This week I’ll share several videos with you.
Brighter Days
Cheap cliches or easy answers to pain and suffering are a turn-off for me. At first glance the title of Blessing Offor’s song Brighter Days seemed like it fit the cheap and easy category – until I read his story. Blessing Offor was born in Nigeria. He lost sight in one eye due to glaucoma, then his parents sent him to the States at the age of 6 for the medical care here. Yet, he lost his eyesight completely at age 10 from a water gun accident. When a man is blind yet singing about brighter days, he’s got something special to offer.
“If you’re going through hard things, embrace it. You have to have something hard in your life to appreciate something beautiful in your life.”
– Blessing Offor
In his video Brighter Days, Blessing gives a picture of the trials many of our youth are going through at a time when we desperately need to reach them. The lyrics offer hope in the midst of suffering from a man who is qualified to offer it.
Sirens
The Gray Havens are a Christian husband-and-wife duo whose music leans toward the folk genre. I enjoy their music as it doesn’t have the same top 40 pop sound as many Christian groups do, and they address topics that are off the beaten path. Their song Sirens evokes the battles against lust. Here is an excerpt from the lyrics:
“Hold on my heart
You once were full and sang of grace
Hold on
One taste of the sound
From the sirens in the water
And I’m thinking I should get out
The sharpest sword and suit of armor
So I can be ready to strike
But I pause, one more time
One last taste of the sound
Then I’ll cut these sirens down
But as they sang, I forgot
They were death, so I brought them my heart
To be filled, and I followed them…”
It’s refreshing to see a musical group exposing the temptations and pull of the sirens of lust that many are grappling with. Their video illustrates the warfare and the pull of lust; toward the end the demonic spirit behind the call of the sirens is brought to light. As the comments on the YouTube page shows, Sirens was a blessing to many.
Putting on Grace
This is a video I recorded 9 years ago that, as you will see, is appropriate to the message of the Christmas season, and, any time of the year.
