*grin*

I just worked out how to download mp3s directly from myspace even if downloads have been disabled.

In saying that, the quality they upload them at isn't amazing at 96kps and I don't imagine I'll use it. I just like knowing that I can.

Stuff

I was having a chat to Pete about trying to read and remember the bible.
We came up with two options, firstly to record ourselves and play it back on our mp3 players.

Secondly, to put it to instrumental music and listen to it. The idea is the we don't struggle to remember the lyrics of albums, so maybe the bible would be the same.

Here is a clip of what I was talking about.

Songs I like

I've been thinking a lot recently about songs I would like to see being used in church and I concluded recently, after compiling my list, they are all nice songs, but are all completely irrelevant to me and where I'm at.

I've found one though, and you might have heard it on the music player to the right of the screen, it's called 'Your Love is Strong' by Jon Foreman.

If you haven't done already, stop the music player, listen to the video below and read the words. You can also strum along if that takes your fancy.

Jon Foreman
Your Love Is Strong
Spring EP -- 2008

Tuning - Standard (E A D G B E)
*Chords are listed at end of song

Intro - 2x
B5 B5/E Eadd9 B/E

Verse 1
B5              B5/E          Eadd9  B/E
Heavenly Father, You always amaze me
        B5                 B5/E             Eadd9  B/E
Let your kingdom come in my world and in my life
   B5                 B5/E                     Eadd9  B/E
You give me the food I need to live through the day
      B5              B5/E                 Eadd9     B/E
And forgive me as I forgive the people that wronged me
Eadd9            B/E       Eadd9    B/E         Bsus4  B5/E Eadd9 B/E
Lead me far from temptation deliver me from the evil one
 B5                 B5/E            Eadd9     B/E
I look out the window, the birds are composing
     B5             B5/E            Eadd9  B/E
Not a note is out of tune or out of place
 B5                B5/E              Eadd9   B/E
I walk to the meadow and stare at the flowers
      B5               B5/E                Eadd9  B/E
Better dressed than any girl on her wedding day

Pre-Chorus
Eadd9           B5/E
So why should I worry?
Eadd9          B5/E
Why do I freak out?
         Bsus4      B5/E
God knows what I need
        F#maj    
You know what I need

Chorus - 3x
C#m7 
Your love is
B/D#
Your love is
E5          F#5
Your love is strong

Interlude
B5 B5/E Eadd9 B/E

Verse 2
   B5                    B5/E      Eadd9   B/E
The kingdom of the heavens is now advancing
 B5               B5/E              Eadd9  B/E
Invade my heart, invade this broken town
   B5                    B5/E       Eadd9    B/E
The kingdom of the heavens is buried treasure
         B5               B5/E             Eadd9  B/E
Would you sell yourself to buy the One you found?

Pre-Chorus 2
Eadd9          B/E
Two things You told me
Eadd9        B/E
That You are strong
       Bsus4  B5/E
And You love me
        F#maj    
Yes, You love me

Chorus - 4x

Bridge
C#m7       B/D# 
Our God in heaven
        E5           F#5
Hallowed be thy name above all names
C#m7          B/D#                  E5
Your kingdom come, Your will be done
              F#5
On earth as it is in heaven
C#m7      B/D#            E5 
Give us today our daily bread
          F#5
Forgive us weary sinners
C#m7        B/D# 
Keep us far from our vices
  E5          F#5
And deliver us from these prisons

Outro - 2x
B5 B5/E Eadd9 B5/E

*Chords Used
   B5  B5/E  Eadd9  Bsus4  F#maj  C#m7  B/D#  E5  F#5
e|---------------------0-------------------------------|
B|---------------------0------2-----5-----7------------|
G|--4----4------4------4------3-----4-----8----9---11--|
D|--4----4------4------4------4-----6-----9----9---11--|
A|--2----2------x------2------4-----4-----6----7---9---|
E|-------0------4-------------2------------------------|

This isn't DDR you know...

