Radiance Road

In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light.” Now, we say, “Happy New Year!” Calendars are changing, seasons are switching, and the number behind all the moments we document and everything we do has now advanced to 2024. At the onset of a new year, we live in a time of endings and beginnings. The old things from 2023 have been winding down and ending, while the new things in 2024 are beginning to spring forward. I’d like to focus especially on those ending moments, as I believe that somewhere present in the stories of time there have been opportunities time and time again to find a way to experience a joy-filled ending. At the end of a day, the finale of an event, the conclusion of an activity, or the passing of a period of time no matter what happens, there is always something to be joyful about. With God as our guiding light, we can always find a reason to embrace joy because we have survived spiritually. No matter how seemingly-moonless the dark night may seem, in every moment of every day, in every encounter, and in every experience, we always have the choice to choose joy, to choose light, to choose optimism, to choose hope, to choose spirituality, and to choose God. Radiance

Researched,compiled,and

writtenby HansSirotniak’24

We live in a world where darkness exists and where often it may seem like there couldn’t possibly be a reason for joy. In an introduction to Christian music in the December issue of Crossroads, we discovered how Christian music is here to encourage us, comfort us, and remind us that we are loved. However, there’s another, more advanced, purpose for Christian music, one that might not always seem as obvious on the surface. Christian music inspires us to realize and be grateful for the fact that we are strong spiritual survivors — with life in abundance.

We have seen the impacts of good and evil all around the world. Some souls are in spiritual warfare, in a fight against the forces of evil and temptation. In order to steadfastly win over evil and in spiritual battle, we have to fight on our knees allowing the all-powerful God to do the fighting for us. It’s the prayer, the surrender, and the connection to God that really makes the difference. When shifting to God’s perspective, what happens is that the victory comes not from what someone can do or achieve but rather from what God’s love has already done from an action in the past: Jesus dying on the Cross and then — resurrecting.

Thank you very much for choosing to spend some of your time on the Radiance Road. Throughout the next few Crossroads publications, I hope to walk you through some of the best songs to help you fight on your knees and become the survivor, with a focus on the Christian subgenres of pop, hip-hop, rock, and gospel. We will learn through concepts from the Bible, homily-style reflection passages, and brief reflections on individual Christian music songs. I look forward to sharing some special songs focused on the theme of God’s love, waiting, and Easter, in accordance with Valentine’s Day, Lent, and the Easter season. If you can stick around for the final article this spring, look forward to the unveiling of a special “map” that can help you get to the “secret weapon” that you need to be the survivor in this spiritual fight!

If you’re willing to let good always win over evil throughout the moments of your life, I recommend checking out the pop and hiphop songs on the following pages. They might inspire you to keep fighting on your knees — surrendering to God to fight that battle against evil.

Pop and hip-hop Christian songs focus on the messages of the Gospel, God’s love, forgiveness, hope, encouragement, and the presence of God in the artists’ lives. With the catchy lyrics, you’ll find yourself singing along; with the great rhythm and beats, you’ll find yourself dancing. It’s even better when you get those lyrics stuck inside your head because they actually might be helpful somewhere along your journey. It’s likely that you might find some Christian hip-hop music mixed in with pop music. Hip-hop and rap songs allow artists to put personal stories into their songs in a rhythmic way, making the songs enjoyable while also getting the message across.

The following songs are copyrighted by their respective owners. I attempt to mention songs in accordance with fair use guidelines for commentary and educational purposes.

“Up” (Pop)

by Tauren Wells & Erica Campbell

If you ’ re feeling like giving up on anything, I recommend this tune. With the purpose of being encouraging, this song does a great job of helping listeners not give up In scary situations, the best reminder is that good things come from times of pressure.

“After Party” (Pop)

“Desert Road” (Pop)

by Casting Crowns

& CAIN

Sometimes you might feel like you are walking on a desert road, not seeing any hope in front of you. In this statement of belief, Casting Crowns and CAIN sing about having hope in God no matter what pain people might have to go through in life.

by ONE HOUSE & Sam Rivera

This believer thought that his life was about to be over, but it wasn’t Finding God in that moment, the believer realized that there was another choice a choice for good, after all of the bad ones. This song is a celebration of the Christian life. It is a confirmation that following God can make people feel more alive, fulfill their seeking, and let them find the joy that they’ve always wanted.

