Wheels of Glory! Blog

Ruins

Posted in Product Reviews, Teaching & Musings | January 13th, 2021 | by

I don’t vividly remember the first time I heard this song.

All I remember was when its message came home to me.

My acclimation to the power of Ruins was actually relatively gradual. I kept hearing it because I kept listening to the EP it is featured on. I had run across Ledger’s music recently, and people kept talking about Ruins being their favorite song on the EP. I vaguely remember being disappointed and thinking that it was about a breakup. I guess I hadn’t really been listening to the lyrics.

Just stay there for a minute

And just don’t move any closer, move closer

I just don’t know if I can take it

It feels like overexposure; move closer

Brick by brick and scar by scar

It’s taken me years to put up these guards

I don’t want to be hurt again

It’s it disaster or destiny

I feel safer now You’re close to me

And fall apart –

Once again, I’m broken; I’m crumbled

I’m in pieces on the floor

Don’t You know the damage You’ve done is just irreparable?

You’ll find me in the wreckage of a love so severe

And it’s clear, I just don’t know what I’m doing

Your love left me in ruins

Won’t You ruin me again?

If you’ve ever experienced a real encounter with the Lord of Love, you will probably resonate with these lyrics to some extent. Every time I come in contact with that much raw love and power mixed together, I become aware all over again that He is capable of ruining me – in the best way possible.

I become aware that He will make me into His image, and that is the complete and utter antithesis of the image that the world will try to fit me into. I will never again fully ‘fit in’ with the world. That’s what it means to be ‘ruined’ for anything but Jesus. Nothing ever will take His place in my life, and everything else pales and vanishes in comparison to His overwhelming presence. But when you’ve looked on the Savior, you can’t ever totally look away.

Ruins certainly can seem like a terrifying prospect. Frankly, we don’t often think of ruins as a good thing. When the word ‘ruins’ is put forth, images of death and destruction come to mind.

And yet, that’s exactly what God is doing to us.

He is putting to death the things that would keep us away from Him. He’s destroying all that would hold us back.

But –

We like to be in control. We want to regulate how much we surrender to His refining fire, and we want to keep our tidy little world in our own hands.

But is to be ruined by such extravagant love really such a bad thing? Is giving up control to the God who created the universe eons ago so that it continues to work in perfect harmony so terrifying? When I really asked myself this question, all of my petty arguments suddenly seemed very weak and, quite frankly, absurd.

To tell the truth, God’s love, though beautiful and extravagant, is power unimaginable.

Violent like a tidal wave

You hit me, blitzed me, shattered in a hurricane

Your love is the frame that holds me through it

I’m perfectly ruined

When the love of God hits you, It is incapable of leaving its target unchanged. And through the shaking and the burning of the Great Refiner’s fire, His love is the frame that keeps us in one piece through it. Through His love, we can lay down our all and allow Him to burn away all of the chaff in our lives that isn’t what He wants to cultivate in us.

“As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I am not fit to remove His sandals; He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clear His threshing floor; and He will gather His wheat into the barn, but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.” ~ Matthew 3:11-12

Frankly, being ruined by God is the best thing that has ever happened to me. I’m so thankful that He came after a filthy wretch and ruined me for anything but Him. I’m more grateful than I can describe, and only one phrase remains in my heart and mind:

Won’t You ruin me again?

Watch my cover of this awesome song right here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rz4VXhAUkS0

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Blindness vs. Sight in the Spirit

Posted in Teaching & Musings | October 6th, 2020 | by

“Be Thou my vision, oh, Lord of my heart. Naught be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou be my best thought by day or by night; waking or sleeping, my vision, Thou art.”

Spiritual blindness abounds in the body today, and in many varying forms and degrees. One of my favorite passages of Scripture is John 9, when Jesus heals the man born blind. After the healing, the man’s fallout with the religious scholars, and his removal from the synagogue, Jesus comes to find him and makes this radical statement: “For judgement, I have come into the world so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind.”

See, it’s only when we know how blind we are that we have the humility to let Jesus give us His eyes.

