Marc Gunn, the Celtfather, performing his song  “St. Patrick Never Drank” at DragonCon 2011:

By the way, if you haven’t yet check out Marc’s Irish and Celtic Music Podcast as it is an amazing collection of independent music delivered on a monthly [...]]]> Here’s a bit of Irish satire for you this morning.

Marc Gunn, the Celtfather, performing his song  “St. Patrick Never Drank” at DragonCon 2011:

By the way, if you haven’t yet check out Marc’s Irish and Celtic Music Podcast as it is an amazing collection of independent music delivered on a monthly schedule. You’re guaranteed to love it!! 

Form us, make us Mold us, shape us

To be like you, [...]]]> My heart fell in love with the song “Form Us” by Casey Corum/Anabeth Morgan back in May at the National Conference as I felt that it carried a prophetic message for our church as well as the Vineyard Movement as a whole:

Form us, make us
Mold us, shape us

To be like you, moved to action
Full of mercy and compassion

We want to love the things You love
We want to hate the things You hate
As Your heart is formed inside us
May we learn to walk in grace
And extern the hand of mercy
To set the captives free
Bringing freedom to the prisoner
Bringing hope the blind can see
Mercy triumphs over judgment
Mercy triumphs over judgment

(Lyrical excerpt – full lyrics can be found on the below video)

May we walk this message out and not merely sing of it….

“Day Oh’” by Harry Belafonte

“Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford

Stonefield is an upcoming Australian rock band consisting of four sisters ages 13 to 21. They started playing about six years ago when they talked their parents into buying them a drum kit. Amy, the oldest sister, took [...]]]> I recently stumbled upon an article about Stonefield and just had to share with you all.

Stonefield is an upcoming Australian rock band consisting of four sisters ages 13 to 21. They started playing about six years ago when they talked their parents into buying them a drum kit. Amy, the oldest sister, took to the drum the best and soon out began to play each day.

Hannah, the next in line, soon decided to try the guitar while Sarah fell in love with the keyboard. The youngest sister, Holy, listened to her sisters practicing and realized that the band needed a bass guitarist… the rest, they say, is history.

Video: “Through the Clover”

You all HAVE to listen to this!

NPR’s All Things Considered recently did a 12-minture segment on Brother Claude Ely, the Pentecostal preacher who wrote the song “There Ain’t No Grave [...]]]>

Brother Claude Ely, pictured in 1953 in front of the Letcher County Courthouse in Whitesburg, Ky. (Courtesy of Macel Ely and NPR)

You all HAVE to listen to this!

NPR’s All Things Considered recently did a 12-minture segment on Brother Claude Ely, the Pentecostal preacher who wrote the song “There Ain’t No Grave (Gonna Hold My Body Down)” (the song being sung by Johnny Cash in this year’s Deadliest Catch trailer).  Brother Ely traveled up and down the Appalachian Mountains with his guitar and the Bible – signing and preaching to all who would listen.

As the years went by, King Records of Cincinnati heard about him and decided to record some of his songs. The result was the first recording of a Pentecostal rival as well as widespread influence on the development of rock’n’roll:

“[Tulane scholar] Fontenot says that it might be hard to tease out where different musical traditions come from. But he believes that Pentecostal music had an impact on rock ‘n’ roll. He says you can hear that impact in Brother Claude Ely’s music.

Many of the early rockers — Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash — all grew up in the Pentecostal church, according to Hensley.”

This post does not do this story justice – you really need to listen to the story as NPR plays some of Brother Ely’s old soundtracks along with recordings of folks who knew him before he died. In fact, the piece was originally designed to highlight a biography of Brother Claude Ely written by his great nephew, Dr. Macel Ely II.

Give it a listen – you’ll like it.

Note: Thanks to Jamie Smith for bring this piece to my attention.

In this article, Frank makes service important points as to why we must be careful what worship songs we sing:

a) People will remember the words of a worship song long after they have [...]]]> I just read an amazing and thought provoking article about worship and theology by Frank Emanuel, Freedom Vineyard (Ottawa, Canada).

In this article, Frank makes service important points as to why we must be careful what worship songs we sing:

a) People will remember the words of a worship song long after they have forgotten the points of a sermon.

“Worship leaders are often even more powerful teachers than even our best preachers”

b) If we are singing to God, we better make sure our words reflex the truth about Him – similar to how you would make sure a love song to your spouse included accurate information about them.

“When I hear comments like, ‘it’s just a song’, as if it doesn’t matter what we sing, I usually shudder inside. In worship it is never just a song – it is worship of the most high God, the Lord of Lords. Worship of such a God always deserves to be our best, our most passionate expressions of our best theology (that is talk about God).”

c) The songs we sing shape what we believe about God.

“Actually I will stop singing in worship settings if I feel the words portray something less than the awesome God I meet in the gospels. I do this because I do not want to disengage my brain in worship. And if you know me you would know I love to worship exuberantly. But more I want to worship with my whole being (mind, heart, strength, etc.) – so words matter to me. I also don’t want to reinforce bad theology by singing it. I am convinced that what we sing strongly shapes what we believe and what we believe is manifest in everything we do.”

A note on this last point: I agree with Frank in that you should stop singing a song if the Lord convicts you that the words are not quite right. In fact, I have done this very thing in the middle of a worship service….

