Artist of the Week

In the music industry, there are always people who have a distinct look. Rock music has ZZ Top and the famous beards, country music has Tim McGraw and his black hat, and Christian music has David Crowder and his thick rimmed glasses and funky hair and beard. David Crowder not only has a distinct look, but he also has a very distinct voice. You know when a new David Crowder Band song comes on the radio by the very first word sung. I have been a huge fan of the David Crowder Band since the Passion CD “The Road To One Day”, where Crowder sang “Make A Joyful Noise”.

He and his band got started at Baylor University. He and a friend started University Baptist Church, where Crowder was the worship leader. Crowder is one of the premier Christian worship song writers around today. Like a lot of other worship song writers, Crowder got a big boost from Louie Giglio and the Passion conferences. This certain song is the theme song to one of the Passion videos “Hope: When Life Hurts Most”. The lyrics to this song are simple, yet so true in certain times of our lives. The song has a progression to it, starting out with the present struggles that we go through, then moving to when we can look back at where we were. The lyrics of this song help us to remember that when we go through trials and tribulations in our lives, we need to remember that God is ever faithful and true. We know this because of what He has done for us in the past, starting with the cross. When we come to the cross we see the love that God has for us, sending His only Son to die for us so that we can have eternal life with Him. When we go through the struggles of life, look back at God’s track record. When was He ever not faithful? When did He lie to us? When did He let go? He loved us so much that He let go of His Son so He could hold on to us.

I give the David Crowder Band 4 out of 5 dundies on musical style and talent. David Crowder’s voice is so much fun to listen to. I think all the band members are wonderfully talented, but they use a bit of techno and electronic rock in their portfolio (which is a little against my style). I give them 5 out of 5 dundies on lyrical content. They are amazing at writing worship songs and they will always be high on my list for that reason.

Here are the lyrics to this song, enjoy!

When clouds veil sun
And disaster comes
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rise
And hope takes flight
Oh, my soul (3x)

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go

You never let go (6x)

When clouds brought rain
And disaster came
Oh, my soul
Oh, my soul
When waters rose
And hope had flown
Oh, my soul (3x)

Ever faithful
Ever true
You I know
You never let go

You never let go (6x)

Oh, my soul
Overflows
Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, my soul
Fills with hope
Perfect love that never lets go

You never let go (9x)

Oh, what love, oh, what love
Oh, what love, (2x)

In joy and pain
In sun and rain
You’re the same
Oh, You never let go (2x)

You never let go
You never let go

Artist of the Week

Artist: DecembeRadio
Album: Satisfied
Song: Look For Me

There aren’t too many new Christian bands that bring me back to my Elementary and Jr. High years, but Grammy-nominated DecembeRadio with their style of music sure do. The first time I heard these guys I immediately thought they sounded like what would happen when you throw Bon Jovi and U2 together into a recording studio. This made me reminisce of the good ole days of Young Guns 2, Billy the Kid, Jose Chavez, a young Jack Bauer, and of course listening to the cassette tape of Bon Jovi’s Blaze of Glory.

These mostly long haired rockers are bringing a style of music into the Christian scene that isn’t too prevalent. Bringing the 1970-1980s rock music into today’s Christian music is something that I am completely enthralled about. I am ashamed to admit this, but during college and for a little bit after I enjoyed listening to country music. I know, how hideous of me. I have since repented. After that I soon came to realize that the best music is the 70’s, 80’s and early 90’s rock songs. The musical talent (and in some cases lack of talent) of this type of music is what made it so great. You can’t forget about the late 80’s and early 90’s rock ballads; Firehouse is probably my favorite. But I digress. This genre of music is one of my favorites and it definitely takes me back.

DecembeRadio’s lead singer and bassist (yes I said bassist and no, it is not Sting), Josh Reedy, told About.com in an interview “We feel like God has called us to a musical style that is not represented as much as, say, more modern, harder edged bands. We are bringing the old school to the new school."

I give them 5 out of 5 dundies for musical style and talent. Like I said earlier, they take me back and I love their style. I give them 4 out of 5 on lyrical content, as they do a great job of sharing their faith and testimonies in their songs. You can tell they are not ashamed of the Gospel, especially in their song Believer.

I hope you enjoy these mostly somewhat long haired rockers as much as I do. If you click on Artist of the Week, you will find the music video.

There's a shadow heavy as a blanket
Keeping all the light from shining through
There's a doubt deeper than the hope
That this world could ever offer you
There’s a war raging like a storm
Ripping through the core of what you know is true
There's a peace that passes understanding
Let it be the hand that you hold onto

I'll be the one that never lets you go
I want you to know that

Chorus
If you ever wonder where you are
If you ever think you've gone too far
I'll be that light out in the dark just look for Me
I'll be standing here with open arms
So close your eyes and trust your heart
And then you'll see, that I am all you need
Just look for Me

There's a grace dying to erase
All that you've said and done
There's a love always big enough
Doesn't really matter what you're running from
Let your faith take you to a place
Where life has just begun
Let your soul step into the flow
Brother, don't you know you can let it go
I want you to know that