“Camouflage” (Pop)

by Joseph O’Brien

This song is about being addicted to other people’s opinions living by a standard that tells people they will never measure up In the last line of the song, we hold a hand out for help in letting those unfulfilling things go. Let’s not let our lives be defined by the standards of the world but rather by the standards of God.

“saints and sinners” (Pop)

by STANLEY

You might be a saint, always making the best decisions and never doing anything wrong You might be a sinner, someone who always falls short of the right path You might act both ways from day to day. No matter the path that you are on, remember that Jesus is always inviting you to come to Him and become spiritually stronger.

“Thank God” Dim

ngs off...” are s rockin’ song. er and singing hing that we do y are actually ratitude, has saved us ut Him, we lives and the hat we do.

“God Gave Me Freedom” (Pop)

by Anthem Lights

This is a happy song about a celebration of something very important. It’s like the Fourth of July over and over again. Having that dream in your life and seeing it being fulfilled is an amazing sight. Celebrate the freedom.

“God Of My Tomorrow” (Pop)

by Branan Murphy

“Happy” (Hip-Hop)

by NF

You know that a serious prayer is going on when a song starts with the lyrics “Dear God, please…” In this personal reflection, NF tells the story of his life and the things he has done to make himself fall short of happiness. It opens up the window to reflect on all of our lives and ask ourselves, “Are we happy?” and “Who would we be if we were happy?”

This song resembles someone taking a step, putting one foot in front of the other. The song mentioned the word “ economy, ” but it was not in the sense of money. It turns out, looking at it a little bit deeper, the reference to the economy is referring to the economy class, like that on a plane If God is leading your life like a pilot flies a plane, would you, as a passenger, want to go into the cockpit and tell the Pilot where to go? Or would you just sit and trust someone who is much more skilled than you?

“Unstoppable” (Hip-Hop)

“Something Greater” (Pop)

by Jordan St. Cyr

When people tell you that there’s nothing to be afraid of, they might be wrong. Many times, there are things to be afraid of Their real message is that there is no reason to be afraid No matter what bad things happen, God is still present, and there is no need to submit to fear.

by Social Club Misfits & Ryan Ellis

Coming back after hitting the ground is the main focus of “Unstoppable” by Social Club Misfits & Ryan Ellis. A spiritual comeback requires God’s love, a motivation for getting back up after falling down

“All Good” (Hip-Hop)

by Benji & Taylor Hill

When someone says that things are all good, what does that mean to you? To Benji and Taylor Hill, it means that there is beauty in the difficult things in life. Even if the situation was not what they expected, they still chose to look on the bright side and to find things working for their good.

“Vibrations” (Hip-Hop)

by Derek Minor, Oswin Benjamin, International Show, & DJ Mal-Ski

This song offers a great mindset in the spiritual journey of life. With God in control, each day starts with each individual person being ready for a new moment to see what good things God is going to present

“if i tried” (Hip-Hop)

by Henrik, LOGE, &

gio.

In this song, Henrik, LOGE, and gio. reveal the powerful love of God: continuing to bestow new opportunities and graces even after we mess up and fall short f G d’ l

“No L’s” (Hip Hop)

“on my own” (Hip-Hop)

by gio.

If we realize that we can’t live our lives through our own way, we need to let go of those bad influences that try to tell us to turn away from God, and we need to see our lives in a bigger way by following God in faith.

“Altar” (Hip-Hop)

by Hulvey & Forrest Frank

Think about all of the ways that you can glorify God. This song is proof that hip-hop is also a wonderful way to sing lyrics that give glory to God the Father.

by Bizzle, Miles Minnick, and Fatman Scoop

This loud, energetic song is about putting God first over things like money that alone won’t help us to live a faith-filled life.