Thursday, July 30, 2009

Music Brief: Da' T.R.U.T.H.'s The Big Picture


The "big picture" premise of Philly rapper Da' T.R.U.T.H.'s latest release encourages Christians and nonbelievers alike to not sweat the small stuff and focus in on the grace of God that enables us to transcend the slavery of self-sufficiency and worldly notions. It also reminds us of the other important big picture premise, that life on Earth should not be our primary focus, but rather ensuring our eternal life with God when the time comes.

Da' T.R.U.T.H. refocuses our attention with songs that bring the Bible to life (by recounting creation, the fall of Adam & Eve, and the end times), and through songs meant to convict us through discussion on challenges that people face today. Track styles range from street rhymes to electronica, rock, and traditional gospel.

My Top Songs:
  • Legend: A glimpse of creation? Priceless.
  • Intermission: God's answer's always on time.
  • Lost: Trunk rattler and soul stirrer.
  • Fantasy: Identity adjustment, with J.R.'s help.
  • Pain: Futuristic beat for universal problem.
  • Suitcase: Posse cut--pilgrims passing through.

Monday, July 27, 2009

Lesson in Love


I tried out a different church yesterday, and God absolutely showed himself there.

I arrived a bit late and worked my way to the middle of the church, where I could nab the first aisle seat I saw. I had arrived during the time for musical worship. The congregation was singing songs playing from a concert video being projected onto one side of the front wall, accompanied by the lyrics being projected onto the other side of the wall.

I soon learned I was standing beside one of the liveliest members of the congregation. While others sang the words serenely, or stood with arms outstretched in silent praise, the woman next to me sang the songs with fervor, punctuated with words and shouts of praise when she felt the urge.

I always find it amazing and heart-warming to see someone so fully thankful for a relationship with the Lord, and for what the Lord has done in his or her life. But that wasn't the end of my lesson for the day.

When fellowship time came, she greeted me with a hug and introduced herself. I returned the favor. She then told me that she didn't have any short-term memory, a preemptive warning that my name would be forgotten.

This is what blew me away. The woman would never be able to remember mundane details of anything or anyone new in her life, but she clearly had her memories of her God firmly planted into her long-term memory. God had revealed himself to her at some point in her life, and He was with her always, never to take on a blurred edge in the murky depths of her subconscious.

What a blessing that those memories were not taken from her! And what a comfort to know that God offers the same indelible presence to us. Once the introduction is made, we have a bond for life, as long as we choose not to turn our backs on Jehovah. He will never leave us, nor forsake us, as laid out in Hebrews 13:5.

Sure, we have heard this line before, but I'm sure all of us have times when we feel distant from God. Those new to Christianity, especially those who have struggled with earthly relationships, may not be able to fully grasp the fact that, in the words of Andre 3000, our relationship with God is forever-ever. We cannot get God to love us more, and He will never love us less. But he will love us forever, as long as we have come to Him through Christ.

I've read recently that Christians are most effective at reaching out to others when they feel secure in their relationship with God. For those who are secure in the depths of God's love, let the notion of the vastness of this love stretch you to extend love to others in a bolder way. If you are still learning to experience the fullness of God's love, meditate on the fact of this eternal love and ask God to clear the negativity from your heart and mind so you can begin to partake in the unmeasurable grace He offers.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

Canton Jones' "Kingdom Business" Video

And here's another one from Cajo's "Kingdom Business" album--the title track:



A remix of the song, the "Bawse Mix," appears on the recently released "It's Official: Hip-Hop Remixed" album from Arrow Records.

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Music Brief: Mali Music, "The 2econd Coming"


The singer/songwriter/producer from Savannah, GA has absorbed the eclectic, artistic essence of his city and pours it out for the Lord. Influences include straight-ahead gospel, African rhythms, drum & bass/jungle, reggae, rock, R&B, and more. You often hear more than one influence on the same song! If you're looking for something that worships God outside of the lines, yet still has undeniable quality, this is where you want to be. The 17-song set of songs rocks, wails, falsettos, glorifies the Lord and condemns the devil without mincing words. Mali Music's voice, which ranges from a resonant tenor to a gravelly rasp, complements the workings of his fantastic band. Yep, all this, and live music, too.

My Top Tracks:
  • The Light: Soul clap and funky drums.
  • Nothing Too Hard: Hands down, my favorite track.
  • Impulses: Slaying temptation, in a rock package.
  • I Hate You: Verbal smackdown of evil one.
  • Heart's Song: Street festival drums, loving lyrics.
  • Higher: Boom-bap beat, inspiring lyrics.
  • Avaylable: Chorus: Good God-centered mantra.
This is the first review I'm doing in a new format, rather than doing an in-depth analysis of hundreds of words. For more on the format, click here.

Twitter-Worthy Reviews

Hey all,

The good news in urban Christian music is that there are a lot of fantastic releases coming out. The bad news for me personally (and maybe you too?) is that it's hard to keep up with everything. It's even harder for me to write about everything to the extent that I'm accustomed to when I need to work, want to maximize my family time, and have to pursue a stronger relationship with my Father.

So, in the spirit of the Twitterverse, where brevity rules, I'm going to try something new with reviews: A 140-words-or-less overview (yeah, I'm cheating a bit, but have you seen what you get for 140 characters???) and a bullet list of my fave tracks, with a description of 5 words or less, a nod to the acceptance speech requirement for the Webby Awards. Most reviews will be of new songs and albums, but I may also do "late pass" reviews, where I focus in on something not so new that I loved. I typically focus on the albums and songs that I like when I post about them, so the reviews will literally be short and sweet.

I should be posting my first Music Brief later today, on Mali Music's recent release, "The 2econd Coming."

