What I didn't listen to: Heavy and Light

Saturday, the 7th, To Write Love on Her Arms hosted a concert in Orlando, FL called Heavy and Light as part of their Welcome to Midnight campaign.

If you're not familiar with TWLOHA they are something of a grassroots nonprofit organization that exists to offer hope and help to those those struggling with depression, addiction, self-injury and suicide.

To be perfectly honest, about 20% of my affinity for this group probably has to do with the fact that they're a young, verbose, artsy crowd with a knack for inspiring videos and modern graphic design (I love that font). But the foundation of this organization is closely tied to idea that you, as a friend, can do something to help those who are hurting. And I freaking love that.

Read the story that started everything here.

They've done a lot of cool things since then, but nothing inspires me like this story. Imagine if you were the one to stay up all night fighting back the lies that tell someone that they're alone, to have the audacity to step into someone's story to tell them that they matter, to wipe away the scars and write love on her arms.

They are not explicitly a Christian organization, although the founders are Christian, but they are certainly doing the work of Christ.

You were created to love and to be loved. You were meant to live life in relationship with other people, to know and be known. You need to know that your story is important and that you're part of a bigger story. You need to know that your life matters. 

The best days are ahead of us. to write love on her arms

This video was the intro to what I'm sure was an amazing concert featuring the (amazing) David Bazan of Pedro the Lion and a lot of other really great (if slightly less amazing) musicians.

What I'm listening to: I won't give up

Jason Mraz is just all kinds of awesome. He's interesting musically and clever lyrically. In fact, he's so clever with his lyrics that he can get away with quite a bit. I'll let you decide what that means.


I've been waiting since 2009 for Jason Mraz to release a new album. This is only a single but it's promising, the video is pretty clever too.




Buy it on iTunes.

What I'm listening to: The Rising.

This was a delightful surprise on Christmas morning:

Me: "Oh it's Charlie Hall! Cool, how did you know to get me this?"
Mom: "It was on your list."
Me: "Oh, yeah, right..."

I love forgetting that you asked for something, it's like you never even asked.

Charlie Hall is probably better known for his contribution to the Passion Worship Project along with other worship leaders like Chris Tomlin, Matt Redman, David Crowder Band, and a lot of other heavyweights of the worship music scene. Odd thought, that.

Passion was founded in the mid-90s by Louis Giglio as a campus-based conference dedicated to igniting a passion for Christ in students. It's characterized by motivational speakers and really awesome worship. I never went to a Passion conference but, if you attended a youth group between 1998 and 2004 and your worship team featured an electric guitar, you and I both owe a big thank you to Passion for giving you something cool to sing:

I Could Sing of Your Love Forever
The Center (or Centre if you're singing over there with Matt Redman)
Enough
Here I am to Worship
How Great is Our God
Holy is the Lord
Our Love is Loud

You can thank Charlie Hall for awesome songs like:

Give Us Clean Hands
Breathe
Majesty
Marvelous Light
Mystery

You can also thank Charlie along with David Crowder for making 12 inch goatees cool.

For all that cred, I've never really listened to Charlie Hall. I realized a few months back that many of the lyrics that really moved me were actually written by Charlie Hall, so I put The Rising on a wish list months ago and kind of forgot about it until I opened my stocking on Christmas.

So I've been getting to know Charlie Hall, all on his own, this week. You can check out his album on Amazon or iTunes.

At this point, I'm really enjoying the song, Constant:

"Just like the sunshine, you have been our light

Leading us into beautiful places.

We've walked through fire but you made us brighter

Leading us into beautiful places."

O Holy Night

"I think my search for the perfect O Holy Night just ended..."

Words I never thought I'd say left my lips this weekend

I whispered them to my mother during a benefit concert on last weekend. It was one of those rare moments when you're listening to a live performance and think, "Please, can you repeat the chorus one more time?" or "I hope he tacks on another 12 bars to this solo!"

I know you're just dying to find out which version this was and listen to it yourself. The unfortunate truth is that you can't listen to it, well unless you start coming to my church. It was a guitar/ukulele duet sung in Hawaiian by two men from my church and was absolutely beautiful.

The truth is that the search isn't over, I am beginning to realize that it will never over. I think perhaps I am not searching for the perfect O, Holy Night performance but rather the perfect O, Holy Night moment.

You can watch a (short) video of a different song here to see (p.s. yes I know that's a mandolin, they played that too).

What I'm listening to

It's been a few weeks and I'm still loving my Christmas music, go figure!

Today I am recommending Chris Tomlin's Christmas album "Glory in the Highest."

I've talked about Chris Tomlin in the past, but I'm going to gild the lily just bit more. I just love this guy, he just keeps quietly cranking out solid worship songs. I don't think of him so much as a performer, even though I do like his live stuff, he's just a solid songwriter and a gifted worship leader.

He writes worship that is humble, biblical and, most of all, approachable. Sometimes a worship leader writes a huge powerful worship song that will just blow your head off, but it isn't really singable by your average congregation. They get so intimidated that they end up listening to the band play a really worshipful song.

Alternatively, they write a song that is beautifully poetic but can feel awkward or confusing to a lot of worshippers.

