lordjabez's Xanga

I Need Your Help!

Tue, 20 Jan 2009 00:59:00 GMT

I've been listening to Chris Tomlin's version of "O Worship The King" non-stop this evening. It's one of my favorite hymns ever, and I love the energy that Tomlin's arrangement coaxes out of a single chord, not to mention the skillful interplay between the organ, electric guitar, and drum kit. But there's one little piece of it that bugs me. Just one little itty bitty line in the extra chorus he wrote. It just doesn't make any sense. Here's the phrase:

You alone are the matchless King
To You alone be all majesty
Your glories and wonders, what tongue can recite?
You breathe in the air, You shine in the light

It's the phrase "You breathe in the air" that gets to me. What exactly is that supposed to mean? God doesn't breathe air. I can't figure it out. Tomlin is trying to crib from one of the original stanzas, but his attempt at "second person"-izing it falls flat. In my confusion I went back to the original text, and interestingly enough, it makes just about as much sense as the revised version (i.e. not much):

Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.

I like the imagery a bit here, but still can't figure out the line. How exactly does God's care "breathe in the air"? I think what they're trying to say is that we experience God's care when we inhale a breath of fresh air, but of course that's far from what the line says.

So, in light of my confusion, and in the long and glorious tradition of hymn tweaking, I'm asking for your help in finding a further refinement (or a completely different line) that will 1) fit the theme of the verse, 2) fit the rhythm of Tomlin's chorus, and 3) make more sense than the above. The winning response (as judged by me) will be used in EBC's worship service on the 8th of February. So get cracking, budding songwriters!

Get Your Free Goodgame Now!

Mon, 05 Jan 2009 14:51:31 GMT

What better way to start off the year than with some free music? May I present to you Randall Goodgame's Bluebird. It's worth every bit of bandwidth you can spare. That's not just a song folks, that's a whole EP of Goodgame goodness. Give it a listen and leave me a comment with what you think? If I have my way, he'll be making a return visit to EBC some time this year . . .

Not Your Typical Christmas Letter

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 16:56:37 GMT

It's been awhile since I've written, and I fear a novel is at my fingertips today. You've been warned.

I think 2008 will go down as a fitting end to the roaring 20's of my life. Perhaps it's just a symptom of growing older that every year seems harder than the previous, but this year I really believe it to be true. Am I the only one that gets a little annoyed (jealous is a truer word I suppose) of the families that send out those cute little Christmas cards with professional-looking "family newsletters" with little updates and photos of smiling children and happy marital bliss? I don't have the time to desire to publish such a thing, honestly, and besides, I have so few photos of the four members of my family together. Either I'm the one behind the camera or we're simply too busy living life to stop and capture it in ones and zeros (ironic that we bought a new digital camera this year I suppose). And even if I did have the time and the photos to put in such a letter, if I were to write it honestly it might be a bit depressing.

Is there any better word to describe this year than "busy"? Everyone loves to attach that cliche to their lives, and inside I chuckle a bit to see those who have no idea claim it for themselves. I'd be an idiot to say my life is "harder" than most, it certainly isn't, but I'll defend the title of "busiest" against all comers. It would be foolishness to try to list all that my wife and I have done this year. Those that know us well know most of it anyways. Speaking of which, I think we're often viewed by our peers as something of an enigma; we're often asked how we survive the unrelenting onslaught of our lives.

That's an excellent question. Some days I wonder if we're really surviving at all. But "survival" isn't the goal, at least if I understand my Bible correctly. Is not survival nothing more than the idol of "comfort" reduced to its core? My wife and I are driven people, and we often push ourselves beyond the threshold of what is physically healthy, beyond what is financially responsible, beyond what is relationally secure. But is that not the heart of Christianity, to die to self? To place all on the altar? To "give and hold nothing back", as the Smalltown Poet might say? Paul beat his body into submission for the sake of the gospel. Should I give any less?

Perhaps I'm wrong. Believe me, it's something I think about often. Do I let my kids watch too much TV because I have to fold the laundry and clean the house because Sara had to go out after I got home from work to buy lunch for 20 for the next day's IWT meeting which she couldn't do during the day because she spent three hours on the phone organizing a prayer chain for a MOPS friend of hers whose baby is sick, racking up a cell phone bill that is way more than what the average family should have to pay, which means we can't pay the credit card off in full this month unless we reduce our giving to the church for the week, but isn't that something we've committed to in the first place, and what's a small finance charge compared to being unfaithful to our church family, and I could go on and on, and pretty soon we're sick, broke, and getting in fights way too easily. Could God possibly bless all of that insanity?

I certainly hope so. Because I'm failing as a husband if I can't give my wife the time and money she needs to minister in the way she's gifted, I'm failing as a father if I can't teach my children that life is not all about them and sometimes we have to give up what we want to serve our maker, and I'm failing my church if I leave any part of my life unsacrificed for its cause.

