It Is ON!
It’s finally happened, people. We decided two weeks ago to make the album we’ve been talking about making for the last 2 years. I know, we’re excited, too.
Our great friend Aaron Strumpel (writer of the songs Twenty-Three, Centuries, and co-writer with us on Trouble Won’t Go, Too Proud, and Sweep Me Away) agreed to co-produce the project with us, and we love the flavor that he brings to our work. Aaron challenges us in the best ways to stretch the boundaries of our music, to really push ourselves creatively, and to fully understand our vision for the album. And we do know this for sure: this is an album of songs of worship.
We’ve tried not to put many limits on ourselves and on the work–and the work has been so fun as a result. Tim has been living out quite a few of his secret dreams, in fact. The latin percussionist, the Bruce Springsteen, and the crazy goat-hoof shaker guy all thrive within him. And with this project, they finally have their outlet!
And I get to pursue some secret dreams of my own. No, I haven’t gotten a Shakira moment yet, but yesterday I put a string section on Whisper Your Love that involved “Sugar-Plum Fairy” strings. High, flitty, and super fun to play. That’s almost as good, right? I also get to continue my foray into the wonderful and frustrating world of the cello. Most of the time, if I keep it simple, the cello does what I tell it to. Yesterday, however, it almost got itself thrown off the back deck because of its disobedience.
We’re recording in Aaron’s house here in Woodland Park–here’s the view heading up– 
and we’re thinking about splitting the studio to be in our house, too, so that we can continue recording when the babies are in bed. It’s a completely different thing than our last album; we’re working around our kids, we’re recording in a home studio, and we’re having so much fun experimenting, drinking coffee, making pancakes, and then experimenting some more.
I’m not sure when the new CD will be available for you to hear and enjoy. I know we’re keeping our fingers crossed that we’ll be done tracking our vocals and instruments by the end of this month, but with our chaotic family life, we just have to hold everything loosely. Rest assured, though, you’ll have it before Christmas for sure!
There are lots of ways you can keep up with our recording process. The best way is to be a fan of us on Facebook. It is so easy to upload pictures and one-liner status updates, so we do that often.
You can also follow us on Twitter, which also has some one-liner updates.
I am also updating my new blog for mommies with reflections about how this process fits in with my life as a mom of two small kids. Those posts that are less about motherhood and more about the process will also be posted here, I think.
So there you have it! We’ll try to be updating often, but until the next one, we’ll see you on Facebook or Twitter!
For a happy new year, at least read Step 1.
Laurie asked a similar question in her new blog. It’s worth sharing here too, but typically long winded, I’m also going to hit some practical steps here toward your personal creative adventures in 2010.
OK, so you got a guitar, a set of pottery tools, a canvas, a fly rod, a snowboard, or a [insert yours here] for Christmas. You lucky. Someone loves you enough not just to give you another sweater, but to give you a pursuit. A hobby. A discipline. An entry to your gold mine of overflowing talent that has remained hidden until now.
But you feel it don’t you? The pressure. Are the voices already telling you you’ll never get good at that? That your new gift will end up in the closet like everything else you’ve ever tried?
Well, then this post is for you. We can silence the criticizing voices, or at least laugh at them. A few practical steps can help us to make baby steps of progress that will keep us going instead of getting overwhelmed at the magnitude of the task. You need to buckle your bindings before you huck a 360 off a snowy cliff. Ready?
Step 1: Love yourself no matter what.
God does. So you can too. Fear is the enemy of creativity and adventure, and I know someone who would love for you to remain in a “safe” place of self-criticism and what you already know instead of the freedom of trying something new. Hint: it’s not Santa, but you can get his name if you rearrange the letters.
Step 2: Get a good guide, or at least the cell phone number of one.
It’s easier to get going when someone is beside you with an excited look on their face and plenty of stories about the way they fell, fumbled, faltered, and repelled the opposite sex when they were first learning. You might think this step is cost-prohibitive, but consider this: you may not need a professional. You are asking someone to share about their skill and their passion. Offer them dinner, coffee, beer, or whatever they like. I don’t know a single person who doesn’t want to hang out talk about and do the thing they are best at, even with a beginner, if it feels like a party.