Don't get me wrong, I love interesting, surprising, melodic lines, huge dynamics, and a beautiful lyric. This kind of artistry honors God and inspires worship, but I do not like when people feel excluded from congregational worship because they are intimidated by the music. Chris Tomlin manages to write music that is beautiful, thoughtful, worshipful and singable. He's just an anointed worship leader and I love the work he's doing.

So trust Chris Tomlin to take make Christmas music really worshipful. As a bonus, he took a Christmas song I don't really love, Joy to the World, and made it fun to sing (Bebo Norman does this too!).

What are you listening to??

What I'm listening to/O Holy Night

Two more to add to the list!

Shawn McDonald

Chris Tomlin

I have to give some serious love to Becca at She Becomes for turning my onto the first one. I don't know what hole in my brain made me overlook Shawn McDonald's version of O Holy Night as it was released at least four years ago, but it would have been really tragic if I never heard it.

This recording has everything that I love about Shawn, that easy, mellow coffee-house sound with plenty of guitar picking and enough effects ad libs to still sound "cool" but not detract from the song. Honestly, this kind of music is not where his voice carries the most impact. O Holy Night belongs on a two story stage with pyrotechnics and Shawn's voice belongs in a smoky basement on a squishy chair with a beanie on its head. His music makes me think while O Holy Night completely empties my head. Still, he makes the song his own. I wouldn't have guessed that anyone could make O Holy Night sound chill and still be powerful, but he nails it. Guy's seriously the coolest Christian musician on the scene, I will go to the wall on that.

Thanks again, Becca!

The second was an accident. I bought Chris Tomlin's Christmas album without knowing O Holy Night was on it, it was a like a surprise truffle center in an already great album. But, had I known it was on there, I still would have had absolute confidence that he'd do it justice, he's just like that.

I'm not sure if this version really qualifies for the race as there is a choir behind him, though it is a simple choir, often in unison. But, as I was listening to it (admittedly a little teary), I realized that the reason I've never found the "perfect" solo performance of this song just may be that this song requires a crowd. It's not only that the power needed to build up to that last "O night divine," often exceeds a single voice (Celine Dion excepted), but it just is fitting somehow.

However, Chris deserves solid praise for knocking it out of the park. He doesn't screw around with weird grandstanding ad libs, but he still gets into it and doesn't shy away from the high notes. I was pleasantly surprised, props dude!

Anyone else wanna share?

What I'm listening to: For the Honor

With Thanksgiving on Thursday and everyone sleeping in on Friday, I bumped up What I'm Listening To. Yay.

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I bent my "no itunes" rule to download Elevation Worship's album For the Honor. I did this for two very good reasons:

1. I suspected it was going to be a great album.
2. They donated all of the profits from the release day to support a Compassion Child Survival Program in Uganda.

That adds up to $25,000 for that project, enough to fund it for a whole year.

Compassion's CSP focuses on children from womb to 3 years old, which is a crucial period for children, especially in developing nations. Visit www.compassion.com/help-babies.htm to learn more and sign up to sponsor a CSP for $20 a month.

And, even though you missed the release day, I still recommend you download the album. Not only because I love what they've done with Compassion, but because I think there's some good stuff here.

If you've never watched or listened to Elevation Worship (or Elevation Church), they're definitely a younger crowd. I find it interesting that, because Elevation Church is so very young, trendy and exuberant it gets some hate for being shallow or "too relevant." I'll save my thoughts on that for another day and share my very early thoughts on the album.

The Deluxe Edition on itunes is $14.99. That comes with 6 videos and a digital booklet that includes the chord charts for the entire album. There's also a message from Stephen Furtick (the pastor of Elevation Church) that tags onto the end of one songs. The story behind how that happened is actually pretty cool, you can hear it in the video below.

On the critical side, For the Honor occasionally has the unpolished vocals that often come with a live worship album, occasionally tone or pitch are sacrificed for the sake of volume or energy. The other common issue with a live album is that some of the tags may feel a little long long if you're not in the mood, but it's great driving music. There's also not a ton of diversity on this album. All the tracks feel pretty similar, not only to each other but to a lot of live-worship albums by other bands. But hey, I dig it.

For your edification, I'm also presently digging All Things New, Our King Has Come and, of course, For the Honor.

I'm a lyrics girl so I could do with a bit more richness lyrically, but there are some pretty things here:

we've seen redemption
at the heartbeat of our church (We Rejoice)

relief swells like air in my lungs
and freedom releases my shame (Give My Life to You)

The whole album is very praisey and celebratory but gives you some meditative moments with For the Honor  and All Things New, and I love way the album ends:

He is alive and we are free
He is alive and we have found our peace
Our King has come (Our King has Come)

Beyond lyrics, there is a mountain of energy on this album, which you need on a live worship album. I love it when young people are passionate, empowered and really feel like they have a vision for their ministry. It makes me hopeful about my generation.

So, have you downloaded For the Honor yet? What do you think? If not, what are you listening to these days?

What I'm listening to: Arcade Fire

Happy Veteran's Day!

My (first) flight leaves tomorrow at 2:30 PST. I'll be in Ft Lauderdale on Sunday morning and fly into Haiti with the rest of the Compassion International team on Monday! 

