Bringer of Light

I have an old College friend, Randy Wallace, who is the Pastor at Oak Ridge Baptist. Most of his life Randy liked to write and record his own music. I ran into him the other day and he told me that he is still doing it and his most recent album is Bringer of Light. Well I have listened to it and it is great. The music is positive adn uplifiting just like Randy himself. The cover is seen above in the screen capture. You can buy the CD and hear previews of some of the songs if you go to his record company site CDbaby.com.
Here what it says on the album notes. Many diverse styles are covered on this CD, ranging from Modern Country to Traditional Southern Gospel to Easy Listening and even Light Rock...but, beyond the styles is the optimistic message of hope and joy that are always evident in Randy's live performances.
This is Randy's fifth recording, and among his best. His first album, "Deliver the Young Musician," was mentioned in the book, "Vintage Vinyl:A Decade of Jesus Music," by Ken Scott.
Writing, singing, and playing about everyday things and situations and their deeper dimensions has always been Randy's forte, and in this collection of songs both old and new, it comes to the front once again. From the song for his wife ("Unvoiced Tribute") to his tribute to his parents ("The Moral"); from the contemporary Gospel feel of "His Hand" and the Van Morrison-like "God's Got a Hold on Me;" and the Jimmy Buffett-style "Believe in Yourself," all the way to the uptempo bluegrass "Gerald Brock Hill," this highly anticipated release will brighten your day and touch your heart.

I Go To The Rock

Jesus Loves Me

I got this in an e-mail and thought I would share it here.

I watched a Church in Atlanta honoring one of its senior
pastors who had been retired many years He was 92 at that
time and I wondered why the Church even bothered to ask the old
gentleman to preach at that age.
After a warm welcome, introduction of this speaker, and as
the applause quieted down he rose from his high back chair
and walked slowly, with great effort and a sliding gate to the
podium. Without a note or written paper of any kind he placed both hands
on the pulpit to steady himself and then quietly and slowly he
began to speak....
"When I was asked to come here today and talk to you, your
pastor asked me to tell you what was the greatest lesson ever
learned in my 50 odd years of preaching. I thought about it for a few
days and boiled it down to just one thing that made the most
difference in my life and sustained me through all my trials. The one
thing that I could always rely on when tears and heartbreak and pain
and fear and sorrow paralyzed me... the only thing that would comfort
was this verse........
"Jesus loves me this I know.
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
we are weak but He is strong.....
Yes, Jesus loves me...
The Bible tells me so."

When he finished, the church was quiet. You
actually could hear his foot steps as he shuffled back to his chair. I
don't believe I will ever forget it.

A pastor once stated, "I always noticed that it
was the adults who chose the children's hymn 'Jesus Loves Me' (for
the children of course) during a hymn sing, and it was the
adults who sang the loudest because I could see they knew it the
best."

"Senior version of Jesus Loves Me"

Here is a new version just for us who have white
hair or no hair at all. For us over middle age (or even those almost
there) and all you others check out this newest version of Jesus Loves Me

JESUS LOVES ME

Jesus loves me, this I know,
Though my hair is white as snow
Though my sight is growing dim,
Still He bids me ! trust in Him.

(CHORUS)
YES, JESUS LOVES ME.. YES, JESUS LOVES ME..
YES, JESUS LOVES ME FOR THE BIBLE TELLS ME SO

Though my steps are oh, so slow,
With my hand in His I'll go
On through life, let come what may,
He'll be there to lead the way.

(CHORUS)

When the nights are dark and long,
In my heart He puts a song.
Telling me in words so clear,
"Have no fear, for I am near."

(CHORUS)

When my work on earth is done,
And life's victories have been won.
He will take me home above,
Then I'll understand His love

(CHORUS)

I love Jesus, does He know?
Have I ever told Him so?
Jesus loves to hear me say,
That I love Him every day.

(CHORUS)

If you think this is neat, please pass it on to
your friends.
If you do not pass it on , nothing bad will happen, but
you will have missed an opportunity to "Reach out and Touch" a friend or
a loved one.

God Bless Us All !!!

All Glory, Laud and Honor Christ is our Redeemer

He was in the center of the procession, and the crowds all around him were shouting, "Praise God! Bless the one who comes in the name of the Lord! Bless the coming kingdom of our ancestor David! Praise God in highest heaven!"
Mark 11:9-10 NLT
All glory, laud, and honor to Thee, Redeemer, King, to whom the lips of children made sweet hosannas ring; Thou art the King of Israel, Thou David's royal Son, who in the Lord's name comest, the King and blessed One!

To Thee, before Thy passion, they sang their hymns of praise; to Thee, now high exalted, our melody we raise: Thou didst accept their praises—accept the praise we bring, who in all good delightest, Thou good and gracious King!

All Glory, Laud and Honor
Theodulf of Orléans (c. 750-821)

You can hear the hymn if you click on the player below.

larry Norman and I Wish We'd All Been Ready

I said if I ever figured out how to make embedded music on this site that I would make the first one to be of Larry Norman's song I Wish We'd All Been Ready available. Well here it is. I would like to thank Kent of Forgotten Hits for pointing me in the direction of Divshare. However, I wasn't able to make that work with their free service and my funds are limited. This one with Google I think will work quite well for my finances.

Rest In Peace Larry Norman

Larry Norman

[via FoxyTunes / Larry Norman]

I heard that one of the founders of Contemporary Christian Music, formerly known as Jesus Rock when it first started, Larry Norman died. One of the first Christian Rock songs I heard played and my youth department even sang in church was his song "I Wish We'd All Been Ready." I hope when the Lord returns that we all are. The one reason I have taken longer then usual in posting this, as Mr. Norman passed away last week, is because I was trying to find a way to embed the song here so others could listen to it. I have not had much luck in doing that with the audio only version of Larry Norman singing. So below you can see the video of DC Talk preforming the song. You have to hear it. There version is beautiful.



In the 1960's and 1970's not too many people were producing rock music with Christian lyrics as rock and roll music was closely associated with the Devil and to some people it was called the Devil's Music. Larry Norman was one of the first to show you can still love the Lord Jesus and enjoy rock and roll. He had tried making a career in the secular world of rock and roll but it didn't work out as well as he had hoped, even though his group did have a top 40 hit with a song called "I Love You." He then left the group to release his first solo Christian Rock album called "Upon This Rock" in 1969. It was from this album that "I Wish We'd All Been Ready" was released.
Here is a link to his site Larry Norman.com. Also, here is what Kent at Forgotten Hits has to say about Larry Norman.