Free Music Downloads

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Best Church Music Ever

So…Church music has come a long way…I hope you enjoy!

St. Patrick’s Breastplate Prayer

An incredible prayer of devotion and spiritual preparedness. St. Patrick’s Breastplate is contained in the ancient Book of Armagh, from the early ninth century. St. Patrick wrote this prayer before he went before Loegaire, the high king of Ireland. What an example of faith, trust, and utter dependance:
I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of the Invocation of the Trinity:
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the Incarnation of Christ with His Baptism,
The virtue of His crucifixion with His burial,
The virtue of His Resurrection with His Ascension,
The virtue of His coming on the Judgement Day.

I bind to myself today
The virtue of the love of seraphim,
In the obedience of angels,
In the hope of resurrection unto reward,
In prayers of Patriarchs,
In predictions of Prophets,
In preaching of Apostles,
In faith of Confessors,
In purity of holy Virgins,
In deeds of righteous men.

I bind to myself today
The power of Heaven,
The light of the sun,
The brightness of the moon,
The splendour of fire,
The flashing of lightning,
The swiftness of wind,
The depth of sea,
The stability of earth,
The compactness of rocks.
I bind to myself today
God’s Power to guide me,
God’s Might to uphold me,
God’s Wisdom to teach me,
God’s Eye to watch over me,
God’s Ear to hear me,
God’s Word to give me speech,
God’s Hand to guide me,
God’s Way to lie before me,
God’s Shield to shelter me,
God’s Host to secure me,
Against the snares of demons,
Against the seductions of vices,
Against the lusts of nature,
Against everyone who meditates injury to me,
Whether far or near,
Whether few or with many.

I invoke today all these virtues
Against every hostile merciless power
Which may assail my body and my soul,
Against the incantations of false prophets,
Against the black laws of heathenism,
Against the false laws of heresy,
Against the deceits of idolatry,
Against the spells of women, and smiths, and druids,
Against every knowledge that binds the soul of man.

Christ, protect me today
Against every poison, against burning,
Against drowning, against death-wound,
That I may receive abundant reward.

Christ with me, Christ before me,
Christ behind me, Christ within me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ at my right, Christ at my left,
Christ in the fort,
Christ in the chariot seat,
Christ in the poop. [boat deck]

Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks to me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.

I bind to myself today
The strong virtue of an invocation of the Trinity,
I believe the Trinity in the Unity
The Creator of the Universe.

Addicted to Audiobooks

They started out as a way for me to make the 23 hour drive from Seattle to Ventura, Ca…Now they have made their way into my daily commute, ipod, and down time. I love reading…and when I don’t have the time to read a book I pop in an audiobook…and when I don’t have time for an audiobook? I make time. Why audiobooks? Its the counterculture response to radio’s 3 minute 3-act pop songs. A few recommendations that will change your life (in visual or audio format):

The Lincoln Lawyer: by Michael Connelly

The Testament: by John Grisham

IT: by Stephen King

The Straw Men: by Mike Marshall

Their Final Countdown

So I found this by searching youtube for “worst cover ever” and this is what I found:

No substitute for the original…Now check out the mic stand pumping and permage!!!

Movies vs. TV

So I watch a lot of movies…I always have. From old to new. I was reminded of this during an overnight retreat with some of my comrades. Thanks Blockbuster Plan.

Lately though, I have been taking in more tv. Lost is a given, of course, but several shows been rewarded with my time:

Psych: You must check this show out. By far my favorite actor-duo. Incredible writing,wit, and ’80’s pop refreneces. Starring James Roday and Dule Hill. These guys have incredible chemistry…Dule Hill was also in the movie “Holes” so he is definitely moving up. And its filmed in Santa Barbara.

Monk: A classic, and predecessor to Psych. Completing USA’s deadly combo on comedy-drama-crime thrillers. Emmy award-winning Tony Shalhoub heads up an incredible cast and really sets the bar for this genre. And San Francisco holds so much charm!

Law and Order: A recent weekend marathon sparked my interest in this classic show. This drama shows both portions of our justice system in action…Besides who can do without Fred Thompson?

The Closer: Kyra Sedgwick reminds me of Tommy Lee Jones in “The Client”… Down south determination and etiquette. A Southern Belle sending the bats back to hell.

What are you guys watching? Any suggestions?

Jojo Mayer drum and bass grooves

I love Jojo Mayer…both for his technique and style. His breakbeat/ DnB style really explores the nuances and syncopations within the Kick, Hi hat, Snare trinity.

This guy brings the trance too.