If I can magically access a wifi signal in country I'll be posting on Twitter and updating the blog with pictures. But I have some posts scheduled in advance about another I am currently on, not as exciting but still challenging!

In honor of my impending trip, I took a break from Christmas music to listen to Arcade Fire's Haiti. I was going to break out some Wyclef Jean, but this is a bit more my style.

Haiti

Haïti, mon pays,

wounded mother I'll never see.

Ma famille set me free.

Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés

hantent les nuits de Duvalier.

Rien n'arrete nos esprits.

Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.

In the forest we lie hiding,

unmarked graves where flowers grow.

Hear the soldiers angry yelling,

in the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,

soon we will reclaim the earth.

All the tears and all the bodies

bring about our second birth.

Haïti, never free,

n'ai pas peur de sonner l'alarme.

Tes enfants sont partis,

In those days their blood was still warm

Translation:

Haiti, my country,

Wounded mother I'll never see.

My family set me free.

Throw my ashes into the sea.

My cousins never born

haunt the nights of Duvalier.

Nothing stops our spirits.

Guns can not kill what soldiers can not see.

In the forest we lie hiding,

unmarked graves where flowers grow.

Hear the soldiers angry yelling,

in the river we will go.

All stillborn form an army,

will we soon reclaim the earth.

All the tears and all the bodies

bring about our second birth.

Haiti, never free,

I am not afraid to sound the alarm.

Your children are gone,

In those days their blood was still warm

P.S. Happy birthday to my big brother, Matt!

Honor+Compassion Initiative

Normally I don't like doing double posts in one day (as content is thin around here...*sheepish*) but this warranted a "FRICKING AWESOME!!!!" from me on twitter so I am dropping a double-post Friday!!


I'm a big fan of Elevation Church for many reasons, and today I added one more. Elevation Worship is releasing a new worship album on November 22nd called "For the Honor." As part of their ministry with this album, they have partnered with Compassion International and committed to funding a Child Survival Program in the Kamwokya slum outside of Kampala, Uganda for one year.


From their website:

On November 22, we release our new album “For The Honor.” And while we’re excited for you to hear these new songs from our first live record, we also wanted to capture the opportunity to be generous with this release. So, we’re partnering with Compassion’s Child Survival Program to help support the people in Kamwokya, one of the poorest slums in Uganda’s capital city. On the weekend we release “For The Honor” to our church, we’ll be giving away Elevation’s proceeds to the women and children of Kamwokya through Compassion International. In addition, on November 22, when the album releases nationwide, we’re giving away our proceeds from the digital release on iTunes to support them as well.

You can purchase the album on November 22nd on iTunes (sorry Amazon, I'm ditching you for one day only). As a bonus, I think it's going to be a really great album if this is any indication:

What I'm listening to: Christmas

This has been a Christmassy week, so I thought I'd share a few of my favorite Christmas songs that I've been listening to this week.

In addition to various versions of O Holy Night, I've been listening to a lot of David Crowder*Band's Christmas album, Oh for Joy. I have an interesting relationship with David Crowder I tend to fall madly in love with certain songs and not care for others. That said, I am really enjoying the album so far and have added it to my "recommended listens."

Even if you don't care for a hoe-down-esque dance party (Angels We Have Heard on High) or long vampy sections (Silent Night) you can't deny that DC*B can bring the worship. I mean they have a way of building an average song up to a holy spirit explosion (The First Noel).

While there are a few interesting additions that I haven't decided on yet, like the Hallelujah refrain they added to O Holy Night or the outtro to Silent Night, I absolutely loved The First Noel  and even enjoyed Joy to the World, one of my least favorite Christmas songs. I'm a huge TSO fan so the rocking Carol of the Bells/Chrsitmas Eve (Sarajevo) medley kicked me in the pants; it was a nice way to end the album.

Aside from David Crowder*Band, I've been listening to some favorite discoveries from last year: The Hotel Cafe Presents...Winter Songs and Phil Wickham's Songs for Christmas, and one of my all time favorite Christmas albums: A Charlie Brown Christmas.

I just bought A Very She & Him Christmas ($5 on Amazon.com!) and am very excited to crack it open!

Figuratively, it was an mp3 download...

What are you listening to??

P.S. Here's a little present to happy up your day!

It Begins...

I pulled out my Christmas Playlist on my Amazon Cloud Player today. This bodes well for me as I had kind of a grinchy Christmas last year.

Long story.

So, the fact that I'm getting the Christmas itch already, despite the joke of a summer we had here in Eastern WA, is encouraging.

As I was shuffling through Josh Groban and A Charlie Brown Christmas, David Crowder*Band's version of Oh Holy Night rose to the surface. This recording was recommended to me by my good friend Whitney, who appreciates my neurotic obsession with finding the perfect recording of Oh Holy Night, a topic which I will not get into here (you're welcome). You can read last year's post if you're interested.


I'm not sure why I'm getting the itch so early but I'm going to go with it and start the 2011 hunt and I'm looking for suggestions!


To review:
My stand-by recording for the years has been Celine Dion; she rocks vocally, but, if we're being honest, her style kinda bugs me. The biggest surprise of 2010 was Phil Wickham and I'm going to call David Crowder*Band my first kill of 2011.

