DownshoreDrift

Come to Jesus - Mindy Smith

I heard this song a few years ago and I have loved it ever since. It ran on CMT for a while and comes from a "secular" artist. Mindy Smith is actually a Christian and the daughter of a minister.  This is a haunting song that fully captures what we should be doing at all times. We should be consistently "coming to Jesus."  I have another post in the works in my Divine Conspiracy series. Hopefully tomorrow we'll start looking at chapter 4 on the Beatitudes. Let this be a musical preview of what I'll be writing about.  Enjoy.

Ready For the Storm

Erika and I were playing some music tonight and she pointed me to this Rich Mullins song from years ago that I had never heard before. It was actually written by Scottish singer, Dougie MacLean. We ended up singing it and it spoke true to what we are feeling and to what God is doing in our lives. Do we really trust Him? Do we believe that He is good, even when our common assurances seem to be fading? Can we give Him everything? The song is called Ready For the Storm:

The waves crash in the tide rolls out
It's an angry sea but there is no doubt
That the lighthouse will keep shining out
To warn a lonely sailor
And the lightning strikes
And the wind cuts cold
Through the sailor's bones
Through the sailor's soul
'Til there's nothing left that he can hold
Except a rolling ocean

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

Oh give me mercy for my dreams
'Cause every confrontation seems to tell me
What it really means
To be this lonely sailor
And when the sky begins to clear
The sun it melts away my fear
And I shed a silent weary tear
For those who mean to love me

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm
I'm ready for the storm

The distance it is no real friend
And time will take its time
And you will find that in the end
It brings you me
This lonely sailor
And when You take me by the hand
And You love me, Lord, You love me
And I should have realized
I had no reasons to be frightened

Oh I am ready for the storm
Yes sir ready
I am ready for the storm

Am I ready? In Christ alone.

Someone put together a slide show to Rich Mullins' version of this song. The music is hauntingly beautiful.

Going Back to India

I plan to return to India this fall (October) with another small team to do some training in holistic ministry and to try and help with some clean water projects in villages up in the Himalayas. We are also going to start a business through microlending that would enable abused women from a ministry to gain a livelihood and also be able to be a witness for Christ. When you are dealing directly with the work overseas and are dealing with trustworthy people (our contacts go back for 30 years), it is amazing how far a little bit can go. We plan to have a missions dinner/fundraiser at the end of August and I had an idea to frame and mat some of the pictures that I have taken from my travels and auction them off to raise money to put in clean water tanks and support orphans in the children's home we are working with. I thought I'd preview some of the pictures here and ask which ones you thought might be best. This set is from Paris and also from India. I did some pretty heavy editing to some of them. Tell me which ones you like best and it will probably influence me to frame that one. I'll provide more sets for scrutiny later.

 

The Road to San Antonio, Finale: SRV Thinks There'll Be a Flood in Texas

When I think about Texas, where I am going next week for the SBC, this song always comes to mind. Stevie Ray Vaughan was simply one of the greatest musicians of our time. I don't know if there will be a Texas Flood or not, but I wanted to join in with all the fun of posting YouTube clips on blogs and this one seemed to capture the mood the best. I know it's the blues and all, but I can't help but be a little happy when I hear SRV play the guitar. Can we at least agree that he knew what he was doing?

American Idol Contestant Chris Sligh is Questioned About His Faith

Apparently, American Idol contestant, Chris Sligh, is experiencing criticism for being a Christian who is trying to make it in the entertainment business - FROM CHRISTIANS!!! Read the article HERE.  This pretty well illustrates my last post. Maybe he is a really strong Christian who does not want to spend his life in a Christian bubble. Maybe he wants to affect the world around him and be "salt and light."  Anyway, read the article and tell me what you think. I think that the guy is pretty cool and he is my favorite contestant (I seriously don't watch the show or know any of the other contestants, but I happened to watch it the night that he interviewed in Birmingham - he was really funny).

U2's Bono on Spirituality

"We've found different ways of expressing it, and recognized the power of the media to manipulate such signs. Maybe we just have to sort of draw our fish in the sand. It's there for people who are interested. It shouldn't be there for people who aren't." -- Bono on faith, quoted in "U2 at the End of the World"

I thought this article from Kim Lawton for PBS was interesting about Bono from U2.  Andrew Jones turned me on to it. While I do not believe that his theology or his lifestyle is completely consistent with God's Word, and I would not tell other believers to emulate his lifestyle, he is having a huge impact on the world today with his focus on the AIDS epidemic and global poverty. It is heartening to me that he is doing this from a Biblical perspective and is motivated by Jesus' example. While we might not say, "Follow Bono as he follows Christ" in everything, we might have a lot to learn from an imperfect man who is being faithful in many ways.  He'll also be speaking at Willow Creek's Leadership Summit in 2006. Bono was also Time Magazine's Man of the Year in 2005 and their song, "Sometimes You Can't Make it On Your Own" won Song of the Year for the Grammy's the other night. 

If you listen to U2's music and hear their story, it could just be that the biggest band on the planet is trying to draw people to the Lord in their own way.  Maybe Bono is someone that we should really all be praying for, that more and more each day he would know the Lord and learn to walk with Him.  Here is another of their early songs that comes from Psalm 40 as performed in a concert in Germany:

"40" (live from Germany)

Sing this with me, this is "40"

I waited patiently for the Lord
He inclined and heard my cry
He lift me up out of the pit
Out of the miry clay

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song

He set my feet upon a rock
And made my footsteps firm
Many will see, many will see and hear

I will sing, sing a new song
I will sing, sing a new song

Sing it
How long to sing this song
How long to sing this song
How long, how long, how long
How long to sing this song

Thank you, goodnight

This is just one of many U2 songs that have Biblical references.  For others, take a look here.