The closure

Pin It

The Chainsmokers performed in the Philippines last month. Screen capture from
Youtube

IT all started when the officemates of a high school friend of mine, who is now based in Singapore, posted a video of them dancing to the Chainsmokers and Halsey hit "Closer". They posted the video on the day my PBA D-League coverage ended, so I reposted the video the day after with the caption, "[I] would have loved doing one in Biñan (Alonte Sports Arena) last night (Stu Traveled mode: If you want to go to ASA, take the Mamplasan Interchange from SLEX and go east bound. ASA is inside the Biñan City Hall Complex)."

Exactly three weeks after they posted their "Closer" dance and with other people following suit, here I am updating my Christian blog (setting aside my sportswriter duties and snapping yet another dormancy period of this website).

Here's the thing: I accepted the "after-work challenge", or the "'Closer' dance challenge" for others. I already choreographed most of the steps (all by myself) while working out at the gym but eventually gave up and vowed, "I will just do a guitar cover instead (never too late to play the six-stringer)."

But everything changed when I joined my churchmates for a jog.

After we finished (we actually didn't finish the full course because two of us thought we took a different path) the run, I somewhat joked to my churchmates about the "zumba" dance by performing the first step of my "Closer" dance (Don't dare me to repeat it) while singing it.

Then one of my churchmates "rebuked" me about the song, currently at number one in various radio countdowns and may have had some airtime in "masa" stations as well.

This is where the point of this post comes in. "Closer", although in a "beautiful" manner, discusses about sex, especially the chorus (I am expecting Andrew, Alex, and Ashley [Halsey's real name] to air their side of the song if they see this). While there's nothing wrong in sex in general, the song primarily discusses pre-marital sex, which somehow degrades the sacredness of marriage (read Genesis 2). I simply overlooked the song's sense.

To be fair, there's nothing wrong if Christians patronize some secular music. In fact, I would say that I like "Closer" more than "Roses" and "Don't Let Me Down".

But again, I overlooked what "Closer" is all about, and that's the same for most of us. We tend to like a new hit so much that we ignore the message it implies, especially if it's NSFW.

To end this, I'm just gonna remind you that before you should check first the implied (or sometimes explicit) message of the hit song and determine whether it's "wholesome" to your standards or not. But above anything else, ask God that He will direct you as you listen to the tracks on the radio. And of course, there's nothing more pleasing to our ears than worship songs to our Lord. And to further discern what songs we should put in our playlists, here's God's (through Paul) tip for you:

"...be filled with the Spirit; speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord... (Ephesians 5:18b, 19 KJV)"

Another reminder: "...your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you... Therefore, glorify God in your body. (1 Corinthians 6:19a, 20 ESV)

PS: If you're asking me if I will push through with the "dare", I am now backing out of the challenge.

A Night With Iktus

Pin It

MCA Universal

...be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord... (Ephesians 5:18-19 NIV)

There's a new Christian band out. Its name is Iktus. The name of the band is a wordplay from the Greek term ichthys, which literally means fish and is a symbol representing Jesus Christ. The group of Andrew, CJ, and Andrei Paniligan and Augusto Mendoza (2nd from the right in the photo above), is more into alternative music. The band started during their high school days at the Christian School International in Los Baños in 2005, and now, nine years later, Iktus, fresh from winning the Sun Broadband Quest, is out with its self-titled first album featuring the carrier single "IMY". I got a chance to chat with them.

Me: Who are your inspirations in your music?
Iktus: Internationally, we're inspired by Switchfoot (Iktus' style of play is similar to Switchfoot's), Hillsong United, Planetshakers, and Flyleaf. Among the local bands, our inspirations are Eraserheads and Sugarfree. But despite listening to their songs, we decided to stick to our own style, because we already sold our soul to Jesus Christ.
Me: Aside from your gigs, where do we usually see you?
Iktus: At our church in Calamba City. We're also part of the music ministry there.
Me: Why did you join the Sun Broadband Quest?
Iktus: We want to have a bigger audience, so that more will hear how God loves them.

It's a rare experience to meet a local Christian band here, but I hope Iktus will make it big and spread God's love to everyone. By the way, Iktus' album is now available via CD's at Astroplus and Odyssey outlets, mobile streaming via spinnr.ph, and via digital downloads on ITunes.

PS: As of press time, Iktus is performing at a fund-raising gig featuring Sugarfree's frontman Ebe Dancel at IC's Bar back in LB.

PS Again (Inserting my Sporty Guy-ness here): I don't usually tend to remember names of my teammates during pick-up basketball games at the Baker Hall ballpark, but I found out that Andrei, who answered most of my questions, was one of my teammates in some games there.