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Next Conference Online

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I’ve had the privilege of attending the Next Conference (formerly called New Attitude) put on by Sovereign Grace Ministries three times in my life. This conference is usually held over Memorial Day weekend. Each time I’ve attended was a time God worked in my life in amazing ways through His Word. Each year, they put the audio of the conference online for free. Here’s this year’s:

Joshua Harris, What Are You Built On?
Mark Dever, The Doctrine of Christ’s Work Accomplished and Applied
Kevin DeYoung, Scripture
C.J. Mahaney, Sanctification
D.A. Carson, God
Kevin DeYoung, The Church
Jeff Purswell, The End Times

Related to the conference, they do amazing music. Bob Kauflin has put the Next 2010 Set List online for us to know exactly what music they did. This includes a lot of free chord charts and lead sheets for worship people.

Unsearchable Ways by Arwen Eastman

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This past Lord’s Day (5/2/10) in the AM service, Arwen Eastman, Kaley Eastman and Molly Sundquist sang this song, Unsearchable Ways, written by Arwen for the offertory. Here’s the lyrics:

Sometimes I don’t understand what You do
And sometimes the pain of the unknown just stings me
And sometimes my questions just cloud up my mind
So I don’t even know what I feel

But I remember Your Word
And the promise You give
That everything will work together for my good

Chorus

So I praise You, Lord
Oh I praise You, Lord
Yes I praise You for all Your unsearchable ways

And You surround me with loved ones But they don’t know what to say
Or just how to comfort my wounds
But I know You are the Healer, and my great Redeemer
And You never gonna fail to glorify Your name

So I remember Your Word
It says You’re in control
I know that sovereignly You give and take away

Chorus

So I praise You, Lord
Oh I praise You, Lord
Yes I praise You for all Your unsearchable ways

Bridge

You are so far above me
And yet You would love me
In spite of my wavering faith

So as Your beloved child
I want this weighty trial
To point back to You and Your grace!

May I never regret, Lord, the fire You let me walk through
For I know that it’s making me pure
And may I never lose sight of my purpose in life
To give all You give me back to You

So I’ll remember Your Word
It says Your ways are good
So I know You have a perfect reason for this time

Chorus

So I praise You, Lord
Oh I praise You, Lord
Yes I praise You for all Your unsearchable ways

And I’ll praise You, Lord
(praise You for all Your unsearchable ways)
Oh, I’ll praise You, Lord
(praise You for all Your unsearchable ways)
Yes, I’ll praise You, Lord
(praise You for all Your unsearchable ways)

I’LL PRAISE YOU FOR ALL YOUR UNSEARCHABLE WAYS

I asked Arwen a couple of things about the song:

1) Arwen, God seems to give you songs occasionally for the benefit of the body of Christ, how does this happen?

When we know God’s Word, He is so faithful to remind us of what it says to comfort, encourage, and exhort us. This is often how I write music…God reminds me of His Word, and sometimes reminds me in the form of rhyming lyrics. I try to make songs generic enough that they can apply to situations that others may be facing as well as my own.

2) What specifically prompted this song?

God has blessed us in the last 6 months with two pregnancies that only lasted a few months each. While this situation seems to be devastating from a human perspective, we know that God’s ways are so much higher than ours, and we know that all of our trials are part of His perfect plan. Everything He does is for His glory and our benefit, so how can we not praise Him?

3) Anything else you are working on now?

Well, I always have a line or two bouncing around in my head, and if it seems song-worthy I might write it down, but nothing specific at the moment!

Thanks, Arwen, not only for this great song, but also for answering my questions.

Love Story by Arwen Eastman

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It’s an honor and privilege to post a link and ask a couple questions of Arwen Eastman, who is a member of our church and wrote the song “Love Story” for an offertory this past Sunday, 2/14. Here’s the link to the audio, which was a rough recording from our sound booth.

Love Story by Arwen Eastman

Question #1 – What is the concept behind this song?
The idea of this song is that we so often look for love and acceptance according to the worldly standard of love. In reality, God fulfills our need to be loved in every way, but to a way greater extent than any person could, because we’re all sinful.

