My favorite Natalie Grant song to date is Perfect People, owing primarily to Grant’s impassioned delivery and the fact that that song was written by my favorite Contemporary Christian songwriter Matthew West (who, coincidentally, has released a new single titled My Own Little World). Thanks to Human‘s mid-tempo R&B-laced groove, which stands out amidst the pack of frantic guitar-driven anthems and strings-fueled worship ballads, I may very well have a new favorite. It’s certainly unique for Grant, and may very well be one of her biggest hits. What do you think?

HUMAN Lyrics
Natalie Grant

Every life has a choice
To rise above, to fill the void
Every heart has a mission
And we are called to be human

We gotta do better than this
‘Cuz we only got one chance to make a difference
We gotta do better than this
‘Cuz we only got one life that we’ve been given
A little love
A little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It’ll be what makes us different
It’ll be what makes us human
I’m human
You’re human
We are human

We are marked with His image
We are scarred with indifference
Maybe now we should listen
Hear the cry of God’s children

We gotta do better than this
‘Cuz we only got one chance to make a difference
We gotta do better than this
‘Cuz we only got one life that we’ve been given
A little love
A little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It’ll be what makes us different
It’ll be what makes us human
I’m human
You’re human
We are
We are human

I’m human
You’re human
We are
We are human

I gotta do better than this
‘Cuz I’ve only got one chance to make a difference
I gotta do better than this
‘Cuz I’ve only just one…

I’m human
You’re human
We are human
I’m human
You’re human
We are human

A little love
A little kindness
A little light in this time of darkness
It’ll be what makes us different (different)
It’ll be what makes us human

I’m human
You’re human
We are
We are human

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Jonathan Nelson made quite the splash when he debuted in 2008. Prior to that, he’s written some of urban praise’s more enduring melodies, including the #1 hit, The Struggle Is Over for Youth For Christ. His debut CD, Right Now Praise, yielded the top 10 hit My Name is Victory (65 weeks on Billboard’s Hot Gospel Songs chart, y’all!), and earned him a Dove Award nomination for Best New Artist. He also won three Stellar Awards out of an initial eight nominations.

With Better Days, produced by Grammy Award winner Aaron Lindsey (Israel Houghton, Marvin Sapp, Martha Munizzi, yes, can you sense the aural similarities?), Nelson and his group Purpose stand to earn even more accolades and chart ink. Expect the Great is already climbing up the charts; this week, it’s the second most-added single at gospel radio and records the second-highest increase in airplay.

In an interview with Afro.com, Nelson says the CD is full of “faith declarations. Faith is the engine you use to speak things over your life. These are songs of faith, hope, and empowerment.”

Expect the Great reminds me of all the great things I love about gospel music. The unabashedly proud declaration of faith in a great and awesome God. Irresistible ensemble harmonies. Impeccable musical arrangements. An obviously anointed worship leader. I really do imagine Heaven will sound like this, and I can’t wait! I love me some Israel Houghton, some Martha Munizzi, some Myron Butler, some Calvin Nowell, and now, I’m a fan of Jonathan Nelson. Pick up a copy of Expect the Great (the video song is a woeful two minutes long; I hope the album version will be longer, it’s just too short!) and I guarantee you’ll be getting your praise on.

EXPECT THE GREAT Lyrics
Jonathan Nelson & Purpose

This is just the beginning
The ear of refreshing
His plan now unfolding
The time of your great blessing

Expect nothing but Victory
Thats the promise of our King
To do exceedingly, abundantly
Above what you ask or think
So

Expect the great
Expect the great
Expect the great
Expect the great

Anticipate, faith activates
This is your year
Your moment is here

Expect the great blessing now
Expect the great blessing now
Expect the great blessing now
Expect the great blessing now

The blessing is on you
The blessing is on you
The blessing is on you
The blessing is on you

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I loved Call My Name, and based on what I’m hearing, I may very well like Lift Up Your Face. According to the band’s Twitter account, the studio version features the Blind Boys of Alabama, which psyches me up even more. Expect me to link to updated Lift Up Your Eyes videos or mp3 as soon as I can purchase it off iTunes. Meanwhile, you know about the group’s storied career. Let us know what you think about Third Day’s Lift Up Your Eyes by voting in the poll below.

