I am proud to announce that "The 3 Twelve" is starting a new stage in its blog life. I am moving my blog to Word Press. Why? I kind of like it a little better, it looks nicer and is more customizable.
I like concerts. A lot. No joke.
There is something amazing about seeing bands performing live that gives me a rush, the energy, passion and display of musical talent is always amazing to me (considering that I have tried to play instruments in the past with no success, I just don't have ANY musical talent whatsoever).
But what I like the most is Christian concerts, specially those that more than any of the things I just mentioned above, glorify God.
For some reason, over the last couple of the years I have been very turned off by some Christian bands I used to unconditionally follow, my taste of music has changed a lot. I say this because many modern Christian bands are becoming very secular, I used to listen to the M88, our "local" Christian station (it comes from Albuquerque, which is about 3 hours from here) all the time in my car, but a lot of the stuff they play now just doesn't appeal to me anymore, I don't know why that is. I have also discovered some awesome rappers, who are pretty much most of what I listen to these days, Christian music-wise because they preach the Gospel in their lyrics in such a more real and true way than many of the more mainstream Christian bands out there.
Three of my favorite bands were there among the main performers: The Afters, Thousand Foot Krutch and my main diggy dog Lecrae. Jars of Clay and Mercy Me were there too, who I like but are not in my top rank, they were still pretty good.
Let's start rating my 3 faves of the show:
The Afters
I have been a big fan of The Afters since I first heard "Beautiful Love" back in...2005 or 2006 I think and it is still one of my favorite songs ever and one of the most played songs on my itunes play list. Their most recent album "Light up the Sky" became an instant favorite when a friend let me borrow his, specially the title song of the album (which was their best song last night).
This band is pretty much awesome, and they had a powerful message of always trusting God in the midst of the trials and problems that arise in our daily lives when we follow Christ, the lead singer preached about that in between one of the songs. This band is not only super musically talented but they are so on fire for the Lord. I definitely digged their part of the show.
Thousand Foot Krutch
According to the lead singer of Mercy Me, TFK was the reason why they decided to call it "The Rock and Worship Roadshow" because they seriously ROCKED IT OUT!
TFK is one of my favorite rock/metal bands. When I was in highschool I really got into this kind of music, so when I came to Christ after highschool it was natural that this kind of music would still appeal me, so I got very into bands like Disciple and TFK. I like the energy there is in this type of music style.
These guys were super loud! The whole place was shaking and they were super good, no joke. I think they selected some of their heavier songs on purpose.
TFK is the kind of band that many older people consider an insult to Christian music, because of the loudness and occasional screaming in their songs, but they appeal the "younger" generation (people like me...and well younger too, but honestly this is my kind of music) and their sound is super appealing, you know, as in if you like this kind of music, you want to listen to them. Super energetic.
One of my favorite songs is "Bring Me to Life" from their latest album, if you play to the lyrics, it has an awesome message. Here is the chorus:
Bring me to life.
Breathe air into me,
It's taken me my whole life to realize
All the things I've never seen,
Bring me to life.
Breathe air into me,
Take me from the darkness that I've been in
'Cause I just wanna be free,
Bring me to life! Bring me to life!
This song represents what I felt when I came to Christ and have ever since, all the blessings and purpose in life that I was missing out because my eyes were so blinded from the sin and worldly life style I lived before the Lord called me and regenerated my heart and gave me a new one in 2005, when I came to realize the emptiness my life had.
TFK was definitely my second favorite of the night, of course the number one spot belongs to:
Lecrae
The main reason why I went to this concert was to see Lecrae, for real. I never was much of a rap fan until I first heard of Lecrae over 2 years ago, and then everything changed for me.
I had heard of him before that, but it wasn't until some friends of mine pretty much shared his awesome music with me that I really started following him and my point of view for Christian rap changed, I had heard of others like Grits, that I honestly thought were pretty lame (and I am still not even close to liking them), but Lecrae along with Tedashii, Flame, TripLee and Sho Baraka have become some of my most played songs on my itunes. Why? Because of how legit their lyrics are.
To me, these rappers have such an awesome testimony to share in their songs, they sing about real stuff, they don't play the whole lingo of "everything is good and perfect when you become a Christian" they preach about the hardships, the persecution and the hope that their is for those who follow Christ. One of my cousins said this on his facebook status yesterday:
Why DO I listen TO lecrae,triplee,sho baraka etc???...
"I think what you’re seeing is the outcome of guys that have lived it off the stage. There’s an authenticity with all these guys. Not only are they good at their craft, they’re the real deal away from the mic."