Why make those who ‘see’ blind? Because they only think they can see. Their pride has blinded them to the wonder and awe of the Gospel. They’ve gotten lost somewhere along the way. They can’t even identify Jesus for who He is.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,” Proverbs 3:5 admonishes us. “Trust.” Don’t “Lean on your own understanding.”

It’s so easy to rely solely on our own experience and understanding of how the world or the Kingdom is supposed to work. We think we’ve got it all figured out. Those who disagree with our theology are “wrong.” We might even label them “deceived,” “demonically oppressed,” or “narcissists.”

That’s not to say that deception, demonic oppression, or narcissists aren’t out there – they most certainly are. But I think that one of the greatest deceptions out there is that we can see when we’re really blind.

In Jesus’s time, blindness didn’t mean quite the same thing that it does today. Blindness essentially meant that you couldn’t see well enough to perform normal tasks. Because there were no such things as corrective lenses, that meant if you had astigmatism or were near or farsighted, you were labeled blind. For example, I wouldn’t have been blind because my vision isn’t that bad (though I wear corrective lenses). My mom, on the other hand, can’t function normally without her glasses, and in Jesus’s time, she would have been considered blind.

As I said earlier, blindness comes in varying degrees, just as it did in Jesus’s time. The same principle applies here: we’re all suffering from one degree of blindness or another. “Now we see dimly, as in a mirror,” Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13. Our understanding of the Kingdom – of anything – is fuzzy at best.

Road, lake, and tree in the spring sunshine

Blindness isn’t (obviously) desirable. But in our quest for sight, let’s not forget that it is only the revelation of the Holy Spirit that can give us true sight. He’s the only one who can help us understand, and He gives us knowledge so that we can see.

From this story of the man born blind, one might almost infer that this man’s faith and thankfulness (his worship) were what gave him his spiritual sight. Doubt and unbelief were what blinded the religious scholars. They put too high and emphasis on proof and not enough on trust. I love how an ignorant, blind beggar knew more about the Kingdom of God than the scholars did. One touch from Jesus and this man knew who’d touched him. He may not have known who Jesus was or that Jesus was the Son of God, but he knew that God had healed him. I wonder if this was when he received the revelation of who God is.

Ask God to show you where you are blind – where you have doubt and unbelief that will prevent you from seeing clearly. Often, we can’t identify them ourselves because we can’t see them. We have to have the humility to admit those places when we ask, thought. Admitting that we’ve been wrong takes considerable humility – and it’s an area that I think that most people are still working on. I know that I am!

God, open my eyes to see the truth. Don’t let me be too proud to admit that I’m wrong. Help me to identify areas of blindness. Give me light to illuminate those places. Help me not to judge others for their blindness since I know that I’m in the same boat. We’re blinder than bats without You. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

All photos courtesy pixabay.com

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Christian Unity

Posted in Teaching & Musings | July 23rd, 2020 | by

Unity is probably one of the most contentious issues in the Body of Christ today. One quick Google search reveals this, and spending much time on social media makes it painfully clear just how un-unified the Church is today. Arguments and petty disagreements proliferate. Differing points of theology have split churches, communities – even families. It’s heartbreaking, but how, in a divided world, do we practically apply the command of unity to our lives?

Clearly, it’s an important thing to God – the word appears in a number of different passages of Scripture, from various authors, in both Old and New Testaments.

woman reading Bible with pen and journal

“I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.” – 1 Corinthians 1:10

“Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.” – 1 Peter 3:8

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!” – Psalm 133:1

“Complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.” – Philippians 2:2

Even Jesus said it when he was praying for His disciples – “That they may be one, even as we are one – I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.” – John 17:23

But what is it really? And how can we practically apply it to our own lives?

Purple and yellow flowers in child's hand

Merriam-Webster defines unity as being oneness, accord, unification. Often, I think that we get unity and being carbon copies mixed up. Christian unity does not look like stamping out all individuality. It is oneness despite the fact that we are different.

