Friday, May 31, 2013

Perseverance

I never thought I would learn perseverance from something so...annoying.

I have always been a fan of a lush green lawn.  In my college days I spent time as a landscaper.  Loved the outdoors, loved the sunshine, and loved mowing the perfectly manicured green lawns.  They always look so good after being freshly mowed.  But just like almost everything in life, a green lawn doesn't come easy.

My wife and I bought a house last May and inherited a weed infested yard.  Very little attention was paid to developing that nice green lawn I long for.  My number one enemy in the battle is this guy...the dandelion.


Ironically, as I stared at my evil nemesis the other day in front of my house, persistence came to mind.  I have been reading through the book of Romans lately and Chapter 12 came to mind as I stared at this annoying yellow "flower."  Verse 12 says, "Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer."  At least in my yard, these yellow flowers love to rejoice, even after being mowed, and sprayed, and pulled in every possible way.  But still they persevere.

What can I learn from the pesky dandelion?  Sometimes it feels like I have lawnmowers coming at me from all directions.  Just when you think you are in solid ground, the ground moves and you are getting uprooted.

The difference between us and the dandelion is that we have the final line in that verse as an added encouragement.  Mark my words, I will win the battle over the dandelion!  But, no matter what we are going through in life, the lawnmowers or getting uprooted, we can be constant in prayer and know that God is in control.

Friday, May 3, 2013

Hip Hop

Our vision for Slammin Christian Hits is to be a mix of Rock, Pop, and Hip Hop.  Why?  In mainstream radio, those stations are some of the most popular in every market across the country.  This doesn't apply to every mainstream artist, but many of them choose to use lyrics that don't line up with what the Bible teaches. While we still encourage our listeners to pray for those artists, we look for music that sounds similar, but does line up with what the Bible says.

It has been easy to find rock and pop music that fits, but hip hop is a little bit tougher.  However, in recent years, Christian Hip Hop artists have become more popular which is great news for our Slam listeners.  Here's a great article on the Christian hip hop scene.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2013/may/hip-hop-theologians-and-preachers.html