Originally written in 1901 by Maltbie D. Babcock, ‘This Is My Father’s World’ has been rerecorded by the talented singer/songwriter Wilder Adkins. Wilder’s folksy guitar playing brings a beautiful gentleness to this tune, perfectly complimenting the lyrics. This track is part of a hymn album that Wilder released in 2011 titled Oak & Apple, links below.
Lyrics: This is my Father’s world, and to my listening ears All nature sings, and round me rings the music of the spheres. This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas; His hand the wonders wrought.
This is my Father’s world, the birds their carols raise, The morning light, the lily white, declare their Maker’s praise. This is my Father’s world: He shines in all that’s fair; In the rustling grass I hear Him pass; He speaks to me everywhere.
This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet. This is my Father’s world, why should my heart be sad? The lord is King—let the heavens ring. God reigns—let the earth be glad.
This is my Father’s world. I walk a desert lone. In a bush ablaze to my wondering gaze God makes His glory known. This is my Father’s world, a wanderer I may roam Whate’er my lot, it matters not, My heart is still at home.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done: Jesus who died shall be satisfied, And earth and Heav’n be one.
On this track, singer/songwriter Josh White (under the name Pilgrim) clashes synth pop/electronica with the gospel. Not the most popular of combinations in the Christian music scene, but it works, and it works surprisingly well! Drawing on elements from other sub genres such as glam rock and even trip hop, Josh White has yet again brought something fresh to the offering and all it makes me want to do is dance and praise the Lord. The lyrics to this track were written by Fanny Crosby in 1915 and was originally published as ‘All Will Be Well’.
Lyrics:
Only Your presence, O Savior divine,
Only Your Spirit to merge with mine;
Only Your image of love on my breast,
Seal of forgiveness, assurance of rest.
Only Your presence to lead me aright,
Out of the darkness and into the light;
Only a whisper to tell You are near,
Only Your sunshine to banish my fear.
Only Your presence when trials I bear,
Lifting so gently my burden of care;
Only Your presence to show me the way,
Home to the garden of the infinite day.
Only Your presence when wild is the gale, Only Your presence when joy is my sail; Only Your presence my vessel to guide Into the harbor and over the tide.
Even tho’ the billows like mountains may swell; All will be well; all will be well; Under Your shadow in peace I shall dwell; All, all will be well.
Recently, I spoke to Hunter Bobo and Kyle Segars of the Mississippi based worship band, Sow and Tether. Here’s what they had to say about the band, their future EP and the release of their new music video ‘Nothing But The Blood’.
Ok, so first off, how did the band form?
Hunter: We basically formed because me, Kyle, and Phill all played in a metalcore type band, but I’d been writing a few worship songs. It wasn’t really a part of anything, I wrote them just to write them. Then we all ended up at the same church, and we were like, “Let’s do this.” It was like “Hey I sing, one of you plays guitar, one plays bass and another plays drums,” so we started on that and things kinda formed through our local church. Now we’ve just been writing and doing whatever we can ever since.
So do you guys still play any metalcore?
Hunter: The band that we were in, called Parallels, never actually broke up. We just kinda stopped playing. So, yeah I don’t really know what happened there. We still have 80% of an album recorded that we might finish one day, haha!
What made you settle on the name Sow & Tether?
Hunter: I essentially came up with the name because last year, as our church went through the book of Mark, I noticed that a lot of stuff in the very basis of the gospel reflects the fact that those two words really signify our lives as believers. By that, I mean Jesus binds us to Himself – AKA “tether” – and He sows within us His goodness; nothing we can do is good [but] that only He can do good. He sows within us His seed and He sanctifies us. Those two words, overall to me, are two words that signify the life of a believer.
So you guys lead the worship at your church?
Hunter: We do, every week.
So what have you guys got planned for summer?
Hunter: As of right now we’re writing, we’re trying to finish up preproduction for all the songs for our EP. In August, we’ll be heading up to Nashville, TN to start tracking our 6 or 7 song debut EP. So that’s what’s on our immediate agenda. We’ve got marketing plans to work out, and a lot of funding to work out for the recording and distribution process. But that’s the plan right now, just to keep writing, get the songs to where they need to be for recording, raise the money, and then go up there and do that.
