MyJesusRocks Blog

Paulster’s “J”-hit Hotbox

we’re gonna close out this triple play Christmas hotbox by serving up a 3rd plate of tasty goodness from the alternative rock band, kutless. their name comes from Romans 6:23 which says, “for the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord,” and because of this, the band says, “He took our cuts for us… leaving us ‘kutless’.” the Christian vibe resonates deep from within this band, and being the Jesus hit lover that you are, thats gotta strike a sweet chord for ya. know what a divine appointment is? one example is how kutless got their start. they were living in portland, oregon, where most of the band members were going to college, while guitarist james mead was working at a skate shop. ya see, james would wear a wwjd bracelet…for those of u that dont know, that stands for “what would Jesus do” and u would wear that around your wrist, so in any situation that calls for some good judgment, the bracelet would remind u to ask yourself that incredibly all-encompassing question. my friend talked trash about me, should i forgive him? wwjd. that dude’s totally mad-dogging me, should i say whatchoo lookin at punk? wwjd. a hot chick just walked by, should i turn and stare at her with my lust-goggles on? wwjd. ok that was wwjd 101 class. God is faithful, and He used that bracelet-form of obedient faith wrapped around james’ wrist to bless them and to call them. see, this dude walks into the shop, sees the wwjd bracelet on james, asks him if hes a Christian, they both are, they start wrappin about their churches, and james brings up their band that plays at their church…this dude happened to have been the brother of the founder of tooth and nail records, a huge Christian artists label, and the dude is their talent scout. nice. the dude manages to go over to their house one day to listen to them, they get signed, and the rest is history. God is so killer awesome like that, huh? only a true Christian would understand, and if youre not a Christian, u are so missin out, time to jumpstart your eternity.

aight, so kutless signed with bec recordings, one of the multiple sublabels of tooth & nail, and in 2004 they released their first full-length album self-entitled, kutless. did this divine appointment disappoint? well, kutless became the fastest selling debut album in tooth and nail history, with the track “run” holding the record for the longest charting song in the history of the r&r top 40 charts. no, God isnt short on cool-factor. their meteoric rise garnered them a slated performance in the 2004 summer olympics in greece (but couldnt make it due to an airline flight cancellation, probably a divine intervention of some sort), multiple #1 songs on various charts, a video placed on an exclusive microsoft/wal-mart dvd xbox giveaway that reached 350,000 gamers and played on nationwide in-store target tv, suzuki motor corporation to be their sole sponsor for their heart of the innocent tour, to provide downloadable content for the mega-hit rockband 2 video game, and featured spots in tv and film, including the smash-hit nbc tv show “scrubs,” where a significant portion of the song “all of the words” was featured during the final scene which hit an eleven week ratings high. the praiseful chorus to that song goes, “all of the words in all of my life, that could never explain and never describe, all of my love which is nothing to hide, so i lift up my hands and i worship, i worship You.” that my friends is tasty fine. this was the power of the calling of God’s divine appointment, and in their own words, “…but we just felt our calling is to be as accessible as possible, reach mainstream audiences, and be bold with our lyrics. that is our fulfilling of the Great Commission.”

kutless produced a worship album entitled strong tower in 2005 (and re-released a deluxe edition in 2007) which included some original tracks, but mostly contained renditions of church worship favorites, which was met with harsh criticism and very low review ratings for being a “worship album” by certain websites and magazines that have “Jesus” or “Christianity” in their names. this is where i would normally unload a massive atom bomb all over the place, but im gonna try not to cuz ya know, its Christmas. dudes, u reviewers so do not get it. u do not get it. youre totally forgetting the Jesus and Christianity in your names. its all about Jesus, not your artistic snobbery. how can christianitytoday give it one star? one star!! are u absolutely out of your minds?? ok paulster u got peace like a river, peace surpassing all understanding…caaaalm. im just gonna let the people speak by shaming the foolish cuz we all ate up their worship album, and im just gonna let kutless speak for themselves…when asked to explain why they would release a worship album in the face of very harsh criticism, they replied, “but after praying about it, we decided to do it. we started out as a worship band, and hopefully, everything we do is glorifying to God and therefore worship.” thats keepin it real fellas. respect, mad props. their Christian vibe is legit, so legit they could marry barlowgirl (pray for it lol).

