Monthly Archives: Apr 2019

God of All Grace

27 Sat Apr 2019

Posted by in 2003 songs, Worship

≈ Leave a comment

Another old song that we used quite a lot when I first wrote it in 2003, but not since then.

I remember writing whilst reading from Galatians chapter 2

20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God,who loved me and gave himself for me.

I was so excited when I’d finished writing it that I rushed round to my neighbours to play it to them. They were barely up when I knocked on their backdoor (their house backs onto theirs), and they smiled nicely as I played it to them. It wasn’t until I finished playing it that I realised how much I had intruded. Thankfully, they were very gracious and I left with their words of encouragement still fresh in my ears.

God of all grace
You’ve called me to live and to die for you
Taking the cross and all of its pain as my gift from you
Turning my cheek and giving my cloak
Choosing to bless not to curse
Whatever was gain I consider as loss
Compared to you compared to you

I have been crucified with Christ
And I no longer live,
I have been crucified with Christ
And Jesus lives in me.

God of all truth
This world and its pleasure will fade away
Our time on this earth a blink of the eye in eternity
But while I’m here and walking your road
You’ve called me live and to die for you
Taking my cross, enduring its shame
To be like you to be like you

We died with him we will live with him;
And if we endure, we will reign with him.
If we honour him he will honour us
Before his fathers throne

God of All Grace

(C) 2003 Richard Stringer CCLI song number 7083009

Here, Here, at the Cross

18 Thu Apr 2019

Posted by in 2003 songs, Easter, Worship

≈ Leave a comment

As we approach the climax of Holy Week, I thought I would share one one of my songs that reflects on the reality of the cross; what Jesus endured for us and what it means for us.

Here, here at the cross
I see my sin; I see my shame.
I see the price, the price that you paid.
All that you did, all that you gave.
And I know there is nothing I could say or do
There is nothing could earn this gift from you.

The gift of your love
The gift of your peace
Forgiveness that’s full
Forgiveness that’s free
Freedom from guilt
Freedom from fear
Those who were far
You have brought near
Here at the cross
Here at the cross

Here, here at the cross
I see the thorns, piercing your brow
I see the spear, thrust in your side
And I want to run, I want hide
For I know there is nothing I could say or do
There is nothing could earn this gift from you.

Here, here at the cross
I know the truth; you’ve set me free
All that was, all I have been
The old ways are gone, I am made clean
And I know there is nothing I could say or do
There is nothing could earn this gift from you.

© Richard Stringer 2003

CCLI Song Number: 7083012

Here, Here at the Cross

Jesus, Son of David

12 Fri Apr 2019

Posted by in 2013 songs, recording, Worship

≈ Leave a comment

I wrote this more than five years ago. Its been a popular song over the years but, in my opinion, its never worked to my satisfaction in a congregational setting. Its partly because we can’t get close to this arrangement, but also because I want to sing it in a higher key than is comfortable for a congregation.

It was recorded over a number sessions with the engineering by Leke, who also did the drum programming and plays all the keyboard parts. Additional vocals are by my eldest daughter, Hannah.

The recording is a bit rough and I am looking to get it finalised in the coming months.

I need you, Lord,
Oh, how I need you, Lord
Like a desert needs rain, like a fire needs a flame
In my heart, there is a longing Lord
For the deeper things
To go beyond my sin
Only you can give me what I want
Lord Jesus, only you can satisfy

I cry Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me, have mercy on me! (x2)

Lord I know,
That I have done some things
That I’d rather try hide from the worlds prying eyes
But I know, darkness will flee from light
And I’m getting quite tired
From this everyday fight Only you can give me what I want
Lord Jesus, only you can make me clean

I Cry Jesus! Son of David! Have mercy on me, have mercy on me! (x2)

And it doesn’t really matter what the world may think
All that matters is I meet with you today!
Yes, it doesn’t really matter what the world may think
All that matters is I meet with You,
Jesus, that I meet with You today!

