Learning How to Connect People to God From a 3 Minute Pop Song

There is something extraordinary that can happen in a very short period of time in a well crafted song.  There is a depth of emotion that can be communicated in a 3 minute pop song that those of us writing and performing songs for the community worship of God should be paying close attention to.  I think about the songs that have entered the cultural lexicon during my lifetime and all of them have found a way of telling a fantastic story and making an emotional connection in 3 to 4 minutes.  Songs with lines like:
"The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls..."  "Sounds of Silence" - Simon and Garfunkel
"I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend.  But I'd always thought that I'd see you again."  "Fire and Rain" -  James Taylor written by Carole King
"I'll send S.O.S. to the world.  I hope that someone gets my message in a bottle."  "Message in a Bottle" - The Police
"You act like you never had love and you want me to go without."  "One" - U2
"When a heart breaks no it don't breakeven." "Breakeven" - The Script
"I wear my sunglasses at ni..."  OK not that one.

As writers, as leaders, we should be looking for ways to tell true stories, show true emotions, communicate true worship in a way that the heart and mind can best grasp.  We don't need line after line, word after word to say something powerful when words like: "My Jesus, my savior, Lord there is none like you", "O Lord You're beautiful, Your face is all I seek"  or "Open the eyes of my heart, I want to see you" are all we need.

David did it when he wrote: "I waited patiently for the LORD; and He inclined to me, and heard my cry.."  The truth is, he did it time after time.  If David did it thousands of years ago, and pop song writers can do it to this day, we certainly can take the time to listen to the heart of God, pay attention to the needs of people, and then write down words that connect them.

Every Life Has a Soundtrack

I can't remember a time that music hasn't played a major role in my life. For me music is like an organizational tool. If I pulled up the file labeled "Moody Blues/Simon&Garfunkel/The Who" it would be filled with my birth-8 years as that was the background music that was mostly being played my parents. "Beatles" would be the file that included all the first albums that I bought myself and those days at recess pretending I was Paul McCartney in elementary school while 3 other friends were John, George and Ringo (I know, I had a strange childhood). The file labeled "Police/Genesis/Rush/Peter Gabriel/Van Halen/Yes..." were my teen years filled with hours in my basement trying to learn how to play all of them. There are files with music from dating and marrying my wife Rhonda, music from the births of my children and even music from my times spent in the hospital.
Countless worship songs, written by others and even those written by me would each have their own file reminding me of my walking with Christ. The moments where I really sensed his presence, the moments that I was desperately reaching for Him, times for rejoicing new birth and what seemed like eternities mourning great loss.
Now I know that I have a heightened sense of awareness of music, but I think that everyone reading this post could connect their lives to songs and musical styles just the same way. But why is that? What is the power that music has to bring remembrance, joy, tears, love and heartbreak? I believe without a doubt that God has created our lives with melody and rhythm built right in. We connect with others, we connect with out times, and we especially connect with God in a most powerful and excellent way. Think of the power that just the right song brings to the middle of a worship service, or when you are surrounded by 75,000 people at a U2 concert, or humming alone to him while reading a passage during a particularly difficult time. Now realize just how easily those songs from those settings transport you back to that place.
Listen to the music around you. Let the songs from each season lift you, remind you, encourage you, and connect you with the God who puts each song in you heart.

So what would some of the song titles be that might be the P-touch labels for the files of your life?