Glory Revealed II

We love the Glory Revealed album at Praise FM and we're excited about the release of Glory Revealed II on July 14th!

Glory Revealed II EPK from Provident Label Group on Vimeo.

Music - Part 5: Horizontal

When you think of witnessing, what comes to mind? Tracts? Street evangelism at Mardi Gras? Leading a friend down the “Roman’s Road”?

These things are all well and good and really do have the potential to lead people to Jesus, but there are times when we focus exlcusively on methods or programs and forget what it is to really be a witness for Christ.

Jesus himself tells us:

“You are the salt of the earth, but if salt has lost its taste, how shall its saltiness be restored? It is no longer good for anything except to be thrown out and trampled under people's feet. You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:13-16)

Did you catch that? Our good works, the way we live, act and respond to others are our witnessing tools. Of course, it’s not our good works that bring us to God; we are saved by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. But out of our love for God, and in an effort to be more like Jesus, the things we say and do should reflect more and more of Him for the world to see. Quite simply, we become what we worship.

So as we worship Jesus, the music in our Horizontal category is there to remind us of what it means to be a city on a hill. They’re songs that encourage us to be salt and light as we witness to a world in need of a Savior.

Music - Part 4: Vertical

“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.” Revelation 1:8

As hard as we may try, our finite minds cannot fully comprehend what it is to be infinite, what it is to be the beginning and end of everything. When we take the time to reflect on that truth, that our God is bigger than anything we could ever imagine, it should fill us with awe and reverence for so many reasons.

R.C. Sproul says:

“Men are never duly touched and impressed with a conviction of their insignificance, until they have contrasted themselves with the majesty of God.”

We feel how small we are when we consider how majestic God is, and our only proper response is to bow down in daily, personal worship of our Creator where we marvel at his beauty and thank him for his love and mercy.

The music in our Vertical category is in place for this purpose. This is where a life of worship starts, with your own personal time of worship and prayer to Jesus.

Listening

If you like the song "Listening" by Dan Macaulay you can download it for free at his website... http://www.danmacaulay.com/

Music - Part 3: Testimony

Excruciating.

This word literally means “from the cross” and was invented specifically to describe the agony of crucifixion.

Jesus died an excruciating death.

Not only was it horrendously painful to die on a cross, it was utterly shameful. The book of Deuteronomy tells us:

“…if a man has committed a crime punishable by death and he is put to death, and you hang him on a tree, his body shall not remain all night on the tree, but you shall bury him the same day, for a hanged man is cursed by God.”

The ancient Jewish historian Josephus referred to crucifixion as “the most wretched of deaths” and the ancient Roman Philosopher Cicero claimed that it was “too disgraceful a subject for the ears of decent people.”

So why in the world would Christians celebrate something so heinous? Why would we hold up the cross as a symbol of our faith when others consider it to profane to even mention?

This is why:

But he was wounded for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
wehave turned—every one—to his own way;
and the Lord has laid on him theiniquity of us all.
(Isaiah 53:4-6)

And

…God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

John Piper puts it this way:

“…when John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave...”, the giving is God sending his Son to earth on a mission to die. It’s just as amazing—only a million times more so—as if you should say to your son, “There is something I want you to do for me: I have some enemies that deserve to perish, and I want you to go and die in their place, so that they can have eternal life.” Whatever else you know about God, make sure you know he is like that.”

When we look to the cross we cannot help but testify to the goodness, grace and mercy of our God. Our testimony category is filled with songs about the cross of Christ and proclaims the work of Christ in us and through us because of his atoning sacrifice.