(c) Richard Stringer 2013 CCLI Song ID 7083019

Recording project

08 Mon Apr 2019

Posted by in recording

≈ Leave a comment

After a number of years using home recording to share my music I have decided to book some studio time and do it ‘properly’. Apart from being able to share the songs online through streaming services and the like, I will also be making chord sheets and piano arrangements available.

The first stage is to select the songs and over the coming weeks I will be sharing some of the songs I am looking to record. Most if not all will be songs that we use on a Sunday morning as part of our corporate worship and I hope that through this project others may use them as well.

I am Alive!

06 Sat Apr 2019

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Over the last few months I’ve been trying to focus on who I am in Christ. A Google search a while ago found a very useful list of scriptures on
https://joycemeyer.org/ . The list can be found here .

Its been on my heart to write songs based on these scriptures as I explore what they mean for me. Yesterday I spent many hours singing and playing and in time a song emerged which is on its way to being finished.

The key scriptures were:

  • I am alive with Christ (Ephesians 2:5).
  • I am free from the law of sin and death (Romans 8:2).
  • I am far from oppression, and will not live in fear (Isaiah 54:14).

These eventually became lyrics and then a song. The lyrics still need a bit of tidying up but I thought I’d share them here.

I am Alive

I am free from the law of sin and death
The Holy Spirit lives in me
I am dead to my sin and alive in Christ
The Holy Spirit lives in me

I am alive, I am alive, I am Alive!

I am free from my fear, for He’s my peace
The Holy Spirit lives in me
And my trust is in Him, for He is my rock
The Holy spirit lives in me

I am free, I am free, I am free!

For God within me
is greater than he
that is in the world.

©2019 Richard Stringer
CCLI Song Number: 7128518

Edit: I’ve now added a rough demo of the song

Learning to play the piano

04 Thu Apr 2019

Posted by in Piano

≈ Leave a comment

For my birthday last year,  my wife bought me a keyboard. It’s a Yamaha EW400, so it’s a very good keyboard for a beginner. Although I played it a a fair bit, I didn’t really make the progress I wanted to and in the end I felt frustrated by the whole thing.

One of my goals was to become competent enough, not only yo be able to play the songs I’d written, but also be be able to produce lead sheets and piano arrangements. This was one of the reasons I was frustrated by it all because I didn’t get anywhere near this.

So this year I decided that a fresh approach was needed and 4 weeks ago I started to have lessons. I agreed with the teacher that we should start at the very beginning so that is what we did.

This is the course that I started and I’ve been making steady progress and can now proudly say I’ve made it to book two.

To give you some idea of where that puts me in terms of ability; by the end of book three I would be ready to take my grade 1 exam. So lots of progress to be made.

In addition to the lessons,  I’ve carried on learning to play my songs and other songs using simple chords and left hand patterns. The main source of tuition has been YouTube videos, but, as with all things YouTube, the quality varies from channel to channel. I will be sharing more on this including the channels I’ve found useful in future posts.

So I’ve still a way to go to reach my goals but I’m enjoying the journey and that, for me, is the most important thing.

Refocusing

04 Thu Apr 2019

Posted by in catch up

≈ Leave a comment

Its been a while since I posted anything, so long ago that I haven’t bothered looking back at when I actually did post something.

So what am I up to?

First off, there’s been a lot of ups and downs in the family, but we’re all still here by God’s grace. I won’t share any details as to what has gone on, but God has remained faithful and He has, according to His promise, continued to “… work for the good of those who love Him.’

Secondly, I have continued to be creative working on a new book and on new songs. The book currently stands at 51,335 words and is currently being worked on, but this is not taking a major part of my time.

Thirdly, I’ve been busy writing songs and introducing some of them to the congregation. I’ve also received my first payment from CCLI. Its nice to be able to say I’m now a (semi) professional songwriter, i won’t be giving up my day job.

Fourth, and finally, I’m begging the prep work to do some recording later on in the year. Up to this point I’ve done home recording with a friend, but this time we will put together a band and book some studio time. More about that to come but that’s all for now folks!