Brendan Shea's Blog, page 2

Video of the Year!

This song from the late Carmen Domenic Licciardello, known to many music lovers as Carman, is a fantastic, uplifting tune.

Here is the studio album cut.

Here is the live version with amazing video (the sound quality is lesser but the visuals are amazing to me)

Chorus:
Jesus is the Lamb
Jesus is the Lamb that was slain
Jesus is the Lamb
Jesus is the Lamb that was slain

Glory, glory and honour
Glory and honour and power and praise
Glory, glory and honour
Glory and honour and power and praise

‘Cause of everything you’ve done for me today
It’s the easiest thing for me to stand and say
Lord, You know I love You
Love You from the bottom of my heart
And may I add I’d love to
Tell everyone I know just who you are

Counting every time You’ve heard my lonesome cry
You’ve committed to never ever pass me by
Lord, You know I’m thankful
Thankful just to know that You are near
May I add I’d love to
Sing to every soul who wants to hear

Chorus

Heaven and earth must now proclaim
Jesus is the Lamb
Glory to God the people say
Jesus is, Jesus is the Lamb
Sent from heaven and rejected
Jesus is the Lamb
Crucified and resurrected
Jesus is the Lamb

Chorus 2nd part

Holy is the Lamb
Holy is the Lamb that was slain
Holy is the Lamb
Holy is the Lamb that was slain

Chorus 2nd part

Written by Carmen Domenic Licciardello

Backing vocals

Andrea BacaLisa BevillLisa BraggLisa CochranTodd CooperJohn HartmanPhil KeaggyBonnie KeenDanielle KimmeyTony OrlandoOut of EdenJoey RicheyCalvin SmithKristine & William StroupeRuss TaffTina VallejoAimee Joy WeimerLori Wilshire 

Song of the Week

Michael W. Smith – Secret Ambition

Young man up on the hillside
Teaching new ways
Each word winning them over
Each heart a kindled flame
Old men watch from the outside
Guarding their prey
Threatened by the voice of the paragon
Leading their lambs away
Leading them far away

Nobody knew His secret ambition
Nobody knew His claim to fame
He broke the old rules steeped in tradition
He tore the holy veil away
Questioning those in powerful positions
Running to those who called His name
But nobody knew His secret ambition
Was to give His life away

His rage shaking the temple
His word to the wise
His hand healing on the seventh day
His love wearing no disguise
Some say, “Death to the radical
He’s way out of line.”
Some say, “Praise be the miracle
God sends a blessed sign.
A blessed sign for troubled times.”

Nobody knew His secret ambition
Nobody knew His claim to fame
He broke the old rules steeped in tradition
He tore the holy veil away
Questioning those in powerful positions
Running to those who called His name
But nobody knew His secret ambition
Was to give His life away

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Amy Grant Gill / Michael W. Smith / Wayne Kirkpatrick

Secret Ambition lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Reservoir Media Management, Inc, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Cross At Sunset With Sunlight And Orange Clouds

My Favorite Writing Meme

Song of the Week

GLAD – We Are Receiving a Kingdom

(in case you are having a rough day like I am today, don’t give in to sin & temptation ;0)

We are receiving a kingdom

Heaven seems distant
An unworthy goal
When temptation pulls at our soul
Our knees start to weaken
We nearly drop down
But we must hold on
To inherit the crown
And the end of the race is assured
For those who have fixed
Their eyes on the Lord

We are receiving a kingdom
That can never be shaken or moved
Whose foundation lies
In the heart of God
Whose walls are eternal truth
We are receiving a kingdom
Whose borders will ever increase
So, let’s run with endurance
And grateful assurance
And praises that never cease

The voice of saints before us
Echoes from the grave
Don’t despise the outcome of your faith
The pleasures of sin
They’re a feeble disguise
For the enemy who’s scheming
To take away our lives
Let us look to the Lamb that was slain
Who suffered the cross
For the joy He would gain

We are receiving a kingdom
That can never be shaken or moved
Whose foundation lies
In the heart of God
Whose walls are eternal truth
We are receiving a kingdom
Whose borders will ever increase
So, let’s run with endurance
And grateful assurance
And praises that never cease

We are receiving a kingdom
That can never be shaken or moved
Whose foundation lies
In the heart of God
Whose walls are eternal truth
We are receiving a kingdom
Whose borders will ever increase
So, let’s run with endurance
And grateful assurance
And praises that never cease

We are receiving a kingdom
We are receiving a kingdom
We are receiving a kingdom
We are receiving a kingdom

Produced by Ed Nalle; Written by Bob Kauflin

Brothers and Sisters!

Or, brutha’s an’ sistah’s!

Today I went to see my mom for her birthday.

