Transitional Tunes

There's a famous scene in Pride and Prejudice about Darcy's "accomplished woman" and how his standard of defining an accomplished woman differs so widely from the world's standards. [You can read the quote here].  I feel the same about Christmas music. Not everything that calls itself Christmas music actually IS Christmas music. 

There are questions that are always in mind when I'm listening to "Christmas" music, especially the first few times of a song or album. Does it glorify God? Does it prepare the heart and mind for worship? Does it provoke feelings of awe and wonder? Does it go beyond the stable? Does it follow through with the SO WHAT? Is it equally at home on Good Friday or Easter morning? Does it bring you to your knees? And, of course, is it biblical? Does it line up with what we know from Scripture? OR is it music for "itchy" ears? Has the gospel been compromised to reach wider audiences? Is there any gospel at all? 

I might be just as picky as Mr. Darcy is in many regards. Songs about cold weather? marshmallows? bells? Not Christmas music. Amazing Grace--the classic hymn--definitely Christmas music. 

Now I am not saying that "Silver Bells" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" should be avoided at all costs. Just saying that playlists should be intentional. Put a little thought into the "reason for the season." 

These six albums are ones that I love and adore. All encompass the FULLness of the gospel story. All point to Christ. All are available to stream on YouTube and Spotify, I believe. Probably other services too. I chose these six as representative of an important transitional time. It is the start of November. Christmas is not quite in season. And yet...and yet...it's just the right time to start preparing hearts, minds, souls. 

Brother to Brother (1996) is a joint album by Michael Card and John Michael Talbot. This one was never intended to be a "Christmas" album though it features several advent/Christmas songs. 

• One Faith
• Come Worship the Lord (Psalm 95)
• Glory To Thee (O God of Life)
• Immanuel/Behold Now the Kingdom
• Advent Suite
• The Word
• The Final Word
• Why
• The Mystery
• Healer of My Soul
• Live This Mystery
• Come To The Table

The Long Night is Past Grace Music (2018). YT link. This one is intended to be a Christmas album. But these songs (or at least eleven of them) EXCEL at passing my "test" of what makes a GREAT Christmas song.

• The Lord Almighty Reigns (Pt 1)
• Long Expected Jesus
• Hope of the World
• The Long Long Night
• Prepare the Way
• Lay Down Straight (literally the only song I don't like on the album)
• Lamb of God
• This is the Christ
• O Spread the Tidings Round
• I Heard the Bells
• Tempus Adest Floridium (The Story of Us)
• The Lord Almighty Reigns Pt 2/Joy to the World

His Mercy Is More: The Hymns of Matt Boswell and Matt Papa. Again NOT intended to be a Christmas album necessarily. These are just GREAT songs that celebrate ALL of Jesus.

• His Mercy Is More
• Magnificent, Marvelous, Matchless Love
• Come Behold the Wondrous Mystery
• Sing We The Song of Emmanuel
• My Savior's Love (What Tongue Could Tell)
• Lord from Sorrows Deep I Call (Psalm 42)
• Let the Nations Be Glad
• Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor
• Lord Have Mercy (For What We Have Done)
• The King In All His Beauty
• How Rich a Treasure We Possess
• Christ is All
• Come Adore the Humble King

Behold the Lamb of God by Andrew Peterson. I could listen to this "Christmas" album 365--or 366 as the case may be. It is the FIRST album that showed me what a Christmas album could be, should be. If you can find the ORIGINAL album, choose it every single time. The updated one--with the exception of one song with additional verses--is just not as good as the original. The songs are THOUGHT-PROVOKING and incredibly moving.

• Gather Round Ye Children, Come
• Passover Us
• So Long, Moses
• Deliver Us
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel
• Matthew's Begats
• It Came To Pass
• Labor of Love
• The Holly and the Ivy
• While Shepherds Watched their Sheep
• Behold the Lamb of God
• The Theme of My Song

Bebo Norman's Christmas....From the Realms of Glory. This one is a Christmas album. There are some amazing, amazing songs that I love and adore. There are also traditional "Christmas" songs that don't quite meet my high standard. But the album as a whole is very enjoyable. 

• Come and Worship
• Joy to the World
• Born to Die
• What Child Is This
• Angels Interlude
• Go Tell It On the Mountain
• Silver Bells
• Christmas Time Is Here
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
• The Rebel Jesus
• O Come, O Come Emmanuel
• Great Light of the World Interlude
• Mary's Prayer

Sing! The Life of Christ Quintology is an album compilation featuring twenty-nine songs. I'm not going to type them all out. There is SOME duplication from the His Mercy Is More album. (I don't mind.) The album is definitely more of a worship experience. Most--if not all songs--are live recordings. The songs span the whole story, cover everything.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

16. The Great Passion

The Great Passion. James Runcie. 2022. [March] 272 pages. [Source: Library]

First sentence: There are gaps of time into which we sometimes fall, when the pattern of our days is suspended. It happens when there is a birth or a death, an arrival or a departure, the moments either side of it becoming forms of descent and recovery, when we do not know quite what to do or how long this unexpected bewilderment will last. In general, I prefer not to talk of those years, now that my hair is thinned and grey, but once people discover how well I knew the family, they question what it must have been like to be amongst the first to sing Bach’s music. 

Set in Leipzig, Germany, in 1727/28, The Great Passion is a historical novel about Johann Sebastian Bach's writing of St. Matthew's Passion. The protagonist is a young musician, Stefan Silbermann, who is studying under the Cantor (aka Bach). The book chronicles his time at school--for better or worse. He's mourning the loss of his mother and struggling to make friends with his classmates. But his time with Bach and his family help him make peace and find his voice.

I love, love, love, LOVE this novel. I love it because it is beautifully written. It is such an incredible read. Amazing narrative style. I do recommend listening to Bach's St. Matthew's passion--either in German or English. You can find it easily online to stream. (Several different recordings are found on Spotify.)

Quotes:

After everyone returned to work, I found that I could not concentrate. You assemble an instrument, I thought, just as you put together a life: the blocks of wood in the workshop were like fragments of memory; the sounding board echoed the conversations I had had in the past. I was like an old musician I had once seen sitting at a keyboard without touching it, trying to remember what he had once performed but unable to play any longer, his fingers arthritic, his memory failing.

Perhaps every death is a reminder of the first one we witness.

You will miss your mother. You might even miss me, if you can believe such a thing. But keep in mind that this is all for the best. We must be grateful for each blessing God gives us rather than nurse every injustice. Unhappiness is a form of ingratitude.

When you are older you will learn to expect disaster, but you don’t know much about sorrow when you are a child. If you did, then there would be no such thing as childhood. I lost my first wife and thought I would never recover, but life continues, often more quickly than we expect it to, and we learn to adjust to suffering. Still, I imagine there are times when you must feel forlorn. Do you know the piece Froberger wrote, Méditation sur ma mort future? The dance of life becomes the dance of death. You can practise a partita, or perform a prelude and fugue, but sometimes it’s good to study a lament.

I sometimes wonder how one’s life might sound in music.

We may travel through the valley of the shadow of death, but how we live is what matters, don’t you think? We have to make full use of the opportunities and talents that God has given us. Do not forget the Parable of the Talents. It commands us to work.