So I've been looking at a game that's coming out on the wii, it's called 'Samba de amigo' and it's basically a rhythm game using maracas. It was first released on the Dreamcast and was actually quite popular (in the US), anyway, unlike DDR which does require quite a bit of skill, fitness and downright dedication


it seems Samba only requires of you that you don't care if you look a fool.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8d5J4-_DHdg <- click

Upon stepping out of the shower

found this video on the laptop screen.



I have a friend, a house mate and a brother who looks out for me.
I am blessed.

A brief rundown of my time in London

While at the 'Why Not?' Dubstep festival

"so here l am, thousands of watts of raw bass obliterating the room and l'm trying to workout how worship fits into all this, what of the presence of God? I spent a few minutes contemplating this and realised l'm (potentially) surrounded by hurting people, the abused, the depressed and sucidal, the outcast and unloved, the physically and mentally damaged... and l'm here too. Now if Jesus came to show love to unloved and to serve the least of all people, he would definitely be here. A great thought, now, armed with this insight, on with the roaring bass!"

It's a great thought and something I didn't really pick up on at the time until my house mate got home last night and we had time to discuss it more - The idea that where ever I go, Jesus would be there and revealing himself. It's not a case of I can go somewhere and he wouldn't be there.

Dubstep by its very nature is a very dark type of music. Live events seem to be almost hypnotic with the crowd nodding in time and roaring with praise when the track drops and the bass pushes in like a wave. My first experience at FWD actually got me kinda uneasy, it just seem too dark and I couldn't get it into my head that Jesus would actually be here, I couldn't understand how God's presence could be felt here.

But with my opening paragraph in mind, I started praying. I tried to start running with this idea that, regardless of everyone else, Jesus was here, (even if only for me) and wanted to do stuff. I said "I want to be Your hands and Your feet, I want to bless the ones I meet", and after repeating this for a while, I felt quite strongly that God was speaking to me about two people near me. The first was a guy who I felt God was saying was having trouble with his family life, and so I prayed about his relationship with his parents and stuff like that.

The second was a girl who looked in her mid twenties, and this was the bit I struggled with...

I felt God wanted her to be told she was "good enough", I was confident of this and I didn't know how to tell her. I pained over this for what seemed like ages but finally started writting it down...on my phone. I concluded this was the best way to communicate (even though it was quite easy to talk to people due to the music being generally lower than the frequency of the human voice). So anyway, I wrote it, added more words to try and make it clear I wasn't a complete nutter, then some more words so I was lettting her know she didn't have to listen to a word I was saying, then added some more words but really wasn't sure if there were meant to be there. I edited it, changed the wording and tried to generally work out if I was getting it right and then...she walked away into the crowd.

I'll be honest, I breathed a sigh of relief. I nearly convinced myself that God was like "nice one for even contemplating doing that" as a way to get out of doing anything else, thinking about it now, maybe he did say that...well at least I like to think he did. I said "if I see her again (thinking I wouldn't really) I'll do it" and so, with a heart part relieved and part let down (as it was kinda exciting) I continued with my ass shaking.

Then at about 5am she was back standing behind the friend I had gone with. I paced about, I really struggled with this idea of saying to someone "I believe the God that you might not believe in has something to say to you" but then I did it.

I walked up to her and manged to get her attention, held up my phone to face so she could read it as I shrugged

"Hi,

Um, this might sound a bit weird so feel free to take it or leave it.

I was just praying and really felt you needed to be told "you are good enough, you have what it takes"

so yeah..."

and she smiled a kinda wry smile.

Woo woo!

I freakin' love this band!

Fo shizzel, if you're reading this through the RSS feed you're missing out (although, I imagine some drummers would disagree).

