Stayin' Alive!

(I know, I know! The title’s a disco tune, but I couldn’t resist!)

Last summer, I had the good fortune to attend the 2-day Big Ticket concert in Gaylord, MI. At this concert, I experienced the indescribable: singing & praising with thousands of others as the Newsboys led us in praise songs such as “It is You”, “He Reigns”, & “You Are My King”. Believe me, I’m going back this year just to have that experience one more time!!!!

It was just the smallest taste of what heaven will be, when we all stand before the Throne & sing our praises. What an amazing thing! Mere words can’t describe it, so I won’t even make the attempt. At the time, I wished that it could last FOREVER!

It will, someday, but for now, I still have to “come down from the Mountain Top” (as Amy Grant used to sing) & face the “real world”. Eventually, the incredible RUSH of that experience began to be diluted by the everyday hassles of daily life.

Which leads me to ask: How DO we stay alive with that fervor that we feel in those very special times? I remember being at concerts or conferences where I committed myself with my whole heart, & I really MEANT the commitments that I made. But outside, in the “real world”, it was so much harder to hang onto the zeal I had experienced & move forward.

As Foghorn Leghorn used to say to the chicken hawk: “It’s all in the execution, son!” [with a southern drawl, of course!]

I’ve been considering that maybe part of the way that we hold onto that fire & zeal is by re-assessing what we consider to be our “real world”. In the early 1980’s, Petra released a song with the lyrics: “We are strangers, we are aliens, we are not of this world.” Our perception of where we stand, Who we stand FOR, & what our timeline is, can alter our perspective dramatically.

Philippians 2 says: "Do all things without grumbling or disputing, so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, holding fast the Word of life." (Philippians 2:14-16a, NAS)

Perhaps if we saw ourselves as being a little bit LESS of this world, we would be more successful in holding off the invasion of the temporal minutiae. Seeing with His eyes, evaluating with His standards, and loving with His love...

I say on Sunday how much I want revival,
And then on Monday, I can’t even find my Bible!
Where’s the power, the power of the Cross in my life?

I’m sick of playin’ this game of ‘religion”!
I’m tired of losin’ my reason for living!
Where’s the power, the power of the Cross in my life?

I’m not content just to walk through my life,
Givin’ in to the lies, walking in compromises now!
We cry out as a generation that was lost,
But now is found in the power of the Cross!

We believe in You!
We believe in the power
Of Your Word and its Truth!
We believe in You!
So we lay down our course
That our cross might be found in You.

I’m not satisfied doin’ it my own way!
I’m not satisfied to do church & walk away!
I’m not satisfied -- There’s no love in my life but You!

I’m not satisfied livin’ in yesterday’s hour!
I’m not satisfied to have the form, but not the power!
I’m not satisfied -- Lord, I am crucified in You!

We believe in You!
We believe in the power
Of Your Word and its Truth!
We believe in You!
So we lay down our course
That our cross might be found in You.

I’m not satisfied doin’ it my own way!
I’m not satisfied to do church & walk away!
I’m not satisfied -- There’s no love in my life but You!

I’m not satisfied livin’ in yesterday’s hour!
I’m not satisfied to have the form but not the power!
I’m not satisfied -- Lord, I am crucified in You!

We believe in You!
We believe in the power
Of Your Word and its Truth!
We believe in You!
So we lay down our course
That our cross might be found in You.
So we lay down our course
That our cross might be found in You.

~~ ”Believe” by Hillsong-Australia (Album: For this Cause, 2000)