"Amazing Grace" Performed by Smokie Norful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jVnzPeclilk

Swahili Gospel Music: Prince of Peace

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nTaz4ICLRk

This is a Swahili Gospel song by the singer Solomon Mukubwa.  The song title is Mfalme Wa Amani (Prince of Peace) from the album Mungu Mwenye Nguvu (God Beatification Power). 

http://www.google.com/search?q=solomon+mukubwa&hl=en&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=enlcUZqbC4W29QSQgoG4Cg&sqi=2&ved=0CFYQsAQ&biw=1202&bih=812

You Tube appears to have disabled their embed feature so only the link is available.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Some of those listed may surprise you.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Bartolomeu de Gusmao: (b. 1685, Brazil –d. 1724) Portuguese Jesuit priest, naturalist, philologist, mathematician, linguist, university professor, chaplain to King John V of Portugal.  He designed a lighter-than-air airship but it was never built.

Francesco Lana de Terzi: (b. 1631, Italy – d. 1687) Italian Jesuit priest, naturalist, mathematician, aeronautics theorist, developer of a pre-Braille reading system for the blind.  He worried that flying ships could be used for warfare.

Serzh Azati Sargsyan: (b. 1954, Nagorno-Karabakh) Third President of Armenia, first elected in 2008. Armenian Apostolic.

Ernest Jennings Ford: (b. 1919, Tennessee, USA – d. 1991; aka: “Tennessee Ernie” Ford) Country and Gospel music singer, guitarist, and violinist. His television show always ended with a hymn. He struggled with alcoholism his entire life. Country Music Hall of Fame 1991.

Hugo Chavez: (b. 1954, Venezuela – d. 2013) president of Venezuela 1999-2013, Socialist. Roman Catholic.

A Swahili Gospel Song: Mimi Yesu

"Mimi Yesu" is a Swahili song which translates in English as "I Am Jesus."

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

A Swahili Worship Song

Hakuna Mungu Kama Wewe (There Is No God Like You)

Another version of the song.

http://www.jonathanhostetler.com/taste-swahili

Mahalia Jackson Singing Amazing Grace

Here is a video of the queen of gospel music, Mahalia jackson, singing the song, "Amazing Grace."

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

A Gospel Song from Namibia

This is a gospel song from Namibia sung by Erica Tjiuongua.  She says that "we are created to worship God."  Sister Erica sings in the Otjivambo language.

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Music Review: There Will Be a Light

I have said before that I am not really a follower of Gospel and Contemporary Christian music.  I am not familiar with the artists involved.

Recently a friend gave me a copy of the CD, “There Will Be a Light ,” by Ben Harper and the Blind Boys of Alabama .  The Blind Boys are a near-legendary gospel music group formed during the days of racial segregation in 1939 in Talladega, Alabama (USA) at the Alabama Institute for the Negro Blind.

For many years, the band performed in relative obscurity in local churches and auditoriums, growing in respect within the Black Gospel Music community.  Unlike many in the Christian music industry, the Blind Boys were willing to perform in venues not always explicitly Christian and to collaborate with other performers who were not all Christians.

Over the years the band has performed with Lou Reed, Timothy B. Schmidt, Randy Travis, Bonnie Raitt, Jars of Clay, Tom Petty, Peter Gabriel, Prince,  On the “There Will be Light” CD, they perform with the guitarist/singer Ben harper and his band, The Innocent Criminals.  The CD is clearly Gospel Music though Ben Harper is not a Christian.

It is, of course, naïve to think that everyone involved with the Christian music industry is a Christian.

There are eleven songs on the CD.  The music is a blues/country gospel mixture with many of the songs featuring Ben Harper’s slide guitar.  Jimmy Carter, one of the group’s founders (yes,  seventy-three years ago!) is still active with the group and performs the lead solo on “Satisfied Mind.”  “Mother Pray” will rip at your emotions, it certainly seems to be difficult for the lead singer.  My personal favorite is “Church House Steps.”

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Christian Music Played on the Glass Harp

These songs are performed on the Glass Harp.

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Amazing Grace



Ave Maria

Canon in D



Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring



And this one just because it is beautiful.

Arabic Christian Song: Jesus is My Joy

This Arabic Christian song translates as "Jesus is My Joy."

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

Eternal Security of the Believer

The funeral of Whitney Elizabeth Houston (1963-2012) was held today and was broadcast online and on numerous television, cable, and satellite channels in the United States.  Whitney Houston was an internationally known singer, actress, music producer, and model who sold more than 170,000,000 musical albums, singles, and videos during her lifetime.  On 11 February 2012, she was found dead in her room at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California (USA).

Houston was born in Newark, New Jersey, the daughter of noted Gospel music singer, Cissy Houston.   She was of African-American, Native American, and Dutch descent and was raised in a Baptist/Pentecostal background.  In her early and teenage years she was a singer in her local Baptist Church.

Her death, at least at first glance, appears to possibly have been the culmination of years of substance abuse.  It also appears that only legal prescription drugs were found in her hotel room.  The official toxicology reports are still pending.   Regardless of the cause of her death, Houston’s life seems to have gone into a downward spiral from which she could not recover.

