All creatures of our God and King

Hello Friends! Happy new year to you all Steven and I are super excited to see what this year will bring-we both have a feeling that it will be a year of growth and change. We have had a bit of a break from leading worship with the holidays and all, and while practicing last night- realized how much we missed it. We are deeply looking forward to playing tonight at Core and this sunday night at REMIX, and getting back in the swing of things. Included in that is our postings We have had this song “All Creature of our God and King” Recorded for awhile but haven’t had the time to post it So Here it is-

The Hymn was written in 1225 by Francis of Assisi. He wrote it right before his death, when he was losing his sight and feeling very sick. He decided to write about what was always on his heart- the praise of God. In this Hymn you are able to see Francis’ love for God and His creation. He lived a very simple life that allowed him to notice things, that we sometimes, or a lot of times, overlook. Francis believed that all of the earth’s creatures get their life from God, and that we all depend on Him for our continued existence. This truth led him to do nothing more then to praise God.  So simple -but this becomes harder and harder to daily remember and reflect on as our world grows and progresses.

Francis reflected on Psalm 145:10,11 when writing this song- “ All your works shall give thanks to you, O LORD, and all your saints shall bless you! ¹¹ They shall speak of the glory of your kingdom and tell of your power.”

We enjoy playing this song because of the simplicity of it. It is sometimes nice to sing a song that allows you to not be distracted by a lot complex lyrics and to just sing O Praise Him-Alleluia!! Thanks for taking the time to read and we hope you download and love the song Click on the title of the song  to download!

All Creatures of our God and King

All creatures of our God and King
Lift up your voice and with us sing
Oh, praise Him
Alleluia
Thou burning sun with golden beam
Thou silver moon with softer gleam
Oh, praise Him
Oh, praise HimV
Alleluia
Alleluia
Alleluia

Thou rushing wind that art so strong
Ye clouds that sail in heav’n along
Oh, praise Him
Alleluia
Thou rising moon in praise rejoice
Ye lights of evening find a voice
Oh, praise Him
Oh, praise Him
Alleluia
Alleluia
Alleluia

Let all things their creator bless
And worship Him in humbleness
Oh, praise Him
Alleluia
Praise, praise the Father praise the Son
And praise the Spirit three in one
Oh, praise Him
Oh, praise Him
Alleluia
Alleluia
Alleluia

Praise, praise the Father praise the Son
And praise the Spirit three in one
Oh, praise Him
Oh, praise Him
Alleluia
Alleluia
Alleluia

O Come Emmanuel

We are so happy it is Christmas time again!  It is our most favorite time of year. We just love the decorations, the cold weather, the extra cozy feeling our home seems to have, we even enjoy the mall with all the craziness of frantic shoppers. However, the main reason we find so much joy in this time of year is in celebrating the birth of our Lord, Jesus Christ.

One of our favorite ways to celebrate is to sing! Shocker- I know. There are many wonderful christmas songs that we delight in, but one of our favorites is, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.” We have always been drawn to this song because of the haunting and eery sound it can have.

The song dates back to the ninth century, and is an advent hymn. Advent, which begins four sundays before Christmas, is the season of the church year, where we emphasize the anticipation of Christ’s first coming to earth. The lyrics are based on the biblical prophecy which states that God will give Israel a sign that will be called Immanuel. Immanuel or Emmanuel means “God with us”. It states that the prophecy was fulfilled in the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. For centuries, faithful Hebrews looked for their Messiah with great longing and expectation, echoing the prayer that he would “ransom captive Israel.”

While the writer of the hymn is unknown. He was no doubt a scholar with a rich knowledge of both the old and new testaments. During this early time, the hymn went ignored for 51 weeks of the year and was only used in the advent chants a week before christmas. Sadly, we tend to do the same thing. We have these awesome hymns that are full of so much truth and we only sing them 1 month of the year.

This song in particular not only speaks of Jesus’ birth, but of the day when He will return again-to not only judge, but to bring final peace to the earth. I believe that there is a use for this song, outside of the advent season, so look forward to hearing it from us anytime of year! In our version we  incorporated 3 of the original 7 verses. It was a blessing to record this song, and I hope you enjoy it and not only listen to it during this season but all year long!

