Since releasing their self-titled debut in 2004, Rebecca, Alyssa and Lauren Barlow have continuously inspired fans with such intimate portraits, as with their sophomore set, Another Journal Entry and with such bold challenges as 2007’s How Can We Be Silent. For BarlowGirl the focus is always on sharing what God has placed on their hearts. They continue to do just that with Love & War, my favorite overall album by BarlowGirl and one of my top albums of 2009.

Love & War reflects a passion for ministry as well as a respect for their platform. “There’s just an urgency to this album,” says Alyssa Barlow. “We’ve always wanted to raise the banner and to really let people know who God is, what He’s doing and how He’s moving. It’s always been something on our hearts, but with this album there was this underlying current of ‘the time is now!’ The time is now to rise up and to get what God has for us. The time is now to rise up and learn what it means to be loved by God, to learn what it means to be set apart, to learn what it means to embrace our destiny and embrace our calling to the extreme. That is the thread running through all of these songs.”

The themes of love and war are seamlessly intertwined on this new collection. “There are battle songs about standing up for what we believe in and knowing what God is calling us to do and then there are a lot of songs on this album about love,” says Lauren. “The reason why we fight is because we love. We fight to do what God is calling us to do because we love God and we want to do the will of God. We really view our walk as Christians as love and war and that is kind of the dynamic of the album, exploring the two extremes.”

Accompanied by my 10 year old daughter Natalie, my oldest of 3 daughters, I got the great opportunity to interview Alyssa, Becca and Lauren Barlow in person about “Time For You To Go.” Here are the answers to the questions I asked the sisters.

Lauren, please tell me the background message behind the song “Time For You To Go.”

We are very opinionated girls and have very strong beliefs and convictions. I think when something really gets to us, we have to write a song about it. With this song, we are singing about how in our generation we don’t seem to question anything. We don’t seem to think for ourselves. We do what everybody else is doing. We seem to just take at face value what the media is telling us. We let the media tell us what we should do, how we should dress, how we should look. So, I just felt like saying in a song that I’m sick of it. Pull yourself back from all of the exposure of the media and take time to think about who you are and what you believe. That’s what the song is all about.

Becca, please share any Bible verses that apply to the message of the song.

Romans 12:2: And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

Alyssa, what's the take-away message for listeners, especially in the lyrics “Isn't it nice to know, That the media will sway our votes.”

Even in the evangelical community, we seem to blend in too much with the world. We believe that the bottom line is to rely solely on God’s Word. We are judged, every single person on the planet, based on God’s Word. I read this Scripture the other day where Jesus says if He speaks His Word and people don’t receive them, He isn’t judging them, they are being judged by The Word of God. I find that so powerful that we are held accountable to the Truth that we are hearing. As we travel about the country, our job isn’t to do what’s popular but what’s right. Not what’s comfortable, but what’s right. Even in the movies that we watch. People think we are crazy that we’re in our late 20’s and 30 years old and we don’t watch rated R movies. Before we watch any movie, we read about the content and if we find something we don’t agree with, we get up and leave the theater. We are strongly committed to our convictions. We care about what we put in our minds. We think carefully about whether we would be challenged or grow. We watch silly movies, like The Little Mermaid, but we don’t watch things we don’t agree with morally. We feel like we draw closer to God by fasting from the media. Sometimes we’ll take 3 or 4 days or even a week and not watch TV, listen to music, anything. We are challenging people to just take a break from the media and not let the media affect what you believe or how you vote.

Here are the lyrics:

Verse 1
I hope you don't mind
that I know your life
cause I read it every day
and all your faults
make me feel so good
Cause the media stole my brain
its so nice to have someone tell me what to think
what I should drive, what do I wear, what do I need

Pre Chorus: and on and on it goes till all of us are sucked in
so shut it off and see it's us were killing/ were missing out on living

Chorus: I am so done
listening to you
Time for you to go
time for you to go ooooo whhoooaaa
I refuse to give
one more day to you
Time for you to go
time for you to go oooo whhhooooaaaa
No more wasting my life
on the worlds addiction
Time for me to take
you down from your place
I am saying no/ letting go
time for you to gooo

Verse 2
Isn't it nice to know
That the media will sway our votes
cause seriously we've got to see
that they choose what we know
our morals get thrown away
for the next big thing we've got to see
what is it for, isn't life more, it's life more/ don't we want more

Pre Chorus & Chorus

Bridge
We’re missing out on His voice
We've traded God for ashes
we've got to think for ourselves
Where's our passion

As a father of 3 daughters, BarlowGirl is a band I’ve always enjoyed and I love how these 3 sisters never fail to really grab me and fire me up to stand up for God and for my beliefs. “Time For You To Go” is the most rocking song on the album and possibly one of the most challenging songs with the bridge “We’re missing out on His voice, We've traded God for ashes, we've got to think for ourselves.” The progress of sanctification, dying to sin more and more, and living to righteousness more and more, is the carrying on this renewing work, till it is perfected in glory. The great enemy to this renewal is, conformity to this world. This song is all about leaning on God’s Word in making decisions about what you believe and not letting the media sway your opinions about yourself or your moral convictions. As we cast our votes, we need to remember that we are all judged by God’s Word. “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”