Winner of The Chris Tomlin Game

With only three participants, the winner is.................................................................................................................

I need a longer drumroll.........................................................................................................................

The winner is a tie between Liberty and Dakota.  8 to 8.

These were the answers:
1) Our God
2) Unfailing Love
3) How Great is Our God
4) How Can I Keep From Singing
5) All To Us
6) Exalted
7) Unchanging
8) Forever
9) Amazing Grace (my Chains are Gone)
10) All My Fountains
11) I Will Rise
12) With Me
13) Uncreated One
14) I Will Follow
15) Jesus Messiah


Now, I have figured out a way on how to break the tie, because you both cannot win the same I-tunes gift card.  And, by the way, the gift card is worth $15 not $10.  I ran over to Albertson's to buy the gift card and the cheapest amount was $15.  So, woolah........ the amount changed from 10 to 15 dollars.  Anyways, on with the tie-breaker..........


How many studio albums has Chris Tomlin produced?  (off the top of your head)


If you both get that one right or wrong, name me any five songs off of Chris Tomlin's latest album, And If Our God Is For Us.....?

And, if that still is not enough, I will think of something else. :)

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!! 

Tenth Avenue North's: Light Meets The Dark Motto

I read Tenth Avenue North's motto for their latest album, and was very encouraged by it.  I thought I would share it with you.  And, I will begin Titus 1 tomorrow, so stay tuned.....  

"Martin Luther once said that we must beat the Gospel into people's heads incessantly, for it's the one thing that we are most prone to forget.  Funny, because that's a huge reason why we wrote most of the songs on our last record, 'Over and Underneath.'  Not that we wanted to beat people up, necessarily, but our hope was definitely what Luther spoke of, in that, we wanted those who heard our songs to hear the Gospel, that is, that we don't earn grace, grace was earned for us.  And we wanted to beat it into the heads of those listening, starting with our own.  That's what the title was all about: Over and Underneath.  At the heights of our purity, Christ has gone higher; at the depths of our depravity, Christ has gone lower, bearing our sins on the cross.  No matter how pure we are, we need Him still, and not matter how far we've fallen, we're not too far gone.

This is what we feel the Gospel is, and it's what we hope to continue to communicate with our sophomore release, 'The Light Meets The Dark.'  Our desire for this record is simply to be the next step.  It's a call not only to believe the Gospel but to let it so saturate our minds and hearts that we actually begin to live like we believe it.  But of course, that might be a little different than you think.  This record isn't a call for better living and high achieving, more commitments and greater successes.  It's a cry for confession, exposure, and the laying down of our pride.  It's a cry for honesty, for truth, and for an encounter with the One who is truth, and having that encounter change the way we see the world.  You see, when we believe this thing we call the Gospel, it allows us to be honest about who we really are.  Or should I say, it forces us to come to terms with who we are.  It frees us to not only be exposed but to be ok about being exposed; to speak our pain and fears out into the open.  It frees us to be poor in Spirit.  Which, isn't that the goal after all?

I heard it said once that the best thing that could ever happen to any of us is if all our sins were broadcast on the five o'clock news.  And yeah, that can be a fairly disturbing thought, I suppose, but think about it for a moment.  Think of how scary that is, and yet somehow, so incredibly freeing, too.  If everyone knew all your junk, all your fears, all your questions, you wouldn't have to hide anymore.  No more masks.  No more pretending.  Just you, and hopefully, the grace that comes when we step into the light.  Sure, it can be the most terrifying step you'll ever have to take, but when we do, when we lay our souls out naked and bare for all to see, it forces us out of the shadows and into a place where life begins.  It's where the light meets the dark, and it's where we want to be.  Hope to meet you there."

- Tenth Avenue North (on their latest album) 

Song #2 - Lead Me To The Cross

This week's song is a song that I first heard at my Thursday night Bible study. The first time that I heard this song, I was not sure about it, because the lyrics are a bit simple, but even with simple lyrics, this song is simply excellent in leading us to worship our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave up His life to save us. Here are the lyrics:

Lead Me To The Cross
Lyrics written by Hillsong
Playlist music by Chris and Conrad

Savior I come
Quiet my soul
Remember

Redemption's hill
Where your blood was spilled
For my ransom

Chorus:
Everything I once held dear
I count it all as lost...
Lead me to the cross
Where your love poured out
Bring me to my knees
Lord, I lay me down
Rid me of myself
I belong to you
Lead me, lead me to the cross

You were as I
Tempted and tried
Human

The word became flesh
Bore my sin and death
Now you're risen

Chorus again with:
Lead me to your heart
Lead me to your heart


I did not dissect the lyrics from the song I chose last week, but I will dissect the lyrics of "Lead Me To The Cross." The main theme of this song is clearly the Cross of Christ. The blood of Calvary's precious Lamb that was slain to redeem the lost and hopeless foreigners of this world. This is the climax, the maximum, the majestic theme of this song. The verses of the song follow the lead of the theme of Calvary, but as we get into the chorus, what happens? The writer sees the preciousness of the Awesome, Amazing, Awe-Inspiring sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ. HE GAVE UP EVERYTHING. He left the comfortable recesses of Heaven to bear our shame and punishment on a cruel cross that He had no business enduring. That was supposed to be OUR just, deserved punishment, but He willingly and obediently bore the wrath of God Almighty; because HE LOVES US SO MUCH. (John 3:16) What Amazing Love that cannot be comprehended? Praise you, Lord Jesus! Now, back to what I was saying. So, this song is simply teaching us a crucial, but valuable point of 'everything that I once held dear, I count it all as lost,' because I can fully see the preciousness and the radiant beauty of the Awesome, Amazing, Astounding, Awe-Inspiring sacrifice of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Who is worthy above all else and Who reigns forever and ever, our Great God and King. Jesus, our precious Jesus.