As I was getting ready to pull out of our driveway, my wife, over by my window to tell me something, looked curiously at my left front tire. But when I asked her about it she was noncommittal. She doesn’t usually look like that, but she didn’t say anything more, so I pulled out.

I had traveled through a few cities when I heard a chime. My car dash display had a warning light on it. She would later remark that I should have immediately stopped at the first town I reached and get it checked out, but to me, it was a minor glitch, and I could see to it when I got home.

I arrived at my mom’s, and checked the tire, having added some air at a gas station. It looked fine, but the warning light was still illuminated. We got in my car and drove to the restaurant. I wouldn’t have driven her on the freeway under the circumstances, but this was just a couple miles on city streets.

We enjoyed our meal, but the place was full of people, and I was looking forward to visiting with her more at her house, prior to driving home, but when we got back, my tire was flat.

I got a little agitated, thinking we didn’t have roadside assistance (we did and do), but I called the service and they arrived in about 10 minutes. My mom’s housemate was stunned that on a Saturday, they got there so quickly.

I felt blessed. The guys got me to the tire shop so I could get the thing patched (the tire was otherwise in good shape), and they did great work for a reasonable price.

My mom and her housemate, the guys from AAA, and all the guys at the tire shop, were awesome. People I knew and complete strangers both, were all helpful and friendly.

When I saw the tire, realized I was not going to be able to go to my usual shop, and couldn’t get the spare on myself (which I’ve done in the past), everyone pitched in and got me home.

There were a lot of amazing elements that I won’t go into that took me from feeling in a bind, to knowing God has my back, and how grateful I am for His love and help.

Monday morning songs…

…On Friday night

Here are two songs that you may enjoy; one is a get up and go song, and the other is a, “Really? That really happened?” Song

James Brown – Living in America

Yeah, uh! Get up, now!
Ow! Knock this out!

Super highways, coast to coast
Easy to get anywhere
On the transcontinental overload
Just slide behind the wheel
How does it feel

When there’s no destination that’s too far
And somewhere on the way
You might find out who you are

Living in America
Eye to eye, station to station
Living in America
Hand to hand, across the nation
Living in America
Got to have a celebration
Rock my soul

Smokestack, fatback
Many miles of railroad track
All night radio, keep on runnin’ through
Your rock ‘n’ roll soul
All night diners keep you awake, hey
On black coffee and a hard roll

You might have to walk the fine line
You might take the hard line
But everybody’s working overtime

Living in America
Eye to eye, station to station
Living in America
Hand to hand, across the nation
Living in America
Got to have a celebration

I live in America, help me out
But I live in America
Wait a minute

You may not be looking for the promised land
But you might find it anyway
Under one of those old familiar names
Like New Orleans (New Orleans)
Detroit City (Detroit City), Dallas (Dallas)
Pittsburgh P.A. (Pittsburgh P.A.)
New York City (New York City)
Kansas City (Kansas City)
Atlanta (Atlanta)
Chicago and L.A.

Living in America – hit me
Living in America – yeah
I walk in and out
Living in America

I live in America – state lines
Gonna make the prime, that
I live in America – hey
I know what it means, I

Living in America
Eddie Murphy, eat your heart out
Living in America
Hit me, I said now
Eye to eye, Station to station
Living in America
So nice, with your bad self
Living in America – I feel good!

Writer(s): Charlie Midnight, Dan Hartman

James Brown photo: ©Phil Loftus/Capital Pictures [Photo via Newscom]

Quincy Jones – Sanford and Son Theme Song

(instrumental)

Other than the Holy Bible…

The Nativity: How The Story Of Christmas Can Change Your Life

OK, so this is saying a lot, but other than The Holy Bible, the living Word of God, which is above all other books by light years, this is the best book I’ve ever read.

Why? Some books are enjoyable, some books transport you, some books transform you, and once in a great while, a book brings you closer to the Almighty.

This is such a book.

Also, Collins entertains and informs, but in his diversions, he instructs, and in his educational moments, he amuses. He knows how to reveal complex concepts with light phrases. This is a gift from God, he is good, but he couldn’t do it on his own.

If you want to prepare for Christmas, you can prepare your heart for Jesus for eternity.

Read the Bible first, but if you want to read about Jesus from a contemporary perspective, and we CANNOT add anything to the Word of God, I believe God will ALSO secondarily, speak to you from this book.

I can say he did that for me.

There are other good books about Jesus that compliment the Bible, but from my stage of life and in my limited understanding, this is one of the best.

The Nativity: How The Story Of Christmas Can Change Your Life

Comedy from Steven Wright

(he mentions a live in girlfriend in passing but otherwise a clean set; this is corrected version; sorry last link was not correct)

One of my favorites of his that is not on this one:

“I parked my car in a no tow away zone the other day. A couple hours later I came out. The entire area was gone.“

A Day at the Mall

Today my wife wanted to go to the mall. We went to the closest one, and did not have to suffer the freeways. I had a relaxing morning, showered, shaved, and dressed. A bit later, after I had a nice chat with a friend, she was ready to go.

