He Laid Death in His Grave

When I get the chance, I like to read blogs by songwriters that I really respect and look up to... a more recent find being Audrey Assad.  I read this post by her the other day, and it has stirred in me since, particularly the words she quotes from John Mark McMillan's song "Death in His Grave" (see video and words below).  


As Good Friday and Easter Sunday approaches, I am trying to dwell on this thought... that death is defeated and one day we will no more feel its sting.  Instead, we will experience LIFE full and complete.  Hard to imagine....  

The DEATH of death! 

To celebrate Holy Week, I am going to try to post a video a day, similar to the one below.  I hope it helps you dwell on what was accomplished for us on that Sunday so many years ago.  

PS - I just wrote a song the other day about Jesus' experience in the Garden of Gethsemane, and I'll try to post it at some point this week.  

Although the earth cried out for blood, what satisfied her hunger was

Her billows calmed on raging seas for the souls of man she craved

Sun and moon from balcony turned their head in disbelief

That precious love would taste the sting, disfigured and disdained.On Friday a thief, on Sunday a King;

He laid down in grief, but awoke with the keys of hell on that day;

First-born of the slain, the Man Jesus Christ laid

Death in his grave.

Tribb is Here!

With his big brothers and sister.

Our newest nephew, Robert Tribble Thomas ("Tribb" for short), is here!  He was born on Thursday morning and weighed in at 8.1 lbs.  Ellie and I had the privilege of going up to the hospital on Thursday to check him out.  He's super cute!  Praise God for a healthy baby, no complications, and new life.  Just needed to do the via the blog :)

#4 for these guys.

My sweet sister who was looking forward to her 4 day "vacation".

What Does It Matter Anyway?

Don't see the player?  Click refresh or click here and listen to it on Bandcamp.  PS - Download it for free!

I wrote this song the other week from the book of Ecclesiastes.  It's called "All is Vanity" and that's pretty much the subject of the whole song (and the whole book of Ecclesiastes!).

Which got me to thinking...

Throughout time and history, billions of songs have been written and sung.  99.999% of them die away quickly and many are never even heard by a wider audience than.... like... the person's mom.

Plus, there are so many great songs out there already.  Songs that move you, songs that make you dance, songs that make you laugh. It's like we have all the songs we'll ever need covering every topic you could dream up.  As Solomon says in Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun.

So, why write another song?  Who really needs another song when we have bazillions to choose from already?  Who needs another everyday songwriter, yet another voice?  Is it all, to quote Solomon again, just "striving after wind?"  Is it all "vanity of vanities" and meaningless?

I've been asking myself these questions lately and, to be honest, have been pretty discouraged.  In the last week or so, I've felt my creative energy drain away - maybe it's all the work we're doing on the house, maybe it's writer's block, or maybe it's just these questions getting to me?

Maybe it's a combination of those things, but here's the TRUTH that I'm trying to preach to myself:

As a Christian, I don't work and toil so that I can write the next great, lasting song.  I don't write to gain fame or so that people will know my name.  So why do I write?  And why do I sing?

It is not gain significance under the sun.  

For I have already gained great significance in Him.
Even more, He infuses everything under the sun with significance.

And so I write.
And so I sing.

To chase my own glory would be like chasing the wind.

I would come up empty every time.

But in His love, He has chased me.

And so I write.
And so I sing.

Why do you write, sing, blog, paint, mother, cook, work, design, study?  What does it matter anyway?