So this song, Nothing But The Blood, will that be on the EP?
Hunter: It could. It might be. We haven’t decided yet, because we’ve written upwards of 12 to 14 songs and we’re going to let the producer tell us, “Hey, these are your best six,” and just let him make that decision. But it’s very possible. We like this rendition of it, we just haven’t been able to nail down whether it’ll be on there yet.
Kyle, when we spoke via email you had some interesting reasons for recording this song, do you want to expand on that?
Kyle: Sure, a big thing that we see a whole lot in our culture, is worship bands only playing Chris Tomlin, and Hillsong type stuff – pretty much all of the really mainstream youth Christian songs. And I think a lot is missed out when we skip over hymns that really accurately reflect the gospel.
Hunter: Also, hymns are the songs that brought us to where we are now, and we want to be respectful of that. And that’s not bagging on anyone who’s written contemporary worship songs; I mean, we write them all the time. But the foundation for where the music is today [is hymns], and not that it started with this specific song, but it’s obviously a big part of where we are now.
Kyle: Yeah that’s a big thing. I mean a lot of our appeal right now is to youth because we’ve been a Disciple Now kind of band, we’ve been a youth group and youth camp kind of band. We want to step out of that box, and what we’re trying to do with Nothing But the Blood is to let people know that we aren’t just that kind of band. It will hopefully allow older generations to see where we’re coming from and that we’re not trying to push them aside and only cater to the contemporary style. We’re trying to bring the youth and the adults together; we’re trying to show the kids that the songs their parents like are actually really good, and we’re trying to show the adults and the youth that they can worship in the same room together without it being weird. We want to see the whole church together in worship.
What was filming the video like?
Hunter: Well the song is almost us anchoring ourselves to this one ideal, but actually the room that we did it in is really important to my family. This sanctuary is where my wife’s grandparents actually got married. And all the stain glass windows that you see in the video are dedicated to her great, great grandmother and things like that. So it’s not just about the song, but in many different ways [the video] shows that we want to start with the very roots of who we are and start with our church even. And to just signify that we recognize and are very appreciative of what we’ve been given and of all the talents of the people around us.
You may remember hearing Wayfarer back in December when I posted their version of a classic Christmas Carol. This time though, they are here with their ‘repurpose’ of the 1707 hymn Alas And Did My Saviour Bleed from their debut EP – The River. Not only are the lyrics beautiful but the harmonies that Wayfarer layers on delivers them in the way in which they deserve to be heard. The indie/surf-rock style that Wayfarer creates on this EP is a joy to listen to, and is a unique sound in the current worship music genre. The band is currently working on a new EP, hopefully to be released in Spring time so watch this space and in the meantime head over to iTunes or their website to purchase The River!
This song is taken from King’s Kaleidoscope’s Hymn EP, Aspah’s Arrows.
All rights belong to King’s Kaleidoscope.
King’s Kaleidoscope are a worship band for Mars Hill Church in Seattle. With this 4 track EP they have taken some of their favourite hymns and made them sound modern and fresh. The thing that makes this band unique for me is that they have a string-trio and a horns section as part of their standard lineup, which really makes them stand out from all the current modern rock worship music you hear these days.
Lyrics: Come, thou Fount of every blessing, Tune my heart to sing thy grace; Streams of mercy, never ceasing, Call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet, Sung by flaming tongues above. Praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it, Mount of God’s unchanging love.
Here I raise mine Ebenezer; Hither by thy help I’ve come; And I hope, by thy good pleasure, Safely to arrive at home.
Jesus sought me when a stranger, Wandering from the fold of God; He, to rescue me from danger, Interposed his precious blood.
O to grace how great a debtor Daily I’m constrained to be! Let thy grace now, like a fetter, Bind my wandering heart to thee.
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it, Prone to leave the God I love; Here’s my heart, O take and seal it, Seal it for thy courts above.
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