(To listen to the podcast "How Do I Carry Peace?" as you read, click here. To view the podcast on YouTube instead, click here.)
Those who speak Hebrew greet one another with the phrase,
It is both a greeting and a way to bless others with the peace and wholeness that only God can give.
While peace can be viewed only as the absence of conflict, our Biblical understanding of Shalom peace is so much more than that.
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the complete song, "Fields of Green" at the conclusion, click here. To view the podcast and hear the song on YouTube instead, click here.)
As a pastor there are some days when it seems like there are no words left to give comfort to those who are grieving. It has been in these situations where I just pray and ask God for help - help me love your people well. Let me tell you a story about one of these times in the fall of 2012, and then I’ll share with you the song that the Lord gave me to comfort others.
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the complete song, "Welcome Home" at the conclusion, click here. To view the podcast and hear the song on YouTube instead, click here.)
In the fall of 2004, a pastor friend of mine named Don North tragically died while riding his motorcycle. Don was a father in the faith pastoring in Oroville, CA. There was a real grace on his life to reach out to leaders like me, a youth pastor in a different city. After I got the news, I sat down on my piano bench and I had one question on my heart… “why?”
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the complete song, "You Are My Song" at the conclusion, click here. To view the podcast and hear the song on YouTube instead, click here.)
Psalms 89:1 in the message paraphrase of the Bible says, “Your love, God, is my song, and I'll sing it! I'm forever telling everyone how faithful you are”
The ability to sing is such a blessing from the Lord. All my life I have found great delight in using my voice to express my emotions, tell my story and to love others by singing songs.
In December of 2004 our first two children were turning ages 6 and 4. They were the years of VeggieTales videos and Elmo. Approaching Christmas that year we were seeing the wonder of Christmas once again through their eyes and wondering if there was a third Burchie kid in our future. With all my heart set on wanting another child, there was a song stirring in my heart. It all started with the phrase, “You will always be, a breath away from me.”
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the complete song, Reunion, at the conclusion, click here.)
In 1990, I was a 19-year-old visiting the art museum in St. Petersburg, Russia, and it would be years later before I would understand the importance of that visit. You see, this museum called The Hermitage contains many of the most famous paintings in the world, among them is the Rembrandt painting named, “Return of the Prodigal Son.”
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the complete song, Still Small Voice, at the conclusion, click here.)
In the 1800’s people would use the exclamation, “Jiminy Cricket” as a substitute for saying, “Jesus Christ,” when they were surprised. The expression was used in the 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and even Dorothy says it in the Wizard of Oz in that 1939 film production. When Walt Disney told the Italian story called “Pinocchio,” in 1940, Walt named the talking bug in the story Jiminy Cricket.
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the song, Love Letter, at the conclusion, click here.)
As a teenager I remember getting a letter in the mail from a girl in another town that was saturated with perfume and had a lot of hearts written all over it. I suppose you could call it a love letter, but I think it was more of a “crush letter.” A real love letter from someone is often saved and reread over and over to remind you how they feel about you, especially when they are so far away. It is supposed to keep your love from growing cold as you are separated by the miles.
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the song, Place at the Table, at the conclusion, click here.)
It was June of 2006, and I was in an airplane by myself when inspiration for a new song rushed into my heart and by the time I touched down in California, the song was pretty much finished.
It is peculiar for me to write music without a guitar in my hand or away from a piano keyboard, but when cruising at 35,000 feet, and all I had was a journal on the tray table, I made it work.
(To listen to the podcast as you read, and to hear the song, Brushstrokes, at the conclusion, click here.)
Over the years I have written a few songs for weddings. Two wedding songs are included on my 2009 project called “Proof in the Mirror.” All of these songs are written from the perspective of Jesus singing over us. If worship songs are the songs that WE sing to God, these are the songs that HE sings back over us. I want to share the story behind the song “Brushstrokes” - the first of the wedding songs on this CD.