I know there are hundreds out there, so hit me up with your favorite recordings of this holiday favorite or record one of your own!!

Here are a few I've already heard

Hit: Mormon Tabernacle Choir*


Near Hits:
Celine Dion
Phil Wickham
Pavarotti
David Phelps


On the Fence
David Crowder*Band
Josh Groban
Carrie Underwood
GLEE
Charlotte Church
Mariah Carey
Mario Lanza
Celtic Women


Misses
Kelly Clarkson :'(
Avril Lavigne
Martina McBride
Clay Aiken
David Archuleta
N Sync
Christina Aguillera
Jessica Simpson
BarlowGirl


*Choral and instrumental recordings don't really count, I'm looking for a solo or small ensemble recording

Christian Girl-Music

I've never liked BarlowGirl.

On an unrelated topic, I'm a terrible person...

Oh yes, I am. BarlowGirl is a group of Christian sisters with a ministry specifically aimed at encouraging young girls to maintain a high standard of purity, modesty, and love for the Lord. They are catchy, have a positive message, and they actually play their own instruments, you have to like them.

But I don't, and I hate myself for it. Rather, I feel bad for not hating myself for it...

I've tried, really, but Christian female artists always let me down. I did like Rebeccas St James for about a year circa 1997 and, apparently, I was obsessed with the song El Shaddai as a 3 year old (which is just a weird song for a toddler to sing) but aside from Breath of Heaven, since I hit middle school, Christian girl music has been consistently letting me down.

And I have tried.

I tried with Jennifer Knapp (she lasted longer than most)... I'm loving her newest album Letting Go!
and Nicole Nordman...
and Joy Williams...  *update* Joy Williams officially redeemed herself with The Civil Wars, amazing.
and Bethany Dillon...
and Audrey Assad (though I really like her lyrics)...
and Genevieve Falleur (dig that folky vibe)...
and Kari Jobe...
and JJ Heller...

Generally, they'll give me one or two songs that make me say, "Oh, this is nice," and then I get bored. I mean, i'm sure they love Jesus and are He is honored by their ministry and, musically, they're okay, good even. Just...boring.

And before you get mad at me, you think so too! When you suggest a Christian female artist to me it usually goes something like, "try x out, she's pretty good."

Pretty good? Really, that's the standard?

I generally end up hurting or offending really nice people when I admit that "I don't really like x, she's not that great/interesting of a musician/writer," and end up looking like an impossible to please jerk. Well can be kind of a jerk, but I'm not impossible to please.

I can listen to Adele for hours and never stop smiling.

I'm not interested in "pretty good music" that gets a bye in the Christian music scene because it happens to be about about Jesus, not when I can listen to someone with an interesting, creative sound; surprising chord progressions; driving energy; outstanding, clever, deep lyrics; and dynamic vocals. I'm not looking for Avril Lavigne vanilla-pop, I'm looking for an Adele/Fiona Apple/Regina Spektor/Norah Jones/Feist grade female artist.

The only Christian female vocalist who I will happily choose to listen to (presently) is Lacey from Flyleaf. She is (they are) a very talented and creative vocalist and writer. But it's Flyleaf...and sometimes I wanna be happy.

Now I don't think there needs to be a "Christian version" of everything, I certainly don't plan on giving up my love-affair with Adele even if a Jesus-loving alternative comes along, but I'd love to be elevated to musical nirvana by a song about Jesus rather than an ex-boyfriend. And I refuse to believe that there aren't any insanely talented, creative, risk-taking Christian female singer/songwriters out there, especially because I personally know at least two.

To be fair, I really didn't give JJ Heller a fair try is actually pretty cool!

Maybe I'm not being fair here, maybe I am confusing "good" with "indie/singer-songwriter/alternative/baroque-pop." That's not really fair, but I'm frustrated and not feeling particularly fair.

Any other suggestions?

****************PEACE OFFERING***************

Lest I be, again, labeled as impossible to please let me tell you that there are female Christian artists that I enjoy.

I happen to be a huge fan of Brook Fraser's writing for Hillsong United (Desert Song, Hosanna, You'll Come) I was excited to listen to her solo music. I love her perky, fun, and unique sound (I occasionally get a sweet Joni Mitchell vibe!). But her lyrics, while interesting and well written, are sometimes a bit ambiguous on the message. Again, that's totally cool but it doesn't do much to dispel the myth that a girl can't write creative, poetic lyrics explicitly about Jesus.

Actually, Brook has worked pretty hard to keep herself from being categorized as a "CCM artist," which may be why I like her.

(It doesn't hurt that she's a very active supporter of Charity:Water and World Vision)

So there, I've got one! And because I'm feeling generous, I'll share a secret with you.

One of my favorite Christian singer-songwriters (one of the aforementioned "two") is my friend Hannah Jean. She's in the early stages yet, but I'm excited to see the music that she produces as her career grows.

Just Dance...

A friend recently shared an interesting debate she encountered while organizing a dance for a Christian education institution, apparently there was some question regarding the music. Specifically, someone asked if Katy Perry’s “Teenage Dream” would be inappropriate. I mean she's a PK, right?

