the life, death, and resurrection of johnny cash

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7R10cHra1FA&feature=related

awesome.

also, check out the comment section of my last johnny cash blog under andrew v's comment. download the link he placed there. it is a Christian johnny cash comic outlining a more detailed account of the above video. also see, "walk the line" the movie with joaquin phoenix.

for more awesome stories of Christians who wrote beautiful songs that sprung from beautiful, Christ-inspired lives, search youtube.com using the words, "rebel's guide to joy" and you should find upwards of 10 different 4 minute stories from isaac watts, john newton, fanny crosby, horatio spafford, charles wesley, etc... they're great reminders of where we've come from and where we're going.

hebrews 12:1 "therefore since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses...."

they're God's witnesses to us, echoing from the past to persevere, to keep on keeping on.

cashin' it in

my dad listened to johnny cash when i was a child. in an 8 year-old kind of way, i remember thinking, "this is kinda neat." don't know why, but it never took. until recently that is. i checked out johnny cash "IV: the man comes around" from the library. it was amazing. it is amazing. if you haven't bought into the man in black mystique, it's worth checking out. here is a sample, i love this old timey country Gospel-type stuff.

(this is not on "IV: when the man comes around")

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=54US-N1yU8c&feature=related

more music

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSO4TUQZPNY&feature=related

it is called "vide cor meum" and is based on a dante alighieri's "la vita nuova"

for my info, check out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vide_Cor_Meum
http://hannibal.hannotations.com/vide.html

anyone else have any pieces of classical music that stir their souls?

dinner with the dewhursts and the depths of my soul

we just got back from dinner at the dewhursts. it was a great time. max and i stared at each other for a while and maddy and i gave each other high-fives until she wore this ol' boy out. other highlights were a fart to the chest, chocolate chip smiles, the endless, nonstop, round-n-round plastic slide-a-thon, and Wii-tastic time for the gents. the dewhursts also contributed a good deal to team atticus by donating some baby boy duds. very nice!

in other news, i found a piece of music which i loved immediately when i first heard it as part of the score to "meet joe black" some years ago. being as how i did not want to buy the entire soundtrack for one piece of music and itunes did not have it available, i had availed myself to trying merely to remember it. thank you mister youtube for your many unusual gifts.

if you want to take a listen,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4huZYzOD8Q&feature=related

if you haven't seen the movie, perhaps it isn't as impactful. i don't know. i have never known them seperately, although i must admit, even now i do not remember the specific scene in which this piece is played. it is moving though. i love stuff like this which stirs one's soul. it is good to be moved deeply from time to time. i am thankful to God for music. He uses it to touch me often.

two unrelated, but current thoughts

first, i recently saw apocalypto. awesome! if you have not seen it, rent it from the library for free or netflick it or redbox it or whatever it is you do. it is great. a little graphic in the arena of violence, but an amazing story.

http://video.movies.go.com/apocalypto/

second, i have had, nothing but the blood in my head the past few days. just the refrain:

Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

phil wickham did this refrain during his concert. i have it stuck in my mind. what a great tune. what a great Truth!

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/n/b/nbtblood.htm

i've had a couple of good days as it turns out :)
goodnight iowa.