Neither was I, Monsieur Silbermann. My mother died when I was nine. I still think about her. It’s not a sin to mourn, but we cannot dwell on the past. Otherwise we ruin our future.’
‘Things were better for me when she was alive.’
‘Then we have to think of something else, or we go mad. But perhaps you are not prepared. And maybe that is why you are here, at this school? To make you ready to offer the world something other than your own sadness. We cannot be defined by our grief, otherwise it’s the only thing anyone will say about us. Do you understand that yet?'

I have always found it strange how so few facts define a life.

So, he expects you to get on with it. What do you make of the organ?’
‘I think—’
‘It’s terrible, isn’t it? We could do with a new one. The one at the university church is far superior. Have you heard it? I must show you. Perhaps I can benefit from your expertise?’
‘You will know far more than I do.’
‘But you have grown up with the organ, Monsieur Silbermann. It is in your blood. What is it your family say?’
‘There’s blood and skin in all our instruments.’
‘Exactly that. We give our lives to our music. There can be no half-measures. Remember that!’

'How do you get on with the Cantor?’ he asked.
‘It is hard to tell.’
‘That doesn’t surprise me. He speaks in music. Always remember that about musicians. German is not their first language. Music is. That’s why it’s sometimes difficult to understand what we’re saying.’
‘I can follow him perfectly well,’ I said. ‘I only worry that I am not quick enough. He treats us as if we are professional musicians already.’
‘It’s only right that he has his standards. He and his wife were at court before. Goodness knows why they would ever want to come here, Monsieur Silbermann. It must be for the children. They get a proper education in Leipzig and he can get them into the university for free.’

I’ll tell you a secret, Monsieur Silbermann. Everyone, no matter who they are in life, feels alone. We are on our own and we are all afraid.’
‘You think that’s true?’
‘I know it is. We just have to accept it and live through it.’

Now that I am older, I notice that people my age often look back to times of cruelty and betrayal, remembering grudges, nursing grievances and thinking of the opportunities they missed: all the disappointments of their unlived life and the thoughts of what might have been. But perhaps it’s healthier to remember all the kindness. It gives us a far greater chance of happiness.

If a house has enough love, there is always space. It’s only when there’s no love that there’s no room.’

We cannot understand light without darkness, joy without pain, peace without war, love without hatred, beauty without ugliness or youth without age. We only know the best by experiencing the worst. We understand life because of death. We can only be reborn once we die.

You must love the Lord as boldly as you can,’ he told her. ‘Then you will have no fear. Remember Luther. “The smaller the love the greater the fear.”

I even wondered if it was too much to bear, to keep coming back to the loss, even in music, but one thing the Cantor taught me was that, as well as practising new pieces, I could apply our recent experience and understanding to the preludes and chorales I had played in the past. They were old acquaintances, he told me, friends who would never disappoint. I could revisit them and see them in the light of any greater maturity or wisdom I had acquired, and then add different interpretations and variations.

Our daily task is to remember that all of life is learning.

When we think of the behaviour of other people,’ he began, ‘we have to remember that almost everyone is frightened of something. It might be a confrontation that we are worried about, a piece of work, a continuing illness or the death of a friend, but we should keep in mind that if nothing lasts in this world then the very thing that we dread the most cannot last either. All things must pass. The moment we have feared approaches. It takes place. Then it becomes the past: and only a memory. So, rather than dreading the moment, perhaps we should look forward to the memory of it instead? We must learn to think beyond our fears. Perhaps you are too young to contemplate this, but one day, I promise, you will understand.’

We have to remember that the reverse is true. We are living as long as we are dying. We should not continue in dread. No one can thrive in the shadows.

Perhaps some people are more at home when they play music than they are when they live their life.

Apart from the context. When I go to church, there is such a sense of doom. Where is the joy of Christ’s redemption and the promise of eternal paradise?’
‘In my music!’
‘But do we hear it often enough? It may be announced with trumpets, but how can that joy be sustained? How can our time on earth be enjoyed as well as suffered? We have to attack it, celebrate it, give people something to aim for. We can’t just wear black and wait for death. Look at your rector. What kind of life is his?’
The Cantor did not answer the question directly but smiled, rather sadly, and answered, ‘Show me what you have in mind.’

If the joy provided by the birth of our Lord is infinite, then so must be the variations, Monsieur Silbermann! There is so much pain and misery in the world that people forget the joy: the sure and certain hope that our sorrows will one day end. Always remember that this is so much greater than the anxieties we face on earth!’

He struck out a few phrases on his own to show me what he meant. ‘It will be Lent soon enough, and we will be lost in the winds of winter; but Advent lasts just as long in the year, and its message is eternally optimistic.

The Virgin Mary feels the child inside her kick with life and her spirit lifts, more than she ever thought possible, more than anyone who has ever rejoiced before, and so the music kicks with life at the same time. You need to perform with your face shining. Your body must feel as light as air and all your troubles have ceased. Everything is redeemed, Monsieur Silbermann. Everything. So, you have to sing as if you can breathe without stopping to take in any air at all, because this is what eternal life will be like. We will breathe forever. Mary gives birth to a life without end. It’s the most astonishing thing, don’t you think?’

Singing, she insisted, was our way of escaping the world and rising above it, letting the words float on the air before coming back down to rest. The Magnificat had to persuade people to look at their lives entirely differently after it had been sung, just as the Annunciation was to change the Virgin Mary’s life, together with that of all mankind, forever.

Words and music can be dangerous in the wrong hands, Picander. People can be persuaded to think all manner of things. We must act responsibly.’ It wasn’t clear whether the Cantor was trying to tell Picander something or not, but ‘the great poet’ was not listening. I think he preferred to use the time other people spent talking to prepare what he was going to say next rather than take in what they were telling him.

Or you yourself might answer, “Yes, my hair may be gold as a guilder, but people always know where I am in a crowd.” We must be ready, Monsieur Silbermann. The sombre preachers are always telling us that we must prepare ourselves for death, but isn’t it equally important, nay, even more vital, to equip ourselves for life?’ He looked at me, waiting for a reply, but I knew this to be a rhetorical question. As far as he was concerned, Picander had had the last word and now considered himself free to go on his way.

But we must find a way, a language to describe it and give people comfort,’ Picander suggested. ‘Music can be a form of acknowledgement, of recognition: an acceptance of our helplessness … ’
‘Yes, yes … ’
‘ … and the beginning of a shared understanding?’
They began to imagine what it would be like if Stolle sang the funeral piece himself. The cantata would have to be from his point of view, they thought, or rather from a point of view they would have liked their friend to take in order to aid his recovery. Picander remembered the story of Simeon, from the Gospel According to St Luke. He was the old man of whom it had been prophesied that he would not die before he had seen the Messiah. And so, when he finally caught sight of Christ on the Feast of the Purification, he knew, at last, that he could end his life, and that he could face it with confidence in the hope of heaven, and that death had lost its terror.

But Anna Magdalena disagreed. Every death was different, she said. Grief was specific and precise. There was no general understanding of sorrow or loss, and anything they might say to Stolle, the words they used, the songs they sang, the advice they gave, could not take away how swiftly and painfully his wife had departed this life.