Chorus

When you feel alone just look for Me, look for Me
I'll be your eyes when you cannot see
So lay down your pride, step inside
And let forgiveness cover you
You know it’s true, I'll never leave you

Chorus

Kings

Have you watched the NBC show “Kings” yet this year? It started on March 8th. I watched the last half hour of the 2 hour season premiere and I was intrigued, but I wanted to watch the whole episode before I would make any opinion about the show. So the next day I watched it online, and wow, I was totally intrigued. For those of you who don’t know what the show is about, it is a fictional story of what it would be like if the U.S. was ran by kings. It takes place in Gilboa, and the capitol of Gilboa is Shiloh. The characters include King Silas Benjamin, Princess Michelle Benjamin, Prince Jack Benjamin, Reverend Ephram Samuels, David Shepherd, and General Linus Abner just to name a few. Some of these names may sound somewhat familiar. All of these characters have a counterpart in the Biblical story of King David. King Silas – King Saul, Princess Michelle – Michal (Saul’s daughter), Prince Jack – Jonathan (Saul’s son), Reverend Samuels – Samuel the Priest, David Shepherd – King David (who was a shepherd), General Abner – Abner (Commander of Saul’s army). Now the similarities don’t stop there. David’s dad was killed 20 years prior, but his mom’s name is . . . Jessie. David’s dad in the Bible is Jessie. In the first episode Rev. Samuels touched David’s forehead like he was anointing him. He also told King Silas that God has rejected him as King and is seeking a man after His own heart. Then the kicker. Gilboa is at war with Gath. The army of Gath has a class of tanks that they call . . . Goliath. David in the first episode went hand to tank and won.
I have watched all the episodes so far and there continues to be a lot of parallels between the Bible and the show. I looked up Kings on Wikipedia and found that the creator of Kings, Michael Green, wanted to make a TV show that took an old story that hasn’t been tossed around too much in the entertainment industry and keep to the original “script” but totally modernize the story.
I am looking forward to seeing how the show unravels, especially how David will take the throne.

Artist of the Week

Artist: Matthew West
Album: Something To Say
Song: The Motions

In April of 2007 Matthew West started to notice that his vocal range was not what it used to be. He went for a vocal check up and the doctor told him that there was some hemorrhaging on his vocal chords due to some polyps. The only solution to the bleeding was a surgery that could end his vocal career. Not only would it threaten his career, the doctor told him that after the surgery he would have to have complete vocal rest for two months. That meant no talking whatsoever for two months, not even to his wife or little girl. Matthew went ahead with the surgery and made a full recovery. Through the trial of the silent two months he drew closer to God and was able to write a new album.

Matthew West has been writing songs and making albums for 12 years. He is a very talented song writer as well as a musician. West has a broad style of singing. The genre of his songs can range from hip-hop to pop to alternative. This is proof of his talent, because no matter what style, his songs sound great. His new album Something To Say is no exception. The song The Motions is a lyrical masterpiece tuned to amazing music. I know that this song will strike a cord inside of everyone who listens to it.

The song is about going through a low and tough time. A time in life where you feel nothing at all. That includes your relationship with God. There can be some dark and lonely times in our lives when we don’t feel close to God. It is important to remember that our relationship with Christ is not based on emotions or feelings. It is based on His grace and love for us. In return we are to praise God with all of our lives. We are to worship and love Him through our lives. In this song West is crying out to God to give him a desire to give his all to God. He doesn’t want to look back on his life and realize that he didn’t give it his all, that he just went through the “motions”.
We all can get caught up in the “motions”, doing things because we are supposed to. What joy does it bring God when we follow his commands out of a ritualistic duty instead of doing them out of love for Him? We all need to make the chorus of this song a prayer for each day of our lives. “Father God, I don’t want to live my life today doing things out of tradition and duty. I want to live for You because of what You did for me and the passion You have given me. I don’t want to live a hum drum life for You; I want to give you all.”

Enjoy! You can click on Artist of the Week to see a Matthew West’s The Motions music video.

This might hurt, it's not safe
But I know that I've gotta make a change
I don't care if I break,
At least I'll be feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of life

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

No regrets, not this time
I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind
Let Your love make me whole
I think I'm finally feeling something
'Cause just okay is not enough
Help me fight through the nothingness of this life

'Cause I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
[ Matthew West Lyrics are found on www.songlyrics.com ]
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way ('cause I don't wanna go through the motions)
take me all the way (I know I'm finally feeling something real)
take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

I don't wanna go through the motions
I don't wanna go one more day
without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don't wanna spend my whole life asking,
"What if I had given everything,
instead of going through the motions?"

take me all the way (take me all the way)
take me all the way (I don't wanna go, I don't wanna go)
take me all the way (through the motions)
take me all the way