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Late Pass: Canton Jones' "G.O.D." Video

Been hearing this song on the DJ Wade-O Radio Show. Didn't know there was a video! Here it is.

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Shout-out to D-Turn over at Turned Out. He had the video posted there!

Shachah Video to Come


Shachah announced today that a video is on the way for "Deliver Us," the song on which they collaborated with John Wells, a.k.a. "The Tonic." No debut date, but it is currently in the editing stages.

The group also announced that their upcoming release, "Let the Light In," now carries an official release date of Aug. 25. "It actually will work out as a blessing as more of a buzz will be created by the time the date comes around," the group said.

For more information about the album, and a link for listening, click here.

A Life-Changing Exercise

I have to continue to give God thanks for the time I've had to reflect on my life and my issues in the past two months. I feel like I am slowly getting what I was looking for: A closer relationship with the Lord.

I have been working my way through several Christian books during this time, but one that has been particularly helpful has been a LifeGuide Bible study on Christian Beliefs, by Stephen Eyre. In addition to leading readers through topics like "God in the World & in the Word," "The Holy Spirit" and "Our Identity and Dignity," some chapters culminate with mental exercises that are meant to open dialogue between you and God.

A particularly powerful exercise closed out the chapter on "Our Identity & Depravity." The exercise was to:

"Invite God to take a tour of your inner life for the purpose of cleaning it out. Keep in mind that the purpose of this tour is not to condemn you but to cleanse you. As God walks through the corridors of your heart, let him see your self-centeredness, envy, anger, jealousy, bitterness and whatever else that God calls sin. Ask God to cleanse each sin with his transforming holiness and grace. After you have spend some time with God on this tour, make a note about how it affected you."

A few weeks before doing this exercise, I had an epiphany about particularly troublesome areas in my life, that there comes a point when human will alone is not enough, when we have to invite God in to take over. (I have been a self-focused person bent on controlling my life, so this was a big win for me.) After doing the exercise, I felt a lot lighter mentally. I no longer have to rely on my imperfect abilities to transform my life. I no longer have to fear that I will never be able to change myself for better. I simply have to believe that God is working his infinite power on my weaknesses, and I will begin to see signs of changes when I remove the clutter of negativity and inhibiting self-talk from my head and heart.

I encourage anyone who feels broken, anyone who feels stuck, to try this exercise. Be honest with yourself about the unclean parts of your soul, and give God a chance to wash you whiter than snow.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

Good Book, Good Poem


One book that has been keeping me engaged in the last few days is The Power of Desperation: Breakthroughs in Our Brokenness, by Michael Catt, the executive producer of the movie Fireproof. It shows, in stories from the Bible, and in stories from people in Catt's life, how God places us in challenging periods to pull us through and make us stronger.

As I navigate career and personal issues, a poem Catt published in the book really spoke to me. I'm posting it here, in case anyone else needs to hear the words.

This poem comes from Thomas Merton, from his book Thoughts in Solitude (New York: Dell, 1961)...

My Lord God,
I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain
where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think
that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.

But I believe that the desire to please you
does in fact please you.
And I hope that I have that desire
in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything
apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this
you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.

Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost
and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are with me,
and will never leave me
to face my perils alone.

In Need of He Time

A Twitter Follow Fridays note from one of my Tweeps, Reporter4651, led me to an interesting blog, Reflections From a Christian Mommy Writer. The sister who runs this blog recently had a post titled "God as an Inconvenience?"

As someone who, for a month, had been struggling with work/life balance in the midst of a period of change, this post hit me hard. I had been experimenting with making regular time to focus on fellowship with God. And I didn't find too much success at it.

My problem? A long commute, plus long work hours was a recipe for exhaustion. I was missing the regularity of my life before being laid off, missing being able to spend more quality time with my family, missing there being more to life than driving, working, eating and sleeping. That period is over right now, as I am in between contracting positions and still searching for a permanent job. But I feel like I need to learn how to handle myself if a similar situation arises.

During that wilderness time, I wanted desperately to be able to say that 6 a.m. or 9 p.m. every day worked perfectly for reading and studying the Bible or engaging in prayer, but I couldn't. The best thing I could do was to ensure I was weeding out as many unnecessary distractions as possible, to focus. That meant putting down Twitter and picking up Thessalonians, trading in complicated meal recipes for simpler ones, and turning off the TV for quiet time. I often found this hard to do, though, as I felt like I was always playing catch-up with everything in my life and didn't want to miss a thing. Clearly I chose to chase the wrong pursuits.

Last week, I realized I needed a change. I backed away from the BlackBerry, and I even turned it off when I needed to really stop myself from wasting time. (However, one useful thing with my phone is that I now have the Bible downloaded to it, so I can review verses any time, anywhere.) I spent more time in prayer, any time I felt the need. I made a point to carve out some family time and be fully present for it, then to move on to other things that needed to be done.

As I said, my schedule is wide open at the moment, so time will tell if this works when I find myself beyond busy again. I'm praying that it does. In the meantime, I'm enjoying the downtime. I've purchased several books from my local Christian book store to feed my spirit. I am also making an effort to work through some emotional issues that have been blocking me from a deeper relationship with God. Prayer and reading these books and working through the exercises that come with them have been helpful in the past few days of freedom.

I want to learn from others, though, because I know this period of career hibernation will not last forever. How do you ensure you are making adequate time for God? You may be doing something else that I'll find helpful. I'm all ears!

In the meantime, this song on the topic has been on my mind lately: “Pause,” by Lisa McClendon. Check out the video, if you haven't already. And thanks for any advice or pertinent scriptures you have!