I shared this song many years ago in this space but since we just sang it at church yesterday (it tied into my sermon “Worth the Wait”) I thought I would post it here today. John 13-17, also knows as “the upper room discourse” contain some of my favorite teachings of Jesus, where even though the disciples faced forthcoming times of uncertainty, Jesus reassures them,
“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going.” – John 13:1-3
“What was I made for?” the Barbie movie, Grammy-award-winning song asks? (I got to accompany my daughter singing that song a month or so ago for our annual Women’s Day, by the way, what fun! And what a great song.) What was I made for? Why am I here? As I grapple with the deepest questions of life right now, already surviving past the typical glioblastoma patient at my stage, this is something I think about every day. I want every moment to count. I want to accomplish what I was put here to do. Why am I here? In a word, “worship.” Worship is what I was made for (Isaiah 43:21).
Worship You My King Lyric Video (also see this early version)
WORSHIP YOU MY KING CCLI # 7231636
You have made me Though you shaped me still you know How imperfect I can be I’m unworthy But you turn me toward your light And you set my spirit free
I will worship you Almighty maker of everything I will lift my voice and sing I will worship you With all of my soul, All my inmost being I will worship you, my king
All creation Every nation on the earth Every soul wants to belong From the inside Hear my heart, wide open now Crying out to you in song
I will worship you Almighty maker of earth and sea I will lift my hands and sing I will worship you As all round the world All our praise will ring I will worship you, my king
In my heart you reign alone Forever seated on the throne In my heart you reign alone
I will worship you Almighty maker of everything I will lift my voice and sing I will worship you Almighty maker of earth and sea I will worship you, my king
I will worship you Almighty maker of everything I will worship you, my king I will worship you As all round the world All our praise will ring I will worship you, my king
Last week I posted a new song about the epic cosmic struggle we are in as people of faith (and I shared personally about my present health battle). I was encouraged that the song generated a big positive response and heard about some groups singing the song already! Here is a lyric video version, suitable for online worship service or groups that use lyric videos for worshiping in smaller gatherings or ministries that don’t have live musicians. God bless!
I’m in my own holy battle right now with the forces of chaos that attack my very body and brain. Fighting cancer is difficult to say the least, but it helps me when I daily choose surrender. Choose to trust my Creator along my journey and frame my own struggles within the greater cosmic battle over death that I believe has already been won. The forces of evil rejoiced as the Son of Man was brutally tortured and killed, all the fury of the Chaos Dragon focused wholly upon him (Rev 12:12). But death could not hold him. He rose from the grave, he gave us his name, and a Great Commission. No matter what happens with my temporal human existence I will rise again because the battle has already been won.
This Holy Battle – new congregational song (and an update on my health journey)
This Holy Battle CCLI # 7231574
He rose from the grave He gave us his name And a great commission The battle’s been won The chains are undone And we have a mission
You gave your only son To show the depths of your love Now we can overcome Because we know what you’ve done This holy battle’s won
There’s no greater fight You show us your light In a world that’s divided The battle for souls Love making us whole In Jesus united
chorus
Let love conquer fear Keep drawing us near So we can be like you Your Spirit will guide Your power ignite As we speak your whole truth
I love to use this space for sharing original songs written by other disciples in my church family, and today I’d like to share a catchy and upbeat song by the campus ministry leader for the Guam Christian Church called “You Are God.” This song seems super fun and easy to learn. Please try it out, and if you can send me a recording of your group singing it, send it to me and I’ll add it to this post. Below are the lyrics and the chords you will see on the video. I like how the song first focuses on who God is (v.1) and then my response to who God is in terms of personal devotion (v.2) and spreading his love to others (v.3).
YOU ARE GOD by Brandon Young
Who made the blind man see You alone can rescue me You are God my only King You are God
There’s no other Who calms the raging sea You lift us up on wings like eagles
You are God You are God You are God To me You are God You are God You are God To me
I will deny myself And I’ll pick up cross I pledge to love you with my deeds
No other God before I’ll put You first I mean it when I say You’re everything
chorus
I’ll share my faith with those Who may not know they need A Savior just like You saved me
I need You more than I Need air to breathe Don’t live off bread alone because I see
Hello everyone! Happy Monday and happy MLK day. In honor of his legacy and his dream, I wanted to post a song I was asked to produce along with some friends of mine a few years ago for an online conference, “Let Justice Roll.” This song was an anthem of the civil rights movement here in my country years before I was born. I believe God is working among the nations to slowly bring change, and the rule and reign of King Jesus! Collectively, as the people of God, we shall overcome someday.
