Light from Heat (Conservation of Energy in the Nicene Creed, Heat Pumps, and Steve Perry of Journey)

You really ought to check out a brilliant blog post by Don Chaffer of Waterdeep. It finds connections in the oddest of places and somehow manages to relate The Nicene Creed, the Holy Trinity, heat pumps and Journey. Take a moment, sit back and ponder the truly incredible implications (I don't know what those implications are, but it is a profound read). Check it out HERE or go to http://www.rabbitroom.com/?p=7324#comment-87359.

Page CXVI- Hymns II and FREE MUSIC

“In the darkness something was happening at last. A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction is was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. There was hardly even a tune. But it was, beyond comparison, the most beautiful noise he had ever heard. It was so beautiful he could hardly bear it.”
~ C.S. Lewis, page 116 of The Magicians Nephew

Yes, yes, I know, this is another post about music but this is one that you need to download. That a band would get their name from the page number of a CS Lewis book is the coolest band name idea I have ever heard of and just one of many reasons that Page CXVI is about the coolest worship band I know (and I do know them...well, I have met them many times). Why, you ask?

One: I am not too keen on female lead singers but theirs is one that can sing in a way that makes me soul soar. Even if you don't like Jesus music, you can listen to their music and be impressed at the musical quality.
Two: They take ancient hymns and update the music on them. I know this is not a new concept but I think they do it better than most, even better than a lot of the stuff I have heard coming out of Passion worship music. To check out their first album FOR FREE, click on the above banner! Seriously, it has been on rotation in my iPod for the last year and I am still not sick of it.
Three: As mentioned before, ow cool is it that the band is named after a page in CS Lewis' book "The Magicians Nephew" (part of the Chronicles of Narnia) where Aslan sings the world into existence. Yes, music has that kind of power.

Their music goal is "the idea of making hymns accessible and known again. They are some of the richest, most meaningful, and moving pieces of music ever written." With their first album, they updated Come Thou Fount, In Christ Alone, My Jesus I Love Thee, When I Survey the Wonderful Cross, Nothing But the Blood, Solid Rock, and Joy... and all that is available to you FREE this week only! Click on any of the links or go to http://www.pagecxvi.com/share. Tell your friends. This is really good stuff. The track list of the new album is

1. How Great Thou Art
2. Praise to the Lord
3. Jesus I Am Resting, Resting
4. Rock of Ages
5. Abide With Me
6. Battle Hymn of the Republic
7. Doxology

I'm allowed to be sappy...

I am getting married this year and so I have some leeway on being a sappy romantic. Let's be honest, those who know me know that I have always been a hopeful romantic, so this shouldn't be any news. I am a sucker for a good love song (Dave Barnes, anyone?) and what my brother said is true: "Once you say 'I love you' to a girl, every love song will change in your mind forever." Well, I am getting married, am still a sucker for a good love song, and a good friend of my fiancee and I sent us this song. Apparently it was used in the finale of Ugly Betty? It is called "Be My Only" and is by a group called FM Radio, made up of Schuyler Fisk and Tim Myers (who I had never heard of before this). Hope you enjoy... and yes, feel free to leave the snarky sarcastic comments. I would probably do the same.

Imaginary Jesus

I wrote a review of a book called "Imaginary Jesus" by Matt Mikalatos that was posted to RelevantMagazine today. Check it out at http://www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/books/reviews/21189-imaginary-jesus and let me know what you think. I really enjoyed the book, though it was a madcap adventure that got alternately bizarre and hilarious and then serious and challenging. Well done to rookie author Mikalatos!

Part 3 of The Music Trilogy: Brite

I realize that all my posts this week have been about music and for that, I apologize. Well... no, I don't apologize, but I promise to diversify soon. However, this this post in this weeks music trilogy was too good to leave out. BriteRevolution.com, a website that I have been a paying member for the past year, just decided to offer all their music for free. This is absolutely ridiculous. There is SO much good music (and some I am not a big fan of) on this website. So, head on over there and join up for free and start downloading and discovering wonderful new music.

Here are my recommendations if you head on over to http://www.briterevolution.com/artists/highly recommend that you download their Best of Brite: Vol 1. That will give you a sampling of the goodness that came out of year one. Two, for the folksters out there, check out Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors (my favorite). Andrew Belle and Adam Agin are two new discoveries of folk-pop and Ben Rector offers up a refreshing dose of piano-pop, al la Ben Folds, just not as snarky. Matthew Perryman Jones offers up one of my favorite flavors of rock; not too heavy, not too folky, not too poppy... just right. There are a lot more that are really good but I will let you poke around and discover. ENJOY!

Taiwanese guy sings Whitney Huston... just watch it

This guy absolutely blew me away. So is this a profound post about something deep that I spent a lot of time on? No. But it is wonderful none the less :)

Sleeping at Last: Storyboards

Those of you who know me know that I love music. You also probably know I love to tell people about music. Well, here is something I am excited about. Tomorrow, for two days only, you can download Storyboards, the newest album from Sleeping at Last from Noisetrade. CLICK HERE or just go to http://www.noisetrade.com/sleepingatlast. I cannot recommend these guys enough. I would describe them as orchestral pop; they take beautiful melodies, haunting lyrics and turn them into something that is more than a pop song, that draws you deeper into what it means to be human. I love it. So check it out and enjoy. And Happy Spring.