I don’t know, would it be inappropriate for an institution that advocates abstinence, purity, and combatting an “oversexed” culture to sponsor an event where Christian boys and girls dance together to a song discussing teenage romance, co-ed road trips, drinking, sex, and skinny jeans?

Hm, let’s pray about it.

But, honestly, this issue bothered me more than it should have. I suspect because I love dancing and…and I listen to Katy Perry.

Sure she celebrates kissing girls and wearing daisy dukes, but her music is fun--yes, it is--and who can hate on the song Firework?

This came up again on Easter when my brother broke out his recently acquired a Kinect and, with it, the game Dance Central. A group of Christians celebrating Resurrection Day by spending the afternoon dancing to Lady Gaga, Soulja Boy, Lil Wayne, and Pitbull.

Oh, and my 5 year old niece got in on the action too.

 *cringe*

But, oh man, we had a good time.

Maybe it's just me, I am, after all, a dirty girl with a potty mouth, but it has never sat well with me that, if I wanted to dance, I had to go outside the auspices of Christianity to do it. And widely outside of it.

The unfortunate truth is that I wouldn’t be comfortable playing this game with certain groups of my church friends.

(Not because I’m afraid I’ll look stupid, I’m an awesome dancer; I have Shaun-T and my Hip Hop Abs dvd)

I think the breakdown occurs when we equate dancing with sex and then, in turn, equate sex with sin (another conversation for another day).

But this doesn't have to be.

Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine and led all the women as they played their tambourines and danced. Exodus 15:20

And David danced before the LORD with all his might… Michal, the daughter of Saul, looked down from her window and saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD… 2 Sam 6:14, 16

In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. Romans 12:6

Maybe the question shouldn’t be, “is dancing a bad thing?” but rather, “Why don’t we dance around here?”

Maybe it’s time for The Church to reclaim the art of the dance (cue Spanish guitar riff).

I’m not exactly sure how to do that. The truth is, I can’t think of a lot of Christian dance music, though I think David Crowder could be a contender. Even so, I just can’t imagine shaking my booty to DCB the way I can to Lady Gaga. And I do like to shake it. I’m talking, like-a-polaroid-picture, shake it.

(It’s the timbrels, we need more timbrels...)

I’m hoping that I simply led a sheltered existence, are there churches wherein dancing is a thriving part of worship and fellowship? Where are they so I can start attending?

What do you think?

1. Why are we afraid to dance in the church
2. Which Christian artist would you dance to?

Church Music - Dance[!]

----UPDATE!!----

Because God likes thinks its funny to make an idiot out of me approximately three seconds after I posted this, someone mentioned Beckah Shae. I was pretty cynical because I don't have a lot of faith in Christian female artists (I know, sorry) but I'd dance to this. Virtuously!

It was also a huge oversight not to mention tobyMac, the patriarch and, arguably, the MVP of Christian hip hop.

(this is for you, Whit)

Shawn McDonald: Closer

A few days ago, I mentioned that my friend Holly Starr was opening for Shawn McDonald and I was going to watch. This was exceptionally exciting because the only thing that could make me more excited to watch Holly do her thing is to watch Shawn McDonald right afterwards.

The first time I heard Shawn I thought, "Sweet! It's like, if Jack Johnson loved Jesus more than he loved surfing. And weed." And then I felt guilty because, really, I don't know if Jack Johnson smokes weed. I realized that it was just that, when you listen to Jack Johnson, it feels like you're smoking weed. But really, that's not fair either because I've never smoked weed (-5 from my "street" factor).

Anyway, that was back in '05. Six years, three studio albums, and a lot of God & growning later, Shawn gave me Closer.

Happily, I can now offer a much better description of Shawn's sound: "Jack Johnson/John Mayer/Mat Kearny/Ben Harper w/ Jason Mraz vocal riffs."

Alright, honestly, I'm not very good at describing or comparing music. Shocking, I know. I can do a better job telling you how a particular musician or song makes me feel. Last night, Shawn made me feel like dancing, chilling, and worshipping Jesus. I admit, I was totally charmed off my feet and giggled like the cell-phone waving crowd of tween girls three rows ahead of me when he started playing the trumpet solo on Greed without a trumpet.

I can't help it, its just so chill. It really doesn't matter if you play music or not, when you listen to Shawn McDonald, you feel like you're sitting in a beanbag chair with a djembe. As one of my friends commented, "That was one of the most laid back concerts I've ever been to!"

As much as I love to use the word "chill," when describing it, there's so much depth and truth to his music. Like many of the best songwriters out there, Shawn is more comfortable talking to an audience through his music rather than by speaking, but he makes sure that no one is going to miss his message: God is the only thing that can pull you out of the mess of your life and you can never go too far for God to give up on you.

I've only listened to the album twice about six times but, offhand, I can tell you that Eyes Forward is winning the race for my favorite track. It was probably my favorite performance of the concert: jammy and full of that fun, mouth-trumpet playing Shawn that I've loved for 6 years.

Offhand, I can also tell you that I'm pretty sure that the title track, Closer, is going to move into first place soon. Because, fun, jammy sound notwithstanding, you can't beat an honest, born-out-of-the-fire-my-life, lyric.