I’ve heard a lot of people wax eloquent on how to get church bodies to unify – how to get the Church as a whole to become one. Usually, they attack what has been known as the “Identity Movement,” which has recently been a popular message encouraging people to find their identity as sons and daughters of Christ. (I’d just like to note here that their main argument is that the Body of Christ is supposed to be a family, not a lot of individuals. More on this in a second). The “Identity Movement” is creating selfish people, they protest.

And they aren’t wrong – when identity is preached apart from Jesus. When it is preached within the confines of our humanity, it really can be a very harmful message because it does create a lot of selfish individuals. It can tear down, rather than build up, unity in the Church.

We have to face the hard fact that oneness will never come out of our focus on unity. We are utterly incapable of achieving it. So how, you ask, do we get unity if Jesus Himself commanded us to be one?

The answer is a lot more simple (though perhaps easier said than done) than it first seems. The answer is Jesus. We will never become one if we focus our efforts on unity, but when we all focus our eyes on Jesus instead, unity is a direct result. It’s actually a natural progression. The same thing is true of any of the fruits of the Spirit – love, joy, peace, patience, etc. When our gaze on the face of Christ is unwavering, these things will happen naturally because we will begin to emulate Him.

But this unwavering gaze starts in our own hearts – rarely does it begin in a group setting, and even when it does, it usually is between God and the individual. In his book The Pursuit of God, A.W. Tozer states it this way. (Note that when he refers to ‘religion,’ he is using an old-fashioned term for ‘faith.’)

“Someone may fear that we are magnifying private religion out of all proportion, that the “us” in the New Testament is being displaced by a selfish “I.” Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshippers meeting together each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be were they to become “unity” conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship. Social [corporate] religion is perfected when private religion is purified. The body becomes stronger as its members become healthier. The whole Church of God gains when the members that compose it begin to seek a better and a higher life.” – A.W. Tozer, The Pursuit of God.

I have successfully managed to live in relative unity with a number of other individuals for the duration of my personal walk with Christ. These people are members of my family, and let me tell you, when our private walk with Christ is purified, our unity grows. When one (or several) of us are drifting from that close walk with Christ, we have more trouble being one with the people around us.

The Kingdom of Heaven does look like a family, as those who condemn the “identity movement” pronounce. But that’s the beauty of being a family – though we are massively different, we can be one as we run after the same goal – Jesus. And as our personal identity in Christ grows, our corporate identity in Christ grows as well.

And that’s unity in a nutshell. It’s oneness that comes from the gaze of our individual souls upon Jesus. Running after the same goal (any goal) is one of the best ways to connect with someone. Look at the number of sports fans, coffee connoisseurs, etc. So if we run after Jesus, who is the Author of unity, how much more will we become one if our wholehearted devotion is toward Him?

All photos courtesy Pixabay.com

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Best Celtic Christian-Themed Artists

Posted in Lists | July 9th, 2020 | by

Celtic Cross against a blue sky — Courtesy papagnoc from Pixabay.com

I love Celtic music. I fell in love with it years ago, but I recently had a resurgence after my older sister presented me with my first Irish whistle last Christmas. Christian Celtic music isn’t very easy to find, especially original songs. There’s a plethora of hymns played in the Celtic style (which is absolutely wonderful – I just am often looking for more modern music). Here are five of my favorites (with two bonus honorable mentions!). This isn’t an exhaustive list by far, so if you know of ones that I’ve missed, please let us know in the comments, because I am always looking for new music to listen to!

Ceili Rain

Say KAY-lee album art — Say Kay-lee, Ceili Rain’s debut album

This is one of my favorite Celtic groups. It’s mainly Celtic/rock, but features a lot of traditional Irish instruments, including the fiddle, whistle, and button accordion. We were introduced to Ceili Rain (which roughly means “Party Rain” in Gaelic and is pronounced KAY-lee) in 2010 after we met lead singer Bob Halligan at a music conference (there’s a long story that goes along with that…for some other day). It was my introduction to Irish music, and I fell in love with it. Apparently, Bob gets many ideas for his songs from the Syracuse Times…which makes for some interesting songs. There’s often a lot of hard truths put humorously riddled (pun intended) throughout the songs. I wanna be different / I wanna be different / I wanna be different / just like everybody else! Ceili Rain’s last project was released in 2014, but we fans can always hope for more, right? Their discography also includes Ceili Rain: Say Kay-lee (1996), Erasers On Pencils (2000 – you know you want to learn what that song’s about!), Change In Your Pocket (2003 – my personal favorite), Whatever Makes You Dance (2005), I Made Lemonade (2008), Maunka Honey (2011), and Hymns and Hers (2014).