Step 3: Survey the territory.
Let’s keep the analogy of exploring going. You have a guide. Now you look at a map. This is where some people stop though, so be careful. You don’t have to understand all the symbols or know the exact scale. Ask your guide to show you the major landmarks and pitfalls as you plot a course to somewhere you want to go.
Did you hear that? If you want to hike to the lake, you don’t need to consult a geologist about the chemical makeup of the soil. You don’t need to be a herpetologist, able to identify every tree. You don’t need to distinguish between the call of the great horned and spotted owls. You just need to know what you’ll encounter between the trailhead and the lake, and how to handle it.
Step 4: Strike out with courage.
You will be using new muscles and firing new synapses. It will be awkward. And awesome. Laugh at yourself. If you get frustrated, relax. Look around and breath fresh air. Unless you are in a dark room or refinishing furniture–then just think happy thoughts and get a respirator.
Step 5: Do it again. Watch your guide.
You may want to quit now, but remember Step 1. You have nothing to lose by trying again and again. Try on your guide’s movements and attitudes. With enough repetition, you might start to discover a new part of yourself emerging.
Repeat step 5 a few times.
Step 6: Now you are ready to do it “for real” and maybe with others.
By now you might have leaned how to play one song on your instrument in relatively good time. Take it to a group of musicians. Play it at the fellowship sunday morning. There is safety there as long as you remember Step 1. If you are learning to kayak, you have your roll by now. Ask your buddy to take you to a mild section of river because you’ve mastered the pool. You’ve paid your dues watching your lumpy clay pots slide off the potter’s wheel. Now keep a few. Glaze them and show them to some potter friends. They will be kind. If they are not, they need to know about Step 1, and you are just the person to inform them.
Step 7: You are a success. Sit down with your guide and talk about how great life is.
Talk about what you’ve accomplished. Back on the explorer analogy, talk about your course through the woods. What did you see along the way that you might like to explore further? What challenged you that needs more work? What was your favorite part?
Now repeat all the steps, but aim at expanding the “route” of your expertise. Don’t forget to be willing to share what you’ve learned with others, and don’t dismiss yourself as “knowing nothing.” You know how to get to the lake.
What creative, adventurous territory are you going to take over in 2010?
Did I miss any steps or nuances? What are they?
Back To Basics now available for $14.95
Just a quick note:
Tim’s new book, Back to Basics: Eight Sure Foundations For Kingdom Living, is now available on our site for regular price. Just follow the link to our merchandise page to grab one.
Pear Tree Mommy – Laurie’s new blog
Here’s a special post for you women out there. The amazing Laurie has had it on her mind for some time to do a collection of writings for other women, especially women who are re-discovering themselves in the midst of mommyhood. She decided to start by blogging and has set up a nice page at http://www.peartreemommy.com to do just that.
You will be glad if you join her. She is full of wisdom and honesty and loves a good party.
“Mud Song” – Simple Series
Lyrics, CD quality downloads, & more here!
The story of being rescued from slavery and coming into family and then into our inheritance as heirs and rulers can be seen all over the scriptures. Whenever a story becomes a motif–a theme–we know it’s speaking something important. It’s not just archaic happenstance; it is revealing God’s heart for you and me. From Egypt to Canaan. From Joseph’s prison cell to his throne. From the lost son’s pig sty to his welcome home feast! This story happens time and time again.
And it is happening.
African and Chinese orphans are the beloved sons and daughters of some of our good friends. Girls redeemed from the sex trade are finding places of refuge in the people of Jesus who are risking life and limb to call these “nobodies” their own.
And then there’s your journey…
“What I am saying is that as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave, although he owns the whole estate… Because you are sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, ‘Abba, Father.’ So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.”
Galations 4:1, 5-7
“For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, ‘Abba, Father.’ The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs–heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ. . .”
