When music is at its best as an art form, it affords the listener with a unique opportunity to simultaneously give expression to the affections and the mind. Life constantly seems to force us to make the choice between seriously contemplating a matter on the one hand and giving expression to our feelings about that matter on the other. A well crafted song, however, resolves this tension as it combines thinking, feeling, and speaking into one grand exercise of the soul. It is precisely this ability of music that makes it so important to the life of a believer, because God wants whole-hearted concentration and worship. Consider this Psalm: “Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul! I will praise the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.” (Psalm 146:1-2 [ESV]) The soul is encouraged to praise and the entire being of the worshipper is given to God. This kind of fruitfulness of mind and spirit is the goal of our gathered worship as a Church, but it should also characterize our personal worship as well. It has been my observation that people who do not worship throughout the week get relatively little out of gathered worship on Sunday’s. Cars that are allowed to sit idle during the week are usually harder to start and the same is true of our hearts. When we provide ourselves no opportunity for contemplation and expression of God’s goodness, faithfulness, and unsearchableness during the week it tends to leave our hearts dull and hard to start on Sunday morning.
With this in mind I want to recommend a new album for your consideration. It will provide you with an opportunity to both think deeply about the life to which we have been called and to express your thankfulness for that life. The album is Ending Is Beginning by the band Downhere. It was released in September 2008 and combines musical artistry with lyrical power. It contains thirteen tracks that range in style from a typical pop/contemporary Christian to acoustic folk song to edgy funk. Samples of the songs as well as purchase information can be found at Amazon.com* or at the band’s website.** The following are highlights:
The album begins with “Bleed For This Love”; an ingenious song about the fact that every act of deliverance or provision by God in the Old Testament was a foretaste of the final redemption that He would win through the shed blood of His only Son: “Just when you think the story's over/ You know my love is strong as ever/ Cuz I'm gonna bleed for this love.” It is a song that celebrates God devotion to us and His love for us.
The song “Cathedral Made Of People” expresses the biblical truth that our growth, encouragement, and strength as believers comes from being built into God’s Church. It describes a community that is not built around buildings made out of brick and mortar but out of the redeemed lives of God’s children: “We are a cathedral made of people/ In a kingdom that the eye can't see/ We're a house, we are the bride/ Where God's Spirit lives inside/ And nothing ever could stand against her.” The lyrics are both challenging and encouraging.
“My Last Amen” is a lighthearted and catchy tune that describes the frustration of living in a world where every pleasure contains a measure of spoiled emptiness. It explores Paul’s pensive observation that, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 [NIV]) while at the same time yearning for a time when our spirits will be ultimately unleashed to praise God without qualification: “Every prayer I say (a little closer)/ To my resting place/ Where my final breath is the beginning/ To never needing/ And I will find my last Amen.” Musically it contains shades of Maroon 5, Queen, and Santana that manages to balance seriousness and happiness.
One of the more somber songs on the album is “All At War”; a track that attempts to describe the experience of believers as we live this life in the perpetual warfare between our sinful nature and the Spirit of God. This song should be a tremendous help for many who seek to understand the tug of war that a true Christian must endure in order to live faithfully before God. The song is sober but never indulgent or despairing, because it keeps in mind the ultimate victory that has been made certain by the life of Christ: “It's justice and mercy, the old dichotomies/ All along the front lines of my heart in both doubt and belief/ The sinner and saint, the old arch enemies/ All at war in me.”
The last song I will highlight is “The Beggar Who Gives Alms”; a beautiful sonnet of the heart of an artist to God. It acknowledges that in any creative endeavor there is only one Creator and that we are merely scribes with a pen. With elegant simplicity, it captures the desire to give artistically while appreciating our dependence upon God to do so: “Gold and silver have I none, but such I have give Thee/ Borrowed words from the One who gave the gift to me/ The pearl that I could never buy, this life, this dream, this song/ And I am just a beggar who gives alms.”