Eden’s Bridge

Celtic Psalms album art — Celtic Psalms (1996)

This was a very recent discovery for me. The music is not new (the last original album was released in 1999), but it is timeless in its beauty. Some songs are covers, others are originals. Eden’s Bridge’s discography includes Celtic Worship (1996), Celtic Psalms (1996), Celtic Worship (1998), Reflections on Celtic Hymns (1998), Celtic Lullabies (1998), Celtic Journeys (1999), Celtic Praise and Worship (2002 – it’s a compilation of the best songs from the two Celtic Worship albums with a new song, “Morning Prayer”), and Irish Christmas (2012). Led by siblings Sarah and Richard Lacy and hailing from Yorkshire, England, these melodies use many traditional Celtic instruments, including the uilleann pipes (which are essentially the Irish version of the bagpipe) and accordion. My personal favorite song that the group does is from their first record, entitled “Into the Light.” As I was perusing through some of their music not long ago, I discovered a song that we had listened to on the radio back when I was too young to remember, so it was cool to get to discover who the artist was after all these years!

The Willis Clan

While this family band is on permanent hiatus, some of their Celtic/pop/rock music was Christian-themed, such as City Down Below (based on the story of Abraham and Lot), City That I’m Looking For, and Is There More? The majority of their music is love songs, but the lyrics are very clean and family-friendly. And, if I can be 100% honest, it’s not so hard to turn some of those love songs in to love songs to Jesus…

The band released four albums, Chapter 1: Roots (2012), Chapter 2: Boots (2012), Heaven (2015), and Speak My Mind (2018). The first two are of slightly lesser sound quality than Heaven and Speak My Mind, but are worth giving a listen. The final album, Speak My Mind, features many songs of healing and finding restoration after (sadly) the father was arrested and sentenced to 40 years in prison for child abuse. If you’ve walked through anything of that nature, I recommend giving it a listen. And even for those, like me, who have never experienced pain on that level, I’ve found these songs to speak to me as well.

Robin Mark

Revival In Belfast album art — Revival In Belfast (2002)

Best known for his hit song “Days of Elijah,” Robin Mark’s music tends to have a Celtic edge, while being primarily pop/rock. He frequently features the Irish whistle and accordions on his songs, including on the original “Days of Elijah.” His music tends to be live, and none of it is very recently released, but it tends to be very worshipful, which is really nice. Mark was born and lives in Belfast, Northern Ireland, so this is very authentic Irish music! His discography is fairly extensive, including Room for Grace (1997), This City, These Streets (1998), Sanctuary (1999), Shout To The North (2001), Come Heal This Land (2001), Revival in Belfast (2002), The Mandate – Experiencing God (2002), Songs And Hymns (2004), East of the River (2008), Living the Adventure – Mandate 2007 (2009), Year of Grace (2009), Days of Elijah (2010), Fly (2011), and A Belfast Symphony (2018 – which is a lot of his well-known songs with a symphony behind him). I’m not as familiar with Robin Mark’s music, but I remember as a child, we sang his songs frequently at church, so it’s always nostalgic to go back and give these a listen!

Keith & Kristyn Getty

The North Coast Sessions album art — The North Coast Sessions (2018)

I would call Keith and Kristyn Getty’s music slightly less “noticeably Celtic,” although their music, especially their hymns albums have some Celtic influence. (Note that Keith Getty is the same one who wrote the modern hymn In Christ Alone with Stuart Townsend.) Again, I’m not quite as familiar with their music, but the songs that I do know are very nice, though, as I said, depending on the album, it may not satisfy everyone’s Celtic tastes. The North Coast Sessions, for example, are quite Celtic in style, whereas Awaken the Dawn is not. Generally speaking, the later the album is in their discography, the more likely to is to have strong Celtic influences. The couple also has a number of albums for kids. Other albums in their discography include In Christ Alone (2005), Awaken the Dawn (2008), Joy: An Irish Christmas (2010), Hymns for the Christian Life (2011), The Greengrass Session (2014), Facing A Task Unfinished (2016), North Coast Sessions (2018 – this one is my personal favorite), Sing! Psalms: Ancient + Modern (2019), and Incarnation (2019).

