Toy Packaging

As we were wrapping up toys for Christmas, I heard a great song that is just so fitting in this Christmas season. It's called Toy Packaging. It's by Sara Groves on her album "O Holy Night"



(It's available for free download courtesy of INO records)

The Dance Will Go On

A while back I talked about the tragic death of the daughter of Steven Curtis Chapman. Recently he added a new chapter to that story, or more accurately, a new verse to his song.

On Aug 6 Steven and his family appeared on the Good Morning America show to talk about that painful loss. Also, he has written a new fourth verse for his song "Yours". It's hard to express how amazing it is to see the strong faith of their family in the midst of their suffering, and that new verse is a real inspiration of hope. Also, at a live performance recently, Chapman changed the last line of his hit song, Cindarella. Have you ever listened to a version of a song where before you even hit the play button you just knew you were going to cry? I did, and I was right. Check out the lyrics to the new verse of Yours, listen and watch this version of Yours on YouTube, or check out Cindarella with the revised ending. I can't even imagine trying to sing this song about a little girl after losing your daughter... God bless Steven and his family.

Album Review - Not Afraid by Stephanie Smith

I just bought a copy of Stephanie Smith's debut album, "Not Afraid". (I got it a few days early from a friend of mine... her mom.) She is a new Christian rock artist living in Nashville. It's fantastic! I've loved the song "Superstar" since I first heard it, and it's become one of my kids favorites. You should hear my oldest daughter and youngest son (!) wail out the lyrics when we play it in the van. It was quite a treat for them to hear her perform it live at Calvary at few months ago. At the time she also performed "Not Afraid", the title single of her upcoming album. Wow! It's such a powerful song. New songs from the album I had not heard before include "Waitin' on You" and "First Words". The songs span from highly energetic pumping rock songs to quiet ballads straight from her heart. (I can personally recommend the former songs as excellent to blast when you're playing volleyball.)

Stephanie's story is itself quite amazing, and the ups and downs of her life experience come through not only in her music, but in her ministry of encouragement to women. Find out more about her at http://www.shoutlife.com/stephaniesmith - and be sure to check out some of her songs (Superstar, Not Afraid and Renew Me) at Stephanie's MySpace page, or read more about her new album at Crosswalk.



The album is available as of today (May 27th) on iTunes.

Tragedy strikes the family of Steven Curtis Chapman

Very sad news to share from yesterday. The Tennessean reports: "Steven Curtis Chapman’s youngest child died Wednesday evening after being struck by a car driven by her teenage brother in the driveway of the family’s Williamson County home." The child was Maria, one of the Christian singer’s six children. The scenario was an SUV in the driveway with several children playing in the area, and the driver did not see his sister.

Maria joined the Chapman family via an international adoption from China. The Chapmans are tremendous supporters of adoption, and have brought three girls from China into their family. They're so active in this cause that they had founded an organization to aid families wanting to adopt, called Shaohannah's Hope. On his latest music tour Chapman has been asking audience members to bring spare change to the concert, which is collected and given to a local family to aid in their own adoption process.

For those vague on the name, Steven Curtis Chapman is an extremely talented Christian singer. Thinking about his latest song "Cindarella", and the key phrase "All too soon, the clock will strike midnight... and she'll be gone" I can't help but cry over the pain that he and his whole family must be going through right now. Please pray for them!

What to Look for in a Worship Pastor

A few months ago we were looking for a new Worship Pastor, as Matt was moving on to a great opportunity to help a church plant. There was much discussion over what we needed to look for - and the possibilities were all over the map. By far the most useful and succinct criteria came from my 8 year old daughter. Out of the blue at dinner one night she was asking about the search and I asked her what she thought we should look for...

"Well, mostly he should love Jesus. He should like music, but love people more. He should sing nice and play guitar good, maybe a little drums. He should love kids - if he's a Dad that's good cuz he'll already know how to do that."

Wow! She nailed it! (When the search team was discussing the final candidate who would get the call, he matched this description perfectly.) My youngest son had some ideas too. He said he agreed with his sister's comments but felt it important to add...

"He shouldn't jump off the side of the trampoline cuz that's not safe and he might bonk his head!"

Whether or not Lorin will abide by this advice, time will tell! Given his background as a youth minister however, I'm not betting on it.
 

Now That's Theology

My Savior loves, my Savior lives,
My Savior’s always there for me
My God He was, My God He is,
My God He's always gonna be

If you don't recognize this chorus of the song "My Savior My God" by Aaron Shust (Anything Worth Saying album) then you really need to check it out at YouTube. Sure, one could learn a lot more about eschatology or soteriology at seminary, but the depth of theology in the lyrics of this song really speaks to my heart. Someone who truly believes that chorus and lives in a way that reflects it is someone who knows Jesus Christ.

What I also love about the song is how my young kids perk up and start singing whenever they hear it. "Daddy, my favorite song!" shouts my daughter. My youngest boy starts air drumming like crazy, oldest one is belting it out at the top of his lungs and the middle boy hops up and starts dancing. This happens whether we're in our living room or whether we're in the very front row at church. How many years might some kids sit in Sunday School yet never really understand or feel the full impact of the message of that chorus?

About the song the singer Aaron Shust wrote: 'I was reading my "One Year Book of Hymns" and stumbled across a hymn entitled "I Am Not Skilled To Understand" whose words blew me away. I didn't bother searching for the melody: its obscurity indicated antiquity. So I started from scratch and sang it without the chorus for over a year at our church, which seemed to embrace itas it was. But I wanted to take it over he top. Sitting at a red light one night, a melody of excitement and a lyric that seemed to pull together the concept of Christ, my Advocate, always pleading my case, was born. And the song finally exploded on the choruse like I always knew it should. i do not understand everything, but I know that Jesus Christ loves me and is alive defending me. That calls for a big chorus.'

(As a side note: It's interesting to see the variety of videos appearing at YouTube, from the song above or So Long Self by Mercy Me, to several items
fun to watch but that I wouldn't want to see happen at Calvary!)