Warfare

Carman is one of my all time favorite Christian singers. I must say that until today I did not know his last name- that is how recognized he is. He holds the record for highest attendance in Texas Stadium. Most people have probably never heard of him though, because he sang in the late 80's. I remember one year for my birthday my mom bought me one of his double CD albums- that was my favorite birthday present ever. My family listened to him as we cleaned, as we visited, had friends over, or basically any time we were awake. Just a few years ago, my mom bought me the exact same album for my 16th birthday. It brought back amazing memories and have kept up with it since then. Off the record I must say, he is Italian, mighty good looking, and a phenomenal man of God-- major brownie points! Anyway, all of his songs are powerful, in some way or another, they all have the gospel truth written into them, and they all catch your attention-- at least all of the ones that I have ever listened to. 




One of my favorite songs by Carman is Revival in the Land. The song starts with a narration about the story to come. Carman explains that a "scaly creature", which can be seen as a demon, interrupts Satan to tell him something which is of importance. ("Code red problem") The song then moves into a dialog between Satan and the demon. The demon has terror in his voice as he announces that there is an awful problem. Satan immediately interrupts him with questioning of what could be wrong. He starts with the abortion clinics. The demon assures him that everything is fine there, 4,000 babies are being killed in a single day. In the song this seems like  a large number, but I mentioned earlier that Carman is from the 80's. Guess what, the number has gone up. According to the Center for Bio-Ethical Reform, there are 115 thousand abortions each day and 42 million a year. If that is not sad, I do not know what is. Next Satan asks about his "pet project, television violence". The demon's response is shocking and horrifying to me. Statistics now say that by the time a child is 18 they have seen 200,000 acts of violence-- does not seem like this project has begun to decline. The next target that the enemy has against us is false religion. The large amount of people in false religions is quite alarming. I cannot find an updated number to use here for comparison, but I can say that America alone has decreased in Christianity, and we are a "Christian Nation". 


Seeing that none of his major plans are failing satan proceeds to ask about "business in general". The demon quotes many disgusting numbers about suicide, runaway youth and so on. I can only imagine what the statistics on all of those things are today. Eventually, there is a loud rumble, which alarms Satan. The demon explains that the loud noise is what their problem has been all along. Then, we discover that this disturbance is sanctified, spirit filled, saints of God on their knees praying for revival. The sound effects and noise volume that Carman uses sends chills through my body every time it comes to this part of the song. What if we all prayed like that every day? Satan would not be able to come in like a flood, raise standards against us, form weapons against us or anything else that he has to try and destroy our lives. My absolute favorite part of this song is when Satan says, "It's time to launch my final, most vicious attack. I'll remind the saints of their past- how they were liars, cheaters, manipulators and moochers," with a reply from the demon stating, "But sir, you know what will happen if you remind the saints of their past." The angry and frustration in Satan's voice explains it all as he says, "And what is that?"
At this point, I find my peace and solitude, "Sir, they'll just remind you of your future." WE ARE REDEEMED AND SET FREE FROM ANY LIE SATAN CAN EVER TELL US! He may remind us of our past a million times, but our future greatly outweighs his!! Praise the Lord!