Why I’m Glad Youtube Wasn’t Around When I Was in High School

Because my buddy Justin and I would’ve done something like this….frequently:

My favorite part is the kid sitting on the toilet with his guitar…That’s awesome.  I can’t laugh too much because J and I spent plenty of time singing in bathrooms when we were younger.  You just can’t beat the acoustics.  

Here’s one more…just because:

Enjoy…and good luck trying to get some work done the rest of the day!  You’re welcome.

Songs That Make Me (and Catrina) Cry

In all honesty, I’m not much of a crier.  I’ve yet to cry in front of Catrina, much to her chagrin.  I’ve tried to conjure something up a couple times but outside of a little tiny wetness in the corner of my eyes, it just didn’t work. 

It’s not that I’m incapable of crying…Lord knows I’ve done my share of it over the years.  I’ve cried when I’ve experienced loss, pain, rejection, and out of sheer self pity.  I got a little ‘dusty’ when I saw Catrina begin to walk down the aisle, and when Grace was being born.  When I was younger, I would cry every time I read Where the Red Fern Grows.  Just thinking about Old Dan and Little Ann still gets to me a little bit.  I also cried like a baby while watching My Life and a little known TV movie called Chips, the War Dog that I just found out was filmed in Buckley, about 5 miles from my house (thanks IMDB). 

Last night I was thinking about the songs that make me cry.  In this case, when I say cry, it doesn’t necessarily mean that there are tears running down my face.  I mean lump in the throat, tears in the eyes, and unable to continue singing until I compose myself, which is kind of a big deal given that usually this happens when I’m leading the congregation in the singing of these songs.   Here are the top three songs that currently make me cry, including the lyrics that get me every time, with links to youtube videos of the songs being performed:

1.  In Christ Alone (performed here by the Gettys who wrote the song)
          There in the ground His body lay, Light of the world by darkness slain
          Then bursting forth in glorious day, Up from the grave He rose again
          And as He stands in victory, sin’s curse has lost it’s grip on me
          For I am His and He is mine, Bought with the precious blood of Christ

2.  It is Well with My Soul (performed here by Shane and Shane)
          My sin, oh the bliss of this glorious thought
          My sin, not in part but the whole
          Is nailed to the cross and I bear it no more
          Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, oh my soul

3.  Jesus Paid It All (performed here by Kristian Stanfill…after he babbles for a couple of minutes)
          Oh praise the One who paid my debt
          And raised this life up from the dead

Catrina’s List:  Without telling her what my three were, I asked Catrina to pick her three.  I wanted to see if we matched on any of them.  Here’s her list:

1.  Ghost in This House by Alison Krauss
2.  Revelation Song by Kari Jobe
3.  In Christ Alone by the Gettys.

Oh well….1 out of 3 ain’t bad….wait…Catrina just wanted to add ’It is Well’.  Since I picked it too I’ll let her add it.   What’s on your list?  What song(s) make you cry and why?

Remembering Roby

A couple of years ago, my best friend Ryan and I went to this thing called the Christian Musician Summit.  It was in it’s first year and quite an intimate little gathering….it’s since grown into quite a large get together.  One of the guitar workshops we went to (alternate tuning techniques) was led by a guy named Roby Duke.  Great musician with a great sound and love for Christ that was easily seen…and heard.  Roby passed away last year, and every now and then I find myself perusing youtube looking for some of his music.  Today was one of those mornings and instead of keeping them all to myself, I decided to post a couple for all to enjoy:

Amazing Grace:

Right On Time:

One Embrace:

Enjoy…

Phil Wickham Free Album Download

I first came across Phil Wickham about 4 years ago when I stumbled across Maranatha Chapel’s streaming webcasts of their Wednesday Night Services.  He would often lead worship and did an amazing job.  I really enjoyed his original stuff.  Sure enough, he was signed to a record label a couple years later and has quickly become a pretty popular. 

He recently recorded a live concert with only his voice, his guitar, and the crowd.  It’s called ’singalong’ and he’s offering it as a free download from his website (the only catch is you have to sign up for his newsletter….not a bad deal).  I just downloaded it and it’s great.  I wish more musicians would record albums like this.  You can download it from his website.  You can preview his stuff on his Myspace page, the first song of which comes from the singalong album.  Enjoy… 

Just an FYI - it downloads the files as m4a, and not mp3s.

Reach Records

A couple of months ago my wife and I had the opportunity to go to the Resurgence Conference (videos here)at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.  While there, we were blessed to hear some rappers from Reach Records (www.reachrecords.com) perform a couple of their songs.  Now, I’m the first to admit that I am not the biggest fan (or any fan at all) of rap music, but I was unable to listen to their evangelistic and God Exalting lyrics without being affected…challenged….encouraged.

Came across this video today and was affected yet again so I decided to share it, courtesy of  www.theresurgence.com: