FLAWED – We are pleased to let you know that we have finally finished our brand new CD! There are 11 songs, and I really feel that this CD is a major step forward in our writing, arranging, and overall sound. Here’s a rundown of the 11 songs:
War Fatigue – (WARNING: Political commentary forthcoming!) There is a phenomenon taking place in American culture, and quite frankly it’s been around for decades, but we’re seeing it more pronounced today because of the sustained war on terror. Americans, unlike terrorists, don’t like war; we don’t like to see bombings on our TV’s; we don’t like to hear about terrorist plots on our Radio programs; we don’t like to hear about the casualties. We are a peace-loving people and quite frankly, these days, many tire quickly if enemies of freedom are not stopped in the first hundred days . If we lose the War on Terror, it won’t be because our Armed Forces are not strong or dedicated enough, it will be because people back here in America are tired of having their lives interrupted by things as mundane and draining as say…the security of our Country. In other words, they’re suffering from “War Fatigue.” Now, I really didn’t mean to get all political (ok, actually, I did a little), but this is not a political song. I simply took the term “War Fatigue” and applied it to spiritual warfare. There are many believers who have been persecuted by the enemy and exhausted by living in a world that is not their home. I feel that from time to time too, and this song is just my prayer that God would give me the strength to fight this spiritual battle ‘till the end and that I would not “cut and run”. (Ok, I just couldn’t resist)
My Burden – This song is about that burden that we carry around with us and refuse to lay at the foot of the cross. It’s the one we keep worrying about, but continue to try to “work out” on our own. Jesus want us to “Cast all our cares on Him” because He knows just what to do with our burdens. We’ll never have true peace until we do!
One Of Those Days – Have you ever had one of those days when everything goes right for you? Everything gets done in half the time you planned, everything you have been worrying about amazingly works itself out, and you even understand why God is doing what He’s doing? Well, this song is NOT about one of those days! However, this song does point out that even in our worst days, God’s grace is sufficient.
Save Me From Myself – This is one of those story songs that tells of two people (one from outside the church and one who attends all the time) who both need Jesus in their life. The first is seeking God in desperation, the second knows all the right things to say, but Christ has never changed his life. This song is a testimony song of how God changes lives.
Create In Me A Clean Heart – This is a song about forgiveness that comes from David’s prayer in Psalms. There are times in all of our lives when we need to pray the words of this song. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
An Inconvenient Truth – Despite the title, this song is not about Global Warming. It’s about the philosophy of this world that there is no God, no absolutes, no truth, and no standard. This one picks up where “God is Still God” from the “Soldiers” CD left off.
At World’s End – The most simple song on the CD, but probably my favorite. This one basically says that I don’t know what this life will bring, but when it’s all over, I know what is awaiting me at the world’s end.
I’ve Got No Problem With That – One the scale of 1-10 on how odd our family must appear to the world, we are pretty high. We homeschool our kids, our teens don’t date, we believe in absolute truth and strive to follow a God that the world says doesn’t exist. Some may call us crazy or even fanatics, but we wear it as a badge of honor…we’ve got no problem with that!
Jesus Is Enough – This one is a new praise chorus that God has recently been using in our invitation time in a miraculous way. It wasn’t originally written to be an invitation song, but God had other plans!
Weak – the theme of this whole CD is “The Inability of Man and the Ability of God” and no song better reflects this concept than this song that says “When I am weak, You are strong”.
Pray – This is the “Song that almost didn’t make it on the CD”. We had to wait for this track to be done at the last minute, but I’m glad we waited. This song tells about the times when we are not in control of the circumstances in our lives and we feel there’s nothing we can do. It reminds us that we can always pray and God will always answer.
If you would like to hear a few of these songs, go to our myspace page at www.myspace.com/theitzelfamily
If you would like to order one of these CD’s, send a check for $12 to Bill Itzel 4215 Salem Bottom Rd. Westminster, MD 21157.
