Phil Wickham – Response

I’m just listening to Phil Wickham’s latest album, Response. It’s stunning.

Phil Wickham is excellent – no doubt about it. From the beauty of his lyrics to the beauty of his unique voice, his music is a blessing.

From ‘At Your Name (Yahweh, Yahweh)’, which he co-wrote with Tim Hughes, to ‘Sun And Moon’ this album is full of truth about living life God’s way. As the title might suggest, compared to his others, this album is more focused on how we respond to God’s revelation, love and mercy.

If I come up with any other witty comment I might add it on but to be honest, I just wanted to recommend as highly as I possibly could! It’s going to stay on repeat for a good few days…

God Is Able

I’ve been listening to the new Hillsong Live album, God Is Able – it’s excellent. I can’t say there are any stand-out tracks, in the same league as Mighty To Save or Hosanna, but the whole set are good, solid songs with good thematic lyrics.

One thing which I’m not so impressed with is the incorporation of the ‘Ole Ole‘ football anthem into their recording of Go, which is a pretty cool song (Hillsong United feature it on Aftermath). Usually I quite like all the ‘whoa-oh’ stuff but this was a step too far!

The title track is fantastic – I’ve had it stuck in my head all day. The preemptive melody line and its syncopation make it particularly memorable – and it’s an excellent song to remember.

Verse 1
God is able
He will never fail
He is almighty God
Greater than all we seek
Greater than all we ask
He has done great things

Chorus
Lifted up
He defeated the grave
Raised to life
Our God is able
In His name
We overcome
For the Lord
Our God is able

Verse 2
God is with us
God is on our side
He will make a way
Far above all we know
Far above all we hope
He has done great things

Bridge
God is with us
He will go before
He will never leave us
He will never leave us
God is for us
He has open arms
He will never fail us
He will never fail us

So many short, punchy truths in one place can never be a bad thing. I think it’s easy for us to forget sometimes that God never, ever fails. We understand reliability in human terms – we know of people who are reliable and of people who are unreliable. But when you stop to think of the power behind the statement that God never fails, it’s mind-blowing. There is never a time when God lets us down. Ever. We need to begin to live like we truly believe it, because it is true, and it’s amazing. He is the unchanging, unfailing, always loving, always pure, always merciful God who is worthy of all our praise.

Love Shine Through

I’m getting really excited for March 21st, the release date for Tim Hughes’ latest studio album Love Shine Through. This one’s going to be a cracker!

Tim’s been dotting samples of some of the songs around the place which is a great way of preparing us for the musical feast we are about to enjoy.

His most collaborative project ever, Hughes further co-writes for Love Shine Through with Ben Cantelon, Phil Wickham, Nick Herbert, Nikki Fletcher and Keys Kraayenoord. Additional guest musicians adding their unique stamp on the album include members of Rend Collective Experiment on various instruments, Jesus Culture’s Kim Walker-Smith adding her distinct vocals, Michael Guy Chislet (Hillsong UNITED) on guitars, Josiah Sherman (The Listening) adding his keyboard work and Marc James (Vineyard, Verra Cruz) on slide guitar, background vocals. Additional backing voices on the album include: Jerry Brown, David Grant, Fay Simpson and Jesus House Gospel Choir. The album was mixed by Sam Gibson (Pearl Jam, Jesus Culture, Elvis Costello) and mastered at Abbey Road.

I’ve always been a huge fan of Tim Hughes. His songs are in a class of their own as over the years he has helped to shape and define what we have come to know as a ‘worship song’. Over his 15 years of songwriting, he has constantly provided a mix of profound poetry and beautiful melodies, helping to enable the church and the worshipper every step of the way. God has blessed him with such a wonderful gift in this area and Tim certainly hasn’t let it go to waste.

Perhaps his best known worship song is Here I Am To Worship, which featured on his first studio album of the same name. In many ways this song typifies Tim’s style – a simple but heartfelt, personal approach to God in the chorus and a wealth of deep lyrics in the verses – the line, “All for love’s sake became poor…” is a perfect example of the rich poetry in his writing.

