NEWS Sweetbird's Evolution - A Spiritual Perspective
"the Holy Spirit does not come save on the ground of death, burial and resurrection."
- T. Austin-Sparks
"he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."
(Galatians 6:8, ASV)
Death, Burial, Resurrection, and eternal Life. Four words - four powerful words that carry so much meaning in the Spiritual realm. Today, something special happened that involved these four words and I wanted to share it with readers.
I was taking a short break today when the light went on and I saw something - something that I didn't see before. I don't ever question when the Lord chooses to reveal something to me. He does it when the time is right. His timing is always perfect. Today was the day when I saw clearly the evolution of Sweetbird. I SAW IT! And when I saw it, it made perfect sense to me. In order to understand what I saw, we need a little context.
Sweetbird was formed a year or so prior to my powerful, and life-altering, revelation (see my blog post "I Am Love" in the June 2007 blog archives). Death is what brought Christine and me together. It was how the Lord chose to unite us. I had just lost my father, my best friend, to cancer, and witnessed the 9-11-01 terrorists attacks from my office window in NYC. Sweetbird's first record, Free Spirit Reflection, was written and recorded during a period when both Christine and I were dealing with death. The song I received during my revelation, "I Am Love," appeared on the first record. There are several songs that deal with the subject of death: "Angels on High," "Broken Heart Blues," "Be On Your Way," and "Gray Dog."
In summary, Sweetbird's Free Spirit Reflection was about death.
The next Sweetbird record, Soul Fire, was written largely during the period 2003-2004. This was a time when Christine and I were spending a great deal of time on the cross. This is a time when the dead things of the past were being buried and there was a longing something more - for a life filled with love and light. You can hear this theme throughout the record. "Kindred Spirit" - a longing to be home, where love is; "A Time to Heal" - dealing with the past to move forward with the Spirit. "October's Child" - a prayer for love to light the way.
Whereas Free Spirit Reflection was about death, Soul Fire was about burial.
Death and burial - what comes after these three, spiritually speaking?
Resurrection!
Sweetbird's third release, Shine, is all about resurrection. Something remarkable occurred in 2005 as we were finishing up the recording for Soul Fire. On Easter morning, as I was meditating deeply, the Lord spoke to me and said, in His gentle voice: "Give me the music." I was stunned at first, not sure if I heard what I thought I had heard. He said it again, "Give me the music," knowing that I needed to hear it again to be sure. Tears immediately began flowing. What a cry that was! That morning rivaled the experience of my revelation. Needless to say, Sweetbird's music hasn't been the same since that time. It is His music - every single piece of it. Many of the songs on Shine are, in fact, inspired words received directly from the Holy Spirit - the very same Spirit that resurrected Jesus. I go back and listen to songs like "Live to Love," "Shine," "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Trust in Me." I didn't write these songs. They were received from the Spirit. The song I did write, "In My Heart," in collaboration with Christine, was the last song on the record. That song was a love song written directly to the Lord in appreciation for his never-failing love and grace. When I listen to "In My Heart" today, I can tell that Christine and I were entering more fully into Christ. There is, indeed, no turning back. True love is exactly what we found. God's love was resurrecting us.
Put simply, Sweetbird's Shine is all about resurrection.
Which brings me to the last of the four words - eternal life. Death, burial and resurrection give birth to eternal life. Listen to the Spirit pouring through Paul's surrendered heart:
"he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."
(Galatians 6-8, ASV)
Eternal life is a gift of the Spirit. And what a great gift it is! It is the GREATEST GIFT of all.
Which brings me to a discussion of the next Sweetbird record, a record on which Christine and I have been working very hard over the past year. I received the title of the record last year. It came to me after meditating on a piece written by Oswald Chambers. It's as if the title leaped off the page and hit me right between the eyes. I saw it so clearly:
THE GREAT LIFE
When the title of the fourth Sweetbird record was decided upon, I didn't fully understand what was happening. But I knew the title was right. Thus far, Christine and I have written 16 songs for The Great Life. There's also a cover of Patty Griffin's, "Christina." It's easily Sweetbird's most ambitious project and it's most deeply spiritual record. We are both excited to finish the project and know it will be completed only in the Lord's time. As it stands right now, we are hoping and praying The Great Life comes out before Christmas 2009 - or perhaps even on Christmas Day, which would be fitting.
We can summarize everything I just explained, as such:
Sweetbird's Evolution - A Spiritual Perspective
2003: Free Spirit Reflection = death
2005: Soul Fire = burial
2007: Shine = resurrection
2009: The Great Life = eternal life
When viewed from a spiritual perspective, Sweetbird's evolution makes all the sense in the world to Christine and me. The Holy Spirit is guiding us. It is all so clear. Here's something I came across in a little book by T. Austin-Sparks that confirms the whole experience. Sparks says:
"the Holy Spirit does not come save on the ground of death, burial and resurrection."
(T. Austin-Sparks, Life in the Spirit)
Sparks is saying that death, burial and resurrection are the ground of the Holy Spirit! These three produce life - eternal life - great life!
Where there is death, burial and resurrection, there is eternal life through the government of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus showed us the way to the great life: there was death on the Cross, there was burial and then there was resurrection and eternal life. How beautiful is that? From death comes life - eternal life. GREAT LIFE!
May you experience death, burial and resurrection, and may you experience eternal life - the greatest life of all.
