Wednesday, July 31, 2013

TRACK 4 DEVOTIONAL: Devil In A Bottle

TRACK 4 DEVOTIONAL: Devil In A Bottle

When he takes his seat on the bus for the ride home Jeremy is still laughing. His best friend has just told him a joke that still has him rolling. Every time he thinks he is done laughing he glances as Will and starts chuckling all over again. The first leg of the trip home is fine. Conversation keeps Jeremy in good spirits, but then Will gets dropped off at his house; Jeremy feels cold fingers of dread working their way into his stomach... in roughly ten minutes he will be home. After two more stops, Jeremy peers around the seat in front of him and through the front windshield of the bus he can see his house and the large black pickup parked in the driveway. Mommy isn't home. Daddy is. As the banshee wail of the breaks fills Jeremy's ears he feels a tightening in his chest that he has felt many times before. Unlike the other children who exit the bus and run playfully up the stairs to their front doors, Jeremy just stands at the edge of the driveway by the truck, watching as the bus rolls away and out of the neighborhood. He enters through the open garage door and glances inside the large plastic trashcan to the left of the steps leading up to the doorway. In the can he counts twelve empty, crushed beer cans and begins to tremble. That's two more than yesterday... and yesterday Daddy had been bad. He lets himself in, careful not to allow the screen door to slam behind him (that makes Daddy angry). As he enters the kitchen he hears his father's steps coming from the living room and heading his way. He hopes that his Daddy will be happy to see him or at the very least be ready to give him chores to do. Jeremy doesn't like chores but at least when he does them Daddy isn't angry. Sometimes Daddy even hugs him when he gets home, although that hasn't happened in weeks. But as Jeremy feared it isn't Daddy who walks through the doorway... it is the beast. It looks like Daddy but it eyes are bloodshot, its face and forehead red. It has the belt again, holding it with both hands so it can make that thunderous snapping sound that Jeremy has come to dread. The child doesn't know what he has done to make Daddy angry, but he knows why Mommy isn't home. She must have "smelt it on his breath" as she sometimes said. She must have found an excuse to work late. He doesn't blame her. He just wishes he could escape too.

ABOUT THE SONG
I wrote "Devil In A Bottle" to adress an issue which in recent years has become a very controversial topic in the church: alcohol. Now I have no intention of getting into a theological debate over whether the bible condones or condemns drinking, or whether jesus turned the water into Welch's grape juice at that wedding party. Instead I want to discuss the issue of abusing alcohol and what a dangerous thing it can be. In my time as a youth leader I have watched the effects of heavy drinking bring disaster into people lives and those of their families.
In the song there are two characters. The first is a teenaged girl who begins to drink. She thinks like so many others her age that being the party girl that can drink the boys under the table is going to establish her among her peers. She gets drunk on the weekends and every time she does she feels more of her inhibitions drop away, she likes the attention of the boys that gawk at her as she dances and shows off her body, and she thrives off the jealousy of the other girls that stand around pointing and shaking their heads. Nevermind that her grades are plummeting, she's got her looks and her friends. What she doesn't know is that they aren't jealous or enraptured as she "dances". They are laughing at her as she stumbles drunkenly around the room. They are telling stories about how she was hitting on every guy she could find and how she threw up all over the couch then actually DROVE HOME! If something doesn't change in her life this girl will throw her life away. She will look old much to young. The drinking and partying will take its toll on her looks and her future. She will make disastrous decisions that she won't even remember the next day. Her parents don't even know what she is doing. When she hits college it will get even worse. The other character is a man like the one in the introduction. He drinks under stress and doesn't even realize what a monster he has become. His wife misses the man who proposed to her so sweetly and his children suffer either his violent temper or just his drunken laziness. There was a time when he could drink a beer or two and stop but those days have been gone for a long time. Now he just comes in exhausted and overwhelmed from work and drinks until he runs out of cans.
Does drinking do this to every person? No. Could it? Yes. this song is a warning not a sermon. Drinking has ruined so many marriages and so many childhoods that one cannot help but ask if it is worth the risk at all.
Ephesians 5:18 - And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit;

Proverbs 20:1 - Wine [is] a mocker, strong drink [is] raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise.


     What should we be filled with? what should we allow to control us. What have we made our ruler? Scripture warns that being drunk works against the ability of the Spirit of God to work in our lives. It deceives us and dethrones the Holy Spirit in our lives. We have a name for someone who is a "deceiver" and desires to rules us and replace Jesus as our Lord: Satan. That is why this song is called Devil in a Bottle. If he can use excessive drinking to take control of you then he receives that excess as worship. Furthermore as a follower of Christ our first priority should be to glorify Him and not jeopardize our testimonies.