We ate lunch at Red Robin, and it was excellent. The service was great, the atmosphere family friendly and the food was delicious. I wasn’t feeling like a burger, so I had the BLTA: bacon, lettuce, tomato and avocado on croissant. It was light, had some good protein but not too much for my CKD, I think, and I didn’t eat all the tomato, as that is a no-no for that disease.

I paired it with onion rings as I can’t eat a lot of fries, and had a small side of glorious coleslaw. For a beverage, their unsweetened iced tea with a wedge of lemon was perfect, cool, strong enough and very refreshing.

The onion rings were just a touch greasy, crispy and wonderful. The onions in the rings were juicy and substantial. I finished the meal fully satisfied, and I usually am less greedy for more when I enjoy what I have, so I was grateful.

The portions were not huge, and I was good with that. I don’t need to eat as much in my fifties, and with a movie on the horizon, I figured I’d need room for popcorn. The meal was economical as well.

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We walked across the mall to the theater, where we bought the priciest tickets to TRON: ARES. It was her pick, and I did not object, but the Springsteen movie preview we saw was the most interesting part of it for me.

We were going to go for the cheaper seats, but they said the seats would not recline, and physical comfort is important when you are older, so I was willing to pay more.

The movie was very technologically impressive, a visual feast. The story was OK, and the acting very good. It was not the most interesting movie, but from an aural and visual perspective, it was somewhat stunning. I also enjoyed the appearance of Gillian Anderson playing a Brit.

The sound was so intense that the seats rumbled during the scenes of greatest physical calamity, and at first I wondered if there was something amiss outside the theater, but I guess such is the experience with Dolby and IMAX.

We got home safe and sound, and after a good meal, and the prospect of maybe watching the Springsteen movie in the future, it was a good day. #thankful.

Their best song ever?

dc Talk was one of my favorite Christian bands. Their albums, particularly Free at Last, Jesus Freak and Supernatural, rocked the Christian charts, and were filled with ballads and charged sonic quality with a strong and appealing evangelistic bent.

After they broke up, they reunited a few times. On one compilation album, Exodus, they offered their entry, called It’s My Will, and while I have many dc Talk favorites, this is one of my two top songs. The other one is their cover of Prince’s The Cross, on dc Talk’s Kevin Max’s The Blood, the fork in the road, where my favorite secular artist whom I could no longer listen to freely as a Christian, intersected with my new Christian world of music.

I still listen to secular music, but I do have a filter and it is self-imposed, to make sure I am not drawn away from my faith, not because of a set of legalistic rules…

It’s My Will – dc Talk

I’m setting the stage for, the things I love.
And I’m now the man I, once couldn’t be.
Nothing on Earth could, now ever move me.
I now have the will and, the strength a man needs.

It’s my will, and I’m not moving.
‘Cause if it’s your will, nothing can shake me.
It’s my will, to bow and praise you
I now have the will, to praise my God

Complexity haunts me, for I am two men.
Entrenched in a battle, that I’ll never win.
My discipline fails me, my knowledge it fools me.
But you are my shelter, the strength that I need.

I’m learning to give up, the rights to myself.
The bits and the pieces, I’ve gathered as wealth.
And nothing compares to, the joy that you bring me.
The peace that you’ve shown me, is the strength that I need.

We’ve got to be, Children of Peace

We’ve got to be, Children of Peace

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Daniel Pitts / Joey Elwood / Michael Tait / Toby Mckeehan

My Will lyrics © Capitol CMG Publishing, Moon And Musky Music

The Cross – Prince Rogers Nelson (Kevin Max’s version)

Black day, stormy night
No love, no hope in sight
Don’t cry, he is coming
Don’t die without knowing the cross
Ghettos to the left of us
Flowers to the right
There’ll be bread for all of us
If we can just bear the cross

Sweet song of salvation
A pregnant mother sings
She lives in starvation
Her children need all that she brings

We all have our problems
Some big, some are small
Soon all of our problems
Will be taken by the cross

Black day, stormy night
No love, no hope in sight
Don’t cry for he is coming
Don’t die without knowing the cross

Ghettos to the left of us
Flowers to the right
There’ll be bread for all, y’all
If we can just, just bear the cross, yeah

We all have our problems
Some are big, some are small
Soon all of our problems, y’all
Will be taken by the cross

The cross
The cross

Source: LyricFind

Songwriters: Prince Rogers Nelson

The Cross lyrics © Concord Music Publishing LLC, Universal Music Publishing Group