their good vibes take us to our 3rd Christmas J-hit, and its their cover for the classic mark lowry song “mary did you know,” produced for the 2008 compilation cd x Christmas. its totally clear that the Holy Spirit breathed inspiration into these lyrics, they are seriously heart-rockin, as they transport your spirit back to the manger with mary, joseph, and the wise men beholding the baby Jesus, and if u could just whisper into mary’s ear, this song is what you would say to her about her baby boy. the final verses go, “mary did you know that your baby boy is Lord of all creation? mary did you know that your baby boy would one day rule the nations? did you know that your baby boy has come to make you new? this child that you delivered…did you know that your baby boy is heaven’s perfect Lamb? this sleeping child you’re holding is the great I AM [name of God]!” thats an awesomely legit Jesus hit, and it completes our triple play jhits Christmas hotbox, and we serve it up just for u on this glorious Christmas Eve! God bless all of u, may we celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ with the joy of our salvation in our hearts, and present to Him offerings of love, praise, and worship. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

mary did you know — kutless | Listen

- paulster

Paulster’s “J”-hit Hotbox

[whoa, this writer is still reeling from a dream i just had, u can read about it here.] aight this is part 2 of a triple play Christmas J-hit hotbox, and we’re gonna tone it down to the ethereal voice of leigh nash in the band - sixpence none the richer. pretty striking band name huh? ah but wait and see how God uses it, ill let her explain it herself in a lil bit. the main components to this band are leigh and a guy named matt slocum, whos known as a gifted songwriter. now, think of the coolest place to meet someone to start up a Christian band, where it just forces you to say, “thats sick-tight-dope!” watcha come with? how about a church retreat? thats where these two teens met in the early 90’s…u said it didnt u, u said, “ah man thats so sick-tight-dope!” ya it is, and they got signed with the Christian label r.e.x. music and produced three albums with them: the fatherless & the widow (1994), this beautiful mess (1995), and tickets for a prayer wheel (1996). they had a good alternative sound that was at times simple, but artistic with leigh’s feathery voice breathing out matt’s deep poetic verses of faith.

and then 1997 happened, where God seemed to have a different plan for these talented musicians. the whirlwind began with them signing with the highly controversial Christian songwriter/producer/director steve taylor and his label squint entertainment, and produced a self-entitled album sixpence none the richer. they took a turn in their artistic philosophy by adopting a pop sound, somewhat masking their faith driven lyrics, and also including purely secular songs. this is usually the point where the Christian band gets a taste of the secular powder on their lips and eventually ends up freebasing the mammon that satan slangs them. its the same formula we hear over and over again. did it happen to sixpence? well, they gave birth to the behemoth secular love song, “kiss me,” that launched them into the outer stratosphere of the national spotlight, being included in movies such as “she’s all that,” soaps and sitcoms such as “dawson’s creek,” earned a grammy nomination, was the #1 pop song in 11 countries including the u.s., earned them spots on leno, letterman, and all the biggest morning talk shows, and even the royal family of england played their song at prince edward’s wedding with a viewing audience of over 200 million people! adding to their popular success was their cover for la’s track “there she goes.” was that enough secular mammon to turn their hearts?

lets answer that question by revisiting sixpence’s appearance on the letterman show almost a decade ago. after performing, leigh was invited over to the interview seat next to letterman. she never got over her youthful stage fright and the nerves were just oozing out of her throughout the whole ordeal, but nevertheless, she courageously walked over to the seat to say what she wanted to say. the band’s name begs to give an explanation, so everywhere they go, theyre asked to explain what sixpence none the richer means. as she was trying to explain it, letterman interrupts her with a disgusting insinuation by asking if he could come over to her hotel room after the show, which was followed by the audience yelling, “whooooo!” even though terrified, leigh marches forward with her story and explains that their name comes from a passage in c.s. lewis’ book mere christianity, where a little boy asks his father for a sixpence, a very small amount of english currency, to get a gift for his father. the father glady accepts the gift and is happy with it, but realizes that hes not any richer for the transaction, that he bought his own gift. c.s. lewis was comparing that to how God has given us the gifts we possess, and to serve Him the way we should, we should do it humbly…realizing how we got the gifts in the first place. letterman responded by saying, “thats beautiful, thats very nice,” and the audience erupted in cheers for the explanation. then letterman uncharacteristically went on to say, “…if we could just keep that little sliver of enlightenment with us, things would be so much better…God bless you…” you can check it out yourself here. thats the way to represent leigh, mad props.