We concentrate on what the story means at the same time as telling it. We develop the themes of sacrifice, sorrow and loss, extracting all the pain and all the love so that, when it comes to the end, the congregation understands that there is nothing left to give. Nothing more can be said or sung.’
The Cantor stood by the fire as the wood took. ‘A work that is an act of faith in itself?’
‘We have to make them think that their lives depend on how well they listen. We have to present the hardest and most bitter sorrow anyone has ever known.’
‘And how do we do that?’
‘We set the story in the present. What would the people of Leipzig say if Christ came to us today, and they saw him now, in the town square, or outside the city walls? Would they believe him? Would they follow him? Or would they still crucify him as they have just killed that prisoner we saw beheaded? What happened there was far more violent and prolonged than anything anyone had been expecting. The crowd was volatile, impatient and quick to condemn. Their inhumanity was frightening.

It can’t be a sombre reflection on something that happened long ago. We need agitation, conflict. Perhaps we can even imagine the past and the present speaking to each other: what it meant to those first witnesses to the Passion of our Lord, and what it means to us now: our truth and their truth, how people crucify Christ every day.’
The Cantor let the idea take hold. ‘An opening exordium. A funeral tombeau. Write this down, Monsieur Silbermann. Two choirs. The Old and New Testament.’
‘The Daughters of Zion from the Song of Songs meet the new Christian believers,’ said Picander. ‘We use the chorus in the same way the Greeks did. They can choose to take part, or they can step aside. They act and they commentate. They express their pity, their anger, their fear and their sorrow.’

We include dialogue, soliloquy and prayer: Peter’s betrayal, and Mary at the foot of the cross, just like the prisoner’s mother at the execution. And the congregation become part of the story. They cannot escape their responsibility. They are made to think about their guilt and the nature of penitence and redemption. They have to know what it is to lose everything they hold dear.’
‘Monsieur Silbermann, are you taking this down?’ the Cantor asked. ‘We start with an invitation to mourn, to share in the drama rather than simply listen to it. We help the congregation understand the inevitability of loss and sorrow. Other people raise their questions in books and sermons. We answer them in music.’

We must remember Luther’s teaching: we are all beggars before the Lord.’
Picander suggested we took chapters twenty-six and twenty-seven of St Matthew’s Gospel as our text and structure the Passion around six main scenes to be performed on either side of the Good Friday sermon. Part One would concentrate on Christ’s anointing at Bethany, the Last Supper, and his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane. Part Two would tell the story of the trial, crucifixion and, finally, Jesus’s death and burial.

We sum up a life. We tell its story and we pay tribute. With Christ as our subject the music has to be more glorious than any written for a lord or a prince. For he is the ultimate prince, the Prince of Peace.’
‘And yet we murdered him,’ said Picander. ‘That is the tale we must tell.’

You have to understand, each and every one of you, how important it is: the committing of sin. We’re all guilty. Schuld. And Christ’s death is our redemption. You have to believe that nothing matters as much as this. The music has to be full of pain and love. You have to sing as if your own salvation depends on this very chorale. Again … ’

You must understand the drama. If you don’t live within it, if you don’t keep it in your heart and understand that this is about your life and your death and the possibility that all your hopes will end on this very day, then we cannot continue. You have to work hard and concentrate on every moment.

I know it’s challenging. Some people complain that Sebastian writes like a keyboard player. They say he forgets that you don’t have to breathe when you play an instrument, but they are wrong. At one point in this aria we have nineteen bars of singing and there’s only a quaver’s rest; but there is a pause, and it’s here that he stops and gathers us to the point of what he is saying to make it even more emphatic. The moment of recuperation gives you room to take in enough air to hit the phrase aus Liebe once again and make it even more beautiful and filled with longing. “For love. My saviour will die out of love.” This is the meaning of the Passion and you are the person to tell us, Monsieur Silbermann. No wonder you need to take a deep breath before you do so. A big breath before big news. Do you understand? Your breathing becomes part of the meaning. That’s what makes it exciting. It’s so much more than a practical matter. Let me show you.’

I know that it is hard for all of you,’ the Cantor replied, ‘but if I make the music easy then we are already defeated. Our sorrows will have conquered us. We must let people know that we are always more than our suffering. Remember the words of the prophet Isaiah. “He has sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to comfort all who mourn, to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes.” That is what we are offering those who come to hear the Passion.

Remember the doubts you have had before your performances in the past and how you came through them; how happy you were with what you had accomplished, how glad you were when it was over and how much you looked forward to singing again? This is what we do. We face our terrors and we hope to triumph. Our faith will protect us. Our talent will see us through. “Beauty instead of ashes”.’

It’s hard when you have to keep living in this one.’ Gleditsch checked that his reed was aligned and let his fingers float up and down the keys, ready to warm up his oboe. Before he started playing he added one more thought. ‘I wonder, perhaps, if silence is a kind of home. We have it before we are born and after we have died. It is there before the music begins and after it has ended. We should always recognise its power before we interrupt it.’

The story was the one we all knew. But what the Passion did was to make us feel that it belonged to all of us, here in Leipzig, for the first time. It was not a theological lecture, or a piece of improving rhetoric, or even an account of an event in the history of Palestine. It had become our story. It was happening now, during this performance, in the present tense, and I could see, on the faces of the congregation below, that they recognised they could do nothing more important than listen because they had become part of it all.

When Jesus told his followers that one of them was going to betray him, the response, Lord, is it I?, came eleven times, one for each of the disciples apart from Judas. This was followed by a silence. And in this quiet came the terrible realisation that this wasn’t a question that only the disciples could ask. We had to ask it too: Lord, is it I? We were all, equally, responsible.

We were all guilty. First Judas betrayed Christ. Then Peter. Now it was our turn. We were all inadequate. We were all broken. And in that silence, we had to recognise the true horror of what had happened and acknowledge that we were complicit in the drama, simply by being the frail and flawed human beings that we are.

I looked down at the congregation below and tried to imagine each and every one of their lives: the magistrate who worried that he was losing his mind; the blind man who spouted nonsense that rhymed; the society lady with the expensive hat; the alcoholic wondering how long the service was going to last and when he could buy his next beer; the boy who had been David Stolle’s last victim of bullying and whose voice had just broken; the child who had become an orphan last month and was not sure if anyone was going to take him in or where he was going to live.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Album Review: Songs of Common Prayer

Album Title: Songs of Common Prayer

Group/Artist: Greg LaFollette

Release Date: 2018

Stream on Spotify; Stream on YouTube

You can read an interview with Greg LaFollette at The Rabbit Room. 

I discovered Songs of Common Prayer a few days after deciding I was going to try to incorporate the Daily Offices from the Book of Common Prayer into my life. The album is influenced--strongly influenced--by the traditional elements of the Book of Common Prayer. 

The album released BEFORE the Book of Common Prayer 2019. I have not made myself familiar with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer, so the words may be more in tune (or in line) with that edition of the Book of Common Prayer. 

For me, nothing is really lost by this album not being closely linked with the Book of Common Prayer 2019. 

