ROD's Blog

"Songs in the Night" released 

Glory to God! My fourth album, "Songs in the Night" was finally released after numerous hurdles and many hours of studio labor.

It's been almost two years since my third album, "Called" was released. As an artist I'm always trying to improve the next album, and this one is no exception. I believe it's my best sounding to date. The Lord deserves nothing short of the very best, and that is why I sweat the details. Being in the recording business for many years taught me that quality doesn't just happen, it takes work. Lots of it. I hope that as you listen to this album, you will agree that it was worth the wait.

The digital download version of the album is available now from my store page, as well as all the other places where music is streamed or sold like Apple Music, iTunes, Spotify, etc. If you can purchase it from my website it's better, because the other stores take a big cut in royalties. As it is, I've lost money on every release. But as you probably know, I don't do it for the money. I do this labor of love as an offering to the Lord and as a ministry to you, dear listener. If the Lord allows it, I will continue producing music until the day I die.

The physical CD version of "Songs in the Night" is being produced as I write this. Expected arrival will be sometime in July. But my new policy is this: if you order from my store here, every digital download album also includes the physical CD. So you can purchase the download for "Songs in the Night" right now and you'll get the CD as soon as it arrives. I'll let you know when it's in stock.

The last few months have been difficult ones for many people, including myself. Sometimes I feel like the world needs the physical necessities of life much more than the intangible work of a songwriter and musician like myself. After all, you can't eat music or wear it. But then I imagine what kind of a world this would be if there were no hymns, no spiritual songs, no making of melodies in our hearts to the Lord. Would you want to live in a world like that? Not me.

I also think about this: in Heaven there will be no need for the kind of work most people do here on Earth. But the Bible tells us that there WILL be music! This gives me great encouragement, as there are only a few things that the Bible says we will definitely be doing there. I'm glad I'm already doing one of them!

 

Banned By Facebook 

 

This is the post that put me in Facebook jail.

It was meant as a response to Christians who believe that all leaders, including Donald Trump, are put into power by God. Hosea 8:4a is one of many scripture verses showing that the Bible does not teach this.

Tyrants like Adolf Hitler have used Romans 13 to tell people that God expects them to submit to all governmental authority, no matter how immoral or unjust. Apparently, the idiots at Facebook thought this was not "respectful to everyone", deleted the post and suspended me from Facebook for 24 hours.

And lest you think that it was just a stupid algorithm designed to flag all images of Hitler as disrespectful, I went through their dispute process and explained to them that my post did not support Adolf Hitler, but quite the opposite. Yet after reviewing my dispute, they still decided against me.

Even if the post had been supportive of Hitler, it should not have been censored. But we need to understand that we have no First Amendment right of free speech on Facebook. There is no guaranteed freedom of expression. Facebook will decide what you can or can't say, just as if you lived under a totalitarian government. No matter how arbitrary or absurd their rules may be, we have no choice but to submit.

Keep in mind that your entire account can be removed at their whim. You could lose all your content if you haven't backed it up. And you could lose the ability to contact all your friends unless you've shared alternative contact information with them.

Also keep in mind that Facebook owns Messenger, Instagram and WhatsApp. They could possibly compromise your freedom of expression or your privacy on those platforms as well.

It's ironic that Facebook has so much in common with the Hitlerian authoritarianism that they profess to hate.

But I would like to remind everyone that the Internet has been around much longer than Facebook. There are two other ways to connect with other people without using these tyrannical social media platforms: email and websites.

This is my website, and I own the domain name. Neither Facebook nor anyone else can control its content. You can comment freely here, or use the webmail to contact me directly at any time.

I predict that unless there is some kind of an uprising and people start dumping Facebook, authoritarians like Mark Zuckerberg will continue to tighten the censorship until Christians are forced to decide whether they will compromise the truth or whether they will be faithful to God's truth.

Having your own private email and web domain is not as expensive as you might think. I've seen web and mail hosting services for as little as $5 a month. Some are based offshore in countries where privacy laws are stricter than in the U.S. If you're active online commentator, I recommend you prepare yourself so that when censorship ramps up even more, you'll have an alternative way to communicate.

What Can One Person Change? 

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it's the only thing that ever has. -Margaret Mead

Recently, I was talking with a friend about the current state of world affairs. He wondered if there was really anything one person could do to change things for the better. It's a fair question, considering the tidal wave of evil that seems to be engulfing us. I reminded him of the thought expressed in the above quotation by Margaret Mead. But this weekend I looked up that quotation and saw it in a somewhat different light.

