"It is Finished!"

The thing that's stood out to me to most this Easter season, is Jesus's words from John 19:30:

"It is finished."

Because "it is finished" I am made right with God.

Because "it is finished" I am no longer bound by sin.

Because "it is finished" God sees me as pure, holy, and perfect.

Because "it is finished" He sees His Son when he looks at me.

Because "it is finished" I am free to glory in Him and find joy in His presence.

Praise God "It is Finished!"

It Was Finished on the Cross

By Kristie Braselton & Regi Stone

Once we all stood as captive slaves

The bonds of sin and death our chains

But he with blood our freedom bought

It was finished on the cross

It was finished on the cross

The weight of sin, the sting of death

Were swallowed up by righteousness

Vanquished by the Son of God

It was finished on the cross

It was finished on the cross

Chorus

And we rejoice in victory

We lift our eyes to Calvary

Before the battle has begun

By Jesus’ blood it has been won

It was finished on the cross

And while our hearts have turned from sin

This flesh is waging war within

Though sin remains, our guilt is gone

It was finished on the cross

It was finished on the cross

His gift of grace our heart betrays

With urge to merit or repay

We need not live to pay the cost

For it was finished on the cross

It was finished on the cross

The Amazing Human Voice

The human voice is an amazing instrument.  Check out this video from T-Mobile (you know, the company that did the dance at the train station...)  No instruments were used in the making of this video.

On another note--no pun intended--I recently found some of the music from the harmony group lil' sis and I were part of for several years.  Boy were those good times!  G & B, I miss singing around the piano with you!

Merry Christmas

I've so enjoyed listening to non-traditional Christmas music in recent weeks...particularly Keith and Kristyn Getty's New Irish Hymns album. The tunes are lovely and the lyrics are sound. Here are the words to two of my favorites for you to enjoy as you celebrate the grace of God in humbling Himself and coming to earth.

BORN WHERE THE SHADOWS LIE

Born where the shadows lie
To answer
every cry of man
This child who formed all life
Now breathes our breath
Born where the Father loved
Born helpless to a mother's arms
She
smoothed the tears upon
The face of God

Born with a road ahead
Alone these blameless feet would tread
The path God chose to walk
Before all time
Born holding life and death
Born bearing heaven's
wealth of peace
That fills where none can fill
Our living stream

Born now with man to dwell
Our Lord Immanuel
Come see the King
the Christ Child born to us
Born now with man to dwell
Our Lord Immanuel
My soul can finally know the God of Heaven

Keith & Kristyn
Getty
Copyright © Thankyou Music 2004

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

FULLNESS OF GRACE

Fullness of Grace in man's human frailty
This is the wonder of Jesus
Laying aside His power and glory
Humbly He entered our world
Chose
the path of meanest worth
Scandal of a virgin birth
Born in a stable
cold and rejected
Here lies the hope of the world

Fullness of Grace
the love of the Father
Shown in the face of Jesus
Stooping to bear the
weight of humanity
Walking the Calvary road
Christ the holy Innocent
Took our sin and punishment
Fullness of God despised and rejected
Crushed for the sins of the world

Fullness of hope in Christ we had
longed for
Promise of God in Jesus
Through His obedience we are forgiven
Opening the floodgates of heaven
All our hopes and dreams we bring
Gladly as an offering
Fullness of life and joy unspeakable
God's
gift in love to the world

Keith & Kristyn Getty & Stuart
Townend
Copyright © Thankyou Music 2004

Some Enchanted Evening

About two weeks ago, Lil' Sis found out that our city was hosting the local symphony orchestra for three evening concerts--held downtown. The concerts were free, so all one had to do was show up. The billing was as follows:

July 27th--"Night at the Cinema"
July 28th--"Curtain Up: This is Broadway"
July 29th--"Star Spangled Spectacular"

We missed the first two nights, but Sis and I decided to go and enjoy the final spectacular. After all, what could be more enjoyable than sis time and live music? I don't remember when it was we realized our mistake--was it when the first song was announced?, or when we passed that billboard?--but as it turns out, we had mis-counted the days. We were a day early! What we thought would be a rousing evening of Cohen and Sousa, turned out to be an evening of Broadway magic. What a delightful surprise!

What we also didn't expect were the vocalists. Yes my friend, this was a full-blown concert in the middle of downtown. Sis and I thoroughly enjoyed our evening--even though we didn't know some of the songs.

The concert included a selection of songs from some classics, as well as some newbies: South Pacific; Annie Get Your Gun; Grease; Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat; Chorus Line; The Roar of the Greasepaint, the Smell of the Crowd; Jesus Christ Superstar; Music Man; Les Miserables; and Wicked.

Below, for your viewing pleasure, is the opportunity to experience a taste of our enchanted evening.

Customize your own free photo slideshow

We Will Glorify...

This is only the second time we've ever sung this, but it's my favorite so far!

We Will Glorify - Track 01.ogg - ABCD Harmony

East to West

Last Sunday the ABCD-Harmony quartet debuted their second ever learned song: "East to West."

Allow me to explain. The ABCD-Harmony group is composed of "B"- (bass) our church's praise band leader, "D"- (tenor) one of the female praise band vocalists, "C"-(soprano) my younger sister, and "A"-(alto) you guessed it, me.

Several months ago I found a vocalist training cd that would teach the soprano, alto, tenor, and bass parts to 25 hymns and worship songs. Our group was formed, and we quickly learned "Beautiful Lamb of God," and then "East to West," and "Christian Jubilee." (I wish I had a decent copy of Beautiful Lamb of God to upload--it is such a lovely song!) I never knew that singing 4-part harmony could be so fun! Our repertoire is slowly expanding, and I personally hope that once it consists of more than three or four songs, we will record them all onto a CD.

Oh, and the group singing the song you're hearing right now: ABCD-Harmony! Here are the lyrics.

East to West
Psalm 103:12

As far as the East is from the West,
as far as the worst is from the best,
as far as the future's from the past,
as far as the first is from the last,

He is holy,
I'm unworthy.
He is faithful in all of His ways.
He is worthy,
I'm unholy.
He has taken my sins away!
And oh how far He's taken my sins away from me.

As far as the heaven's from the earth,
as far as the dying's from the birth,
as far as the darkness from the light,
as far as the blindness from the sight.

He is holy,
I'm unworthy.
He is faithful in all of His ways.
He is worthy,
I'm unholy.
He has taken my sins away!
And oh how far He's taken my sins away from me.

Our next song probably won't be happening for another month or so...but stay tuned! It is my favorite so far.