Music Monday: Slow Fade

Have you ever read and seriously considered the lyrics to Casting Crown's song Slow Fade? I never had until I went to a Casting Crown's concert last November at a friend's invitation. Their hard-hitting, message-centered lyrics are more five minute sermons than contemporary Christian music. In August I have the opportunity to lead a short Sunday School series that will center on the lyrics of several powerful "Modern Psalms", starting with Slow Fade. If you're interested, I will be building the lesson notes on my personal wiki page here.

Music Monday: He's My King: Do You Know Him?

How do you describe the indescribable? Dr. S.M. (Shadrach Meshach) Lockridge puts a dent in it with his speech "He's My King: Do You Know Him?".



Read more about Dr. S.M. Lockridge here.

Music Monday - Clear the Stage

My good friend Kraig Smith passed along this song by Ross King titled Clear the Stage.



The lyrics are as follows:

Clear the stage and set the sound and lights ablaze
If that's the measure that it takes to crush the idols.
Chuck the pews and all the decorations too
Until the congregations few then have revival.
Tell your friends that this is where the party ends
until you're broken for your sins you can't be social.
Then seek the Lord and wait for what he has in store
and know that great is your reward and just be hopeful

Cause you can sing all you want to.
Yes you can sing all you want to
you can sing all you want to
And don't get me wrong, worship is more than a song.

Take a break from all the plans that you made
And sit at home alone and wait for God to whisper.
Beg Him please to open up his mouth and speak
And pray for real upon your knees until they blister.
Shine the light on every corner of your life
Until the pride and lust and lies are in the open.
Then read the word and put to test the things you've heard
Until your heart and soul are stirred and rocked and broken.

Cause you can sing all you want to.
Yes you can sing all you want to
you can sing all you want to
And don't get me wrong, worship is more than a song.

Anything I put before my God is an idol.
Anything I want with all my heart is an idol.
Anything I can't stop thinking of is an idol.
Anything that I give all my love is an idol.
We must not worship something that's not even worth it.
Clear the stage and make some space for the one who deserves it.

Cause I can sing all I want to.
Yes I can sing all I want to
I can sing all I want to
And still get it wrong, worship is more than a song.

And you can sing all you want to.
Yes you can sing all you want to
You can sing all you want to
But don't get me wrong, worship is more than a song.

Music Monday - Aaron Shust

I was slow to catch on to Aaron Shust. His song One Day comes with a catchy tune, but it was the lyrics below that made it a favorite for me. It reminds me of James 4:13-14 where the Bible says "Come now, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit." Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away." One day we will have a day like no other, and this song reminds us that everything we do in the meantime should be preparing for it. Hope you enjoy.

One Day I will leave this body
and I will get a perfect one
That day I will see His glory
shining like the noonday sun
One day, I'll take a walk with Jesus
He might explain the mysteries of life
Some say, I just can't believe it
but I know that one day

We will gather at the Crystal Throne
All these years: we're finally home
I can actually see His face
And all I can do is say,

Holy, Holy is the Lord Almighty,
Who was and is and is to come
We lay our crowns before You
Every heart and soul: adore You:
The God of gods, Almighty One

One Day, death will be abolished
And sin will have its mastery no more
And I know that we will be astonished
At all that our Creator has in store
One day we will meet our Savior
And He will give each one of us a stone
Engraved with our names upon it:
known by God alone

Music Monday - Rich Mullins

I remember hearing Awesome God for the first time at a Campus Crusade for Christ Friday night gathering at Virginia Tech in 1990 or 1991. I've been a Rich Mullins fan since, and loved the fun little song Screen Door. The lyrics carry the line

Faith without works is like a song you can't sing
It's about as useless as a screen door on a submarine

The quirky lyrics and straight percussion accompaniment I first heard on the CD years ago fits the band's live performance. I stumbled across this fun but grainy video of a live show by Rich and his band of Screen Door - hope you enjoy!

Music Monday's Tuesday debut

Our friends 50 toes posts favorite music clips they title 'Music Mondays', and invited others to join in. I'll bite. I've avoided the whole YouTube scene for much the same reason as we turned off our DirectTV feed - it's a time drain with virtually no lasting value. So pardon my surprise and amazement when I discovered the unbelievable wealth of great music videos when I began research to take up the 50 toes challenge! So here it goes.....

One insane tidbit of info I have etched in my mind from my misspent early teen days was an interview of Eddie Van Halen on MTV News with Kurt Loder. I was a huge Van Halen fan, the year was 1982, the band had just released Diver Down (with Hang 'Em High a hit) and Kurt Loder asks Eddie what it was like to be the greatest guitar player in the world. He said 'I dunno, go ask Phil Keaggy'. Phil WHO I asked???? I never heard Phil Keaggy's name again for over 15 years. Then I saw him live in concert with my friend Drew Ham in Colorado Springs, and realized that he is, in fact, the greatest guitarist ever recorded. The clip below is the tip of the ice berg. When you watch this, keep in mind he is playing solo, with no backup recording. Read this article to hear how he uses digital delay/sampling effects to build and overlay tracks live. Barb and I went to see him live 8 years ago - he often plays in coffee houses and small theaters. It's a great night out if you can catch a tour stop in your hometown!

Here's Phil Keaggy in Salvation Army Band. It's over nine minutes long. Get another cup of coffee and enjoy....



I've got several months of clips already in the queue, so until next time..... :)