I don’t normally recommend much music on this site.  However, I am loving what I have heard of Matthew Smith’s new CD/album, Watch the Rising Day.  Musically, it is simply good stuff.  Lyrically, the songs I have heard are full of rich theological truth.  This is music to feed the soul.

This particular son, Redeemed, Restored, Forgiven is partly based on a hymn by Henry W. Baker.  Below I have listed the lyrics for you to follow along with the song or just to read on their own.

Once on a dreary mountain
We wandered far and wide,
Far from the cleansing fountain
Far from the pierced side
But Jesus sought and found us
And washed our guilt away
With cords of love He bound us
To be His own today

Chorus:
Redeemed, restored, forgiven
Through Jesus’ precious blood
Heirs of His home in heaven
Oh, praise our pardoning God

Dear Lord receive the glory
Of each recovered soul
Oh who can tell the story
Of love that made us whole?
Not our, not ours, the merit
Be Yours alone the praise
And ours a thankful spirit
To serve You all our days

Bridge:
Now keep us, holy Savior
In Your true love and fear
And grant us by Your favor
The grace to persevere

Till in Your new creation
When Earth meets Heaven’s shore
We find our full salvation
And praise You evermore

For information on the entire CD/album and purchase information, go to http://matthewsmith.bandcamp.com/album/watch-the-rising-day.

You simply have to check out this song, The Long Goodnight by Matthew Smith.  I am grateful for Tim Challies directing our attention to it.  Matthew Smith wrote the music for the song and sings it.  The words are from an old German hymn printed in Hymns from the Land of Luther.

This is an excellent theology of dying.  As a Christian, this is the way we should think of our death as well as the deaths of other Christians.  The words are worth meditating on, so I am providing them for you here.

I journey forth rejoicing
From this dark vale of tears,
To heavenly joy and freedom,
From earthly bonds and fears;
Where Christ our Lord shall gather
All His redeemed again,
His kingdom to inherit.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

Why thus so sadly weeping,
Beloved ones of my heart?
The Lord is good and gracious,
Though now He bids us part.
Oft have we met in gladness.
And we shall meet again,
All sorrow left behind us.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

I go to see His glory,
Whom we have loved below:
I go, the blessed angels,
The holy saints to know.
Our lovely ones departed,
I go to find again,
And wait for you to join us.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

I hear the Saviour calling,
The joyful hour has come:
The angel guards are ready
To guide me to our home,
Where Christ our Lord shall gather
All His redeemed again,
His kingdom to inherit.
Goodnight, goodnight till then!

You can listen to the song on the link provided.  You can download it for a minimum of $0.99.  It would be well worth the investment.

* The Long Goodnight by Matthew Smith

The resurrection of Jesus gives each of us hope and victory over the sins that have wounded or killed our souls. As a sinner, I am grateful, excited, emboldened, energized, awe-struck, worshipful, joyful and amazed that the Son of God would pay the price for my sin and kick it in the teeth by his resurrection.

Peter was such a sinner. He was extremely close to Jesus during Jesus’ ministry on earth. But in the climatic moment of Jesus arrest and crucifixion, Peter thrice denied that he knew Jesus. I know what that is like. Fear and despair filled Peter when he heard the news of the resurrection…until Jesus showed love and grace to him. Then Peter knew the power of the resurrection.

In this video, Don Francisco skillfully communicates this story. I hope you will watch it and that you will know the power of the resurrection. He is alive!!!

Please, please watch the following video.  It is a masterful presentation of the power of God in changing lives.  The people are real and the music is May Your Power Rest on Me from Sojourn’s Over the Grave CD.  Give the video time to load and enlarge it to full screen.  Then watch and listen.

If you have been changed by the gospel, you will relate to your own story of change.  Be thankful.  If you are in need of change, please look to Jesus who died for you.  He is alive and will change your life.

Sojourn Community Church is the church that I was a part of in Louisville, KY.  Thanks Sojourn for putting this together and sharing it.

Stories Of Change from Sojourn Community Church on Vimeo.

When I began the series, Artists on God and Christianity, last week with an article on Tori Amos, I did not expect that a high profile artist would provide me with ready made information so quickly.  Yet Elton John has done just that.  Parade Magazine published an interview with John in which John reveals, among other things, his view of Jesus.

John speaks about his battle with drugs, his love life and his involvement in raising money for AIDS research.  What is revealing is what he thinks about Jesus.

