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Category: musicmonday (Page 3 of 28)

I Wanna Go Back

February 15, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I remember my grandpa always saying that life when he was a child was more simple. He said the best times were behind us. He used to think that all of this new technology was making life harder and preventing us from living real lives. In some cases he’s probably right. The times were easier once upon a time I will admit that, but I won’t go so far as to say the best times are behind us.

Today’s Music Monday is about going back, but going back doesn’t mean worshiping the past. It simply means that some things in life need the simplicity of the past. Think of it this way…

When we were children, we’d come to Sunday School and sing simple songs. We didn’t care if we were singing in the right key or even on pitch. We’d sing louder and faster than we do as we grow older. We didn’t care what others thought of our dress or how we did our hair. It was enough to sing with the simplicity of Jesus loves me. Our bedtime prayers were really about having a good night sleep and Jesus being near us.

But as we age, we feel our prayers need more words and our songs need more complicated rhythms. Why? Why is it that when we get older things have to be more complicated? Why can’t we relish the simplicity of grace without complicating things with our intellectual baggage?

I wanna go back. I wanna go back to simple faith. I wanna go back to Jesus being enough. I wanna go back to all the simplicity of what it means to follow Jesus, but remember simple doesn’t always mean easy. Faith is simple but not always easy. It’s time to go back to simple faith in a complex world.

Famous For

February 8, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Image result for famous for tauren wells

So I’ve had a few days lately that made me wonder what in the world is going on! When life turns a corner that we’re not expecting and throws a wrench in the plans we start to wonder if things will ever get back to normal. But how do you get through when life is all upside down?

Today’s Music Monday is a reminder that we serve a God who kind of has a certain way of doing things. He has an approach and a character that really shouldn’t surprise us.

When life is upside down and inside out perhaps instead of shaking our fists at God wondering where he is and what he’s up to, perhaps we could pray for God to do what he’s famous for. Do the things that he normally does and give us the faith and trust to be able to sit back and watch it all unfold.

Jericho

February 1, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Jericho || Andrew Ripp | WGRC

What are you afraid of? What keeps you awake at night? What are the things that just make your pulse rise and your blood pressure skyrocket? What makes you freeze in your tracks and not be able to move? These things act like walls that keep us immobile at times. These walls need to come down.

Today in our Music Monday, we look at a song about walls that need to be tumbled, walls that isolate us and prevent us from living our lives to the fullest possible.

We spend so much time building these walls of fears and failures. We stack block after block on our foundation of unaccomplished tasks. We let our failures pile up to an insurmountable obstacle that we’ll never be able to escape. How do these walls come down?

The song Jericho is an echo of a Bible story about God’s people in the Old Testament. They had an enemy that was encamped in a well fortified city with massive walls. God’s people simply marched around this city and trusted in God’s ability and power and eventually those walls came down. They were persistent. They were faithful. They were trusting. And God did the work.

All too often when our walls keep us from living the lives we are called to live, we try to go it alone. Or we dig deeper for that extra measure of power deep inside ourselves. But the power needed to bring down these walls of fear and failure doesn’t come from inside us. It comes from God. He is our power. He is our wall breaker.

Happy Monday friends! Time to tumble those walls with humble, faithful obedience.

Untold

January 25, 2021 / / 0 Comments

I remember that day like it was yesterday. There was no sound. I was no expert and had no experience but I was sure that when a child was born there should be some noise, some sound, something…anything. But as Matthew burst into this world it was not with a sound or a cry or even a breath. It was silent. He was lifeless. It wasn’t like any movie I had seen or story I had heard.

This moment was unexpected to say the least. All throughout the pregnancy things were good. The heart beat was heard weeks after conception. The fingers and toes of our unborn children could be seen with tremendous ease. As cells split and formed and parts were created it was an amazing story that remained yet untold.