The songs on the album:

World Without End 

Most Merciful God

Hosanna in the Highest

Mystery of Faith

The Lord's Prayer

We Cry Mercy

Prayer After Communion

Blessed Be God

Lighten Our Darkness

Benediction

The first song, "World Without End," is linked to the Invitatory of the Morning Prayer. (Although with just a few slight changes it links thematically with the Evening Prayer as well.) 

Officiant:  O Lord, open our lips;
People: And our mouth shall proclaim your praise.
Officiant: O God, make speed to save us;
People: O Lord, make haste to help us
Officiant: Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit;
People: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
Officiant: Praise the Lord.
People: The Lord’s Name be praised.

 

 

Book of Common Prayer, 1979

The second song, Most Merciful God, is perhaps my FAVORITE, FAVORITE, FAVORITE from the album. It is linked with the Confession of Sin in both the Morning and Evening prayers. I do NOT know why there are two versions of each--two of Morning, two of Evening. This prayer is for the second version of both. 

Book of Common Prayer, 2019

The 2019 Book of Common Prayer has different words for the Confession of Sin. 

The third song, Hosanna in the Highest, appears to be linked to the service of the Holy Eucharist. (Something I've not encountered just doing the Daily Offices on my own.) Again, it is with the second version of Holy Eucharist. 

Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might,
heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosannain the highest.
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest.

The fourth song, Mystery of Faith, is the second to be linked to the Holy Eucharist. It expands beyond singing the words on the page and encompasses the meaning of communion and the unity of the church in Christ. 

The Lord's Prayer is the fifth song. The Lord's Prayer is foundational to all the Daily Offices -- Morning, Midday, Evening, and Compline. 

The sixth song, We Cry Mercy, could fit in just about anywhere and everywhere. Mercy is stressed throughout from what I can tell! But I think it best fits with the daily use of the Lord's Prayer in all four of the Daily Offices. 

Lord, have mercy upon us.
Christ, have mercy upon us.
Lord, have mercy upon us.
Officiant and People
Our Father, who art in heaven,
hallowed be thy Name,
thy kingdom come,
thy will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our trespasses,
as we forgive those
who trespass against us.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil.
For thine is the kingdom,
and the power, and the glory,
for ever and ever. Amen.

The seventh song is Prayer After Communion. 

The eighth song is Blessed Be God. It took a bit of hunting to find the inspiration source for this one. But I found it in the service for the Ordination of the Bishop! I personally think the song has far wider applications than this service. 

Blessed be God: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And blessed be his kingdom, now and for ever. Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known, and from you no secrets are hid: Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit, that we may perfectly love you, and worthily magnify your holy Name; through Christ our Lord. Amen.

The ninth song, Lighten Our Darkness, is inspired by one of the Collects of the Evening Prayer. 

A Collect for Aid against Perils

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen

The tenth and final song is Benediction. 

I referred to the online Daily Offices (using the Book of Common Prayer, 2019). 

I referred to the 1979 Book of Common Prayer--in pdf form. 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Album Review: The Long Night Is Passed

Album Title: The Long Night Is Past: The Christmas Story of Us

Group/Artist: Grace Music

Release Date: 2018

Stream on Spotify; Stream on YouTube

I see the world in darkness lay and the people toil away... Thus begins "The Lord Almighty Reigns, Pt. 1 a  prelude to the album experience...and this is an album to be experienced. (The best kind of album, in my opinion.)

It is no secret (to those that know me) that I love, love, love, LOVE crazy love Christmas music. And what I love most are Christmas songs that are Christ-centered, gospel-focused, and look beyond the manger. In other words, all the best Christmas albums have some foreshadowing. 

There are twelve songs on the album:

• The Lord Almighty Reigns, Pt. 1
• Long Expected Jesus
• Hope of the World
• The Long, Long Night
• Prepare the Way
• Lay Down Straight
• Lamb of God
• This is the Christ
• O Spread the Tidings Round
• I Heard the Bells
• Tempus Adest Floridium/ The Story of Us
• The Lord Almighty Reigns, Pt. 2/ Joy to the World

Of the twelve songs, I only dislike one the song Lay Down Straight. It is a strong dislike. It seems an odd choice of words. The song is about how WE are the reason Jesus died, WE are the ones nailing him to the cross. But the idea that anyone at all is having to tell Jesus to lay down straight so that the nails can be hammered in...well...it is just odd. 

But the other eleven are all kinds of wonderful. And I mean ALL kinds of wonderful. I could gush about this album almost endlessly. 

Hope of the World

Gather round I will sing another story, I will tell another tale, of the deep transcendent glory of the love that never fails and when the final note is sung you'll know the comforter is coming and the comforter has come. 

There was Mary, a girl set apart, to hold the hope of the world in her womb and in her heart and though she feared the coming storm she knew the promise was enough that the comforter is coming and the comforter has come. 

The hope of the world. The hope of the world is born. A Savior has come. A Savior has come to us. The hope of the world. 

There were shepherds living in the fields huddled in the darkness, when a light from God appeared and said do not be afraid go and see what God has done. For a Savior now is given. And the comforter has come. 

The hope of the world. The hope of the world is born. A Savior has come. A Savior has come to us. 

The hope of the world. The hope of the world is born. The Savior has come. Oh. The Savior has come to us. 

I could not find lyrics on the internet anywhere for Hope of the World. This Hope of the World. I typed them while listening to the song. I did not try to punctuate or put them into proper lines. But this is one of my favorite, favorite, favorite songs on the album.

Another favorite that I've listened to on repeat is O Spread the Tidings Round.

1 O spread the tidings 'round
Wherever man is found,
Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
The Comforter has come!

Refrain:
The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father's promise given;
O spread the tidings 'round wherever man is found:
The Comforter has come!

2 The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last,
And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
As o'er the golden hills the day advances fast!

The Comforter has come! [Refrain]

3 Lo, the great King of kings with healing in His wings,
To every captive soul a full deliverance brings;
And through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings;
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]

4 O boundless Love divine! how shall this tongue of mine
To wondering mortals tell the matchless grace divine:
That I, a child of hell, should in His image shine!

The Comforter has come! [Refrain] 

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Album Review: Waiting Songs

Album Title: Waiting Songs:

Group/Artist: Rain for Roots

Release Date: 2015

Stream on Spotify; Stream on YouTube

Official Website Store

There are ten songs on this children's Christmas album by Rain for Roots. You can stream the album on their official website in a widget (scroll to the very, very bottom of the page.) Or you can stream on YouTube or Spotify. 

From their about us, "Rain for Roots is a collective group of musicians and songwriters who write singable Scripture songs for kids and grown ups alike.  While the albums have featured other collaborators and guest musicians since 2012, Rain for Roots primarily includes four members, Sandra McCracken, Flo Paris Oakes, Katy Hutson Bowser and Alice Smith."

The ten songs are: 

• O Come, O Come, Emmanuel
• Come Light Our Hearts
• Isaiah 11
• Every Valley (It's Hard to Wait)
• The Weight of the World
• Mary Consoles Eve
• Zechariah
• Magnificat
• Great Rejoicing
• Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

The album is a blend of traditional songs and original songs, with the majority being original compositions. One of the compositions is very silly and a bit addictive! (I speak of Zechariah...the one who couldn't speak...for the majority of this silly yet Scriptural story).