You see, there is also a small, thoughtful group of committed citizens changing things, but for the worse. They are light years ahead of the rest of humanity in strategizing evil deeds. Call them what you like: tyrants, technocrats, international bankers, trans-humanists, globalists, Zionists, New World Order people, etc. And they know that one person CAN make a huge difference. But since they work through deception because their father (Satan) is the father of all lies, they try to create the illusion that they are invincible and that one person can't change anything. 
 

As Christians, we know that even though Satan appears to be winning he has already lost. And yet we can be so easily discouraged that we fall for the lie and believe that change is futile. If you trusted Jesus, you already know that change is possible because He changed you from a hell-bound sinner to a Heaven-bound saint. But a Christian can change even more than that.

The next thing they can change is their own thinking through the power of God. But first they must desire to change, and that takes courage, humility, hard work and a love for truth. Unfortunately many professing Christians do not want to pay that price and will use Bible prophecy as an excuse for inaction (for example, "things will get worse so why fight it?"). Or they will say they're too spiritual to concern themselves with earthly things, thus becoming no earthly good for God or for the rest of us. Whatever the excuse may be, they are just kidding themselves. But if they truly desire to change their own thinking, they can change the thinking of the people in their sphere of influence, no matter how small that change might be.

Someone once said that our lives are the sum total of the people we have associated with and the things we have read. There's a lot of truth to that, so much that often we are unaware of the changes that outside influences have made in us. Therefore we must choose our friends and books wisely. Obviously the Bible would be our wisest choice in books, and if we take the Bible seriously, we see that God is not too fond of crowds or large numbers.

When you read the Bible, you understand that it's mainly the story of a very small committed group of God's citizens that changed history. It's the story of a handful of people who trusted God enough to resist pharaohs, kings, emperors, false prophets, etc. The ultimate example of this is Jesus and the Twelve. The influence of these few caused the eventual downfall of the Roman Empire, the most powerful force of that day. Here in the United States, a small minority of colonists (maybe 10%) prevailed in the American Revolution against the British Empire, which was the greatest military power in that day.

So if you want to be right with God and on the right side of history, you probably don't want to follow the crowd or "go with the flow". Be part of that small, committed group of citizens on the side of God, who is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6).

Today’s Christian worship music is the new “Trance” 

Some of you are familiar with Trance music. The dictionary defines a trance as a state of mind in which someone seems to be asleep and to have no conscious control over their thoughts or actions, but in which they can see and hear things and respond to commands given by other people. I would add that demons can also influence someone in a trance, and I believe that some contemporary Christian "worship" music has become the new Trance music. Sounds crazy? Allow me to explain. 

I don’t think I have ever heard anyone express the opinion which I am about to state. It is strictly my own, and you are free to disagree and comment. But it is a studied opinion after many years of observation, and in a field (music) to which I have devoted most of my life. 

Christian music once consisted mainly of hymns, later to be augmented by Negro spirituals here in the U.S. Other cultures incorporated their unique genres also, so today there's Christian Hip Hop, Reggae, Latin, etc. But when you attend a typical church, modern “worship” music goes something like this: a long meandering song short on lyrics, written to be more feeling-oriented than scriptural, and small melodic riffs sung over a chord progression that has very little movement or variation. All this gives the song a droning, meditational New Age hypnotic feel. I believe this is putting many people into a trance-like state. Going into a trance in order to have a religious experience has been a part of pagan cultures for centuries. Eastern mysticism has influenced American culture since the 1960s, so it’s no surprise that it would influence Christian music today. Many Christians are not even conscious of it. The influence has been so pervasive that we've been subconsciously conditioned to it. 

I’ll give you a small example of subtle conditioning: hardly anyone ever talks about “reaping and sowing” anymore, which is a phrase derived from the Bible. However, we hear “what goes around comes around” all the time, which is related to the concept of Karma, reincarnation and the circle of life. This expression is rooted in Eastern mysticism, which is Antichrist, yet even as Christians we often find ourselves mouthing it. 

In the same way, many Christians have come to believe that by repeating certain words or musical phrases in a “worship” song, we draw close to God and meet Him there. But none of this is biblical. By repeating musical phrases endlessly in these modern worship songs, they are employing something similar to a “Mantra”, which is a pagan practice that has roots in Hinduism. Modern worship music that incorporates these techniques prepare the worshiper to have a spiritual experience, but unfortunately the spirit they meet may NOT be the Spirit of God! 

I don’t know if these modern Christian music artists (I will not name names) are doing this deliberately or if they are subconsciously channeling the spirit of the age, which is Antichrist. But the result is the same, and I don’t like it. So I avoid it in my own writing, especially if the purpose of the song is to prepare a listener to "worship". Actually, I believe that worship should be a way of life, not an event. Therefore, I worship every time I create music for the Lord, or do anything to bring glory to His name. But no matter how we worship, we should be careful to test the spirits to see whether they are from God (1 John 4:1).

There Is A Way That Seems Right 

Any of you who saw the answer to my little Bible quiz know the verses in Proverbs that were nearly identical. Here it is: "There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death." (KJV) 

That was one of the first Bible verses I ever memorized. It had special significance for me for two reasons. First, it reminded me of how deceived I had been before coming to faith in Jesus. I did not grow up in a Christian home, and in high school my humanities teacher convinced me there was no God. And I lived the life of an atheist for many years, totally convinced that I was right. That’s the scary nature of deception, because you don’t know when you’re a victim of it. Nobody believes that what they “know” to be true is a lie, otherwise they wouldn’t believe it! So my belief “seemed right” as the Bible says, but it leads to death. Second, I was surprised to find the same Bible verse repeated almost word for word. God doesn’t usually repeat Himself like that, so I think it must be VERY important for God to have repeated it. We must be very careful to guard against deception. Okay, I think most of us can agree on that principle. But the real test is applying it, and here is where you and I may need to re-examine what we believe to be true. Many Christians would say that that good cannot come out of evil, but what they support tells an opposite story. Specifically I’m referring to the war in Syria that is raging as this is being written. Fact: we are dropping bombs and killing many innocent people, including Christians. Fact: we have not been asked to intervene in Syria, and the Christians there strongly support President Assad. Fact: the USA is mostly hated throughout most of the world. But here in America we are told that we are waging these wars for “freedom” and other countries are “envious” of our greatness. Something doesn’t add up. We intervene in foreign countries that pose no threat to us, supposedly to stop some evil there. But in the process we commit evil ourselves. Did God say that the end justifies the means? No, I think that was the communist Karl Marx who said that. And we will not hear a word today from America’s pulpits about this immoral and illegal war in Syria. My pastor will talk about it, but the vast majority of pastors won’t. Do you think God can bless an aggressor nation? Are we sure America is on the right side? Because if it isn’t, we can only expect God to judge us. I think the judgment has already started.

Never Trust Government To Protect You 

Are you still trusting government to keep guns out of the hands of criminals? How's that worked out for us lately? I'll tell you exactly why it hasn't worked: the world's biggest criminals are IN government! We Americans need to stop being so child-like, and we need to stop trusting the government to protect us. Do you really think it's impossible for criminals to exist within government that use pawns to cause shootings in order to scare people into demanding more gun control laws? That's how they fool the public and amass more police power for themselves! They already have more money than they will ever need, but they want more. They want total power. They want full control over you and me. And they will use every possible manipulation or scheme to get it. I know it's hard to accept that some people could be THIS machiavellian, but that's because you and I are not psychopaths. Even though the Bible warns about how the wicked lie in their beds plotting evil all the time (Micah 2:1, Psalms 36:4), we tend to think others are like us. You and I are predisposed to think we're being paranoid when the evidence of such evil presents itself. Psychologists call this "normalcy bias". Maybe that explains why most Russians just LOVED Joseph Stalin, the tyrant who caused the deaths of over 40 million people during his rule in the USSR. When the Russian people would hear about the atrocities happening in their country, most would say, "If only Stalin knew". He knew!

Jesus Paid It All 

Blessed Resurrection Sunday everyone!

Yes, Jesus loves you and me. Yes, He died a cruel excruciating death because He loves you and me. Yes, He did that so that you and I might live through Him. All of that is true. But, dear believer, don't EVER think that it was about us! Above all, He did it to bring glory to the FATHER! (John 21:19)

It is God who should receive, not just part of the glory, but ALL OF IT. We will never be truly worthy of His love! He CHOOSES to love us despite the fact that we are quite unloveable. I'm reminded of a friend who wrote a song titled "It's So Easy To Love You". Well, that ain't how God sees us without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus! Remember what God says about our own righteousness. He compares it to filthy rags!

Remember that Jesus is perfectly just and righteous, yet at the same time perfectly loving and merciful. My finite human mind cannot possibly understand His consideration of a wretched sinner like me in light of these seemingly contradictory truths about His character and nature. No wonder the holy angels sing His praises! Should we do any less?

"Good" Friday 

Now from the sixth hour there was darkness over all the land unto the ninth hour. (Matthew 27:45) 

And when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour. (Mark 15:33) 

And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. (Luke 23:44) 

John 19:14 tells us that Jesus was crucified on the day of preparation for the Jewish Passover, which means He was crucified at the same day that lambs were being sacrificed throughout Jerusalem. This is symbolic, because Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for our sins. But there was another symbolic event that day. Three of the Gospels tell us that there was COMPLETE DARKNESS for three hours while He hung on the Cross. 

