in Istanbul. Archives
December 2016
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