Music video

...now browsing by category

 

#Faithfulness#Won’tStartNow

Wednesday, April 27th, 2022

Last week I post a song by Arrows entitled The Lion Still Roars. You can see it here. It a great song to begin the day with. I have actually found myself listening to it during my workout at the Y.

Well…here comes another song which is totally different. It comes from a group called Honor and Glory, which features several members of the Christian rock band, Disciple. But before that turns you off, give this song a listen. I do believe you will be pleasantly surprised.  Honor and Glory is the name of the band consisting of a few members of Disciple and others who play or sing in their worship band in their church. They decided to get together to do a worship album. Phenomenal album!  This song is one of my favorite cuts, largely due to the power and truth of the lyrics. Another song, Jesus We Love You, will bring you to worship.

Anyway, here is the song Won’t Start Now by Honor and Glory. Let me know what you think.  Sorry there is no version with lyrics but I’m pretty sure you won’t need them.

#MorningAfter#TheLionStillRoars

Sunday, April 17th, 2022

First, a question: have you ever read the Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis?  Aslan was the major character in all the books. What was he? 

I’ll come back to that.

The morning after. I was always warned about the morning after. After Easter.  I was warned about the letdown which follows because you see people whom you have not seen since Christmas…maybe.  In this day of the pan…(sorry have trouble saying that word) and livestream, it is not unusual to not see the normal “C & E” crowd. It is a fact of life and even though it hurts from time to time, I have come to accept that. It doesn’t mean I have stopped caring for and loving those folks. It is just a fact of living in 2022.

No matter what the enemy throws at me on the morning after, I know Jesus is alive. To put it in Narnian language, the lion still roars.

I heard a new song about 2 weeks ago and it has quickly become one of my favorites.  I don’t see it displacing Covered by Planetshakers or Good, Good Father by Chris Tomlin as my favorite song. But it is right up there with them. Here…give it a listen and tell me what you think.

https://youtu.be/AIJdpGPcbvE

Hope you enjoy it and it liven up your day…and week.

#Love#Power

Monday, February 14th, 2022

Anyone who knows me well knows that my favorite trilogy of movies is Back to the Future.  I have been without a TV or Blu-Ray player for close to two years now since I gave mine away to someone I thought needed it more than me. So it has been almost that long since I have been able to watch them.

The first has an iconic song that plays very well all year long but is especially relevant today. I realize I could have picked any number of “Christian” songs to highlight but I decided to be a bit different.

So for today, I give you this song.

For a further discussion of the kind of love described in the Bible check out my other blog here.

#Singing!

Tuesday, December 14th, 2021

I posted this on my other blog, Living in the Shadow, and since it is not well read by a lot of people, I thought I would share it here.

I have always been a music person. Ever since I can remember (that might be a day or two) 🙂  I have always been a person who listens to music. I used to tell my folks I could study with music playing. Not true.  I have to admit that when I am studying or reading it has to be quiet or at least with background music I cannot know the lyrics to, i.e. classical.

Christmas is a time for songs, for singing. One of the best parts of this season is the songs-both old and new.  It doesn’t get much better than O Holy Night or Joy to the World.  The angels sang. Children sing. Adults sing. Young folks sing. Old folks sing. We can’t stop singing.

Chris Tomlin has written a (non-Christmas) song with the lyrics: “How can I stop from singing Your praise? How can I ever say enough, how amazing is Your love/How can I keep from shouting Your name. I know I am loved by the king and it makes my heart want to sing.”

This will be a different type of devotion today. I want to share some of my songs with you-those which have been meaningful to me this Christmas season. I hope it will give you something to sing. So here are a few of my favorite “new” Christmas songs. Enjoy.

https://youtu.be/5Vwu-t7QRaE

https://youtu.be/mt_xfOutfSQ

https://youtu.be/182xcb3GyOg

https://youtu.be/qmNDI4f8Wrw

If you want the lyrics (except for the last song which has them), hit CC and the lyrics will come on the screen. Enjoy the songs! May they lift your heart to heaven and put a spring in your step and a song in your heart today…and tomorrow…and the next day…(you get my drift).

