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Lyrics - "REDEEMING THE DAYS"

DAWN

Open ocean, open skies. Open window, open eyes. On yon horizon the sun will rise. And so I’ll wait here while midnight dies. This starry darkness, it can not last. The mist and shadow are fading fast. The still and slumber will not last long. As this cold night gives way to dawn.

I am a vapor, I am a cloud. A glowing ember that’s dying out. But life is brimming beneath the shroud. And so I wait for the trumpet sound. When heaven opens her arms out wide. And Jesus beckons His church inside. The ache and anguish will soon be gone. As this cold night gives way to dawn.

La, la la, La, la la, La, la, la, La, la la

Open ocean, open skies. Open window, open eyes. On yon horizon the sun will rise, And so I’ll wait here while midnight dies.

La, la la, La, la la, La, la la,, La, la la

Permanent

I would gather up some cardboard and build myself a house. I’d find some shiny things and call them mine. It’s all I had to offer, it’s all I knew there was. I’d take a shallow breath and call it life. There must be something better. I know there’s something real. Cause I can feel

Something permanent. Something everlasting. Something wind and water Cannot wash away.

Have I really been so blinded by all that I can see To think that what I see is all there is. There is hope below the surface, there’s life beyond this skin And grace to get us to that place from this. And I have built a home there. My days here won’t last long. I’m so soon gone.

Somewhere permanent. Somewhere everlasting. Somewhere wind and water Cannot wash away.

In the meantime I’ll keep a looser grip On the stuff I’ve piled in this sinking ship And I’ll hold tight through this long night To Jesus.

Cause He’s permanent. Cause He’s everlasting. He is permanent. He is everlasting And His peace inside me Will not wash away. Words and music by James Thiele ©2006 Universal Music Publishing and Cumberland Belle Music (Admin. By UMPG) / ASCAP.

Foreign is Familiar

I’ve tasted all that Istanbul has to offer. I’ve seen the sunrise on Mombassa’s shore. I have played soccer in an alley in Managua. I’ve passed a day on a Brookhaven porch And all that’s foreign is familiar.

I ordered sushi at a restaurant in Sao Paulo. I tried to surf a Costa Rican wave. I rode a camel by the pyramids in Cairo. I almost rode that camel to my grave And all the world became my brother.

Wish I could translate this hope that I’ve come to know. So I could pass on this faith that has made me whole Till all that’s foreign is familiar.

The streets of Hong Kong are the streets of New York City. New Orleans flooded, Indonesia cried. The winter snow blows cold in Budapest and Boise And they both beg the day the warm sun shines And all I have a gladly offer.

CHORUS

All my words are just tarnished toys. They have been broken by broken boys. Give me the truth that cuts through all this noise and I’ll sing it. I’ll shout it. Till all that’s foreign is fa..All that’s foreign is fa..All that’s foreign is familiar. Words and music by James Thiele ©2006 Universal Music Publishing and Cumberland Belle Music (Admin. By UMPG) / ASCAP

Blue Horizon

Baby’s got a blue horizon. She's riding on a silver thread, Following North through the darkness of the days ahead. Baby’s got a cardboard heart. Ruin of the world she knows. Memories wrapped in rags for the washboard road.

I’ll wake her up when the wind stops howling. Wake her up when the static fades. Wake her up but we can’t stop dreaming. We’re redeeming the days

Take me back to Highway 90. Leave me by the old lake shore. Flying out over the water lost in the world that was before.

Wake me up when the wind stops howling. Wake me up when the static fades. Wake me up but we can’t stop dreaming. We’re redeeming the days

We're freeing the gold from the dross. We're seeing the love in the loss.

Wake us up when the wind stops howling. Wake us up when the static fades. Wakes us up but we can’t stop dreaming. We’re redeeming the days. Redeeming the days. Baby’s got a blue horizon. Words and music by James Thiele and Ben Shive ©2006 Universal Music Publishing and Cumberland Belle Music (Admin. By UMPG) / ASCAP

Fourteen

Monday after school. She watched the bus Slowly pull away. Alone in an empty house. The TV’s on Just to fill the space.

