Music from my Niece, Madeline, Pt 2
Hey Everyone -
Thanks for the great response regarding the song I posted by my niece. I’ve not yet heard from her, but I hope she’s surfed over and seen your encouraging comments. With all those “I’d buy the CD” comments, I need to get Miss Madeline down here for a few weeks and produce a full album!
Here’s Part 2 … a song called “I Had A Dream”. Madeline shows up with this little mandolin-looking guitar … she called it a “tenor guitar” … I think her grandfather gave it to her. It only had 3 strings. It’s supposed to have 4. She’s never had 4 strings on it … so she just learned to play it with 3. Go figure.
Once again, this is a simple guitar/vocal demo. The lyrics astound me. My favorite line … “it wasn’t a dream at all“.
[audio:http://www.fredmckinnon.com/media/madeline/ihadadream.mp3]
So … whatcha think?
Fred
Music from my Niece, Madeline
Hey Ya’ll,
Last month I had a great opportunity. My niece, Madeline Wilbanks, was given “studio time” by her parents for Christmas last year. They finally decided to cash in last month. Madeline is the daughter of Rick and Kathy Wilbanks … Rick is one of Joy’s 3 older brothers. They live up in Cleveland, GA.
I’d heard over the last couple of years that Madeline had taken up an interest in music, teaching herself to play banjo, guitar, mandolin, etc. She was already active in band, and like so many other teens - active in just about everything else. She’s 16 … so being self-taught, and .. oh yeah … 16 … I honestly had no idea what to expect. I understood that the songs she wanted to record were all originals, and that she just wanted to get them down to share with her friends and family.
When Madeline showed up I knew in just about 5 minutes that she was not only prepared, but also that I’d be in for quite a treat. We spent a few hours for the next couple of days while they were in town and got some basic demo tracks to 5 songs. I’ve asked permission to share some of these this week on the blog … I’m quite proud of this girl!
So … here’s my favorite of the five songs … “Have You Forgot”. Yeah, “fogot” isn’t grammatically correct - and she already knew that, but she didn’t care and thinks it just “sounds better” this way .. and I wholeheartedly agree.
My favorite line in this song is “why would you pay so high a price only to know I’d disappoint you” … wow.
[audio:http://www.fredmckinnon.com/media/madeline/haveyouforgot.mp3]
You can tell Madeline how awesome she is on Facebook … she doesn’t know I’m blogging this, so why not surprise her with some much-deserved congrats!
Concert: Lighting of the Tree, Tonight
Hey Everybody:
Happy Thanksgiving (late … more on that later) and Merry Christmas! Just a quick update to those local readers - I will be leading a concert tonight of praise, worship, and Christmas selections at the annual Jekyll Island Christmas Tree Lighting Festival on Jekyll Island, GA. We’ll be doing about 1-1/2 hours of music, including favorites from the last two Worship Under the Stars concerts, a great Christmas set, and an incredible opening time with musician/singer/writer, McKendree Augustas Tucker.
The only charge is the $3.00 per car parking fee … so it’s the best $3 you could spend.
Pray for me - I’ve still been battling some crud, and have had fever the last two days … my back hurts, blah, blah, blah. I need some super grace!
God Speaking (Mandisa)
Hey Ya’ll,
So … I just heard a gorgeous song by Mandisa called “God Speaking“. It was referred to me by someone on staff as a potential “special music” song during our upcoming “Be Still” series for Christmas.
First of all, although it does have a single lyric about “what could be stranger than God in a manger”, I wouldn’t qualify this as a Christmas song at all. It’s more about how God can use various things to “speak to us”. Because “Be Still” involves us being still and listening, it would certainly qualify for the “Be Still” theme.
But …
The second verse just ruined it for me. I realize there can (and will) be a ton of debate on this, which is why I’m posting it.
Verse 2:
Have you ever lost a loved one who you thought should still be there?
Do you know what it feels like to be tangled up in fear?
What if He’s somehow involved?
What if He’s speaking through it all?
OK, here are my issues:
#1. I fully comply that God is Sovereign. I believe that He has given us free will. So, many of the bad things that happen can sometimes be a result of our own choices, or someone else’s choices. True, if God is Sovereign, everything ultimately filters through Him. (this is how I reconcile the “could God have prevented this” question). However, I just get upset when we try to factor “God” into bad things, such as losing a loved one, and even more when we try to suggest that God took this “loved one” from us so that he could “teach us something” or “speak to us”. Sure, God can take a tragedy - the death of a loved one, and speak to us through that. He causes all things to “work together for good” … that doesn’t mean it was His plan for “all things” to happen, though. (oh, I can feel this one coming).
#2. tangled up in fear? Yep - I’ve been there. Fear is real. We all struggle with it. However, don’t try to put God and fear together. Not in the type of “fear” the author is referencing here. God is so far away from fear - he commands us throughout the Word to “fear not”. He is NOT the author of fear. Fear is the opposite of faith. Fear and God do NOT get along. The fear OF GOD is one thing … but to suggest that somehow God is allowing us to be “tangled up in fear” or even “causing us to experience the fear” so that He can “somehow be involved” and “speaking through it” … I draw the line there.
It’s a shame - such a gorgeous song. But there are tons of songs out there that I don’t have to struggle over the lyrics with. I was excited when I heard how beautiful it was. But I can’t in good conscience bring this song into our worship services. As the Worship Director, I feel an obligation to challenge the Scriptural accuracy of the songs we sing. I realize that my interpretation of Scripture and my own, skewed doctrines will possibly cloud my judgment. I’m open to that.
I’m using the embed code from LyricsMode.Com to embed the full lyrics below … but honestly, what’s your take on this?
For the Kingdom,
Fred
Mandisa - God Speaking lyricsHave you ever heard a love song That set your spirit free Have you ever watched a sunrise And felt you could not breathe What if it’s Him What if it’s God speaking Have you ever cried a tear that You could not explain Have you ever met a stranger That already knew your name What if it’s Him What if it’s God speaking Who knows how He’ll get a hold of us Get our attention to prove He is enough He’ll do and He’ll use Whatever He wants to To tell us I love you Have you ever lost a loved one Who you thought should still be here Do you know what it feels like To be tangled up in fear What if He’s somehow involved What if He’s speaking through it all His ways are higher His ways are better Though sometimes strange What could be stranger Than God in a manger God is speaking I love you Song lyrics | God Speaking lyrics