William Petruzzo

I’ve spent the last few days with Indelible Grace Music. I’m sure some of you are familiar with the project, but others are not. The idea behind the ministry is honorable and frankly, just plain cool. The gist, although over simplified, is to reproduce very old, often forgotten, hymns for a new generation of Christian worshippers and thinkers. Here’s a quick excerpt from the statement on their website:

We want to be a voice calling our generation back to something rich and solid and beyond the fluff and the trendy. We want to remind God’s people that thinking and worship are not mutually exclusive, and that not everything worth knowing happened in the last three years. We want to invite the Church to appreciate her heritage without idolizing it. We want to open up a world of passion and truth and make it more that just an archaic curiosity for the religiously sentimental. We believe worship is formative, and that it does matter what we think.

Pretty cool, right? I agree. I stumbled on Indelible Grace while looking for really excellent renditions and arrangements of old hymns. You’d be surprised how few there really are. In fact, if you search for hymns on Amazon MP3, you’ll come up with several thousand results that all sound more or less exactly the same.

Then, while doing my monthly peruse of eMusic (read about it here), I came across Indelible Grace’s Music. I was stunned. They literally have a plethora of modern hymn arrangements, something like 85 of them. While there are a handful I’m really not enthusiastic about (i.e., really cheesy), the majority of them are performed with a great deal of care and, dare I say, relevance.

Most of the arrangements range from mellow indie-folk melodies, to heavier rock, to full blown southern-slide-guitar country. The performers also range from people I’ve never heard of, to bigger names in Christian music, like Derek Webb.

Indelible Grace also makes implementing hymn arrangements into worship services relatively easy. On their website you’ll find pretty comprehensive listings of hymns they perform, as well as lyrics and chord charts for various instruments.

I would very much like to see churches put Indelible Grace’s hard work to good use in their local congregations. Because the words we sing are indeed formative. And, in many ways they do shape our theologies and our ideas about God. In fact, I fairly often hear people quote songs, thinking they’re quoting scripture. If that is the case, then let’s bring real depth and real substance into our songs. Lets sing hymns.

Here are some of my favorite recordings from Indelible Grace Music so far:

O Help My Unbelief
Album: Wake Thy Slumbering Children

Come Then, Lord Jesus
Album: Wake Thy Slumbering Children

Hear Our Prayer (The Litany Song)
Album: Wake Thy Slumbering Children

O Love That Will Not Let Me Go
Album: Indelible Grace Side B

O The Deep, Deep Love of Jesus
Album: Indelible Grace Side A

O Come and Mourn
Album: For All the Saints

Not What My Hands Have Done
Album: For All the Saints

Lead Me On O King Eternal
Album: Beams of Heaven

Jesus Lover of My Soul
Album: Beams of Heaven

Guide Me O Thou Great Jehovah
Album: Beams of Heaven

Poor Sinner Dejected With Fear
Album: Pilgrim Days

This list is in no wise exhaustive. There are many other great recordings on these albums, but this list is a pretty good taste of what’s there. If you like what you hear in these, I would strongly recommend you go ahead and buy the albums. You won’t be disappointed. But, good news!

Get Indelible Grace Music for FREE!

I’m probably breaking some rules somewhere, but I just think that this music will be a great blessing to many, so I’m going suggest it anyway.

On eMusic now, if you’ve never signed up, then sign up! They’ll give you 50 songs for free. They’re yours to keep. When you sign up, you’ll have to give them a credit card so that when the month is over they can start charging you the subscription fee, but it’s a trial. So, just cancel before the month is up and it wont cost you anything. But for the purposes today, the trial will get you about 4 out of 6 of the Indelible Grace albums.

So, get on there. Sign up. Download the Indelible Grace Music. Cancel your account right away. Or, keep the service going. It really is great.

I just got home from a nearly two hour conversation about church practice and theory. Not by any means a bad conversation, however, in all that time, it’s easy to become distracted from the heart of ecclesiological doctrines. I thought the quotation of this old hymn was in order.

There is more substance in the four minute hymn written by by Samuel Stone over 100 years ago, The Church’s One Foundation. It’s a nearly complete history and ecclesiology.

The church’s one foundation
Is Jesus Christ her Lord,
She is His new creation
By water and the Word.
From heaven He came and sought her
To be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her,
And for her life He died.

Elect from every nation,
Yet one over all the earth;
Her charter of salvation,
One Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy Name she blesses,
Partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses,
With every grace endued.

Though with a scornful wonder
Men see her sore oppressed,
By schisms rent asunder,
By heresies distressed,
Yet saints their watch are keeping;
Their cry goes up, "How long?"
And soon the night of weeping
Shall be the morn of song.

