O Risen Lord

A song I wrote for Easter Sunday:

O Risen Lord                                  David Jenkins
The Son of God was hung upon a tree
to bear our sin; he died for you and me.
In pain and darkness, all our debt he paid:
a precious gift, to all who ask he gives.
Chorus
O risen Lord, ascend now to your throne, all of creation is yours.
O King of Kings, Redeemer of this world, all honour belongs to you now.

They nailed his hands, a spear pierced his side;
A crown of thorns was thrust upon his head.
As darkness fell his Father forsook him;
His cry was heard through heaven and through hell.

On the third day the stone was rolled away;
The tomb was empty, an angel standing there.
Folded grave clothes where the body lay,
Jesus, the Christ has risen from the dead.

(c) 2021 David Jenkins

Merry Christmas!

Jesus was born                                                    David Jenkins
Jesus was born in a stable so poor: there was no room at the inn.
Wise men and shepherds travelled to bring
Gifts to the heavenly King.
Chorus
Jesus was born in our hearts when we swore
love and devotion to him.
we’re making the room for him to bloom;
Showing his rivals the door.

Jesus was living a life full of giving: healing the broken and poor.
Until your sin and mine killed the Divine
On Calvary’s hill so forlorn.

Jesus was rising, a thing so surprising that no-one believed it at all.
Back from the dead, he appeared to his friends,
Functioning body and all.

Jesus is with us, not just at Christmas:
Filling the world with his love.
Calling our name, taking our shame,
Saving all those who will come.
© 2010 David Jenkins

O come let us adore Him

A merry and blessed Christmas to all.

A few carols played by me:

 

Archives from the Diocese of Niagara’s LGBT times

The Diocese of Niagara’s newspaper, the Niagara Anglican, has been published for 64 years. For the last 63 of those years, in keeping with the inclinations of its clerical masters, its interest in Christianity has diminished at the same rate that its obsession with homosexuality has grown.

You can see some photos from the archive here.

I particularly like this one of the hipster cathedral clergy plunking “The Lord’s My Shepherd” to the tune of “The Happy Wanderer”:

Despite such discriminating musical taste it, couldn’t compete in cultural relevance with the competition; even though the glasses were almost the same:

Viva Vivaldi

I am sitting in my living room streaming a Vivaldi recorder concerto from my computer through a miniBlink Bluetooth receiver, equipped with a Burr Brown PCM5102 24bit DAC, to a tube pre-amplifier and two Class A monoblock tube power amplifiers, ending up in a pair of bipolar tower loudspeakers that cheerfully reproduce a 16Hz low C pedal organ note: a thoroughly delicious amalgam of technology and the baroque.

If none of that made any sense, never fear: it is just the preamble to a joke I heard in Italy when visiting the house where Vivaldi lived. It’s this:

Vivaldi was the only composer who wrote the same concerto 400 times. An Italian told me that.

R.I.P. David Jenkins

Avian celebrations would be premature however, since this David Jenkins was the Bishop of Durham who cemented his credentials as an authentic Anglican bishop by denying the virgin birth and bodily resurrection of Jesus – among other things.

To distinguish between the two of us, a few years ago I wrote a song about Jesus’ resurrection called Risen Lord. Here it is, dedicated to the other David Jenkins:

Gratias agimus tibi

From Bach’s Bm mass. Posted only because it is the pinnacle of the musically sublime.

I think Karl Richter’s interpretation of Bach’s choral and orchestral works is the best of the best; I know some think that contemporary, supposedly more authentic, versions are better – but I really don’t care. I don’t suppose Karl Richter does either, since he is dead.

Merry Christmas!

A Merry Christmas to all.

A few carols, arranged for guitar by John W Duarte, played by yours truly.

Silent Night:

The First Nowell:

Once in Royal David’s City:

Hark, the Herald Angels Sing:

Away in a Manger:

O Come, all Ye Faithful:

While Shepherds Watched their Flocks by Night:

See Amid the Winter’s Snow: