Mighty River Music: News

Last night, at Warm Hearts, we had a wonderful evening with many good friend and we enjoyed the Lord's presence. One direction of the night was to, in words and music, bring to light the preciousness of multi-cultural worship. In reality, our small group of musicians really exhibited the worship of different cultures coming together. Glenn, playing his fiddle and mandolin brings to mind the Scots-Irish people who immigrated to this area. My son is the 6th generation of German farmers who came to this area in 1830. We used a Native American Cedar Flute in some of the music. Andrew had a drum from Africa. Steve has Irish ancestry too. Many nations were represented by the people who came to the coffee house. When we worshipped together, it was truly the worship of peoples from many nations - not quite all tongues and tribes like in Revelations but I think it was pleasing to the Lord. We do long for that day but for now we really enjoy this heaven now but not yet - the Kingdom here and now...and all that means.

Hope to see you next Friday night, 7PM at the Daily Grind in Mechanicsburg.

Bless!

It seems that my website is getting blasted daily by folks trying to harvest information from my guestbook page. Addresses were never visible in my guestbook and there was nothing of value for them to glean. Anyway, I am turning it off to protect friends from any potential information gathering. Please continue to sign up for the mailing list so I can send out event notices and news items to you.

One of my very favorite worship leaders, Rita Springer, will be leading worship March 1st and 2nd at Christ Community Church, Camp Hill, PA. See www.christcc.org for more information. Rita's current CD, "Beautiful You - Live" is very nice. Rita's website is www.ritaspringer.com

We are looking forward to an evening at Ruhl's Church Coffee House, near Manheim, PA. We start at 7pm Friday night. Should be a nice time with some old and new friends. Come join us if you can! Blessings!

Butterflys, Spring, hikes into the mountains, maybe a trip to Skyline Drive in Virginia. As there is fresh snow on the ground, as of this morning, I am more determined than ever to think "Spring". I expect we will start to visit some flower and plant places, maybe swing by Cabella's to check out some fishing gear and get ready for the fishin' season I know is almost here. All the signs are there, even if snow is on the ground. We know it is time for Spring to come!

Do you also see the signs of the Lord's presence, His Kingdom come? Are you looking for them? Renew our eyes and our other senses, and refresh our spirits, Lord, so that we sense you and your Kingdom now but not yet. Come, Lord Jesus, Come, Lord Jesus... Yeshua, please come dwell in the midst of our praises of you, and in the midst of our fellowship. Let it be pleasing and fragrant to you.

My friends, I am certainly longing for Spring - as you know! But I am also longing for a spiritual springtime, when the beauty and splendor of the Lord blooms around us all of a sudden and He comes upon us! Spring is coming!

It's over halfway through the month of February already. The February 29th date @ Ruhl's Church is not too far off. Hopefully, Spring is not too far off, either. I disagree completely with the groundhog from western PA. Early Spring, early Spring...just say after me...early Spring!
I do have some songs in the works. One is a redo of one of the first choruses I wrote and is based on Psalm 92. We'll see what comes together from all the fragments.

Is there any goecachers out there? Hope it warms up some so we can get outside and go GPSing soon.

Blessings to you all!
Mark

For my latest missions trip, I had the priviledge of being a member of a worship team serving at Succat Hallel for a week. We had an incredible week of worship with good friends and making many new friends. We did get to tour around Jerusalem a bit between worship sets. You can see some of the pictures in the Photo Gallery Section!

Also, if you inclined to seek something hot to drink in the midst of our cold weather, please come out to The Warm Hearts Cafe , in Mechanicsburg, this Friday night. Some good friends and I will be sharing some worship music that evening. Blessings... or Shalom, as they say in Jerusalem.

I am releasing a home recording of a brand new song. It is about trust and faith in God, walking through the storms and difficult situations of life. I pray, for those in hard situations that this song would bring the deliverance and the help of the Lord to you. Trust in the Lord, my friends. Only He is our salvation and deliverance.

You will find "Walk Upon the Waters" on the music page, along with the lyrics and song story. Blessings for a beautiful Christmas season, full of the Love of the Lord.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone. In spite of what the stores tell us, Thanksgiving is still a holiday! Give Thanks to the Lord! For He is good! His love endures forever!