instead of rehashing the rest of their career, lets just get on with the J-hit! the band did disband in 2004, but reformed in late 2007, and they released their first album reunited, a christmas album, called the dawn of grace, in october 2008. the Jesus hit we got to serve up to u is from that album and is the forever awesome christmas carol: silent night, featuring dan haseltine of jars of clay. the picture on the cd cover gives a hint at the treasure that lies within this jhit, as leigh is not the youthful child that was on the letterman show, but displays a smile and an artistic expression that reflects her inward growth, telling of her experiences of giving birth, a divorce, and the unexpected death of her father. this growth can be heard in the heavenly tones that leigh unleashes in holy praise, and the song’s final lines of “Christ is born, halleluuuujah” take me home from on high to a really good place. this heavenly Christmas jhit floats down into the hotbox. and as a bonus, the video they put out on youtube is right underneath, its simplicity hits your soul, check it out.

silent night — sixpence none the richer | Listen

- paulster

Paulster’s “J”-hit Hotbox

“Christ is the reason for the season, whether u like it or not,” said someone on the radio, and who can argue with the spirit of truth? what a killer awesome time of the year to shout it out to Jesus, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord! thats of course taken from the MyJesusRocks’ theme verses, but also, i just bought a sick shirt that says “live to worship the Rock of our salvation” with psalm 95:1-3 on the back… “Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation…Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.” nothing rocks your soul with more joy than to shout it out or play it out in song to our Lord, and even more so to totally unleash it at Christmas time! if you have no idea what im talking about, bro/girl, u are so missing out. the party-boat just cruised on by and left u in its playa dust. choose to hop on and have a look-see, what have u got to lose? we’re gonna party hard in pure joy all the way to heaven, and Jesus (along with a billion of us) is gesturing to you on the deck saying, “come and see.” dont miss the boat.

aight, this is the Christmas J-hit hotbox, and we got a triple play stocking stuffer just for u. first up to your feasting plate is the pop rock girl band: barlowgirl. ya, theyre the three barlow sisters rockin it for Jesus (i didnt know siblings could do that). their father made youth cd’s for their huge church, would tour nationwide, and he would bring his daughters along to play…and soon they would come to their own, writing and singing their own stuff. even before they released their first studio album, self-entitled barlowgirl, in 2004, they had already been thrust into the music scene with the band superchic[k] writing about and naming a song after them called barlow girls, in 2001, which was a fun mickey mouse club Jesus punk rock style song about youthful purity. it was a fitting tribute…a main theme of barlowgirl is premarital abstinence, chastity, and purity with their message of “dont be conformed, be transformed” found in Romans 12:1-2. the wisdom of purity in these young girls shames the wisdom of old people, and it shows in their music. theyre the real deal and fantastic role models for the youth (hear an example). they have a good sound with their brand of rock thats palatable to a broad audience. they show you how to have some distortion in your guitar without leaving the listener bangin his head in depression with a negative sound pounding through his headphones, ya know?

so after having number one running songs and songs of the year on various charts, numerous awards and gma nominations, producing a song on the soundtrack of the 2006 feature film the nativity story, being youth ambassadors for the 2007 national day of prayer, barlowgirl has now released a christmas cd this year. but hold that trainwreck - eeerrrrkk!! the girls somehow channeled their inner-celine dion, and produced a cd totally more fitting for a bing crosby movie or a barry manilow reunion special…theres not a single electric guitar in the entire thing, its all been replaced by the piano and other classical sounds. theres nothing wrong with that kind of music, its just not what we’re into over here…just hittin ya up with some lookin out. ah but no worries, i gotcha covered, its christmas time! the christmas Jesus-hit we have is from a favorite of mine, and barlowgirl did a cover of it on the 2005 compliation cd, wow christmas green, and its none other than the classic, o holy night. the glorious chorus goes, “fall on your knees, o hear the angels’ voices, o night divine, o night when Christ was born, o night divine, o night, o night divine!” it reminds me of the wise men finding the baby Jesus and falling to their knees. we sort of gloss over it, but imagine the spiritual realm, the horizon of heaven blasting with light from all the angels and the heavenly hosts, God and the entire breadth of heaven focused on the birth of the Messiah, and to behold the magnitude and weight of such an event, our spirits would collapse and we would fall to our knees in holy worship. that, my friend, is a divine night. this awesome jhit totally gets placed into the hotbox. (uh, play it loud)

