Review and thoughts on last night Warning: might be long but hope it blesses you Last night, Far From Sanity played a show at a venue that we had been warned about as a Christian band. some friends of ours had played and been banned from coming back. And we had been warned privately not to tell the owner that we were a Christian band, as he had been known to cancel the show on Christian bands. obviously he had a bad taste about Christians somewhere. ive posted before that to me, it was even more important for us to do the show. before the show, we prayed and lifted the evening up to God, as is our custom, that His will be done, and that we would be led by him. we were supposed to play second. but not long after the show was supposed to start, and the opening band still wasnt there. we got told that we were playing first. no big deal. we loaded in and were setting up, and i happened upon the owner having a brief conversation with our bassist. between what he told me, and what i overheard as i was setting my own stuff up, he asked if we were a Christian band. Eddie, our bassist replied yes. but also put it in perspective. our lyrics are positive, but we know that people go through things, and thats what our lyrics are about. the owner told him that there was a time a place for that, and that sunday was the only time and church was the only place. and that if he heard so much as a God bless, he would cut the power and our show was over. now, as Christians, when we invite others to play in our backyard, we ask them to play by our rules. this was his house, so we set our heart to play by rules. Paul said in 1 Cor 9:23 that he became all things to all people so that he might win a few. the Word also says that Love covers a multitude of sins. and ive seen in my own life how just loving on people works far greater for opening their heart to the Word than shoving it down their throats or being disrespectful. as Christians, we can accommodate ourselves to others culture when it does not violate our allegiance to Christ. without violating biblical morality, we can go to any length to enter the world of others and lead them to salvation. if we listen to them and find common ground, we can gain their confidence. we need to show that we care, and then present the message in a way that meets their specific needs. in fact, the life application study bible commentary for 1 cor 9:22,23 breaks it down into 4 simple steps: 1. find common ground with those you contact 2. avoid a know-it-all attitude 3. make others feel accepted 4. be sensitive to their needs and concerns 5. look for opportunities to tel them about Christ. now for us in FFS, we consider ourselves seed planters, not harvesters. granted, if the Spirit leads, were not going to back down. But even Paul said that he planted, Apollos watered, but God provides the increase. everyone does their part we plant the seeds and leave it to God to work on their hearts. for every show weve played this year, weve told a story around a mask, with references to life in the dark and life in the light. however, that show IMO works best not with a 30 minute set, but with a 45 minute + set. originally we were scheduled to play 45 minutes, but right as we were fixing to sound check and play, the owner then told us that we get 30 minutes. we adjusted our set, and in deference to the situation, made a last minute decision to not go the mask route with our show. now lyrically, our lyrics are pretty much extremely scriptural based, sometimes even worshiping God.(Gods word does not return void). so we ran through the 1st verse and chorus of Apokolypsis (which is the Greek word for Revelation) so our set list consisted of: That Which Compels Me R.P.G. Thirst Villain You Cant Break Me During both That Which Compels Me and Villain, i expected our set to get cut. because lyrically, theyre as about as in your face as ive ever written. some of the lyrics to That Which Compels Me, starting with the 1st verse (posting these to put thing in perspective of the night) What would you do for the love of God? / Would you put your faith into action? / Want all of God that you can get? / Accept the promise of His habitation You become like what you worship / So embrace the presence of His transformation / The price of blood for sins remission / He shed His blood for our redemption ... You redeem my life from destruction / For you have the knowledge of salvation / I confess You Lord with all of my heart / This is my public declaration .... Ill live my life to bring you honor Father / Glory and praise through Jesus Christ Your Son the chorus to Villain: Do I seek to please the world or please God? / No man can serve two masters / Were all a villain to someone / So choose this day whom you will server so we did our set, and hung out for the rest of the night. crowd reaction was really good. had a brief discussion with the owner almost immediately after our set about gear. at the end of the night though, when we were leaving, we thanked the owner for allowing us to play his club (also as is our custom). and ended up having a little heart to heart with him, spurned by him. long story short, we told him that it was his house so we play by his rules. and he thanked us. even told us that we were welcome back, and that if we ever wanted a show, just ask. (he also made a comment about how he knows Christians who spend saturday night at the strip club and Sunday in church. (if this is you, stop one or the other now. no man can server two masters.)) my prayer is that we made an impact, if nothing else, to just change his perception of Christians. i consider the night a victory if this happened. i like to think that for our part, we did. we are all ambassadors of Christ. as the saying goes, there are 5 gospels, and most dont read the 1st four. the world needs a better class of Christian, and we need to give it to them.
Posted on: Sat, 16 Aug 2014 03:21:55 +0000