#NewPost#FamiliarSongs

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2021

Over at my other blog I have written a devotion which will post tomorrow. But I know that many do not read it so I thought I would post it here a day earlier. In that post I talk about a song which plays over and over in one’s head.  Here is the rest of tomorrow’s devotion blog. By the way, I’d love to have you join me on a daily basis as I write a devotion that I pray helps my readers face the day.  The link to that blog is here.  And here is that post:

Did you ever have a song in your head and it gets stuck there and it keeps repeating and repeating?  Maybe it was one you heard just before bedtime and you woke up with that song playing over and over in your head. Or maybe you were in a “mood” and a song just struck you right. Or you heard a song that had you waxing nostalgic, reliving a scene from the past that song dredged up.

A few weeks ago I had a medical diagnosis hanging over my head that was cryptic at best. “You have a mass of suspicious origin so I want you to get an MRI. It just looks different.” Of course all sorts of things run through the mind. He wanted that MRI to get a closer and deeper look. Thankfully, it was gall stones (which he was able to go in and take out with a process called ECRP.  That led though to a gall bladder surgery this past Wednesday. I’m glad it is over and out. But the morning after those initial words I was driving to the office and a fairly new song to me was playing on my Spotify playlist-Holy is Your Name by Petra. I pulled into the parking spot and found myself overcome with emotion and wept. I just knew no matter the outcome, I was going to be okay. (Here is the link to that song).

One of my favorite worship songs was playing last night as I worked on a jigsaw puzzle. I have related here before how my relationship with my father was sketchy at best. No need to repeat it. But the song hit me last night and I became emotional. “You’re a good, good Father that’s who You are/And I’m love by You, it’s who I am, it’s who I am.” My earthly father loved me in his own way, I guess. But God!! There is no comparison. He is a good, good Father and I’m loved by Him.

Now…that’s a song to have stuck in my head and on repeat!! (Here is the link to that song).

“You are a good, good Father, Lord. I cannot thank You enough.”

#NeedaFather?#GoodOne

Monday, January 25th, 2021

Like many of you I am facing a week of uncertainty. Then again, isn’t every week like that? 🙂  After all none of us knows what the week will bring. Like the old saying/song goes (paraphrased): “I don’t know about the future but I know who holds it in His hands.”  You know…I’m sort of glad I don’t know. I mean, what would the adventure in living be if I knew what every step and every decision and every move I make was already known by me?

I grew up with a father, but I would not call him a good father. I loved my dad but as I got older I realized there was so much missing. As I have written here before, as long as I played baseball I was the “good son.” But when I switched to basketball and went after it with passion…well let’s just say from 9th grade to my Junior year in college (the last two games I ever played) my dad never once saw me play or expressed an interest in knowing how things were going. I guess I could include my mom in that but she had other things going on. Like 3 other boys besides me! And they were more high maintenance than me.  LOL (My brother Rob sometimes reads this and I just had to stick that in here for him. I love you Rob!).

As a pastor I have seen the devastation done to a family and to a son or daughter when the father is AWOL or MIA. Workaholism.  Affairs. Side roads of interest. Being home but not being home. Abuse. Bad fathers leave an ugly mark that could be seen almost immediately or maybe years later.

Yesterday (Sunday) I saw a loving and good father in action. (No, it wasn’t me silly). This past week Ryan, our youth pastor, has made 3 visits over 1/2 hour way to a vet because their 2 year old rescue dog has acted like he was in extreme pain. Finally, it got so bad he took him to a Vet ER in Greenwood (about 1 1/2 hours away) to be checked out At 2:00 Sunday morning, he had to make the decision to put him to sleep. The damage he was suffering was insurmountable and he would never recover with thousands of dollars of surgery. He asked my permission to stay home yesterday to be a daddy to his three children. Understand, he is our drummer. He is our youth pastor. He also helps make sure the live stream is running right if the correct people are not here. But he is also a father and husband. I told him to stay home. His first responsibility is not to the church but to be a husband and a father. That is being a good father.