Here's a taste:

"Trying to find a change from the old mundane, but everything I do just feels the same. Spending my life out in the desert, been gone so long feels like forever, I just want to be closer to you."

If you read Shawn's bio on his website it will bring a greater level of meaning to this song and the entire album. Shawn's had an incredibly rough time, especially over the past few years, and this song distills all the pain, frustration, anger, disappointment, shame, and doubt into one line: "I just want to be closer to you." It's painful and beautiful and true. Go download the song, you'll be glad you'll did, and then you'll kick yourself for not just downloading the whole album and saving yourself $.30 a track.

And that's not the only one; Don't Give Up, Storms, Rise, The Space Between Us, pretty much every track on this album continues that tone of hope in the midst of pain. It's not like you're hearing Shawn sing to you, it's like you're sitting in his living room listening to him pour out every hurt, fear, frustration, and hope in his heart.

And your heart says, "Yeah, I know."

Have you listened to Shawn McDonald or the album? How would you describe his "sound?"

You can find Shawn McDonald on Amazon, iTunes or the official online store.

**If you live in Eastern, WA, Shawn is playing (with the lovely Holly Starr) in Moscow, ID TONIGHT**

Christian Concerts

I went to a Christian concert last night.

May I just take a moment and tell you how much I love going to Christian concerts? We might not be passing around the doobies or have wet t-shirt contests (what?), but Christian concerts are awesome.

I actually came up with five solid reasons that Christian concerts are cooler than secular concerts.

ONE

Often in a church and most scary people don't like going into churches (which is a whole other issue itself). If they are in a church, the seats are almost always padded and you can get ridiculously close to the stage which makes throwing your hat onto the stage in the hopes that tobyMac is going to wear it for the rest of the night much easier. That is, if tobyMac still played in churches...

TWO

There are always at least five moms there ready to shut down the mosh pit if it gets a little too rowdy. I cannot tell you how many times someone has come on stage and said, "Okay guys I know you're all just having fun but a 12 year old girl just got punched in the face. Let's tone it down."

THREE

They are usually raising money for some great cause and that just feels good. Last night they were selling water bottles for $1 (which is a deal you could only get in a church) to benefit the women of Africa. All of them, apparently. If you're really lucky, the artist performing will be giving away a copy of one of their less-popular albums if you donate.

FOUR

You always have a couple of vanloads of youth group kids. Where you have youth groupers you have dorky clapping patterns, chanting, and a general increase in innocent frivolity. Teenagers, if you can get past them waving their cell phones during a worship song and the huge white-boy afro in front of you, make everything a little funner. Plus teenagers think I'm cool and I like that. 

FIVE

People, in general are nice.

Now we all know that there are plenty of people who are really kind and considerate who aren't Christians and many more Christians who are not always kind. BUT, to be fair, most Trekkies behave fairly normally in everyday life, but if I go to a Trekkie conference (or whatever they're called, Trekfest?), I expect to hear some Klingon. When you get us all together at a Christian event, you have to have a mop on hand to clean up the oozing niceness.

(I met a sweet girl in the bathroom who complimented me on my hair.)

Case in point: last night the adorably uncomfortable little lady who owns the Christian bookstore, while trying to emcee the concert via note cards (that might be number 4.5), interrupted the crown warmer's act to let everyone know that a couple of Youth Groups had just arrived so we all had to, wait for it, "scootch in" to make room for them. And everyone did!

The nice man playing a christianized cover of "Wonderwall" (ooh that might be number 4.75) didn't even complain.

Christians can be so nice sometimes. Just don't rip on Michael W Smith or write a book vaguely insinuating that there is no hell.

We will destroy you.

Shawn McDonald, Closer



Compassion Sunday 2011: Holly Starr

With Compasion Sunday 2011 coming up fast on April 10th, I'm taking the opportunity to tell you about a girl that I love!

If you have never heard of Holly Starr, stop right now and listen to this:

That is a track from Holly's debut album Embraced and it has had a fast and furious ride to success since its release in 2008

**To see other videos, visit Holly's YouTube channel.

Why do I mention Holly? Well first, she is a phenomenally talented young Christian artist. Secondly, her transition from average high school girl in a small farming town in Eastern Washington to nationaly recognized Christian musician will blow your mind. She's played at Creation Festival and Lifest, and is currently on tour throughout the US. On its release day, Holly's sophomore album, Tapestry, made it up to the #11 spot for Christian music on iTunes. Thinking about how God has worked throughout these past 5 years in Holly's life gives me goosebumps, it's just insane.

Even so, reviews of Holly always include words like "authentic," "down to earth," "hard working," "passion," and, of course, "talented." You can hear the deep passion she has for the Lord and for people welling up out of her heart when she speaks. I love listening to Holly talk about Jesus, it feels like I'm getting saved all over again.

But the most important reason, today, that I mention Holly is that she is also a Compassion Advocate like me. For me, being a Compassion Advocate means I talk about Compassion here and at my church. I try to explain Compassion's ministry and encourage people to get involved by sponsoring a child.