Romans 8: 15-17
So enjoy this barnyard party song about adoption and leave a comment to share with us how the Spirit testifies of your sonship and we’ll celebrate together.
You can share and download “Mud Song” and the whole Simple Series for free, or you can sow some dollars into the project.
How To Get A Songsheet With Lyrics And Chords, & How To Download Free:
Pretty slick: When you download the whole Simple Series album, a songsheet with lyrics and guitar chords for Mud Song will accompany it.
To download free, click here to open our music page then choose “Download” for Simple Series or the track you want and enter “0″ in the “name your price” field. We’ll ask for your email address so we can give you a chance to opt-in to future posts electronically. Despite what the computer tells you, you won’t be subscribed automatically. If you are already subscribed, everything will remain cool.
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If you like this song, please share it!
By Timothy Floyd Thornton and Laura Elizabeth Thornton (ASCAP)
CCLI song # 5588794
© Bricklayer Music Publishing 2006. All rights reserved. Please email us for a license to re-record or include this song in media.
“Whisper Your Love” – Simple Series
Tim and I wrote this song specifically for someone we know who has been living under the weight of things she feels as though she will never be able to overcome or defeat. It’s been years of her own wounds dictating in her mind who she is and what she’s worth. The enemy comes and lies to all of us–he sneaks in through anything he can and tries to separate us from the love of the Father and convince us that we are destined for nothing great. As children of God who are filled with his Holy Spirit, we know that our redemption, not only from death but also from what the enemy would have us believe about our lives, has already been won.
For more meditation on these themes, take a look at Psalm 57 and Psalm 18. We were reading these as we wrote this song.
Songwriting and recording notes: I have a love-hate relationship with this song. Over a year ago, we published a podcast with the informal just-arranged first version of it. Well, I don’t think we’ve played the song since that recording. We loved the song, we just didn’t feel like it did what we wanted it to. We knew it needed some changes, and although it would get in my head constantly, I couldn’t figure out where it needed to go. So now, one baby and a move to a different house later, we revisited it, leaning in the direction of a worship song–we cut out the end section, we changed the melody of the verses, we changed the lyrics to the second verse. Aaron Strumpel came to our house with an arsenal of preamps and mics and we recorded it live for the Simple Series. I finally feel like it’s done. Ha!!
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If you like this song, please share it on facebook, twitter, or (imagine) in person.
By Timothy Floyd Thornton and Laura Elizabeth Thornton (ASCAP)
Registered with CCLI
© Bricklayer Music Publishing 2006. All rights reserved. Please email us for a license to re-record or include this song in media.
On Peru–Why Go?
One of my favorite posts from our partners blog was about the purpose of the international mission trips we do. I (Tim) am embarking on a return trip to Peru this October, so I thought it was appropriate to repost this gem. I’ll give you some details about the upcoming trip soon.
If you missed them last time around, you can still see photos and hear an interview about cross-cultural interactions and music from the last trip.
The original post:
In nine days I’ll get on a plane that will take me from Dallas to Miami, then I’ll get on another plane that will take me to Lima, a city on the Pacific Coast of South America. We’ll probably fly over the Caribbean, getting glimpses of Cuba, then Panama, then over the Pacific Ocean, then Ecuador (where we’ll cross the equator) before we land in Peru where it’s currently summer.
I’ve been contemplating the miles. I get uncomfortable on a plane after about and hour and a half. I know, isn’t that a laughably short time for someone who loves to travel so much?!
So why fly so far? I’ve heard people say “isn’t there enough mission field here at home? So many lost people in our own neighborhood.”
In one conversation when we were anticipating a trip to Central America, a friend asked, “So…what are you gonna do? Play…uh…music for them?”
It wasn’t intended to diminish what we do; it was just an honest question about the value of what we bring and why we go.
