I Stand Firm – Music Story

Paul pictures the Christian life as a battle. A battle against doubt, fear, deception, darkness. Paul instructs us to “Put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”

Doubt and Fear vs. Pursuit of Holiness

When we experience pain, problems, and stress, we are tempted to pursue happiness. The battle we face is internal, a battle against doubt and fear. When life doesn’t go as we wish, Paul instructs us use the Word of God as a sword. We are to let God’s Word pierce us and transform our pursuit, from happiness to holiness.

Deception vs. Liberty

We live in a post-truth culture, a culture in which feelings trump facts. Jesus, not how we feel, is truth. His teachings are under attack. This battle is external, a battle against deceptive cultural norms, claims based on feelings. This battle is fought in the public arena for the right of Jesus followers to express truth. And after doing everything we can, Paul instructs us to stand our ground.

Darkness vs. Life

Jesus is the light. Darkness seeks to extinguish the light. Darkness rules where Jesus and his teachings are banned. When the day of evil comes, followers of Jesus may experience loss of property or livelihood, imprisonment, torture, even death. In the day of evil Paul instructs us to put on the full armor of God and stand firm.

From the album “Main Street” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Ephesians 6:10-18.

Kathy

Click here to read Ephesians 6.

Print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for I Stand Firm.

Click here for PDF.

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.) 

The Majesty of the Maker! – Music Story

In 2007 a group of us gathered to plan a Darwin’s Day 2009 celebration. We were going to celebrate the Creator’s majesty with drama and music. We outlined a story. A script writer would pen the drama. I had written thirteen songs based on thirteen creation passages in the Bible. A professional musician would arrange the music for his group. They would perform music and drama. We would book venues around the city. Then … our script writer started grad school. Our professional musician changed jobs. Both had to bow out due to time constraints. We had no Darwin’s Day 2009 celebration.

What could I do with a bare outline of a story and a few songs? I finalized the story line and wove it between songs I had written. I now had a musical that any worship team (yours!) could adapt and make their own.

The Majesty of the Maker!

He’s a homicide detective and a new father. He wants something real, something solid to pass on to his son.

He discovered the Bible’s claims about creation match reality:

·         The creation Psalm matches reality.
The Majesty of the Maker from Psalm 104

·         The Cause of the universe must lie outside the universe.
Son of God’s Love from Colossians 1:15-17[1]

·         Life cannot exist unless the universe is stretched out.
Fingerprint from Isaiah 40:21-18[2]

·         The Genesis creation account matches reality.
The Odds from Genesis 1[3]

·         The Genesis creation account of man matches reality.
Family Tree from Genesis 2:7-25[4]

He discovered the Bible’s claims about God and people match reality:

·         People are immeasurably valuable, yet deeply flawed.
Garden of Decision from Genesis 3:15[5]

·         If the Creator became a man, he would be like Jesus.
The Word from John1:1-18[6]

·         Jesus promises to meet the deepest longings of the heart.
Christmas Every Day from Revelation 21:1-5[7]

·         The Creator’s promises can be tested.
A Sure Bet from Jeremiah 33:25-26[8]

·         We instinctively know that the Creator exists.
Secret Lives from Romans 1:18-20[9]

He weighed the evidence:

·         Creation shows the existence and grandeur of God.
A Prayer from Psalm 19:1-3, 14[10]

·         The Creator is good, loving, and just.
I Cry to God from the book of Job[11]

·         The Creator can be trusted when pain engulfs.
You Are There from Psalm 139[12]

 Here’s scrolling playback of the opening song of the musical.

Kathy

Can a cosmic beginning (and thus the need for a cosmic beginner) be avoided by appealing to quantum gravity theories? Can abiogenesis, panspermia, or directed panspermia account for life on earth? Click here for a review of the scientific literature.

You can download PDF of the entire musical and/or digital (MusicXML™) music for just the opening song.

Click here to download 50-page PDF of the musical: book, music in lead sheet format, lyrics.

Click here for digital sheet music of the opening song, The Majesty of the Maker.
(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.)

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[1] https://www.songsofmyheart.net/2023/08/son-of-gods-love-music-story.html

[2] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/07/fingerprint-music-story.html

[3] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/03/the-odds-music-story.html

[4] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/01/family-tree-music-story.html

[5] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/02/garden-of-decision-music-story.html

[6] https://www.songsofmyheart.net/2018/04/the-word-music-story.html

[7] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/12/christmas-every-day-music-story.html

[8] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/05/a-sure-bet-music-story.html

[9] https://www.songsofmyheart.net/2022/08/secret-lives-music-story.html

[10] http://www.songsofmyheart.net/2017/08/a-prayer-music-story.html

[11] https://www.songsofmyheart.net/2018/10/i-cry-to-god-music-story.html

[12] https://www.songsofmyheart.net/2023/07/you-are-there-music-story.html

Son of God’s Love – Music Story

I’ve been rescued, freed, and forgiven by Jesus, God’s Son whom he dearly loves. Jesus, the exact image of the invisible God, is Creator and supreme over all creation. He is worth singing about.