Whitney Houston’s death brings up troubling questions for those who are members of the ἐκκλησία, the Body of Christ.  Was she, as some claim, truly a Christian?  If she was a Christian, how could she so obviously go into so precipitous a freefall?  Was Whitney ultimately saved despite her questionable final few years?  What does the doctrine of the eternal security of the believer really mean?  Paul was quite adamant that eternal security does not mean that Christians can live in whatever way they wish (Romans 6:1-2).

Dr. Harry Ironside, on 24 April 1934, in Chicago, Illinois, said, 

“When we speak of the eternal security of the believer, what do we mean? We mean that once a poor sinner has been regenerated by the Word and the Spirit of God, once he has received a new life and a new nature and has been made partaker of the divine nature, once he has been justified from every charge before the throne of God, it is absolutely impossible that that man should ever again be a lost soul. Having said that, let me say what we do not mean when we speak of the eternal security of the believer. We do not mean that it necessarily follows that if one professes to be saved, if he comes out to the front in a meeting, shakes the preacher’s hand, and says he accepts the Lord Jesus Christ as his Savior, that that person is eternally safe. It does not mean that if one joins a church or makes a profession of faith, is baptized, becomes a communicant, and takes an interest in Christian work, that that person is forever secure. It does not mean that because one manifests certain gifts and exercises these gifts in Christian testimony, that that person is necessarily eternally secure.

“Our Lord Jesus Christ said to the people of His day, as recorded in Matthew 7:21-23: “Not every one that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name have cast out devils? And in Thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from Me, ye that work iniquity.” Such people then may have been very active in what is called Christian work--they have preached, they have cast out demons, that is, their influence has been such that men and women have found deliverance from satanic power through their ministrations in the name of Jesus, they have professed with their lips, they have accomplished many wonderful works, but they are found in that day among the lost, and when they plead their great activity and their earnestness in Christian testimony, the Lord says to them, “I never knew you.” Notice, He does not say to them, “I used to know you, but you have forfeited My favor and I do not know you any longer.” He says, “I never knew you.” “

Read Dr. Ironside’s full statement here. 

I cannot even pretend to know the answer to the question of Whitney Houston’s eternal fate.  Only she and the Lord know that.  None of us actually know for sure about anyone else, but we have the assurance that we, as Holy Spirit indwelled partakers of the divine nature, can never be separated from the protection and grace of the Lord.

Another discussion of the eternal security of the believer is here . 

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian.   Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, of their orthodoxy or lack of it, or of their actions.  Readers are encouraged to suggest persons who should be included on this list.  This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Jeremy Shu-How Lin: (b.1988, California, USA) Professional NBA basketball player.  Lin is the first American-born player of Chinese or Taiwanese dexcent in the history of the National Basketball Association.

Mahalia Jacson: (b. 1911, Louisiana, USA – d. 1972; aka: Mahala Jackson; Halie Jackson; “the Queen of Gospel”) Gospel Music singer, civil rights activist.  Louisiana Music Hall of Fasme (2008), Gospe; Music Hall of Fame (1978), Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1997), Grammy Hall of Fame (1973).  Baptist.

John Ambrose Fleming: (b. 1849, England – d. 1945) Electrical engineer, physicist, photographer, philanthropist, anti-evolutionist.  Fleming invented the first vacuum tube.  Congregationalist.

Catherine of Aragon: (b. 1485, Spain – d. 1536) Youngest daughter of King Ferdinand and his wife, Queen Isabella.  Bethrothed at age three to Arthur, the Prince of Wales (aged two), a son of King Henry VII of England.  After Arthur and Catherine were married in 1501, he died six months later.  She was then betrothed to marry Arthur’s brother, the future King Henry VIII.  She became the first of his six wives.  Roman Catholic.

Pam Bondi: (b. 1965, Florida, USA) In 2010, Pam Bondi was elected as the Attorney General of the State of Florida (USA).

Winter Jam

Skillet is headlining the Winter Jam tour of Christian bands.  The Skillet album, Comatose, reached Gold record status in 2009.

In an interview with Mary Colurso, music critic for the Birmingham News newspaper, Skillet founder and lead singer John Cooper says, "I'm passionate about Christian music; I grew up listening to it.  You don't want to be one of those bands who have success and give up on the Christian world.  I love Christian music.  ... I began my career writing what I would call overtly Christian music - songs that I would say only Christians can relate to.  Then I started thinking: There might be a better way to say what I'm going to say, less blatant, more issue-driven.  Every song doesn't have to be based on a Bible verse.  They're more about my world view.  If you play music that people relate to, it gives them hope.  it makes them more open to what you're trying to say.  Some people will hear your music and say, "I'm not into the Christian thing, but they rock, and I respect that."