These songs represent only a sampling of what is available on this album. The rest of the album is just as enjoyable and edifying. My conviction is that listening to this album would be profitable to your soul as well as being delightful to your sensibilities. Regardless of whether you listen to this album or not, I pray that your musical meditations will call forth your heart, soul, and mind and focus them comprehensively upon the Lord. Then your engine will be warmed up for gathered worship as you, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” (Psalm 96:1-2 [ESV])
* http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCZXZI/ref=dm_sp_alb
** http://www.downhere.com/home
With this in mind I want to recommend a new album for your consideration. It will provide you with an opportunity to both think deeply about the life to which we have been called and to express your thankfulness for that life. The album is Ending Is Beginning by the band Downhere. It was released in September 2008 and combines musical artistry with lyrical power. It contains thirteen tracks that range in style from a typical pop/contemporary Christian to acoustic folk song to edgy funk. Samples of the songs as well as purchase information can be found at Amazon.com* or at the band’s website.** The following are highlights:
The album begins with “Bleed For This Love”; an ingenious song about the fact that every act of deliverance or provision by God in the Old Testament was a foretaste of the final redemption that He would win through the shed blood of His only Son: “Just when you think the story's over/ You know my love is strong as ever/ Cuz I'm gonna bleed for this love.” It is a song that celebrates God devotion to us and His love for us.
The song “Cathedral Made Of People” expresses the biblical truth that our growth, encouragement, and strength as believers comes from being built into God’s Church. It describes a community that is not built around buildings made out of brick and mortar but out of the redeemed lives of God’s children: “We are a cathedral made of people/ In a kingdom that the eye can't see/ We're a house, we are the bride/ Where God's Spirit lives inside/ And nothing ever could stand against her.” The lyrics are both challenging and encouraging.
“My Last Amen” is a lighthearted and catchy tune that describes the frustration of living in a world where every pleasure contains a measure of spoiled emptiness. It explores Paul’s pensive observation that, “Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known” (1 Corinthians 13:12 [NIV]) while at the same time yearning for a time when our spirits will be ultimately unleashed to praise God without qualification: “Every prayer I say (a little closer)/ To my resting place/ Where my final breath is the beginning/ To never needing/ And I will find my last Amen.” Musically it contains shades of Maroon 5, Queen, and Santana that manages to balance seriousness and happiness.
One of the more somber songs on the album is “All At War”; a track that attempts to describe the experience of believers as we live this life in the perpetual warfare between our sinful nature and the Spirit of God. This song should be a tremendous help for many who seek to understand the tug of war that a true Christian must endure in order to live faithfully before God. The song is sober but never indulgent or despairing, because it keeps in mind the ultimate victory that has been made certain by the life of Christ: “It's justice and mercy, the old dichotomies/ All along the front lines of my heart in both doubt and belief/ The sinner and saint, the old arch enemies/ All at war in me.”
The last song I will highlight is “The Beggar Who Gives Alms”; a beautiful sonnet of the heart of an artist to God. It acknowledges that in any creative endeavor there is only one Creator and that we are merely scribes with a pen. With elegant simplicity, it captures the desire to give artistically while appreciating our dependence upon God to do so: “Gold and silver have I none, but such I have give Thee/ Borrowed words from the One who gave the gift to me/ The pearl that I could never buy, this life, this dream, this song/ And I am just a beggar who gives alms.”
These songs represent only a sampling of what is available on this album. The rest of the album is just as enjoyable and edifying. My conviction is that listening to this album would be profitable to your soul as well as being delightful to your sensibilities. Regardless of whether you listen to this album or not, I pray that your musical meditations will call forth your heart, soul, and mind and focus them comprehensively upon the Lord. Then your engine will be warmed up for gathered worship as you, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.” (Psalm 96:1-2 [ESV])
* http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001GCZXZI/ref=dm_sp_alb
** http://www.downhere.com/home