I Celebrate The Day

We are singing this song at the end of the sermon "The Story of Christmas: The Promise of Jesus" this Sunday at CCJ. It's unfamiliar to most, I would guess, so this is a bit of a primer for you. Great words to this song.

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

Narrow Path @ Lincoln Amphitheatre

By now, I'm sure you've been inundated with information about Narrow Path's (CCJ's band) participation in the End of Summer Blowout at Lincoln Amphitheatre in Lincoln City this Saturday. The event begins at 4 p.m. CENTRAL time with two bands (Forgiven, of Evansville, and Faith of Job, of Huntingburg) playing first and second, respectively. Then, nationally-known speaker Justin Lookadoo will be speaking (this is primarily a talk aimed at teenagers - this whole event is designed for ages 13 and older).

Here's where we come in. Justin Lookadoo will have three "sets" during his talk divided by short intermissions of approximately 15 minutes each. We (Narrow Path) will be playing for a few minutes toward the end of each intermission to get the crowd back in and ready to go. Then, we will have our full set (about 45 minutes of Honest Abe-never-imagined-this-in-his-backyard/face-melting/you-can't-possibly-sit-down/hand-clapping/loud-singing rock n' roll for Jesus).

If you are planning on attending the whole festival, it starts at 4 p.m. Central. However, if you are coming just to support us, here's an approximate schedule for our appearances (all times CENTRAL):

First Intermission: approximately 7 p.m.
Second Intermission: approximately 8 p.m.
Main Narrow Path set: approximately 9 p.m. (did I mention that this is Central time?)

The headlining band, Formerly Blind, of Owensboro, will start shortly after we finish. We look forward to seeing you there (a lot of the crowd won't know the songs, but you'll know your parts and we need you to shout it out loud ... please).

For information detailing everything that is happening that day, visit Narrow Path's site.

I know that this makes a late night for those that attend but it'll be worth it, trust me. Thanks for your outstanding support of the band.

- Daniel

TONIGHT!

'God Of This City': The Story Behind The Song

We began playing "God Of This City" the week before last to go along with our ReThink sermon series. For those of you that already knew the song, you had probably heard Chris Tomlin's version. However, the song was written by an Irish band called Bluetree. Watch the above video to hear the amazing story behind this song.

Make Your Weekend Plans (One in Christ)

If you haven't heard already, there's this One in Christ service coming up this weekend in Washington, Ind. If you want complete details of the service, go here (Ken Idleman, Tom Ellsworth, Narrow Path).

I'd also like to make a personal appeal to all of you that can ... please join us at this service. Beyond the fact that CCJ's band will be leading music worship there (more on that in a minute), this is a chance to be a part of something special with lots and lots (hopefully thousands) of Christians in one room, worshipping Jesus together as one. It's almost like a warm-up for the symphony in heaven, if you will, when vast multitudes of believers from all across the globe will bow before Christ as one in worship and confess that He is Lord for all eternity. I know it's going to be sunny and 80 degrees and the outdoors are calling and whatnot ... there's always something else to do I suppose. However, this will be a special day when Christians can put aside their differences (and boy do we love to fight over our differences sometimes), our regional divisions, etc. and truly be unified in glorifying Jesus together in song and in listening to the messages and taking communion together. It's at 4 p.m. in Washington at the high school gym, by the way. :-) Here's a map.

In addition to all of that, Narrow Path will be leading music worship and this is a great opportunity to come out and support us in our efforts to spread the message of Jesus through song to as many people as possible. We are humbled to be able to serve the people of CCJ and even more humbled that others want us to serve them. Plus, hey, you guys know the songs we'll be doing and we need loud singers to encourage others to sing loudly too. :-)

Interview on WITZ (About the Christmas Album)

I had the privilege of doing an interview about the Narrow Path Christmas CD, "Far As The Curse Is Found" with WITZ today (Friday) that will be broadcast on Monday.

Mark your calendars for 10 a.m. on Monday, Dec. 22, as a few songs as well as the interview are scheduled to be played on WITZ 104.7 FM. Thanks to Tom Roach for supporting us and setting up the interview.


And, did I mention that the album is on iTunes now?

;-)

CDs Running Out

There are only 60 copies of the Narrow Path Christmas CD, "Far As The Curse Is Found" left at CCJ. We are currently not planning to re-order any physical discs because of cost restraints as well as the fact that we don't want to have hundreds of these things lying around until next Christmas.

So, if you attend CCJ, or know someone who does, and want a copy for free (or for whatever you want to pay), you better get them ASAP (they will be on display until Christmas or until they are gone).

If you miss out, you can buy digital downloads at DigStation (coming soon to iTunes and more) or you can order one of 4 physical copies that CD Baby has in stock at CD Baby's website.

If you'd like to buy a copy to help support the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots program, you can buy a physical copy at one of these stores in Dubois County: Jasper: Ragpickers, The Serenity Shop, Just A Trace, This Old House, Impulse, Chocolate Bliss, Finishing Touches, Merle Norman. Huntingburg: Fat & Sassy's.


I, personally, want to thank everyone for their support and encouragement of the band and this project. I think it's safe to say that all of the participants are proud of the CD and I hope you all enjoy them this (and future) Christmas.

Far As The Curse Is Found: You've Got Questions ...

Well, the album has been out a week and I get two consistent questions.

1.) What does the title mean?

Here's your answer.


2.) Is my CD messed up? I get weird static like a radio at the end. What's that about?

The final track is an effect. The main participants in the album have been influenced by acts like David Crowder Band and Pink Floyd (who often have weird stuff in their albums as little bits of ear candy). We decided at the end of the album we'd have "Silent Night" (as sung by CCJ'ers) mixed in with radio static/noise. You can view this as symbolic. In the midst of our celebration of Christmas, we are bombarded with noise (static) and often our 'silent night' gets drowned out by this, that and the other.

Plus, the track makes the CD 30 minutes long and I liked that idea. :-)

Narrow Path CD Release Day

If you're at CCJ this Sunday, be sure to pick up a copy (or 10 or 20) of Narrow Path's Christmas CD, "Far As The Curse Is Found." Give them to your friends, relative and enemies. The CD is a 'pay-what-you-want-even-if-it's-nothing' model. That is, you can take as many copies of the CD as you want for free or for whatever you want to pay.

As always, you can find more about Narrow Path, including gigs we have tomorrow (Friday) and Sunday at:
Narrow Path's official site
AND/OR ...
Become a fan of NP on Facebook & MySpace:
Facebook
MySpace

If you'd like to buy the album NOW ...

The album will also be available on iTunes VERY soon.

*** If you are an owner or connected with a store in some way that would like to sell the album in your store, please contact daniel@ccjasper.com

Track Listing:
1.) Silent Night (Begin)
2.) O Come, O Come Emmanuel
3.) Birth of Hope
4.) O Holy Night
5.) Come, Thou Fount of Every Blessing
6.) Joy to the World
7.) O Come All Ye Faithful
8.) Silent Night (End)

Far As The Curse Is Found

The long-worked-on, sometimes-requested Christmas album from elements of Narrow Path releases in one month (Sunday, Nov. 9) at CCJ (and online soon after).

More info here.