There were two or three songs where it was close to love at first...listen. A few that I knew I would want to listen to again, again--as the case may be. But most of the songs had to grow on me. As I listened to the album for a second, third, even fourth time, I began to appreciate the album as a whole. I was not familiar with most of these artists before listening to this album. Again, there was some growing time where I had to get used to the sound, the style, the arrangements, the instruments. 

I would describe the album as mellow, relaxing, original...and most importantly perhaps what I should have said first...Scriptural. 

The most thought-provoking to me was Mary Consoles Eve. 

Come Light Our Hearts 

For you, O Lord, our souls in stillness wait 

For you, O Lord, our souls in stillness wait 

Truly our hope is in You 

Truly our hope is in You 

O Lord of life, our only hope 

Your radiance shines On all who look -- to You in the dark 

Emmanuel come, come light our hearts 

For you, O Lord, our souls in stillness wait 

For you, O Lord, our souls in stillness wait 

Truly our hope is in You 

Truly our hope is in You 

O Joy above all other loves 

In you we find more than enough 

We come as we are, O heal and restore 

Come light our hearts

Mary Consoles Eve

Eve, my sister 

The one who took the fall 

Eve, my sister Mother of us all 

Lift up your head 

Don’t hide your blushing face 

The promised One 

Is finally on His way 

Almost, not yet, already 

Almost, not yet, already 

Eve, it’s Mary 

Now I’m a mother too 

The child I carry 

A promise coming true 

This baby comes to save us from our sin 

A servant King, His kingdom without end 

Almost, not yet, already 

Almost, not yet, already 

He comes to make his blessings flow 

As far and wide as the curse is found 

He comes to make His blessings flow 

Almost, not yet, already, 

Almost, not yet, already...soon 

Eve, my sister 

The one who took the fall 

Eve, my sister Mother of us all 

The promised One 

Is finally on His way

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

My Summer with Johnny #2

In July, I began listening to Johnny Cash. He has quite a lot of gospel songs. I thought I would spend some weeks in August sharing some of my favorites with you. The second song I'd like to share with you is "The Man Comes Around." According to Wikipedia, it is one of the last songs Cash wrote before his death. 

Here are the first few verses:

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder:
One of the four beasts saying: "Come and see." And I saw.
And behold, a white horse.
There's a man goin' 'round takin' names.
An' he decides who to free and who to blame.
Everybody won't be treated all the same.
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down.
When the man comes around.
The hairs on your arm will stand up.
At the terror in each sip and in each sup.
For you partake of that last offered cup,
Or disappear into the potter's ground.
When the man comes around.
Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers.
One hundred million angels singin'.
Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum.
Voices callin', voices cryin'.
Some are born an' some are dyin'.
It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom come.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

My Summer with Johnny #1

In July, I began listening to Johnny Cash. He has quite a lot of gospel songs. I thought I would spend some weeks in August sharing some of my favorites with you. The first song I'd like to share with you is, "The Preacher Said, 'Jesus Said.'"

Here are the first two verses:

Well with everybody tryin' to tell us what to do
You wonder how are you to know whose word is true
But the preacher just keep on a bringing us a very same word
And from St Paul to Billy Graham the same is heard
And the preacher said of truth Jesus said
(And Jesus said I'm the way the truth and the life)
Well we can see that the world is full of greed
There's so much hate yet there is so much need
What should we do when no one seems to care
What can we do when there is no love there
And then the preacher said of love Jesus said
(Jesus said love Thy neighbor as Thyself)

The song features Johnny Cash and Billy Graham. It was released in 1971.





© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Sing Along Saturdays (Song That Moves You)

Today's prompt: A song that moves you

This meme is hosted by Bookish Things & More.

My choice this week is Benny Hester's When God Ran. I remember when this song was "new" in 1985; it was probably my first-ever favorite song. It has always moved me…often to tears. It was from his album, Benny From Here. I listened to the cassette endlessly.




© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: Then Sings My Soul

Then Sings My Soul. Robert J. Morgan. 2010. Thomas Nelson. 310 pages. [Source: Bought]

I enjoyed rereading this one. Did I know I was rereading it? No, not really. Not until GoodReads told me I read it in 2012! Apparently I not only read it, but reviewed it too.

Then Sings My Soul is a collection of hymn stories by Robert J. Morgan. There are hymns for all occasions--including Easter and Christmas. Chances are it contains some of your favorites. But chances are also good that there will be a few new-to-you songs as well.

I really enjoyed the story aspect of it. Learning more about who wrote it, when it was written, why it was written, etc.

My top ten hymns (chosen from the hymns within this collection)

1. Because He Lives
2. Amazing Grace
3. How Great Thou Art
4. Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
5. When We All Get To Heaven
6. Oh How I Love Jesus
7. What A Friend We Have in Jesus
8. Tis So Sweet To Trust In Jesus
9. Softly and Tenderly
10. Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Book Review: 100 Greatest Songs In Christian Music

100 Greatest Songs In Christian Music: The Stories Behind The Music That Changed Our Lives Forever. CCM. 2006. Thomas Nelson. 196 pages. [Source: Gift]

While I'm not sure that I like the subtitle of this one, I must admit this one was fun to browse and skim. You should know that there isn't a 'proper' table of contents or an 'official' list, for better or worse. Also, there isn't an index. To see what made the cut as being among the '100 Greatest Songs' you do have to flip through the entire book. Several pages--of text and photographs--are devoted to each song. Chances are that you'll seek out your favorite songs, your favorite artists, and want to read those pages. And there'll be other pages that you merely skim over.

I thought I'd mention the songs that meant something TO ME.

81. When God Ran. Benny Hester. If it was MY list, this one would be much higher on the list. This was really my first favorite, favorite, favorite, FAVORITE song. And it's still among my favorites if I'm honest. I'll never out-grow my need for this emotional, compelling song of God's amazing love for us.

63. We Are The Reason. David Meece. I love and adore this song. I'd be surprised if I could ever listen to this one without getting all teary. I learned early on that the BEST Christmas songs NEED a little Easter in them.

46. Secret Ambition. Michael W. Smith. This isn't the only MWS song on the list. There are many, many songs that made it. I love this one. This was one of the first Christian music videos I remember seeing on TV. And it reminds me of my first concert. It was MAGIC.

41. Love Crucified Arose. Michael Card. I love, love, love Michael Card's music. He does some of my favorite songs. Like "Final Word" and "Immanuel" and "God's Own Fool" and "Tell The World That Jesus Loves You." Just to name a few :)

25. Big House. Audio Adrenaline. I love this one. It reminds me of high school. I saw Audio Adrenaline in concert many, many times! (Same with Newsboys!)

16. Agnus Dei. Third Day. I really appreciate the fact that this little song from the album Exodus got mentioned. True it is Third Day. But still. The Exodus album was one I listened endlessly to for many, many months. I still have many happy associations with it. Just seeing the cover makes me smile.

15. Because He Lives. Gaithers. This song is EVERYTHING to me. You might think I'm exaggerating. I'm not. Every word, every verse is packed with meaning for me. And the memories. Oh. I'm getting emotional just thinking about it.