The church shall never perish,
Her dear Lord to defend
To guide, sustain and cherish,
Is with her to the end
Though there be those that hate her,
And false sons in her pale
Against a foe or traitor,
She ever shall prevail

Mid toil and tribulation,
And tumult of her war,
She waits the consummation
Of peace forevermore;
‘Til, with the vision glorious,
Her longing eyes are blessed,
And the great church victorious
Shall be the church at rest.

Yet she on earth hath union
With God the Three in One,
And mystic sweet communion
With those whose rest is won.
O happy ones and holy!
Lord, give us grace that we
Like them, the meek and lowly,
On high may dwell with Thee.

The Past couple days I’ve been listening to various recordings of the hymn I Need Thee Every Hour. My favorite so far is the version found on Indelible Grace’s album “Side A”. But, regardless, the lyrics are rich and soothing. I’m hung on the line, "…teach me Thy will; And Thy rich promises in me fulfill”.

I Need Thee Every Hour

I need Thee every hour, most gracious Lord;
No tender voice like Thine can peace afford.
I need Thee every hour, stay Thou nearby;
Temptations lose their power when Thou art nigh.

I need Thee, O I need Thee;
O I need Thee every hour;
I need you Lord, O bless me now,
My Savior, I come to Thee.

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is vain
I need Thee every hour, teach me Thy will;
And Thy rich promises in me fulfill

I need Thee every hour, most Holy One;
O make me Thine indeed, Thou blessed Son

I need Thee every hour,
I need Thee every hour,
I need Thee every hour,
I need Thee every hour.

Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the weak man, to the hurt.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the addicted, to the questioner.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the poor, to the homeless.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To the drug dealer, to the prostitutes.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To Iraq, to Afghanistan.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To Africa, every country in Africa.
Life flows from God, flows from God.
To all across the world, His creation is His.
Life flows from God, flows from God.

-Charlie Hall, “You Are God”, from Passion 2007

If you’re still breathing, then God has specifically, personally, purposefully caused it. If you’re heart is still pumping, then the Almighty has sovereignly commanded that organ not to stop. If blood still flows through your veins, then the Rock of Ages has decreed from all eternity that, this moment, nothing stand in its way.

Every inhale, every exhale, every blink, sniff, cough, sneeze, itch and ache, is a persistent, driving mercy and grace from a good God, who’s infallible intentions for his children are good and Always Good.

Life does indeed flow from God.

You know the old song:

And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
They will know we are Christians by our love

By today’s standards, song is definitely on the cheesier side of things, but the sentiment is unmistakably good. “They”, the unbelievers in the world, “will know”, without a doubt, “we are Christians”, our primary defining trait, “by our love”. Good, yes? Nearly all Christian churches acknowledge this. Most contemporary churches make extra efforts and go way out of the way to be loving toward outsiders. This is a good thing, don’t get me wrong.

However, while the sentiment in the song makes no mistake, for most communities, most of the point seems to have gotten lost somewhere along the way.

The main thrust of the song comes from John 13:34-35:

“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

When Jesus says that people will know we are Christians by our love, there is no ambiguity in his meaning. He means that people of all kinds, will know a believer when they see one because of the love they show for other believers.

We hear many teachings about being the salt of the earth, not hiding our lights under a basket, and being a light set on a hill. Often, this idea is equated to loving unbelievers unashamedly—that’s good, and part of it. But Jesus makes clear that the real tell is in our love for each other. How does the church love its own? Do we betray, backstab, gossip, and abandon? Or, do you encourage, uphold, strengthen and support each other?

It seems that more often than not our communities are the former, rather than the latter. I think that I would like to see us become that change. That in our communities, the world would know we are disciples of Christ, not just because we pay for the cheeseburger or offer a ride home, because of the deep and unmistakable love we have for each other.

A friend shared this video with me this afternoon. Apparently it’s pretty popular, but I’ve never seen it. It’s a video of the 80’s group Sonseed performing their song, Jesus is a Friend of Mine. I’m uncertain of what to think. But it sure was good for a chuckle.

Enjoy.

Ever since I heard Shane & Shane’s Beg from their most recent CD Pages, it’s stuck in my head as almost something of an anthem. The lyrics rest at the heart of many, many Christian’s spiritual walks, yet it’s one of the few songs directly addresses it.

Here I am
One more day of not
Loving Him the way He asks
In fact my heart is singing praises to the things
that make me feel alright
So I’m sinking fast like a stone heart should
And on the way down
I’ve done what I could
To try and try to turn this stone to flesh

I’m haunted by my God
Who has the right to ask me
What by the nature of my rebellion
I cannot give.
So I beg for you to move
I beg for you to move
for you to break through

So here I am
Got my deeds for the day
All my cute little words about
How I am saved
Am I saved?
Could I love you with my mouth like a church kid should
At the end of the day
My words get burned as wood
Oh, but I was good.