Lord,
I pray that you would drive us to our knees. That we will repent of anything that might be of a hindrance in our walks with you. That we would love you more than anything, value you more than anything, treasure you more than anything else. We love you and want to serve you faithfully the rest of our days. Help us to do so. Thank you for the cross and the payment that you bore to save us from eternal judgment in hell forever. You are worthy and we praise you and thank you. It's in your son's name we pray. AMEN

Playlist

My new Wednesday playlist is on the bottom of my blog. If you want to hear the song From the Inside Out, go to the bottom of my blog and press the play button. That is all you have to do. For now, so long.

Sola Deo Gloria!!!!!

Song #1 - From the Inside Out

Like posting a fact once every Saturday, I am deciding to post a song every Wednesday that has greatly blessed or touched me over the past few years. Each song posted on this blog will be used to glorify and magnify the name of Christ, because He alone is Worthy to be praised and He alone is to be Glorified above every other thing. That is my first and foremost goal. My second goal is to encourage you, my followers and friends, to draw into a more deeper and personal relationship with the God of the Universe. My prayer is that we would all literally fall in love with Him. Put off the things of the flesh and follow wholeheartedly after Christ. He deserves our praise, adoration, and worship; but He wants us to have a personal relationship with Him. That is the climax of the Christian faith. O.K., I have been rambling a bit here, but I will give you the lyrics of the song, dissect those lyrics by writing a little bit about the song, and add only that song to my first playlist. I will change the song on the playlist each and every week to match with the song that I just posted about. Hopefully, you all understand what I am trying to say here.

The first song, From the Inside Out, is my favorite Hillsong song. If you have never heard of Hillsong before, their music is wrapped with theological content that inspires and motivates the soul to worship the one true, living God of all. I hope that you are blessed by this song as much as I have been blessed by it. Also, this time, I will not dissect the lyrics because time is limited, but the lyrics crucially display that our consuming love for God inside of our souls should result in the magnificent display of His glory to those around us. It is a beautiful thought of what God could do if we surrender our all to Him.



From the Inside Out
By: Hillsong

A thousand times I've failed
Still your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
Still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
my heart and my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Your will above all else, my purpose remains
The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart, in my soul, Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out Lord
Let justice and praise become my embrace
To love You from the inside out

Chorus 2x
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart is to bring You praise
From the inside out Lord, my soul cries out

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony

I am going to go off an a bit of a tangent here. I learned this in music class and I found it appropriate to celebrate the God-given genius of Ludwig van Beethoven. The most spectacular thing about Beethoven was his deafness, and his ability to compose, write, and develop music far beyond the recesses of his time. What I mean is that Beethoven paved the way for the Romantic era of music? Beethoven was living in the Mozart era of Classicism, which Mozart literally dominated; but even before Mozart's death, Mozart actually listened to Beethoven play. Mozart said, "Look out for this man, he is going to be great." Overall though, the main thing that separated the greatness of Beethoven from the greatness of Mozart was Beethoven's ability to develop music beyond the era of Classicism. That was the key difference between arguably the two greatest composers of all time.

Did you know that Beethoven was not born deaf? His hearing started straying from him around his early 30s because of lead poisoning from the cups that he drank from. It started getting worse and worse that he eventually stopped going to social events, parties, and the like because he couldn't bear the thought of anyone knowing that he was losing his hearing. At that time, he was a great composer, but he started fading out of the public eye until he lived in seclusion the rest of his life. Only going out when necessary. Most of all, the greatness of Beethoven rests in the music that he wrote after his ears succumbed to total deafness. Beethoven wrote his greatest music at this time. Even though he could never hear it, he could play it in his mind and put it down from pen to paper. He was that great and that talented. He knew every note and recalled to memory the most important pieces that fit together perfectly. He was a natural musician. A natural genius. His most famous piece The Fifth Symphony is a small taste of his genius. This piece is over 30 minutes long and what is more impressive about this piece is the fact that the most famous first part is played more than 700 times throughout the symphony in many different forms. Simplistic, but entirely complex. The same type of piece played over 700 times throughout the symphony in many different complex forms. It was unheard of back then. Only Beethoven could do it and only God could have given that talent to Beethoven.

I don't know if Beethoven ever accepted Christ as his Lord and personal Savior. It would have been a horrendous choice if he didn't, but he gave us the most beautiful classical music ever written. I am thankful for the music of Beethoven and for my teacher Dr. Ball (DB) in teaching our class about the greatness of classical music, and music in general. Enjoy the first two movements of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony and I will talk to you later.

Soli Deo Gloria!