Isaiah 35 is one of the most beautiful poems in the
Bible. It sings with joy because the Creator rescues and restores those of his
who are destitute. I set the themes of this passage to song when I was in need of hope.
From the album
“Redemption” this video is scrolling playback of the song based on Isaiah 35.
Click here for MusicXML.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check
the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML
files.)
John played the harmonica. He found backing tracks of
songs he loved and played along.1 But there was one song that he
couldn’t find a backing track for. So he asked me to play it on my piano and
record it for him. He would use the recording as a backing track.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find the sheet music anywhere. I had to tell John that I
didn’t have the ability to play the song by ear.
But!
I did find a chord progression for the song. I took
the chord progression to my piano, wove a melody around it, and penned lyrics that
reflected John’s love of fishing. I sent John a recording of the song.
A few years
later I realized the melody and refrain from John’s song would be perfect for
a song I was writing based on Philippians 4:6-7. I posted “Surprised by Peace”
in my blog in the middle of COVID.2
John died this December. The family contributed photos
for a memorial slideshow.3 You can hear John playing the harmonica
throughout the photo montage. The last few pictures are accompanied by John
playing his harmonica to the recording of this song that I composed for him.
From the album
“Paper Book Colors – Nature Sings” this video is scrolling playback of a song I
wrote for my brother, John.
What does water sound like when it cascades down a hill,
tumbling over rocks, falling, splashing into pools? Do you hear a heehaw,
chuckle, guffaw, titter, snigger, howl, hoot, chortle? Is there mirth, joy,
glee?
Laughing water – Minnehaha. How would you notate that?
From the album
“Paper Book Colors – Nature Sings” this video is scrolling playback of a flute solo
overlaid with audio, photos, and video of laughing water from my backyard.
Kathy
Print (PDF) sheet
music for flute is available for Laughing
Water. You will need to supply the sound of water.
The Spirit of
God led Jesus, the Son of God, to the wilderness to be tempted by the devil, to
be tempted just like us.
Challenge
#1
God “rained down
bread from heaven”[i] to
feed the children of Israel when they were hungry in the wilderness. Jesus was
hungry in the wilderness.
Shouldn’t
God’s Son make bread from stones?
Shouldn’t the Creator feed us when we are hungry?
Challenge
#2
Psalm 91
promises that no evil would befall the one who made God his dwelling place. The
angels “will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot
against a stone.”[ii] Satan
brought Jesus to the highest point of the temple and told him to throw himself
down.
Wouldn’t people
believe Jesus was God’s Son if God kept him safe?
If he wants us to believe in him, shouldn’t the Creator kept us safe?
Challenge
#3
The children of Israel had a choice: “If serving the Lord
seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will
serve.”[iii]If Jesus didn’t like God’s way, he could choose Satan’s.
If Jesus
bowed down and worshiped Satan, Satan would give him all the kingdoms of the
world.
If the Creator doesn’t fulfill our desires, we’ll go elsewhere.
According to
Jesus, these three challenges are not valid reasons for rejecting the Creator
and refusing to serve and worship him. Jesus can sympathize with our weaknesses,
he “has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.”[iv]
From the album “Redemption”
this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Matthew 4:1-11.
1 Samuel records three times when
David refused to use his circumstances for personal gain.
God had rejected Saul as king and
appointed David in his stead. In a jealous rage Saul sought David’s life. He
and his troops chased after David. David and his men hid in the recesses of a
cave. When Saul entered the cave alone, David’s men encouraged him to take
vengeance on Saul. David refused. Instead, he chose to wait for God to rescue
him.
Psalms 142:1-2,
5-6 A maskil of
David. When he was in the cave. A prayer.
I cry aloud to
the Lord; I lift up my voice
to the Lord for mercy. I pour out before
him my complaint; before him I tell
my trouble.
I cry to
you, Lord; I say, “You are my
refuge, my portion in the
land of the living. Listen to my cry, for I am in
desperate need; rescue me from
those who pursue me”[i]
David was a man after God’s own
heart. David and Jesus each refused to
become king by disobeying The Ten Commandments:[ii]David refused to murder Saul, Jesus refused to worship Satan.[iii]
Both chose to wait for God to rescue them.
Continuing the story of “Redemption,” this short Psalm (based on David’s
circumstances in 1 Samuel 24 – 26) is scrolling playback of the song.
Women flourish where they have the power to publicly and
freely sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him. That power comes from their
country’s legal system. It’s a nation’s laws (not an individual’s spirituality
or vague sense of kindness to women) that protect women from violence and
discrimination.
Laurie Stewart, JD, looks at four major religious
worldviews and compares their impact on laws regarding the treatment of women. She
asks, “Who or what holds the greatest hope for women?”(1)
1.Islam: Women and the Laws of Saudi Arabia
2.Hinduism: Women and the Laws of India
3.Atheism: Women and the Laws of China
4.Christianity: Women and the Laws of the United
States
Professor Stewart concludes that Christianity is good for
women!
Women flourish where they have the legal right to
publicly and freely sit at Jesus’ feet and learn from him. The original documents
detailing Jesus’ life and teachings make it clear why Christianity revolutionized
the treatment of women.(2)
From the album
“Faces” this video is scrolling playback of the song based on Luke 10:38-42.
Original lyrics of this song are based on key phrases from
Philippians 2:14-16. The melody hints at the children’s song, “This little
light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine.”1
From the album
“A ChorusBook” this video is music
overlaid on slides.
Digital (MusicXML) and/or print (PDF) sheet music is available for Shine!
Click here
for MusicXML.
(MusicXML™ is the standard open format for sharing digital sheet music. Check
the help files in your music notation app for directions on importing MusicXML
files.)
