tracklisting to be released tomorrow
this song will be on it…
tracklisting to be released tomorrow
this song will be on it…
I am so blessed to be working with so many anointed and talented people on the album. One of those incredible blessings is Maggie Yoingco. :D
pirateshipsandrabbitholes:I was watching the movie “Hook” today (I am a huge fan of “Peter Pan”). The scene where one of the lost boys examined Peter’s face to see if he was really Peter reminded me of how I sometimes forget who I am in Christ. I get caught up in different things and the big fat lies the enemy keeps on planting in my head, and so I feel lost and far away from Jesus. Eventually, I get tired and I start looking for Him again. But as it turns out, He has been beside me all along. I feel His hands wiping the dust off of my face and then he says, just like the lost boy to Peter, “There you are!”
The idea of Jesus’ hands on my face somehow reminded me of Clement Chen’s song “In Your Arms”. It’s amazing how God is always happy to see us come back to him no matter how far we’ve gone; how He still knows our truest selves and sees the best in us beneath all of the filth and scars that have covered our faces.There You Are, 05/14/12watercolor on paper
(via clementchenmusicredirect)
Global Christian Worship: 12 Hours of 'Deep Spiritual Jazz' Music
This is incredible. 12 hour long playlist of spiritual jazz music.
From
http://www.thejazzmeet.com/friends-and-features/black-classical-history-of-spiritual-jazz-1955-2012/“There’s been a slow but steady resurgence in the interest of the deep spiritual jazz sound of the 1960s and 1970s, as more and more record labels strive to find and reissue obscure…
(via clementchenmusicredirect)
The Phonograph
A virtual record library of musical accompaniments to the books I am reading in my twenty-third year.
‘The Little White Bird’ by J.M. Barrie - May, 2012
- ’Finding Neverland (Soundtrack)’ by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek
- ’Coieda’ by Takagi Masakatsu
- ’Eternal Castle’ - Piana
The Shelf
A virtual bookshelf of the books I am reading in my twenty-third year.
May, 2012
- ‘The Little White Bird’ by J.M. Barrie
“You can never get a cup of tea large enough or a book long enough to suit me.”
- C.S. Lewis
Dear listeners,
In order to raise money for me to live in Nepal next year as I follow the Holy Spirit, Jesus, and Daddy in what they’re doing, I gave myself a fun challenge. Starting on May 14th and ending on my birthday on May 21st I wrote one song a day for seven days based on seven bible stories. Here is the end result, raw and real. I hope you enjoy the music and are inspired to look further into the stories that each song is based on. If you want to support me on missions in Nepal then you can order the album for a minimum donation of £10.
Be blessed and be loved,
Clem
released 21 May 2012
music and lyrics by Clement Chen
music for ‘Whore’ co-written by Charmaine Che
art by Oliver Ip
Seven Stories: Day 7
You have stolen my heart
with one glance of your eyes…
You are a garden locked up, my sister, my bride…They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him, and then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head
This song started out with the Holy Spirit getting one phrase stuck in my head, “You traded petals for thorns” and the idea that Jesus, the epitome and creator of beauty gave up perfect beauty for the brutality of the cross so that we could be His. The crown of thorns immediately popped into my head and I began reading about the crown of thrones; however, I wasn’t getting anywhere. So I quietly began meditating on the concept of thorns and I just kept getting this image of Jesus picking up a flower and stripping it of its thorns to make His crown of thorns. This led me to remember the verse in Song of Songs about being a garden locked up. I quickly wrote the lines: “You came into my garden, stripped the roses bare, to make Your crown of thorns.” There’s much more I could elaborate about on the song; however, I’ll just leave it and say that in the end it’s just a simple humble love song about the greatest love story ever.
Be blessed and be loved,
Clem
link: Petals for Thorns (Song 4:9-15; Matt 27:28-29)
You came into my garden,
stripped the roses bare,
to make
Your crown of thorns
You traded petals for thorns,
You traded beauty for ashes,
You traded all the praise of heaven
for the scorn of men.
You took the thorns from my roses
You gave it all to unlock my garden
Somehow I’ve stolen Your heart
with my faltering love
Find my heart
unlocked for You
Seven Stories: Day 6
After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciple’s feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord are you going to wash my feet?”…Again and again they struck him on the head with a staff and spit on him…It was nine the the morning when they crucified him…
Jesus’s hands are so beautiful. The same hands that were hung on the cross washed the feet of the disciples. Those hands accomplished everything that needed to be done for me to be brought into His love. I apologize for how poor this recording is, I had to record this in one take as I am feeling rather ill. More than ever, today, I am so thankful that God has still given me a song to sing back to him. More than ever I’m glad He holds me in his hands and sets His love upon my heart.
Be blessed and be loved,
Clem
link: Upon my Heart (John 13:1-17; Mark 19:19, 25)
It’s not about how much I love you
all I hope for hinges on your faithfulness
It’s not about how much I can do
all I hope for hinges on your love being true
So come set
Your love
upon my heart
You shed Your beauty
on the cross, to imprint the Father’s love
Your perfect hands
washed the feet of the lost
hung pierced to restore the broken
Seven Stories: Day 5
…while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him…Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet…
I’ve heard the story of the prodigal son an uncountable number of times; however, reading it again this time I noticed something I’ve never noticed in the story before. Sandals. The prodigal son presumably walked an absurdly long way without sandals. His feet must have been beat up, bruised, battered, sore and hurt from walking. The sandals to me represent the fact that Daddy cares about our needs, every single one of them. It’s so simple and yet so beautiful, the prodigal son’s father noticed his son’s feet and requested that they be given sandals so that they could walk again with new steps. I can’t help but draw the connection between two things. The first is the transformation of our lives and our steps toward eternity and home when Christ enters our lives. The second is Jesus washing his disciple’s feet. The God we love is a God of humility and a God who cares about every little small thing. Nothing is to small, nothing is to big for our Daddy.
be blessed and be loved,
Clem
be blessed and be loved,
Clem
You gave me a ring
and say I am worthy
Put sandals on my feet
so I don’t walk in the dirt
Oh, I am Your child,
Oh, I am Your child,
Oh, I am Your child,
and I will always be
Oh I don’t know how many times
I’ve made that journey
back into Your arms
Oh I don’t know how many times
I’ve found you waiting,
running to hold me
back into Your arms
Seven Stories: Day 4
As Jesus was on his way, the crowds almost crushed him. And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years, but no one could heal her. She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped…
I love the women who has the faith to just reach out and touch Jesus. In fact Luke 8:40-56 is perhaps my favorite miracle of Jesus because of how He demonstrates that absolutely no one is a distraction. He stopped for her. He always stops for us. But, Jesus isn’t the only amazing character in the story. Despite being ignored and being crushed by the crowd, the women was so desperate for Jesus and for healing which to her were synonymous. Desperately aware of her need for healing she became utterly desperately dependent on Jesus. For her there was no difference, the only thing that could restore and heal her was Jesus and she wanted Him. Imagine the pain as she crawled and bleed while being trampled on and yelled at by the crowd. She might have even been told a few times by those unaware of her condition to get up and stop being a nuisance. She certainly had been told my other healers that were unable to heal her to get up. I imagine her to be someone who should be so battered with hopelessness after twelve years of failed healings; however, when she saw Jesus she still went with that incredible faith. Nothing spectacular, just a brief touch of His cloak was all she wanted and needed. I want to be that desperate. I want to be that dependent. Twelve years of hopelessness and she was still willing to reach out cause that’s how desperate she was for Him, for restoration, for healing. I find myself internally broken; however, I typically brush it off or even resort to means other then Jesus to fix or numb the pain. We don’t need any other healer or medicine for our pain, all we need is Him. I’ve lost my voice, which ironically is appropriate. It’s helped make this one of my most personal songs. Here is my raw desperate cry, mistakes and all, for more of Him and for a breaking of myself to desperate dependence.
Be blessed and be loved,
Clem
link: All I Need is You (Luke 8:40-56)
If all that women
needed to do
was just reach out in faith
and touch you.
How come its so hard
for me to trust you
in even the little things.
I want to be made more desperate
teach me to me more dependent
All I need is You
I’m hurting, I’m reaching
just for more of You
I’m desperate, Oh Jesus
All I need is You
I’m bleeding, still believing
that just a little more of You
can heal me, so Come find me
All I need is You
to Come find me
please, find me
I just need to hear You say, ”my, child get up,
you don’t belong there on the floor
you don’t belong there being ignored”