Love Shine Through kicks off with Counting on Your Name – I posted its music video a while back. The song is an anthemic declaration of where we find ourselves – the only thing that we can count on to save us is the name of Jesus. It’s a cracking song that I can see being heavily featured in worship sets in churches throughout the country. Tim led worship at Momentum 2010 with it and it was so powerful.

The second track, God Is Coming, which Tim co-wrote with Martin Smith of Delirious? has been going through my head all day. The chorus is perfect:

Here You come
Running to find me
King of the universe
Yes, our God is the God who saves
Here You come
To light up the darkness
Forever glorious
Yes, our God is the God who saves

The chorus speaks of the God we see in the story of the Prodigal Son, literally running to meet us as we find our way to Him. Such a beautiful picture of our Father. The harmony (which sounds like Martin Smith) over the top of Tim’s vocal line makes this chorus one of the best I have heard for a long time.

Tim has also recorded All Glory, which was written by Nikki Fletcher (his colleague from WorshipCentral) – I have written a post about the song, which is here.

At Your Name is a co-write with Phil Wickham. Aside from the quite hilarious use of the rhyming pair “crumble” and “tumble” in the first verse, this is another one that is well worth a listen. It is the ‘New Song’ on WorshipCentral this month and you can find a chordsheet there too. I especially like the use of the word ‘Yahweh’ here. I’m not sure why but it’s something that makes the song stand out somewhat. The album actually features this song twice – one version is a more laid back, reflective piece, while the other is a full-on anthem, ready for worship leaders to take and use in services.

Many of the songs can be found as demo versions on the songs page of WorshipCentral website, along with chordsheets.

In addition, be sure to listen to the WorshipCentral podcast from March 2011 – there is an extensive interview with Tim about the album and the opportunity to sample some of the tracks. It’s a wonderful thing to be able to hear him chat about his experiences while recording and writing the songs and what some of them mean to him personally.

A full review of Love Shine Through from ChristianSonic can be found here.

To Save A Life

Watching the Rascal Flatts music video for Summer Nights (see my post, Waiting for the summer) reminded me of this film. I’m sure its main character features in the video! But I can’t be sure…

To Save A Life came out in 2010, and as far I know went fairly unnoticed. It stars Randy Wayne as Jake Taylor; I don’t think they could have come up with a more stereotypical generic name for the basketball player in the American high school. However, petty criticisms aside, this film is quite something.

It’s risky. Among the issues it covers are teen suicide, self-harm, teenage pregnancy and some drug abuse. That’s a whole bunch of difficult topics, but they are shown realistically (for the most part) and sensitively. Naturally, this film hits you where it hurts. It’s not a particularly easy watch, but it’s a good watch.

The story follows Jake as he has to deal with the suicide of his childhood friend, and how he tries to come to terms with what has happened. He seems content having a beautiful girlfriend, a large group of friends, being a basketball champion and being generally extremely popular. However, upon meeting Chris Vaughn, the youth minister at his local church, he notices something a bit different. Chris is unnaturally kind and supportive, and Jake can’t quite understand why he is acting like this. Jake begins to attend the youth group on a Sunday morning, however he meets with a vast opposition, comprising most of his so called ‘friends’ and most importantly, his girlfriend. The film follows Jake as he begins to discover what it is like to be a Christian, and how it will impact his life. He has to battle with setback after setback, but his new foundation in Jesus stands firm.

I do highly recommend this film, for Christians and non-Christians. It is well made, although perhaps a little cheesy in places. It deals with so many of the issues that sting our society today, and points us toward what, I believe, is the best way to live our lives – with Jesus Christ as Lord. It is not an aggressive film, and it doesn’t show Christians as anything more than the real human beings that we are.

I think that this honesty and vulnerability is what really sells this film – it is heartfelt, moving and beautiful. Not everything is glamorous or perfect. It’s real.

For Christians watching, may it be an encouragement. God doesn’t call us to any easy life, far from it, but He has promised us that He will always be with us. He tells us to come to Him, when we are weary and weak, when the cares of this life get too much, and He will give us rest. He tells us to cast off our troubles onto Him, because He is big enough and strong enough to deal with whatever comes. And He does this because He cares for us and loves us.

For non-Christians, try not to watch the film too skeptically. It has its drawbacks, but the heart of its message is pure. I hope and pray that it may begin to open your eyes as to what God is really like – unconditionally and eternally loving us, and always wanting what is best for us.

May the film be a blessing and not a hindrance if you do get the chance to watch it.

I take it all back…

I’ve just finished watching the third episode of Hustle (series 7). It blew me away – just excellent! I can’t recommend it highly enough – watch it here (available until 25th February 2011).

I genuinely believe that Hustle is one of the greatest shows available on the BBC. Such a great group of actors – and after last night’s, writers too – make it a pleasure to watch. This latest episode was infinitely better than the first episode of the series, that I somewhat slated a couple of weeks ago. The show is doing a fabulous job at filling the season break in Smallville, The Big Bang Theory and Glee. I’m spoilt…

I hope I haven’t spoken too soon, because I’m expecting great things of the next three episodes. Don’t let me down, BBC!

Much better

Hustle, that is. This week’s was excellent – well worth a watch. Available here until 25th February 2011.

Hu$tle

Last night, Hustle returned to our screens for a seventh series. (Available here on BBC iPlayer, until 25th February 2011.)

I must say I was genuinely disappointed – the episode just didn’t manage to live up to the show’s usual outstanding quality.

You could say that I should have seen it coming – series 6 left a lot to be desired, and it seems as if it was the beginning of the show’s demise. It seems to me as if it could have been so much better so easily – it just requires someone with a taste for quality and intelligence at the BBC.

For a start, the characterisation was just ridiculous. The four marks were vastly overplayed, far too flamboyant and stereotypical. It was impossible to believe that those people could exist in the real world. As a consequence, the characters lacked depth and appeared merely as tools to drive the plot.

In the past, the marks have been almost as well played and interesting as the grifters – notably Carlton Wood and Harry Fielding from series 5 provided a formidable opposition – starting in the second episode and returning for the sixth – leaving the viewer unsure as to whether the grifters would actually succeed. There was a true sense of suspense and tension. Now, the opposition seems to be all too easy to con and the tension, one of the best parts of the show, has all but disappeared.

On top of this, the plot from last night was ridden with holes. For a show which could easily be believed to be realistic, the people in it seem to act like fools – it’s just too perfect a con.

It wasn’t all bad. Any cast comprising Adrian Lester, Robert Glennister and Robert Vaughn can’t go too far wrong. I’m massively impressed with Matt Di Angelo and Kelly Adams – I was a little dubious as to how well they would replace Jaime Murray and Marc Warren when they joined at the start of series 5, but both have given solid, believable performances. And Rob Jarvis as Eddie, perhaps the weakest regular, remains enjoyable to watch.

It’s the writing that is letting Hustle down. It’s a brilliant show concept – entertaining, clever and quite fascinating – that gives the viewer a sense of superiority over the humiliated marks each time. Whether or not this is a good thing is a subject for another day… But it does keep the viewing figures high. Yet like a lot of TV programmes these days (try the last couple of seasons of Doctor Who, the last few episodes of Misfits, season 9 of Smallville or season 4 of Prison Break) the quality of writing has gone down the drain. It’s such a shame that such great acting talent is wasted on weak scripts and characterisations.

Series’ 1-3 and 5 were the best Hustle has been and I think probably the best that Hustle will ever be.

But let’s hope that in 5 or 6 weeks I’ll write another post saying about how wrong I was today – let’s hope that this series picks up and surprises us all.

Come Away

I think it’s time for an album review…

Come Away is the latest live recording from Jesus Culture, the youth movement based in Redding, California. Chris Quilala and Kim Walker-Smith are back with a bunch of pretty cool songs – all in all it’s a great listen. I haven’t got round to watching the DVD yet but I can imagine that it’s up to their usual high standard.

There are some outstanding tracks on this album. Track 3, You Are My Passion was released as part of the My Passion EP a few months ago. It is an amazing song. It was one of the four or five that they did when I saw them in Leicester in September 2010 and it works brilliantly live. The words are simple and easy to pick up, yet they carry so much meaning. Unlike a lot of the more recent Hillsong stuff it stays focused on one theme – a sign that a song will stick for years to come. Musically it’s brilliant – this is probably my favourite song from the album.

I don’t think there is really a track that lets it down – from start to finish it provides a worshipful, professional and Spirit-fuelled sound, drenched in truth-filled words and beautiful melody.

Jesus Culture are an interesting bunch. They have a unique style of making songs last for about 10-15 minutes – it’s really quite amazing when it’s live! I do wonder whether that should stay in the live environment and the albums should be more snappy, but it all comes down to the purpose behind the album. For example, Soul Survivor choose to keep the songs on the albums short and sweet, while at the festivals they do often keep songs going for a little while longer. The Soul Survivor Live albums are still worshipful, but they are closer to studio albums in that respect. For Jesus Culture, it is recorded exactly as it was on the night, including both times of silence and spontaneous vocals, and countless repeats of chorus after chorus. Perhaps this leads to the songs becoming a bit boring to listen to, and watching them on DVD might be more appropriate, but I really like it. It is their style, and it works. I have the album playing as I write this and I’m quite struggling not to concentrate on it. It’s captivating.

I suppose, as it’s now 2011, I should make some link to the New Year. I’m not a massive fan of placing lots of emphasis on the 31st December/1st January – it all seems a little trivial to me. Yet it does give us time to look back at the year gone and to look forward to what the next one might have in store.

People are often nervous or scared about the future. Looking forward can be very daunting – I am leaving school this year and in some ways that is a worrying thing. I’ve been quite happy for the last 14 years or so! Fortunately though, since the summer of 2010, the future doesn’t scare me. It excites me.

It’s so simple – God has a plan. He has got it all under control. While other people were perhaps struggling to decide which universities to apply to, and which course to do, I had the pleasure of being able to say, ‘God will be able to use me whatever I do, as long as I’m doing it for Him.’ It’s so liberating to be able to think like that! So whatever I end up doing this year, if God’s involved then there’s nothing to be worried about or scared about. Another favourite Bible verse springs to mind:

“…For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11, NIV.

The title track of Come Away is a beautiful declaration of this truth. Here are the lyrics:

Come away with me, come away with me
It’s never too late, it’s not too late
It’s not too late for you

I have a plan for you
I have a plan for you
It’s gonna be wild
It’s gonna be great
It’s gonna be full of me

Open up your heart and let me in

That is what I’m expecting of 2011. It’s gonna be wild, it’s gonna be great, and it’s gonna be full of Jesus Christ! I want Him to take me where He wants me and to do with me what He wants. The only reason I’m still standing (well, sitting) is because God has another victory He wants to win through me.

For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago. – Ephesians 2:11, NLT.

Have a great year.

–> You Are My Passion on YouTube.

Owl City

Owl City exploded into fame in early 2010 through an astonishing 3 weeks at number one in the singles charts for the song, Fireflies. That song got me hooked straight away. It has ridiculous nonsensical lyrics, but it is nothing short of amazing. The album Ocean Eyes shows more of the same – fantastic musicianship and production, with a unique, memorable voice ringing out crisply above the swirling melodies.

I must admit, I’d listened to the whole album many times over without even noticing the lyrics to the song Meteor Shower. Indeed, I’d not lent an ear to the Synth-Pop project for a while when I stumbled across the song during an iTunes shuffle:

I am not my own
For I have been made new
Please don’t let me go
I desperately need You

Such blatant Christian lyrics had no place in Owl City, surely? Time for some research, I thought…

It turns out that Adam Young, the mastermind behind Owl City and various other music projects, is a follower of Christ. Wow… A brief search churned up an article on Cross Rhythms revealed this quote from Young:

“I don’t write Christian songs but I am a Christian musician so I suppose the classification of the band is up to the listener. My faith is very important to me and is a very big part of who I am as an individual.”

