Got this in my inbox today.

I heard this on the radio a couple of days ago and I was like, “That sounds like Chris Tomlin… but I don’t know this song.”

It made me happy :0)

You can download the song on iTunes or Amazon.com.

Did you hear it yet? What did you think?

I’ve been thinking about this song a lot lately, so I figured I’d make sure you know about it.

It’s called “The Church”, and it comes from Derek Webb’s first solo album, “She Must And Shall Go Free”.

It starts like this:

i have come with one purpose
to capture for myself a bride
by my life she is lovely
by my death she’s justified

i have always been her husband
though many lovers she has known
so with water i will wash her
and by my word alone

so when you hear the sound of the water

you will know you’re not alone

‘cause i haven’t come for only you
but for my people to pursue
you cannot care for me with no regard for her
if you love me you will love the church

You can read all the lyrics from that album here.

Very excited about this new EP, called ‘Ampersand’, from Derek Webb and his wife, Sandra.

Yesterday, I was driving to work, and something marvelous happened: I made a turn, and somehow, some loose wires snugged up to where they needed to be, and BOTH of the rear speakers in my car started working. This is like the equivalent of upgrading from a $10 walmart computer speaker to a… $50 walmart computer speaker :0)

So this morning, on the way to work, I had the music cranking, and I have to tell you, “At The Cross” by Daniel Renstrom is constant repeat right now.

The whole song is pretty upbeat with a really joyful spirit about it that would make it a great corporate worship song, and the words are fantastic. The chorus says,

At the cross – wrath was taken away
Christ was in our place
Oh what marvelous grace!

At the cross – justice was supplied
By the blood of Christ
Forever we will praise

If you haven’t picked up Daniel’s new CD, “Adore and Tremble”, you can get it on iTunes here. It’s the best 5 bucks you’ll spend this month. You can even preview some of the songs on his myspace page.

And Brody has apparently got Daniel blogging these days, so go check out his blog. He even chimed in on the worship conversation that I mentioned earlier this week.

Do you have “Adore and Tremble”?

I’m sure you’ve seen all the blog uproar about the song “Shout To The Lord” being used on the show American Idol. I honestly didn’t think too much of it when I first heard it. My knee jerk reaction was to be even more disillusioned with Hollywood that they took the word ‘Jesus’ out of the song. And more than anything, I was shocked that Hillsong (the people who own the song) would allow it. But this blog post by Joshua Harris changed my perspective on the matter, and really challenged me about what it means to be a follower of Jesus and to represent Him on this earth.

(and it turns out that Hillsong gave permission to use the song, but not to change it)

What do you think?

I love listening to music while I work. I find that what usually happens is that, even though there are like 15gb of music on my work computer, I get in the mood for something particular, and I’ll listen to one artist or album for a good chunk of time, rather than just shuffling through everything.

One album that I’ve listened to a LOT lately is John Mayer’s newest album, Continuum. One particular song on the album is absolute genius. It might be the best secular song writing I’ve heard from my own generation. The song is called ‘Belief’ (iTunes link). 

The heart of the song seems focussed on war vs peace and finding common ground. But what really strikes me about the song is how it applies to faith. Part of the chorus says, “Everyone believes. From emptiness to everything.” The idea seems closely tied to the reality that everyone worships something, though not necessary the one true God.

Have a look at the lyrics and let me know what you think:

Is there anyone who
Ever remembers changing there mind from
The paint on a sign?
Is there anyone who really recalls
Ever breaking rank at all
For something someone yelled real loud one time

Belief is a beautiful armor
But makes for the heaviest sword
Like punching under water
You never can hit who you’re trying for

Some need the exhibition
And some have to know they tried
It’s the chemical weapon
For the war that’s raging on inside

We’re never gonna win the world
We’re never gonna stop the war
We’re never gonna beat this
If belief is what we’re fighting for

What puts a hundred thousand children in the sand
Belief can
Belief can
What puts the folded flag inside his mother’s hand
Belief can
Belief can

This is only funny if

a) you listen to pop radio a lot

or

b) your wife has this on her iPod and listens to it all the time

So, you may or may not know that David Crowder keeps a blog. It doesn’t get much attention when the band goes out on tour, but when everybody’s home, he updates it fairly often.

