Secret Lives – Music Story

Naked without their cloaks of verdant green, the twisted remains of once majestic trees lie wrecked on the ground, their roots too shallow to hold them upright in the violent wind, their grotesque shapes now laid bare.

Naked without the luxuriant cloak of cultural correctness, what shape would a violent wind uncover if my world view be so shallow that I lay uprooted, exposed, and wrecked on the ground? 

From the musical The Majesty of the Maker! this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

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

Click here to read about shallow world views.

The song asserts that children are hard-wired to believe in God. Click here and here to read why.

You can get print (PDF) and/or digital (MusicXML™) sheet music for Secret Lives.

Click here for print sheet music.

Click here for digital sheet music.
(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.)

Hangman’s Game – Music Story

Their enemies were cruel. And on the march. The nation had a leader, a man who had united them politically. He was a prophet and a priest and a judge. He taught the people God’s laws and settled civil disputes. But the nation wanted more. The surrounding nations had kings. And that’s what they wanted. A king. A man who would lead them into battle against their enemies.

So, God asked Samuel to anoint Saul as their king. Saul was successful in war. In the first two and a half years of his reign he led the nation into victory against almost all their enemies. Then God asked Saul to wage war and destroy God’s enemy, the Amalekites. Saul assembled the soldiers for battle. They defeated but did not destroy God’s enemy. They saved the best of the spoils of war for themselves. They captured king Agag and made him a prisoner of war. According to one source, by “… letting the king of Amalek live, his line eventually gave birth to the likes of Haman and Hitler.”[1]

King Saul was a tragic figure. Instead of leading his soldiers, he bowed to their wishes. That was the beginning of his demise. From the album “This and That – A Little Bit of Everything” this video is music overlaid on slides.

Kathy

Click here to read about King Saul’s downfall.

Digital (MusicXML) and/or print (PDF) sheet music is available for Hangman’s Game.

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.)

Click here for PDF.

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[1] Saul: The First King(jewishhistory.org)

Make This House Our Home – Music Story

There’s a new breed of legalism infecting society. It’s not your grandpa’s legalism. No, no. It’s much worse.

This ditty from the 1940s and 50s epitomizes grandpa’s legalism: “I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, I don’t chew, and I don’t associate with those who do.” Grandpa’s legalism was judgmental and hypocritical. Children chafed at the rules. But this legalism peacefully coexisted with outsiders who didn’t share its values.

Today’s legalism is not a live and let live legalism. It is venomous. It refuses to coexist with those who do not share its beliefs. It sues those who choose not to celebrate what it values![1]

Children read the culture. How can families work through differences and disagreements in a culture that models bullying?

From the album “Silly or Celebratory – Songs for Sara Lily” this video is scrolling playback of the song.

Kathy

Click here for Buzz Thompson’s song about grandpa’s legalism.

Print (PDF) sheet music is available for Make This House Our Home.

Click here for PDF.

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[1] Colorado baker sued again over alleged LGBTQ bias - ABC News (go.com)

Living Hope – Music Story

Have you ever been startled, then disappointed by something Jesus said?

Seven churches. Real churches that existed when John wrote Revelation. But they could represent seven periods of church history or seven types of churches that have existed throughout church history.

Seven letters. A letter to each church from Jesus telling them to expect his coming. Except that Jesus didn’t tell all seven to expect his coming. He only told six of the seven. But, repeatedly, Revelation says that Jesus is coming and coming soon.

Rev 1:7 he is coming with the clouds
Rev 2:5 I will come to you
Rev 2:16 I will soon come
Rev 2:25 I come
Rev 3:3 I will come
Rev 3:11 I am coming soon
Rev 3:20 Here I am! I stand at the door
Rev 16:15 I come like a thief
Rev 22:7 I am coming soon
Rev 22:12 I am coming soon
Rev 22:20 I am coming soon

Experts on Jesus’ coming cite passages outside of Revelation to show that Jesus’ coming for his church is imminent. It could happen at any time, even today. No prophetic event needs to happen first. And the church is to be encouraged and find hope in this. So, I read Jesus’ letters to the churches with deep disappointment. The church that would find the most hope in Jesus’ imminent return is told to expect something else.

