Page CXVI - Lent to Maundy Thursday - sweet music!

One of my favorite bands has a new release out - details below!

Dear Friends, We are thrilled to announce Lent to Maundy Thursday releases today! Thank you again to all of our IndieGoGo supporters for partnering with us to make this project possible! You can buy the physical and digital album here: www.pagecxvi.com Or purchase it on iTunes and other digital stores like Amazon!  STREAM THE ENTIRE RECORD HERE: https://soundcloud.com/pagecxvi/sets/lent-to-maundy-thursday  Also, we want to take a moment to thank David Wilton, our engineer, co-producer, and mixer on this record. He has been with us for five years and we are deeply grateful for his gifts, talents, and time! Check him out here: http://saintidas.com/saintidas/St._Idas.html as well as his worship project Loud Harp http://www.loudharp.com  As well as our dear friends Aaron Strumpel for his trumpet and charisma http://aaronstrumpel.com (stayed tuned his upcoming project produced by our own Latifah Phillips!)  And Cameron Schenk (violin) and Keith Thomas (cello) for their beautiful string parts! We look forward to the last installment of our Calendar Project coming out April 15th, GoodFriday to Easter! Until then may you all be blessed. Blessings, Page CXVI

Benson Henderson - UFC - Walkout Song on 4/20/13

Tonight Benson Henderson walked out to R-Swift's adaptation of Rich Mullins' Awesome God.



Bendo was rocking it and singing to it as he walked out.  Love it!

Mumford and Sons - I Will Wait

Love this!

Roll away your stone - Mumford and Sons

This.

Lecrae raps the Gospel

Lecrae is the real deal.  Incredibly gifted rapper with the best part being his Gospel focus!



Lecrae Raps the Gospel in One Minute from Desiring God on Vimeo.
http://www.desiringGod.org

Jack White on Love Interruption and Freedom at the Grammys

Jack White was the highlight of the Grammys last night in my opinion. First song is "Love Interrupted" with his all girl band. The Second one is "Freedom at 21" with his all guy band.  And I want to know where Jack got that black with blue "peacock" jacket!?!?

Jack White on Austin City Limits

While I don't own any of his music, it seem every time I hear Jack White play I come away impressed.  Below is a link to the PBS Austin City Limits show he did a while back.

Watch Jack White on PBS. See more from Austin City Limits.

I like that the music is pretty straight forward yet creative.  And it rocks.  Seems like the guy is pretty gifted at what he does, and every time I seem him play it is compelling.

If you're not familiar with his music, I'd suggest starting at the 20 minute mark and watch for about 10 minutes.  Good stuff!

The Lumineers - Ho Hey - Video & Lyrics

Heard this band on NPR today and really vibed with their songs and style. Interesting and simple and catchy. Hard to beat that.



[Verse 1]
(Ho!) I've been trying to do it right
(Hey!) I've been living a lonely life
(Ho!) I've been sleeping here instead
(Hey!)I've been sleeping in my bed,
(Ho!) I've been sleeping in my bed (Hey!)

(Ho!)

[Verse 2]
(Ho!) So show me family
(Hey!) All the blood that I would bleed
(Ho!) I don't know where I belong
(Hey!) I don't know where I went wrong
(Ho!) But I can write a song (Hey!)

[Chorus]
1,2,3 I belong with you, you belong with me in my sweet heart
I belong with you, you belong with me in my sweet (Ho!)

(hey!)
(ho!)
(hey!)

[Verse 3]

(ho!) I don't think you're right for him
(hey!) think of what it might have been
(ho!) If we took the bus to china town
(hey!) I'd be standing on canal
(ho!) And Bowery (hey!)
(ho!) She'd be standing next to me (hey!)

[Chorus]
1,2,3 I belong with you you belong with me in my sweet heart
I belong with you, you belong with me in my sweet heart

[Bridge]
The love we need is now
Its hope for some
Cause, we're bleedin out

[Chorus]
I belong with you you belong with me in my sweet heart
I belong with you you belong with me in my sweet (Ho!)

(Hey!)
(Ho!)
(Hey!)

Pearl Jam - Breath

This song has been stuck in my head for a few days now.  Great song!

Breath

Oh, tonight began with anything.
Shaft of a light. A warm breath and a scream.
Ah, yeah.
Oh, tamper if you like between the doors.
Oh yeah. Huh. Huh.
Oh, can't expect to go out, to go out with anything, anything more.

Oh reach the door. A breath and a...
Oh reach the door. And a la la la la yeah.
Life ain't what it's worth.
A breath and a... Oh reach the door.