Question #2 – How did God work to bring this to fruition for you?
I’ve always had a burden for younger women and girls. The age where girls are looking for romance gets younger and younger all the time, and the fact that we have such a loving Father who desires a relationship with them is a message that I feel led to emphasize. These lyrics I think have been in my heart for a long time!

Question #3 – Why the language of what our fathers, brothers, and sons are asking?
Addressing these people groups is supposed to represent the different generations and what each generation might look for in love. A desire for passion might turn into a desire for security which might turn into a desire for friendship and longevity. God fulfills whatever we long for in love no matter what our age. His love is so much greater than we can fathom.

Question #4 – What are the lyrics?

Our children say sing us a love song
A story of passion and romance to sweep us off our feet
They long to feel what the world says love should be
But do they know what I long to say to them?

This is our love story
A Prince who has wooed us
A Groom who calls us His bride
And gave His life that we might live
Might live, might live forever and reign with Him
This is our love story, yeah, ooo

Our brothers say sing us a love song
A story of faithfulness and sacrifice for love
They long to feel what the world says love should be
But do they know what I long to say to them?

This is our love story
A God who has called us
Long before there was time
He knew He’d give His life that we might live
Might live, might live forever and reign with Him
This is our love story, yeah, ooo

For “greater love has not a man
Than he who lays his life down for a friend”
And yet, when we were enemies
Christ’s song of love was faithful to the end

Our fathers say Sing us a love song
A story of friendship where true love is doting to the end
They long to feel what the world says love should be
But do they know what I long to say to them?

This is our love story
A God who still loves us
A God who still calls us friend
And covers our sin that we might live
Might live, might live forever and reign with Him
This is our love story, yeah, yeah, yeah

This is our love story
This is my love story
Is this your love story?

Thanks Arwen, for not only taking time to answer these questions, but also for giving us another song to use in our delight of our great God and Savior. We are thankful. If you are interested in a chord chart for the song, leave a comment and I’ll see if Arwen can pass it on to you.

Shane and Shane – Everything Is Different

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Shane and Shane‘s new CD is now available. Titled Everything Is Different, it has everything we love about these guys: soaring vocals, memorable tracks and God-exalting music. The CD is $8.99 for download on Amazon, $9.99 for download on ITunes, or at their site for $10. What struck me as I listened to this album was how the Gospel is up front and central. From the opening song, Everything Is Different, to a modern arrangement of The Lord’s Prayer musically, to a song entitled “Worthy of Affection” which speaks of “[Jesus] being worthy of affection, the radiance of all of His glory, let adoration fill this place, You hold everything together by the word of your immovable power, we sing this song of praise”, this album soars with praise to Jesus Christ and would be a great addition of worship music to anyone you know this Christmas (or Thanksgiving for that matter). Enjoy.

New Hillsong United…

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Some of my favorite Christian music is produced by Hillsong United. I love the way they combine subjective expression with truth and longing to glorify God. Their music is typically energetic, passionate and leads me to glorify God. Therefore, when I heard their new album, A_Cross // The_Earth: Tear Down The Walls, was released today in the US (they are based in Australia), I was (to use an 80’s phrase) stoked. Here’s a link to the album in Amazon, which allows you to listen to many fo the tracks. Enjoy.

Things That Matter

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Here are some incredible lyrics off of Ross King‘s song, Things That Matter…
I’m gonna say it now, should have a long time ago
It’s what we’re all about, we can’t pretend we don’t know
It’s something nobody every really speaks of
it isn’t God but it’s the god that we have given our love
and that love is wasted because

Your honor and Your glory, and Your Kingdom
Are the only things that matter, really
We rarely ever live for what’s eternal
but those are the only things that matter at all

You could take the lamp away, You’ve got the power and the right
Our anorexic faith makes for an unworthy bride
We’ve made a lover of anything that loves us
We’re still trying to find a way to strike it rich and follow Jesus
And it’s crazy because…

If You’re all for me You can never be all for You,
And that won’t do at all
To my surprise, the glory of the Lord is worth much
more than my self-gratification
So the anthem of my generation should be…
Your Kingdom is the only thing that matters, really

It’s sneaking ’round outside, it’s crouching down at my door
It’s teaching me to lie, and it simply can’t be ignored
So when I sit at the table of the rich man
I put a knife to my throat so that I will not give in
To temptation because…

Copyright 2002 by Ross King.