Lord, regnite the passion for the creative in me. The love of art, The flow of words, The zeal to write, The drive to draw, The intentionality to craft.
Wake up what has been dormant in me for so long. Let spring come to the winter of my creative mind. Let inspiration bubble up in me, From the least expected sources, At the least expected times, In the least expected ways, With the least expected people, In the least expected expressions.
Re-ignite a fire in me For creative expression of Your Word, Your character, Your attributes, Your ways, Your beauty, Your message, Your hope, Your plan, Your Majesty, Your meekness.
Unfold the creative map that is currently crumpled in a heap and tossed to the corner of the room, Buried under various practical implements life has blown my way.
Breathe fresh air into the the lungs of my creativity and let Your light shine through me.
Father’s Day is a great thing. I wrote this Father’s Day Prayer for me to speak over the Dads involved in our ministry. Note that it is intended for those who have children under 18, but it has relevancy to Father’s of any age. I wanted to bless them and, within the Father’s Day prayer, to reinforce the most important duties of fatherhood.
A Father’s Day Prayer
I pray for you Dad. As you lead your family with strength and confidence. That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him. That the eyes of your understanding would be enlightened. That you would know what is the hope of your calling and what is the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. I pray that you would enjoy today as you spend time with your children. I pray that you wouldn’t underestimate the importance of your voice in their lives — Your advice, your verbal affirmation and expression of your love for them. I pray that you wouldn’t underestimate the importance of your touch in their lives — Your hugs, your reassuring hand on the shoulder, your kiss. I pray that you wouldn’t underestimate the value of your presence — Your time, your questions, your eye contact, your focused attention on what they have to say (however trivial). I pray that you find all provision needed to not just “survive”, but to Father excellently. That people would say of you “He loves his kids!” I pray that you would have the humility to admit when you miss the mark–to apologize and model what true repentance and reconciliation look like. I pray that you would remember that your children are not yours, but God’s. I bless you on this day to know the embrace of your Heavenly Father. In Jesus name. Amen.
On Father’s Day
I‘ve always liked both Father’s Day and Mother’s Day, even before I became a Father. I know that Father’s Day can be a difficult time for a lot of people because dad wasn’t around, or Dad has passed away, or Dad was/is abusive. If that’s you, my hope is that you can feel the love and embrace of God, your true Father, and that you would resolve not to repeat history with your kids.
Father’s Day is a day that reminds you to do three things for your Dad:
Honor your Father — Honoring your Father is very important. It’s clearly commanded by Scripture (See the 5th commandment in Exodus 20). To honor means to regard with great respect. Because you have known him for years, it’s easy to drop the honor, especially if he was absent, or abusive with you as a child. Show honor to your Father both in your actions toward him and your speech to him and about him. Remember, your children are watching how you treat him.
Give to your Father — As a Father you give so much to your children. Remember all that your Dad has given to you over the years. Father’s Day is a good time to think about what your Dad’s needs and wants are and give him a gift. Remember, your children are watching how you treat him.
Cherish your Father — The word ‘cherish’ is not commonly used in today’s vernacular, but it is a very powerful word. It’s a good word. It’s something that all people should get acquainted with. To ‘cherish’ means to protect and care for (someone) lovingly. You won’t always have your Dad in your life. Those who lost their Father early know this well. If possible, spend time with him, phone him up and ask him how he’s doing, express your thanks to him, encourage your children to spend some time with their grandad. Don’t fall into the trap of taking your Dad for granted. And remember: Your children are watching how you treat him.
Notes about the Father’s Day Prayer
I thought it would be helpful to give some notes about the prayer that I wrote for Fathers.
As mentioned, I wrote this Father’s Day Prayer for me to speak over the Dads involved in our ministry to youth. However, if you resonate with this prayer, then use it. It has relevancy to Father’s of any age.
I find it valuable to ground prayers in Scripture. You’re essentially praying God’s Word back to Him. The biblical underpinnings for this Father’s Day Prayer come from Ephesians 1:15–18 (Quoted at the bottom). Paul is writing to the believers in Ephesus and he prays this over them.
The prayer speaks about some things that Fathers can sometimes underestimate. Specifically, their voice, their touch and their presence. I want to speak to that for a minute. Your voice is important. So many Dad’s do not regularly say “I love you” to their child/children. This is such a simple thing, but they NEED to hear it from you. Your touch is important. A lot of Dads think that Mum should be the one to be physically affectionate beyond the little kid years. That’s not true. Teenage kids and even adults need physical affection from both Mum and Dad. Your presence is vitally improtant. But it’s not just you being in the room. You can be in the room, but not engage with your kids. When your kids are talking to you, practice active listening. Give eye contact, give non-verbal and verbal cues that you are tracking what they are saying. Respond with follow-up questions, speak back to them what they said for clarification if you didn’t quite understand.
“Wherefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus, and love unto all the saints, Cease not to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers; That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him: The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints” Ephesians 1:15–18 KJV
I’ve convinced myself of it, so I might as well be. I plug in night and day (it’s a better way to play), and my life quality triples. let me explain:
See, I’m virtually successful with a million virtual Pounds, and a billion virtual Euros in my swiss bank account. My virtual real estate is quite a sight to see, and my virtual yacht takes my mind off my misery.
I’m virtually married, I’m wedded to the game, and all my cyber lovers turn me on just the same. I protect her from deletion. She really is my completion. We rarely ever fight and that helps me treat her right.
We once did virtual counseling…that was strange.
I’m virtually a parent. My kids are Jack and Jill. It’s fun to watch them playing, dancing, and singing. I can practically touch them, if you will.
Then it gets a bit exhausting, so I pause them for a while. Then I press the mess button, and they put away the piles. “It’s important to raise kids in a tidy environment.” I always say.
I’m virtually religious, I give a generous amount. There’s a cross hung in my kitchen, and I say prayers to help me out. I toggled the divine setting to “on”, so I see miraculous events. They are so close to the real thing, I’m no longer on the fence.
I virtually learned, I have my virtual PhD. Now I’m basically a genius, so I take it easy. I’m on a virtual diet and an exercise routine, Which keeps me virtually in good shape, and my belly fat lean.
My virtual life is wonderful, my virtual friends all say, as they sip their margaritas on a beach where the palm trees sway.
One day I wake up and my unvirtual life’s a mess. But it doesn’t matter, Because in virtuality I’m a grand success.
Somewhere in the house, Lurking in amongst the crumbs and hair That gather on the floor Is a diamond. A beautiful, clear, 1/3 carat diamond.
What differentiates it from the particles that are to be vacuumed up and disposed of? Is it its size? No, it’s smaller than a stray popcorn seed and not much bigger than a large crumb. Is it it’s weight? Certainly not, it weighs the same as any stone of a similar size. Is it its appearance? No. It’s appearance is like a small piece of glass, or salt crystal.
What truly differentiates it is its value in the eyes of its owner. It’s a precious stone to signify a lifelong commitment. It’s a priceless gift from a lover. It represents the gleam in his eye. Irreplaceable. To be wanted, to be loved.
Here comes a mouse. After the coast is clear, he shuffles out of his hiding spot, Following the wall. He sniffs the assortment of objects, And then sees the diamond. He sniffs it and then stares into it, seeing his reflection. He moves on, hoping to find something of greater value. A piece of popcorn, a cracker perhaps. Something to sustain him. The mouse is not interested in the diamond.
The diamond’s value in the eyes of the woman is priceless, In the eyes of the mouse, is worthless. In the same way, your value in the eyes of some people is high, In the eyes of others is worthless. But in the eyes of the lover of your soul, priceless. So when you’re lost and wandering amongst the trash, you’re priceless. And when you’re set in the ring on the finger of God, you’re priceless. It’s a matter of perspective.
I’m excited to announce that recording, mixing and mastering for Redeeming The Time are now complete! On New Year’s Day 2020 Dave and I got some strong coffee and plugged away at wrapping this up! It was a very awesome way to kick off a new decade. Usually my new year is all about starting something new. A new habit or project. This year I started by finishing something that is very dear to my heart!
The next step, already in process, is to produce CDs and distribute the music for digital download and online streaming. There was a sense of anticipation as I uploaded and named each song to the website. CD production takes 2-4 weeks from when you place the order.
Here’s how the process works
First they create a test print and confirm that its all looking good.
Then they print the CD cases. (Up to here is already completed with my CDs)
Then they print the design on the CDs themselves and duplicate the master copy.
Then they assemble the cases, put the cds in and wrap them in poly
Last of all they ship them to me! and I get really excited 😀
Where can you get a copy?
I set up a shop right here on benjamintagg.com where you can purchase a physical copy or a digital download. This is the BEST place to buy the album for multiple reasons. Firstly, it supports me the best. No portion of the sale goes to a company, just me (and a tiny bit to PAYPAL). Secondly, for the first two months after release there will be special discounts available that won’t be elsewhere. Thirdly, I’ll get it to you faster because I care the most about people who listen to my music.
Where else can you get it?
I will be distributing the album to the following outlets. Timeline for release is unsure and the outlet has to approve the music, so there are no absolute guarantees for all of these. However, I’ll keep you posted as and when I get confirmation.
