Avril Lavigne gospel song?!

After a five-year hiatus, Avril Lavigne, the "punk rock princess" is back with..a gospel song??

The French-Canadian hitmaker, who defined teendom in the mid-2000s with her signature pop-rock angst—it’s complicated, okay?—recently released the first single, “Head Above Water,” to her forthcoming album. 

The song is a fierce piano ballad that documents a culminating moment in Lavigne’s years-long struggle with Lyme disease. 

“Thank you for waiting so patiently as I fought through and still continue to fight the battle of my lifetime. One night, I thought I was dying, and I had accepted that I was going to die. My mom laid with me in bed and held me. I felt like I was drowning. Under my breath, I prayed, ‘God, please help to keep my head above the water.’ In that moment, the songwriting of this album began. It was like I was tapped into something . . . Lyrics flooded through me from that point on.”

In what she describes as a “spiritual experience,” the song offers a gentle piano melody that moves gradually into heavy orchestration.  The lyrics speaks about her near-death experience. She is candid about the precarious space she occupies in the face of incurable disease: “Yeah my life is what I’m fighting for / Can’t part the sea, can’t reach the shore / And my voice becomes the driving force / I won’t let this pull me overboard.” Things may get better. They may not.

Lavigne notes that the decision to release this song as her first single is intentional and in the spirit of a kind of rebirth that will play out in the rest of her album. Along with the posting of the song, she also linked her fans to a charitable T-shirt campaign run by her foundation, the proceeds of which will go to individuals affected by Lyme disease who aren’t able to afford their own treatment.

Whether her life is in a process of a genuine rebirth or not, remains to be seen.

Head Above Water Lyrics

I’ve gotta keep the calm before the storm I don’t want less I don’t want more Must bar the windows and the doors To keep me safe to keep me warm Yeah my life is what I’m fighting for Can’t part the sea Can’t reach the shore And my voice becomes the driving force I won’t let this pull me overboard God keep my head above water Don’t let me drown It gets harder I’ll meet you there at the altar As I fall down to my knees Don’t let me drown Don’t let me drown So pull me up from down below ‘Cause I’m underneath the undertow Come dry me off and hold me close I need you now I need you most God keep my head above water Don’t let me drown It gets harder I’ll meet you there at the altar As I fall down to my knees Don’t let me drown Don’t let me drown Don’t let me drown Keep my head above water above water And I can’t see in the stormy weather I can’t seem to keep it all together And I can’t swim the ocean like this forever And I can’t breathe God keep my head above water I lose my breath at the bottom Come rescue me I’ll be waiting I’m too young to fall asleep God keep my head above water Don’t let me drown It gets harder I’ll meet you there at the altar As I fall down to my knees Don’t let me drown Don’t let me drown Don’t let me drown Keep my head above water above water

source: vogue.com

Petruta Küpper - You raise me up & Amazing Grace

Petruta Cecilia Küpper (născută pe 11 mai 1981 în Sibiu, România) este o cintăreată la Instrumentul Nai.
Petruta a studiat la Universitatea Lucian Blaga din Sibiu Sociologie şi Antropologie, de asemenea, la Universitatea Nationala de Muzica din Bucuresti, la nai cu Gheorghe Zamfir. Cu el, de asemenea, ea a apărut în concerte. Ea a lucrat ca profesoră de muzică în România, la şcolile primare şi ciclul inferior al liceului şi la liceu. În 2008 sa mutat în Germania. In 2009 a participat la Super Talent ajungind la locul al treilea în acest talent show . În luna ianuarie 2010, a realizat primul ei album Panträume(traducere-"Visurile Naiului") . La Echo Awards 2010 a fost nominalizat la categoria Newcomer of the Year (naţionale).

Petruta Kupper este căsătorită şi are o fiică născută in 2007. Ea locuieşte în Osnabrück(Germany).

Amazing Grace - Celtic Woman [ Music Video ]

Music video by Celtic Woman performing Amazing Grace.
> Download [ .mp3 ] <

> Official Website <

Proverbs: A Mini-Guide to Life [external source]

There are five things that comprise a wise, godly life. They function both as means to becoming wise and godly as well as signs that you are growing into such a life:

1. Put your heart’s deepest trust in God and his grace. Every day remind yourself of his unconditioned, covenantal love for you. Do not instead put your hopes in idols or in your own performance.

Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. Trust in the LORD with all your heart (Prov 3:3-5a)

2. Submit your whole mind to the Scripture. Don’t think you know better than God’s word. Bring it to bear on every area of life. Become a person under authority.

Lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov 3:5b-6)

3. Be humble and teachable toward others. Be forgiving and understanding when you want to be critical of them; be ready to learn from others when they come to be critical of you.

Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the LORD and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. (Prov 3:7-8)

4. Be generous with all your possessions, and passionate about justice. Share your time, talent, and treasure with those who have less.