LIFT UP YOUR FACE Lyrics
Third Day

Lift up your face
Lift up your face
Salvation is calling
Salvation is calling

Beautiful and so fallen
Don’t even know how you are going to survive
Just above the horizon
A new light is shining
Breaking through the darkest night

Love is calling, and it’s calling out your name

Lift up your face
Lift up your face
Salvation is calling
Salvation is callingLift up your face
Lift up your face
Salvation is calling
Salvation is calling your name

Second verse unintelligible in this version; will encode upon purchase of mp3

Lift up your face
Lift up your face
Salvation is calling
Salvation is calling your name

Love is calling and it’s calling out your name

Lift up your face
Lift up your face
Salvation is calling
Salvation is calling

Just above the horizon
A new light is shining
Salvation is on its way

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Only You Can Save is another social awareness song, similar to Matthew West’s My Own Little World or Brandon Heath’s Give Me Your Eyes. What makes Chris Sligh’s version so different from those two? Well, for one thing, an anthemic chorus with a U2-ish sing-along! Only You can saaaaaa-aaaaaaa-aaaaaave….! I can totally hear that being sung in churches across the USA. Chris has always had an ear for catchy melodies – Empty Me was SPECTACULAR, and Arise was also an excellent single, woefully underappreciated, IMHO – and with this, he may very well have another Top 10 hit up his sleeve. Come on, ‘Fro Patrol, let’s kick this one into overdrive!

ONLY YOU CAN SAVE Lyrics
Chris Sligh

I saw a man today, his whole world across his back
A living monument opposed to my success
I tried to look into his eyes as his shuffled past my car
Sweat beading on his skin, his clothes and hair a mess
As the light turned green and I pulled away, he slowly disappeared
Just a memory of another chance I failed to show your love here

I wanna love because You love
I wanna give because You gave
I wanna reach my hand out to the lost
because I know Your hand can save
Only You can save
Only You can save

Sometimes I have to wonder if I really want to know
The struggle and the pain that others feel
Do I want to hear the stories I see echoed in their eyes
Or is this love I say that I’m reflecting even real
As the light turns on inside my head and I slowly disappear
I steel myself cuz what you call for me is to show your love here…

I wanna love because You love
I wanna give because You gave
I wanna reach my hand out to the lost
because I know Your hand can save
Only You can save
Only You can save

(Save) Let me be Your hands
(Only You can save) Let me be your eyes
(Only you can save) Help me understand
(Only you can save)
That I’m Your hands and feet hidden behind this frail human disguise

I wanna love because You love
I wanna give because You gave
I wanna reach my hand out to the lost
because I know Your hand will save
Cuz only You can save
Cuz only You can save
Cuz only You can save

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Here Goes is a mid-tempo toe tapper about trusting that God is control and is with us as we undertake new and challenging endeavors; it was co-written with fellow Contemporary Christian singer-songwriter Brandon Heath. “Each of us stands on the precipice of extremely difficult decisions many times over in our lives…from the moment we first step into faith in Christ we are called to trust in something larger than ourselves,” Bebo explains in an interview here. “‘Here Goes’ does nothing more than claim that scripture as truth and sing it out as a proclamation of the goodness of God as we stand on the edge of difficult decisions.”

In another time, I imagine this would’ve been the kind of material that would readily go into any American Idol’s debut CD – take that with a grain of salt, everybody, depending on whether or not you like American Idol – but Bebo pulls off the song because of his sheer sincerity. The conviction with which he sings – and we know what he’s been through – lends an emotional intensity to Here Goes. The bridge in particular is very good:

And what good is chance not taken?
What good is life not living?
And what good is love not given?

After listening to that, how can you not help saying, “Yeah, you know what? I should take a chance!”? It’s so simple, yet no one’s really posed us these questions in this manner. As a matter of fact, after listening to Here Goes, I arrived at a particularly important decision myself. God just used Bebo again to touch somebody’s life! Give a listen to Here Goes and see if you agree with me.

HERE GOES Lyrics
Bebo Norman

I never got anywhere by running away
I never learned anything without a mistake
I never loved anyone by playing it safe
It’s a long way down but I’m here right now
So

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you fall for anything
Take a breath
Take a step
What comes next
God only knows
But here goes

I don’t wanna turn around and wonder what happened
Never lost, and never found are one and the same
I wanna run across the battle line and take my chances
Not the long way around
When I’m here right now
So

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you fall for anything
Take a breath
Take a step
What comes next
God only knows
But here goes

And what good is chance not taken?
What good is life not living?
And what good is love not given?

Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you fall for anything
Here goes nothing
Here goes everything
Gotta reach for something
Or you fall for anything
Take a breath
Take a step
What comes next
God only knows
But here goes

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Written by band members Ben McDonald and Dave Frey with award-winning Contemporary Christian producer and songwriter Jason Ingram (Give Me Your Eyes, Brandon Heath; Healing Begins, Tenth Avenue North), You Can Have Me is an emotional, moving retelling of how we respond to God’s call. It captures perfectly that tug-of-war that takes place when we are first called, how we struggle with our own emotions, and what it is like to actually let go and follow him in total, unrestrained surrender. There’s a lovely devotional here based on You Can Have Me, and I recommend you swing by and dwell on the song’s implications using that writer’s material as a guide.

