367. “It is Finished”, Jesus Dying Words on Good Friday

It Is Finished, The last words Jesus spoke on Good Friday as he died on the cross to save Humanity.

Greetings all my friends and today I am doing something a little bit different on the Podcasting Your Global Career Podcast

I wanted to present a project that I worked on more than 5 years ago on Music Row in Nashville.

The band is called “Mercy” and the project was the “I AM VICTORIOUS” Album.

Its ultimate purpose is to become a theatrical musical experience, similar to West Side Story, or

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, in that it’s design is to include the audience as part of the presentation.

However, at the time of putting the music together, we had no idea this was part of the plan.

My writing partner Archbishop and Captain Chaplain Christine Mercy Johnson and I wrote and

Produced this album with Kim Copeland as Music Producer on Music Row in the late Spring and

Summer of 2016. 

I wanted to share 4 of the tracks with you today to give you a glimpse of the story and how important

It is for us to remember what actually happened during those last days of the Lord that set up our

Eternal spiritual possibilities for all time moving forward, I hope you will listen, and enjoy the story,

And realize its importance on your life!

AMEN

The Lord wanted us to write a song entitled “Amen” that is all we got, just “Amen” I walked around

In circles in my small humble studio in this tiny cottage I was renting  at the time, it had a loft and fireplace

 it was perfect actually, I really lived in a small recording studio, on an 80 acre estate surrounded by nature. After being exasperated

At the lack of direction, I turned on my DX7, plugged in a couple of guitars, and set up the metronome, and 

Just started tracking, the rest just came out, pretty much the same as you hear on the recording. The one

Icing on the cake was that Christine had told me the Lord wanted her to do a voice over on top of the 

Recording, and it turns out The Lords Prayer fit into the space perfectly, we had not planned on this

And I had no idea that was going to be part of the song, but it fit like a glove.

The intro of this song starts with Christine reciting scripture from Revelations 22, its a moving and stirring

Message, filled with dire warnings, but also with the promise of beautiful, revealing, and everlasting

Light for us all, if only we dare to have the courage to claim it. As the scripture concludes, it moves

Quietly into the song.

The intro is real birds that I captured at the cottage, I woke up pre dawn one morning and put two hi quality

Microphones out of my windows to capture the early morning song birds, then later that day I went for

A hike in one of my favorite forests and brought with me a tiny hi quality recorder, my trusty Boss Digital

Micro BR recorder. (I still use it today, its smaller than a peanut butter sandwich) I set it on a rock in the

Middle of a stream to capture the real water sounds for the recording, and added them into the mix.

I always thought of the piece as more of a prayer than a song, it is designed for you to put on in your Car, on the way to a stressful meeting, or

 uncomfortable situation, and is meant to help you find Peace through the prayer that you are communicating to the Father, Lord Jesus, and the 

Holy Spirit.

Amen~

Bless You

This was a beautiful story about Jesus imparting to his disciples how to conduct themselves out in the

World and how they can make an impact on society and care for their impoverished brothers and sisters. He spoke in parables not to be overly

 mysterious, however, he would always try to trigger our creative minds using storytelling, and touching our imaginations in ways that would inspire

 thinking in new and prosperous way towards the good of humanity.

This showcases what faith and hope really are when these men just left their previous life in a Moments notice. They intuitively knew that they were

 witnessing something so unusual and so Brilliant, and must have thought “how could we miss this”?

I think the rolling piano riff in this song really glued the arrangement together. That is Nashvilles own Buddy Hyatt, 

with brother Jim Hyatt on Bass guitar.  Shawn Fichter (from Tim McGraw’s band) is on drums and percussion, 

James Mitchell on electric guitars, 

Glen Duncan on Acoustic Guitars and violin. 

Kim Copeland did a fabulous job producing along with Kelly Schoenfeld handling all Of the highly skilled and challenging engineering, as this was no

 easy feat to incorporate spoken

Scripture with music.

