Bridget Willard

Hymn-Theology: I Need Thee Every Hour, In Joy Or Pain

November 23, 2009 · 2 Comments

I need Thee every hour, in joy or pain;
Come quickly and abide, or life is in vain.

Words:  An­nie S. Hawks, 1872. Music: Ro­bert Low­ry

his hymn is completely packed with encouraging lyrics to the point where an essay could easily be written for each stanza.  If I had to choose (and I am) the most prominent stanza that speaks to me, it is this:

I need thee every hour in joy or pain

Come quickly and abide or life is vain.

I first heard this song on Fernando Ortega’s Hymns & Meditations album about 14 years ago and that is still my favorite version because of the authenticity with which he sings these lyrics; the listener has the sense that he is expressing a true prayer and devotion from his heart.

According to “Great Hymn Stories” Annie S. Hawks based this hymn, after the initial inspiration, on John 15.  However, this particular stanza brings to mind Philippians 4:10-12:

But I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at last your care for me has flourished again; though you surely did care, but you lacked opportunity. Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need.

Whatever state I am in, in joy or in pain, I need the Lord.  And life is like that.  When she wrote the hymn, she was joyous.  It wasn’t until years later she wrote:

Under the shadow of a great loss, I came to understand something of the comforting power of the words I had been permitted to give out to others in my hours of sweet serenity and peace.

We have seasons in life. Seasons of joy, seasons of pain, and everything in-between. As we continue in ministry, we will experience all of these situations.  During the unjust beating and imprisonment of Paul and Silas, for casting out a demon from a poor girl no less, they were full of joy.  Those two, in the midnight hour, shackled in a rat-invested basement without medical attention to their wounds could easily have been singing something like this:

I need thee every hour in joy or in pain

come with me and abide or life is vain

I need Thee oh I need Thee

Every hour I need Thee

Come bless me now my Saviour

I come to Thee

For Thought & Discussion:

→ 2 CommentsCategories: devotionals · hymn theology · writing
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Friday Church: 11/20/09 #sundaysetlists

November 22, 2009 · 2 Comments

Part of Fred McKinnon’s #SundaySetlists.

Our Friday night motel outreach functions just as any other church.  We may differ in this:  the children and adults are together for a psalm reading, worship, and the memory verse.

Fridays, we generally have me on guitar and vocals, Nicole on vocals, Warren on lead guitar (acoustic), and Camille on cajon (or d’jembe).  Each week is different.  This week I was accompanied by Nicole and Camille.

Here is the set:

I’ll Fly Away (D)
Albert E. Brumley © 1932 Wonderful Message

Jesus, Lover of My Soul (D)
Daniel Grul, John Ezzy, Steve McPherson © 1992 Hillsong CCLI #1198817

You Gave Your Life Away (D)
(c) 2007 Paul Baloche/Kathryn Scott CCLI #4994688

Blessed Assurance (G)


→ 2 CommentsCategories: Sunday Setlist · Worship Confessional

Jalapeno Cornbread Stuffing

November 16, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Just so it’s easier for you to find it…

…and since I’ve made it one time so far this season…

Here is the link for my stuffing recipe.

Jalapeno Stuffing

(download pdf printable version here)

I created this recipe while first married in the early 90s in response to the fact that:

a) I hate traditional stuffing

b) My husband loves Mexican food

So the concept is this: mix spanish rice, salsa, regular stuffing, and cornbread stuffing. It’s really wonderful!

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Friday Church: 11/13/09 #sundaysetlists

November 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Part of Fred McKinnon’s #SundaySetlists.

Our Friday night motel outreach functions just as any other church.  We may differ in this:  the children and adults are together for a psalm reading, worship, and the memory verse.

Fridays, we generally have me on guitar and vocals, Nicole on vocals, Warren on lead guitar (acoustic), and Camille on cajon (or d’jembe).  Each week is different.  This week it was just me and Camille.

Here is the set:

Holy is the Lord
Chris Tomlin & Louie Giglio © 2003 worshiptogether.com CCLI# 4158039

Jesus, Lover of My Soul
Daniel Grul, John Ezzy, Steve McPherson © 1992 Hillsong CCLI #1198817

I ended up skipping this song because of time.

You Gave Your Life Away
(c) 2007 Paul Baloche/Kathryn Scott CCLI #4994688

Might Be Today

1995, 1998 Greg Fadness CCLI # 2198527

I’ll Fly Away
Albert E. Brumley © 1932 Wonderful Message

→ Leave a CommentCategories: Sunday Setlist · Worship Confessional

November 2009 Free Download: “Call Unto Me”

November 2, 2009 · 2 Comments

Come Away

For the month of November you can download this sweet ballad track for free: “Call Unto Me” from CDBaby.com

Here is the link:. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/bwillard

Chart for the song (click here) CCLI #4570473

I love songs set to scripture.

Jeremiah 33:3 (NKJV)

‘Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.’

Call Unto Me

Jeremiah 33:3

“Call Unto Me” is also one of my very first songs. I make a habit of reading through the Bible, starting simultaneously in Genesis, Psalms, and Matthew, and read forward until I am finished with the Bible and I begin again. Most of the time I have no idea what I am reading. However, I was praying and conversing with the Lord asking Him to reveal to me something from Jeremiah and this was the first passage in Jeremiah that ever spoke to me. Jeremiah 29:11 seems to have more fame, but this verse blew my mind, and it still does. We have no idea what the Lord will do for us, if we will just call to Him.

Email me if you have any trouble with the CD Baby Download.

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Friday Church: 10/30/09 #sundaysetlists

October 30, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Part of Fred McKinnon’s #SundaySetlists.

Our Friday night motel outreach functions just as any other church.  We may differ in this:  the children and adults are together for a psalm reading, worship, and the memory verse.

Fridays, we generally have me on guitar and vocals, Nicole on vocals, Warren on lead guitar (acoustic), and Camille on cajon (or d’jembe).  Each week is different.

This week it was me and Camille.  For some reason I have a mental block on 6/8 (or 3/4 for that matter) time signatures.  Between the first and second songs, this came back to haunt me, live!  It took me until the first chorus of “Oh My Redeemer” before I was actually in 6/8; poor Camille, trying to figure out what in the world I was doing.

Here is the set:

Here Is Love (D)
Reese, Williams / Robert Lowry

This is the song that kicked off my “Hymn-Theology” posts.

Read my post here.

Oh My Redeemer (D)
Richard Smockovich & Mike Duran © 1999 Mike Doran Music CCLI # 2946360

I don’t remember when I first heard this song, but I really like it.  I’ve been using it often on Fridays.  People pick it up fast.  It’s easy to sing and has great lyrics.

Father, I Adore You (D)
Terrye Coelho  © 1972 Maranatha Music CCLI# 26557

Driving in the car today, I heard a really new version of this song on the radio (KFSH 95.9).  This is one of the first songs I loved when I started going to Calvary Chapel back in 1995.  Even at that time, the song was old, but new to me.

Your Love Oh Lord (A)
Powell, Mac et al © 1999 New Spring  CCLI#1894255

This is a great standard.  I love it.  It’s from Psalm 36:5-6; you can’t go wrong with Bible verses as your lyrics.

Revelation Song (A)
(c) 2004 Jennie Lee Riddle/Gateway CCLI #4447960

Like I said in my post from October 2:

I’ve wanted to do this song since I heard it on SongDiscovery #50, but ended up forgetting about it until I heard the worship team at Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa do it a few weeks ago.  I hear it’s also covered by Kari Jobe.

It was well-received song.  This will be it’s second rotation.

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Metrolink Madness: Sharing and Observing Personal Space

October 28, 2009 · 2 Comments

Chronicling my people watching, observations, experiences in my daily commute on Metrolink, for no other reason than to pass the time and smile a bit.

hen you become part of mass transportation, you have to learn to share, kind of like pre-school, only for grown-ups.

Now, I do realize that the concept of personal space as a basic right is uniquely American in origin, God forbid we ever have to stuff people on the train like they do in Japan  (see video here), and although there are some rights that we relinquish in order to benefit from mass transportation, there are some we retain.

Typical upstairs seating on Metrolink Trains

Typical upstairs seating on Metrolink Trains

There are three levels of seating on a Metrolink train: all of which have similar configurations and are, basically, closer than sitting in a movie theater, but not as close as the Honda Center (see previous post here).

Most of the seating has pairs of seats facing each other for a group of four, some with tables but most do not have those.

Typically, I don’t sit in a group with tables, as I believe they should be saved for the laptop people, which brings me to today’s post. Keep reading →

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Etc. · civility
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Friday Church: 10/23/09 #sundaysetlists

October 23, 2009 · 2 Comments

Part of Fred McKinnon’s #SundaySetlists.

Our Friday night motel outreach functions just as any other church.  We may differ in this:  the children and adults are together for a psalm reading, worship, and the memory verse.

Fridays, we generally have me on guitar and vocals, Nicole on vocals, Warren on lead guitar (acoustic), and Camille on cajon (or d’jembe).

This week was only me and Nicole.

Here is the set in the Key of D:

Joy that Giggles
(c) Don Jackson – Kids Cry Out

Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing)
Brenton Brown & Brian Doerkson © 2000 Vineyard Songs  CCLI 3091812

The Joy Of The Lord
©1991 Ariose Music / Mountain Spring Music
Words and Music by Twila Paris

More Precious Than Silver

I’ll Fly Away
Albert E. Brumley © 1932 Wonderful Message

Here is a live recording at last week’s motel outreach of I’ll Fly Away

→ 2 CommentsCategories: Sunday Setlist · Worship Confessional

My First Professional Sports Game: Lakers V. Nuggets

October 23, 2009 · 1 Comment

I realize that the topic of this blog post is an anomaly for this site; however, I thought I’d share some of my thoughts as a first-timer.

My husband has loved the Lakers since they were in their namesake state:  Minnesota, which, I admit dates him a bit.  (You can read more about their history here.)  The point being, that he’s not a “new” fan as I am.  A bit about how I slowly by slowly became a Laker fan is found in this post on Psalm 37:4.  I bought him Arsenal tickets for his birthday, but I was sick and we didn’t get to go.

So, I found out that the Lakers were playing at Honda Center in a pre-season game.  For $38 each, I thought it was a good deal.  October is a late birthday celebration for a February birthday, but it was still very exciting.

I’ve never been to a professional sports game.  Now, I’ve been to the Honda Center back when it was the Arrowhead Pond for a few Gaither concerts, but I’ve never sat in the 400 section before.  Mercier wanted to be sure to see the whole game. He assured me that sitting higher was better, for the overview, and as close as possible either to the center or a goal (the basket).

When will NBA come to Orange County?

When will NBA come to Orange County?

Keep reading →

→ 1 CommentCategories: Etc. · Reviews
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Friday Church: 10/16/09 #sundaysetlists

October 16, 2009 · 4 Comments

Part of Fred McKinnon’s #SundaySetlists.

Fridays, we generally have me on guitar and vocals, Nicole on vocals, Warren on lead guitar (acoustic), and Camille on cajon (or d’jembe).  This week is was only me.

Our Friday night motel outreach functions just as any other church.  We may differ in this:  the children and adults are together for a psalm reading, worship, and the memory verse.

Tonight will be a bit different.  A bunch of our teaching team is absent so Mercier will be teaching a combined meeting with the kids and adults.

So we’re mixing it up with kids songs, the memory verse, more kid songs, sermon, and more closing worship.

Mercier will be teaching on why bad things happen.

Here is the set in the Key of D:

Joy that Giggles
(c) Don Jackson – Kids Cry Out

The Joy of the Lord

–Memory Verse Teaching

Psalm 119:105
Bridget Willard ©1999 moreofjesus.com CCLI# pending

This post talks about this song’s story.

You can get the simple chart here.

Hallelu, Hallelu

More Precious Than Silver

SERMON

Hallelujah (Your Love is Amazing)
Brenton Brown & Brian Doerkson © 2000 Vineyard Songs  CCLI 3091812

The Joy Of The Lord
©1991 Ariose Music / Mountain Spring Music
Words and Music by Twila Paris

I’ll Fly Away
Albert E. Brumley © 1932 Wonderful Message

→ 4 CommentsCategories: Sunday Setlist · Worship Confessional