I pray I was a good father. I think I was. I know I made mistakes. But I guess the fact that my two girls still speak to me and tell me they love me is proof?  So in honor of good fathers everywhere, I offer this song about the ultimate Good, Good Father. I hope it will help you start your week well.

#Deeper#IWantTo#AnotherSong

Monday, January 18th, 2021

I’m back! It is another Monday and the start of another week. My week will look a tad different as I will be heading to the hospital for a procedure to find out why I am still having residuals from my bout with COVID. I’ll not share with you the details, but I can say it is something I have had every 3 years since I turned 53.  There…that ought to give you enough of a clue.  The start of my week will be anything but exciting, unless, of course, the news is less than stellar.  But I trust in God’s promises and in Him to know He has the intimate details of my life in the palm of His hand.

Yesterday afternoon I was riding my bike on my indoor trainer when I decided to switch gears (no not the bike’s) and listen to some different music. I usually put on Christian rock (yesterday was Skillet) while riding since I don’t have a TV in my Mancave.  I went way back to the late 90’s/early 2000’s and listened to a seminal Christian worship band that was more “rock flavored.” That doesn’t mean they screamed and shouted. It simply means they were a bit more upbeat than the Maranatha/Integrity-flavored fare of the day.  This band wrote and made popular songs like Do You Feel the Mountains Tremble and I Can Sing of Your Love Forever among others. One I always liked hit me where I am right now in my walk with Jesus. Sometimes there is just this hunger to know more and to know HIM more. To have a deeper walk and communion with Him. I think we all go through those times where we just can’t seem to get enough of Him. Then we plateau maybe. Then hopefully we find ourselves yearning for Him some more. I am in the “I want more” stage. I want to learn and read and study. I want God to have more of me.  I want Him to control more of me.  In essence, I want to go Deeper.

And that is the song which struck me as I rode. It is not “rocky” but it is most definitely upbeat. Maybe you need to hear this for your Monday and for the week ahead. Hope you enjoy it.  The song is Deeper by Delirious?

#GreatDay!#PraiseSong

Monday, January 11th, 2021

As many of you know I have have Covid since before Christmas. I tested the Monday before (the 21st) and received a positive call on the 23rd. I stayed in jail, I mean quarantine, until Monday, the 4th, even though I was done on December 30th. Just wanted to be safe. It sapped all my strength. I slept more in one night than I think I had the previous year.  (Yeah…slight exaggeration but it sure felt like it).  Anyway, there are some symptoms that have “hung on” that have made life a bit uncomfortable at times. But Saturday I had had enough. I put my bike on my inside trainer and rode for 30 minutes. I think for the first time in weeks I felt alive.

It was during that ride that I ran across a song which literally rocked me. I was about 20 minutes into the ride when a song came on my Spotify playlist, one I had never heard before.  As I rode my bike tears flowed and my hands were raised to the Father in absolute wonder and praise. I though I would start your week off with a good song to fill your heart and mind with. Enjoy!

And here is the song:

#Wisdom#Pleasure#Empty

Friday, January 8th, 2021

Henry David Thoreau once said, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

I’m guessing he is not too far from the truth.

In the 80s, the rock group Foreigner had a song that haunted many and if given to reality and truth, still does. The song’s big refrain was “I want to know what love is/I want you to show me.” I’m pretty certain the writer of Ecclesiastes never heard of Foreigner, but that song has every human being’s name on it. You see, no matter who we are; no matter how old we are; no matter our language, time or place; we all want to know what love is and that we are.