I’M AFRAID

I’m afraid records the last night that the Lord Jesus has of earthy freedom before the soldiers come

To take him away. How torture with the whipping was just brutal, they beat him and scourged him

For hours on end before forcing him to carry his own heavy wooden cross up to Calvary where he

Was to be crucified. 

The main beam of the cross was stretched across his shoulders and weighed 80-100 Lbs, he had

To carry this more than 600 yards uphill, he was beaten so badly and lost so much blood and bodily fluids, it has been said he barely looked human. I

 think it was astonishing that he even 

survived the brutal beatings to get to the crucifixion.

As Jesus was in the Garden of gethsemane praying to his father, he had asked his disciples to stay

Awake and keep watch while he prayed to his Father. These last hours were so terrifying for him that he began sweating blood as he could see the

 horrible and brutal torture he would be suffering over the next 24 hours. He returned to them several times to find them all asleep, which must have 

been even more exasperating for him. 

He was so terrified that he asked his Father, “If it be possible please take this cup from my Hand, but I serve your command, although I’m Afraid”

Everyone played so well on this track and the featured violin playing by Glen Duncan was really

Sweet and special. Shawn also added so many elements of drama with the swelling symbol 

Effects as well.

IT IS FINISHED

Captures the last moments of Jesus speaking to his Father as he is about to die a brutal

Painful physical human death. The hours that led up to this had Jesus in court with Pontious

Pilate, the Roman Governor of the province of Judea. Pilate knew this was a very highly 

Charged political situation and even his wife was trying to influence him not to punish Jesus

As she had dreams that he was indeed the messiah.

The Jews hated the fact that Jesus was being called the Son of God, and wanted know part

Of it, they were screaming “Crucify him” in the town square where Pilate was presenting them

A choice to free one prisoner as is customary before passover, he asked “do you want me to

Free Barabas, or Jesus”? 

We were having a bit of trouble with this one, as Christine suddenly said after tracking that it

Was not sad enough, James Mitchell suggested to me to change up to a minor 6th and that

Was exactly what it needed to give it that sad temperament in all the right places. 

I remember writing this on my Strat and using a capo up around fret 4 or 5, just really

Tore into it without any though whatsoever.

Its amazing how all the musicians picked up on the dynamics of the song just from that

One very sparse and simple demo. Its another song completely run by the Holy Spirit, 

All we needed to do was hang on and enjoy the ride!

After the vocal on this, I could not even come into the control room for a minute or two,

It was almost an out of body experience.

Be blessed, and Happy Good Friday,

James~


DE213 Good Friday, It Is Finished!

Good Friday, It Is Finished! - dHarmic Evolution Podcast
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On the road, this week having meetings with friends, business associates, going to Richmond Va, then to Sarasota Fla, then Saint Petersburg, then Tampa, then off to Nashville for 3 days, then to Moorhead Kentucky, then back to NJ.

This was not a relaxing trip as I did too many miles in the car. However it would not make sense to fly to these destinations, as there would be too many airline and car rental connections in such a short amount of time, so I opted to meditate on a long car journey, it will most likely end up over 3000 miles in less than a week.

Sharing the song “Amen” and “It Is Finished” this week as we celebrate the last days of Jesus right up to his last dying breath on the cross as he spoke to his Father in Heaven, with “It Is Finished”

“All churches have good and bad”

“God did not create a religion, the man did”

 

Quick recap

To begin describing what happened on Good Friday, we need to quickly recap the events that led up to this point. Basically, Jesus had been betrayed by one of his disciples, Judas, who let the authorities know where Jesus was. So after the Last Supper, and whilst the disciples were sleeping in the garden of Gethsemane, soldiers came and arrested Jesus.

 

Jesus before the court

During the night of his arrest, Jesus was taken to Caiaphas, the high priest, where the teachers of the Jewish law and the elders had assembled.

One of Jesus’ disciples, Peter, followed him at a distance, right up to the courtyard of the high priest. He entered and sat down with the guards to see the outcome.