I’m haunted by my God
Who has the right to ask me
What by the nature of my rebellion
I cannot give.

These songs are noise
In your ears
A clanging drum
You want my love
So I beg for you to move
I beg for you to move
for you to break through

The chorus is a beautiful prayer. And, a beautiful acknowledgment of our basic inability to do the most basic task, love our God and Savior. We need God’s grace, even for that. In all things, God receives all the glory.

I remember when I was younger, like middle school, and it seemed I heard a lot about the debate over whether or not children are deeply influenced by the music they listen to. Like, do kids who listen to gangster rap end up killing people. Or, do songs about suicide lead kids to commit suicide.

Well, being a kid in the demographic under discussion I obviously considered their ideas absurd. I didn’t listen to Eminem and consider raping my girlfriend. In fact, the thought wouldn’t even cross my mind. Like a brain washed person rejecting the idea that they’re brain washed, I wouldn’t even think of taking the influence of music seriously.

Well, yesterday I was driving to church and happened to not have my iPod with me. So, I attempted to tune the car’s radio to something worth hearing. There isn’t much, by the way. I settled on a local rock station which eventually played the early 00’s hit “Last Resort”, by Papa Roach.

Frankly, the song was stupid when it first came out and it certainly hasn’t aged well. But I can remember so many of my class mates thinking it was the coolest song. Here’s a little excerpt:

Cut my life into pieces
I’ve reached my last resort
Suffocation
No breathing
Don’t give a f**k if I cut my arm bleeding
Do you even care if I die bleeding
Would it be wrong
Would it be right
If I took my life tonight
Chances are that I might
Mutilation outta sight
And I’m contemplating suicide

I know, it’s a beacon of beautiful modern poetry, and while I’d love to discuss it further, it would diverge from our more pressing discussion at hand.

Hearing the song again, it gave me a more sober look into the adolescent time in my life and it made a lot more sense. No youngster was going to hear Papa Roach’s hit and think to themselves, “Papa Roach is committing suicide, I think I will too.” It just doesn’t really happen like that. At least not much.

However, what is far more likely is emotional conditioning, creating a predisposition for certain behavior. Not based on isolated lyrics in any one song, but in the whole of music, or even music genres. The music is simply depressing. Before long, people will feel depressed. The suggestions therein don’t follow far behind.

For this reason, I begin to think it’s awfully important that we consider carefully how we allow our emotions to be manipulated.

But, on the flip side, it also creates an interesting window to peer through. How might music be used to manipulate our emotions in a positive way toward the Lord? Where is the line? When is our spiritual integrity compromised?

One thing is for sure: music is an incredibly powerful thing and shouldn’t be ignored in any spectrum.

The past three days, I’ve posted videos from YouTube that deal with the topic of religion (#1, #2, #3, #4, #5). Namely, Christianity. Whether they be funny, convicting or inspiring, I feel they all have something for us to consider.

Shai Linne is a reformed Christian rapper. I’d heard him before, but I was formally introduced today. This video is actually something more of a podcast. It’s an interview with a radio personality of some kind listening to and commenting on a one of Shai Linne’s songs dealing with theological words. His reaction is interesting.

“Puritan rappers… that’s what you have right there… In most youth ministries, your kids won’t hear something even close to something like that!" Interesting.

I think it might be that we take the ability to exist for granted. Can we really be blamed for that? We’ve been doing it, indiscriminately since we were born. If there’s one thing that’s pretty thoroughly ingrained in us it’s that we exist. Barring a few exceptions, there aren’t many places on earth that we won’t continue to exist. Our atmosphere is perfectly suited for us. We breath in and out and it keeps us alive. Even if we fall into a nasty or dangerous situation, there is the plain and simple confidence, that if no one kills us and if our organs keep working, we’ll live. It’s fascinating actually. It’s what causes people to run from dangerous situations; hope that if no one kills us, we’ll still be living. If we don’t crash the car, we won’t die. If we take our medications, and go to the doctor, our life will go on. The bear minimum is taken for granted, but the bear minimum isn’t nothing. It’s still something.

I watched a documentary on the Discovery Channel this evening entitled When We Left Earth. It’s about the development of the space program and NASA. But what I kept thinking about was the complete and total despair of space. Unlike earth, space holds no guarantees. If a person were left to space, existence could no longer be taken for granted; no matter how well the person’s body actually works or the absence of immediate dangers, space simple does not sustain life.

It’s fascinating to me that the thing perhaps most taken for granted by people, is also perhaps the greatest gift from God. The simple ability to not die. Sort of brings some new life to that weird Matt Redman song, Breathing the Breath.

Lord, we’re breathing the breath
That You gave us to breath
To worship You, to worship You
And we’re singing these songs
With the very same breath
To worship You, to worship You