-Joel Guerrero
My cousin Joel said it in the same way I would express it. These guys are the real deal. I have seen many interviews and videos and heard their testimonies and they don't fake it, they live Christ day and night, on and off the stage. Their passion is to preach Christ in everything they do and in every one of their shows.
Funny story, so after Lecrae was done with his his part of the show, I wanted to check out his merch table, I wanted a tshirt or something. It was jammed packed! Way more packed than any of the other bands, that should say something about the impact he had haha. I waited in line for like 30 minutes to get a t-shirt and missed out Jars of Clay, but I am ok with that since I like Lecrae way better than them.
I took this picture with my phone, I was kind of far from the stage so I took it from the screen.
Overall it was a very good show and I am glad I decided to go, because I almost didn't go. I moved into a new apartment yesterday, I took the day off from work for that and with the help of my Pastor, my friend Sara and her mom and my awesome girlfriend I was able to be done around noon so I decided to tag along with a big group from my church that were going to the concert, and I am so glad I did decide to go or else I would have really regretted it.
I really hope Lecrae comes back to this area soon and brings Flame, Tedashii, TripLee and Sho Baraka with him, because that is a concert I would not even consider missing.
I leave you with the music video for "Background" from Lecrae's latest album "Rehab". The lyrics in this song are very powerful and is my second favorite after "Don't Waste Your Life".
Right before 2011 started, I came to the conclusion that is worthless to even think of "Resolutions" or personal goals to achieve for the new year, most of the times I have my mind set on doing something that I want to accomplish by the end of the year and then I find myself either forgetting about them or doing something completely different. I guess it is the way that I am wired or something.
There are areas in my life that need work on, many that are out of my control, that God needs to work in and through me so I can be who He wants me to be, that is something that has been revealed to me recently. If you look at some of the blog posts I wrote last year (specially around the summer time), you will see that it seems that I changed my mind all the time about what I wanted to do...that is the key: it was becoming more about what I wanted to do, rather than what God wanted me to do.
Not too long ago, someone confronted me about that stuff, at first I was blown away because it seemed to me that it came out of nowhere, but after thinking about it I realized it could all be boiled down to one simple issue: Humility.
You see, I have allowed pride to take over in the past, as soon as I feel like I am doing good, I allow pride to come in and take place and do with me as it pleases. I have dealt with issues of pride before but it always seems to come back one way or another. It is easy for me to think "look at me I am doing pretty good", and not give God the proper credit. Other times, I start doing things for myself and not even invite God into them or give Him the opportunity to work and do the work.
So that would be what it all would boil down to this year (and every year upcoming), to be less prideful and allow God to do the work in my life, to know when to be humble and step down and let others do the work, to not get in the way when God is doing something and allow Him to do it, not me.
From now on, God gets all the credit and I will be consistently praying that God reveals to me the areas in my life that need that improvement, that He will show me when I am getting too prideful and that I know to detect it before it takes over, to not think that I am "all that" and to remember that I am nothing but a vessel that God uses to do His work.
Who knows? This may be a big year full of many changes and I look forward to it.
This is not only the first post of the month, it is the first of the year. It is hard to believe that we are already in the year 2011, aside from the fact that I will have a hard time getting used to adding an extra "1" when I write the date, I think it will be a manageable year.
New Year Resolution?
It is a major topic of conversation in almost any group of people around these days. "What is/ are your New Years Resolution for 2011?"...Well, to be honest, I don't like the idea of setting some resolutions because most of them are resolutions I can never do, I might decide I want to do something, but then I end up failing or forgetting about it.
There is one I have thought of, and that is to grow closer to the Lord in 2011.
You see, 2010 was an interesting year for me, God did so much in my life, yet there were periods in which my walk became dry, there were even days in which I thought I was doing ok, and there were other times in which the fire rekindled and all I wanted was more of Him. I want 2011 to be like that and more! I want it to be a year in which all I can have is the things that pertain to the Lord. I want to be more humble and be more open to the things He is doing and can do in my life, acknowledge that all I need is Him and nothing more. That in all I do, in every decision (big or small), I put Him in front and let Him guide me.
Doesn't that sound like a good resolution?
I think the main way to fulfill your New Years Resolutions is to not think of them as New Years Resolutions, but to just live everyday as if you didn't have any more left, and the best way to do that is with Jesus Christ and allowing Him to guide your life.
What can I say about me?
I am just an average guy living in this borrowed time. I do my best and try hard to live a good life and I have a deep passion for the Word and serving God.
I am by no means perfect, but I strive daily to be a better person (even if some times I fail misserably).