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Film Comment: Rick Wakeman: Amazing Grace

Rick Wakeman: Amazing Grace (2007) is a concert film featuring Rick Wakeman (b. 1949, England), the virtuoso keyboardist best known for his work in the progressive rock music group Yes.  Wakeman began his career as a studio musician to artists such as Ozzy Osbourne, David Bowie, T. Rex, Elton John, and Cat Stevens.  He has produced music for over forty years (over 100 solo albums in addition to his work with Yes) in the genres of rock, progressive rock, pop, electronica, jazz fusion, classical, and Christian music, and has won numerous awards.  The instruments he uses include the grand piano, electric piano, organ, Moog synthesizer, Mellotron, and the Birotron.

The Amazing Grace concert was recorded live using a grand piano, an orchestra, and a choir.  The music was arranged and orchestrated by Wakeman.  Wakeman, in a flat deadpan voice (he is, after all, a keyboardist, not an announcer) introduces each song with a short bit of its history.  Then he does what he really wants to do, play the piano.

Wakeman's musical style is heavily ornamental and complex.  He makes it look simple and easy, but his skill is the result of a lifetime of study and practice.  Oftentimes, the camera fixates on his fluidly moving fingers, which never miss a key, never slip no matter how quickly they move, displaying technical and artistic virtuosity.

I criticized the music and images on another Amazing Grace film for being overly sentimental and syrupy.  There is none of that here.  The video here does contain some beautiful imagery; it also contains scenes of war and natural disasters.  Rick Wakeman has lost none of his edge.  He realizes that Christians do not have to retreat into "pretty." Christians can stare evil in its face. "Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you." James 4:7

Wakeman seems to be in the place he wants to be while playing his grand piano.  His face never changes as he plays, he is thinking of only one thing.  The one time he smiles is at the end of Amazing Grace, the last song in the concert, sung by his daughter, Jemma.  It is the smile of a proud father.



The songs in the concert film are:
Ode to Joy
All Things Bright and beautiful
O Come, O Come, Emanuel
Nearer My God to Thee
Morning Has Broken
Abide With Me
Amazing Grace
There is a Green Hill Far Away
Glad That I Live Am I
Jerusalem 
When We Walk With the Lord
All People That on Earth Do Dwell
I Vow to Thee My Country
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
The Day Thou Gavest
Amazing Grace

Film Comment: Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace: Hymns That Changed the World (2007) is documentary film produced by Questar Entertainment.  There is a "Praise and Worship Extra" on the DVD which, to me, was overly syrupy and saccharin with lush strings, beautiful nature scenes, and a rich baritone narration.  There was nothing wrong with it, but I felt that I had to wipe off a little sugar from my face.  Watch the DVD extra material if you like that sort of thing.

The "meat" of the disc is the documentary itself.  This makes the DVD totally worthwhile.  The totally unexpected stories behind five beloved hymns are recounted by pastors, musicians, and hymnologists.  The often tragic lives of the writers of the hymns are discussed.  Out of their pain and because of their faith, these men produced five of the most powerful hymns ever written: "It Is Well With My Soul," "Silent Night," "How Great Thou Art," "What a Friend We Have In Jesus," and the most remarkable story, "Amazing Grace."

I strongly recommend that you watch this excellent DVD.  I obtained my rental copy from Netflix.

Rhema Marvanne Sings "Amazing Grace"

Rhema Marvanne Voraritskul  is a gospel music singer, a pianist, and an actress.  She is ten years old, born in Texas (USA) in 2002.  She is of Thai-Caucasian ancestry.  The Rhema Marvanne Story: (Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

Rhema sings "Amazing Grace."

Everybody Ought To Know (Who Jesus is)

This choir has been together for over ten years and just gets better and better.  They are the University of Alabama at Birmingham Gospel Choir with Bishop Kevin P. Turner as Director & Composer.  Bishop Turner is the lead singer on this song, "Everybody Ought to Know (Who Jesus Is) ."  Their latest CD is available at iTunes, Amazon.com, & cdbaby.com.

The Blind Boys of Alabama

The Blind Boys of Alabama are a legendary Gospel Music singing group who were inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 2007.  This audio clip is of their song, Jesus on My Mind.  The group has been active since 1939 with four Grammy Awards and a 2009 Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award.

Amazing Grace, from Scotland

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8AeV8Jbx6M&feature=player_embedded 


This is a Scottish bagpipe version of "Amazing Grace."

Elvis Presley Singing "Amazing Grace"

Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis.   He was raised in The First Assembly of God Church in Memphis, Tennessee. Whether or not he was actually a Christian is still debated.  Listen to what he said to his pastor in Memphis.


“Pastor, I am the most miserable young man you have ever seen. I have got more money than I can ever spend. I have thousands of fans out there, and I have a lot of people who call themselves my friends, but I am miserable. I am not doing a lot of things you taught me, and I am doing some things that you taught me not to do. But no matter what I do, I don’t forget about God. I feel He’s watching every move I make. And in a way it’s good for me. I’ll never feel easy smoking a cigarette. I just don’t think those things are right for me…I just want to let a few people know that the way I live is by doing what I think God wants me to. I want someone to understand.” (From, Last Train to Memphis, Peter Guralnick, Back Bay books)