October 19th, 2007
At Worlds End
w/m Bill & Karen Itzel 6/18/07
I don’t know what tomorrow holds
And I don’t know how this life unfolds
And I don’t know if I’ll be rich or poor
No, I don’t know what God has in store
Chorus
But I know where I will be…at the world’s end
I know what’s awaiting me…at the world’s end
And I know who I will see…at the world’s end
Yes, I know where I will be…at the world’s end
I don’t know if I will find success
And I don’t know if I will impress
I don’t know when I’ll be satisfied
With who I am on the inside
Chorus
I don’t know the number of my days
For I don’t know Jehovah’s sovereign ways
I don’t know my final legacy
Or what men will say when they speak of me
Chorus
Create In Me A Clean Heart
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/18/07
Lord, the things I’ve done
And the things I’ve seen
Have all made this heart of mine
Feel like it’s so unclean
The choices that I’ve made
And voices that I’ve listened to
Have led me in directions
But so few have led to You
* I’m so sorry…when I look away
But You have promised…to forgive me when I stray
Chorus
Create in me a clean heart, o God
Take all my thoughts and make them new
Create in me a clean heart, o God
So my life can bring glory to You
So my life can bring glory to You
Lord, there are no secrets
That from You, I can hide
For You know all my hands have done
And thoughts I hold inside
And when temptation comes my way
And I give into its lure
When I confess my sin to You
You make me clean and pure
Jesus Is Enough
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/18/07
Chorus
Jesus is enough…when your world falls down around you
Jesus is enough…When you don’t know how you’ll get through
Jesus is enough
Jesus is enough
Jesus is enough
He is enough
He is all I need
He knows everything
When I’m all alone and there’s no where left to go
He is all I need
Chorus
Bridge: Why go looking for somethin’
That you’ll never find
When only Jesus can offer you peace of mind
An Inconvenient Truth
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/18/07
If there was no God
Then there would be no rules
There would be no difference
Between geniuses and fools
If there was no God
There’d be no wrong or right
And you could do whatever
Was pleasing in your sight
* It sure would be convenient
If truth did not exist
And there was no Creator
And He wasn’t even missed
Chorus
But there’s an inconvenient truth
This is God’s creation
He’s in complete control
And deserves our adoration
There’s an inconvenient truth
God has given us a warning
He will judge the world with fire
Now, there’s your global warming
If there was no God
There’d be no consequence
You’d live your life of your own terms
Sitting on the fence
If there was no God
There’d be no judgment day
You could live the way you wanted
With no one to obey
Save Me From Myself
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/18/07
She looked into the mirror
And said “What have I done”
Back in the beginning
It had only seemed like fun
But now she’s trapped in emptiness
Longing to break free
Knowing that this life could never
Give her what she’d need
Then she saw a light from a little church
So in sheer desperation
She walked toward her last resort
With a hope to find salvation
Then the choir sang Amazing Grace
How sweet the sound
And the pastor spoke of the blessed hope
That he had found
And he told of faith that leads to perfect peace
And freedom to all who would believe…and she cried
Chorus
Save me…save me from myself
Save me…from this empty shell
I’m lost in sin without a doubt
And I can’t find my way out
So Jesus save me
Save me from myself
He sings in the choir
As the service begins
This morning he’s decked out in white
But inside he’s black with sin
He’s worked so hard to clean his heart
But all to no avail
He just can’t seem to understand
Why all his work has failed
But God has plans to move today
In a way he’s never seen
Through repentance and forgiveness
His heart finally will be clean…for he cried
Pray
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/19/07
He couldn’t do the things that he used to do
He dodn’t have a lot from the world’s point of view
But in the Army of the Lord he was a soldier through and through
When he’d get down on his knees and pray
Chorus
He could pray…He could pray
He could win a battle for the Lord today
When all those around him would say “All is lost”
He could pray…he could pray
She couldn’t see the answer, it was out of her hands
For nothing had happened the way that she had planned
But there was someone that she knew she could trust to understand
She could get down on her knees and pray
Have you reached the point when you can’t even cope
And you’ve fallen so low that you’ve run out of hope