» o holy night — barlowgirl | Listen

- paulster

Paulster’s “J”-hit Hotbox

for those of u that dont know, the “J” stands for Jesus. see, i got a lil hotbox, and i put a song in it cuz its a jhit, then i give it to u, simple.

we’re gonna jumpstart this hotbox with the christian pop punk/punk/rock sensation mxpx. now, some punk purists can argue till they swallow their cigarettes on what to classify them. i really dont care, why? im not a punker, i just love Jesus hits to the death. so u can call them pop punk sellouts (u need help) or experimental pioneers leading their genre, i take all of that junk, toss it into the fire, and see what kind of Jesus is left.

aight, enough of that, on to the goodness. the revolution of the new 2nd wave punk gave birth to mxpx (or was it the other way around?) in Bremerton, Washington in 1992 (and given keys to the city in 2006!). they were three 15 year old snots with God-given talent and inspiration. their guitarist (later replaced in 1995) liked to throw on loud plaid shirts, so they called themselves “magnified plaid.” hmmm, maybe that name sucked, so they wrote “m.p.” on their posters, but the drummers handwriting made it look like “mxpx,” and hey thats the one that stuck to the teens. they jammed a “showcase” for tooth & nail records in mike herrera’s (vocalist/lyricist/bass) mommy’s garage, and mike practiced so much for it the kid lost his voice (poor kid)! nevertheless, they got signed, came out with their first album release in 1994, pokinatcha, a breakthrough genre shaping record, and the rest is history.

mxpx set the standard for how a band does it and makes it in the secular and christian worlds of music with seamless crossover and respect. so the songs they sing that have nothing to do with Jesus, hey i guess theres a place for it, just not on my playlist, aight? lifes too short for me to listen to junk not related to my Lord. the recent mxpx stuff is so devoid of christianity that i dont think it can be classified as “christian.” i didnt get saved from the pit of hell to listen to junk about some “chop chop” murder or how u can be your own “secret weapon.” compare that to the band’s first album as teens…in the song “weak (bonus #1),” lyrics go: “my flesh nature won’t abide, its ripping me apart inside, Jesus pulls me back together, my soul will be with him forever.” or in “want ad (bonus #2)”: “i’m looking for a girl who writes me songs, and talks to Jesus all day long.” that my friend is tasty goodness. so we know its in there somewhere. it went from boldy proclaiming faith to none at all, or buried so deep within the lyrics that no one can figure it out except maybe his closest homies. so i got one thing to say, “mike, why u wanna bogart my Jesus? pass Him bro!”

so that makes me have to spin it back to 2003 to find a truly righteous jhit (thats “Jesus Hit,” ya i just made it up so wiki me). in the album before everything and after, we got a tasty morsel in “you make me, me.” who is it about? it could be like to his wife or something with the line, “i thank the Lord above for you each day,” or it could be thanking God the Father for Jesus. but theres definitely at least crossover to Jesus with the luscious words, “these days so few seem to have faith, in the Son of Man [title for Jesus] and in his grace, i feel your breathe upon my face, as you replace, my broken wings.” for me, the whole song is a song to Jesus. the chorus can be applied to Jesus, as He makes me: smile, sing, scream, everything, laugh, cry, live, die, and me. bible verses can be attached to each of those lines (is mike that deep?), so thats your homework, ya (not)? the lines that go, “height won’t separate us from this love, depth can’t separate us from this love, can’t separate from this love…” is clearly taken from the rockin, life-altering verses of Romans 8:38-39. this track cuts to the heart, is obviously inspired by the Spirit, and im happy-blessed to stamp it a legit jhit and it gets stuffed into the hotbox.

» you make me, me — mxpx | Listen

- paulster