The chief priests and the whole court were looking for false evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death. But they didn’t find any, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally, two came forward and, after some questioning, were able to convict Jesus on blasphemy charges.

 

Peter Disowns Jesus

As mentioned earlier, Peter was sitting out in the courtyard, listening to what was taking place. At this point, a bunch of locals thought they recognized him and accused him of being a follower of Jesus.

Afraid of the repercussions, Peter denied knowing Jesus three times. It was at this point that Peter remembered the word Jesus had spoken: “Before the rooster crows, you will disown me three times.” He went outside and wept bitterly, full of shame.

 

Judas hangs himself

Still early in the morning, all the chief priests and the elders made their plans on how to have Jesus executed. They bound him, led him away and handed him over to Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor of the area during the time.

When Judas saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty pieces of silver to the chief priests and the elders, which he was given for informing them on Jesus’ location. Judas threw the money into the temple and left. He then went away and hanged himself.

 

Jesus before Pilate

Meanwhile, Jesus stood before Pilate and the governor asked him about the charges leveled against him by the Jewish court. Pilate was amazed that Jesus didn’t try to deny the charges.

During these days, it was the governor’s custom at the time of festival to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. At that time, they had a well-known prisoner whose name was Barabbas. When the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them if they wanted him or Jesus to be released.

The chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed.

“What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called the Messiah?” Pilate asked. They all answered, “Crucify him!” “Why? What crime has he committed?” asked Pilate. But the mob continued to shout for Jesus to be crucified.

When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, and saw that an uproar was starting, he washed his hands in front of the crowd, telling them that killing Jesus was their responsibility. He then released Barabbas to them, had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.

 

The soldiers mock Jesus

Pontius Pilate’s soldiers then took Jesus into a Roman courtyard. They stripped him and put a scarlet robe on him; they then twisted together a crown of thorns and set it on his head.
They put a staff in his right hand and knelt in front of him, mocking him, before proceeding to physically abuse him. After they had mocked him, they took off the robe and put his own clothes on him. Then they led him away to crucify him.

 

The crucifixion of Jesus

As the soldiers were going out, they met a man called Simon, forcing him to carry the cross that would be used to crucify Jesus.
They came to a place called Golgotha. There they offered Jesus wine to drink, mixed with gall; but after tasting it, he refused to drink it.

When they had crucified him, they divided up his clothes by casting lots. Sitting down, they kept watching over him there. Above his head they placed the written charge against him: THIS IS JESUS, THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Two rebels were crucified with him, one on his right and one on his left, including a man named Dismas. Those who passed by hurled insults at Jesus, shaking their heads and mocking his claims of being God.

 

The death of Jesus

From noon until three in the afternoon, darkness came over the area. At about 3 pm, Jesus cried out in a loud voice, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

When some of those standing there heard this, one of them ran and got a sponge. He filled it with wine vinegar, put it on a staff, and offered it to Jesus to drink.

Then, when Jesus had cried out again in a loud voice, he died.
At that moment, the earth shook, rocks split and tombs broke open. The bodies of various holy people who had died were raised to life.
When the centurion, and those with him who were guarding Jesus, saw the earthquake and all that had happened, they were terrified, now believing that he was the Son of God.

Many women were there, watching from a distance. They had followed Jesus from Galilee to care for his needs. Among them were Mary Magdalene, and Jesus’ mother, Mary.

 

The burial of Jesus

As evening approached, there came a rich man called Joseph, who had himself become a disciple of Jesus. Going to Pontius Pilate, he asked for Jesus’ body, and Pilate obliged.

Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a clean linen cloth and placed it in his own new tomb that he had cut out of the rock. He rolled a big stone in front of the entrance to the tomb and went away.

At this point, many of Jesus’ disciples must have felt a sense of despair. But as we know, the events three days later on Easter Sunday completely changed that…

 

The new album Gratitude here!

 

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