I agree with what’s between the lines there. Do South Americans need a North American to come and play music for them? Don’t they have their own music? Don’t they have someone who can play just as well or better? Someone who can lead them in worship? Who knows how to build them a building? Who can educate and play with their kids? Who can speak scripture to them and pastor them? Who can pray for them to be healed? Who can inspire them onward in the way of Jesus, but with a better understanding of their culture and history in national identity?
Of course they do.
Then why don’t we just send those people a check and not tire ourselves out riding in an aircraft into another hemisphere and getting our stomachs all upset eating guinea pigs with them? (Yes, some Peruvians do eat guinea pigs. I haven’t decided whether to partake if offered. I mean, those are pets here)
Of course, I started this post in order to eventually to tell you my answers to this good question, but first, I was wondering what your answers are.
So, why go?
original comments:
Doug: Good Question, I have asked myself that more than once. Why me, why now, why there. One of the reasons, I want to see the country and enjoy the people and their customs. Another is to hang out with some great people. But the main reason that I go is because I hear the Spirit say go, and I don’t want to displease the Father.
Mike: That’s it, the only answer, “He said to go”. Sometimes you go and return and you still wonder what that was all about. Usually though you know, it’s obvious because God shows up. It’s His invitation to join Him because he takes delight in you doing so.
Tim: Thanks for your answers, Doug and Mike. Yes, the primary reason to go (or to stay, or to do anything else for that matter) has to be obedience to the Lord. When we hear his voice we don’t want to harden our hearts and end up missing out on participating with him in the work of redemption.
Here are some more reasons I go:
“But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 1 Corinthians 12:24
If I’m a part of one body with the believers in other places, I want to be concerned for them and be a help to them like I would a part of my own body. It’s not that there are a bunch of things the Peruvians need that only I can do for them. It’s that I am of one body with the Peruvians and they need me to be who only I can be for them. They need the specific grace that only my part of the body has. And I need to know the grace of Jesus that only their part of the body offers. And when the world sees that we love each other no matter how distant (geographically or otherwise) we may be, it wants a part in that love.
“Once, having been asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The kingdom of God does not come with your careful observation, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within* you.” Luke 17:21 *or among.
Within or among. Or both. We find the kingdom within ourselves and among one another. So relating to one another in the ministry of reconciliation becomes paramount in seeking the kingdom. And I for one just can’t get excited about a kingdom of God that only eats hamburgers. It’s gotta have ceviche and baba ganoush and curry and fried plantains and sesame chicken and collared greens and on and on….
“He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.” Daniel 7:14
Another reason is to fulfill scriptures like this one. Prophets of old dreamed about the beauty of people of many languages worshiping the Lord together, with our deepest allegiance in the Lord’s kingdom which will never pass away!
“The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’” Matthew 25:40
When I serve people who are in need like our brothers and sisters in Peru–think of the terrible eathquake they’re still recovering from–Jesus considers that the same as serving him!
I also love to get to know other people’s ways and languages and outlook on life. It shows me God’s creativity and inspires me to praise him.
I’d like to mention that I think writing a check to the local folks who are doing the kind of work I mentioned in this post is a great idea, and I happily do that kind of giving. I think empowering and honoring nationals in developing nations is crucial. But what kind of family would we be if we only sent our money and didn’t care to get to know our brothers and sisters?
That’s what I’m off to do. Thanks for your prayers.
“Too Wonderful” (for our Ellie) – free song!
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Click to download "Too Wonderful" mp3 and lyrics (400)
Inspired by Psalm 139, this is the first song I wrote after the birth of our first daughter, Elizabeth Caroline, whose name means “Beautiful woman consecrated to God.”
I wrote it for her as a mother’s blessing, that she would know her place in the Father’s heart and trust in his goodness.
I wanted to post this as the next song as we are inside 3 weeks until the birth of our second daughter, and my heart is full of joy and anticipation.
–Laurie
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If you like this song why not leave a comment? Please share it with friends; feature it on your facebook, blog, or what-not; and put it on your next mix. If you wish to sow into our ministry or join our partners community, that would be great. If you don’t want to right now, then keep on rockin’ in the free world.
