You don’t have to read through this site very long to figure out that music flavors a lot of my thinking. I often tell people that I almost always have a song on my mind, and it’s often very random. (I’d rather not tell you what song is there right now, but it does have the phrase “freakin weekend” in it).
Hey, I never said they were all spiritual.
Anyway…
Like a lot of people, I love the idea of new ways of expressing things – of what the Bible calls “singing a new song to the Lord.” And I get tired pretty quickly of rehashing the same-old same-old.
That said, there are some songs that defy time and never seem to lose their place in the hearts of people. They may not be on this week’s Billboard Top 100, but they never lose their ability to capture the imagination and connect to the soul. They’re the songs we can sing forever.
For example, my grandmother absolutely loved music. She loved to sing it, play it, and hear it. But something completely changed in her countenance when somebody started in on “Amazing Grace.” It was a song she could sing forever. [click to continue…]
A year ago at this time I found myself reading and hearing a lot of people emotionally drop-kicking 2010 to the curb. “Good riddance!” they all said. “What a sorry year! Here’s hoping 2011 will be better.”
I haven’t checked yet this year. Who knows? Maybe that’s what you’re supposed to say so that the first of January feels even more exciting and hopeful. I just found myself really surprised by all that for some reason.
Don’t get me wrong. I saw plenty of reasons to howl at the moon about how awful things were. But I also plenty of other reasons to look back with gratitude and – dare I say it? – satisfaction.
I decided to be more proactive this year. Believing that 2012 is going to be an extraordinary year, I spent a little time looking back at the past 12 months and sharing a few lists of things that helped shape my heart and my world.
But first, let me tell you a very quick story that captures the essence of this year for me. A few months ago I was out driving in the middle of nowhere on a fall West Texas day. It was about 4:30 in the afternoon. Just off the highway, to the right, I saw three does feeding. I was surprised to see them out this early, but enjoyed the scene.
A couple of miles ahead, this time on the left, a saw a deer’s backside pointed at me as it was grazing beside the road. “Oh,” I thought, “another doe.” Raising its head, this is what I saw: [click to continue…]
My friend Cindy Hughlett wrote the following song, based on a true story, about a sensitive but timely issue. The folks at Studio 84 Productions here in Lubbock produced the video.
You or someone you know is faced with the issue of bullying or abuse. Please help me pass this important message along.
Meanwhile, I’m including the lyrics below. And if you’d like to see more about Cindy’s latest album “Stories, Hope and Lullabies,” click here. Cindy was the 2010 CGC Choice Award winner for Female Vocal Artist of the Year.
Make sure you watch all the way to the end… [click to continue…]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yE6PNps5N9I
Martin Lindstrom has learned what sounds – branded and unbranded – are most likely to turn your head. Or move your heart. Or open your wallet. Hmmm. Suppose the above video may be a hint?
Together with Elias Arts, a sound identity company in New York, Lindstrom’s company, Buyology, Inc. tested 50 volunteers and measured their responses to a wide variety of sounds. He has made a list of the 10 most powerful and addictive sounds.
You can forget waves, rain, or birds.
But if you hear the five tones of the Intel jingle, you are very likely to be drawn to it; it’s the second-most addictive sound in the world right now. Third on the list (and you know that’s right… a cell phone set on vibrate).
To find out what the number one most addictive sound is, as well as the top 10 in both branded and non-branded categories, [click to continue…]
(Rachel Brown and her husband, Pat, are dear friends who live in Atlanta, where Pat is on staff at Buckhead Church. She’s also the daughter of Michael and June Carter, two of our dearest friends. Michael is one of our elders at TPCC, and June is our office manager. Rachel wrote the following beautiful account of an amazing experience she had in worship with her son, Ethan. I think you’ll be as touched as I was. Enjoy! Then check out the song at the bottom.)
Right now my spirit is welling up with great joy, gratitude, and praise. My mother’s heart is proud, humble, and completely blessed by my four year old son, Ethan. Over the past few weeks, I’ve tried to be more intentional with my three precious kids, teaching them about Jesus and how they can be a lover of God and worship him. Several times this week I’ve resisted the temptation to allow my kids to watch TV in the morning. Instead we decided to turn on our worship music. We have had a great time jumping around spinning and singing songs. Honestly, it’s a great break from Bunny Town songs on Disney Channel. If you have kids you will know what I’m talking about.
We are a family deeply moved by music and have a love for all different genres. My three precious kids didn’t have a choice to love music! God has created their daddy with the love of music and great musical gifts.
We were deeply moved by “How He Loves,” a song we sang at Buckhead a few Sunday’s ago. I couldn’t wait to download this song on my IPod and plug it into my ears and just worship. Pat and I both had eyes welling up with tears and hearts full of unexplainable emotions when we heard this song. For Pat it was a mixture of emotion; he has not led worship for almost two years, now, and such a great love is deeply missed. His heart was moved by the love of God; for me, a funny moment with God. I humorously asked God why I have such a heart of worship but such a horrible voice. My humorous prayer is that all the people on earth that can’t sing will be HIS most gifted singers in heaven. If I can’t sing beautifully on earth, I’d better be able to sing in heaven! I think that you get the picture. We love worship!
[click to continue…]
Okay, so the guys at SynerJACK are talking about stress this week, and I just vomited out of my journal from a couple of years ago. (It’s ugly… you probably don’t want to read it.)
But I found a real stress reliever video. Supposedly it’s from an old Girl Scout song, but it made its way into a Discovery Channel commercial. If you need a happy reminder that God and life and the world are good, watch this.
If you want to irritate somebody by putting a happy little song in their head that’s hard to get rid of, forward this to somebody else.
And the next time you’re pumping gas, remember… [click to continue…]
This is pretty much off my reservation, but I thought you’d enjoy getting a preview of three new Christian songs. Two are from projects that are yet to be released; the other is already out.
“Renaissance” is the title song to Josh Rosenthal’s upcoming CD. It is one of the best combinations of truth and good music I have heard in years. For those of you in Lubbock or the South Plains, check out Josh’s tour schedule. He’ll be here in March/April, including Turning Point Community Church, on March 30. Go to Josh’s page on Myspace, and “Renaissance” will begin playing.
Thanks to Tim Challies for the heads-up on these two:
Remember Chris Sligh, from Season 6 of “American Idol?” He is working on a debut album due out on May 6. You can get a great preview of a passionate and very well-done song, “Empty Me” on his Myspace page. Again, just open the link, and “Empty Me” begins playing.
“Broken but singing, Our hearts keep shining.” That’s the theme of Charlie Hall’s song “Walk the world.” The song goes on to say, “In a dark world, we lift the Bread and Wine.” This song, recently released on Passion’s “God of This City” is a joyous celebration of how Christians can be lights in a dark world. “Walk the World” is available as a free download by clicking here.
You don’t have to read through this site very long to figure out that music flavors a lot of my thinking. I often tell people that I almost always have a song on my mind, and it’s often very random. (I’d rather not tell you what song is there right now, but it does have the phrase “freakin weekend” in it).