My sermon Sunday is the second installment on my two month series on Ecclesiastes. In Eccl. 1:12-2:11 Solomon shows the emptiness of chasing wisdom and pleasure.  We will be virtual again this week due to our desire to keep our people safe, and even though our governor has said nothing about churches, our County is in the Red which is 25 or less in one place. Given the strike of Covid on our congregation, that may be a stretch to even reach that. But we are playing it safe.  I’d love to have you join me online at 10:45 at the church’s FB page or YouTube channel.

I found the perfect song for this week and I’m guaranteeing it will surprise you. Check it out here

#NewYear’sMessage#Guest

Sunday, January 3rd, 2021

Sometime in 2019 (yeah tha-a-a-a-t long ago) Jo and I ran across a show we made a staple. We were actually late to the party since they had already cancelled their show for the purpose of refocusing. Understand. HGTV did not cancel the top-rated show. They did. The show was Fixer Upper starring Chip and Joanna Gaines. I loved the show, watching them do what they did. I did not nor do I care about what people thought about the changes they made, nor whether it was put on or not (it was not). Jo once said, “Good grief, Bill. I think I found your alter-ego.” Not in the handyman category to be sure, but in his sense of humor, love of life, silly antics, and tireless energy. I was honored she said that. Anyway, coming sometimes in 2021 on their own network is a new Fixer Upper. I’ll watch it providing our cable provider supplies it or we can stream it.

All that say: I get their blog sent to my blog reader. This is the first I can remember that Chip actually wrote one. Joanna is the real “thinker” of the two. But at the first of the year, Chip wrote a blog, A New Year’s Message from Me (Chip). It was so good I thought I would share it with you.

Let’s just call it like it is: 2020 was rough. Not rough around the edges. Not rough in a lovable sort of way. Just straight up rough.

Watching the news, hearing messages of doubt, and division, stories of loved ones passing away, seeing so many lose their jobs and live at odds with their neighbors. That stuff gets to me, it’s heartbreaking, and I know I’m not the only one who feels this way.

But you don’t need another reminder of what this year cost. Across the board, we all lost something. We all sacrificed something. We all watched something we had worked incredibly hard for be put on hold or forgotten or lost altogether. And without a doubt, we need time to grieve and reflect on the heartbreak, the sadness, and the loss.

But maybe today is a time to be reminded that darkness always gives way to light, that endings always give way to new beginnings. That the ups don’t last forever, and neither do the downs. Between peaks there are always valleys, and no matter how long we’re in the valley, we can always look up and see that we’re not just wandering around in vain, that hope really does carry us forward.

It’s been said that there’s a time for everything. A time for weeping and a time for laughing. A time to be silent and a time to speak. A time to mourn and a time to dance. We’ve all lived through these varying seasons before, but never all together. This year changed that.

And it got me thinking.. whatever it is that divides us pales in comparison to the thread that weaves us together, that guides us toward an understanding of why we’re all here. What it all means. What this life we’ve been given is really for.

For me, as I step into 2021, I know we can all love more. We can all understand more. We can all listen and learn more. We get a say in how we respond to all that’s happened in 2020, how much hope we’re going to carry across the valley and how much light we’re going to shine into the darkness. Through the words we speak. Through forgiveness. Through how we engage with our neighbors. Through the way we empathize with those who have lost in unimaginable ways. Through the way we talk to our kids about all that’s going on. Through the way we support those in need. We get to decide how much goodness and beauty is shared throughout our homes, our cities, the world. Right now, wherever we are.

I pray we take with us the eternal lessons of 2020 and hold fast to the hope that is just around the corner.

— Chip

Eternal lessons of 2020 and hold fast to the hope. Sounds like the Apostle Paul could have written those words. I agree with Chip. We can all love more. We can all listen and learn more. I personally think that how I act in 2021 shows how I was affected by 2020.  I was going to post the following song in my end of the year post but decided to wait until it fit better. It does now. Again, I know this will not be many of your “cup of tea.” If you can’t stand the music mute it and watch as the words scroll across the page. Let’s Make Love Great Again.