Romans 14:21 - [It is] good neither to eat flesh, nor to drink wine, nor [any thing] whereby thy brother stumbleth, or is offended, or is made weak.

     One last thought for our teenage fans. If you are underage and have been drinking you are breaking the law.

James 4:17

So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.









FOOD FOR THOUGHT



1)Do I use alcohol or any other thing in my life to excess?






2)Do I allow things to exist in my life that will cause others to stumble?

Wednesday, July 24, 2013

TRACK 3 DEVOTIONAL Where the Angels Cry


TRACK 3 DEVOTIONAL
Where the Angels Cry

About the Song

In our new album, “Learning to Fight,” there are songs that deal with general concepts that all of us can identify with like Lambs and wolves, Chaos Theory, 2 Fisted Gospel, and so on. “Where the Angels Cry” deals with a more specific type of situation. It speaks about a girl’s emotional struggles, resulting from her father’s abuse. However, I believe the song has a message that everyone, not just those dealing with this form of abuse, can relate to.
Most of this song was written long before there was a Cross Covenant. I knew a girl who was beautiful, smart, and outgoing. On the surface she seemed to be a very happy person. You would never assume that anything in her world was badly wrong. That’s why I was completely caught off guard when she told me about being sexually abused by her father.
Months before I was told this, we’d go out to eat or to a movie, and then I’d take her back home without knowing what I was taking her back home to. I was the first person she ever told. I’ll never forget the night she told me or the day, months later, when we watched from afar as her father was lowered into the back of a police car. I started writing “Where the Angel’s Cry” during this time. Someone I cared about was hurting, and music was one of the ways I processed my feelings about it. Years later when I was ready, I added to and revised the song for the band.
Statistics show that 1 out of 4 girls and 1 out of 6 boys will be sexually abused by the age of 18. That doesn’t even account for all the other forms of abuse that people suffer. The song was meant to reach out to those who identify with abuse. However, I also hope to raise awareness. Part of learning to fight, is knowing what to fight and who to fight for.


Comfort from Suffering

“He comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction, through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
2 Corinthians 1:4

If we cry out to God, he can bring comfort for our afflictions. This verse from 2 Corinthians points out that, “He comforts us in ALL our affliction.”  God cares about ALL of what we’re going through. Regardless of what the source of our affliction is, he’s there to provide comfort. Abuse can lead to a lot of pain and feelings of guilt, and those suffering from these effects can find comfort in the arms of Christ.
Of course God cares for us and provides us with comfort, but the verse doesn’t end there, “so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any kind of affliction.” It’s a beautiful and perfect cycle. God provides us with comfort and we spread that comfort to anyone around in need of it, “through the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”
I love how this verse begins and ends with Him. Notice, “He comforts us in our affliction, so that we MAY BE ABLE to comfort.” We’re no help to anyone else unless we let Him work through us. The truth is that they don’t need us, they need him. In “Where the Angel’s Cry” there’s a line that says, “We may not know what she’s going through, but we know WHO to lead her to.” Whenever you can’t find the answer, the answer is always Jesus.
We were never meant to face our afflictions alone. Galatians 6:2 says, ‘Carry one another’s burdens: in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Jesus wanted us to help each other, and by letting him live through us we can accomplish that. The burden of abuse is not something someone can handle alone.
Maybe you are someone dealing with an abusive situation or struggling to cope with an abusive past. In John 10:10 Jesus said, “A thief comes to steal, kill and destroy, but I have come so that you can have life and have it in abundance.” Your innocence may have been stolen, the thief may have attempted to destroy your life, but Christ came to bring you a fulfilling and abundant life. Jesus hurts for you, and wants to bring you healing.



Jesus is Here

“For I am persuaded that not even death or life angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!”
Romans 8:38-39

There is no power great enough to separate us from the love of God. Sin and death may have threatened to do so. However, Christ died a sacrificial death, to atone for our sin, and rose from the grave, conquering death, forever ending the separation between us and God’s love. The love that is in Jesus Christ our Lord is here.
For some reason, we treat Jesus as if he is off in the heavens somewhere, and completely unreachable. We view him as being off in the distance, and his love is a wonderful, but intangible, thought. This view of Christ is nothing short of a diabolical deception brought about by the prince of lies. Jesus is right here! His love is staring us right in the eyes! Neither a troubled past or the devil himself can separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ.
His love is right in front of us reaching out with nail scared hands. All we have to do is accept his love, let him bring comfort and healing to our afflictions, and spread that love and comfort to a world in desperate need of Salvation. The abuse you may have suffered doesn’t have to define you. You don’t have to remain a victim, or a prisoner to affliction, because Jesus gave us the right to be children of God. ~ John 1:12

~Casey~

Food for thought:

1) What difficult situation has God brought you through that could be meaningful for someone else?