John was born Reginald Dwight and was the only child of strict church going parents.  He said that his parents hated each other, fought all of the time and divorced when he was 15.  He found refuge in music.  It is unclear what he learned about Jesus from his parents.  The interview does indicate that he has not rejected Jesus altogether.  He simply has recreated Jesus.

I think Jesus was a compassionate, super-intelligent gay man who understood human problems. On the cross, he forgave the people who crucified him. Jesus wanted us to be loving and forgiving. I don’t know what makes people so cruel. Try being a gay woman in the Middle East — you’re as good as dead.

Here is a breakdown of his comments:

1. Jesus was compassionate.
2. Jesus was super-intelligent.
3. Jesus understood human problems.
4. Jesus died on the cross.
5. Jesus is forgiving.
6. Jesus wants us to to be loving and forgiving.

So far, his statements are consistent with orthodox Christianity.  It is not an exhaustive view of Jesus, but each of the affirmations are taught in the Bible.  The problem is with John’s thought that Jesus was gay.  The Bible does not teach that.

On one hand it is an affront to orthodox Christians that John would identify Jesus as being gay.  Who we think Jesus was and is must be in line with what has been revealed in the Bible.

On the other hand John does what many people do with their view of Jesus.  They create Jesus in their own image.  He becomes a reflection of what we see in our mirror.  As humans we are created in the image of God.  Because of sin this image has become distorted.  Redemption includes God re-imaging us like him.  But when sin continues, the distortion continues and soon we think God is like us.

As a gay man, John sees Jesus in John’s image.  John is gay.  Therefore Jesus must be gay.  Is he wrong?  Yes.  But so are the rest of us who think of God as being in our image.  Paintings of Jesus can be an interesting study in this image reflection.  It is often thought that DaVinci used his own image to paint Jesus in The Last Supper.  His painting has been recreated through the years by artists of various ethnic backgrounds.  In some of these Jesus appears as a black man or as an Asian man.

In American Christianity, we often view Jesus as a white Republican or Democrat (depending on our own party affiliation).  He is viewed with other traits depending upon our own characteristics.

What is the answer?  For Elton John and for everybody else, we must see Jesus as he is revealed in the Bible.  Anything else is from our own flawed imagination.

**FREE GIVEAWAY – I AM GIVING AWAY 1 FREE COPY OF THIS BOOK.  TO ENTER SUBSCRIBE TO EMAIL UPDATES INTHE BOX ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE PAGE.  IF YOU ARE ALREADY SUBSCRIBED, LEAVE A COMMENT THAT YOU WANT TO BE ENTERED.  BONUS ENTRIES: LINK TO THIS ON YOUR BLOG (email me at fgantz12@yahoo.com when you add your link) AND YOU WILL RECEIVE AN ADDITIONAL ENTRY.  ENTRIES MUST BE SUBMITTED BY FEBRUARY 28, 2010.  WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON MARCH 1, 2010.

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Because of my move from Louisville to Chattanooga, this book arrived late in my mail box.  It was worth the wait. Hear No Evil: My Story of Innocence, Music, and the Holy Ghost is Matthew Paul Turner’s story of the role of music in his spiritual journey.  Some journey it is.  It begins in the culture of an Independent Fundamentalist Baptist church and family.  Here hymns are the only acceptable expression of music.  The journey continues through college at the musically-gifted Belmont University in the heart of music-minded Nashville.  The route includes stops at coffeehouses with Christian music and writing about contemporary Christian music.

This record of the journey ends with the reader confident that wherever the journey takes him in the future, music and faith will be a huge part of the journey.  As a man on my own faith journey, music has played an important part in that journey.  If this describes you, then you will enjoy and be challenged by reading this book.  Turner is witty and tells stories in a way that makes you want to keep reading to see what is next.  I caught myself laughing out loud as I turned page after page.  While humorous, the story allowed me to think about my own struggles with the relationships between genuine faith, culture and various Christian sub-cultures.

Turner’s humorous anecdotes relate to various Christian sub-cultures.  This has long been a topic of interest for me.  Often Christians have become so immersed in their own subculture that interaction with culture in general is made difficult or at times farcical.  Turner reveals this by discussing the issues surrounding listening to such “controversial” artists as Sandi Patti and Amy Grant.  He also encounters the subcultures of Young Calvinism, Contemporary Christian Music, Christian schools and recovering Christians.

To get your copy of the book or learn more about it, go to Random House or click on the book image at the beginning of the article.

Disclaimer: This book was provided for review by the WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group.

Tori Amos is an extremely talented singer, songwriter and pianist.  In 2001 I attended one of her concerts in Nashville, TN.  What I saw and heard was amazing artistry.  This artist has written and sung about deep issues and subjects.  She has tackled such heavy subjects as rape and spousal violence in her music.