“Do not be afraid 

of what you are about to suffer.

I tell you,

the devil will put some of you in prison to test you,

and you will suffer persecution for ten days.

Be faithful, even to the point of death,

and I will give you the crown of life.”

Revelation 2:8, 10

Where is the suffering church to find hope, if not in Jesus coming? From the album “Apologia – Answers for Troubled Minds” this song finds an answer in the first chapter of 1 Peter.

Kathy

Peter wrote to a church facing persecution. Click here to discover where Peter found hope.

Click here and here to read the disquieting things the church can expect when Jesus comes.

You can get digital (MusicXML™) and/or print (PDF) sheet music for Living Hope.

Click here for digital sheet music.
(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.) 

Click here for print sheet music.

Jesus' Family Tree

 According to ancestry.com “Every family has a story.” And they are in the business of helping you find your family’s story, one ancestor at a time.

Here’s my family’s story, one ancestor at a time. Dad and Mom’s wedding photo is in the middle. My siblings and I are above them. The houses we lived in flank us. Dad’s ancestors are to the left of their wedding photo and Mom’s to the right.

The list of Dad’s ancestors in his handwriting goes back to 1654. You can see that Dad was a cutie as a little boy. And one of the houses he lived in is next to him. His parents are below him. There’s a photo of his mother’s sod shanty next to her. And Dad’s grandparents are on the bottom row.

On the right is Mom as a child. She loved animals. Her folks are below her, and the vertical log farmhouse her father built is below them. (I inherited a plant stand he made.)

My family tree tells the story of humble, hard-working people.

What story does Jesus’ family tree tell?

Both Matthew and Luke contain his genealogies. But the names are different; they don’t line up. In fact, they contradict each other. Bible critics claim that the Bible cannot be trusted because of the genealogies. But a close examination of his family tree tells an astonishing story.

This eleven-minute presentation examines Jesus’ family tree.

Kathy

Click here to read J Warner Wallace’s article “Ten Principles when Considering Alleged Bible Contradictions."

The presentation concludes with the last verse of the song “Light of the World.” Click here for the whole song.

Is Christmas a Pagan Holiday?

It’s an internet version of an inside joke. It’s shared by thousands of people. It grows, spreads until it becomes part of the culture, and then it dies. But some that should die, live on in Facebook. What is it? A meme.

According to the online Oxford Dictionary a meme is “an image, video, piece of text, etc., typically humorous in nature, that is copied and spread rapidly by internet users, often with slight variations.”

Memes frequently pop up on my Facebook news feed, some silly, some affirming, some trite, some humorous, some thought-provoking, some cute, others a failure, some that question Christianity.

Those memes are the ones that deserve a response! That’s what this 35-minute presentation is about. Answering memes about Christmas that populated my Facebook news feed last Christmas.

Kathy

GC Veritas is the apologetic outreach of Ginger Creek Community Church. Click here to for other GC Veritas presentations.

The Calling - Music Story

 We’re called to
                One hope
                One Lord
                One faith
                One baptism

We’re called to
                One God and Father of all
                Who is over all
                And through all
                And in all

Live a life worthy of this calling

Live a life of love

From the album “Sing” this video is scrolling playback of a song based on Ephesians 4.
Kathy

Click here to read Ephesians 4.

Print sheet music for choir is available for The Calling.

Click here for PDF.

Do you teach or play a wind, reed, brass, or string instrument? The Calling is on SmartMusic, the comprehensive music practice app!

Click here to practice the music. 

Click here for SmartMusic help.

You can change key and instrumentation with MusicXML – digital sheet music.

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.)