Great video! The themes you mention of the journey and choices in life are good points. Another theme is the urgency of the need to follow Christ where we aren't guaranteed to be alive tomorrow and the last days we are living in. On another note, on the song Rock n Roll and A Flower, it is more than the music, it's the over all message which can affect you depending on what it is about. On the topic of music, I'm not totally against mainstream or secular music. The artist is still using the talent God gave them to create a song even though they don't give Him credit. I have bands like Extreme (Pornograffitti that has satirical lyrics and I heard or read somewhere that Gary Cherone may be a Christian), Def Leppard Retroactive), Impellitteri (not a Christian band but has some past and current members that are Christians), MARS Project Drive (the 1986 secular album Rob Rock did a year before becoming a Christian), Dream Theater, and the projects that Michael Sweet is involved in apart from Stryper and his solo albums. On the other hand, I don't agree with some CCM as there are a couple of Christian artists I don't feel comfortable in supporting. Also, some of the more shallow and formulaic praise and worship modern pop songs sung in churches that has a similar musical style as modern pop radio (I don't like this style enough to support it anyway and prefer the older style 70s and 80s style Light Rock, Rock to Metal praise songs and the older Hymns). Another thing about the topic of the message is more than the music when it comes to the gospel is as a collector of primarily music, that works based salvation sometimes creeps in as sometimes we get too confident of the massive amount of albums of all the Christian artists and getting caught up in materialism. The right attitude is being thankful to the artists and primarily to God for the wonderful gift of music to be used as a tool for edification, to reflect on God in praise and as a tool to reach out to others.
Great thoughts on all of this, Michael! I agree that - certainly - an artist can use their gifts and talents in secular or mainstream music and still glorify God. They don't have to only play or write "Christian" music to serve God with their gifts. ••• Being cautious of materialism creeping into our album and music collecting is a valid concern and one to always be mindful of. I am very aware of that in my own collecting and spending habits. I agree with your point in that we should be thankful to the artists and God for the gift of music and the opportunity to use it as a tool to praise God, disciple ourselves and others and ultimately reach out to others in need of the Gospel message. It's a great tool for that! But I also think collecting and sharing about Christian rock music offers a means to highlight and share about the history, message and impact of Christian rock as it's developed over time as a means to see Christ at work through the people who have used their talent to create and produce the music and message. It adds layers of credibility to Christian rock as a musical genre, if you will, that can then be measured and appreciated over time, similar to how hymns have been a foundational tool to glorifying God and typically represent time and tradition. This is not to turn Christian rock into an idol itself - or use it as an excuse to collect it just for collecting's sake (which is fine but perhaps not the best use of the resources God has granted me) - but to celebrate it's place in music history, human tradition and in Christian ministry as a tool that glorifies the gifts God has given the artists and, ultimately, glorify what God has done through them over time, in the music, the message and ministry. Personally, for me, collecting helps me to study both the music and message better and appreciate it more, while also being able to share about it more effectively while also challenging me to draw closer to and dig more into God's Word itself.
Something you maybe don't know if you only have heard the English versions is that the lead melody often is very different in the Swedish versions of many Jerusalem songs. For example on Getsemane: ruclips.net/video/TrC5Yxjio8g/видео.htmlsi=im-82TB9V9JivLUS
That's really interesting. I was aware some albums varied between the Swedish and English versions but not fully up on which ones and how. I like the variation on Gethsemane in Swedish. Very nice. It does make me wonder about the reason for the variation. Is it to have the music better fit the different timing or pacing of the lyrics in Swedish vs. English? Or because they decided to refine the music in between recording the Swedish and English versions? Or it is just because they wanted the music on the albums to be slightly different - perhaps to meet the musical tastes of Swedish audiences vs. American audiences?
Great video! The themes you mention of the journey and choices in life are good points. Another theme is the urgency of the need to follow Christ where we aren't guaranteed to be alive tomorrow and the last days we are living in. On another note, on the song Rock n Roll and A Flower, it is more than the music, it's the over all message which can affect you depending on what it is about. On the topic of music, I'm not totally against mainstream or secular music. The artist is still using the talent God gave them to create a song even though they don't give Him credit. I have bands like Extreme (Pornograffitti that has satirical lyrics and I heard or read somewhere that Gary Cherone may be a Christian), Def Leppard Retroactive), Impellitteri (not a Christian band but has some past and current members that are Christians), MARS Project Drive (the 1986 secular album Rob Rock did a year before becoming a Christian), Dream Theater, and the projects that Michael Sweet is involved in apart from Stryper and his solo albums. On the other hand, I don't agree with some CCM as there are a couple of Christian artists I don't feel comfortable in supporting. Also, some of the more shallow and formulaic praise and worship modern pop songs sung in churches that has a similar musical style as modern pop radio (I don't like this style enough to support it anyway and prefer the older style 70s and 80s style Light Rock, Rock to Metal praise songs and the older Hymns). Another thing about the topic of the message is more than the music when it comes to the gospel is as a collector of primarily music, that works based salvation sometimes creeps in as sometimes we get too confident of the massive amount of albums of all the Christian artists and getting caught up in materialism. The right attitude is being thankful to the artists and primarily to God for the wonderful gift of music to be used as a tool for edification, to reflect on God in praise and as a tool to reach out to others.
Great thoughts on all of this, Michael! I agree that - certainly - an artist can use their gifts and talents in secular or mainstream music and still glorify God. They don't have to only play or write "Christian" music to serve God with their gifts. ••• Being cautious of materialism creeping into our album and music collecting is a valid concern and one to always be mindful of. I am very aware of that in my own collecting and spending habits. I agree with your point in that we should be thankful to the artists and God for the gift of music and the opportunity to use it as a tool to praise God, disciple ourselves and others and ultimately reach out to others in need of the Gospel message. It's a great tool for that! But I also think collecting and sharing about Christian rock music offers a means to highlight and share about the history, message and impact of Christian rock as it's developed over time as a means to see Christ at work through the people who have used their talent to create and produce the music and message. It adds layers of credibility to Christian rock as a musical genre, if you will, that can then be measured and appreciated over time, similar to how hymns have been a foundational tool to glorifying God and typically represent time and tradition. This is not to turn Christian rock into an idol itself - or use it as an excuse to collect it just for collecting's sake (which is fine but perhaps not the best use of the resources God has granted me) - but to celebrate it's place in music history, human tradition and in Christian ministry as a tool that glorifies the gifts God has given the artists and, ultimately, glorify what God has done through them over time, in the music, the message and ministry. Personally, for me, collecting helps me to study both the music and message better and appreciate it more, while also being able to share about it more effectively while also challenging me to draw closer to and dig more into God's Word itself.
Something you maybe don't know if you only have heard the English versions is that the lead melody often is very different in the Swedish versions of many Jerusalem songs. For example on Getsemane: ruclips.net/video/TrC5Yxjio8g/видео.htmlsi=im-82TB9V9JivLUS
That's really interesting. I was aware some albums varied between the Swedish and English versions but not fully up on which ones and how. I like the variation on Gethsemane in Swedish. Very nice. It does make me wonder about the reason for the variation. Is it to have the music better fit the different timing or pacing of the lyrics in Swedish vs. English? Or because they decided to refine the music in between recording the Swedish and English versions? Or it is just because they wanted the music on the albums to be slightly different - perhaps to meet the musical tastes of Swedish audiences vs. American audiences?
@@TimRistow I think it's because Ulf Christiansson likes to improvise on the lead melody. When they play live it will never sound like on the record.
We did not come here for the atmosphere