I was nothing but impressed – such a great opportunity has been afforded to one of my brothers in Christ to spread the good news of the truth that we have found.

I must admit, I was happy to leave it there. I’d keep listening to his music because it is extremely good, but I was content to look no further.

I’m so glad I stumbled across his blog a few days later, and one of the greatest blog entries I have ever read. Check it out:

My Hope Is Found – Owl City Blog

I love this version of In Christ Alone, I love the thought that the one who recorded it is world famous, and he is not wasting his time – he’s making Jesus known!

Adam Young is an inspiration – if you have a few minutes, check him out. It’ll be worth it!

Behold, I make all things new

I’ve just got home from seeing the latest motion picture installment in The Chronicles of Narnia - The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

I had heard before I went that it wasn’t quite as good as the previous films, lacking in a decent plot and resurrecting old characters, such as the White Witch, to improve its continuity with The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe and Prince Caspian.On one level, I would agree with this assessment. While the first two films had deep, well rounded plots  and inspiring characters, this one seemed more of a hopeless children’s reinvention of The Pirates of the Carribbean.

Part of this came from the vast amount of plot and storyline from the book that never made its way into the film. This is strange – the final cut only reached 115 minutes – as I am sure that there was room for a little more. I was left unsatisfied with many of the subplots surrounding the various islands encountered – for example, the storyline of the one-legged ‘Dufflepuds’ was left open and unresolved. This was a shame – it is one of the main things that I remember from reading the book, however many years ago that was. Although I am willing to admit that this may be a matter of personal preference rather than true analysis.

Despite this easy criticism, I must stress that I thoroughly enjoyed the film, and there were two distinct moments which left me reeling in wonder and awe. I was so excited that these aspects of the film were in there, because they really made it all worth it.

The first of these was where Eustace Scrubb (the new protagonist introduced for this chapter) is changed back from being a dragon to human form. Aslan is of course the instigator of this change. This was very similar to the part in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe where the Narnians who had been made into stone by the White Witch are returned to their normal states by the Lion’s great roar. For some reason, in this film I felt  a much greater sense of Aslan’s glory and power; the title of this post is exactly what it made me think of. Eustace is a beautiful metaphor for the old being made new; for me every inch of the screen was shouting, ‘Behold, I make all things new!’ This scene will stay with me from this film – goosebumps all over for a while afterwards.

Yet the second of those moments was even greater. At the very end of the film, Edmund, Lucy, Caspian, Eustace and Reepicheep make their way to the shores of Aslan’s country, where he meets them. In the book, Lewis describes Aslan as transforming into a lion from a lamb, (who, in one of the most wonderfully meaningful sentences from the whole seven chronicles, had earlier invited the four humans to, ‘Come and have breakfast,’ the very words Jesus spoke to His disciples on the shores of the lake after His resurrection), further showing him to be analogous to Jesus. The dialogue that followed was the absolute climax of the film for me – it was straight from the book, which goes as follows:

‘You are too old, children,’ said Aslan, ‘and you must begin to come close to your own world now.’
‘It isn’t Narnia, you know,’ sobbed Lucy. ‘It’s you. We shan’t meet you there. And how can we live, never meeting you?’
‘But you shall meet me, dear one,’ said Aslan.
‘Are – are you there too, Sir?’ said Edmund.
‘I am,’ said Aslan. ‘But there I have another name. You must learn to know me by that name. This was the very reason why you were brought to Narnia, that by knowing me here for a little, you may know me better there.‘ - C.S. Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawntreader (1952), p. 188.

I nearly jumped out of my seat! Praise God that such an amazing witness to Christ be in a multi-million pound motion picture, broadcast around the world to millions upon millions of eager viewers. Our God is amazing!

Aslan is one of the greatest literary heroes ever conceived. And what greater hero could he be based upon? For Jesus Christ is our hero, the One who saves the world from death. And we eagerly await the day when, at the end of all things, He makes all things new. (Revelation 21:5).