Spotify Apple Music iTunes TikTok Google Play & YouTube Music Amazon Pandora Deezer Tidal Napster iHeartRadio ClaroMúsica Saavn Anghami KKBox
Are you having a release party?
Yes, the plan is to get together and celebrate this new release at Steps. It will hopefully be sometime in February. Please stop back here in the coming days and weeks for more updates and news of the listen / release party.
So I have been writing songs since I was 15 years-old (half my life ago). I am a Christian. The songs that I have selected for this project are songs that express my heart to God, and His heart to me. There are songs with honest grit, likeBurn In Me, then there are songs which are scriptures put to song, such asFruitful and Be Still.
“Redeeming the Time is the title track of the album. It is a simple song written to express my desire to just worship God.”
Ben Tagg
Redeeming the Time is the title track of the album. It is a simple song written to express my desire to just worship God. As life gets busy, it’s easy for me to neglect to “sing You my love”. We redeem the time when we “speak to each other with spiritual songs, singing and making melody in our hearts to the Lord” as the Bible instructs us to do as Jesus Followers.
I have done many small attempts at recording music that can be shared with others, but nothing on this scale. Most of the recordings have been poor quality and have not done justice to the music.
My first go around with music recording was with my band Interlude! We were a group of four 16/17 year-olds in College wanting to jam together. I came up with the name because I thought it was cool, but now I don’t really know where my head was at.
We took our three songs to a recording studio. the place was quite rundown and stank of smoke. I think the guy was actually smoking weed while recording the music (probably explains why it came out so badly) !
I was the drummer of the band and I sang lead on one of the songs. I had written the song and the lead singer couldn’t quite master the melody (even though we had gigged it about 5 times LOL). We called the four song EP “Look up” Because there was a theme of looking at nature and seeing the hand of God.
This is a theme that you see in my current songs too. Creator God, for example, was written after an infamous snow storm hit Buffalo in October. This storm was so damaging and powerful that it stopped everything for a few days. The song explores the wonder of God’s creation in the raging storms and the conception of babies in the womb.
Ruth is my helpmate, my biggest fan and my best friend in the whole world.
I am honored that I am not doing this alone. I couldn’t do any of this without the amazing support of my wife, Ruth. She is my helpmate, my biggest fan and my best friend in the whole world. She has sacrificed so much so I can do this and pushes me at times when I get depressed and just want to give up! Ruth is an incredible singer, you will hear her on the song Burn in Me.
I have an amazing group of friends and family that will be on this journey with me. One of my best friends, Dave Riffel, is side by side with me on this project, hosting us in his studio, called Upper Story Studios, and playing piano and guitar.
Dave Riffel
Though we are recording songs written by one person, we are doing this together – from start to finish.
I invite you to join us in this exciting journey!
See my pitch video for more information on how you can be a part of this project!
I’m really inspired by Eric Metaxas’ book 7 Women. I’m
realizing that I am often reading of the great exploits of men, but I rarely
read about the great exploits of women.
Hannah More is a women who shaped the cultural mindset on
abolition in the early 1800s. She wrote pamphlets, poems and books denouncing
the slave trade and the illicit and immoral behavior of the wealthy. She
advocated for the education of girls which was not valued at the time. She
cared for the poor, setting up schools in small villages that had lots of
families in poverty. The schools were on Sundays because that was the only day
of the week that people had off work. In her schools, the main topic was religion.
She believed that religion was the most important subject to lift a child out
of poverty.
You don’t lift someone out of poverty with Science, Math and
English, but by changing their worldview. If you can teach a child to value
character, speak from the heart and submit to God they will thrive in life.
Many that have been “educated out” of poverty, but not taught religious virtue,
have found themselves bringing the practices of poverty into a wealthier
surrounding. When I say the practices of poverty I’m referring to sexual
promiscuity, gambling, smoking, drunkenness and casual drug use. I don’t mean
to say that these things aren’t done by wealthy people, they certainly are! But
I mean to say that they are the practices that lead to or perpetuate poverty.
The most enraging thing about the practices of poverty is
that they are celebrated and promoted by the media. Therefore, the poor are
continuously pushed down in our society. The widening gap between the rich and
the poor is not because of anything in politics. Rather it is Hollywood that
does it!
Hollywood elevates the stars that are emblazoned with vices.
It promotes a false pattern of success. The pattern doesn’t correspond to the
reality of daily living on this earth. Children are watching as these stars
mock God, sleep around and use narcotics. They are watching as they are
rewarded.
Reading about Hannah More reminded me that education isn’t
enough. Children must be given a moral framework or their heart poverty will
not be overcome. Ultimately, they need to have an encounter with God. I hope
this gives you something to think about.
Also, I’d recommend picking up the book, it’s an excellent read!