Honor the LORD with your wealth, with the first fruits of all your crops; then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine. (Prov 3:9-10)

5. Accept and learn from difficulties and suffering. Through the gospel, recognize them as not punishment, but a way of refining you.

My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline and do not resent his rebuke, because the LORD disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. (Prov 3:11-12)



Redeemer City to City
Dr. Tim Keller
thegospelcoalition.org

[Daily Devotions] Humility and Grace

Be clothed with humility, for "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (1Pe_5:5)

We have considered that humility and faith must be developing within our lives, if we are going to grow in grace. Let's take a few days to reconsider each, looking first at humility. "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble."

Pride leads the list of things that God despises. "These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue . . . . " (Pro_6:16-17). God wants our lives to be edified; pride is destructive. "Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall" (Proverbs 16:18). The Lord desires that people be established in truth; pride is deceptive. "The pride of your heart has deceived you" (Oba_1:3). It is God's will that lives grow in things that are honorable; pride brings disgrace. "When pride comes, then comes shame" (Pro_11:2). Our Lord does not want His name dishonored or our lives destroyed by pride.

On the other hand, humility is a character trait that God loves to develop in us. This can be observed by the terms God uses in His word when addressing humility. "Better to be of a humble spirit with the lowly, than to divide the spoil with the proud" (Pro_16:19). The Lord reveals that we are better off being a humble person, who associates with modest people, than to partake of the wealth that the arrogant can often accumulate.

Also the Lord says, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Mat_5:3). Here we are told that humility is a blessing, because the spiritual realm of God's rule and God's provisions are given to the humble.

Elsewhere God revealed, "I dwell in the high and holy place, with him who has a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones" (Isa_57:15). Although our Lord is most fully revealed in His heavenly abode on high, He also dwells with humble and broken lives on earth below, in order to bring them spiritual revitalization.

Of course, we cannot manufacture humility. It is a relational reality. It results from getting to know the Lord. Isaiah discovered this. "I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lifted up . . . Then I said: 'Woe is me, for I am undone'! " (Isa_6:1,5). When the Lord was revealed in all His glory, Isaiah responded in profound humility. This can be happening in our lives, as we get into the scriptures, seeking a deeper relationship with the Lord. As He is increasingly revealed to us, our response will be more humility.

O God Most High, I repent of those many times when pride was the despicable attitude that I displayed. Lord, teach me to despise pride as You do. Stir in my heart a growing appreciation of humility. I desire to be clothed with humility. I humbly seek You afresh that I might live by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.

Bob Hoekstra

[Daily Devotions] Living by Grace: Humility and Faith

God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble . . . through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand. (Jam_4:6 and Rom_5:2)

How does a believer in Jesus Christ access the ongoing, sanctifying grace of God for daily godliness? It is accessed the same way that the initial, justifying grace of God was acquired - - by humility and faith. We were justified, declared righteous in God's sight, when we humbly trusted in the Lord Jesus. We humbly agreed with the Lord's account of our guilty condition. "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God . . . For the wages of sin is death" (Rom_3:23; Rom_6:23). We also put our trust in Christ concerning His offer of life (based upon His death and resurrection on our behalf). "But the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom_6:23). Thereby we partook of the justifying grace of God, through humility and faith.This is how the Lord wants us to continue to relate to Him for sanctifying grace.

Our God wants us to walk in humility, because grace is what we need for growth in godly living. Remember this great truth of grace: "But grow in the grace . . . of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2Pe_3:18). If we are unwilling to walk in humility, we will not enjoy this wondrous sanctifying impact of grace, because "God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble." When we live by self-sufficiency, God's resists us. When we function in humility, God gives us grace for living.
Our God also wants us to walk in faith, because faith accesses grace. "Through whom [Christ] also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand." We now stand in a kingdom that offers "grace upon grace" (Joh_1:16). Abundant grace is available for every step we are to take. This grace is partaken of by faith. Whenever we trust in the Lord Jesus concerning any issue of life, we are reaching by faith into God's unlimited resources of grace, by which we are enabled to live effectively.

Hereby we see that living by grace involves two relational realities: humility and faith. We do not produce either. Neither are a work. Humility admits we cannot do the work (of being holy, loving, perfect). Faith relies upon the work of another, the Lord Jesus Christ. They are both relational realities, since they become real in our lives through a growing relationship with the Lord. The more we get to know the Lord Jesus Christ, to that degree humility and faith will become realities in our lives.

O Lord, You are my salvation, from justification throughout a lifetime of sanctification. Forgive me for underestimating my need for You. Forgive me concerning the self-sufficient, self-confident ways by which I have often lived. I humble myself before You. I want to live by trust and confidence in You. I long to live by Your grace, not by my best efforts. Help me to know You, that humility and faith might develop in my life, Amen.

Bob Hoekstra