Meanwhile, Sidewalk Prophets’ You Can Have Me is exhibiting signs of growth at Christian radio. One of the most added tracks this week at AC and steadily increasing in airplay, You Can Have Me will realistically make Top 10 at Inspo in about three weeks. We’ll see what happens from there.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.
YOU CAN HAVE ME Lyrics
Sidewalk Prophets

If I saw You on the street
And You said come and follow me
But I had to give up everything
All I once held dear and all of my dreams
Would I love You enough to let go
Or would my love run dry
When You asked for my life

When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?
Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love, You can have me
You can have me

If You’re all You claim to be
Then I’m not losing anything
So I will crawl upon my knees
Just to know the joy of suffering
I will love You enough to let go
Lord, I give you my life
I give you my life

When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?
Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love, You can have me
You can have me

I want to be where You are
I’m running into Your arms
And I will never look back
So Jesus, here is my heart

When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?
Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love, You can have me
You can have me

When did love become unmoving?
When did love become unconsuming?
Forgetting what the world has told me
Father of love, You can have me
My Father, my love
You can have me

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Apparently, the first single off The Story of Your Life is a track called My Own Little World. For The Story of Your Life, Matthew invited his fans to submit the stories of their lives, and holed himself up in a little cabin in the middle of nowhere to pray over, collate, and create new material inspired by their stories. (He also met a Cabin Mouse, but that’s another story.) He received more than 10,000 stories, and while I’m sure that certainly wasn’t easy, he came up with several songs that made the cut, so to speak. The new CD, according to New Release Tuesday, run the gamut of human experience, “from joy to sorrow, struggle to victory, and life and death.” Some of the tracks include Family Tree (which “describes how Christ gives us a new identity and legacy and life”), Broken Girl (which “tragically recounts the countless stories Matthew received about sexual abuse – and describes the healing and redemption that Christ promises”) and One Less, which chronicles the joy of adoption and helping those most in need. (Note to self: when the record’s out, compare One Less to Mark Schultz’s Everything To Me, which is still my template for songs about adoption.)

My Own Little World, however, puts everything in perspective. It describes the transformation of a person from one who apparently lives an apathetic lifestyle, to one who genuinely wishes to change the world for the better. Written along the vein of Brandon Heath’s Give Me Your Eyes or mikeschair’s Keep Changing The World, My Own Little World is catchy and inspiring, although admittedly, it initially underwhelmed me, given the quality of Matthew’s three previous carriers. (More and You Are Everything both topped the Christian chars, while Thirteen (Next Thing You Know) was a decidedly catchy song, one of my favorites; I will never understand why it didn’t go to #1.) But then again, I was also underwhelmed by Brandon Heath’s Give Me Your Eyes, which was a monster hit last year, so I guess I’m no longer the demographic.

Regardless, My Own Little World bodes well for the whole CD, which I will definitely order (hopefully off MusiChristian.com, which gets autographed CDs off Sparrow artists). If history bears itself out, and Matthew continues to improve with every new album, well, The Story of Your Life could be Matthew’s best album to date.

Listen to Matthew West’s My Own Little World (Note: Stream grab; once My Own Little World is either available on iTunes or a video is posted on YouTube, I’m taking this down.)

MY OWN LITTLE WORLD Lyrics
Matthew West

In my own little world it hardly ever rains
I’ve never gone hungry or always felt safe
I got some money in my pocket
shoes on my feet
In m own little world
Population me

I try to stay awake through the Sunday morning church
I throw a twenty in the plate but I never give ’til it hurts
and I turn off the news when I don’t like what I see
it’s easy to do when it’s population me

What if there’s a bigger picture
what if I’m missing out
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
outside my own little world
Wooh

Stopped at the red light, looked out my window
Outside the car, saw a sign, said “Help this homeless widow”
Just above this sign was the face of a human
i thought to myself, “God, what have I been doing?”