I remember the day the ultrasound tech told us we were having twins. I was shocked and probably could have used some medical attention myself. Not one heartbeat but two of them beating in perfect unison to the point the sonogram didn’t catch two hearts beating. What an amazing story that remained still untold.

Every child has a story to tell. Some of those stories are told in tears and cries for help. Others are told in songs of joy. Still other stories are told in smile that child brings to her eagerly waiting parents. Whatever the story, however it’s to be told let them speak. In this day and age when we speak out in matters of injustice and demand that all lives matter, have we forgotten the untold stories of millions of children who never had a chance to tell theirs? Have we so easily trampled on the innocent just to protect our own appearance and preserve our pride?

There’s a story to be told in each pre-born breath. There’s a story to be told in every kick at a mother’s belly. We can’t let those stories go untold.

Matthew was born with no breath in his lungs yet his story wasn’t over. The doctors knew it. They could sense it. They pulled in equipment and additional staff. They did all they could as they prepared to insert the tube into his lungs to breathe for him. But little did they know his story was just beginning. You see the second his twin was born, red as red can be, belting out his own scream of life, then Matthew’s voice was heard.

Our children have stories to tell. It’s our job as parents to help them tell those stories. From inside the womb to their cries in the crib to their skipping home from that first day of school to the time they dawn that uniform and head off to their first tour of duty – your child has a story. Every child has a story and there is no choice to leave it untold. We are called and commanded to give voice to each one of these stories.

Today’s Music Monday is one fitting for today. Untold. Don’t leave any story untold.

Truth Be Told

January 18, 2021 / / 0 Comments

Do we even know what the truth is anymore? We’ve become so conditioned to just float certain answers around as if they were truth when they really are far from it. How often do you really tell someone the truth when they ask How are you?

Oh I’m fine! We say. All is good…we proclaim. But truth be told we’re far from fine and things are nowhere near good.

Here at church I hear the phrase It’s fine. Everything is fine! a great deal. But one thing I know for certain is that when I hear that phrase, I know things are far from fine and stress is already mounting.

We live in a culture where not being good or even fine is viewed as a weakness. But you know what I’m not fine. Some days I’m far from it. I get tired. I let stress mount to the point where I get headaches. I get so not fine at times that I can’t sleep. But no matter how not good I am, God already knows it.

Today’s Music Monday is about being honest and truthful with who we are. It’s about admitting the not good moments. It’s about realizing and recognizing that even in those not good moments when nothing is going right, God knows and he still wants to be near us.

Truth be told life is good somedays and it thoroughly sucks other days. But truth be told, God loves me even on the bad days and that makes them more bearable. What’s your truth moment today?

Heal Our Land

January 11, 2021 / / 0 Comments

It’s no secret that this world is in a bit of a messy place. From natural disasters to a global pandemic to racial issues to concerns about violence to political betrayals and the list goes on and on. It’s no wonder the world is more divided than ever before! It’s no wonder that everyone is feeling the effects of this past 12 months in some way, shape or form.

But how do we fix it? How do we heal this broken land? How do we right what is wrong and turn this ship around?

This week’s music monday is about the healing that’s needed in our land and an idea for how to move beyond where we are to a place of healing. I’m going to let this song speak for itself. I hope you enjoy.

No Hold On Me

January 4, 2021 / / 0 Comments
Matty Mullins - No Hold On Me

As we begin a new year it’s time to bury the old and put on the new. The old said we weren’t enough. The old said we didn’t have what it took to thrive. The old said we’d never measure up. But what does the new say?

The bible tells us to put off the old and put on the new. To let the old ways die the pitiful death they deserve. But we are then to clothe ourselves in new things. The new things are the grace and mercy and forgiveness of God. The new says that even though the world will tell you that you’re not enough, Christ says you are His and that’s more than enough.

This week’s MusicMonday is all about reminding the old ways, reminding the devil, and reminding yourself that none of that stuff has any hold on you. Today is about losing the chains that once held you back and striving for what lies ahead.

