Tag: Scripture
Writing Music with CAIN
Trio shares how God’s Word inspires creativity
We are all created in the image of God and given the ability to create. Whether it’s through music, art, writing or other forms of expression, we have the power to communicate and inspire others with our creative work.
CAIN, a contemporary Christian music group, recently discussed their songwriting process in an interview with Family Life Radio. They explained that their songs are initially created with the intention of being successful and catchy, but they also aim to make them encouraging ministry tools. CAIN notes their music becomes personal and ministers to themselves as they create it.
“He’s calling you to walk out of the dark.” Taylor said, referring to the lyrics of their song “Rise Up,” which encourages listeners to seek God’s help in difficult times. The trio believe God gives them ideas and bits of inspiration for their music, and they strive to ensure that their songs are scripturally founded and able to point to Scripture. “The crazy thing is God uses our own music because while “Rise Up” was happening, we were stuck at home. We couldn’t go anywhere. We couldn’t play this song for you. I just had to sit there and sing it. There were a lot of times when you don’t feel like you’re in a dark place when you write [the song] and then all of a sudden, you’re like, Man, I need to minister to myself using the words that we came up with.
Madison agreed, “It’s extremely personal to you. God gives you bits, like ‘The Commission.’ That’s one of our songs. Taylor came in and was like, what about – Go tell the world about me. It just starts there, but how cool is it that as we were all in the synergy of us talking about the Great Commission. And the song has grown into something that we never intended to,” Madison interjected, highlighting how God can inspire and guide creative processes in unexpected ways.
As Christians, we too have a responsibility to use our creative abilities to inspire and minister to others. The Bible tells us that we are called to use our gifts and talents to serve others and bring glory to God. In 1 Peter 4:10-11, it says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen” (NIV).
When we create with the intention of serving and ministering to others, we are using our gifts and talents to bring glory to God. It’s important to remember that our creative work is not just about us and our own success, but about how it can impact others and bring them closer to God.
“One pillar about us and the music we make is it has to be scripturally founded,” Logan shared. “You have to be able to point this to Scripture. And so I believe the Holy Spirit has people in mind who are thinking about suicide. The Holy Spirit knows, and so we are just trying to tether it to Scripture and allow scripture to do the work.”
“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts” (Colossians 3:16 NIV). When we use Scripture in our creative work, we are allowing the message of Christ to dwell richly among us and inspire and minister to others.
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Dr. Randy Carlson
- Resiliency in action refuses to be shaped by what’s going on in the world, but instead allows what’s in you to shape how you respond to your circumstances.
We want resiliency in our lives. It’s also something we want for our kids and grandkids. We want them to grow up in this difficult time and have spiritual resiliency at the core of their being. We want them to having confidence that God will hold them together when things get tough. When things get difficult, they can come back to the core values and God-given beliefs in their life.
Resiliency is the combination of:
- supportive relationships,
- positive experiences, and
- adaptive skill building*
We believe that your Family Life Radio stations and Intentional Living have been put on the earth for this time and season of your life to stand in the gap between the good times and the challenges in your life. We want to be there to encourage, equip and inspire others to grow in Christ.
So many of you have called over the years, to share in support of the ministry, and we share so many stories of you telling us how God used Family Life Radio and Intentional Living when you were going through a difficult season. “You were there with me during the …”
- “loss of my son ….”
- “death of my husband ….”
- “loss of that job ….”
- “difficult diagnosis.”
That’s why we exist.
Our mission and statement of faith corresponds with those three things. At the core of our mission, we are to affirm faith, offer hope and help to equip people to live an intentional life in Christ.
- Supportive relationships are necessary to affirm faith.
Every day, through our messages and content, we strive to affirm that your relationship with God matters. God says I will never leave you. I will never forsake you (Joshua 1:5; Hebrews 13:5). Perhaps you have been abandoned in life or rejected by people. People may have let you down for lots of reasons. We live in an imperfect world with imperfect people.
Your relationship with God is eternal. Truly knowing that He would never leave you, matters. It will make a difference in your life. Even if you find it difficult because maybe you didn’t experience that kind of love growing up, choose to recognize that God loves you; He cares for you.
When we affirm each other’s faith, it’s a powerful thing.
- Build resilience in the life of your family by reminding them God loves them.
- Affirm their faith by sharing scriptures that demonstrate God’s intentional love for them.
2. Find ways to offer hope by sharing positive experiences.
We offer hope as we share stories in all we do. You hear positive experiences of people in their relationship with Christ. And we learn and grow together as other people share about something they’ve gone through, and it encourages someone traveling a similar road.
- If you get a diagnosis of cancer, you want to hear from people who’ve been through that because they bring you hope.
- If you’ve gone through a divorce, you want to talk to people who’ve been there and have seen God’s provision.
We have a great cloud of witnesses around us (Hebrews 12:1).
I imagine saints of old that we read about in Scripture, peering over the edge of heaven witnessing our lives, cheering, encouraging and offering us hope to keep going. I encourage you not only to continue to hear the stories of Christians and experience the stories from Scripture of changed lives, but you can share your story to build resiliency in the lives of others.
The stories from your own life of how God has provided for you, strengthened you and been with you are important positive experiences that give the gift of hope.
3. Adaptive skill building equips people to live an intentional life in Christ.
According to the Harvard research study on how to build resiliency in our kids supports the benefit of helping them to learn adaptive skills. It’s vitally important to know how to adapt to life. That’s really what our mission is at Intentional Living – to figure out what pleases Christ and do it.
Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us. Allowing Him to be at work every day in your life is vital to building spiritual resiliency. As you continue to grow and change, that relationship is foundational to victory. It is what allows you to stay steady and firm in what matters most.
Together, we are helping people develop spiritual resiliency for their life by affirming faith, offering hope and equipping people to live an intentional life in Christ. It’s a passion of my heart, and the heart of our mission to see people come to Christ and then live a victorious life in Him by living intentionally every day.
*National Scientific Council on the Developing Child. (2015). Supportive Relationships and Active Skill-Building Strengthen the Foundations of Resilience: Working Paper 13. http://www.developingchild.harvard.edu).