And as honorable mention – Aural Axiom

He has released two songs on YouTube. Both are instrumental, but both are also absolutely beautiful. In his own words, “In exchange [for listening and using the accompaniment track], I ask only that you share this video with your friends. I believe that beauty is one of the more profound ways through which the Creator reveals Himself; it stands apart from the mundane and affords us a fleeting glimpse beyond the horizon of the shadowlands. Thus to experience beauty is to have an encounter with the divine, at least in some small way. So again, if you find beauty in this piece, please share it. Sola Gloria Deo.”

I’ve been blessed by his willingness to give away his music, along with the backing tracks so that I could learn the Irish whistle part on Celtic Hymn…which has been really fun, though my family’s ears sometimes complain because when I play it, it gets really piercing at the top of the range! (His version is not nearly so piercing…I will have to learn how that is done).

And as a second honorable mention – Wheels of Glory!

We released Celtic Hymn a few months ago, so go check it out! In addition, there is also some Gaelic influence on Mercy & Grace, our latest single.

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Practice Makes Perfect

Posted in Teaching & Musings | June 23rd, 2020 | by

I started my career as a novelist when I was thirteen. That’s right – thirteen. One January afternoon, I sat down at the computer, opened a blank document, and started typing. My first impression was that it took forever to fill just one page. But I chipped away at it, and I finished my first book when I was fourteen. Trust me, I was pleased with myself! I felt that I had poured my heart and my soul into it, and I proudly presented it to my siblings – and was rather crestfallen when they weren’t impressed. When they told me it had no plot. When they told me that I desperately needed to develop my characters.

You know, I could have given up. I could have said, “Skip it! I’ll leave the writing to the experts!” But I didn’t. I went ahead and wrote a second book. Actually, it wasn’t that much better than the first. It still lacked a believable plot, and the character development was abysmal. I could have given up again. But I didn’t. Instead, I wrote a third book. And then a fourth. And finally, a fifth.

By this point, I was sixteen, and it had been about three years since I’d first started writing. And I still hadn’t produced a decent book. I crafted words and plots in my head and tried to write them out. Dozens of stories flowed out of my fingertips, but I found that I was best at beginning books. Finishing them was quite another matter. My fifth book had been better than any of the others that I’d finished, so one day, when I was eighteen, I began its first major revision. If you would have told me that that was the first of six revisions that I would put it through, I would have laughed at you – and probably given up on the spot. But – I didn’t.

With fear and trepidation, I handed it over to be read by people with different tastes than me, and their reaction was relatively positive. I could hardly believe it. It had taken seven years, but I’d finally produced something worth reading. Within a couple of months, I’d finished up another book I’d been working on, and it was met with overwhelming positivity. I was ecstatic.

But as I thought back over my journey of learning to write, I knew that though I’d put blood, sweat, and tears into these narratives, it was the practice that had gotten me to where I’d gone. I couldn’t have sat down as a now twenty-year-old and written either book if I’d chosen to give up after my first failure – or even if I’d never tried. While the maturity that I’d gained in those last seven years definitely contributed to those successes, they hadn’t come out of nowhere. They came from practice.

If you would have told me that I was going to be twenty before I turned out a book that I could be proud to read aloud when I first started this crazy journey, I wouldn’t have believed you. And it would have been discouraging to hear.

But the truth is that practice is what makes perfect. Most of us aren’t born with giftings that they are just good at. They have to practice those gifts. I have. Don’t think that I haven’t thrown hours and hours at learning to play the piano and guitar. But practice doesn’t come by sitting around and pretending or imagining that you’re doing something. It comes through doing it. Even if you feel like a failure at first. Even if you need to improve. Because honestly, if God calls you to something, start practicing now so that you’ll be ready when you land in the place where He’s calling you to.