I'm very tempted to go on a rant about how people like to claim they're "sold out for Jesus" but somehow they can't give their local church body, the very instrument God designed for us to use as our primary ministry outlet, it's proper due. I've heard people complain about a church ministry that demands more than an hour or two of their time every week, and I'm thinking, hmm, what does that say about your priorities? You shouldn't build church around your life, you should build your life around church. Maybe that means you don't take that promotion because it would mean you'd have to give up teaching Sunday School. Maybe it means you don't go back for your Ph.D. because you'd no longer have time to listen to neighborhood kids say their Bible verses. Maybe it means you pass on an evening out with your friends because it would mean losing sleep, which would mean getting to church late the next morning and not being able to meet God or his people due to your exhaustion. Maybe it means you don't spend your lunch breaks ranting on some stupid blog and instead spend that time in prayer.

It would be fitting for me wrap this all up with a lyric from the pen of Andrew Peterson, whose music I "discovered" this year and will forever be changed for the better. I'd say this sums up year quite nicely:

I am tangled up in contradiction
I am strangled by my own two hands
I am hunted by the hounds of addiction
Hosanna

I have lied to everyone who trusts me
I have tried to fall when I could stand
I have only loved the ones who love me
Hosanna

Hail the long awaited king
Come to set his people free
Hosanna
Come and tear this temple down
Raise it up on holy ground
Hosanna
I will lift my voice and sing
You have come and washed me clean
Hosanna

Smalltown Poets

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 16:37:00 GMT

Lady J and I rediscovered this classic a few weeks ago, and both agreed its probably the closest thing we have to our "life song".

Yesterday I lived for me
And I was alone as I could be
Then I saw you and how you give yourself away
And I want to live for you today

I'll give
I'll hold nothing
I'll give and I'll hold nothing back

My love is a lot like me
Wanting nothing less than everything
But I know you're the only love that's true
And only giving makes me close to you

My hands are open, so take what you see
And I keep nothing, hold nothing back for me

I'll give
I'll hold nothing
I'll give and I'll hold nothing back

Someday I hope that I can mean it as easily as it rolls off the tongue.

I Just Wanted To Say

Sat, 01 Nov 2008 01:03:50 GMT

I love my wife and my girls! That's all.

The Audacity Of The Hopegiver

Fri, 31 Oct 2008 00:39:34 GMT

Then [Jesus] said to them, "Give to Caesar what is Caesar's, and to God what is God's."

You know, I'd really like to give what is God's back to Him, if only Caesar would get out of the way.

Does This Make Me a Groupie?

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:45:04 GMT

I thought for sure Andrew would play "High Noon" last night, but its okay that he didn't; I'm not sure the solo guitar treatment would have done it justice. But it was on my mind enough to dig it out this morning on my way into work, and I'm not ashamed to say I cried.

The demons, they danced in the darkness
When that last ragged breath left his lungs
And they reveled and howled
At the war that they thought they had won

But then in the dark of the grave the stone rolled away
In the still of the dawn on the greatest of days

High noon in the valley of the shadow
When the shadows were shot through with light
When Jesus took in that breath
And shattered all death with his life
Be gone, you wages of sin
Go on, don't you come back again
I've been raised and redeemed
You've lost all your sting to the victor of the battle
High noon in the valley of the shadow

Let the people rejoice, let the heavens resound
Let the name of Jesus, who sought us and freed us forever ring out
All praise to the fighter of the night who rides on the light
Whose gun is the grace of the God of the sky

What a great song. If you love music in any capacity and don't own Love and Thunder, please buy it now. If you don't have money, send me an email, and I'll buy it for you and email you the tracks. It's that good. Thanks Andrew for putting into words and rhyme what the rest of us cannot.

Clicking on the photo will take you to my Facebook page, which has gobs more pictures.

I Want One

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:25:22 GMT

The electric Mini can't come soon enough. If it were available right now I'd seriously consider buying one. BMW, are you listening? Get 'er done.

Quote And A Video

Thu, 23 Oct 2008 15:31:16 GMT

"I don't deny ... that there should be priests to remind men that they will one day die. I only say ... it is necessary to have another kind of priests, called poets, to remind men that they are not dead yet." - G.K. Chesterton

Okay, I realize the video has little to do with poetry, per se, but it was funny at the time. I guess you just had to be there.

Thank God For The Poets

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:17:28 GMT

Just a few excerpts from Andrew Peterson's latest masterpiece:

I give you praise oh great invisible God
For the moon in the space of a dark night
For a smile on a face in the sunlight
I give you praise oh great invisible God
For the sound of the storm on the window
For the morning at dawn with a new snow
For the tears on the face of the old man
Made clean by the grace of the good lamb

The road is long that leads me home tonght
It disappears into the distant light
My love, don't give up on me
You know I love you but I'm just a man
I don't always love you the best I can my love
Don't give up on me; I won't give up on you

It knocked me down, it dragged me out
It left me there for dead
It took all the freedom I wanted
And gave me something else instead
It blew my mind, it bled me dry
It hit me like a long goodbye
Nobody knows here better than I
That it's a good thing
Love is a good thing

All I know is that I was blind but now I see
Though I kick and scream love is leading me
Every step of the way His grace is making me
Every breath I breathe He is saving me, and I believe
So when my body is weak and the day is long
When I feel my faith is all but gone
I'll remember when I sang this song that I believe

Pictures and a video from the show are forthcoming (but probably on Facebook).