So I rolled down my window and I looked her in the eye
Oh how many times have I just passed her by
I gave her some money then I drove on through
in my own little world there’s Population two

What if there’s a bigger picture
what if I’m missing out
What if there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
outside my own little world
Wooh

whoa yeah
whoa yeah
whoa

Start breaking my heart for what breaks Yours
give me open hands and open doors
put Your light in my eyes and let me see
that my own little world is not about me

What if there’s a bigger picture
what if I’m missing out
Show me there’s a greater purpose
I could be living right now
outside my own little world
Wooh
My own little world yeah
My own little world woo

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I can’t even begin to explain to you how Hallelujah‘s power to affect one’s soul can be so strong. It’s a stirring prayer, a song, a plea, a desperate cry out to Jesus to do His work in us, weaved into such a moving, powerful tapestry of music and emotion that I couldn’t stop the tears from coming. “This is my prayer!” I whispered to myself as I listened to the song’s soaring crescendo, I was flushed, short of breath, and… just, wow. Heather wrote this after the death of her infant son – I shed buckets of tears listening to the story – and she was just in this place of brokenness that I think every Christian is bound to experience. You don’t have to experience the loss of a child to be in that place, and I think that songs like Heather Williams’ Hallelujah just have such power to speak for us when we cannot come up with the words ourselves.

There’s a video on Heather’s Facebook of her performing Hallelujah live, but I’m streaming the INO Records video underneath so you can watch how they’ve crafted a video that, IMHO, represents pretty much how our lives before Christ are kinda like houses – empty, vacant, waiting to be filled with His love and all the confidence, blessings, and life-changing things that come when Christ comes into our lives. Guys, believe me, I’ve recommended some songs before out of sheer lack of anything else viable, but I am wholeheartedly recommending you download Heather Williams’ Hallelujah and use it for your devotion time, your prayer time, maybe even in church, if the Spirit so leads. Heather Williams, you’ve crafted a masterpiece, and the Christian world needs to hear your song.

HALLELUJAH Lyrics
Heather Williams

Jesus, please come
Please come today
Hear me
Heal me
Be near me I pray

I have fallen so far
Flat on my face
I’m in need of Your grace today
I stumble and fall
But in spite of it all
Your love always stays the same
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Jesus, please come
Please come today
Break me
Mold me
Use me I pray

But don’t give up on me now
I’m so close to You now
I’m in need of Your grace today
wipe the dirt off my face
hold me in Your embrace
Your love always saves the day
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

I have fallen so far
flat on my face
I’m in need of Your grace today
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

Sing Hallelujah
Sing Hallelujah
Sing Hallelujah
Amen

On my knees here I fall
in spite of it all
Hallelujah
And though it seems hard
I’m still trusting You Lord
Hallelujah
Hallelujah

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E FOR EXTINCTION Lyrics
Thousand Foot Krutch

I’m not the same as yesterday
Ooh… It’s hard to explain
How things have changed
But I’m not the same as before
And I know there’s so much more ahead
I can barely believe that I’m here
And I won’t surrender quietly
Step up and watch me go

Break down, ya really want it?
Wanna make a scene?
Show me what ya mean
Let’s get it started
Let me see whatcha got
Can ya take it up a notch
Don’t think you got it
Can’t handle the pressure?
Get, off, stop talkin’ about it
Gotta make this count, let’s go

When we move
We camouflage ourselves
We stand in the shadows waiting
We live for this and nothing more
We are what you created

I can feel the storm
The winds have changed
Ooh… ‘Cause we’re worlds apart
But just the same
But we won’t leave the way that we came
And I know there’s so much more ahead
I can barely believe that we’re here
We won’t surrender quietly
Step up and watch it go

Are you ready? Are ya ready?
Are ya ready for me?
Are you ready? Are ya ready?
Are ya ready to see?

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TreeHugger pencils and pens are made from perma-bound newspapers from all over the world. Proceeds from the purchase of every pack, which are available at Fully Booked bookstores across Metro Manila, contribute to the restoration of our country’s indigenous trees through the Haribon Foundation. Each pen and pencil is 95% recycled. The gift pack I’m giving away contains five pencils – you can still see the articles! – and three pens.

The Swirl Card from The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf is a rewards card that offers a wide range of benefits. It is a unique loyalty and cash card that gives you instant rewards, including free access to the shop’s WIFI, discounts at other establishments, including Crocs and VMV, and other promos. Every Php100 spent at The Coffee Bean and Tea leaf earns you spending power!

All you need is a Facebook account to get a chance to win this CD. Simply visit GannsDeen.com’s Fan Page here. Click on the “Like” button to add yourself to its list of friends. As a friend of GannsDeen.com, you’ll get updates on the latest releases in local and international Contemporary Christian music. With at least one song a day, that’s 30 songs a month! :) The deadline for the July edition of Ganns’ Giveaways is Sunday, July 25, at 12:00nn. One random name from the Friends list will then be selected. Winners must be either willing to meet up at Fort Bonifacio, Taft Avenue, or Banawe Avenue in QC, or shoulder the cost of courier delivery.

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