Satan Is My Motor - Cake

On the surface this song has pretty simple meaning. Just that we have a sinful nature and that while we have good intentions we still do things we shouldn't do. When I was listening to it the other day though, I caught on to some further insight that kind of surprised me. I always assumed that the song was an excuse for bad behavior, and that seems to be what was intended. But consider these points:

while "Satan is my motor",

1. "I've got seats that selflessly hold my friends" - I am willing to share.

2. "and a trunk that can carry the heaviest of loads." - I am willing to take on the burdens of others.

3. "I've got a mind that can steer me to your house" - I am in control of my own actions.

4. "and a heart that can bring you red flowers" - I have a desire to do good.

5." I've got brakes, I'm wide awake, I can stop this car at any time. At the very last second I can change directions, turn completely around if I feel so inclined." - Again, Satan may be my motor, motivator, or tempter, but I make the decisions.

I know I am reading a lot into this, but it is still interesting to look at it from a different angle.

I've got wheels of polished steel

I've got tires that grab the road

I've got seats that selflessly hold my friends

And a trunk that can carry the heaviest of loads

I've got a mind that can steer me to your house

And a heart that can bring you red flowers

My intentions are good and earnest and true

But under my hood is internal combustion pow'r

Satan is my motor

Hear my motor purr

Satan is my motor

Hear my motor purr

Satan is the only one who seems to understand

Satan is my motor

I've got brakes

I'm wide awake

I can stop this car at any time

At the very last second I can change directions

Turn completely around if I feel so inclined

Between The Cracks - John Mark McMillan

There are a lot of things going on in this world today that cause us to lose hope, that just beat down on any positive attitude we may have about the future. I am not sure that is not on purpose. I recently read an explanation of why God does not reveal Himself to us face to face, or in a way that leaves no doubt of His existence. The author said God is playing hide and seek with us. He wants us to find Him. He leaves clues to His presence and provides motivations for us to seek Him. I think now a lot of those motivations are the struggles we are going through individually as well as collectively as a nation and the world.

John Mark McMillan's latest album, The Medicine, became one of my favorites the day I bought it. It is a little unconventional in subject matter, but very encouraging, and really a great worship album. The song Between The Cracks is about that hide and seek concept. Throughout the song God is portrayed as being right here among us just out of sight, and at the end of the song He asks "when are you going to come out from behind these paper thin walls of your cardboard box reality?" He is here with us and He wants us to find Him.

It is also comforting that while we are going through hard times He is right here with us. We have a loving God who is with us when we need Him and "His name is hope". God is "raising the dead in the graveyard where we've laid down our dreams".

I could not find a very good video for this song but youtube does have a video with the song playing and the lyrics scrolling on a black background as they are sung. I will copy and paste the lyrics below as well so you can read at your own pace.

Hope grows between

cracks in the asphault

In the downtown

ghetto streets

that contour the government

housing intentions of my heart

No one notices

the daisies don't care

About gang related violence

As long as they get enough air

and water and sun

They're all just fine

Who would've thought it but life is finding a way

Through this wasteland

of cynics, concrete, and pain

There's a man down here

somewhere between

The Saturday cartooons and the

dirty magazines

He's raising the

dead in the graveyards

Where we've laid down

our dreams and His name is Hope

Hope stands high

on the 15th floor

Of a Christmas tree perched

about the ledge

of a fortress of steel

that's trying too hard

to be somebody's home

As it seized

my attention from I-85

though the throes of the day were

still writhing inside

I lifted my head

as I drove home that night

and knew that everything

was gonna be fine

Who would've thought it

but life is finding a way

Through this wasteland

of cynics, concrete, and pain

There's a man down here

somewhere between

those Saturday cartoons and the

dirty magazines

And he's raising the

dead in the graveyards

Where we've laid down

our dreams and His name is Hope

Can you hear him outside

he's been singing all night

He's saying when are you gonna

come out from behind

These paper thin walls of your

cardboard box reality

Book of Eli/Greystone Chapel

I watched The Book of Eli the other day and decided to write about it. I thought it was a great movie. It did not go into great deal of details about why the Bible is so important,but there are many ways you can apply this movie to your Bible lessons.

First, Eli lives by faith. This is the connection with the song Greystone Chapel. Eli quotes the song to Solara when they are traveling west and she asks what faith is. Eli tells her it's when "you know something even if you don't know something". He then quotes the song written by Glen Sherley, who was an inmate at Folsom Prison when Johnny Cash recorded his album there. Johnny sang the song on the album. The line Eli gave Solara was that faith is the "flower of light in the field of darkness that gives me strength to carry on". Eli found the last copy of the Bible (I am not sure how it was determined to be the last copy, but somehow everyone knew that it was),and he heard a voice tell him to take it out west. That is what he did, even though he had no idea how far he would have to go. Throughout the movie Eli demonstrates faith in many situations.

Second is that even a good thing like the Bible can be used for evil, we need to be sure of what we believe, and careful of who we listen to. Carnegie, Gary Oldman's character, hunts Eli down to get the Bible from him. His intentions are not to teach the Bible to others, as Eli wants to do, but he wants to use it to gain control of more towns than the one he already runs. He knows how powerful religion has been and how it has been used to exploit people and he intends to do that himself. Also, Eli admitted himself at one point that he got too caught up in trying to protect the Bible that he neglected to live according to what it said. We need to make sure we are living out our faith and not just going through the motions of church attendance, halfhearted prayers, etc.

Third,this is a little bit of a spoiler, so don't say I didn't warn you, Carnegie does get the Bible from Eli, which may seem like a bad thing, but Eli had it memorized so he was still able to take it west like God told him to. (Don't worry, Eli's copy of the Bible does Carnegie no good. I will not give away why in this post though.)This illustrates the importance of keeping God's word in our hearts.

While not a perfect representation of Christian faith and perhaps not suitable for a younger audience due to language and violence,I really enjoyed this movie and examining it for it's spiritual context. (And the Cash reference is definitely a plus).

Book of Eli trailer

Performance of Greystone Chapel on The Johnny Cash Show