About Me

Hi, my name is Hoss. I have been playing music for over 20 years and enjoy using the gifts that God has given me to return praise back to Him. I currently lead worship at El Camino Baptist Church in Tucson, AZ. I hope you enjoy my blog and let me know what you think of my songs. For easier access you can jump to different songs by using the Labels section.

Wednesday, February 23, 2011

4' 33"

For anyone wondering about the title of this post it is "4 minutes 33 seconds". This is the title of a "song" by "musician" John Cage. It is a 3 movement piece where the orchestra sits silent for 4 minutes and 33 seconds and the audience is made to listen to the sounds around them...shuffling feet, people clearing the throat, the air conditioner in the theatre. You can watch this on Youtube in several different venues (and be bored to tears I might add).

You might be thinking, what a strange subject to write about. But I use this example to arrive at a quote of Mr. Cage's that I wanted to share with you:

"The highest purpose is to have no purpose at all. This puts one in accord with nature, in her manner of operation."

This is what the world wants us to believe. If we have no real purpose, then nothing matters and we can act however we want. Mr. Cage presupposes that by having no purpose, we will be like nature. But I beg to differ:

"The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands." - Psalm 19:1

"The people whom I formed for Myself will declare My praise." - Isaiah 43:21

It seems Mr. Cage is 100% wrong. Allow me to write my own quote:

"The highest purpose is to declare the glory of God. This puts one in accord with nature and, more importantly, into obedience of its Creator." - Hoss

Friday, February 18, 2011

El Camino Blog

So for those that may not read it, El Camino Baptist has a blog (http://www.elcaminochurch.blogspot.com/) where the 5 ministry leaders put down some thoughts each week (or as often as I can coerce them to). So I thought I would also share my posts on this blog as well. I find it really cathartic to put into writing what God has been doing in my life. I suggest it to everyone, even if no one reads it. It's just one more way to capture yourself in the promises of God:

I have been re-reading Matthew during my morning devotions and I came across this passage from chapter 5, verse 48:
"Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
That is one heavy command. But, think about the wording of that first phrase. We are to be perfect. He doesn't say we will be perfect. He doesn't say we can be perfect. If we were able to achieve perfection then we wouldn't have a need for our perfect Heavenly Father. God wants us to strive toward righteousness and holiness. If we are going to be a light to our world, will that be better accomplished sitting in the comfort of where we are spiritually or having a constant and burning desire for purity? Romans 6:18 has the answer:
"and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of righteousness."

Monday, February 14, 2011

Baby Hoss


So as some of you may know, Katie and I are expecting our first. What you may not know is that I finished writing my lullaby for Lindsey's kids at about 10 p.m. on January 9th and we found out we were pregnant on January 10th. Just one more of those funny little things that God does...Anyway, I can't wait to raise my child in the Lord. Isaiah 43:21 says that we are formed by God to declare His praise and I'm going to make sure that my little one loves God as much as I do.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Mac Users

So I've added .mov files in addition to the .wmv so Mac users can now listen as well. Perhaps now they'll stop looking down their noses at this poor, pathetic PC user. (You know who are...)

Friday, February 4, 2011

Wordle

So one other thing that I'm doing...When you click on a link to listen to a song, you'll be taken to the El Camino website (it was easiest to have my songs hosted through there). Now, on each psalm you'll see a "word cloud", something my mother-in-law introduced me too. You take a bunch of text, input it at www.wordle.net and it generates a random "word cloud". So I've chosen the 20 most repeated words in each psalm (minus "the", "and", etc.) so you can see at a glance what that psalm was talking about most.

Psalm 18

I really love the beginning of this psalm (I used it for the chorus). David goes through a bunch of adjectives/Names of God, all of them dealing with God's strength and unchangingness. But my favorite line comes from verse 31, "For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God?"

Click here to listen

Lyrics:

Verse 1: The earth trembled at the voice, the voice of the Most High
The foundations shook at the sound of my God and Savior
I will give thanks, I'll sing praise to Your Name for Your lovingkindness
The Lord lives, the lord lives

Chorus: I love You, Lord, You are my Strength
You are my Rock, my Fortress and Refuge
You're worthy of praise, my Stronghold and Shield
You're my salvation, You are my Strength

Verse 2: His way is blameless, His Word is true, a shield about me
He gives strength to me and his hand, His hand upholds me
You train me for battle, who is God but the Lord, who's a Rock but our God?
And Your gentleness makes me great

Psalm 18:1-3, 7, 13, 30-32, 34, 46 & 49: "I love you, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I call to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I am saved from my enemies. The earth trembled and quaked, and the foundations of the mountains shook; they trembled because he was angry. The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded. As for God, his way is perfect; the word of the Lord is flawless. He is a shield for all who take refuge in him. For who is God besides the Lord? And who is the Rock except our God? It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock! Exalted be God my Savior! Therefore I will praise you among the nations, O Lord; I will sing praises to your name."