I enjoy reading his whit and humor, so I’ve enjoyed the recent increase in posts…

Today I read a post from one week ago that I thought was especially interesting. The title of the post is ‘questions answered‘. It’s mostly silly answers to questions submitted to the band through the website, blogs, myspace, etc…

But one question is particularly interesting, and Crowder’s response is pretty strong. Have a look:

question 6: “i went to the show in cincinatti and there was alcohol being served. i was shocked that it was being served at a christian concert. can you tell me why it was being served?”

yes. i’m pretty sure that the bar was selling alcohol because it is a bar and that’s what bars sell. they typically like to make money and so they buy things, such as beers, from a distributor for a certain price and then mark it up to sell to people so that they will get a profit and get to pay their employees and get to stay open and such. alcohol is usually a pretty big seller for bars. i am sorry this was shocking.

i might add, both historically and currently, there are many people who love jesus, and follow him, that also enjoy alcohol regularly. if you have not encountered these people first hand, you should attempt to enlarge your peer circle and i think you’ll get a clearer picture of the diversity of the body of christ. there are denominations and traditions that denounce alcohol, and there are those that condone it. these beliefs are typically culturally specific and attached to a particular sect’s interpretations of a few particular passages in scripture. i should state here that we, as a band and as individuals, do not, in any way, condone drunkenness, as it is stupid, nor under-aged drinking as it is also stupid and against the law, and trust that those in attendance at various dates on our club tour are intelligent enough to arrive at both of these conclusions as well. it is not very difficult to observe the damaging effects of abusing alcohol. it is simple that way; abuse it, it abuses you back, most of the time immediately.

(an aside: in my experience, most conversations about alcohol with those who adamantly reject it as a possible beverage choice, present that it could cause a brother to stumble. this is awful logic. apply this logic to various food items ordered at your next public meal. there will doubtlessly be present various numbers of people who struggle with obesity or high cholesterol or heart disease, who would really love one of your cheesesticks. there will also be those present who are vegetarian, myself included, who are attempting to not ingest meat. i’m sure you see the trouble with this line of thinking. this was the very argument that peter and paul were having regarding idol meat. i will not attempt further argument here since there is plenty to find out there, if one were truly curious, that would present things in a much more scholarly and organized manner than i could hope to present it. i will also state here that i shall not require you to cease your carnivorous ways while sharing a restaurant with me.)

and finally, i should state the reasons we went on a tour that had as its venues bars and clubs exclusively. we wished for the story of god to be experienced beyond the safety of our cloistered church environments. it was our deep hope that many who would not frequent a bar would come join us and experience the reality of the presence of god in an environment that they might not typically suspect to experience such a thing in. we believe, if we are reading scripture correctly, that once the veil was torn, that in an instant, suddenly, god was everywhere. the symbolism and consequences of this moment are epic! the way human beings access the maker of heaven and earth were forever changed. suddenly, once and for all, through the ultimate sacrificial offering, suddenly, he is everywhere. every second is lived in the very presence of god. there is no moment that is not holy. there is no space that is not sacred. it is the awareness of our reality that shifts, not this reality. therefore, all that is needed is for our awareness to change and we begin to view spaces and people and cultures and music and art and eating and drinking and sleeping and waking as moments and spaces and places where god is already active and present. our hope on this tour was to give people a physical, tangible experience of this reality.

What do you think?

Just about a year ago, Steph and I went to the last major Passion Conference: Passion ‘07.

For weeks afterwards, they promised that some of the new music would be coming out via iTunes in the near future, but then they went and decided to do a world tour, so a full year later, it’s here:

Passion: God of This City

Here’s the track listing:

Let God Arise – Chris Tomlin
You Are God – Charlie hall
God Of This City – Chris Tomlin
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing – David Crowder*Band
Hosanna – Christy Nockels
Sing Sing Sing – Chris Tomlin
Beautiful Jesus – Kristian Stanfill
Walk This World – Charlie Hall
We Shine – Steve Fee
God Of Our Yesterdays – Matt Redman
Glory Of It All – David Crowder*Band
Shine – Matt Redman
Dancing Generation – Matt Redman
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) – Chris Tomlin

At a glance, I’m most looking forward to live versions of ‘We Shine’ by Steve Fee and ‘Beautiful Jesus‘ by Kristian Stanfill, and finally having a high-quality recording of ‘Walk This World’ by Charlie Hall (I ripped the live video feed from the conference, but it’s pretty poor quality :0)

How ’bout you?

“Adore and Tremble” by Daniel Renstrom.

The album drops on January 18. I have a feeling it will quickly begin circulation in my thoughts.