9. Shine. Newsboys. Is Shine my favorite Newsboys song? I'm not sure. I loved the album Going Public. I think I listened to it five times a day for months and months. I love Shine. I love Spirit Thing. I'm surprised more Newsboys didn't make the list. I really am. (Entertaining Angels is another favorite of mine!)

Am I surprised by who didn't make it on the list? or by what didn't make it on the list? Yes and no. I have to remind myself that this book did come out in 2006. I think they'd be more Steven Curtis Chapman on the list if the list was newer. And there isn't one Chris Tomlin song on the list. Praise songs in general don't get mentioned all that often on the list--which is what I mainly listen to these days.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

The "Happy Christian" Playlist

Last week, I read David Murray's The Happy Christian. It is a great book, and, my review of it will be tomorrow. I thought that today, however, I'd share a playlist I was inspired to create while reading it!

"The Happy Song" by Delirious
An obvious choice, perhaps, but a genuine one as well. This song is just contagiously, outrageously HAPPY.

"Sing, Sing, Sing" by Chris Tomlin
Chris Tomlin is probably an obvious choice as well. But. If you read the psalms at all--and I hope you do!--then you can't ignore the fact that there are HUNDREDS of verses about singing to God, singing praises, singing loudly and without abandon. So it makes sense to me that Happy Christians need to be reminded to SING, SING, SING.

"Build Your Kingdom Here" by Rend Collective
I dare you to listen to this one without smiling. Rend Collective is a new-to-me discovery. And this one is JOYOUS. I also chose it because I thought it fit well with the book.

"Thank God for Something" by Hawk Nelson
Sadly, I think we all need reminders to THANK GOD. Thankfulness--gratitude--doesn't come easily for some--for most. Though some people may be more Pollyanna-like in nature. Still, all of us could be more thankful than we are. And this song definitely goes well with the book!!!

"Lay Me Down" by Chris Tomlin
Yes, another Chris Tomlin. I'm including this one because I think when you can sing this song and mean it through and through that you've discovered "the secret" of a happy, Christian life.

"10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman
The simple truth is I love this song. I love every line, every verse. I join in every time. This is a song I could listen to a million times a month and never tire of it. Because I do think we need to SING the gospel to ourselves daily.

"Blessed Be Your Name" by Matt Redman
My mom and I may never completely agree which song is better--10,000 Reasons or Blessed Be Your Name--but in the end, it doesn't matter. Blessed Be Your Name is one I've been singing longer than 10,000 Reasons perhaps. And maybe that's just enough to keep me loving it a tiny bit more! I love this song, and, I think that if ever a song deserves to be on the Happy Christian playlist, this one does. I think it embodies the whole attitude of a HAPPY CHRISTIAN. Blessed be your name on the road marked with suffering, though there's pain in the offering. Blessed be your name. You give and take away. You give and take away. My heart will choose to say LORD, BLESSED BE YOUR NAME. 

"I'm Going Free" by Vertical Church Band
This is a song Mom and I agree 100% on. We love, love, LOVE breaking out in song with this one! And Vertical Church Band is a new-to-me discovery this year. I can hardly imagine now not knowing their songs! This one goes well with the "Happy Salvation" chapter.

"Rejoice in the Lord" from Glory Revealed 2, Trevor Morgan and Mark Hall
I love these verses in Philippians. I do. I love, love, love them. So a scripture-song based on my favorite verses, it's going to be something I want to listen to! And in this case, David Murray spends some time unpacking these verses in his book. So I thought it was a good fit for the playlist!

"Words" by Hawk Nelson
I think this one is a great fit for the list because David Murray writes of the importance of positive thinking, positive speaking (affirmations), and having a positive attitude. That and it's a great, contagious song.

"Finally Home" by Jeremy Camp
I've listened to this one dozens and dozens of times. It's a JOYOUS song, and, an important one. That we're not home yet, that we're pilgrims on a homeward journey. It reminds me of two chapters in Murray's book as well. Honestly, I was torn between "Finally Home" and "Where I Belong" by Building 429. I adore both songs.

"Thrive" by Casting Crowns
God wants us to be HAPPY. Joy unspeakable, faith unsinkable, love unstoppable, anything is possible.


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Music Review: Precious Memories I and II

Today I'm writing about two albums: Precious Memories and Precious Memories II. Both are hymn collections by Alan Jackson. The first came out in 2012, the second in 2013. Both are new discoveries for me.

First, I have to say that I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE both albums. I do. I wasn't expecting to love them so very much. Partly because I'm not exactly a fan of Alan Jackson's country music albums. But after listening to just a couple of songs, I was hooked.

I love the selection of hymns on the albums. On the first album:

• Blessed Assurance
• Softly & Tenderly
• I Love To Tell the Story
• When We All Get To Heaven
• 'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus
• In the Garden
• Are You Washed in the Blood?
• I'll Fly Away
• What A Friend We Have In Jesus
• Standing on the Promises
• Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
• Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
• The Old Rugged Cross
• How Great Thou Art
• I Want To Stroll Over Heaven With You

The only song I wasn't familiar with was I Want To Stroll Over Heaven With You.

On the second album:

• Amazing Grace
• He Lives
• Just As I Am
• Love Lifted Me
• O How I Love Jesus
• Only Trust Him
• There Is Power in the Blood
• Precious Memories
• Sweet Hour of Prayer
• When the Roll is Called Up Yonder
• Wherever He Leads I'll Go

I love that the songs are recognizable and familiar. The melodies are the melodies you know and love. I love the harmonies and the echoes. Nothing dramatic or over-the-top has been done in the arrangements to make these songs new, exciting, and unique. So listening to these songs make you feel right at home, there's a joy that comes from listening and from joining in.

I also love that there's a nice balance between fast (songs like Are You Washed in the Blood? and I'll Fly Away) and slow songs (like The Old Rugged Cross and How Great Thou Art). Most are a happy medium between the two.

I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to see a third album. I would love Alan Jackson to cover songs like: "Soon and Very Soon," "Because He Lives," "Mansion Over The Hilltop," "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," "Love, Mercy, and Grace," "Victory in Jesus," "Old Time Religion," "Since Jesus Came Into My Heart," "Rock of Ages," "Lily of the Valley." I could go on and on!

Alan Jackson, live, How Great Thou Art
Alan Jackson, Are You Washed in the Blood/ I'll Fly Away (live)

Which hymns are your favorite? Do you have a favorite hymns album to recommend?

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Music Review: No Plan B

Album: No Plan B
Artist: Carman
Year of Release: 2014 (May)
Songs

1. No Plan B
2. Time 2 P.T.L.
3. I'm Coming Home
4. God Made Man
5. Peace of the Lord
6. Jesus Heal Me
7. It's All In His Hands
8. Another Day
9. Yes, Yes
10. I Did My Best
11. That's My King / Radically Saved
12. The Flag

I grew up listening to Carman. I did. I have hundreds of happy Carman memories. So I was very, very excited to see that he had a new album that had just released. Overall, I would say that if you've enjoyed listening to even one Carman album in the past thirty years, you'll need to give this one a try.

I have several favorites from this new album.

My favorite song on the album may just be "Peace of the Lord." Dare I say I might just love it as much as "Lord, I Love You" from The Standard?! And if you know how much I love, love, love The Standard, you'll know that means something.

