A great Idea... Noise Trade

I wanted to get you to check out a great site I stumbled across called Noise Trade. You can pay what you want for music on the site, or you can get albums for free by recommending them to five friends. It's a great idea, and in a lot of ways, it is how the new music industry is going to have to run as the physical CD trade gives way to digital downloads.

You can check out a lot of great music that you might not be able to get in stores. I recommend Derek Webb's album, "The Ringing Bell". The song "Savior on Capital Hill" is worth the $$ or effort to get the album.

Props to Derek Webb for trusting fans. He has a new fan in me.

Saturday Song Stories - "Create In Me"

As odd as this might sound..."Create in Me" was inspired by the writings of a man with a pretty brutal past. This man, being in a position of authority, used his power to lure another man's wife to sleep with him. After his adulterous affair with this woman, she revealed to him that she was pregnant. So in a desperate attempt to cover it up, he ended up arranging the murder of his mistress' husband. Sounds like the storyline to a daytime soap.

It's actually the story of David...the king of Israel. After this dirty laundry had been laid out, he wrote Psalm 51, with the words "Create in me a clean heart." By stating that he needed God to create a clean heart in him, I think he was implying that there had never been one there before. Whatever was there previous to this, exhibited itself in lust, illicit sex, murder, deceit. Call it what you will, it needed to be replaced, and the replacement had to be fashioned from nothing.

The second verse of "Create in Me", at first glance, seems to not necessarily fit with the rest of the song. The first verse speaks of the need for our souls to be awaked to the truth of Christ, and how the "Man of Sorrows" (Jesus), gave so much to pave the way for that awakening.

But the second verse speaks of the need for us to be agents of restoration in relationships, and feed orphans and touch lepers, a theme that is not explicit elsewhere in the song. I took the song in this direction, because I see a huge connection between us having a new heart, and us feeling compelled to do the things in our world such as feed the hungry, be agents of restoration, and touch those that are without the warmth of human relationship. How can our heart be recreated if we have no desire to bring good news to fruition in the lives of people in practical ways. The Bible is full of commands to take care of those that have lost the ability to care for themselves.

Alright, enough preaching...

By entering your email in the "Join My Mailing List" widget in the sidebar to the left, you will get access to a free download of "Create in Me" along with a couple of other songs from the album. Hope you enjoy.