Revelation Song

One of my favorite Christian songs. Most of the song’s lyrics are taken from scripture, with the majority of it coming from the book of Revelation. I think it’s so cool how the apostle John wrote the Revelation while exiled on a secluded island in the Mediterranean some 2000 years ago, and now, in 2011, we sing it as a song. At last year’s HIM conference in the middle of downtown Honolulu – half a world away from the Mediterranean – some 3000 people sang this.

Below are all the verses I could find that were used as direct quotes for the song, or seemed to somehow fit. As you can see, many are from Revelation, but I added verses I could find from other books because I think it’s neat to see how the other books of the Bible relate to each other, and it all climaxes in the final book.

 

 

Revelation 5:12

In a loud voice they were saying:

“Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!”

 

Psalm 33:3

Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

 

Psalm 96:1

Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.

 

Psalm 149:1

Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.

 

Revelation 5:9

And they sang a new song: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.”

 

Revelation 5:13

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying:

“To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!”

 

Revelation 4:8

Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“Holy, holy, holy

Is the Lord God Almighty

Who was, and is, and is to come.”

 

Revelation 4:3

And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne.

 

Revelation 11:19

Then God’s temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant. And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm.

 

Revelation 14:14

I looked, and there before me was a white cloud, and seated on the cloud was one like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand.

 

Revelation 7:12

“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”

 

Revelation 4:11

“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

 

Revelation 15:4

Who will not fear you, Lord,
and bring glory to your name?
For you alone are holy.
All nations will come
and worship before you,
for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

 

Zechariah 14:8

On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea and half to the western sea, in summer and in winter.

 

John 7:38

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’”

 

Revelation 7:17

For the Lamb at the center of the throne
will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’

 

1 Corinthians 2:7

No, we declare God’s wisdom, a mystery that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.

 

Colossians 1:26-27

the mystery that has been kept hidden for ages and generations, but is now disclosed to the Lord’s people. To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

 

Revelation 19:16

On his robe and on his thigh he has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

Enough vacation

There’s a girl in my group we’ll call “Giggles.” She’s the kid who thought I was going to be homeless. She has a distinctive way of giggling as she speaks. I don’t know how she does it, and I don’t think she realizes she does it.

Giggles likes to run and, without stopping, hug me. It’s not like she runs, stops, then hugs me. She runs, crashes into me, and hugs me. This draws laughs from any adults who may be walking by.

One day she ran to me, hugged me, and said “I missed you.”

The first time she said this to me I thought,“She… missed me? Today’s Monday. We last saw each other on Friday. It’s only been two days, and she missed me?”

She missed me after a normal 2-day weekend. We’ve been on winter break now for the past 2 weeks.

Not gonna lie – I miss the kids.

I am so ready to go back to work.

Cereal Girl

Classic. Sesame Street had some awesome parodies back in it’s heyday.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

This is one of my favorite Christmas songs. (I have a lot of favorites.) It’s a song that we hear all the time, and everyone knows it, but how often do we really stop and appreciate a song like this?

Written in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis, the song tells a story of unlikely protagonists “telling” each other a piece of important news: first the night wind to the little lamb, the little lamb to the shepherd boy, the shepherd boy to the mighty king, and finally, the king to the people everywhere.

Perhaps my favorite part of the song is the second to last line of the refrain. It occurs 4 times throughout the song, each time using different lyrics,“…with a tail as big as a kite,” “…with a voice as big as the sea,” ect. (The first time it occurs in the video I posted is at 0:30 – 0:34 if you’re having trouble finding it.) That last chord in that progression has a subliminally powerful affect on the song, in my opinion. I don’t know what it is about that part. Every time I hear it, I get chills. I just find it amazingly beautiful and mysterious.

Strong imagery is used throughout the song, “a star dancing in the night,” “a song high above the trees.” The song also uses some clever wordplay: the third verse suggests what we can bring to “the child” and the fourth verse flips it around, stating what the child will give to us.

On a final note, I find the king’s order in the fourth verse interesting. Regardless of what religion you are, or even if you’re Atheist, if everyone everywhere prayed for peace (Atheists can pretend to pray or something), we really would have peace. There can’t be fighting if everyone is too busy praying.

So do you hear what I hear?

Play Time

One day my bosses made a rule that we aren’t allowed to play with the kids. The main reason behind this is it might distract us from watching them and making sure they’re safe.  So if they see us playing with them, they’ll fine us $5.

Later that day one of the kids asked if I would play with them. I explained that I can’t, and that I’ll be fined $5 if I do.

“Mr. Robert,” said Yuna. “Give me your wallet. I’m going to pay them 1000 dollars. Then you can play with us a lot!”

“Yay!” said the other kids.