God has reached down to you and thrown you a rope
You can get down on your knees and pray
One Of Those Days
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/19/07
There are days in my life when everything goes right
And it’s easy to walk by faith and not by sight
There are times on the mountain when we’re walking hand in hand
And the view is just divine and I can see Your plan
Chorus
But this is not…
One of those days…I’m having trouble seeing
One of those days…It’s difficult believing
I can’t even see your hand in front of my face
Lord, carry me for I cannot run this race
It’s just one of those days
There are days in my life when people can see
Just how Your hand is working through me
And there are times in my walk when my feet seem so light
And I can run like the wind and my faith takes flight
Chorus
But on days like this you won’t find me complaining
For it’s times like these, Your grace is sustaining
Chorus 2
So this is…
One of these days…Your grace is sufficient
One of these days…You show that You’re omniscient
Though I don’t have the strength to run the last mile
You lift me up and with joy I can smile
It’s one of those days
War Fatigue
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/19/07
We’re soldiers fighting freedom’s fight
Defending what we know is right
Side by side we march ahead
Crushing evil where we tread
But when you’re always under fire
It can feel like a quagmire
Every day set to defend
We wait so long to see an end
And I get weary in this fight
As I point the world to you
Showing the truth, the whole truth
And nothing but the truth
Chorus
So help me God to fight this war
And remember Who I’m fighting for
To stand up strong and march in league
And not succumb to War Fatigue
This war is raging across the land
And it is by His might we stand
It’s truth and honor we defend
But we must last until the end
We hear how some have said they’re done
The doom and gloomers cut and run
But I’m here to give a new report
For the battle is the Lord’s
My Burden
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/19/07
My burden weighs upon me like a stone around my neck
I try to throw him off but sin nature stacks the deck
Alone I cannot fight him and the race I cannot run
For when I trust myself to be made whole, it is then I am undone
Chorus
He follows me round every turn like a monkey on my back
He’s everything I never need, and all that I should lack
But my pain is self-inflicted, I take him everywhere I go
For you see he is my burden and I won’t leave him alone
I struggle with this burden and everyday it grows
I thought this fight was mine alone, but there’s someone else who knows
For God would take this burden, if I lay it at the cross
But I don’t think I could handle such a beneficial loss
Chorus 2
He follows me round every turn like a monkey on my back
He’s everything I never need, and all that I should lack
I know it’s self-inflicted but this time I must say no
So I’ll throw off this old burden, for it’s time for him to go
Weak
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel
Chorus
When I am weak, You are strong
When I am tired You carry me on
When I can’t face the storm around me
You show me grace and your peace surrounds me
Chorus
Your strength is made perfect in me
For I am weak, yes I am weak
When my failures outweigh my successes
You are my strength, You are my strength
Chorus
There’s a blessing in my frailty
That’s when You speak, that’s when You speak
And when I lose my direction
You rescue me, You rescue me
I’ve Got No Problem With That
w/m Bill and Karen Itzel 6/20/07
I’ve always been a little different
I never quite fit in
But as I get a little older
Much to my chagrin
I see what counts as cool sail off
And leave me on the shore
And though I try my best I just can’t
Fool my self no more
Then I think of all God’s done for me
And it seems so absurd
To put so much importance
On how I’m viewed by the world
So I put things in perspective
And I make this pact today
To focus on eternal things
And that is why I say
Chorus
I’ve got no problem with that…wo-oh, wo-oh
I’ve got no problem with that…wo-oh, wo-oh
You might call me crazy
You might think that I am whack
And say that I’m fanatical, but hey
I’ve got no problem with that
The drummer that we follow
Plays a different beat
And the world just doesn’t understand
Our non-conformity
My friends all think I’m crazy
‘Cuz I choose not to date
But I’m trusting in God’s plan for me
And that is why I’ll wait
You might think my parents force me
To stand up here and sing
But I want to use my talents
In service for the King
I’m gonna trust in Jesus
And live for Him today
Cause that’s what really matters
And that is why we say
October 19th, 2007