Jesus, Lover of My Soul

Here is a classic hymn by Charles Wesley. It was very well known years ago, but, to my dismay, when I mentioned it to a group of friends recently, very few of them had heard of it. The powerful words speak for themselves.

JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL

Jesus, Lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high;
Hide me, O my Savior, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide,
O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none;
Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;
More than all in Thee I find;
Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick and lead the blind.
Just and holy is Ty name,
I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,
Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within.
Thou of life the fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart,
Rise to all eternity.

        --Charles Wesley

Soli Deo Gloria

Fear

I have been reading during the last couple days about the recent shooting of a congresswoman and 18 other people in Tucson, Arizona, which resulted in 6 deaths and 13 injuries of varying seriousness. Any occurrence like this one sparks much public debate about everything from gun control to public safety to political ideology. One topic which this violence particularly brought to my mind is that of fear. How can we, the general public, live in such a violent world without fear? Is it even bad to fear? How do we live in light of our fear?

First of all, I believe that fear is not necessarily a bad thing. God did, after all, create humans with a natural tendency to fear certain things. Though some may claim to fear nothing, I highly doubt that any person can honestly live without fear, even if that person's only fear is of fear itself.

That being said, almost anything in excess (for example, medicine, food, sleep) is potentially damaging and often wrong. Fear is definitely one of them. How, then, do we overcome it? The answer lies in the power to overcome the object of fear. Now, if I, an unarmed civilian, were suddenly confronted by a raging madman brandishing a firearm, I would not have the power to overcome him. If I had a similar firearm and the knowledge to use it, I would still not have the power to overcome a tank. If I had a tank, I still would not have the power to overcome a nuclear weapon. If I had the most secure bomb shelter in the world, I still would not have the power to overcome cancer. In short, humans are not as powerful as we think. The strongest human in the world has something that is stronger than him, something to fear. How, then, can a human overcome fear? The answer lies in a source of power outside himself. That power is God.

God is an infinite, personal being who is not confined to time or space. He has always existed. It was He who created the universe and everything in it. Not only did He create it, He sustains it and has complete power over it. We, as humans, are the crown jewel of His creation. Being His creation, all humans are under His complete control. So, supposing I am attacked by a shooter, can I just ask God to make him drop dead? The answer is no. God chooses not to work this way. How then, you may ask, can God possibly help me conquer fear? The answer lies in the fact that there is something infinitely more valuable than material and physical well-being. That something is spiritual well-being: fellowship with the all-powerful God. Consider the following verses from the Bible.

Matthew 10:26-31 “So do not be afraid of them, for there is nothing concealed that will not be disclosed, or hidden that will not be made known. What I tell you in the dark, speak in the daylight; what is whispered in your ear, proclaim from the roofs. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows. (ESV)


The crux of the matter lies in verse 28: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell." At first, this is not a comforting thought at all! God, however, is not only all-powerful, perfect, and judgmental. He is loving. He loves every person in the world on an individual basis. John 3:16 says, "For God so loves the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

We, as everyone knows, live in an imperfect world. In fact, all humans are imperfect themselves. We not only are imperfect, we are fundamentally marred by sin. Sin is the inability of man to live up to God's standard of moral perfection. It literally means the "missing of the mark" of God's perfection. Because of our sin, we are condemned to hell, a place of eternal torment. We will go to this place after we die, and we will remain there forever in eternal torment. This definitely is the ultimate cause for fear.


How, you ask again, can I be free from fear? The good news is that God does not want us to go to hell. This is what John 3:16 means. He sent His Son, Jesus, the only perfect man ever to walk the earth, to die for us on the cross. His death payed the penalty that is ours because of our sin. He did not stay dead, however. No dead person can have power, much less give power to anyone else. Oh, no! He rose from the dead three days later and now offers His salvation to every person in the world. All we have to do is accept it through faith in Him. Romans 10:9 says, "If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved." God will save everyone who believes in His Son Jesus Christ.

What, you may ask, is salvation? Salvation is the condition of someone who is free from sin. He no longer has to sin anymore. In addition, he is free from death, the penalty from sin. This does not mean that he will not die on the earth. It means that, instead of eternal death in hell, he will have eternal life in the presence of God in heaven.

Now, back to Matthew 10:26: "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul." We no longer have to be afraid of death because we have eternal life! Because of this, we do not have to fear rabid killers such as the one last week in Tucson, because we know that all he can take away is our life on earth. I am not saying that we will not feel fear whatsoever. Instead, we will not be slave to it. We are not terrified or paralyzed with fear. This is because no person or disease or catastrophe can ever touch our eternal life in heaven with the almighty, loving Creator of the universe. This is true freedom from fear!