O Come, O Come, Emmanuel

O come, O come, Emmanuel

And ransom captive Israel

That mourns in lonely exile here

Until the Son of God appear

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 

Shall come to thee O Israel

O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheer

Our spirits by Thine advent here

And drive away the shades of night

And pierce the clouds and bring us light

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 

Shall come to thee O Israel

O come, Desire of nations, bind

All people in one heart and mind

Bid envy strife and quarrels cease

Fill all the world with heaven’s peace

Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel 

Shall come to thee O Israel

Oh Holy Night

So our goal this Christmas was to post one Christmas song each week….. this has not yet happened. But it’s never too late! So we are starting today The first one were posting-because it’s the one completely complete is “Oh Holy Night.”  This is Steven’s favorite Christmas song! I Love it too, but he is especially passionate about it

I think it’s important to share the story behind the song, because it’s probably not what you would first guess. It’s a tad long, but stick with me. “Oh Holy Night” was written in 1847 by a french poet named Placide Cappeau de Roguemaure (mouth-full). He was known more for his poetry then he was for his church attendance, and so everyone was surprised when the priest asked him to write a poem for christmas mass. In a dusty coach, traveling down a bumpy road on the way to Frances capital city, and using the book of Luke as his guide, the poet started imagining what it would have been like to be present at the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. He was so inspired that by the time he got to the city, the entire poem called “Cantique de Noel” was complete.

He was so excited about his poem, that he soon realized he needed to turn this poem into a song. He was not musically inclined, and so asked one of his friends, a well know classical musician, Adolphe Charles Adams, for help. As a man of Jewish ancestry, for Adolphe the words of “Cantique de Noel” represented a day he didn’t celebrate and a man he did not view as the son of God. Nevertheless, Adams quickly went to work, attempting to connect an original score to the beautiful words. Adams’ finished work pleased both poet and priest. The song was performed just three weeks later at a Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.

Initially the church excepted the song, and it became one of the most popular Christmas songs in France. However, they soon found out that the writer abandoned the church to join the socialist movement and learned that the composer was a Jew, and so it was denounced and buried. The French people loved the song, and continued to sing it.  A decade later an American writer, named John Sullivan Dwight-felt that this wonderful Christmas song needed to be introduced to America.

On Christmas Eve 1906, Reginald Fessenden-a 33-year-old university professor and former chief chemist for Thomas Edison-did something long thought impossible. Using a new type of generator, he spoke into a microphone and, for the first time in history, a man’s voice was broadcast over the airwaves, and he said: “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed,” he began in a clear, strong voice, hoping he was reaching as far as he thought he would.

Radio operators sat shocked as their normal coded impulses, were interrupted by a professor reading from the gospel of Luke. To the few who caught this broadcast, it must have seemed like a miracle-hearing a voice somehow from far away. Fessenden was probably unaware of the sensation he was causing; he couldn’t have known that men and women were rushing to their wireless units to catch this Christmas Eve miracle. After he finished reciting the birth of Christ, he picked up his violin and played “O Holy Night,” the first song ever sent through the air via radio waves. Cool huh??  When the carol ended, so did the broadcast-but not before music had found a new medium that would take it around the world.

“O Holy Night” has been sung millions of times in churches in every corner of the world and I just love that  this song was requested by a forgotten priest, written by a poet who would later split from the church, and was given music by a Jewish composer. I am so glad it did not stay hidden, because despite it’s “scandalous” beginning, God has used this song to reach many people, and it continues to bless us lyrically and musically. Let this be a reminder that God can use any circumstance to His glory!  I think its one of the only Christmas songs I could just stop and cry too, it’s that awesome and impacting. Thanks for reading my long-winded description- I actually left out a lot, so as not to put you to sleep We hope your blessed by the song, look for our next post on, ” O come O come Emmanuel. Should be up tomorrow, if I can get my booty in there and record some more stuff Love and Hugs. Once again, click on the title for a link to download the song.

Oh Holy Night

O holy night, the stars are brightly shining;
It is the night of the dear Savior’s birth!
Long lay the world in sin and error pining,
Till He appeared and the soul felt its worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary soul rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
So led by light of a star sweetly gleaming,
Here came the wise men from Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus in lowly manger,
In all our trials born to be our friend!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

Fall on your knees, O hear the angel voices!
O night divine, O night when Christ was born!
O night, O holy night, O night divine!

How Great Thou Art

I am happy to announce the next song we have recorded and investigated is “How Great Thou Art”. When Steven and I were discussing which song to do next, he brought up this one. I had to be persuaded a little. Not because I don’t love the song, but because I know everyone has heard it so many times and thought it could be a bit boring. And to that, my loving husband replied, “Get over yourself.” And So I did. Luckily, Steven is one I can count on to re-direct my constant need to people please, and shows me by example what it means to be confident in just being me, or in this case, just being us.