Holly does the same thing, only she does it from a stage. In Fall of 2009, Holly also had the opportunity to travel to El Salvador with Compassion International. You can read her own account of that experience at hollystarrmusic.com. As an advocate, Holly has committed to using her music to, among other things, share Compassion's ministry with people and release children from poverty in Jesus' name. This is a powerful thing and I'm so blessed by her decision to partner with Compassion in this way.

If you want to listen to a sample of Holly's music, you can visit her Myspace or Facebook pages or it's also available on iTunes and Amazon.

If you'd like the full experience, you can watch Holly Starr live THIS WEDNESDAY March 30th at the Wenatchee Valley Praise Center with Shawn McDonald (tickets are almost sold out so hurry!). Click here to view Holly's other tour dates.

Check her out, you'll be blessed! And take a few minutes to consider changing a child's life, it will be one of the most powerful and rewarding things you do.

Help a Child

I Lift My Hands

I think of Chris Tomlin as a spring of worship music that never runs dry. Fresh, pure, and constant, worship just flows through him in an authentic way.

This is from his most recent album, And if Our God is for Us. It was a line from the chorus that compelled me to share it:

"I lift my hands to believe again..."

So often, during a time of worship, especially over these past few months, I've thought,

"I can't do this. It's not real, how can I worship You when I feel absolutely nothing?"

But what if I lifted my hands not because I believe, but in order to believe? Isn't that how it happens? As I commune, as I reach out to Him, He reminds me why.

"As I pour out my heart, these thing I remember: You are faithful, God, forever."

I Lift My Hands

Be still, there is a Healer,

His love is deeper then the seas.

His mercy is unfailing,

His arms a fortress for the weak.

Let faith arise.

Let faith arise.

I lift my hands to believe again,

You are my refuge you are my strength.

As I pour out my heart, these thing I remember,

You are faithful, God, forever.

Be still, there is a river

That flows from Calvary's tree.

A fountain for the thirsty,

Your grace that washes over me.

Let faith arise.

Let faith arise.

I lift my hands to believe again,

You are my refuge you are my strength.

As I pour out my heart, these thing I remember,

You are faithful, God, forever.

Let faith arise.

Let faith arise.

Open my eyes.

Open my eyes.

[update]

After I posted the lyrics to this song, I found this video of Chris talking about some of the motivations behind this song. Love this guy.

Safe -Phil Wickham

Safe

Phil Wickham

To the one who's dreams have fallen all apart,

And all you're left with is a tired and broken heart,

I can tell by your eyes that you think you're all alone.

But you're not alone.

Have you heard of the One who can calm the raging sea,

Give sight to the blind, and pull the lame up to their feet?

With a love so strong He'll never let you go,

No you're not alone.

You will be safe in His arms,

You will be safe in His arms,

Because the hands that hold the world are holding your heart.

This is the promise He made,

He will be with you always.

When everything is falling apart,

You will be safe in His arms.

Did you know that the voice that brings the dead to life

Is the very same voice that calls you now to rise?

So hear Him now, He's calling you home.

You will never be alone

You will be safe in His arms,

You will be safe in His arms,

Because the hands that hold the world are holding you're heart.

This is the promise He made,

He will be with you always.

When everything is falling apart,

You will be safe in His arms.

These are the hands that built the mountains,

The hands that calmed the sea.

These are the arms that hold the heavens,

They are holding you and me.

These are the hands that healed the leper,

Pulled the lame up to their feet.

These are the arms that were nailed to a cross,

To break our chains and set us free.

You will be safe in His arms,

You will be safe in His arms,

Because the hands that hold the world are holding you're heart.

This is the promise He made,
He will be with you always.

When everything is falling apart,

You will be safe in His arms.

Phil Wickham consistently amazes me. There are a lot of amazing Christian musicians out there but there are a few of them that write in a way that just really works for me (David Crowder, Brooke Fraser & Bebo Norman to name a few more). I recently purchased Heaven & Earth from Phil's website along with his Songs for Christmas album which is also excellent! He brings it fairly solidly on Oh, Holy Night, which is saying something if you know anything about how I feel about that song.)

And, if you like Phil, you should also check out his brother Evan, talented family, that one! (I mean it seems like it, its not like we went to the same bible college or anything.)

You can get Phil's album Heaven and Earth at http://www.philwickham.com/, Amazon , or iTunes but Songs for Christmas is only available on his website.

What's Your Favorite Christmas Song?

Another Christmas, another fruitless search for the perfect version of Oh, Holy Night.

I don't know if anyone else is as neurotic as I am about such things, but I have a thing about this song.

If you ask anyone what their favorite Christmas song is, there is a pretty good chance that Oh, Holy Night makes the top 5. It's just a beautiful song, both musically and lyrically. But, as you may have noticed, the most beautiful things also have the potential to be the most disastrous. Hearing an inept or insensitive musician perform Oh, Holy Night is like giving a toddler a chainsaw; mayhem will ensue (and someone is probably losing a leg). For this reason, I really do not like it when musicians, even musicians I like, choose to perform this song. I've been hurt too many times. Celine Dion, Mariah Carey, Kelly Clarkson (Kelly, Kelly, I had such high hopes for you), Carrie Underwood, GLEE, Mario Lanza, Charlotte Church, freakin' Pavarotti! Even the incomparable Josh Groban has disappointed me.

