Harrr, mateys! Here be me contribution to the TWC September Challenge!

[TheOldATrain]

This song is part of a short collection of "teaching" worship songs I have recently completed that deals with the topic of bibliology (the doctrine of the Scriptures).
This particular song is based on 2 Peter 1:20-21:
"...knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit."
The illustration in this verse is of a ship being "carried along" by a prevailing wind, so I decided to explore this illustration a bit.
In keeping with the seafaring imagery I wrote this song in the style of old-time "sea shanties", or songs that sailors would sing when they were working aboard ship (songs like "Shiver Me Timbers" or "Blow The Man Down", for example).
Anyway, here are the lyrics, and I hope you are blessed and encouraged to learn more about this rather important area of doctrine:

SOVEREIGN WIND (2 PET 1:20-21)
When the prophets and apostles and others God had called
Undertook to put to writing what God had chosen to say,
Every voyage was directed, to the smallest turn of phrase,
By the mighty, sovereign wind of the Holy Spirit.

CHORUS
Carried along from the original plan of God
To the final stroke of the finished canon, every word
Was written by men in the supernatural, gracious power
Of the mighty, sovereign wind of the Holy Spirit.

Though the authors God commissioned were mortal, sinful men,
By the grace of God they managed to navigate through His course;
Any error was prevented, even in the least degree,
By the mighty, sovereign wind of the Holy Spirit. (CHORUS)

Words & Music by Alex Morris
(c) 2010 Latreuo Music, LLC

TheOldATrain - Sovereign Wind - SoundCloud (http://soundcloud.com/theoldatrain/sovereign-wind)

[Wannabe a Worshiper]

Very interesting. A little bit different from most of what we put on here.
Is this intended as a kid's song? And yes, it does teach biblical doctrine, as this month's challenge has us doing.

Thanks for posting it.
Tom

[TheOldATrain]

Very interesting. A little bit different from most of what we put on here.
Is this intended as a kid's song? And yes, it does teach biblical doctrine, as this month's challenge has us doing.

Thanks for posting it.
TomThanks for taking the time to listen and respond.

It wasn't intended specifically as a kids' song, although if kids have the capacity to understand it then naturally I wouldn't have any objection to them singing it.

The reason it probably sounds that way is that on this particular recording I was just having a bit of fun with a biblical illustration.
Whenever I use it in a worship service it will be accompanied with the usual instruments (guitar, piano, bass, drums) and sung by a mixed complement of vocalists and will therefore probably end up sounding a bit more "regular."

Alex

[WorshipVanguard]

Alex, is this normally done as a barber shop quartet style? Are you targeting a certain demographic? Just curious. Thanks.

[TheOldATrain]

Alex, is this normally done as a barber shop quartet style? Are you targeting a certain demographic? Just curious. Thanks.No, I just wanted this to sound like a bunch of sailors singing a rousing shanty while stomping on the deck of a ship.
If it were accompanied by the usual instruments and sung by a mixed group of vocalists it would sound more "normal."

The only demographic I'm targeting is people who are looking for worship music with biblically and theologically substantive content. I'm not all that interested in the worship music "industry."

Thanks for listening and taking the time to post feedback.

Alex

[MarkSnyder]

We actually have a barber shop quartet in our church. This song sounds like something they would do. Not to pigeonhole your song by any means. They stress doctrine for sure, and your message is spot on. I will run it by them. Interesting you mention the Holy Spirit - my song for the Sept assignment will also be on that topic (underrepresented in worship music).

Did you have any other candidate verses for this song? It feels like it should be one verse longer to me. Maybe something about Psalms or Proverbs?

[pian0dude]

Ya know... I found myself playing this 3-4 times just now. Aside of the obvious Sciprtural based lyric, I think I love this song just because of HOW different it is from the norm. I can hear it with full instrumentation, but I also think it sounds great as the style you intended for this recording to sound.

[TheOldATrain]

We actually have a barber shop quartet in our church. This song sounds like something they would do. Not to pigeonhole your song by any means. They stress doctrine for sure, and your message is spot on. I will run it by them. Interesting you mention the Holy Spirit - my song for the Sept assignment will also be on that topic (underrepresented in worship music).

Did you have any other candidate verses for this song? It feels like it should be one verse longer to me. Maybe something about Psalms or Proverbs?I couldn't think of a way to make this song any longer without redundantly overlapping the other songs on the EP that deal with general & special revelation, inspiration (2 Tim 3:16-17), and illumination (1 Cor 2).

I'm trying to keep the subject matter as specific as possible for each song, and there just isn't much more to the doctrine of inerrancy than the fact that the entire scripture-writing process was under God's sovereign control and therefore none of the writers made any kind of error.

I appreciate your listening to the song and posting feedback.

Alex

[TheOldATrain]

Ya know... I found myself playing this 3-4 times just now. Aside of the obvious Sciprtural based lyric, I think I love this song just because of HOW different it is from the norm. I can hear it with full instrumentation, but I also think it sounds great as the style you intended for this recording to sound.Thanks for the feedback.
I greatly appreciate that.

Alex