Enjoy the first MusicMonday of 2021! Lose the chains. And live the life Christ has in store for you today!

Little Drummer Boy

December 24, 2020 / / 0 Comments
for KING & COUNTRY 'Little Drummer Boy' video goes viral

I know this song is an annual hit for me. On this Christmas Eve, I want you to know how important this song is to me. Every year for Christmas I listen to this song over and over and this version of it just takes it to a whole new level.

The song Little Drummer Boy is pretty simple and there’s not a lot to it to be honest. It started out as a song that was a little boy playing a drum and singing his simple song because that’s all he had to offer. Over time this song has been filled with a lot of extra fun stuff but the gist remains. It’s about a simple song with a crude instrument that some find annoying.

The joke in my family whenever someone has a child is that we’re going to buy that child a drum set just because you can’t turn a drum volume down and getting started it’s just a lot of pounding that makes very little sense.

But the song Little Drummer Boy reminds me a lot of who we are at Christmas time. We decorate our homes and turn on the extra lights. We make a mess while we make cookies and wrap our presents. But all of that, no matter how great you are at baking or wrapping or any of it. All of it is nothing if we don’t just play our drum.

Playing our drum means that we use the gifts God has given us to the best of our ability. We lead. We sing. We dance. We preach. We work on cars. We play sports. We paint. We love on people. Whatever it is use it. Play the drum. It may not sound like much but it’s your song. It’s the song He wants to hear from you!

So turn up the volume. Crank up the bass. And listen as these guys play with everything they have the song God gave them to play.

Breath of Heaven

December 23, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Amy Grant - Breath of Heaven: The Christmas Collection - Amazon.com Music

There are some songs that just push you over the edge. Songs without which you would have a hard time seeing the season of Christmas in its fullest. This song is probably one of my favorite songs for Christmas. But not just any version of this song. Every year on Christmas Eve at the church I serve we are gifted with this song by one of our members.

Now, you have to understand most churches can’t get Amy Grant to sing for them every Christmas. And we are one of those churches that can’t have this pop Christian singer songwriter with us in person. But what we do have is far better in my book. Susan has been with Living Word for longer than I have been here. She’s been gifted with the ability to sing like no one I’ve met. She’s one of those talented people that drive you nuts because she doesn’t need to practice and still sounds better than most people who practice all the time! I only wish I had her recorded singing this so you could enjoy it as much as I do! But if you join us for our Christmas Eve services, you will get to hear her sing. And if you’re lucky she’ll sing this song.

The song Breath of Heaven is sung from the perspective of Mary as she travels to give birth to the baby Jesus. She is in awe of her chosen status. She’s terrified to be a mom. She’s fearful of being the earthly mother to the Son of God. She needs the breath of God to breathe into and for her so that she can have peace on the very first Christmas.

I pray this very Breath of Heaven falls upon you and fills you as you prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus. May you offer to God all that you are as He fills you with all that He is.

Let It Be Christmas

December 22, 2020 / / 0 Comments
Alan Jackson - Let It Be Christmas - Amazon.com Music

Every day this week I’m going to highlight a Christmas song that is either a favorite of mine or one that’s been suggested. Today’s song is really outside of my genre of choice, but it was suggested so here you go. Let it be Christmas! Who wouldn’t want the magic of Christmas to last all year!

I mean really if you think about it something happens in most people at Christmas time. They get happier. People are more kind. We show our love more intentionally. We’re generous. We’re more together. Who wouldn’t want that?

Now before some of my Jesus following friends go too far with the whole magic of Christmas idea. No I’m not saying the magic of reindeer and jolly old Saint Nick. I’m not talking about some weird form of sacrilegious magical incantations. I’m talking about the magical way that Christmas makes us feel! So let it be Christmas!

Let is be Christmas in your home and all around the world. Let the magic of Christmas transform your sadness to joy, loneliness to the company of all the family and friends. Let it be Christmas wherever you are!

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