Free Music for Hymn-lovers

Ack, sorry for going bonkers with the blog posts. I just keep thinking of more stuff to share. So, without further ado:

How to Build a Great Playlist of Country-style Hymns for Free

Step 1: Go download the album Simple Hymns by Phillip Sandifer, free from Noisetrade (you have to put in your email address and zipcode and they email you a download link).

Step 2: Go download At The Table EP by Ordinary Time, free from Noisetrade.

Step 3: You may have to unzip/extract the files because they're zipped up in a folder. Next, import those folders of songs into iTunes and create a new playlist.

Step 4: At this point you're probably wondering where all those Phillip Sandifer songs went--for some reason, they aren't automatically named when imported into iTunes. You'll probably find them at the bottom of your song list somewhere, because they won't have an "Artist" assigned to them. You can select all of them and press CTRL (or Command) + "i" to fill in the artist and album name for all of them at once.

Step 5: Drag the songs into your newly created playlist. If you want to take this a step further, buy the following tracks from Ordinary Time for $0.99 each: "Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners," "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing," "Holy Spirit, Truth Divine."


Here's the playlist I made! (note: at the very end I threw in Carrie Underwood's performance of "How Great Thou Art," just cause! [iTunes store link])

1. Just a Little Talk with Jesus - OT
2. There is a Fountain - PS
3. How Firm a Foundation - OT
4. Great is Thy Faithfulness - PS
5. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross - OT
6. Crown Him with Many Crowns - PS
7. Jesus! What a Friend for Sinners  - OT
8. Take My Life and Let It Be - PS
9. Holy Spirit, Truth Divine - OT
10. Blessed Assurance - PS
11. Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing - OT
12. Love Excelling Love's Divine - PS
13. How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds - OT
14. Be Thou My Vision - PS
15. How Great Thou Art - Carrie Underwood

Step 7: Keep an eye out for future albums from Ordinary Time & Phillip Sandifer for the opportunity to support them by actually paying for their music (Noisetrade does give you the option to donate, if you so choose!). 

March Mixtape [313]

I thought I'd do something a little different and post some links to articles that I've found interesting over the past few months! Here goes:

Photo courtesy of http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/

• Track 1: Excuse Us While We Kiss the Sky - a fascinating long-form article on Urbex (urban exploration). Warning: there are a few bad words!

• Track 2: When the black dog howls - great article about something I'm passionate about: Christian misconceptions regarding depression.

• Track 3: The most offensive verse in the Bible - you'll be surprised which one it is!

• Track 4: Why the Afterlife Bores Us - I have to admit, this is my favorite of the bunch. It made me completely rethink my understanding of heaven and eternity.

• Track 5: What Do Those Mysterious Lumps on Your Cables Do? - This article is a couple years old, but I only discovered it recently. I had no idea!

Enjoy! -B

The Edge of Spring

I wonder if the Israelites felt like this when they were finally led to the banks of the Jordan river. They could see the Promised Land...they needed only wait until the waters were parted and they could safely cross to the other side. I bet the anticipation was unbearable. I sort of feel that way about spring. I can see bits and pieces of it (like the tulip stems poking through the dirt out front), I can hear it, I can smell it, I can almost taste it...and yet I have to wait. If Punxsutawney Phil were to show up at my front door, it would take all my inner strength not to wring his little groundhog neck. Early spring my foot!

Luckily, there have been distractions from the bleakness of winter. Like an afternoon of spaghetti and fun with our friends from church and their two adorable little girls. Seriously, they're so cute. I can't stress that enough.

They spent a lot of time chasing Daisy...

And exploring the corn fields...

And being adorable. Wait, did I say that already?

Don't misunderstand me, though--I'm not quite ready to have any little ones of my own. Of course, I'm prepared to accept whatever the Lord wills (or at least I like to think I am).

Ugh.

Somebody wake me up when it's spring, ok?