Thanks so much for all of you who continue to pray for me and encourage me in my health journey. I am coming up on one year since life changed dramatically for me, and I’m still processing and learning, living each day grateful for every moment. I wanted to share a new song today that was inspired a year or two ago by spending a lot of time in the Torah, specifically via the Bible Project podcast (which I referenced in my post last week as well). I feel like God was preparing me for my present struggle with a lot of foundational study about the ancient faith and cosmic story I get to be a part of. I know whatever happens with my cancer, Life carries on and I am grateful for whatever part I get to play in all the heavens and earth declaring the praise of my God and creator, YHWH. I love that a couple little birds couldn’t help but join in as I was singing this song of praise (listen and you’ll hear their beautiful voices).
Yahweh
Israel Chosen servant Holy nation saved Promised land Law observant Fractured and afraid
So he came Humble manger Our Creator near Here he dwells Word now living God of Torah here
All the heavens declaring your praise All the nations bow down and afraid Here we call on your Almighty Name Yahweh As the perfect reflection He came And by no other Way are we saved We’re baptized and reborn in His Name Yahweh
With one voice Sing with joy we Gather in your name Jesus saves Jesus makes us Whole again, remade
What a fellowship What a joy divine Leaning on the everlasting arms What a blessedness What a peace is mine Leaning on the everlasting arms
Leaning, leaning Leaning on the everlasting arms
Verse G#m / C#m / G#m / C#m G#m / C#m / A2 / A2
Chorus E / Bsus / C#m / A2 E / Bsus / A2 / A2
Bridge (Leaning On the Everlasting Arms) E / Bsus / C#m / A2 Bsus
Thanks so much for all of you who have been praying for me and my health. I’m doing OK these days. Clean MRI last week so I’m super pumped about that! Still using my Optune device and praying for many more years to be with my family and get to serve the church this side of paradise. God is so very good to me and I just want to get to fulfill the tasks he has laid out for me, to run the race with perseverance he’s given me to run. Wanted to share this song today, “Heaven’s Declare.” I wrote this one about 5 or 6 years ago while on summer vacation up in the mountains of Evergreen Colorado, looking at the stars and meditating on Psalm 19. I was also thinking about our upcoming youth camp and writing an upbeat praise song that would be fun to sing with the youngsters, especially on our “starlight devotional” night. Since then I have been learning so much more about the heavens and earth, the stars, the elohim, the “sons of God,” so much more than I could even begin to talk about here, but I would recommend the whole catalogue of the Bible Project podcast, which provides some really great scholarly teaching in a very approachable format. It has been helping me so much to re-evaluate my whole cosmology, gaining so much more appreciation for the ancient worldview that informed the biblical authors. (I was thinking about this when I created the artwork for the album cover. See also this great book on the topic by Michael Heiser, a Bible scholar I’ve been reading recently.) These new (old) insights have been providing enlightenment and encouragement in my own spiritual battle, and more depth of meaning to my daily Bible studies and appreciation for God’s creation and constant reminders of his presence.
So excited to finally release this new album of 15 worship songs! Some of these are new, some have been in the works for many years. Most all are written for congregational use–a few we’ve been singing for years already, and a few we have yet to try out with our worship team and Sunday gathering. Love to hear your feedback on the songs! In this video I discuss the project with my friends who helped me with it. Listen at these links: https://songwhip.com/jbriancraig/heavens-declare
I wanted to share a song today from yesterday’s live stream. In the video I give the background for the song, which is written from the perspective of the church to the outside world, our friends and neighbors, appealing to them to join us in following Jesus. Here are the lyrics and chords. Also I’m including the latest draft of the studio version (just audio, no video), which I’ve been working on for a new forthcoming album (due out in a month or so).
Come Along – 2023 mix
Ordinary men and women
Come together, to catch a glimpse of heaven
On a search for heaven
What’s mine is yours and yours is mine
We’ll be together for all time in heaven
Up in heaven
Come along see what we’ve found
We got our problems
We got our ups and downs but we’re
Growing stronger on the Way
We need each other
We’re gonna make there someday
We want you to see it too
Find a deeper point of view of heaven
See what’s in heaven
Open up and look inside
We’re all the same, we’re built for finding heaven
Monday Morning Music 