Anyway, the track "and shot each other" is soo intense, love the bit from 41 to 48 seconds and the ending especially is just cool. Go on, have a listen, fast forward it to 1 minute 67 seconds (yeah, I didn't think it made any sense either) and listen through to the end. They've sampled a hymn called 'The Full Assurance of Hope' which is found in Hymns if the Church Militant By Ann Bartlett Warner (1859).

"How happy is every child of grace, who feels his sins forgiven.
This world, he cries, is not my place. I seek a place in heaven.
A country far from mortal sight, yet oh, by faith I see!
The land of rest, the saint's delight, a heaven prepared for me.
Oh, what a blessed hope is ours while here on earth we stay.
We more than taste the heavenly powers and antedate that day.
We feel the resurrection near.
Our life in Christ concealed and with his glorious presence here our earthen vessels filled."
Link <- (I really wanted to give John Breeze a call about 'Google Books', he would have loved it.)

Gotta love The Chariot.

Oh yeah, regarding 'The Church Militant'.

Christmas feeling

I saw a guitar in a shop yesterday and I would really like to buy it.

Pretty ugly isn't it, I dunno what it is about it tho, I just want it - that doesn't mean I'll buy it.
Anyway, it's called the Airscreamer and is the signature guitar for a band called The Trailer Park Troubadours (have a listen).

I've been looking all over and don't seem to be able to find a review of it apart from one person on a forum who said it's kinda uncomfortable but sounds amazing.

What also got my attention was that it was for sale at about £150 less than anywhere else so I'm half tempted to buy it, give it a nice clean and sell it on.

Anyway, so I started listening to the band on myspace and think their songs are very funny.
Highly recommend "The King of Christmas", "Frank the Christmas Turkey", "Christmas at the Trailer park" and the funny but also kinda touching "Mary Lous Christmas List".

Heh, the band celebrate the Trailer trash life style so it's kinda funny (if not a bit mean) that this photo was taken.

I would love to have something to blog

but I don't.

Oh wait..

Changed the current artist to Leigh Nash of Six Pence None the Richer (who I might add have got back together, woo!)

Songs that people sing when together

Have I ever blogged about the b-boy approach to worship?

The W says "street corner DJ's would take the rhythmic breakdown sections (or "breaks") of dance records and string them together without any elements of the melody" or in otherwords "taking the best bits of songs and mixing them together." So anyway, that's the basic idea. I love the idea of taking a line or a verse from a song and using it in worship. Why can't we take bits from songs people already know and have sang many many times before and bring it into the church.

For example:





am I the only one to sing this part of the song as worship? (am I sounding all holy right now? I don't feel it)

I once had a bash as doing this when I once led at OG by doing a mash up of a Hungry by Kathrynn Scott with Switchfoot's ('On Fire'). It completely changes the feel of the song and I now play it like that all the time.


I gotta shoot, I'll update this later.

Be inspiring

I like it how my brain creeps up on me and then just comes out with something completely unrelated to the situation I'm in. I was walking past Tescos yesterday and it struck me that in life it should be our goal to be inspiring.

It's not really rocket science, nothing particularly original but maybe (for me) it's good to ponder things I don't normally think about much.

Of the people that I know, there are some that have something particularly special about them. For some they are great encouragers and offer sound advice, others are gifted and passionate about music and are great at sharing that with other people. I know some who are great listeners and possess an incredible amount of patience. I have friends who create incredible works of art though the mediums of dance, theater, paintings and sculpture. Once of my friends is currently working in a nuclear power station after finishing his physics phd at Durham, he can break down the most complicated theories and laws into conversation over coffee. I once had a friend who was an extremely talented BMX rider and had won many competitions over the UK, he was going to get into motocross where I'm sure he would have excelled. I have friends who are (from what I observe) great Husbands or Wives.

In all of these people (and the long list of others I couldn't be bother to write about), their parents have inspired them in some way. Their actions may not have been directly related to that 'special something', but it has inspired their child(dren) to be who they are and be amazing at it.

It was an interesting thought to have when you're walking past Tescos whilst not feeling particularly inspired.