He spoke to me years ago and told me that I was going to lead worship. So I have trained myself in leading worship, selecting setlists, and guiding my awesome band as we play together both in the home and in public. I know that on that day when I land where God has called me to be, I want to be as ready as I can be. So I’ve practiced, because practice is what makes perfect.

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11 Best Albums to Fall Asleep to (For Kids and Adults)

Posted in Lists | June 9th, 2020 | by

I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I go to bed, I am jazzed. Or I’ll occasionally wake up in the middle of the night and be unable to go back to sleep. Or sometimes, my life has been stressful (I just graduated from college, ya’ll), and I just need some peace before I’ll be able to sleep well. Some of these albums have words; others are instrumental. I’ve found that both are good, but different people prefer each type for falling asleep. For example, my eldest sister says that she can’t fall asleep to music with words, so she chooses instrumental. I’ll note which album is of each type. Each of the albums featured on this list is great for both adults and kids for creating a peaceful, calm atmosphere that is conducive to sleep.

“In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat– for he grants sleep to those he loves.” – Psalm 127: 2

Heaven Made You – Kimberly Hazlett (with words)

This is a personal favorite. With 10 tracks, it’s geared for children, but as an adult (with several adult siblings who feel the same way), I can testify that it has a strong anointing for bringing rest to the listener (I refuse to listen to it unless I’m trying to go to sleep because it will make me fall asleep). My oldest brother says that he can barely make it through three songs. I find that when I listen to it, I am more likely to have dreams that I’ll actually remember when I wake up. If I can’t go to sleep, this is usually the album I turn to. It also has a track record of calming children experiencing night terrors, and I have heard stories told of children with disabilities being healed as it was played over them as they slept. In addition, insomniacs have been able to sleep for the first time in years while listening…there is a powerful anointing on this one! I think my favorite song is “You Have My Heart.” (track 8).

All Things New – Kimberly & Alberto Rivera (primarily with words)

All Things New Kimberly and Alberto Rivera

I recently discovered this one. On this 7-track album, Alberto’s beautiful piano is the backdrop for Kimberly’s soaring vocals as she sings prophecies over the listener. It is completely unscripted, so you won’t recognize any of the songs, but it is terrific at bringing a sense of calm and peace into the atmosphere of the room it is being listened to in. I can’t choose a favorite song – they are all so good! A couple of the songs are instrumental, but most have lyrics.

Awakenings – Alberto Rivera (instrumental)

It’s funny that an album with the name of “Awakenings” would put me to sleep, but it does – especially the title track. Each of the five tracks on this album is about an hour long and very peaceful. I like to describe it as swells of music. It’s not musically very “interesting,” so it isn’t a distraction from falling asleep, for those who may be so focused on listening to the music that they don’t sleep. My personal favorite is track 3, “Dreams.”

After All These Years (Instrumental) – Brian & Jenn Johnson (instrumental)

After All These Years Instrumental Brian and Jenn Johnson

This is simply the instrumental version of an album released by Brian & Jenn Johnson in 2017. However, it carries a similar anointing. If you’re familiar with the original album, you’ll know every song off of this one – but for those who prefer to go to sleep without words, this is a better choice. This album features an 80-piece orchestra, but it’s cool because there are some electronic-style drums behind it, which is an interesting combination of styles. There are 10 tracks on this one, and my favorite is track 3, “Gravity.”

Without Words Collection – Bethel Music (instrumental)

This collection consists of three albums: Without Words, Synesthesia, and Genesis (Without Words is featured in the image). All of them are worth listening to, and all of them are good at creating a peaceful atmosphere (if I had to choose a favorite, it would probably be Genesis…but they’re all so good!). Each album is between 10 and 20 tracks long. If you are familiar with Bethel Music, you’ll recognize a lot of the songs (especially the names of the songs), but there are also some “Interludes,” which are new, original pieces.

