Peter My Brother, My Rock

Today's posting is a re-posting of the very first Lamb of God video that I made. I posted this here on my blog about five weeks ago, but decided to change the posted date to today to fall in the timeline with each of the other videos I've posted this week. My thoughts below are those that I wrote when I posted this the night before our Lamb of God performances began for this year.

The only comments I have to add as of today are my takeaways from the wonderful arc of Peter's story in Lamb of God. When I hear his story, I feel no judgement whatsoever of Peter for his three-time denial of the Savior. If anyone was counting, they'd find that I have denied my Lord a whole lot more than the paltry three times that we read about with Peter. No, I don't make a habit of going around publicly denouncing my brother. But I am human. I am weak at times. I have my flaws and my favorite sins. I'm guessing that you do, too. And if one were to add up every time that I've purposefully made a wrong choice, whether I felt like I had good cause for it at the time or not, my "denials" of my brother would run pretty high.

With all of my weaknesses, so much more condemning and damning than any denial by Peter, I don't feel that I could have worthily stood beside the cross as Christ sacrificed so greatly for my unworthiness, hoping that I might truly find in my weakness my greatest strength.

Through the grace and mercy of God, Peter was given another chance to stand before his Lord and Master. Peter—Cephas—was given the opportunity to prove his repentance and his true devotion to the Master. And in my faith, I know that I, too, will one day have that same opportunity to look into my Savior's eyes and thank Him for His great sacrifice while providing an accounting of my service to Him as a product of my heartfelt repentance.

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(March 9, 2017) In excitement for tomorrow's first performance of Lamb of God for 2017 with Witness Music, I wanted to bring back out of the archives a video that I put together last year. Earlier this week, I published my first post in some time. I posted a video I created of Thomas' story in Lamb of God set to some beautiful imagery from the LDS Bible Videos. I was thrilled with how it turned out. My motivation for creating that video this week was a similar video I put together last year. This video was based on Peter's songs and story from Lamb of God. 

The reasons behind focusing on Peter's story were laid out in another posting called Is it I?... It is I! I won't endeavor to repeat some of the lessons I learned and the inspiration I received from Peter's story, particularly his song I Cannot Watch Them. But the song is incredibly powerful, as is the entire Lamb of God production. If you haven't experienced it before, I strongly encourage you to do so. It is easily worth an hour of your time, and I promise you that it will help set the stage for a more meaningful Easter season. Perhaps more importantly, I have found true healing power in the message of this music and the Atonement and sacrifice of our elder brother which is at the heart of the work.

Even though I updated my blog posting from several years ago to include this video I made last year, I wanted to showcase it here--not because of my incredible, amazing video editing skills, but because I find that the visuals along with the music give me a slightly different experience with Lamb of God that helps me to find different understanding and different insights than the music alone. Perhaps the most powerful thing to me as a whole with Lamb of God is the way in which it helps me feel like I can for a brief moment step into the shoes of those people who knew the Savior best and had the privilege to interact with Him personally. And I feel that the beautiful visuals I have found in the Bible Videos help me to relate even that much more with those blessed characters in the wonderful story of the life and resurrection of Jesus.

I'll be the first to admit that the music can stand on its own just fine; furthermore, I'll be the first to admit that Lamb of God should be experienced aurally and not only as an audio/visual experience. There have been many times when I have plugged in my earbuds and closed my eyes for an hour to listen to the music in its entirety without any visual or other physical distraction. But I have so much enjoyed putting together these audio-video montages of selected songs from Lamb of God that I am already planning on putting others together, if not in the coming weeks for this Easter/Lamb of God season, then certainly for the next.

May you have a wonderful Easter season as you think on Him whose life and sacrifice we celebrate and esteem through our deepest gratitude and as you look to relate to those brothers and sisters who got to personally bear witness of Christ's divinity.

God Bless!

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Lord, is it I? Would ever I betray Thee?

Having known Thy love, could I so cruelly turn away?

Could my heart so fail Thee and my feeling turn so cold?

If I should leave Thee, where would I go?

Lord, is it I? Am I then to betray Thee?

Having seen Thy wonders, could my foolish heart be swayed?

Is my faith so little that my soul would cease to burn?

If I should wander, where would I turn?

If I am prone to leave Thee, If I am wont to doubt,

Oh, wilt Thou still receive me, Bind me fast! Oh, find me out!

That I may never wander, That I may ever see, 

Oh, that my hope seek not but Thee! that I might follow with Thee!

Lord, is it I? Could ever I betray Thee?

Having followed with Thee, could I seek some other way?

Though my heart is willing, could my flesh become so weak?

If I should leave Thee, whom would I seek?

O Savior, Take Thou my weakness from me! Help Thou my unbelief!

Let nothing overcome me! Be Thou with me! My sure relief!

Thou art my only Shepherd. Thou art the only Way. Oh may I ever serve Thee...

For it is I who owe Thee my devotion.

It is I, yes I so safely folded in Thy care.

Let mountains fall! Let earth divide! Let valleys rise!

Yet one thing shall I know: I will not leave Thee...

If I should leave Thee, where would I go?

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What have I done? Denied Him? What have I done?

So now am I no different from the men 

Who take Thy bread then turn again?

Oh... What have I done? What have I done?

I hear their filthy tongues, their vicious scorn. 

The lies they spin with Satan's yarn.

I watch them spit and strike Thy face, 

They mock Thy name in foul disgrace.

And when Thou lookest for a friend, 

Thou findest none, for I have fled!

Oh God! What have I done?

As thou hast taken stripes for me, 

Could I not take but one for Thee?

I cannot watch them take my Lord. 

I can't endure their cruel hand upon Him.

While His own hands are tied with cord.

Those hands with pow'r to raise the dead, 

Command the storm, now bound instead, and

I cannot hear them mock His name. 

I cannot bear their foul breath upon Him.

I dare not look upon His face

And see the very Son of God, 

His brow so bruised and stained with blood

His eyes that shed my sorrow's tears, 

And watch as all hope disappears,

I will not watch them crucify my Lord!

For I know this Man! I know Him! 

I know this Man!

I cannot watch what He must bear. 

For surely He must carry all my burden.

Forgive me, Lord, that I'm not there...

But, when my eyes have closed in death, 

These words will hang on my last breath:

I know Him.

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In thinking about how I've been able to relate to and step into the shoes of those characters from Lamb of God, I was reminded of a video that Witness Music put together with a few members from the group sharing their feelings about some of these individuals and another video about how some members felt about Lamb of God as a whole. I've decided to share those videos here.

The videos end with the invitation Come Join Us! The dates are wrong, in that these videos were for a prior year. This year, the dates are March 10-11 at Orem High School and March 17-18 at Jordan High School in Sandy. The performances are free but are ticketed for reservation purposes. Tickets have long since been claimed, but I've yet to see someone turned away at the door in the standby line. Go to www.witnessmusicutah.org for more information if you'd like to join us. Otherwise, please consider coming next year. Let me know, and I can help you find out about getting tickets early.