A Hymn In Progress

I was out of town last fall and wrote this in my planner on the plane ride home.  I haven't looked at it in six months since I wrote it.  It was born out of meditating on Ephesians 1 and 2.  Since God doesn't give up one me, I thought I'd not give up on His inspiration… 

All to the Praise of His Glorious Grace

O the depths of the riches of Almighty God

The I AM who was and is and is to come

A River with depths too deep even to trace

All for the praise of His Glorious Grace

O the glory of God revealed in His one and only Son

Perfection and flesh united in one

Saved by His Blood, He died in our place

All to the praise of His Glorious Grace

Our Hope of Glory – the Holy Spirit He imparts

To seal our redemption and govern our hearts

Counselor Comforter pleading our case

All for the praise of His Glorious Grace

Now if I could just come up with a melody…

What a Bargain

I heard the Who song “Bargain” on the River 97.1 the other day and it got me thinking.  I know the song is most likely about a girl, or even a guy if Pete wrote it.   Anyway, I thought these lyrics could be a picture of what my relationship with Christ should be.  In my life, the things described here not realized easily.  What about you?

I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I had
To find you, I’d suffer anything and be glad
I’d pay any price just to get you
I’d work all my life, and I will
To win you, I’d stand naked, stoned and stabbed

I’d call that a bargain
The best I ever had
The best I ever had

I’d gladly lose me to find you
I’d gladly give up all I got
To catch you, I’m gonna run and never stop
I’d pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you, I’m gonna drown an unsung man

I sit looking ’round
I look at my face in the mirror
I know I’m worth nothing without you
And like, one and one don’t make two
One and one make one
And I’m looking for that free ride to me
I’m looking for you

I’d gladly lose me to find you
Gladly give up all I got
To catch you, I’m gonna run and never stop
I’ll pay any price just to win you
Surrender my good life for bad
To find you, I’m gonna drown an unsung man

Early Adopter… not really

I am finally serious about getting an MP3 player.  Much to my friends disappointment I am not planning on an Apple product.  So here are my requirements and why Apple doesn’t make the cut.

Value and Capacity, Multiple formats, Voice Recording, and Janus compatible.

The top contender today is the Creative Zen Micro Photo.  8GB microdrive with really nice color screen in my pocket for $225.  Yes its twice as thick as the Nano, but has twice the space!  Notice size is not on the requirements list.

http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=14107

Before I jump off into the deep end of Windows Media, are there any arguments out there from the iPod supporters?

 

Hope Diminished

Last night at band practice I couldn’t get my vocal down.  That was frustrating.  I could blame it on the fact I warmed up two hours earlier and was no longer warmed up.  I could blame it on the fact I have had a lot of dairy products lately, much more than usual.

But I resign to the fact I don’t have the skills yet.  And that is hugely frustrating.  It’s like knowing your destination, but the way to get there is not clear.  Now I am beginning to doubt if I will ever have full clarity, that is, the pre-cognition required to sing intervals properly to my level of satisfaction.  My quest for absolute pitch over the years just compounds this issue.  I know I could improve with more practice but will I ever get there.  Somehow I can’t help but feel defeated in some way.

Mind you this is not a cry for my friends to give me false hope or encouragement out of pity.  I just needed to type this out to understand the 180 in my attitude; to level set my reaction to disappointment.  I am such an extremist still after all these years.  I want it all or nothing. 

It’s amazing this one event could change my mood for over 12 hours.  Perhaps I am too German for my own good.

Ministry in full bloom

Tomorrow I will be in Athens to rehearse for Bethany’s wedding. Of all the bassists she could have picked to play in her wedding, she choose me. I am honored.

I first met Bethany when she was in elementary school when I worked in the nursery at church with her father. Some of you reading know him as Jose. A couple years later, Bethany was in 8th grade and the guitarist for the student praise band I was leading. We spent a lot of time talking over chords and God’s impact on our lives. Looking back, it’s like I have been stuck in time watching God work in and through Bethany.
She went on to lead high school and college ministries and drink a lot of coffee. Now that young girl I taught how to play guitar is a bride for a very blessed young man, who is equally as passionate for ministry and God’s fame as Bethany.

Look out world. May God bless their union.

Encouragement

A little encouragement can go a long way.  I just left my vocal lesson for the week and my teacher was very encouraging about my progress.  Today she even tested me during one song by playing the wrong chords to see if I would stay on melody.  She added to more notes to the top end of my warm up too.

So after this good lesson I went home and picked up my guitar. I played and sang through the bridge of “Before there was time”.  For the first time ever I was able to sing the part with quality, even the A.

Now I am very encouraged about my progress.

Sprucing up

I am getting a feel for this wordpress publisher and all the options.  I tried to go with a theme that seemed German.

Hello world!

In order to keep my friends holy and informed, I’ve moved my blog here.