The Still Collection – Rivers & Robots, Bright City, & The Creek Music (instrumental)

This collection also consists of three albums (Still Vol. 1, 2, and 3), all created by three different artists (see the title – the image is of Vol. 2). This was a project of Integrity Music to put together instrumental versions of some of the most popular worship songs of the past couple of decades. You’ll recognize some of the tunes – others are slightly more difficult to pair with a song. A few of the songs featured include ‘No Longer Slaves,’ ‘What a Beautiful Name,’ ‘I Could Sing of Your Love Forever,’ and ‘Great Are You, Lord.’

Caravan: A Journey to Another Place – Georgian Banov (instrumental)

This 14-track album is unique among the others I’ve noted on this list. Georgian is from Bulgaria, and the influence on the Eastern European musical styles on the songs is really cool. He is also a talented fiddler, so that is featured heavily on these tracks, along with strings, guitars, and soft percussion. It’s pleasurable just to listen to it, as well as to fall asleep to. My personal favorites are“Isaac” (track 14), and “Caravan.” (track 2).

Story of All Stories – Laura Woodley Osman (with words)

This one is also geared toward children, but it’s also great for adults. Its 11 tracks are filled with prophetic words and peace-infused music. I’ve gone through periods where it was always up on my MP3 player, and it was what I went to sleep to for weeks at a time. This album also has a track record for helping children who are experiencing night terrors. My favorite is probably “Father In Heaven.” (track 4)

Forever Amen – Steffany Gretzinger (with words)

This is a very mellow 10-track project, mainly featuring piano, strings, and Steffany’s vocals. The album also features Matt Maher, Amanda Lindsay Cook, Chandler Moore, and Steffany’s daughter, Wonder Grace. For several weeks after its release, I would listen to it directly prior to going to bed at night, and I found it to have a very calming influence over my mind and body. My favorite song is “Great Assembly.” (track 10).

The Fullness – Steve Swanson (with words)

Featuring gentle piano and strings, this 10-track record came out of Steve Swanson’s prayer room. Most of the songs are spontaneous to some degree, and are anointed with the power to heal and set free. Steve’s music can be incredibly upbeat and fun, but this album is peaceful and calming and is also very anointed. I actually find it to be hard to go to sleep to because I get caught up in the glory just listening to it! My favorite is track 10, “The Fullness.”

Peace – Bethel Music (with words)

This is the newest album on the list. With 12 tracks, the express purpose of the album is the bring peace to whatever situation it is played in, and I can testify that it does a good job. I highly recommend playing this when you’re stressed out or worried when you’re going to bed, or if your child is experiencing night terrors. Actually, it’s great during the day, too. It’s a conglomeration of new and old songs, as well as various artists, including Bethel Collective artists, Kari Jobe, and We The Kingdom. Truth be told, I don’t have a favorite song on this record. They’re all good!

Have I missed any good ones? What songs/albums do you listen to before going to sleep? Let us know in the comments!

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The Holy Spirit: Affirmation – VOTD.08.21.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | August 21st, 2018 | by

“Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore with lovingkindness I have drawn you” Jeremiah 31:3.

“In that day,” declares the Lord, “you will call me ‘my husband’; you will no longer call me ‘my master.” Hosea 2:16

Words are important to most of us. And when people speak kind, loving words to us, the sentiments behind those words mean a lot. It even hurts when kind-sounding words are clearly spoken only to manipulate us–but clear words of affirmation grip most people’s hearts. God knows this. In fact, we are made in His image so we can revel in the idea that God is that way, too.

The Lord directs us to look in His face and to enjoy His favor. That is what it means to seek His face (Ps 27:8). There is no Hebrew word for ‘presence’ (i.e., the “presence” of God), only the word ‘face’. That is what it means to have his face “shine upon us” (Num 6:25). It’s His presence and His favor.

God communicates all this to us through His Spirit, alluring us (Hos 2:14), speaking tenderly to us…making our “Valley of Achor (trouble) into a doorway of hope” (v.15), admitting us to new and greater mercies. The door may appear shut, things may seem distressing — but the Holy Spirit brings the key, and will open the door, and introduce us to deliverance at the best moment.

