Susan Ashton sings The Revelation Song

Susan Ashton has for many years been a favorite, and here she sings The Revelation Song at the Ryman Auditorium, part of a Songs 4 Worship Country.

Angelic singing of this powerful song by Jennie Riddle. Quoted here at Dream in Soul:

“…We needed a sight of Jesus, we needed somebody so much bigger than ourselves to lift our eyes up off of our daily, and off of the rubble and off of the worry, and magnify Him… To get to see Her, every generation, denomination, every nationality singing to Him, and just enjoying His beauty and His holiness, and Him wrapping Her up as one, it’s just overwhelming and humbling. ” – Jennie Riddle

In an article she wrote, Jennie Riddle says she “asked the Holy Spirit to help me write a song that painted Him; a song that the angels and creation were already singing, so that we could join in with One Voice, as One Bride, to One King.” She says the verses Ezekiel 1:26-28 andRevelation 4 were her inspiration:

“And then, as they stood with folded wings, there was a voice from above the dome over their heads. Above the dome there was something that looked like a throne, sky-blue like a sapphire, with a humanlike figure towering above the throne. From what I could see, from the waist up he looked like burnished bronze and from the waist down like a blazing fire. Brightness everywhere! The way a rainbow springs out of the sky on a rainy day—that’s what it was like. It turned out to be the Glory of God! (Message)

“…a throne set in heaven, and One sat on the throne. And He who sat there was[like a jasper and a sardius stone in appearance; and there was a rainbow around the throne, in appearance like an emerald. Around the throne were twenty-four thrones, and on the thrones I saw twenty-four elders sitting, clothed in white robes; and they had crowns of gold on their heads. And from the throne proceeded lightenings, thunderings, and voices… Before the throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal… And in the midst of the throne, and around the throne, were four living creatures… And they do not rest day or night, saying: ‘ Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, Who was and is and is to come!’…”

Jeannie also wrote of the impact of the song and how God has allowed it to move around the globe:

“’Revelation Song’ has taken on a life of its own, and it has been an intense joy to watch the Father “grow it up”, and to hear the Voice of the Bride sing to Jesus; Her voice is so lovely. I often get asked the song story, and even more often, the question of “how” it got “out there” comes up. My only answer is that God chooses what He chooses. No amount of maneuvering, strategizing, posturing, or pitching would have gotten my music “out there”… whatever that means. I remember telling Jesus with complete sincerity that I could wait until I got to heaven to hear my song sung (although, I also suggested that it would be a terrific song for the angels and great cloud of witnesses to sing when He comes back for us…In the event that He had not already chosen one for the occasion, I didn’t think it would hurt to ask!).”

Read more about Jennie’s story of how the song was birthed in her article on PraiseCharts.com. Also visit her on Myspace or at her official website, www.jennieriddle.com.

Band of Brothers: A decade later

A decade after it was made (originally released a few days before 9/11) . . . I have watched–finally–Band of Brothers. I’m speechless–accept to say with honor and respect to our men and women in uniform, “Thank You.” And to Spielberg and Hanks for making this film series: you have done a great service to generations who could not imagine the “War to End All Wars.”

Love in the Time of Cholera

One of the worst five movies I’ve ever seen. A work of literary fiction turned into a movie that fell flat. This review explains.

Worst movie you’ve seen?

Time is . . .

I used to make a big deal about the difference between time in the U.S. and Uganda.

I would ask American audiences, “Time is . . . what?” Of course they would answer as you are in your mind: money. Time is money.

Then I would say that in Uganda, if you asked, people would say “Time is . . . for friendship.” People love to host others in their homes and time seems plentiful to enjoy relationships.

But this is not the case in an ever-changing Ugandan culture where cell phones abound. I remember in 1999 a South African company had a slogan, “A Cell for every Ugandan” or something like that. It didn’t seem possible, and why would someone without clean water need a cell phone?

Well little more than a decade later, it’s really true. MTN was right. Cell phone networks grew and other companies came and it’s hard to find a Ugandan without a cell phone per family at least. And it’s funny how the long greetings have changed based on economic and social and technological factors. Now, air time is literally money. Money is exchanged on the air from person to person, phone to phone to pay for school fees, pay someone for a bag of corn, or to buy a coffin.

And now that air time costs and people buy “pay-as-you-go” cards, greetings over the phone have gotten shorter. Long greetings about family and goats and crops have been clipped and drastically shortened, so now Ugandans have become adept at quick calls and greetings and have, for economic reasons, learned to “cut to the chase.”

Part of the culture of visiting someone is that you often don’t ask why they have come. It would be rude, for example, to say, “What can I do for you?” when someone drops by your house. Isn’t it good enough just to see and visit with me? the visitor might think. So often there’s a lot of serving drinks and food and conversation, but for American sensibilities, we would often want the person to come out with it earlier in the visit. But when using cell phones, a person calling is using air time and quickly comes out with the request, the reason for calling.

Maybe time is still largely for friendship in Uganda but increasingly time is money. In many ways this is helpful to Ugandans. I mentioned above the bad assumption that a person must somehow go up the hierarchy of needs to get water before a cell phone. This is incorrect and presumptuous. Yes, at the same time a village may be struggling to get clean water, a cell phone still saves time from sending messengers by bus with news about sickness or death or business deals. Money is exchanged by cell rather than making trips to the bank. Even staying in touch rather than frequent expensive visits can be done by phone or text. So even though time is money, phones are saving people money — probably saving them more than the cost of having the phone.

Whole Person

I saw this billboard in the Tulsa Airport and it took me back to my early misperceptions of Oral Roberts University. As a child growing up in this part of Oklahoma, I didn’t understand what the whole person idea meant and even took it to mean that disabled persons were not admitted. This of course is not true, but it’s interesting how these misconceptions of others persists in various forms. The idea of the Whole Person is a good one, and it seems ORU was ahead of its time in pursuing a discipleship that integrates body and soul, health, life, mind. And to define the kind of student ORU is trying to produce, as in these five areas on the billboard, is noble and good. I feel much better and positive about ORU since the changing of the guard with new board members and president.