Author Archives: stevewolfgang

Modern Hymn Writers Aim To Take Back Sunday – NPR

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Modern Hymn Writers Aim To Take Back Sunday – NPR

Modern Hymn Writers Aim To Take Back Sunday – NPR

by  —  July 08, 2013 3:28 PM

Modern hymn writers Kristyn and Keith Getty run through their song "In Christ Alone" at their home near Nashville's Music Row.

Modern hymn writers Kristyn and Keith Getty run through their song “In Christ Alone” at their home near Nashville’s Music Row.

Courtesy of Stephen Jerkins

There was a time when hymns were used primarily to drive home the message that came from the pulpit. But then came the praise songs.

Matt Redman’s song “Our God” is the most popular piece of music in Christian churches today. That’s according to charts that track congregational singing — yes, there is such a thing. But approaching the Top 10 is a retro hymn: “In Christ Alone,” co-written by Keith Getty.

Keith’s wife, Kristyn, sings the hymn, while he plays the piano in their home near Nashville’s Music Row. The couple came to town to write songs not for individual artists, but for what Keith Getty calls “the congregation.”

“Our goal is to write songs that teach the faith, where the congregation is the main thing, and everybody accompanies that,” he says.

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Read more at the link  — http://www.npr.org/2013/07/08/200013769/modern-hymn-writers-aim-to-take-back-sunday

Ashkelon through the Ages, Part I

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More from Trent and Rebekah at Ashkelon

Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus

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Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus

Notes & Neurons: In Search of the Common Chorus

Is our response to music hard-wired or culturally determined? Is the reaction to rhythm and melody universal or influenced by environment? John Schaefer, scientist Daniel Levitin, and musical artist Bobby McFerrin engage in live performances and cross-cultural demonstrations to illustrate music’s noteworthy interaction with the brain and our emotions

A HYMN FOR TODAY – Almighty God, Your Lofty Throne

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

Almighty God, Your lofty throne
Has justice for its cornerstone,
And shining bright before Your face
Are truth and love and boundless grace.

With blessing is the nation crowned
Whose people know the joyful sound;
They in the light, O LORD, shall live,
The light Your face and favor give.

Your name with gladness they confess,
Exalted in Your righteousness;
Their fame and might to You belong,
For in Your favor they are strong.

All glory unto God we yield;
Jehovah is our help and shield;
All praise and honor will we bring
To Israel’s Holy One, our King.

LM – Psalm 89:14-18, arr. McNaugher’s Psalter (1912)
Tune: Winchester New – Rebenlein’s Musikalisches Handbuch der Geistlichen Melodien (1690),
arr. William Henry Havergal (1847)

#16 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

Egyptian sphinx fragment found at Hazor

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Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem announced today the discovery at Hazor of a sphinx fragment of Pharaoh Mycerinus. Mycerinus is the builder of the smallest of the three great pyramids of Giza in Egypt. The photo below was made facing east toward the Nile Valley. The pyramid of Mycerinus is on the right. The pyramid, built about 2500 B.C., is 204 feet high.

The press release from Jerusalem says,

At a site in Tel Hazor National Park, north of the Sea of Galilee, archeologists from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have unearthed part of a unique Sphinx belonging to one of the ancient pyramid-building pharaohs.

The Hazor Excavations are headed by Prof. Amnon Ben-Tor, the Yigael Yadin Professor in the Archaeology of Eretz Israel at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology, and Dr. Sharon Zuckerman, a lecturer at the Hebrew University’s Institute of Archaeology.

Working with a…

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The Cowbell Curmudgeon (a Conundrum)

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Whose child is this?

Twisted Running's avatartwisted running

So, today I got to cheer for some of the 60,000 runners who undertook a wet, soggy Peachtree Road Race. I was supposed to run, but am trying not to aggravate a slow-to-heal injury from Ragnar Chicago. I was very responsible and decided to forego the race and serve as chauffeur/cheerleader for my husband, sister, brother-in-law, and friends.

So that is how I ended up outside the Flying Biscuit in midtown at 7:30 this morning, ready to cheer on runners at the busiest corner of the race. The intersection of Piedmont and 10th streets is just .2 miles from the finish, on the middle of an uphill push to the end. Also, it allows easy access to, you know, biscuits. And coffee. I was all coffeed up, outside and ready to cheer by the time the elite women went by.

I was alone, but I had brought my trusty cowbell…

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A HYMN FOR TODAY – From Every Stormy Wind That Blows

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A HYMN FOR TODAY

From every stormy wind that blows,
From every swelling tide of woes,
There is a calm, a sure retreat;
‘Tis found beneath the mercy seat.

There is a place where Jesus sheds
The oil of gladness on our heads,
A place than all besides more sweet;
It is the blood-bought mercy seat.

There is a scene where spirits blend,
Where friend holds fellowship with friend;
Though sundered far, by faith they meet
Around one common mercy seat.

O let my hand forget her skill,
My tongue be silent, cold and still,
This bounding heart forget to beat,
If I forget the mercy seat!

LM (8.8.8.8) – Hugh Stowell, 1828

Tune: RETREAT – Thomas Hastings, 1841

#326 in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, 2012

The last verse is sometimes not included with this hymn.

Do we have archaeological evidence the tabernacle was at Shiloh?

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Ferrell Jenkins's avatarFerrell's Travel Blog

During the midst of the allocation of the land to the various tribes of Israel, all of them gathered at Shiloh (Shilo) and set up the tent of meeting or tabernacle (Hebrew mishkan) (Joshua 18:1), which is also called the house of God in Joshua 18:31. Here they made the final division of the land (Joshua 18:8-10).

Then the whole congregation of the people of Israel assembled at Shiloh and set up the tent of meeting there. The land lay subdued before them. (Joshua 18:1 ESV)

Several Israeli newspapers are reporting  a brief notice that archaeologists have discovered holes in the ground at Shiloh which could have held the beams of the Tabernacle. The account in Israel Hayom (Tuesday July 2) is found here.

The findings, which will be presented at a conference of the Shiloh Association scheduled to take place this week in ancient Shiloh, include the discovery…

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Collecting postcards from the Middle East

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We are the Chicago Sun-Times photography department

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We are the Chicago Sun-Times photography department

We are the Chicago Sun-Times photography department

After the Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire photography department, CNN commissioned former staffer Brian Powers to shoot this series of portraits of his colleagues holding something meaningful from their careers. Several of the photographers said they feel like they lost more than just a job.