Like the force of the thunder or the roar of the beast
Fear is drawing me under, and it gives no release
But my worries are taken, by the word in my soul
And my faith is awakened with my God in control
The Peace of the Lord is keeping my soul
God’s word will forever hold my mind together
The Peace of the Lord is keeping my soul
God in control I’m at peace.

I absolutely love, love, LOVE, LOVE "It's All In His Hands." It's a fast tempo song with a great background choir. The song is super-catchy and just all kinds of fun!!!

It’s all in His hands, it’s all in His hands, it’s all in His hands, it’s all in His hands
I don’t worry about today
It’s all in His hands
He’ll work it out, I’ll be ok
It’s all in His hands. My heart is right, my mind is strong
It’s all in His hands
I trust in God, I can’t go wrong
It’s all in His hands
Everything gonna be alright, everything’s gonna be ok
Everything’s gonna be alright, everything’s gonna be ok
Hallelujah, Ha-Hallelujah, Hallelujah, Ha-Hallelujah, Hallelujah
It’s all in His hands

I knew within ten seconds that I was going to love "God Made Man." It immediately took me back, in a way, to "Spirit Filled Pizza" from Comin' On Strong. Though musically, I suppose, it reminds me of "My Story" as well.

So I ratted out the devil
Now I’m a witness in protection
With a whole new direction
I want to shout it
I got a new life and a new route
A new name and a new suit
So did he offer me a good deal?
Ay, Forgettaboutit!

Other honorable mentions would include "Another Day," "Yes, Yes," and "Time To P.T.L." I love these three songs very much! "Yes, Yes" is especially fun, there are little things hidden in the lyrics to make Carman fans smile!

Sunday’s really on the way, like I said back in the day
And it's always in His heart to please us
No way I'm not ashamed, I love to say His name
I'll always be addicted to Jesus
I'm not timid like a mouse, I know who's in the house
I say it as I rock the microphone
The God, in whom I trust, makes Satan bite the dust
He’s still the one and only Champion

I have a feeling that the album will grow on me more and more as I listen to it. And there are just enough songs on the album that I already love to make me want to listen to the whole album again and again.

From "Another Day"

Listen now to my request and
Send a word so I can rest and
Get direction to my question, and feel ok
But I know not now don’t mean never
So I’ll just do what I must do and trust You forever
An answer soon will come my way, but it may come another day
The wind will blow the clouds away, but it may blow another day
God’s promises are always true, a rainbow somewhere waits there too
But until then, You’ll see me through another day

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

His Eyes

From Living Hope for the End of Days: 365 Days of Devotions from the Book of The Revelation by Dr. John S. Barnett.

• When troubled--I will look up for Jesus' loving eyes of compassion. I will remember Hagar's experience of His compassionate eyes! (Genesis 16:1-13)
• When tempted--I will look up for Jesus' purifying eyes of consecration. I will remember Joseph's experience of His purifying eyes when tempted! (Genesis 39:1-9)
• When watched--I will look up for Jesus' refining eyes like laser beams. I will remember the Israelites' experience of His refining eyes as He led them through the Red Sea and in the Wilderness! (Exodus 14,  16, 17)
• When lonely or afraid--I will look up for Jesus' comforting eyes of confidence. I will remember David's experience of His ever-present eyes of comfort when feeling alone and afraid! (Psalm 139:1-12)
• When scrutinized--I will look up for Jesus' caring eyes of concern. I will remember the woman at the well and her experiences of Jesus' caring eyes as He revealed the secrets of her past! (John 4:1-26)
• When sinking in despair--I will look up for Jesus' calming eyes of rescue. I will remember the disciples' experience of His calm rescuing eyes when sinking! (Matthew 14:22-33)
• When sinning--I will look up for Jesus' chastening eyes of sadness and come back to Him. I will remember Peter's experience and Christ's sad eyes of chastening when living in my own strength. (Luke 22:54-62)

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Twenty Years of The Standard

In just a few months, The Standard, an album by Carman will celebrate its twentieth anniversary; it released in the fall of 1993. (The mp3 album, Amazon.) This is quite an album. I think I've listened to it hundreds of times. All happy-happy memories. If I had to pick just one Carman album, it would be this one. It is, in my opinion, his very best.

The songs:

Who's In the House
Now's The Time To Celebrate
Great God
Everybody Praise the Lord
The River
Marchin' and Movin'
Sunday School Rock
Holdin' On
Lord, I Love You
America Again

Each song--perhaps with the exception of "The River"--holds a memory for me. I'm not sure I could pick just one favorite song from the album, but, to narrow it down: "Great God," "Lord, I Love You," "Sunday School Rock," "Who's In the House," and "Now's The Time To Celebrate."

Raising the Standard Concert

From "Great God"

 God is a God of righteousness
God sits on the throne
God is strong in battle
God is God alone
God is wise and merciful
God is sovereign Lord
God is pure and holy
God reigns forevermore

From "Sunday School Rock"

 We'll start with the basics, a checklist for the saints
Love the Lord with all your heart and mind and soul and strength
To fear the Lord is wisdom, to serve the Lord divine
To really break it down just repeat these words of mine
Say,
Chorus
I love Jesus! (I love Jesus!)
Yes I do! (Yes I do!)
I love Jesus! (I love Jesus!)
How 'bout you? (How 'bout you?)
I love Jesus, yes I do
I love Jesus HOW 'BOUT YOU!

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Thirty Years of Legacy

Legacy, which was originally released in 1983, has some of Card's best songs on it:

• Love Crucified Arose (inspired by John 20:1-22)
• Now That I've Held Him In My Arms (inspired by Luke 2:25-35)
• The Voice of the Child (inspired by Luke 2:41-52)
• This Must Be the Lamb (inspired by Matthew 27:32-56)
• Dragonslayer (inspired by Genesis 3:15)
• Abba Father (inspired by Romans 8:15)
• El Shaddai (inspired by Genesis 22:1-19; Exodus 14:13-31; Genesis 16:7-13; 1 Corinthians 1:22-25)
• God Will Provide a Lamb (inspired by Genesis 22:1-19)
• Livin' We Must Die  
• Tell the World That Jesus Loves You

It was later released on CD. It is also available as an mp3 album. I love how God-centered, cross-centered the songs are! These songs are doctrinally rich! If I had to narrow it down to a handful of favorites, I'd say, "Tell The World That Jesus Loves You," "El Shaddai," and "Love Crucified Arose."