I don't wanna go through the motions

Lessons From an Easy Baby

God has bestowed many blessings upon my wife and me. One of the most amazing and terrifying blessings to me was becoming a father. Our son Asher is almost 8 months old now. It has been a fun and adventurous 8 months. It was about 10 months ago when I was doing a study on Psalm 1 that the name Asher popped out to me. Psalm 1:1 says “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers.” The Hebrew word for Blessed comes from Asher, which means Blessed or Happy. We know that God has blessed us with our happy son Asher. He is the smiliest baby I have ever seen. He is happy and easy going almost all the time. We knew that when he first smiled when he was not even a week old that it was a real smile, not just a face he was making. When I heard him first laugh around a month old, that really blessed me. He is happy and doesn’t get fussy unless he is hungry, sleepy, or has woken up and can’t seem to go back to sleep. He just wants to let us know that he needs food or sleep. There have been only a handful of times where he fussed or cried for no aparent reason. I have heard many “horror” stories of babies crying throughout the night or not napping and various other things where the moms are pulling out their hair trying to figure out what their babies need. I am so thankful that Asher is who he is and I think that as I was studying Psalm 1, God purposefully showed me the root of Blessed because He knew everything about Asher long before my wife or I were even born. How Asher acts with my wife and I is a perfect picture of how we should act with our Heavenly Father. 1 Peter 2:2 says "Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation." Peter is telling us that we need to be like a baby and long for the milk so we can grow closer to Him. Asher tells us his needs, like sleep or milk, and that is how he is able to grow. We shouldn’t be distracted by all the wants of our live, we should focus on what we truly need. The way we grow closer to God is by giving Him our needs. He is willing to provide for us, all we have to do is cry out to Him just as Asher cries out to us when he needs something. We must have that need to hunger and thirst for God so we can grow closer to Him and become the person of God that we are intended to be.

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep . . .

My Daddy spent many hours working on a special project for me. Most of the work he did for me while I was still in Mommy’s tummy. He built me a beautiful walnut sleigh crib. I am so thankful that my Daddy built me my bed. It is so nice to wake up every morning to see the beautiful gift my Daddy has given me. For the past couple months Daddy has been building another crib. No, I am not going to have a brother or sister (although that would be fun), but rather I am going to have my very first cousin! Daddy’s brother and sister in law are expecting a baby boy any day now. My daddy has spent many hours in the basement working on this new crib for my soon to be cousin Talon. Daddy told me recently that he has been unable to work on the crib as much as he would like because his shop is right under my room. Since Mommy puts me to bed around 8:00, Daddy can’t spend his evenings working on the crib like he did on mine. Daddy told me that the adjustments that he and mommy have had to make since I came along are well worth it. Every day my parents tell me how much they love me and I return it by smiling at them with my biggest smile I can make and give a few giggles.

The reason I am telling you all of this is because of my other Daddy. I have two Fathers, an earthly father and a Heavenly Father. My earthly father provides me a place to sleep. My heavenly Father not only provides me a place to sleep but also provides me with all that I need. My parents give me the necessities: shelter, food, drink, diapers, clothes, and toys, and most importantly love. My Heavenly Father has given me my parents, which have given me my shelter, food, drink, diapers, clothes, toys, and love. But He also gives me His love. His love is much bigger than my parents love for me. He loves me so much that He actually has given His Son for me. He sent His son to die on the cross so that one day I can be with Him in Heaven for eternity. As I said earlier, my parents love me so much that they pray over me each night that one day I can understand better what I am writing here and that I can have a saving relationship with God through Jesus Christ. That is how I know my parents love me. They could buy things for me all the time, but their true love for me is shown through their desire to see me grow up as a man of God. I am thankful for them, which is why I smile and giggle whenever I see them.

Artist of the Week

Artist: Unhindered
Album: Unhindered Live Worship Experience
Song: Father Will You Come

It seems that they are a lot of new worship songs that are coming out. A lot of different Christian bands are making worship albums and worship leaders such as Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, and many others are always making new great stuff. One of my favorite worship bands is Unhindered, they aren't to well known, but they are awesome. I first heard them at Acquire The Fire in 2007 in Kansas City, and it was amazing. I saw them again at ATF in Kansas City this year, and it was even better than the first. My favorite song that they sing is Father Will You Come. One thing that I will always remember when I hear this song is when I was at ATF watching and listening to 4,000 teens pouring their hearts out to God through song. If you would like to see a video of this song, click on Artist of the Week. Here are the lyrics. I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do!

There's a love, forgetting my failures.
There's a hope, that's setting me free.
There's a light, defeating my darkness.

And there's redemption calling,
And causing all to sing

[Chorus]
Father will You come and open up our eyes.
Fill us with Your love, renew us with Your life.
Consume us with Your Majesty, consume of with your majesty
Yeah...

(Spoken) God we worship You tonight, consume us right now in this moment Lord.

There's a peace, that's calming my waters.
There's a joy, that's setting me free.
He's the light defeating my darkness.

And there's redemption calling,
And causing all to sing

[Chorus]
We're singing
[Chorus]

(Spoken) right now lets lift our hands to the Lord, as we surrender our hearts, we surrender our lives to Him.
Let us join in with the angels tonight, let us join with the saints around the world.

Glory.
Honor.
And power.
Belong to you.
(X6)
(We give it to you God)
(Yes, Lord)
To you! to you!
And we're singing

[Chorus]
We're singing
[Chorus]

Consume us with Your Majesty
(X2)

Glory.
Honor.
And power.
Belong to You.
(X4)