In another blog entry, I had mentioned what my all-time Top 10 Christian rock/pop songs are. Just to recap, they are:
01. Jesus Freak - DC Talk
02. Take Me To Your Leader - Newsboys
03. More Sold Out - Whiteheart
04. I Am On The Rock - Petra
05. (Never Gonna Be As) Big As Jesus -Audio Adrenaline
06. Little Drummer - Jars of Clay
07. To Hell With The Devil - Stryper
08. Original Superman - Pillar
09. All For You - JONAH33
10. Alive - POD
I have already featured in other blog entries the top 3 songs. Now I shall talk about the song at Number 4 :-)
Petra was one of the most established Christian rock bands in the 70s through the 90s. Many of my Methodist Youth Fellowship contemporaries such as Jeff Khaw, Kervin Tan and Alvin Chan were great fans of Petra. I remember Jeff introducing me to a song by them called Grave Robber, and Kervin mentioning that he had been to a Petra concert.
I like quite a number of their songs, one of them being Creed (which is based on the Apostles' Creed). They also had an album entitled "Get on your knees and fight like a man" which I thought was a great title! The world would say "Get on your FEET and fight like a man, but a true man of God gets on his KNEES to engage in prayer to wage war not against flesh and blood, but against the spiritual forces of darkness as mentioned in Eph 6:12. Amen?
But I digress. The song that really stands out was a track from their 1990 album Beyond Belief entitled "I Am On The Rock". Everytime I listen to it, it will stir up my spirit man and assure me that no matter how dark and turbulent we may find our current circumstances to be, we need not be dismayed or discouraged because we are on a firm foundation -- Jesus, who is the Rock of Ages (Isa 26:4), and the Rock that is higher than I (Ps 61:2).
In that song, Petra tells us about earthquakes, natural disasters, kingdoms falling, plans failing and other types of bad news happening all around them. Yet, no matter what the physical circumstances, they feel secure being rooted in Jesus.
The chorus has a triple “tong tong chak” beat, which some say is "satanic" because it was adopted in a famous secular song which also contains the "rock" word. I beg to differ, because this type of beat is commonly referred to as the "anthemic beat" because it stirs up one's emotions and causes its listeners to want to chant or sing along.
The words of the chorus is actually based on Matt 7:24-25, viz "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."
You can listen to the song and check out its lyrics here. Don't forget to sing along to the chorus with the anthemic "tong tong chak" beat :-)
The earth is shaking; it's like a bad dream. This world is crumbling, coming
apart at the seam.Everywhere I'm turning it's only bad news. This bomb is ticking and we're getting to the end of the fuse.
The storm's approaching, I'm standing high and dry firmly planted on the Rock that is higher than I.
Kingdoms failing, they fall around me. Plans eroded, and washing away to the sea.
But I am on the Rock, the sure foundation. I am on the Rock, His revelation. Though the winds may blow, and though the floods may grow, I shall not be moved. Because I am on the Rock.
So friends, although it may appear that you are walking through the valley of the shadow of death, fear not because we are standing on the firmest of foundations -- none other than our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen?
No comments:
Post a Comment