One of the benefits in looking into this popular Hymn was that we discovered a verse that we don’t normally sing, but that we most definitely should:

“And when I think, That God, His Son not sparing; Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in; That on the Cross, My burden gladly bearing, He bled and died to take away my sin.”

Can I get an AMEN?! Why was I not singing that part before?? We were skipping all the juicy and good stuff! You won’t find me singing this hymn without that verse.

The Song was translated  by british missionary Stuart K. Hine, who added two original verses including the one I posted above. The Hymn was used in the ‘underground church’ in Sweden in the late 1800s when the Baptists and friends of the mission were persecuted.

This Hymn was based on a swedish poem written by Carl Boberg. He was walking home from church during that time of year when everything is rich in color, the birds are chirping, and the air is warm. Suddenly, a storm hit followed by loud thunder and lightning. The storm was over as quick as it started and all you could see were blue skies. I love that such a simple thing inspired one of the most popular hymns in history. It seems to me he was simply hit with the thought that our Lord is the creator of such wondrous creation! I hope to reflect on that as I sing this song and as I walk through my days. My Lord is GREAT in all things and so I will praise Him!!

Below are the lyrics we included in our version, and the title is a link so you can hear it.  Enjoy!

How Great Thou Art

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

And when I think, that God, His Son not sparing;
Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the Cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When Christ shall come, with shout of acclamation,
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart.
Then I shall bow, in humble adoration,
And then proclaim: “My God, how great Thou art!”

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

Reveal Your Love

There is a song we found awhile back called, Reveal Your Love. It was written for the group Sojourn for their album, Over the Grave: The Hymns of Isaac Watts, Volume 1. The minute we heard it we thought-THIS IS AWESOME! After searching the song and the meaning of it- It became even AWESOME-ER! (It’s a word)

Isaac Watts(Famous hymn-writer and theologian) recognized that people needed to see the gospel in the psalms and hymns of the church and that they needed to sing them in a way where they could understand the language and metaphors being made. Thank goodness! Because I know I get lost all the time in the fancy wording The Song was based in Watts hymn-”Lord if thine eye surveys our faults”(psalm 90, pt.2). For space sake I won’t post the original but I would recommend looking it up to see where the inspiration came from.

This is a song of loud crying out and of desperate despair:

Reveal your love and not your wrath alone
Let our experience prove the mercies of your throne
Our souls bowed down with heavy cares
Our flesh with pain oppressed
Our pain won’t give us rest
How long?

These lyrics portray the reality that God will pour out his wrath on people and that he will judge humanity. They also show the tension of being on the receiving end of God’s actions. Yikes!  This can be a hard pill to swallow and is not the first thing I like to think about when I think of the Lord. It is common to push this truth under the rug when speaking of God’s character, but nevertheless it IS part of his character.

The Wonderful part in having a relationship with God is that I am always learning more about Him, and growing in my understanding of Him. I know that while He is a God of wrath and judgement, He is also supremely good and perfect. And because of Christ, He hears our prayers when we ask for grace instead of Wrath. Thank you Lord!!

Below are the Lyrics and our recorded version of the song for your reflecting and listening pleasure Hope you enjoy! (The link will take you to media fire and you can download from there)

Reveal Your Love

Lord, if Your eyes survey our faults,    

and Your Justice grows severe,   

Your dreadful wrath exceeds our thoughts,   

and it burns beyond our fears, 

 Pre­-chorus    

You hear us when we speak,                    

and You pity all our groans,               

For Your mercy’s sake, You heal our broken bones,     

 Chorus    

Reveal Your Love, not Your Wrath alone,                               

Let experience prove the mercies of Your throne,   

Souls bow down with heavy cares,                              

Flesh with pain oppressed, our pain forbids us rest,                                                                  

Reveal Your Love!              

Hello Blogging World!

We have been so inspired by our friends who have such wonderful blogs!  I guess the idea of starting one is a little intimidating- putting out your thoughts and feelings for the world to see. But let’s be honest, we are not the type to keep those things in.

Steven and I have such a strong passion for Worship and for leading the Church into a closer relationship with the Lord through Music. We have decided to make the time to dive a little deeper into what that means exactly and how to best go about it-and share our findings with all of you!

We have admittedly found ourselves from time to time falling into a rut and going through the motions of worship-which can happen when you do something for as long as we have. Although we have always found Joy in leading worship, it has at times been more about us then about God. We are OVER that!!  What a waste! Our goal is to be vessels that the Lord can use to reach his people. That’s it. We don’t want to put on any more shows that are designed to people please so that they go home feeling warm and fuzzy. What is that? It’s time to break it down and get real. Ready?? Let’s do this…

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.Colossians 3:16