All these reaching hands out grabbing things. Grabbing me.
Day in day out accumulating. Ah yeah.
Whoa. I suggest you step out on your porch.
Oh yeah. Huh. huh. Huh huh, yeah.
Run away my son. See it all. Oh see the world.

Oh reach the door. A breath and a...
Oh reach the door. Oha and a la la la la yeah.
Life ain't what it's worth.
A breath and a... Oh reach the door.

Come. Here it comes. There it goes. When it comes.
Where it goes. Where it comes.
Can't see through the faith. Woah.
Ooh. Come. Here it comes. There it goes.
Grasp what you can.
Don't you know there's something inside your head, yeah.

Oh, if I knew where it was I would take you there but there's much more
than this.
Ooh. Whoa, much more than this. Woh see the world. Much more than...
Oh, much more than. Why?

Jimmy Fallon does Jeremy Lin parody to Pearl Jam's Jeremy

This is Jimmy Fallon at his very best in my opinion. I'm fairly indifferent to Fallon usually, but love Pearl Jam, and this mashup for Jeremy Lin of the NBA's New York Knicks is exceptionally well done!

Gungor - (God Is Not A) White Man video

I do enjoy Michael Gungor and his band I must admit.



While God is indeed love, God is many other things as well. Unfortunately some forget/ignore various aspects of God. My son has both "Justice" and "Grace" in his name. That isn't a mistake. God is...and so much more.

White Man
Words and music by Michael Gungor and Lisa Gungor
God is not a man
God is not a white man
God is not a man sitting on a cloud

God cannot be bought
God will not be boxed in
God will not be owned by religion

But God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone
God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone

God is not a man
God is not an old man
God does not belong to Republicans
God is not a flag
Not even American
And God does not depend on a government

But God is good, God is good, and He loves everyone
God is good, God is good, and He loves everyone

Atheists and Charlatans and Communists and Lesbians
And even old Pat Robertson, oh God He loves us all
Catholic or Protestant, Terrorist or President
Everybody, everybody, love, love, love, love, love

Oh, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Yeah, I say God is love, God is love, and He loves everyone
La la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la
Stop the hating, please just stop the hating now cause God is love
Oh, whoa, la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la la

Eagle Brook Church does "Don't Stop Believing

I love creative churches and I love Eagle Brook Church, so the following absolutely ROCKS! EBC covering "Don't Stop Believing" by Journey to introduce their newest (5th!) campus in Woodbury, MN.

Easter opener at Eagle Brook Church

Cool opening piece from Eagle Brook Church from Easter 2011. The opening is from SM Lockridge.


Sunday's Coming from Eagle Brook Church on Vimeo.
Eagle Brook Church 2011 Easter Opener

And for the record my favorite bassist on the planet is the Lino Lakes campus bassist shown in this video. He's fun to watch as he integrates his worship with his bass playing.

Before the Throne of God Above

We're opening our Easter Worship with this song today.

Before the Throne of God Above

Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea.
A great high priest whose name is Love
Who ever lives and pleads for me.
My name is graven on His hands,
My name is written on His heart.
I know that while in Heaven He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart.

When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within,
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end of all my sin.
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free.
For God the just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me.
 
Behold Him there the risen Lamb,
My perfect spotless righteousness,
The great unchangeable I AM,
The King of glory and of grace,
One in Himself I cannot die.
My soul is purchased by His blood,
My life is hid with Christ on high,
With Christ my Savior and my God!

Secular music in a worship setting - debated by Mark Driscoll and Perry Noble

The following is another segment from the Elephant Room conference I attended in late March.  And while I titled it as a debate by Mark Driscoll and Perry Noble, it was really largely a rant by James MacDonald for the most part.



Highway to Hell - Part 1 from Harvest Bible Chapel on Vimeo.

The Gospel in five minutes by Propaganda

G.O.S.P.E.L. from Humble Beast Records on Vimeo.
Presented by our good friends at www.Dare2Share.org.
You can purchase/download at https://www.dare2share.org/store/content/life-6-words-gospel-0

Download Propaganda's New Album
"Art Ambidextrous" for FREE at
http://humblebeast.com/downloads/

Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?

Today in church we sang a song that clearly (sadly) few knew well.  This hymn was written by the great hymn writer Issac Watts.  It was this very hymn that led fellow hymn writer Fanny Crosby to fully live her life for Christ. Crosby writes about that November day in 1850 -

"And when they reached the third line of the fourth stan­za,

"Here Lord, I give myself away,"

my ve­ry soul was flood­ed with a ce­les­tial light. I sprang to my feet, shout­ing "hal­le­lu­jah," and then for the first time I real­ized that I had been try­ing to hold the world in one hand and the Lord in the other.

 Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed?

Crucifixion, by Simon Vouet

Alas! and did my Savior bleed
And did my Sovereign die?
Would He devote that sacred head
For sinners such as I?
[originally, For such a worm as I?]

Was it for crimes that I had done
He groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!

Well might the sun in darkness hide
And shut his glories in,
When Christ, the mighty Maker died,
For man the creature’s sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing face
While His dear cross appears,
Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
And melt my eyes to tears.

But drops of grief can ne’er repay
The debt of love I owe:
Here, Lord, I give my self away
’Tis all that I can do.


There is  an additional verse and refrain to this song that we don't normally sing in my church - you can find those here.

I'm certain we'll sing this song again.  It is so appropriate at a time of communion.

Page CXVI - Hymns I and Hymns II

I've been listening to these albums for at least 6 straight months.







(updated code on 10/22/10 so now it shows and will stream properly!)

Review: The Suburbs by Arcade Fire

Below is my review of Arcade Fire's new album The Suburbs.  It was released today at midnight and Amazon.com is offering it for only $3.99 on MP3 download at the moment.  Is it worth $3.99?  Barely.

This is the review I have posted at Amazon.com.

I really wanted to like this album. But I'm not an uncritical fanboy, so I can't. Sure, I don't hate it, it isn't bad. But it isn't special like some would have you believe. Don't drink that Kool Aid blindly.

My favorite part of the album as a whole is the overall ebb and flow of pace and style that keeps it at least interesting and listenable. It is music you can put on while driving down the road, and then tune out while you think of something else. But that isn't what I want in my music. I want it to grab me, to change me, to make me feel something, but mostly all I get from this is indifferent meh.

Some of the tracks really seem like they are trying to hard to be different. There is nothing wrong with different, but being different just to be different almost never works out unless your name is Beck.

1. The Suburbs - solid start, creative and catchy.
2. Ready to Start - R.E.M. does this better. So did The Cure.
3. Modern Man - It's like they stole it from 80's Devo and modernized it. Not bad!
4. Rococo - I like the rich musical sound, but the vocals don't add to it.
5. Empty Room - U2 meets Bjork. Not bad, but not great either.
6. City With No Children - U2 does this so much better.
7. Half Light I - Modern Pink Floyd - really good!
8. Half Light II (No Celebration) - Kinda Faith No More cross with INXS - and I really like it!
9. Suburban War - a modern take on acid rock? Wanted to like it, but can't.
10. Month of May - This one should be really high energy in concert, but doesn't seem to translate on the album.
11. Wasted Hours - Love it! Catchy, makes you want to air strum along.
12. Deep Blue - This is the rich sound like Rococo, but I like it much better. The vocals add to it here. Probably my favorite track.
13. We Used to Wait - Like the lyrics, you can keep the music.
14. Sprawl I (Flatland) - Good emotional "feeling" song. Easily blends into the background of life.
15. Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains) - Ace of Bass? ABBA? Really?
16. The Suburbs (continued) - Like Neil Young might sound today if he were 35 years younger. And that's a good thing. Great end to the album.

All the way my Savior leads me - Lyrics

Lyrics by Fanny Crosby.  My favorite version was sung by Rich Mullins.

Fanny Crosby was one of the most prolific hymnists in history, writing over 8,000 despite being blind since her infancy.  She wrote so many hymns that she would often publish under pseudonyms because some publishers didn't want too many of her songs in one hymnal.

All the way my Savior leads me

1. All the way my Savior leads me,
   What have I to ask beside?
   Can I doubt His tender mercy,
   Who through life has been my Guide?
   Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
   Here by faith in Him to dwell!
   For I know, whate’er befall me,
   Jesus doeth all things well;
   For I know, whate’er befall me,
   Jesus doeth all things well.
2. All the way my Savior leads me,
   Cheers each winding path I tread,
   Gives me grace for every trial,
   Feeds me with the living Bread.
   Though my weary steps may falter
   And my soul athirst may be,
   Gushing from the Rock before me,
   Lo! A spring of joy I see;
   Gushing from the Rock before me,
   Lo! A spring of joy I see.
3. All the way my Savior leads me,
   Oh, the fullness of His love!
   Perfect rest to me is promised
   In my Father’s house above.
   When my spirit, clothed immortal,
   Wings its flight to realms of day
   This my song through endless ages:
   Jesus led me all the way;
   This my song through endless ages:
   Jesus led me all the way.