What do we really sing and Why?

You know, I was uploading some songs and as I was listening, the strangest thought came to my mind. What kind of music do we really sing? There is Gospel, Southern Gospel, Praise, Worship etc. but I don't think that spanish southern gospel is listed anywhere on the internet.

What in the world is spanish southern gospel? I have not quiet figured that out yet but here is what I do know.

We love to sing music that stirs our heart. We love to sing music that will touch the people who are listening. We love to sing music that carries a message of repentance and salvation. We love music that will bring tears to someone's eyes and make them weep with joy. And finally, we love to sing music that brings us closer to our savior Jesus Christ.

You know what is so wonderful? This may come to a surprise to many people but God is bi-lingual or let me say multi-lingual. He understands all languages and no matter what color your skin is or what country you were born in, Jesus loves you just the same.

Aaron, Eliu and Harold were born in Nicaragua during communism. Their mother had to hide them in the mountains when they were only 14 because the communist army was recruiting everyone over 13 into the army to fight in the civil war. They were Christians and they had no other choice but to flee. She marched over the mountains for days with no food or water until she reached Honduras. My parents were missionaries and they took these boys and put them in school. Never in our imagination did we think that God had given them a great talent to sing but God already knew their future.

The Bible says "Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

When I put the group together, I asked the guys and my daughter what type of music do you want to sing. Their response was "Whatever brings more people to a saving knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."

So I guess the answer to the question of what type of music we sing is "WE SING THE GOSPEL"

Philip Tyson
Samaritan Revival
www.samaritanrevival.com
www.myspace.com/samaritanrevival

Something to think about

Something to think about from Samaritan Revival

As we prepare for our new album, I have been searching for a special song for
Stephany. I wanted something that would send a special message out to people who were discouraged and maybe they were in a season of doubt in their life. I found the song "I know you are there". This song really touched me because it tells me that God loves us and He is not going to forsake His children.

Here are the words

If all I had was one last breath

I'd spend it just to sing Your praise

Just to say Your name

If all I had was one last prayer

I'd pray it 'cause I know You're always listening

If I could live a thousand lives, bind the hands of time

I would spend every moment by Your side


'cause I, I know You're there, I know You see me

You're the air I breathe

You are the ground beneath me

I know You're there, I know You hear me

I can find You anywhere


If all I had was one more song to sing

I would raise my voice to make the heavens ring

If all I had was one last chance, I'd take it

I would stake it all on You


If I could raise up high and catch a glimpse of every eye

I would make them believe

What I feel inside


If I could live a thousand lives and bind the hands of time

If I could rise up high and catch a glimpse of every eye


I know You're there

I know You're there

I know You're there, You're there


We probably all know that God says He’s always with us and He’s always listening to
us. We know that’s true because of verses like: “I am with you always” (Matthew28:20); “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5); But at the same time, all of us have probably had times with God when all of those verses felt like nice—but empty—thoughts. So what do we do when the truth doesn’t feel true?
God gives us both emotions and knowledge of the truth of His Word. When we don’t feel like God is there, we need to rely on what we know to be true: that He really is. When our feelings contradict God’s truth, they always need to be overridden by what we know. We have to make a conscious choice to believe what’s true instead of relying on our feelings.

It’s tough to wrestle that out. It’s easier to trust your feelings, stop talking with God, and walk away. But when you grapple with it, you’re saying to God: “I’m going to stick with You no matter how I feel because we’re in a committed relationship.” That’s living out true, real love. It’s commitment based on gut-level dedication, and God will honor that.

So how do we override our feelings with the truth? We’ll shoot straight here: Sometimes it’s just a flat-out choice. There’s no magic formula or any process to walk through. It’s just mentally deciding, “God, I know You’re here. I don’t feel like You’re here, but You say You are, and I choose to believe that’s true, and I’m going to act on it and spend time with You.” Your feelings that day may never swing in line with the truth. Sometimes you just have to move forward. You have to hang on to the truth, remind yourself of it, and find the backup you need to support it. The backup is in the Bible. When you’re feeling like God’s not there, the Psalms are a great place to visit

There will be times when you feel like God isn’t near. It’s part of living in a fallen world. But when you spend time with God without feeling His presence, your actions will prove that your commitment to God is rooted in something much more solid than emotions. It’s rooted in love.

Philip Tyson
philip@samaritanrevival.com
www.samaritanrevival.com


P.S. We still have a few more dates open if you would like Samaritan Revival to visit your church.

How do you really feel?

I have a question for all of you. How do you really feel?

In todays society, it is so easy to put on our happy face. We meet so many people, we shake many hands and we give many hugs. We see many smiles but as my father said once, "there are many layers to an onion". I was a kid when he said this to me and I had not idea what he was talking about but now I do.

Our outside layer can be shiny, attractive, and beautiful but what is really going on inside our head, inside our heart. Our we really what we try to appear on the outside or once our layers are pealed, how do we really feel on the inside. Who are we really?

The more people I meet, the more I come to realize that we all suffer from pain, depression, sadness and many times in our life we lose hope. I know that we love to be around happy people but sometimes this can really cause us harm. We as humans try to compare ourselves to others and when we cannot live up to the standards of others, we feel like we have failed. Thank God that He looks at our heart and not at our top layer. God has the power to look under every layer of our life and see who we really our and how we really feel.

Let me tell you who I like to be around. I love to hang around people who do not try to be someone there not. I love people to open up and share their feelings. I love people who will express their faults and allow me to express mine without judgment. I love to hear someone say "I am just a sinner saved by grace". That is all we are, a low down sinner with no hope that God had so much love for us that He have his only son to die on the cross to give the hope of salvation.

There is so much that I could talk about in this blog but let me just say this. If you cannot open yourself to someone, you can always open yourself to Jesus. He will never be to busy to listen. Express to him how you really feel. Peel those layers back and tell him where you are hurting. I know that God already knows but He wants to hear it from you. He wants you to come to Him for help. He wants you to need Him.

One other bit of advice that I can give is this. If you are ever in church or let just say at some christian event and you see someone singing or preaching, don't let you mind trick you into convincing yourself that you want to be like that person. What you need to do is to ask the Lord to help live what that person is preaching or singing because if you could peel the layers back of the person you are admiring, who knows what you would find.

Don't get me wrong, there are some great people in this world. I love Charles Stanley. His messages touches me in a great and mighty way but I know that Charles Stanley does not want me to want to be like him. He wants me to take the messages that God gives him and apply them to my life. I love to hear Bart Miller from Mercyme and Mark Hall from Casting Crowns. I know that these guys are touching millions of people with their music but do I want to be like them or should I apply what they do for the Lord to my life. I know that you know the answer to that question.

Be yourself and let God use you. Walking around with two Bibles in your hand and huge cross around your neck is not going to make you more useful to God. Casting Crowns has a song called Lifesong. The words of the song say "Let my lifesong sing to you". In other words, let your life be a testimony to others. Not who you are but how you live.

Just saying.

Philip Tyson
Samaritan Revival