2) Why do we choose to face our struggles alone?

Further Reading

http://www.d2l.org/site/c.4dICIJOkGcISE/b.6143427/k.38C5/Child_Sexual_Abuse_Statistics.htm

http://www.findchristiancounselor.com/?gclid=CI-f4rL9yLgCFcdr7AodzC8Akw

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Track 2 Devotional: Chaos Theory




About the song

Sometimes inspiration can come from unexpected places. It just so happened I got stuck on a major Jurassic Park kick. I watched all the movies, and for some reason I was still unsatisfied. I had never read the book before, so I checked it out from the library. The book contains detailed information about Chaos Theory, and its briefly mentioned in the movie.
The book is wonderful, and all the Chaos Theory stuff really intrigued me. Halfway though reading the book, I get this idea. I thought about how Chaos Theory could be applied to sin nature. I sent Josh a text explaining this idea, and how we should write a song about it. He’s also a Jurassic fan, so he loved the idea.
My understanding of Chaos Theory is fairly basic. Let’s face it, I’m no Scientist. I do know that it’s used in stories about time travel. Basically, one little thing can be changed in the past, and it can lead to a many disastrous changes in the future. Jurassic Park not a story about time travel, but that idea of Chaos Theory is still evident. Basically, a small effect can lead to a catastrophic cause.
In our lives sin can be like this. A small sin, leads to a bigger one, then a bigger one and so on. Sometimes it seems like one little mistake can lead our lives to complete ruin. If those little mistakes go uncorrected they surely can. The more we get caught into a sinful pattern, the harder it can become to get out of it.
Luckily for us, Jesus came to bring order in the midst of this chaos that sin can produces in our lives. We don’t have to be a slave to sin anymore. Our lives don’t have to be caught in a web of chaos. We can obtain peace and freedom in Jesus Christ.


The Biblical “King” of Chaos Theory

“One evening David got up from his bed and strolled around on the roof of the palace, from the roof he saw a woman bathing – a very beautiful woman.”
2 Samuel 11:2

From scripture, we learn that David is a man after God’s own heart, but the event in 2 Samuel 11:2 is the beginning of an escalating sin cycle. This is the story of David’s adultery with Bathsheba. Of course, many of us have heard this story before, but how well do we really know it? How does a man after God’s own heart get so caught up in this kind of cycle?
We may have to back up to verse one for a minute, “In the Spring when the kings march out to war, David sent Joab with his officers and all Israel. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah, but DAVID REMAINED IN JERUSALEM.” Wait a minute, he did what?! Is this not the same guy that fought and killed a giant when he was just a youth? Now he’s sending his men out to war, while he’s just sitting back in his palace playing big man on the throne. Maybe the status of being king is getting to his head a little, in other words, its pride.
  After pride started to set in, then he saw Bathsheba bathing from the roof. That’s when lust set in. Because he’s the king, he has a way of getting what he wants. Then his lust becomes adultery. Can you see the cycle? Pride leads to lust. Lust leads to adultery. The cycle has started, and it will get much worse.
Bathsheba gets pregnant, and then David tries to cover it up. First, he sends for her husband, Uriah, and tried to give him a “break from the war” and told him to spend a night at home. However, Uriah was a man of principle. He wouldn’t spend a night with his wife because his comrades were off at war. So then, David arranges Uriah’s death. Pride leads to lust, Lust leads to adultery. Adultery leads deceit. Deceit leads to murder. One small step can lead to disaster.
Eventually David would repent, but not before things spiraled out of control. Often we can get caught in similar cycles like this. Make no mistake, David was a man God. That only serves to show us, that even the best of us can fall prey to “Chaos Theory” Our only hope is to remain in Christ. In Luke 9:23 Jesus said, “If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily and follow Me.” Everyday we must turn away from our old selves, and follow him. The blood of Christ is the only cure for the chaos that is sin.
 - Casey Davis

FOOD FOR THOUGHT.

1. What cycle of Chaos are you currently feeling trapped in?

2. In what areas of life are you neglecting to allow God room to direct your path?