Now to new music!

First, I have a guest in the music section! My son, Tom, wrote a wonderful song with beautiful lyrics. Check out Blue Jay and catch a little preview of the winter season almost upon us. Great poets have a knack for opening our eyes to details we would normally miss - and they help us to appreciate the before unseen beauty in our midst. So it is with Blue Jay.

From Psalm 86:11, I have a short Scripture song that will have an impact in your life. Brian MacLaren writes about the Kingdom of God, in the Secret Message of Jesus. I think the words in this scripture song are a key to having the Kingdom of God within us - and spilling out of us. If you ask, the Lord will do this... I wrote this for the kids at church but I have felt the impact in myself. Let it be so, Lord....

Enjoy!

I was looking around at some capo information tonight. I use the Kyser shortcut capo a good bit. The Kyser capo site has put together some very informative videos that guitar players can definitely benefit from. The site is at: http://www.kysermusical.com/shortcut/video.htm
Enjoy and learn lots!

Will have some new playing out dates soon! Please check back! And I will get the Worthy Praise song recorded soon!

This past Saturday, I was searching through a Mennonite Hymns and Tunes songbook. One of the hymns was entitled, "Worthy Praise to Immanuel". The words were so beautiful. I have no idea on the age of the hymn as there are no dates or authors credited. I suspect the song has a few years on it though and many singings to it's credit. Saturday night, I wrote a chorus to go with the beautiful verses and we used it on Sunday morning for our worship time. I hope to record it at home later this week and will post it up on the site soon. The lyrics make me search for what is "worthy praise" in my offering to the Lord. Look for the song soon!

I put up a new 'old' song. Even though The Wedding Song was a first attempt at computer based recording, the song is really pretty. My friend, Latonya, sang a beautiful part, which was recorded one afternoon in the sanctuary at Christ Community. The song is about the Wedding of the Lamb and His Bride, the church. The Lamb and His Bride are singing back a forth in The Wedding Song. It is truly a love song - A duet -The Lamb to us, and from us to the Lamb. It was the first time I played a whistle in a song too! (Though I am not sure that is a good thing!) I was trying to capture the sound of two doves calling to each other. The drum used is a 18" TOCA Dejembe, with a very Latin and clear, ringy head. It was the first time I played hand drum on a song too! The drum part is a very odd rythmn. The guitar part is interesting and a somewhat odd chordline. I hope you all enjoy it! I would love to put this one on a CD someday! I wonder what the video might look like?

Please add your name to the list for a petition to Congress to save Internet Radio. I think this is a good cause so please your name to the petition. NetRadio provides a good outlet for many great independent artists who because of no label affiliation will never get airplay on major radio stations.

I put up a free MP3 of a song written from Psalm 57:9. It is where worship, missions, and evangelism combine. Enjoy!

I love to sing and listen to music in Spanish and Portuguese. My first experience of doing so was worshipping under the leading of a wonderful worship band from Brazil - Casa de Davi and Davi Silva. From the simple, small bits of Portuguese I've learned, I wrote a song of my own that combines both Portuguese and English. If there are some folks who are from Brazil, please correct my errors if you would. Please enjoy the song. It is on the music page and you can download the full MP3. Oh, please overlook the dogs in the background. Shetland Sheepdogs make it hard at our house to record. They like to chime in. Especially when the tamborine and shakers come out!

I'd love to learn the verse in Portuguese if someone out there could teach me. The Lord stirs my heart when I sing to Him in Portuguese. Maybe some day I will be able to take a trip to Brazil. There is a special link, for me, to the Lord, through Brazil and her people. Someday...

Blessings-

This Easter, the Lord is pointing me to something about relationship. It is TRUST. Trust is the foundation of any relationship. We can trust Jesus. Like no one else, not even our families or especially ourselves - we can trust Him. He stepped away from the perfect relationships in heaven with the Father and the Holy Spirit and came to earth.

Christ's good news is the hope for all of us... by this Gospel we are saved. The Gospel is this:

That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day, according to the Scriptures. ( 1 Corinthians 15:2-4 )
By the cross, Jesus took away our sin. Jesus credited His perfect righteousness to us. Jesus bore the punishment for our sin. Jesus satisfied God's wrath against sin. Jesus ransomed us. Jesus reconciled us to God and each other.