I think the problem is most people don't realize how incredibly difficult this song is to perform well. Like a soap bubble, if you handle it without the utmost delicacy, you will destroy it. It is both a complex and subtle song with a deceptively difficult melodic line. Singing it takes legitimate chops and, like that creepy sand-tiger in Aladdin, it has devoured many an unworthy vocalist (Avril Lavigne, Martina McBride, Clay Aiken, David Archuleta, N Sync, Christina Aguillera and, truly horrifying, Jessica Simpson).

First of all, you can't do a pop version of this song, it ain't happenin'. This song MUST be sung classically or by someone with classical training. Sorry, Jess. Secondly, I just will never be able to buy someone singing "Fall on your knees" or "Christ is the Lord" when I know dang well they don't buy it themselves. That's why David Phelps comes so close to the mark, even though I think other performers beat him out musically. The lyrics to this carol are powerful and you can't do a song about Christ justice if you aren't in love with Him. Or at least I haven't seen someone do it yet.

I happen to have heard a few of my personal friends sing this song who I think rock the vocal socks off of many of the joksters who have made a mess of it. Lucky me!

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir did a fairly awesome job and I've heard some beautiful orchestral versions, but a satisfactory solo artist or small group rendition still evades me. I don't know if I'll ever find it, maybe I should check out that Susan Boyle chick?

So, now that I've share my pain with you...my favorite Christmas Song is Oh, Holy Night with honorable mentiones to The First Noel, Christmas Time is Here,  and Satchmo's 'Zat You, Santa Claus. My favorite album is probably either the Charlie Brown Christmas or Home Alone soundtrack although Bebo Norman's Christmas... From the Realms of Glory is fairly awesome as well.

What's your favorite Christmas song?

Prelude 2 in C minor, Unexpected Gifts

Last week a much anticipated parcel arrived safely in my doorstep graced with that beautiful amazon logo that I love so very much. Ah amazon, you undo me.

In the spirit of disclosure, the little bit of joy housed within the nondescript little cardboard walls on my stoop was purchased AFTER my vow of amazon abstinence. Fail. Thank you, God, for mercy and forgiveness!

I know that at this point you, reader, are simply bursting with anticipation and curiosity so I'll tell you what it was. This little unassuming bit of brown wonder contained Mr. J. S. Bach's "The Well Tempered Clavier" (books 1 & 2) or "Das Wohltemperierte Klavier" as we say in the Biz ("Sarah, no one says that!"-the Bonafide members of the Biz). Since then, I've been a bit of a kid in a candy store because, to my way of thinking, few things are as exciting as new music.

Whether you're a musician or an audience member; a novice or a master; a concert pianist or a girl who sits in her room playing the piano in her pajamas with hair still dripping (and, haha, no the piano is NOT in my pajamas), you simply must spend some significant time in your life experiencing classical music. There is so little modern music that can compare with it in terms if depth, subtlety, creativity, intelligence, and full sensory delight. Not to turn you off with my hyper artsy geekiness, but there are times when I've listened to a piece of music and honestly thought, "That is my soul written in sound." It's a truly beautiful experience that not even the illustrious Kelly Clarkson can emulate.

And I don't mean contemporary classical music, but that rich, dusty stuff with beautiful, fascinating names like: 2nd Piano Concerto in C# Minor, Invention #8, or Prelude 2 in C minor. I've always secretly thought that truly magnificent classical music must have a boring name. Only the pansy composers have to give their music fruity names like "Song of the Lark" or "Claire de Lune" (What, Debussey?! Pshhh).

It was actually the third of these, Prelude 2 in C minor, that I was fiddling with this morning. A great piece, friends, I'm a sucker for a minor key. As I was gracefully working my way through, stomping and chanting "Wuh-uhn-ee-ee-aah-and-uh-uh! Wuh-uhn-ee-ee-aah-and-uh-uh!" as if my life depended on it, God popped into my had and dropped me a little unexpected present, as He always does. I tell you truly, the greatest gifts of your life nearly always come without warning and from unexpected quarters.

I realized, as I was playing, that I was never going to play this song for an audience (you're welcome), yet the desire, even need, to learn it and perfect it was still so very strong. God asked me why I thought this was as He nudged me toward the gift He had prepared for me. I realized that there are things that our Father has written into our souls, passions and gifts, for no other purpose than the pleasure of watching us exercise them.

Certainly these are often practical gifts that are meant for the edification of the body of Christ, but I truly believe that, like any Father, His real delight is in watching us play with the toys He's given us and learning to use them well, creating lovely things that we can be proud of.

I'm reminded of the building of the tabernacle in Exodus. I can imagine the all-star list of Israel's greatest crafstmen coming together to create beautiful things to house the presence of God. He did not need that. Why would the artist who sculpted the solar system, who created the musical scale, who paints a new sunrise every single morning, who created RHYME, need a few men to build a house for Him, a petty little shack compared to His throne room in heaven? We are created to honor God with the gifts He has given us, but we are designed to do so with JOY!

What a beautiful and unexpected gift indeed!

In Him
Sarah Elizabeth

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