Fourteen, One tear at a time the little girl dies. Fourteen, God knows why she cries. He knows why she cries

Stuck right in the middle. Can’t help but feel She’s the one to blame. He calls her “daddy’s girl” But he’s still gone just the same.

CHORUS

She needs someone to be there beside her. Somebody who’ll walk with her through the fire. And help her find the love that we all need. She’s fourteen. She’s fourteen.

Alone in an empty house. The TV’s on just to fill the space. Words and music by James Thiele, Sammy Ward and Al Sostrin ©2006 Universal Music Publishing and Cumberland Belle Music (Admin. By UMPG) / ASCAP

Room to Run

His name was Christopher When he got on the bus But now he’s changed his name to Topher. He took the Greyhound north three hundred miles ago Hoping to find his four-leaf clover. His money is running low And so is his hope.

He keeps running. He keeps running. He keeps running out of room to run. He keeps running. He keeps running. He keeps running out of room to run.

Though barely seventeen. He’s learned to hide it well. Beneath a shell of cold indifference. He pulls his hat down low. And tries again to sleep. And dream of being home with his friends. Good memories are fading fast. But the painful ones last.

CHORUS

Chasing the daylight. Bracing for the cold, dark night. Racing against time and losing.

Why keep running. Why keep running. When you’re running out of room to run. Why keep running. Why keep running. When you’re running out of room to run. Just stop running. Please stop running. You’ll stop running out of running to run. Words and music by James Thiele ©2006 Universal Music Publishing and Cumberland Belle Music (Admin. By UMPG) / ASCAP

Lyrics - "ECHO"

SHE BURNS

There are just some people that you meet in this life that light the sky And when I met Angel white with heat and so bright had to squint my eyes She fell in love with Jesus thirteen years ago And she’s still holding on to hope The passion makes her face glow

Because She burns Like a wildfire burns When everybody else around her Shivers in the cold of faded dreams Still it seems that she burns

I said goodbye to Angel she was racing off to catch a plane She had three days worth of clothing and her Bible in a small suitcase She was headed for Calcutta in the name of Christ And all her friends looked so surprised But I’d seen fire in Angel’s eyes

CHORUS

She’s burning with compassion She’s turning love into action Cause Angel loves the world like Jesus

CHORUS CHORUS.

GALAXY

You who walked the world with such a humble step You who taught us joy and cried with those who wept You’re beautiful, You’re beautiful

You who spoke of life with passion on your tongue You who closed your eyes and dreamt the kingdom come You’re wonderful, so beautiful

You spin a galaxy, you hold the sun It all revolves around you Cause you’re the only one You are the center of the universe The fastest flying star You are

I still remember when you crashed into my heart You’re the force of love that blew my world apart You’re beautiful, so beautiful

CHORUS

Stars will collide Bright moon shine You are mine

CHORUS. CHORUS

AWAKE, MY SOUL

My face is in the pillow There’s sunlight in the window It feels like I have been asleep for days A captive under covers I’m comforted and smothered But I won’t let this morning slip away

Cause I want to open my eyes And I want to see the new sun rise Awake, my soul Awake, my soul

It’s easier to stay here Safer to delay here Pass my days here numb and biding time The dreams I held are fading The plans I made are waiting For the day I finally come alive

CHORUS

This is the dawn of my new life I’m waking up to hope inside And heaven’s gates have opened wide Or am I dreaming

CHORUS

HIS GLORY, MY REWARD

Surrender always has a price Commitment comes with sacrifice But when God’s love gets through to us We see the world through different eyes

And His glory is my reward God’s glory is the only thing I’m living for To obey is my objective My suffering is expected My life is the Lord’s His glory, my reward

His voice is quiet but it’s clear Calling me beyond my fear To speak His name, to seek His fame That all might have the chance to hear

CHORUS

For Him I'll care more than seems wise And I will risk more than some would advise And I will dream what seems impossible All things are possible with God

CHORUS

*Some lyrics quoted or adapted from a letter written by Christian missionary, Karen Watson, before her martyrdom in Iraq in the Spring of 2004.