From Livin' We Die:

They sell you a thousand creeds
But you know they're as worthless
As the withered weeds
And as their preaching all of the while
The devil is standing with his backward smile
Cause there's just one Truth
And there's just one Way
And He's a person not a plan
He's not a cold denomination
He's a livin' breathin' man

From Love Crucified Arose:

 Long ago, He blessed the earth
Born older than the years
And in the stall the cross He saw
Through the first of many tears

A life of homeless wandering
Cast out in sorrow's way
The Shepherd seeking for the lost
His life, the price He paid

Love crucified arose
The risen One in splendor
Jehovah's sole defender
Has won the victory

Love crucified arose
And the grave became a place of hope
For the heart that sin and sorrow broke
Is beating once again


© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

!Hero (Ten Years Later)

I recently watched !Hero, The Rock Opera. It had been a few years--at least--since I'd seen it. And it was perfect timing! This rock opera has a simple premise. What if Jesus, the promised Messiah, was not born in Bethlehem two-thousand years ago? What if the world had had to wait another two thousand years? What if Jesus' advent was here and now. What if his ministry took place on the streets of New York City? Instead of experiencing oppression at the hands of Roman soldiers, what if the world was ruled by ICON? This is a modern retelling of the gospel, of the life and work of Jesus. It loosely follows the gospel of John: water into wine, Nicodemus' visit, woman at the well, healing of the crippled man, feeding of the five thousand, etc. But there are other events taken from other gospels. Besides its modern setting, viewers should know it is a live concert starring Michael Tait (Jesus), Mark Stuart (Petrov), Rebecca St. James (Maggie), Nirva Dorsaint (Mother Mary), Michael Quinlan (Jude), Paul Wright (Agent Hunter).

The songs of !Hero

• This Is How It Happened
• A Few Good Men
• Wedding Celebration
• Fire of Love
• Lose My Life With You
• Man on a Mission
• Secrets of the Heart
• Stand Up and Walk
• Do What You Gotta Do
• Take My Hand
• Love's Declaration
• Raised in Harlem
• They're Callin' Him Hero
• Manna From Heaven
• Hero
• Leave Here
• Stand by You
• Say the Word
• Intentions
• Finally Home
• Not In Our House
• Murder On Their Minds
• Party in the House Today
• In Remembrance of Me
• Shadowman
• Hero's Agony
• I Am
• Kill the Hero
• Execute
• He's Not Here
• The Truth Comes Out 

My favorite songs are He's Not Here, I Am, Manna From Heaven, Raised In Harlem, and Not In Our House. I also enjoy Finally Home and Love's Declaration.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Music Review: Chris Tomlin's Burning Lights

I am absolutely loving Chris Tomlin's newest album, Burning Lights.

After the instrumental "Burning Lights," the album begins with Awake My Soul. I love this one! I do. I love the message. (The chorus: "Awake, awake, awake my soul, God resurrect these bones From death to life, through you alone Awake my soul") And I love Lecrae's part in this one. Ezekiel's dry bones prophesy has always been one of my favorite chapters. I love the imagery of regeneration, of new birth.

The next song is Whom Shall I Fear. I love this one because it is so scriptural. Think Psalm 91:1-16, Romans 8:31-39, Proverbs 18:10, Psalm 27:1, etc. I have several favorite lines: "My strength is in Your name For You alone can save You will deliver me Yours is the victory" and "The one who reigns forever He is a friend of mine" and "And nothing formed against me shall stand You hold the whole world in Your hands I'm holding on to Your promises." Isn't this the kind of song we need every day?

Lay Me Down has to be one of my favorites. (Romans 12:1-2, Psalm 37:4, Philippians 1:21) I love the whole song, I do. But I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the bridge: It will be my joy to say Your will Your way It will be my joy to say Your will Your way It will be my joy to say Your will Your way always. Wouldn't we all be better if we could passionately say that and mean it!

God's Great Dance Floor is a loud, happy dance song. The message: "You'll never stop loving us No matter how far we run You'll never give up on us."

White Flag is a song I love, love, love. My favorite part: "Here on this Holy ground You made a way for peace Laying your body down You took our rightful place This freedom song is marching on." We have been set free from our sins, and we are Christ's. "We raise our white flag The war is over Love has come Your love has won." Good news indeed.

Crown Him (Majesty) is a beautiful song, truly beautiful. You'll probably recognize some of this from the hymn; I really love this adaptation. Again I find myself loving the bridge: "All hail, Redeemer, hail For he has died for me His praise and glory shall not fail Throughout eternity."

Jesus, Son of God. Oh, how I LOVE this song. I absolutely love the lyrics. These are words with substance, providing listeners with something to meditate on. (Philippians 2:5-11, 1 John 4:9-11, Romans 5:6-11, etc.) The chorus: "On the altar of our praise Let there be no higher name Jesus Son of God You laid down Your perfect life You are the sacrifice Jesus Son of God You are Jesus Son of God."

Sovereign. I love this song!!! I do!!! "In your never failing love You work everything for good God whatever comes my way I will trust you."

Countless Wonders. A good companion to dozens of Psalms! It's a beautiful song. (Psalm 77:14, Psalm 89:5, etc.)

Thank You God For Saving Me is such a honest, heartfelt song.

The last song is Shepherd Boy. The title of the album comes from this one.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Music Review: Light for the Lost Boy

Last week, Andrew Peterson released a new album, Light for the Lost Boy!!! I've hardly been listening to anything else! It is such a wonderful album! Of course, that is EXACTLY what I expected. Peterson has never disappointed me, not even slightly!!! The songs include:

Come Back Soon
The Cornerstone
Rest Easy
The Voice of Jesus
The Ballad of Jody Baxter
Day by Day
Shine Your Light
Carry the Fire
You'll Find Your Way
Don't You Want To Thank Someone

One thing I noticed right away--perhaps because I was reading Romans--was how "Come Back Soon" and "Rest Easy" both seem to capture Romans 8. Granted, "Rest Easy" could be said to "capture" a lot of different scriptures, or scriptural promises, including Matthew 11:28, Matthew 28:20, and Romans 8:31-39. "Come Back Soon" seems to capture Romans 8:18-23.

The more I listen to the album, the more connections I'm beginning to make.

Early favorites include "Rest Easy," "The Voice of Jesus," "You'll Find Your Way," and "Day by Day." Though I enjoy all the songs and my favorites may change as I continue to listen to the album in the upcoming weeks and months!

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible

Music Review: David Crowder Band's Give Us Rest

The full title of David Crowder's Band final release is Give Us Rest, Or, A Requiem Mass in C (The Happiest of All Keys). This album is quite long, an hour and forty minutes; it has two discs with a total of thirty-four songs. (True, eighteen of these are under three minutes, but, depending on the song in question, that's not a bad thing.)

This album definitely is a concept album. The theme is death. But before you conclude that the songs are dreary and lifeless, consider just how much of the Bible concerns the believer's FUTURE GLORY, and just how many verses, how many passages, give believers assurance--hope--that heaven is indeed a wonderful place.

Are some of the songs dreary and lifeless? Are some of the songs just a little too weird for my taste? Yes and yes. I personally find the seven piece sequence more annoying than pleasing. (The songs are Sequence 1, Sequence 2, Sequence 3, etc.)

Here is an example of the 'concept' of the album:

The song, "A Burial"

The song, "Sequence 2"

The song, "The Great Amen,"

The song, Why Me?



But there are MANY, MANY great songs on this album.

The song, Oh Great God, Give Us Rest



The song, After All (Holy)



The song, Come Find Me



The song, Fall On Your Knees



The song, Because He Lives



The song, Oh Great Love of God 

The song, There Is A Sound

I would say that there are at least a dozen great songs on this album. While I doubt you'll love each and every song on the entire album, I think you'll probably find some to enjoy, some to love.

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible