Be Present: Salvation Is Here

This summer, by GOD's designed coincidence, we had the opportunity to attend Switchfoot's Bro-Am in Southern California.  Hearing many of the songs that have been on my play list for nearly a decade and a half had me feeling reminiscent. Mid June on Moonlight Beach, the taste of salt in the air blended well with the electric hum of guitars full tilt.  We enjoyed Jon and his band expressing their music in their natural habitat, but the day was filled with more than songs and sand and sea.  I was struck by the poignancy of the lyrics. Although many of the ballads had become so familiar, fare for radio sing-along commuting--the gravity of grace, embedded in the words, anchored my heart.

As I've spent these past several months reflecting on the theme, "Be Present," it's been wonderful to explore GOD's Word and enjoy the many places He's creatively revealed facets of the theme to our team.  A Switchfoot album that could very well have been written expressly for this GODencounters experience would be "The Beautiful Let Down."  Of the many powerful tracks, "Dare You To Move" speaks to the tension between motion and stillness that I sense GOD calling us to as He asks us to "Be Present."

So without too much theological adulteration of this classic anthem, enjoy and linger on these lyrics:

Welcome to the planet
Welcome to existence
Everyone's here
Everyone's here
Everybody's watching you now
Everybody waits for you now
What happens next
What happens next

[Chorus]
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened before

Welcome to the fallout
Welcome to resistance
The tension is here
Tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

[Chorus]

Maybe redemption has stories to tell
Maybe forgiveness is right where you fell
Where can you run to escape from yourself?
Where you gonna go?
Where you gonna go?
Salvation is here

I dare you to move
I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
I dare you to move
Like today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened
Today never happened before 

Encounter the Word:

"But more than anything else, put God’s work first and do what he wants. Then the other things will be yours as well. Don’t worry about tomorrow. It will take care of itself. You have enough to worry about today." –Matthew 6:33-34 [CEV] 

Encounter:

• What will make today different?
• How might your live today in such a way to express the significance of your faith?
• Who is the GOD calling you to be? Today? Right now?