ONLY ONE

It might be a steep uphill climb escaping my past But I’ve gotta leave it behind and never come back here anymore There’s something I lack here and I’m sure I’m stronger now

Every time I try to fix my life without you I tangle up in lies and I can’t break free I do my best to hide it until I realize that You’re the only One who can save me

What they say is water has left me thirsty within What they say is bread has consumed me again and again till I am empty just like before Still something in me is longing for more

CHORUS

Why would I chose to stay here on my own You have asked for surrender and I can let go

CHORUS

ALTITUDE

It’s feeling like another Monday morning I never get a warning with a day like this It clouds over when I least expect it And everything’s affected by a day like this I’m so manic like I can’t escape it I just grin and take it on a day like this But everything changes When you walk in My heart begins to rise

You change my altitude When I’m with you, you lift the mood I am inspired, You take me higher Whenever you walk in the room You change my altitude

I still remember the first day I met you I couldn’t forget you were beautiful You filled the room like the afternoon sunshine You were so divine and beautiful And everything changes When you walk in My heart begins to rise

CHORUS

There’s something in your heart That makes start to fly I glide above the ground Whenever you come around

CHORUS. CHORUS

ECHO

When she was 80, Margaret said “maybe, I still have something to give.” An easy decision, cause Margaret loved missions, she moved to the 3rd world to live Now 10 years later, she just built a school for children in Tanzania

And There’s my friend Danny along with his family who gave up what they could afford They moved to New Orleans to work with the poor ones other folks try to ignore And now there’s a boy that knows how to read, he’s learning to reach for the sky

Echo Let it Echo Living Echo Let it ring Let Love ring

I just heard from Johnny he moved to the jungle to share the compassion of Christ It’s been a year now. I finally see how Johnny could lay down his life Cause now there’s a family deep in the Andes lifting up praises to God

CHORUS

Sing back what you hear, Mimic the grand and great Make the harmony clear, let love reverberate

CHORUS. CHORUS

DANGEROUS FAITH

One man down on his knees three times a day One law, it was a king’s decree. He could not obey One choice, to face the lions for the one God who saves One voice among the many who have stood unafraid and prayed

In the face of danger give me a dangerous faith When my life’s on the line help me to stand for your name God I know you’re in control so I can boldly pray Give me a dangerous faith

Top story on the evening news took my breath away Missionaries trapped in a car while the bullets sprayed Broad daylight out on a desert highway four gave their lives Such passion it was so obvious that long before they died They must have cried

CHORUS

Jesus if you had not stood under pressure All of our lives would be lost to the curse I’m not gonna give in to fear any longer I’m taking up my cross

CHORUS. CHORUS

MURASALA

(verses are in transliterated from Sudanese Arabic)

Mu-ra-sala, Mu-ra-sa-la (missionaries, missionaries)

Nih’na kulu murasala, Nih’na kulu murasala, murasala (We are all missionaries)

Nih’na kulu murasala la Yasuah, Nih’na kulu murasala la Yasuah (We are all missionaries for Jesus)

One Father, one Son, one Holy Spirit One mission that all the world might hear it We’re the army of God We stand together as one We won’t give up until the task is done

ONE LAST THING TO SAY

If I had one last thing to say, a chance to speak my mind Before I go my way, a curtain closing line I’d wanna lift your chin and look you in the eyes I’d wanna raise my voice and wake you up inside I’d say

Live by faith unafraid Trust the Hand that guides your way Dream out loud brave and proud Vanquish doubt from every day I’d tell you that you ought to give your life away If I had one last thing to say

I know it sounds a trite naïve but let me make this clear Just once before I leave I felt like you should hear What seems impossible is just beyond our reach So I’m taking this last chance to bring you to your feet So come on

CHORUS

I know it flies in the face of sand-box wisdom They’d tell you “settle down and stay in line” but That kind of life is hardly worth living So I’ll give it to you one last time

CHORUS