If you have any questions whatsoever about how you can be saved, please comment and I will help in any way I can to point you toward God.


Soli Deo Gloria

Arise, My Soul, Arise

This is one of my favorite hymns. It is written by the great hymn-writer Charles Wesley. It is not very well-known, but speaks powerfully of the power of Christ's salvation to forgive the sinner.

Arise, My Soul, Arise

Arise, my soul, arise.
Shake off they guilty fears.
The bleeding Sacrifice
In my behalf appears.
Before the throne my Surety stands,
Before the throne my Surety stands;
My name is written on His hands.

He ever lives above
For me to intercede,
His all-redeeming love,
His precious blood to plead.
His blood atoned for all our race,
His blood atoned for all our race,
And sprinkles now the throne of grace.

Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Received on Calvary.
They pour effectual prayers;
They strongly plead for me.
"Forgive him, oh, forgive," they cry,
"Forgive him, oh, forgive," they cry,
"Nor let that ransomed sinner die."

The Father hears Him pray,
His dear Anointed One;
He cannot turn away
The presence of His son.
His Spirit answers to the blood,
His Spirit answers to the blood,
And tells me I am born of God.

My God is reconciled;
His pard'ning voice I hear.
He owns me for His child;
I can no longer fear..
With confidence I now draw nigh,
With confidence I now draw nigh,
And, "Father, Abba, Father," cry.

           --Charles Wesley

Soli Deo Gloria

Minimalist music

Minimalist music is a style of modern classical in which, as the name would suggest, less is more. It started, if I am not mistaken, during the 1950s and 60s and continues to this day, although it has lost some popularity.
You may ask, "What, in musical terms, is less?" Well, minimalist music usually has fewer chord changes, and certainly fewer key changes, than other styles. In addition, it may be quite repetitive. It is relatively static compared to other styles of classical music, and can almost be a little hypnotic because of its repetitiveness. Here are a few examples I would recommend:
Phillip Glass: Metamorphosis 2. Glass wrote 5 piano pieces called Metamorphoses, all good examples of minimalism. I enjoy listening to all of them, but if you don't want to do this, I would recommend the second as my favorite.
Arvo Part: Spiegel im Spiegel. This is a gorgeous piece for violin and piano. You will immediately detect the repetitiveness of the arpeggios played by the piano, while the violin plays a beautiful, slow, and very simple melody in which every phrase ends on the note A. It is hauntingly and ingeniously simple.
Henryck Gorecki: Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Movement 2. This may not be minimalism in its purest form, but if not it certainly is very closely related. This symphony features a solo soprano, who sings a long melody against a pretty static orchestral sound composed mostly of strings. The soprano part is very powerful because it is composed almost entirely of half and whole steps, which makes the rare leaps absolutely heart-rending.
James Newton Howard: The Village Motion Picture Soundtrack (The Gravel Road). This is a modern example of minimalism, particularly evident at the very beginning of this selection. The hypnotic effect of  the constantly repeated arpeggios so characteristic of minimalist music is very evident here.

Now, what do I think of all this? As far as pure listening enjoyment goes, I love it. The minimalist genre is one of my favorite to listen to because it is so relaxing. It tends to be fairly quiet and subdued as far as dynamics go. I also enjoy listening to it because it is so intellectually undemanding. This leads me to a problem, though. It is enjoyable, but is it intellectually rewarding? I would say yes, to a certain degree; however, it is undeniable that the blossoming counterpoint of Bach, the thundering orchestral statements of Beethoven, and the rugged rhythms and harmonies of Brahms are much more demanding to the mind and, therefore, more rewarding. Am I saying that we should not listen to minimalist music? Absolutely not. I have no plans of doing this any time soon. However, we must not let our ears get lazy. We must also listen to music that engages our mind. The same goes for composing. At least for me (the same may not be true for everyone) it is fairly easy to create music that sounds nice but does not go anywhere melodically or harmonically. In other words: minimalist music. Is writing this type of music fun and rewarding? Undeniably. Will an audience respond well to it? Quite possibly? But will it hone my skills to make me a better musician? Probably not.

Soli Deo Gloria

Traveling

As I made the previous post, I realized that not a single one of those pictures was taken in the US. That reminded me of some of the places that I have opportunity to visit in the last few years. Here are five of my favorites.