“Too Wonderful” by Laura Elizabeth Thornton & Timothy Floyd Thornton, copyright Bricklayer Music Publishing (ASCAP) 2009, registered with CCLI.
Reflections on reflections: “Your Glory Falls”
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Discussion of our most recent song for free download. Here are some great quotes on the subject, some of which are referenced in the conversation:
“For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”
- Romans 8:20-21 (New American Standard Bible)
“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
- Galatians 2:20 (New International Version)
“The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust to them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them was longing. These things—the beauty, the memory of our own past—are good images of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself; they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited.”
“For you must not think that I am putting forward any heathen fancy of being absorbed into Nature. Nature is mortal; we shall outlive her. When all the suns and nebulae have passed away, each one of you will still be alive. Nature is only the image, the symbol; but it is the symbol Scripture invites me to use. We are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects.”
“In speaking of this desire for our own far-off country, which we find in ourselves even now, I feel a certain shyness. I am almost committing an indecency. I am trying to rip open the inconsolable secret in each one of you—the secret which hurts so much that you take your revenge on it by calling it names like Nostalgia and Romanticism and Adolescence; the secret also which pierces with such sweetness that when, in very intimate conversation, the mention of it becomes imminent, we grow awkward and affect to laugh at ourselves; the secret we cannot hide and cannot tell, though we desire to do both. We cannot tell it because it is a desire for something that has never actually appeared in our experience. We cannot hide it because our experience is constantly suggesting it, and we betray ourselves like lovers at the mention of a name. Our commonest expedient is to call it beauty and behave as if that had settled the matter.”
- C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory”
“Your Glory Falls” – Simple Series
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Simple Series #01 Your Glory Falls || $.99 iTunes
“Nature gave the word glory a meaning for me. I still do not know where else I could have found one.”
So said C. S. Lewis, as if he was from the Rocky Mountains.
Thousands of years before, the ancient poet looked up and wrote what we know as the nineteenth song in the book of psalms. He had no trouble gasping at the beauty of the changing sky in one phrase, then in the next contemplating that there is something eternal and pure and beyond those skies–and realizing that his own heart and life needed to reflect it.
Not to be outdone, I wrote this song a fishing season or so back, while waiting to be picked up for a day on the river in Eleven Mile Canyon. It is a true Colorado boy’s song to the Creator. It was inspired by Psalm 19, so I thought I’d include part of that text below so you can see how I used it as a way to enter into my own song of worship.
In the next post/podcast, we’ll talk more about the ancient psalmists’ sun, wind and clouds, and their harmony with my Colorado’s quaking aspen trees and rainbow trout.
Meantime, if this song gets to you, make it a prelude to an hour on the porch with a nice beverage and a copy of “The Weight of Glory” by C. S. Lewis. If the nearest porch looks to a place where created things have been suppressed, a potted plant will do. But don’t just look at creation. Listen to her song, for as Lewis observed, “we are summoned to pass in through Nature, beyond her, into that splendour which she fitfully reflects.”
from Psalm 19:
The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they display knowledge.
There is no speech or language
where their voice is not heard.
Their voice goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens he has pitched a tent for the sun,
which is like a bridegroom coming forth from his pavilion,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
Who can discern his errors?
Forgive my hidden faults.
Keep your servant also from willful sins;
may they not rule over me.
Then will I be blameless,
innocent of great transgression.
and from Psalm 135:
The LORD does whatever pleases him,
in the heavens and on the earth,
in the seas and all their depths.
He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth;
he sends lightning with the rain
and brings out the wind from his storehouses.
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If you like this song why not leave a comment? Please share it with friends; feature it on your facebook, blog, or what-not; and put it on your next mix. If you wish to make a donation or join our partners community, that would be great. If you don’t want to right now, then keep on rockin’ in the free world.
“Your Glory Falls” by Timothy Floyd Thornton copyright Bricklayer Music Publishing (ASCAP) 2009, registered with CCLI.
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