In the Jewish calendar, this would have been from 12:00 noon to 3 P.M. It's quite possible that Passover meals were already being served and/or eaten during this time. Imagine this happening in complete darkness during the middle of the day for three hours, and during the most holy feast of the year! Darkness any day of the year would be frightening enough; for it to occur on a high holiday should have had the Jews wondering if God was angry with THEM. It was as if God was judging them, disgusted with their hypocritical worship and their meaningless rituals while they crucified their Messiah.

In fact, God DID judge Israel about 40 years later when Jerusalem, the temple, and the Jewish priesthood were utterly destroyed. And if God destroyed His "chosen people" because they refused to repent, don't think for a minute that He won't judge America for rejecting Him! Something to think about this "Good" Friday.

Condemened No More - Hip-Hop Remix dropping soon 

 

 

I'm looking forward to the remix of "Condemned No More". Now I'm just waiting for my guest CHH artists R.E.D.D. and The RNF Status to do their thing and add the verses. In the meanwhile, here's the cover for the single. Yeah, I know I look like I just got out of prison. But in a spiritual sense, that's what happens to all of us when we first put our faith in Jesus Christ!

Just as anyone in prison has lost their physical freedom, anyone who sins and does not belong to Jesus is imprisoned by that sin. They are a slave to sin, with no freedom to stop sinning (John 8:34). But whoever believes in Jesus is freed from the prison of sin and unbelief that results in condemnation (John 3:18) and is set free indeed (John 8:36). They are condemned no more, and can now walk in the Spirit. (Romans 8:1). That verse is what I based the chorus of this song on.

By the way, we don't have to make "walking in the Spirit" some kind of mysterious otherworldly thing. It just means having the ability to obey the truth and not to obey the lie. Christians sin not because they can't help it, because help is always available to anyone who has the Spirit of Jesus living in them. Christians sin because they willfully resist the Spirit. Non-Christians, on the other hand, have no choice but to sin because it's human nature and they don't have the help of the Spirit. Resisting sin is a characteristic of the divine nature, therefore the power to resist sin can only come from a divine source. We call that source the Holy Spirit, and we call this power grace. And we define grace as the God-given ability within us to obey the truth.

If you belong to Jesus, I hope this track captures a little bit of the joy you must have felt when you knew you were condemned no more!

Redeeming the Time 

People make salvation more complicated than it is. It all comes down to believing the true God, Jesus Christ, AND loving Him. Not believing as the demons do, for the demons know who He is and believe what He said but they don’t love Him. They hate Him! (James 2:19).

For the rest of us, there is a book that tells us all about Jesus. Men have been trying to get rid of this book unsuccessfully for thousands of years, but it's still as true today as when it was written. It's called the Bible. If you believe and love what it says, you will believe and love this Jesus and you will live your life in light of that truth. (Romans 10:9). That's salvation.

You will not live your faith perfectly, because perfect faith requires sinlessness. And we know that sinlessness is impossible for the seed of Adam (all people). But that's why Jesus, the sinless One, had to pay the price for my sins and whosoever would believe in Him (John 3:16).

All this is simple enough to be grasped by a child. In fact, Jesus Himself said that unless we received the kingdom of God with the faith of a little child, we would not enter into it. (Mark 10:15). It is only as we continue to live in this world full of darkness and sin that our hearts (the real "who" that we are) become hardened to spiritual truth. Decades of relentless "education" that denies spiritual truths has its effect on most who live a long life here. If I was writing a book titled, "How This World Really Works", chapter 1 would be called, "The Conspiracy To Conceal Christ".

That's why it is quite a defeat for the devil and his demons when an older person comes to faith in Jesus. God is still able to open the spiritual eyes of the most hardened sinners and have them see these simple truths. I thank God He did it for me. Sadly, that is the exception to the rule (Matthew 7:13).

The goal of the devil is to steal, kill and destroy. (John 10:10). He tries to do that whether you belong to Jesus or not. If he doesn't kill your body right off the bat, he works to steal your time and destroy your usefulness for Jesus. Therefore, as we are not promised tomorrow, we should not put off deciding in our hearts TODAY who Jesus really is. Neither should we put off living our lives in light of it. Because time is short (James 4:14), and the days are evil (Ephesians 5:16).

Saving faith in Jesus is just the beginning, although a crucial one. What we do for Him afterwards here on Earth will be determined by our faithfulness. And the clock is ticking, so make every second count. Redeem the time.