New York City: Growing up I often found myself in big cities, and I have grown to enjoy them. I had the opportunity to go to New York on my high school senior class trip. It was a lot of fun. I enjoy all the museums and concert halls. I will warn you, however, that New York is not a place to go if you want to save money.

The Netherlands: I had the opportunity to visit the Netherlands with the Faith Chorale last year. It was a lot of fun, and I really enjoyed staying with a Dutch family during my stay there. One place I particularly enjoyed was Kinderdijk. It is a village with 19 windmills, which is pretty rare, since most villages only have one. It makes for some excellent picture taking. Zaanse Schans was also a lot of fun. It is a traditional Dutch town geared towards tourists. We got a tour of a windmill (very interesting) and free cheese samples (very delicious) and our share of traditional Dutch games in the main square (very invigorating).

The Rhine River Valley, Germany: There were many different parts of Germany I enjoyed, but as far as scenery, this part was my favorite. We stayed in a town called Rüdesheim. It was my first experience in a youth hostel, which was interesting, involving, as it did, dozens of screaming German junior-highers. The scenery involved terraced grapevines as far as the eye can see on both sides of the river (I did not partake of the fruit of the vine). We took a cruise on it and were able to see many small towns nestled against its banks, along with castles at the top of nearly every hill. It was an amazing experience.

Alps, Austria: I was only in Austria for a day, so I was not able to see too much, but what I did see was the view from the top of an Alp. 'Nough said.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany: This was another place I only saw briefly. I think we were only there for about 2 hours, but it was probably my favorite town in all of Germany. It is a small medieval town that still has a wall which goes all the way around it. The atmosphere was just amazing as I walked around. My favorite part was when I walked through a gate in the wall to suddenly be in a garden that had a view of the surrounding forests that stretched for miles. Breathtaking.

What are some of your favorite places that you have visited?

Soli Deo Gloria

Pictures

I am an inconsistent photographer at best, but I still enjoy taking pictures. Here are a few of my favorites.

This is a view of one of the spires of the cathedral in Cologne, Germany from the inside.

 A rusty bike on a bridge in Kinderdijk, Holland.

A tower in the wall of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany.

Another view in Kinderdijk.

Sunrise in the Pantanal, a huge swamp in Southwestern Brazil.

Another view of the sunrise in the Pantanal.

Tell me what you think!

Soli Deo Gloria

Holy Sonnet X--John Donne

This is one of my favorite poems by John Donne, a poet from the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He was a Catholic, but any true believer can relate to this poem about victory over death.

HOLY SONNETS.
X.
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so ;
For those, whom thou think'st thou dost overthrow,
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy picture be,
Much pleasure, then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul's delivery.
Thou'rt slave to Fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy, or charms can make us sleep as well,
And better than thy stroke ;  why swell'st thou then ?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally,
And Death shall be no more ;  Death, thou shalt die. 