Agape,
Steve
- T. Austin-Sparks
"he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."
(Galatians 6:8, ASV)
Death, Burial, Resurrection, and eternal Life. Four words - four powerful words that carry so much meaning in the Spiritual realm. Today, something special happened that involved these four words and I wanted to share it with readers.
I was taking a short break today when the light went on and I saw something - something that I didn't see before. I don't ever question when the Lord chooses to reveal something to me. He does it when the time is right. His timing is always perfect. Today was the day when I saw clearly the evolution of Sweetbird. I SAW IT! And when I saw it, it made perfect sense to me. In order to understand what I saw, we need a little context.
Sweetbird was formed a year or so prior to my powerful, and life-altering, revelation (see my blog post "I Am Love" in the June 2007 blog archives). Death is what brought Christine and me together. It was how the Lord chose to unite us. I had just lost my father, my best friend, to cancer, and witnessed the 9-11-01 terrorists attacks from my office window in NYC. Sweetbird's first record, Free Spirit Reflection, was written and recorded during a period when both Christine and I were dealing with death. The song I received during my revelation, "I Am Love," appeared on the first record. There are several songs that deal with the subject of death: "Angels on High," "Broken Heart Blues," "Be On Your Way," and "Gray Dog."
In summary, Sweetbird's Free Spirit Reflection was about death.
The next Sweetbird record, Soul Fire, was written largely during the period 2003-2004. This was a time when Christine and I were spending a great deal of time on the cross. This is a time when the dead things of the past were being buried and there was a longing something more - for a life filled with love and light. You can hear this theme throughout the record. "Kindred Spirit" - a longing to be home, where love is; "A Time to Heal" - dealing with the past to move forward with the Spirit. "October's Child" - a prayer for love to light the way.
Whereas Free Spirit Reflection was about death, Soul Fire was about burial.
Death and burial - what comes after these three, spiritually speaking?
Resurrection!
Sweetbird's third release, Shine, is all about resurrection. Something remarkable occurred in 2005 as we were finishing up the recording for Soul Fire. On Easter morning, as I was meditating deeply, the Lord spoke to me and said, in His gentle voice: "Give me the music." I was stunned at first, not sure if I heard what I thought I had heard. He said it again, "Give me the music," knowing that I needed to hear it again to be sure. Tears immediately began flowing. What a cry that was! That morning rivaled the experience of my revelation. Needless to say, Sweetbird's music hasn't been the same since that time. It is His music - every single piece of it. Many of the songs on Shine are, in fact, inspired words received directly from the Holy Spirit - the very same Spirit that resurrected Jesus. I go back and listen to songs like "Live to Love," "Shine," "Maybe Tomorrow" and "Trust in Me." I didn't write these songs. They were received from the Spirit. The song I did write, "In My Heart," in collaboration with Christine, was the last song on the record. That song was a love song written directly to the Lord in appreciation for his never-failing love and grace. When I listen to "In My Heart" today, I can tell that Christine and I were entering more fully into Christ. There is, indeed, no turning back. True love is exactly what we found. God's love was resurrecting us.
Put simply, Sweetbird's Shine is all about resurrection.
Which brings me to the last of the four words - eternal life. Death, burial and resurrection give birth to eternal life. Listen to the Spirit pouring through Paul's surrendered heart:
"he that soweth unto the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap eternal life."
(Galatians 6-8, ASV)
Eternal life is a gift of the Spirit. And what a great gift it is! It is the GREATEST GIFT of all.
Which brings me to a discussion of the next Sweetbird record, a record on which Christine and I have been working very hard over the past year. I received the title of the record last year. It came to me after meditating on a piece written by Oswald Chambers. It's as if the title leaped off the page and hit me right between the eyes. I saw it so clearly:
THE GREAT LIFE
When the title of the fourth Sweetbird record was decided upon, I didn't fully understand what was happening. But I knew the title was right. Thus far, Christine and I have written 16 songs for The Great Life. There's also a cover of Patty Griffin's, "Christina." It's easily Sweetbird's most ambitious project and it's most deeply spiritual record. We are both excited to finish the project and know it will be completed only in the Lord's time. As it stands right now, we are hoping and praying The Great Life comes out before Christmas 2009 - or perhaps even on Christmas Day, which would be fitting.
We can summarize everything I just explained, as such:
Sweetbird's Evolution - A Spiritual Perspective
2003: Free Spirit Reflection = death
2005: Soul Fire = burial
2007: Shine = resurrection
2009: The Great Life = eternal life
When viewed from a spiritual perspective, Sweetbird's evolution makes all the sense in the world to Christine and me. The Holy Spirit is guiding us. It is all so clear. Here's something I came across in a little book by T. Austin-Sparks that confirms the whole experience. Sparks says:
"the Holy Spirit does not come save on the ground of death, burial and resurrection."
(T. Austin-Sparks, Life in the Spirit)
Sparks is saying that death, burial and resurrection are the ground of the Holy Spirit! These three produce life - eternal life - great life!
Where there is death, burial and resurrection, there is eternal life through the government of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus showed us the way to the great life: there was death on the Cross, there was burial and then there was resurrection and eternal life. How beautiful is that? From death comes life - eternal life. GREAT LIFE!
May you experience death, burial and resurrection, and may you experience eternal life - the greatest life of all.
Agape,
Steve
posted by Steve at
6:21 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home