Tuesday Giveaway: Over The Grave

AND THE WINNER IS... #8, Aaron!

Please note that I did not succumb to Aaron's threat about our air conditioner (Aaron is a good friend... and a maintenance guy at our apartment complex!); he actually did win. :) Also, sorry for the lateness in posting a winner -- it's been a crazy week!

Let's do it again soon. If anyone wants to host a giveaway (up-and-coming etsy entrepreneurs??), let me know!

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I promised you a giveaway....

You've already heard me mention (a couple of times!) that my church, Sojourn, just released Over The Grave, the first volume of a two-part CD set dedicated to "revamping" the hymns of Isaac Watts. Here's a little blurb about the CD (written by our Pastor of Worship & Arts, Mike Cosper):

In the midst of the Reformation in England, Isaac Watts recognized that people needed to see the gospel in the psalms and hymns of the church, and they needed to sing them in language and metaphors that they understood. In this, he became not only the father of the modern hymn, but the pace-setter for contextualizing the gospel for the people of God.

As musicians, pastors and songwriters, our desire was to explore the hundreds of hymns that Watts wrote during his lifetime, to learn from the incredible range and depth of his lyrics, and to re-envision those songs with modern language and melodies. In particular, we gravitated towards themes that seem unfortunately absent in modern worship — themes about God’s wrath and judgment, His righteousness, and a dramatic vision of the cross and atonement of Christ.

This CD is the first installment of the Isaac Watts Project: songs inspired by and adapted from his hymns. The record was written and performed entirely by musicians from Sojourn Community Church — 35 in all. It is our hope that this project, like Watts’s hymns, will point us beyond the music and lyrics to see the glorious Savior who inspires them.

The release party was last Friday night, and it was awesome. Southeast Christian Church (which is the largest church in KY, I think!) was kind enough to let us use their new 75,000 square-foot youth building, "The Block." It is a truly incredible facility. Check it out:

(Since I'm not a great photographer, the images above were all stolen borrowed from Chuck Heeke and Ryan Harvey, two very talented photographers. You can see more pictures of the event by clicking on their names.)

Sojourn ended up signing a record deal (read more about it here) with Bonded Records (part of Universal Music), and I can't wait to see where Over The Grave goes. I love it, and I think you will, too! In order to win your very own copy, leave a comment on this post. A winner will be selected at random on Saturday (the 27th) at noon.

Good luck!