       --John Donne

Soli Deo Gloria

Soundtrack music

Today I have been thinking about classical music and how many people say they could never listen to it. What many people do not realize, however, is how much classical music they already listen to, and even (gasp!) enjoy. Case in point: Soundtrack music.
Now, I must clarify. First of all, what is soundtrack music? There are many types of soundtrack music, but what I am going to focus on for the purpose of this argument is music that was composed for a feature film that is not a musical. In other words, this is not a Broadway adaptation and the characters do not suddenly burst into song. Second, I must explain that here I am chiefly speaking of music written for orchestra. Not all soundtracks are like this. The soundtrack for Transformers is mostly rock music. Tron has mostly electronic music. I am not speaking of these here.
The fact is that much, if not most, soundtrack music is composed for traditional orchestra and occasionally choir. For example, we have all heard "Imperial March" and "Duel of the Fates" from the Star Wars movies. I don't know of anyone who would say he dislikes these pieces, yet they are both composed for traditional orchestra ("Duel" also has a choir). As a matter of fact, I once was in an orchestra that played "Imperial March" in a classical concert! This is not the only example of classical-style music in a movie. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Braveheart, Gladiator, The Village, Sherlock Holmes, Inception, The Dark Night, Pirates of the Caribbean: all of these have traditional orchestras playing music that is very close to classical music! And the list could go on and on.
So why do people who enjoy this type of music persist in saying they can't stand classical music? I think a large part of the problem lies in perception. Classical music is perceived as the music of past generations. When we think of it, we think of people in powdered wigs and 1700s ballroom attire. On the other hand, when we think of the soundtrack of, say, The Lord of the Rings, we perceive the soundtrack together with the movie, which we probably have already seen and probably already like. Because we like the movie, we are far more likely to enjoy the soundtrack. Besides, the movie is "cool," so that makes the soundtrack "cool" too, right? I think we should get over our perception of classical music as old fashioned. Yes, lots of it was written a long time ago, but that does not diminish its value. Most treasured works of literature were written centuries or even millenia ago. Hamlet, The Count of Monte Cristo, Pride and Prejudice, Iliad, and (believe it or not) the Bible. If we can still read and enjoy these, why can't we enjoy classical music?
Homework assignment: try listening to the piece "Samwise the Brave" from the soundtrack to The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by Howard Shore. Then, listen to "Largo" from Symphony No. 9 (from the New World) by Antonin Dvorak. Compare them and then, if you want, comment to tell me what you think. They are, quite obviously, two different pieces of music, but I think you will find lots of stylistic similarities.
One more thing before I go: I do realize that many purists would argue that soundtrack music is an entirely different entity from classical music. They would say that the comparison is invalid because they are two entirely different things. However, I would say that whether or not soundtrack music can truly be said to be classical music is beside the point. The point is that they share a lot in common. It is true that, if Beethoven were to be exposed to, say, John Williams, he might very well scoff. But John Williams still has a lot more in common with Beethoven than, say, the Beatles.
Anyway, I would encourage you to give those songs a listen. I hope you enjoy!

Soli Deo Gloria

Music everyone should listen to

So since my first post was more of an introduction than a real post, I guess I better get started so you have something more interesting to read.
Any of you that know me at all know that I am very much into classical music. It is unfortunate that most people today don't listen to any classical music at all. In addition many people that do, listen to only certain types of classical music. I have been guilty of this myself. I have since started to try to widen my listening. Here are a few diverse works of classical music I would very much encourage you to listen to. If you don't know where to go, Youtube will probably have decent recordings of most of these. Grooveshark.com is an excellent resource as well. Or you could do it the old-fashioned way: go out and buy the CD!

Beethoven: Symphonies, especially numbers 3, 5, and 9. Leonard Bernstein made an excellent recording with the Vienna Philharmonic.

Brahms: Ein Deutches Requiem. The 4th movement is one of my favorite choral excerpts.

Tallis: If Ye Love Me. This is a great example of Renaissance music, which might be unfamiliar to many of you. The King's Singers do a great job on this one in their album "English Renaissance."

Bach: Solo Sonatas and Partitas for Violin. These compose arguably the single greatest body of music ever composed for the violin. The Chacconne from the second Partita is particularly excellent. Hillary Hahn is a good violinist to listen to on that one.

Debussy: Clair de Lune. This is a great example of impressionistic music. Jean-Yves Thibaudet would be a good performer to look up.

Sibelius: Finlandia. This is an excellent example of how much classical music you probably listen to without knowing it. Many of you will probably recognize the tune of the hymn "Be Still My Soul." Vladimir Ashkenazy does a great job with the Philharmonia Orchestra on this one.

Rachmaninoff: Piano Concerto Number 2. This is probably my favorite piano concerto. Rachmaninoff, as a pianist himself, could write superbly for the instrument. In addition, he truly was a master or beautiful melodies. Listen to the second movement and you will see. Ashkenazy does a great job performing this one with Andre Previn and the London Symphony.

Part: Arvo Part is a personal favorite of mine. He is still alive and composing, and his work is probably the least familiar on this list, but to me it is very touching and well written. The Beatitudes is a beautiful choral arrangement of that Biblical text. Stephen Cleobury does a great job on that one.

Well that is probably enough homework for now. I hope you have a chance to listen to at least some of it, and I hope you enjoy it. Look for me to occasionally mention some more listening material.

Soli Deo Gloria

Welcome

Hello everyone, welcome to my blog.
I make no promises that it is any good at all. In addition I make no promises that I will write too terribly often, especially once school starts. However, here it is.
My purposes for this blog are as follows:

1. To allow me to be less bored than I would be if I did not have a blog
2. To comment on current events
3. To comment on books I am reading or classes I am taking or movies I am watching
4. To give me an outlet to write creatively, whether prose, poetry, or music
5. To give me an outlet to write on theology and philosophy as I grow and develop my thinking
6. Most importantly, to give me another way in which to glorify God

 Soli Deo Gloria