Amos is the product of a preacher’s home.  She has not shied from addressing spiritual issues.  On her website, she converses about a recent album/CD.  Her conversation reveals a woman with a healthy set of questions.

People are being forced to question what they believe in.  We’re being brought back to questions which make up our foundation: “Who am I?  What do I really believe in?”

She arrives at answers which may seem amiss to most Christians.  She also asks “what is sinful?”  She answers with a view centered on self rather than on God.

It’s not what the church says to me is sinful.  It’s me degrading myself, or somebody else wanting to degrade me and me allowing it to happen.

Her 2009 album is titled, Abnormally Attracted to Sin.  The title is taken from a line from Guys and Dolls.  She is on to something that Christians should hear.  She seems to miss the mark on her understanding of sin as being about self rather than about God.

She is critical of the church.  She cites the church for not demonstrating the compassion of Christ.  Instead the church ignores and pegs those with the most despair and questions.  To this criticism the church should listen.

Amos, however, proceeds further down a dangerous path.  The lyrics to her song, God, demonstrate this.

God sometimes you just don’t come through.
Do you need a woman to look after you?
God sometimes you just don’t come through.

Here Amos reveals a higher alignment to feminism than to God.  Perhaps she might find more of her answers with a higher view of God.  After all the compassion of Christ is the compassion of God.

I hope she continues to ask important questions.  I just hope she finds answers that are based on God revealing himself rather than influenced by a woman-centered worldview.  I also hope we all continue to ask important questions.

On a cool Saturday in a winter in the early 1980′s, my young son, Cameron, and I ventured from Red Rock, Oklahoma to Stillwater and the campus of Oklahoma State University.  We went to attend the Bedlam Series basketball game between the Oklahoma Sooners and the Oklahoma State Cowboys.  It was Cameron’s first major sports event and he was donned in a red OU sweatshirt and red OU sweatpants.  We made our way to our seats in the rafters of Gallagher Hall primarily to watch All-American Wayman Tisdale of Oklahoma.

In all my years of being a sports fan, only a handful of athletes have reached hero status in my books.  Tisdale is one of those athletes.  He played the game at a high level and conducted himself as a role model.  I was pleased to have my son look up to him during his early, formative years.

Tisdale was a basketball player, a jazz musician, a Christian and a family man.  A few months ago, he left this world to be with Jesus in heaven.  He left behind a legacy of living life with joy.  During his life, he became friends with country musician Toby Keith.  Keith is an ardent Oklahoma Sooner fan.  After Tisdale died, Keith recorded one of the most moving tribute songs ever recorded about Tisdale.  On Saturday night, Keith performed the song at the OU-Texas basketball game with Tisdale’s brother, William and other members of Tisdales jazz band.  Here is the video for your enjoyment and encouragement.  I hope you enjoy.

This morning during my prayer time, I listened to the song May Your Power Rest On Me from Sojourn’s Over the Grave CD.  It tied so perfectly to my own prayers that when I listened and sang along, my heart swelled within as I thought of the power of God and my own weakness.

Over the Grave is an album of songs based on the hymn writing of Isaac Watts.  This particular song was based on Watt’s Hymn #15.  Here are the lyrics.  Read them slowly and reflect on them.  I hope you will make these words your own prayer today.

Let me hear my Savior say

“Your strength shall return.”

Then I’ll rejoice in my weakness

As I lean on your grace.

As I lean on your grace.

Chorus:

May your power rest on me.

You are strong when I am weak.

I can bear all things when temptation springs

For you sustain me all my days.

Let me know my Savior’s face.

Let my hope be secure.

Then I’ll rejoice in my weakness

As I lean on your grace.

As I lean on your grace.

Chorus:

May your power rest on me.

You are strong when I am weak.

I can bear all things when temptation springs

For you sustain me all my days.

Once from the Lord withdrawn

I thought that I could live my life alone

Leaving the solid ground

I sank beneath his wisdom

The harder I tried to climb

The closer I was to find

How great is my weakness

Chorus:

May your power rest on me

You are strong when I am weak

I can bear all things when temptation springs

For you sustain me all my days

Though the trial still goes on

Your grace will be my song

For I can bear all things when temptation springs

For you sustain me all my days.

May your power rest on me.

May your power rest on me.

–Written by Joel Gerdis and Neil Robins

You may download the song by clicking on the album cover at the top of the post.

This is the youtube video of the song that I referenced in my previous post.  Be sure to read that.