Behold the Lamb, Slain From The Foundation

I received a question recently regarding "Behold the Lamb". 

"Can anyone explain the first verse of 'Behold the Lamb' to me?

How was He slain from the start?"

I'll try to answer this as thoroughly and succinctly as I can. The basis of "slain from the foundation of the world" comes from Revelation 13 verse 8.

All who dwell on the earth will worship [the beast], whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. (NKJV)

From my research, this is one possible interpretation of the Greek text. The other is this:

All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain. (NASB)

That leaves us with a question: Which one is correct?

The answer is: "Both translations are correct."

Revelation 17:8 suggests that the names of those who are saved are written in the Lamb's Book of Life from before the foundation of the world.

However, 1 Peter 1:20 suggests that the Lamb was foreordained to be slain from before the foundation of the world and was manifest 2000 years ago.

Obviously, for lyrical reasons, I chose the translation that suggests that the Lamb was slain from the foundation of the world. Here are three implications of that interpretation:

1. God's plan to send His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins was not Plan B. The death of the Lamb was foreordained from before creation.
2. Because the Lamb was slain from before creation, its sufficiency spans time. That is how the Old Testament saints were saved. They were washed in Christ's blood the same as you and me. That is how the Bible says that Abraham believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Whose righteousness? Christ's righteousness, imputed to him through His death, burial and resurrection that would not occur on earth until thousands of years later. 
3. The promises of God are as good as done. Even when we do not yet see evidence of God's promises being fulfilled, we can trust that they are already fulfilled in Christ. Consider in Luke 1 when Zechariah learns that he and his wife are to have a son who will be the forerunner to the Messiah. Once John the Baptist is born, Zechariah prophesies, "Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he has visited and redeemed his people and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David..." The Messiah had not even been born yet and Zechariah speaks of the promised salvation in the past tense. 

I appreciate your commitment to singing songs that are theologically accurate. I hope that this brings some clarity to the question and that you can sing this song with confidence that it is true.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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[VIDEO] - Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus - Old Hymn Made New

Hey, Y'all! I back with another new song for you. This is actually another old song that I've re-worked and added a new chorus.

The song is "Come, Thou Long-Expected Jesus". It's a hymn text by Charles Wesley. The third verse is from another Wesley text called "Love Divine, All Loves Excelling". I was turned on to this arrangement by my friend Dennis Worley at Brentwood Baptist Church in Tennessee.

No gift given or received will ever match the gift of grace given us in the person of Jesus Christ. Advent remembers our longing, celebrates the fulfillment of that longing, and looks forward to the return of the King.

Enjoy!



If you like the song and would like to download it, you can go get it from PraiseCharts or Bandcamp. PraiseCharts recently featured it on their Advent/Christmas eBlast. Check it out!

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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[VIDEO] Perfectly Well - New Original Song

Here is a new song I just finished recording and mixing. I wrote this song over a year ago and got the drums recorded by a fantastic local drummer, Jeff Shelton. Life got busy and I didn't get the rest of the song done and then my hard drive crashed and I lost the files. Thankfully, I found an mp3 of a rough drum mix and was able to build an arrangement on it. Joel Bezaire from Nashville Bass Works brought the low end and I filled out the rest. I'm really pleased with this song and recording and I hope you enjoy it.

Perfectly Well
Words and Music by Toby Baxley
© 2013 Toby Baxley (Admin. by PraiseCharts Publishing, Inc.)

The song is posted for sale on PraiseCharts or you can go to my Bandcamp page and purchase the media package. For $5, you'll get the full listening version, stereo accompaniment tracks, a lead sheet, and chord chart.

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[VIDEO] Holy, Holy, Holy (Filled With Your Glory) - New Hymn

Hey, y'all! I want to share a little project I've been working on. I intended to record and release this tune on the hymns album that I recorded at my church. However, my computer dropped out during the live recording and I might should have cut and picked up where it dropped out. I didn't do that at the time and, last week, decided to record a full band version.

I hope you enjoy it.



Thank you for watching. Please comment, like, share, tweet, and whatever else you do if you're so inclined. If you're interested in downloading the audio, including accompaniment tracks, and a click/loop track, go here.

Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

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How To Get Better Sermon Recordings [with examples]

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One of my responsibilities as Worship Leader at Garden Valley Bible Church is to consult on technology needs and implement necessary changes. I actually really enjoy this part of my job description. I'm sort of a gear nerd--especially related to audio--so this is right up my alley. I like making things work on a budget and re-purposing gear the church already owns. 

The Healing Power of Jesus (And Magnets)

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I'd like to apologize in advance. This is more of a rant than my usual blog post. I saw this ad in the USA Weekend newspaper insert a couple of months ago and felt like I needed to say something about it. Here goes:

Using the Lord's name in vain. It's more subtle than you might think. It's more serious than a few choice exclamations that spew from our mouths or from the movie or television screen. Using the Lord's name in vain is about attaching His Name to something that He wouldn't. Why is the Lord's name so important? It's because His name describes His nature and character. When the Lord told Moses, "I AM THAT I AM," He was saying that for every hurt, for every need, for every joy, for every sorrow, He is enough.

Why would we want to cheapen His nature and character by stamping the name of Jesus on a copper and magnet bracelet. The obvious reason is for personal gain. The advertiser is using the fact that our God is Adonai Rophe (The LORD our Healer) to make some money.

Aren't there other ways we misuse the Lord's name?

How about false prophecy? "The Lord said..." or "God told me" or "God gave me this (song/needlepoint/underwater woven basket)". Do I believe God still speaks? Absolutely! He speaks in accordance with the Scripture and in accordance with His nature and character. I don't believe that God writes bad songs. The book of Psalms is proof of that. However there are some terrible songs floating around out there that God supposedly gave someone. We use this God cloak as a defense mechanism. We want to believe that invoking God's name elevates our idea, our song, our needlepoint above scrutiny. I believe that God gives us talent and creativity to use for His glory. Let's take ownership of our crafts and not try to blame God for our bad art.

"I'm a Christian plumber." I believe that identifying yourself as a Christian plumber, or carpenter, or mechanic, or lawyer is another subtle way of using the Lord's name in vain. It is meant to give your potential customer some sense of comfort knowing that a Jesus-approved professional is coming to their aid. Unfortunately, many so-called Christian professionals are careless at their jobs and have misrepresented the character of the One they supposedly represent. Just be excellent at your job, whatever it is, and use the respect you earn as an avenue to share the gospel.

There are many more subtle ways that we use the Lord's name in vain. I've only listed the ones that I'm not personally guilty of.

That, my friends, was a joke.

Over to you: In what other ways (whether blatant or subtle) do we misuse the Lord's name? Discuss amongst yourselves.

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In-Ear Monitors

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Image courtesy of geardiary.com

I wanted to take some time today to discuss in-ear monitoring. Our church uses the Aviom personal monitor mixing system. We are a bit limited with this system if we intend to grow the numbers in our ministry (which we do). We have four mixer stations as well as the input module. Our system is for sale if you'd like to make us an offer. We would like to invest the money into a different solution that might better meet our needs. I spent some time with our producer to re-configure the system so that the four instrumentalists would have a monitor mixer and the singers would have a floor wedge fed from the house board. We had to run some cabling under the stage and re-plug all the inputs and inserts to feed the Aviom A/D converter.

I listed below some of the pros and cons of an in-ear system. I have used Avioms before, so I was able to anticipate the cons and build in some workarounds.

We Repeat to Remember

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Do you remember this clip from Sesame Street? A little girl is sent to the store by her Mom to pick up three things: A loaf of bread, a container of milk, and a stick of butter. All the way to the store she repeats these things to herself over and over so that she'll remember what she is supposed to buy.  

Dear Worship Leaders: Lead Better Songs

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Image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net

A few days ago, I was listening to some music on Spotify. I love Spotify because I can call up almost anything that has ever been released to the public. This particular time I was listening to some country music that I enjoyed in high school and early college. Oh alright! It was Little Texas. I think they were a great band that had a few great songs, but they were plagued with too many mediocre songs (and interpersonal problems). This post is not about Little Texas, though.

I couldn't help but notice that I remembered every word to every song. I don't walk around in my daily life trying to remember words to Little Texas songs, but here they were like I had just listened to the songs yesterday. Not only could I remember every word, I remembered every guitar lick and motif.

[VIDEO] New song - Justified

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Hey, friends! I'm excited to share a new song with you. I wrote it a couple of weeks ago and I'm really pleased with it. I had been sitting on this one line, "We, who deserve death, find ourselves swimming in a sea of forgiveness," for months. I did not know where to go with the song but, months later, I stumbled upon a chorus idea. I was really excited to be able to put the two ideas together. I think this is possibly my best song to date. It is definitely my most doctrinally-formative songs. Here's a video of me leading the song at Bethel Bible Church Arbor Campus in Tyler, Texas yesterday. Under the video, you'll see a link to download my acoustic demo and a lyric/chord chart.

or click here to view the files.

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Acquired Taste | Jeremy Clay Price

I'd love for you to check out this project that I produced, mixed, and mastered for my friend, Jeremy Price. Jeremy is a friend from college days. He and his Wife, Jen, are missionaries in South Africa. They're currently on sabbatical in Texas and Jeremy contacted me about helping him produce an album. This was a special project for both of us. Jeremy and I played in a worship band together when we were first getting started with worship leading. I hope you enjoy.

[Guest Post] Let My Words Be Few

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This is a guest post by my friend, Robert Locklear. Robert is the Minister of Worship and Music at Christian Church of Clarendon Hills (Illinois). Check out Robert's blog and follow him on Twitter.

In Judges 11 there is a story that, if you're not prepared, will catch you off guard. You read it and just hope for a Hollywood ending. You even pray for an Abrahamic ending!  "Let there be a scapegoat".

Dear Church (Part 2): How to Choose Songs

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This is Part 2 of a __-part series called "Dear Church".

1. Turn Down the Noise: Establishing Quiet Moments in Our Services
2. How to Choose Songs: A Biblical Precedent

I am not going to lie to you. Planning worship is hard. So many elements have to fit together just right to create a music set that takes a congregant on a journey into an awareness of God's presence.

Dear Church (Part 1): Turn Down The Noise

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This is Part 1 of a __-part series called "Dear Church"

1. Turn Down the Noise: Establishing Quiet Moments in Our Services
2. How to Choose Songs: A Biblical Precedent

I love loud music as much as anyone. As a songwriter and audio engineer, I deal with loud music and sounds all the time. It is a scientific fact that loud music sounds better. Our ears are better able to hear certain frequencies at louder volumes.

That's not what this post is about. I'm not talking about volume. I'm talking about noise. You see? In the ever-popular "seeker-driven" church music style, we have adopted the patterns of the world's media culture.

Flashy graphics and lights. Over-produced and over-compressed music. Worship teams who resemble the cast of American Idol more than the reflect the congregation they serve.

Image: photostock / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

[Video] New Song - Let Us Fix Our Eyes

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Here is a new original song for worship. I wrote the lyric based on a passage in Hebrews 12. It is a short song, so I used it in the place of a spoken exhortation or scripture reading between songs. Hope you enjoy!

Four Reasons To Be Like a Child

Matthew 18:3 "I assure you," [Jesus] said, "unless you are converted and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Jesus' disciples had been arguing about who among them would be the greatest in the kingdom. It's so easy to look at them and scoff at their silliness. Don't we do the same thing, though? Don't we judge our lives and the lives of others in the church by how much we've done for the kingdom? It's especially easy for those of us in public ministry to look at our accomplishments and think that Jesus has a special place reserved for us because of all we did for him.

Jesus turns this argument on its head when he says, "Unless you're like a child, you won't even ENTER the kingdom." The magnitude of this saying of Jesus bears investigation into the qualities of children that Jesus loves and how we should pray for grace to exhibit those qualities in our own lives.

[Video] New Song - Behold The Lamb

Here is a new song I wrote back in January. I'm glad to share it with you. Take a look:



Behold The Lamb by Toby Baxley
© Copyright 2011 Toby Baxley (admin. by PraiseCharts Publishing, Inc.)

CLICK HERE to download the MP3 and sheet music. The first 15 commenters will receive a download link via email to download the music for free.

Stay Focused While Leading Worship

Due to the rise of popularity in "worship music" as a radio genre, leading worship has been romanticized to the point that we expect it to be a completely sublime arena experience, where we as leaders are transported from our solid human form into a vapor floating around in the heavenly places, only to condense back into solid form after "worship" is over, metaphorically speaking, of course. While that might happen sometimes, more often here in the real world, it is like spinning plates while riding a unicycle. We're usually just trying to keep our balance while keeping all of the elements of worship from crashing to the floor.