Of course, if you do stop singing a song, do so quietly – as in, don’t start yelling or getting mad at the worship leader for singing ‘that‘ song. If it really bugs you, schedule an appointment with that person and share your concerns. It may be that the worship leader has a different theological viewpoint – or it could be that they simply did not notice the impact of the words being sung.

Mercy and grace in all things – and use your head during worship.

During the setup, I expressed my doubts as to the wisdom of such a dance – and received likewise comments from some of the other adults…yet, I also learned that it was the kids themselves who requested the dance after getting [...]]]> Surprisingly, Friday’s elementary/intermediate school dance turned out to be a lot of fun.

During the setup, I expressed my doubts as to the wisdom of such a dance – and received likewise comments from some of the other adults…yet, I also learned that it was the kids themselves who requested the dance after getting a taste during a winter auction/fundraiser a while back.

This taste was enhanced during the school year by a local lady who took it upon herself to each these children how to dance properly. No fast, bumping grinding here – just some basic swing moves, two step, foxtrot and other classic dances of years gone past.

"Artistic Sound Board Lights" (otherwise known as, "Josh Playing with a Camara"

I, for one, am slightly jealous of these kids has they are learning skills that will enrich their lives for many a moon. The rest of us…well, we had to learn such style the hard way – through many an embarrassing dance party (school, wedding, ect).

On the bright side, I did have the pleasure of cutting the rug gym floor with my lovely bride as well as my young son (it is amazing how much fun a three person two step can be!). 

Oh, and the music turned out good.

I was able to filter most of the not-so-good-for-young-ears songs without offending too many kids (it is bad when ten year olds are requesting by name song I won’t even listen too?!)

All and all, Friday evening was a wonderful time spend dancing under the lights to the rhythmic beats of Justin Bieber and Miley Cyrus.

My intermediate years of 4th through 6th grade were marked by avoiding the horned beasts opposite gender as they eked cooties. The one exception to this [...]]]> I have been asked to DJ a school dance on Friday – an elementary/intermediate school dance… which makes me wonder if anyone will be on the dance floor?!

My intermediate years of 4th through 6th grade were marked by avoiding the horned beasts opposite gender as they eked cooties. The one exception to this rule was Jolene (aka the Purple Girl) who played trombone (the BEST instrument as you could bing folks in the back of the head without getting caught!) and had purple eyeglasses, purple braces, and a sweet purple dinosaur on her trombone (give me a break, this was pre-Barney!!).

Years later when I was a freshman (or was it eighth grade?) in high school, I attended my first school dance with my mother. Yep. I took my mom to a school dance…what I can I say, she had a drivers license and we lived a half hour from the school.

This dance marked a turning point in my life as it was the first time I really loosed up and begin to be myself at school. Prior to this dance, I was the outcast of the school (ok, that fact really didn’t change) – attracting unwanted attention by jocks and others in the ‘in’ crowd.  This made me retreat into myself (I could go through an entire day without saying 3 words – an act of God to anyone who knows me now) while outside of school I was talkative and friendly.

Unfortunately, my self-doubt kicked in as soon as someone commented about my dancing skills (the one and only time my dancing prompted a positive remark). The wall came back up and that was it….

A short time later I had the pleasure of re-inventing myself when we moved to a different state and I started a new school. Since no one knew my prior history, I set out to be a totally different person – someone who acted the same both during and after school. I did not want to be on the outside anymore – I wanted to be part of the crowd that did stuff; the crowd that everyone liked (I won’t say the ‘in’ crowed as my band geekness overruled my football/tennis skills).

However I must say that school dances remained scary despite the re-invention. The awkward “where-do-I-put-my-hands-do-I-just-move-the-top-part-of-my-body” jitters still continued – which meant many long hours of standing against the wall chatting to all the other “girls-are-still-scary-but-slightly-less-so-oh-did-I-mention-that-they-are-pretty” guys.

All of which makes me wonder why I volunteered to DJ this school dance Friday…hmm…at least I get to play with a sound system and pick the music.

J.J. Heller has a great folksy sound and, best of all, some powerful words. Her songs do what songs are suppose to do – they resonate with one’s soul [...]]]> Emily recently discovered a new songwriter/singer that is amazing! So amazing in fact, that I couldn’t help but share the knowledge with you all.

J.J. Heller has a great folksy sound and, best of all, some powerful words. Her songs do what songs are suppose to do – they resonate with one’s soul in a way that words by themselves can not.

I implore you to check out the music videos below.

In fact, it held the album “Lanterns” in four different formats: vinyl, CD, digital download and printed words. (this way you can enjoy the songs anyway you want!)

Much happiness!

For those who don’t know, Midtown Dickens is a great [...]]]> It was a multicolored package holding an excellent sophomore album by  Midtown Dickens’.

In fact, it held the album “Lanterns” in four different formats: vinyl, CD, digital download and printed words. (this way you can enjoy the songs anyway you want!)

Much happiness!

For those who don’t know, Midtown Dickens is a great independent folk band out of Durham, North Carolina. I stumbled upon their “Tetris” song several years ago via an online music station and have been following them ever since.

In my opinion, the song “Cowboy” on their “Oh Yell” album is their best song today (followed closely by “Tetris”). However, there a few songs on their newest album that may replace these two…

If you are interested in knowing more about Midtown Dickens, follow this link to their MySpace page and be prepared to enjoy some good music.