Only Jesus alone could do all of this. If there is anyone you can trust, it is someone who would give themselves, sacrifice themselves for you. Will you trust Him?

Anyone that knows me, knows that I love the mountains around here. Hiking, camping or jeepin in the mountains is something I love to do. In fact, the picture for the CD was taken at a state park, in the mountains, near Carlisle, PA. The CD itself was manufactured at OasisCD, at the foot of the Skyline Drive mountains. I thought the mountain graphics were very appropriate! Hope you like the new look! Happy Easter!

Full MP3's of all the Mighty River tracks are available for download at Great Indie:

Mighty River on Great Indie

After some considerable looking around and playing different acoustic guitars, I settled on an amber colored maple Taylor 615CE. I was looking for something a bit different than my 414CE and also the (ES) expression system. I played a number of other Taylors but really liked the sound and presence of the 615CE. It also sounded wonderful through an amp. I will have to post a picture soon! And soon, you will hear it on some recordings. And yes....my fingers hurt a little bit at the moment....
Today...springy is getting buried under a heavy snow but it will be back soon, honest! Blessings
- Mark

Today finally felt a bit like spring. And it is supposed to warm up a bit more during the next week. I think I can speak for most folks here in PA that we are ready for Spring!
Some new news... I have a blog where comments can be posted at www.mightyrivermusic.blogspot.com . Please stop by and enter in the conversation!
My Rockbridge class is done for this session and I have reclaimed the time for other activities. I hope to get the lampstand song draft recorded soon. The song is kinda cool because it is written half in my very limited Portuguese and half in English. It also seems to work well in worship. The song is about every member worship & ministry.
Some books by Brian McLaren are also taking up some of my time recently. I started with A Generous Orthodoxy and then read The Story We Find Ourselves In. I am in the midst of Find Faith (that makes sense). All of these books are well worth the read. More soon - Blessings! Mark

There are a couple new songs in the works, no studio, just home recordings for now. The latest is about the lamps before the throne in heaven. The prompting comes from the latest Rockbridge Seminary class I am taking. In the song (at least so far) the priesthood of believers is asking for the Holy Oil to fuel the holy fire burning in the lamps and then they worship by the power of the Holy Spirit, ministering to the Lord. At the www.oasishouse.com resource page you will find an mp3 of a message called Burning Before the Throne, by Bob Sorge. The Lord reminded me of Bob's message so much I could hear the message being given and remembered even the drawing Bob was doing. Tonight I will listen to the message and see what it brings to the song. Email me if you have any idea's on this topic! Sing a new song to the Lord. Declare His blessings day after day.... Be one of these lampstands before the throne of God! .... Mark

I hope everyone's Christmas was filled with the Lord's presence and wonderful family time. As 2006 wraps up, I wish you all a very Happy New Year and a wonderful 2007. See you out and about!

I put up a version of O Come O Come Immanuel, in my Music section. I am considering this beautiful song for our worship time on Sunday. It borrows a bit from Nights in White Satin, by the Moody Blues, and in 6/8 is a sweet whistle song. May it spark wonderful thoughts about Advent and Christmas for you. Please email me, from the Contacts Page, if you need the chart. Blessings to all.

December 7th is Pearl Harbor Day. Thank you to all veterans, but especially today, WWII vets.

As I was searching through Christmas songs for worship, the word Advent kept popping up. I found many different thoughts about this before Christmas time. Some find it a time of fasting, repentence and preparation. I've always found it to be a time of joyful anticipation. Today, I realized we Christians are in a very special situation. We look to the Advent past, assured of what happened, and we find incredible peace and joy. We look to Advent now, and see the Kingdom of God breaking out and daily evidence of the truth that Emmanuel is God with us and we are amazed. Finally, we long for the Advent future-time when Christ comes again.

Advent(?)::Fascinating(!)

A new piece of music has been added to the music section, called As I Fall in Love. It was finished on the Thursday before Thanksgiving and played live at Juice and Java on that weekend to good response. So while not a full recording, I wanted to, as a writer, put the song up here on the site. Please go to the music section. You can click on the song title to get the story behind the song! Blessings to ya!