Here is a clip of the most sampled drum “break” from the song “Amen, brother” by the Winstons. The drum break in this song has been used in a multitude of genres, commercials, and jingles. Its weird to hear it in its original context and not in a Sonic commercial.

New waterproof coating for laptops and phones!

So this is pretty awesome…Pour a cup of water on your laptop and keep working! Take pictures with your camera phone underwater or listen to your ipod while swimming laps.

Kick Rock, Dale Earnhardt and 3 Doors Down

I’m sorry, but as much as I support our troops, the army, defending our freedom…could we make it look less cheesy? Every time I go into the theater I am reminded of these bands I spend all day trying to forget. Who’s next on the patriotic rock ballad list? Nickelback? Stone Temple Pilots? Steel Dragon? I love this country…so much I think it deserves better advertising… At least White Snake or Dragonforce.

Hey if you like these guys great…Use your sway to get them to write better songs.

(Come on…the soccer ball kick??)

(Jungle toms and historical re-inactment ?)

Donald Miller at the DNC

Donald Miller will be delivering the closing prayer tonight at the Democratic National Convention in Colorado this evening (with Sean Hannity lurking in the shadows).

Several of us Cstone staff members had an interesting discussion concerning the need or duty to close the prayer “In Jesus Name.” It seems many spiritual leaders often omit Jesus’ name when in the public arena for one reason or the other…probably because its not tolerant of other beliefs.

In my opinion, by praying in Jesus name or vocalizing that Jesus is the target of your prayers automatically separates your theology from the rest of the world religions by specifying that you cling to  the belief that Jesus Christ is God. Unitarians, Masons, Deists and other groups pray to “god,” though this is a god that can be reached by many paths and often serves more as a strategic unification tool than the focus of worship and personal faith (more of an impersonal life-force than a personal and loving creator).  Jesus himself said  “I am the way the truth and the life, no one can come to the Father but through me.”  This statement separated Christianity from every other faith system at that time. Even though God the Father, the Holy Spirit, and Jesus are 3 manifestations of the same God (yeah Trinity), I believe scripture instructs us to pray in the name of Jesus as a way of declaring our theology. Does that mean that prayers ending with the typical “Amen” aren’t as pious and holy? Of course not. God knows the conditions of your heart and the content of your character. But it does mean that non-believers listening may lump you into a greater “spiritual” category and/or miss the fact that you are a Christ-follower.

Props to Donald for making his requests in the name of Jesus… though I find the wording “…who gave his own life against the forces of injustice” a bit odd and a lot PC…It makes Jesus sound more like a really passionate social worker than the sin-separating, death-conquering redeemer of the world who gave His life to restore us from a state of brokeness to a place of holiness and communion with the Creator. Just my two cents.

If you haven’t, make sure you read Miller’s books Blue Like Jazz and Searching for God Knows What. Great books.

The wording of his prayer definitely voices his desire to show that Jesus cared about many of the social issues democrats keep at the front of their platform. Sounds like an expansion on passages from the book of James. May our hearts break for those Christ was broken for.

Here is Donald’s prayer:

“Father God,

This week, as the world looks on, help the leaders in this room create a civil dialogue about our future.

We need you, God, as individuals and also as a nation.

We need you to protect us from our enemies, but also from ourselves, because we are easily tempted toward apathy.

Give us a passion to advance opportunities for the least of these, for widows and orphans, for single moms and children whose fathers have left.

Give us the eyes to see them, and the ears to hear them, and hands willing to serve them.

Help us serve people, not just causes. And stand up to specific injustices rather than vague notions.

Give those in this room who have power, along with those who will meet next week, the courage to work together to finally provide health care to those who don’t have any, and a living wage so families can thrive rather than struggle.

Hep us figure out how to pay teachers what they deserve and give children an equal opportunity to get a college education.

Help us figure out the balance between economic opportunity and corporate gluttony.

We have tried to solve these problems ourselves but they are still there. We need your help.

Father, will you restore our moral standing in the world.

A lot of people don’t like us but that’s because they don’t know the heart of the average American.

Will you give us favor and forgiveness, along with our allies around the world.

Help us be an example of humility and strength once again.

Lastly, father, unify us.

Even in our diversity help us see how much we have in common.

And unify us not just in our ideas and in our sentiments—but in our actions, as we look around and figure out something we can do to help create an America even greater than the one we have come to cherish.

God we know that you are good.

Thank you for blessing us in so many ways as Americans.

I make these requests in the name of your son, Jesus, who gave his own life against the forces of injustice.

Let Him be our example.

Amen.”