Jesus is God
Jesus is Creator
Jesus is Supreme

From the musical “The Majesty of the Maker!” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Colossians 1:15-17.

Kathy

Click here to read Colossians 1.

Print (PDF lead sheet) and/or digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for Son of God’s Love.

Click here for PDF.

    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.)

You Are There – Music Story

In a world in which there is no firm ground on which to build identity, Psalm139 offers me incredible authenticity and incredible freedom. Let me explain.

Incredible Authenticity

Psalm 139 tells me I am fearfully and wonderfully made. The Creator knit my DNA, my chromosomes, my body, together in my mother’s womb. I sense the world around me and relate to it. I connect with others. I imagine possibilities and work to achieve them. My ability to do all this is firmly grounded in the body God fashioned for me. Accepting that my body is God’s very good creation gives me incredible authenticity.

But my desires don’t always align with what my body is able to do. As a kindergartener, I could barely contain my excitement when my class was invited to sing on the radio. I was crushed when my teacher told me, “You may come with us to the studio. You may mouth the words of the song, but you must not sing.” Sadly, I couldn’t carry a tune.

Incredible Freedom

Psalm 139 tells me that the Creator knows me better than I know myself! He understands how I think. How I feel. How I move. He knows my deep disappointments. He is with me in the highs and lows, the joys and hurts. I can share raw feelings and uncensored thoughts with this awesome Creator, the God who loves me and gave his life for me. Amazingly, humility and hope accompany this incredible freedom.

From the musical “The Majesty of the Maker” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Psalm 139.

Kathy

Click here to read Psalm 139.

Print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for You Are There.

Click here for PDF.

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.) 

I Pray for You – Music Story

He was the youngest of seven and the first to die. Two months ago, I got an unexpected phone call saying he was gone. I never thought my baby brother would die first. I’m shaken and dazed.

Jim was a fluid power specialist, an antique motorcycle enthusiast, a miniature railroad hobbyist, a friend of stray cats, a country boy who never married but used his resources to help care for his single sisters. Family, friends, neighbors, and coworkers attended his funeral. Many told me how he had touched their lives. In 2009 Paul’s prayer for the church in Ephesus became my prayer for him. Someday I hope to learn how God answered that prayer.

From the album “Sing” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Ephesians 1.

Kathy

Click here for my brother’s obituary.

Print (PDF of Lead Sheet) and/or digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for I Pray for You.

Click here for PDF.

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.)

The Hymn of Salvation by Grace – Music Story

There is an ancient song in the New Testament book of Titus! It is “hidden” in plain view in chapter three.

While it is not apparent in the NIV that verses four through seven are song lyrics, The Passion Translation (TPT) correctly calls these verses “The Hymn of Salvation by Grace.” The early church may have sung this hymn as part of a baptismal service. Paul says that the words are trustworthy.

The ancient songwriter used music to express this truth: we are saved by God’s grace. What was the melody like? What mode was it sung in? Was it sung in unison? Accompanied by instruments? I don’t know. Since the words are trustworthy, I offer them as a short rap, performed by percussion instruments. I will leave the melody and mode to you.

From the album “Sing” this video is scrolling playback of Titus 3:4-7 set to a beat.

Kathy

Click here to read Titus 3 in the NIV and here to read it in TPT.

Print (PDF) sheet music is available for The Hymn of Salvation by Grace.

Click here for PDF.

The Enigmatic Shroud of Turin

The Shroud of Turin is the most studied artifact of history. Who made the image? How?

Last October I gave a presentation on the Shroud of Turin. Twenty-five days ago, I uploaded the presentation to my YouTube channel. I’m stunned. YouTube tells me, “This video has gotten 1,534 views since it was published”!!! Apparently, the Shroud is a hot topic.

Kathy

Click here and here to read about Jesus’ burial.

Ordinary Lives – Music Story

God longs for “every day” Christians.

For ordinary Christians who represent him in the mundane things of life.
For Christians, every day, in every place, humbly clothed in heaven’s grace.

Every day in every place humbly clothed in heaven’s grace

 “…So that in every way they will make the teaching about God our Savior attractive.”

From the album “Main Street” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Titus 2:10.

Kathy

Click here to read Titus 2:10.

Print (PDF) and digital (MusicXML) sheet music is available for Ordinary Lives.

Click here for PDF.

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.)