Jesus in the Wilderness (an animation)

stumbled across this very moving animation this morning – i love how people’s creativity can help us to reflect on Jesus, and what he went through for us. take a few minutes out to reflect:

Winter Dies – Midlake (song of the week)

not everyone’s cup of tea – but richly enjoyed by those with the taste…

new song: Mullet Before He Had A Choice (for Henry)

i’ve written a song for my champion of a godson, Henry Allery. it’s called ‘Mullet Before He Had A Choice’, and it’s all true!

mullet before he had a choice <– right click here to download mp3

…love ya buddy!

Oh Darling! – the Beatles (song of the week)

it just seemed time. i bought Abbey Road a few months ago. i’m indebted to their creativity every day of my life, but i’ve never paid any dues. initially the rub was strong – but now i’m really enjoying it. love this song:

Caring for Pets Left Behind by the Rapture

it’s hard not to laugh out loud at this:

Many people in the U.S.—perhaps 20 million to 40 million—believe there will be a Second Coming in their lifetimes, followed by the Rapture . In this event, they say, the righteous will be spirited away to a better place while the godless remain on Earth. But what will become of all the pets?

Bart Centre, 61, a retired retail executive in New Hampshire, says many people are troubled by this question, and he wants to help. He started a service called Eternal Earth-Bound Pets that promises to rescue and care for animals left behind by the saved.

Promoted on the Web as “the next best thing to pet salvation in a Post Rapture World,” the service has attracted more than 100 clients, who pay $110 for a 10-year contract ($15 for each additional pet.) If the Rapture happens in that time, the pets left behind will have homes—with atheists. Centre has set up a national network of godless humans to carry out the mission. “If you love your pets, I can’t understand how you could not consider this,” he says.

Centre came up with the idea while working on his book, The Atheist Camel Chronicles, written under the pseudonym Dromedary Hump. In it, he says many unkind things about the devout and confesses that “I’m trying to figure out how to cash in on this hysteria to supplement my income.”

That’s what I call a perversion of ‘making the most of the last days’

SCPC Music Resources

SCPC have just re-vamped our website, including a Music Resources page with a lot of live recordings of items at church over the last few years (performed by yours truly but many others on the music team as well). a lot of these recordings have never seen the light of day before – some better than others (if only i could sing in tune consistently!) – but worth checking out.

you can listen to the songs on the page or download the mp3s to keep – i’d recommend getting stuck in here – it’s a good way to get more of God’s word into your life.

Modern Drift – Efterklang (Song of the Week)

simple yet profound cinematography + creative pop = yum

Come&Live!

This new Christian music website – seemingly inspired by the ministry of John Piper – and full of free Christian music (mp3s) and resources – has far exceeded my expectations so far.

you should pay a visit (i’ve just downloaded 6 free albums): Come&Live!

Remain (by Ben Cantelon) – the helpfulness of clarity

in light of recent discussions about evangelical song lyrics, i thought i’d share a great song we’ll be introducing at SCPC soon – Remain, by Ben Cantelon. I couldn’t find a youtube of his version online (it’s on this album – which you should buy), but Starfield have done a great cover, so hit play and follow the lyrics, for what I reckon is musically a good example of a song that doesn’t make most people want to saw their arm off – but has clear, rich (and faithful!) lyrics too:

Defender of this heart
You loved me from the start
You never change
Through the highs and lows
As seasons come and go
You never fail

Day after day, your love will remain
Faithful and true, you are good

You are God with us
You’re victorious
You are strong and mighty to save
For your word stands true
There is none like you
And when all else fades, you remain

When troubles come my way
You guide and you sustain
Lead me, I pray
Forever you will be
The great eternal King
Now and always

Day after day, your love will remain
Faithful and true, you are good
You are good…

You are God with us
You’re victorious
You are strong and mighty to save
For your word stands true
There is none like you
And when all else fades, you remain…

to me, there’s no doubt in mind what the songwriters trying to communicate here – it’s the faithfulness and love of God to us, through absolutely everything, always. and there’s not a doubt in my mind that this song has helped me to keep hoping in and trusting in Jesus over the last year or two. to me it’s a strong example of how God strengthens me through Scripture-soaked songs that don’t sound like they’re from a previous decade. i particularly love the line “And when all else fades, you remain”

feel free to comment on a song that’s helped you to trust in Jesus too.

Mighty to Save – the unhelpfulness of vagueness

i recently shot an email off to a fellow worker in music ministry about the helpfulness of the song “Mighty to Save”, and thought it’d be worth sharing:

My concern with the song “Mighty to Save” by Reuben Morgan isn’t so much that it’s dodgy as it is that it just doesn’t say much, and what it does say is pretty vague. In my opinion, despite really liking a lot of the Hillsong stuff musically, their biggest (songwriting) failure is how vague their lyrics are. The person singing it could be thinking any number of things about what the song actually means, and it’s never really clarified. I’m happy to go into more detail if you like, but here’s a key example from the chorus of ‘mighty to save’:

Saviour
He can move the mountains
For my God is mighty to save
He is mighty to save

Now what’re we singing about here? That Jesus can move mountains? A real mountain? or ‘metaphorical mountains’ in my life? or the mountain Jerusalem sits on? or just that, in general, he’s powerful enough to move any mountain, so that means he must be pretty powerful?

Most people with a biblical background would be thinking of Jesus saying to his disciples, ‘If you have enough faith, you can even say to this mountain, “go throw yourself into the sea”, and it’ll be done…’ from the Gospel of Mark. Problem with that is, Jesus wasn’t actually telling the disciples he’d move a mountain if they asked for it, or even that he’s powerful enough to do it, or that it’s about ‘how much faith’ they have that will move the mountain so they ‘need more faith’. Jesus was saying it because he was referring to the awesome prophecy in Zechariah 14 about the ‘coming Day of the Lord’ – judgment Day – the Day of God’s wrath and justice – when, in the words of 14:4 – “On that day his feet shall stand on the Mount of Olives that lies before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of Olives shall be split in two from east to west by a very wide valley… On that Day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea… And on that Day the Lord will be King over all the earth.” Jesus tells the disciples the ‘if you have enough faith, you can say to this mountain’ story as he’s walking by the mount of olives on the way to the cross – in other words, he’s saying, ‘if you trust me, you’ll see the judgment day come TODAY – when judgment will come on the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem and it’ll be covered in the sea of God’s wrath… – he’s talking about dying on the cross for our sins.

That’s a LONG way from what most people are thinking about when they sing “Saviour, you can move a mountain”. It’s just vague, and likely to help people to think the wrong thing, if they’re thinking anything at all.

That’s one example. You might disagree and think that’s a bit wanky, but i think it’s important to choose songs that are crystal clear in how they explain God’s word, and that focus us on the truth about the cross. I think Remain (by Ben Cantelon) does that much better, and also represents the theme “Mighty to Save” more helpfully. You might decide to still sing Mighty to Save – and that’d be ok. But it’d be good to clarify the vagueness  somehow, which i assume is probably the fruit of vague Bible teaching and leadership.