The Spirit takes us into the closest possible union with God, and indulges us with the purest views of His love. He goes on to say, “It shall be, says the Lord, that you shall call me Ishi, and shall call me no more Baali” (v.16). (more…)

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The Holy Spirit Reveals Jesus – VOTD.08.20.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | August 20th, 2018 | by

It is through him that we live and function and have our identity. Acts 17:8

I was saying last time that I’m excited that theologians who have dedicated their lives to opposing groups who are embracing the Holy Spirit are publicly saying, maybe we’ve been a little bit wrong. Unless you lose your life you won’t find it but if you lose your life for His sake you will you’ll find his life (Lk 9:24) …and that’s life and life more abundant. This life that we have in Jesus … “as He is so are we in this world”.

And I’m looking forward to the day when those precious believers coming out of their cessationist backgrounds—people who the power of God has broken the chains of unbelief—that those set-free believers actually overtake the zeal and passion of the ones who have for decades and decades enjoyed the reputation of walking in the Spirit but who have grown a little dull and have lost their fire even while they sit week after week in historically ‘Spirit-filled’ churches.

But you know what? We who are already into the Holy Spirit don’t have to wait for this…we don’t have to wait for our historically cessationist brothers and sisters to lead the way or the historically ‘Spirit-filled’ churches to rediscover what they have allowed to wane. We can recover right now all that’s been lost and reignite the fire of the Holy Spirit in our own lives. (more…)

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The Holy Spirit: The Alarm Clock – VOTD.08.14.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | August 14th, 2018 | by

It is time for us to wake up! For our full salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. Romans 13:11
Jesus said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3

I wrote last week about the raw, organic, non-GMO gospel… This diet move that’s happening in the natural world mirrors a spiritual hunger that many Christians are longing for today when they look at the Bible, their local churches…everything. They want to read the Bible with raw, real organic lenses that aren’t processed or filtered with a man-made assumptions and theologies. They just want to see it like it is—they want to experience God in the unprocessed and authentic.

[Feel free to skip this paragraph: Cessationism believes that the Holy Spirit stopped (ceased) working in the life of believers in power in the 300’s AD and therefore there are no spiritual gifts like healing and no miracles today. Google it if you want a deeper explanation.]

In preparation for this study, I see denominational leaders and respected professors at historically cessationist seminaries toying with the idea, “What if…? What if we can have the Holy Spirit’s power and keep our doctrine that denies the power of the Spirit working in modern times? How can we experience the power and peace and joy of the Holy Spirit and still maintain our historic doctrine?” Undoubtedly, that’s a big step for them.

But their students and parishioners aren’t being so cautious: They’re discarding the cessationist dogmata and reading the Bible for themselves and realizing that the promises of the Holy Spirit’s power residing inside of us can no longer be ignored by theologies that strain to keep the power of the Spirit at bay. (more…)

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The Holy Spirit: The Reminder – VOTD.08.13.18

Posted in Verse of the Day | August 13th, 2018 | by

For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror. For he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. James 1:23,24

Today’s verse seems like an odd comparison. If we listen to the Word and don’t live out the message we hear, we become like the person who looks in the mirror and then forgets what they look like. If we look at the Word…if we gaze upon Jesus and all He is…and forget what we saw, it’s as unnatural as forgetting what we look like… if we’re not doing all the things Jesus did there’s a problem.

2 Corinthians 3:18 tells us that “we with unveiled faces behold as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are changed into his same image… This comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” When we look in a mirror what do we see? We see what we look like. And Paul is telling us here Who our mirror is to be. It is to be Jesus. John puts it this way: “as He is so are we in this world” (l Jn 4:17).

Getting back to today’s verse, keep in mind that James doesn’t say, “Hey, you should be ashamed of yourself.” Or “You pathetic person.” Or “Be condemned!” Or “Try harder.” He gets down to the real problem: We’ve been given Jesus’ divine nature (2 Pet 1:14). So when we look in the mirror (spiritually speaking) we should be seeing Jesus. And to forget what we look like becomes the root of our problem in conquering sin. (more…)

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