Cloud Photo by Grace Anne Wilson,
Track List for the digitally-remastered edition (2017)
1. Why Do You Waste Your Time?
2. Run Away, Satan
3. Faith
4. One & Only One
5. Tell No Lies
6. Holy/Righteous
7. Serious Rap
8. Fission
9. Morning Prayer
10. Hide Me, Jesus
11. Package Deal
12 One Foot Above Zero
13. Glass
14. Lord, I'm Lonely
15. Fill Me Up (Band version)
16. Real Funky
The messages of the Bible prophets are consistently centered on calling God's people to conform to His character and be dedicated to Him. This message concerning holiness is still needed among God's people today. This album was originally released as a 90-minute cassette tape entitled Missions & Holiness in 1993. At that time I did not have access to professional recording equipment so all of these recordings are poor quality, but I still care about them and the messages they carried, so I am offering them in this digital form. Many of the songs are linked to audio clips so you can get an idea of whether or not you would like this album for yourself. These demo clips are much lower quality than the full mp3’s. If you would like a copy of this album as full mp3’s, you may download the full mp3 set for free as a zip file here. Unless otherwise indicated, I composed, performed, and recorded everything you hear. There are over a dozen more music albums of my music at www.NateWilsonFamily.Net/#Music – please check them out too! ~Nate
1. Why Do You Waste Your Time?
Composed while a student at Covenant College in the mid 1980’s. Recorded several years later on a 4-track tape recorder in the basement of my rented house in Denver and my office in Littleton, CO. I am indebted to Greg Purnell for loaning me his drum set, Andy Baker for loaning me his bass guitar, and somebody else for loaning me the electric guitar.
You've been struggling recently; it's in your eyes--it's clear to see.
The things you do aren't doing much good at all.
You want to do what's right and good just like you say you know you should,
But your old life got you up against a wall.
The Lord's gonna come like thief in the night; He’s gonna judge everything you do--wrong or right
Don't you fear the Living God? Come on, catch fire! Don't sit and nod!
WHY DO YOU WASTE YOUR TIME?
Spend your time watching T.V. trash? Working long hours for a little more cash?
Are you watching for Him in working in His way?
Reading those books and magazines, Your leisure time's a worthless means.
Be sensitive to what He has to say!
So, come on, kid, get outta your chair; Come running out of satan's lair
And join the growing army of the Lord!
Throw off the weights of rebellious sin, And run the race like you're gonna win.
Fight the fight with God's all-mighty sword!
2. Run Away, Satan
Also composed while a student at Covenant College around 1997. Recorded in my dorm room at Belz Hall straight to stereo cassette tape in 1988.
Oh, God, I know; forgive me; I've disobeyed You again. Why does my old heart make the new man sin?
The struggle in my head is real; My body craves what I know is evil.
Your Spirit begs me, "Don't be such a fool To spit on Christ and follow Satan's rule!"
Lord, strengthen your Spirit within me; Let me feel Your awesome power
Help me conquer Satan's stronghold; Raise Your banner upon my tower!
Oh sin seems so sweet, Till jaws of guilt and shame clamp tight—
Satan’s made a perfect catch - I fall without a fight!
Run away Satan in my Saviour's Name! My new master is wise to your old game.
I may lose, but Jesus wins; He will wash away all my sins.
I'm forgiven! I fall down at Your feet, Before Your throne, the mercy seat.
This old sinner deserves nothing but hell; You made my sick soul well.
3. FAITH
Based on Isaiah 30:1. Composed and recorded direct to stereo cassette tape at my apartment at Covenant College in 1989 as I was considering transferring from pursuing an engineering degree to accepting a call to ministry with the Student Foreign Mission Fellowship.
In spite of everything You've said, My heart is ice, my soul is lead.
These feelings haunt me in my head; Will I trust You or will I run instead?
Don't you be scared; I've called your name. I've always cared; that's why I came!
I'm holding to Your promises--Stand at a distance, I confess.
Come 'round and I don't have to guess. You still love me, nonetheless!
It's hard to trust what you can't see. The man of faith waits patiently.
I know You won't abandon me; You'll guide my footsteps perfectly.
4. One And Only One
To Paula on our 2nd wedding anniversary. Composed and recorded in our apartment on Lookout Mtn., GA in 1991 using a 4-track recorder. I am indebted to David Bird for loaning me his drum machine and to Steven St. John for loaning me his electric guitar.
From the day I said, "I love you," To the day I said, "I do," Until I take my last breath, I'll be forever true.
By the grace that God alone endows, The one to whom I said my vows Is the only one I'll love.
What God has joined together, let no one tear asunder!
Lord, Keep me faithful To the one-and-only-one lady in my life;
Blessed are the ties that bind my heart completely to my wife.
Paula, I want you to know that I love you;
The ring around my finger and the Holy Spirit bind my heart to you!
There are so many people out to turn my head-- So many people would take my love instead,
But there's one and only one for me, Let the Spirit and the flesh agree, There's one and only one.
There are seeds of unfaithfulness sown by the evil one-Thoughts in my mind would ruin what begun
But let me be pure in heart, reflecting God's righteousness,
Not conformed unto the world, but holy, holy and blameless
The antithesis of selfishness is love which God bestows;
He loved enough to die for us, And that's how true love goes!
I will always walk beside you now, As long as we both shall live.
Through thick & thin I'll walk by you, show you all the love I can give.
For this reason two shall become one, And nothing will separate them!
5. Tell No Lies
This song came out of a mental fight that erupted in 1988 over Fleetwood Mac’s song “Tell Me Sweet Little Lies” which was popular on the radio at the time. I was humming it mindlessly and realized all of a sudden, No, I don’t want lies! I want to be told the truth! I was in a band called “The Experience” with guitarist Rob Thacker, drummer John Roberts, and synth player Steve Humes, so I wrote it up for them and this recording was made direct to cassette tape by Reid Davis who mixed the sound during a concert at Covenant College in 1991.
Preacher, I heard you preach today, "Bring your money in; it's O.K."
Preacher, don't you tell your people lies! Tell no lies; tell no lies.
Teacher, I saw you in class today; You gotta watch what you say.
Teacher, don't you tell your students lies! Tell no lies; tell no lies.
Parents, are your kids precious in your sight? Won’t you love them and teach them what is right?
Don't you tell your children lies! Tell no lies; tell no lies.
Jesus, I read Your Word today; You guide Your children in Your perfect way.
I know You don't tell Your people lies! Tell no lies; tell no lies.
6. Holy/Righteous
Composed in the late 1980’s and recorded direct to stereo cassette tape c. 1990 probably on Lookout Mtn. TN.
Holy, You are holy. Take my heart and make it clean; You desire that I should be--holy.
Righteous, You are righteous. Help me Lord throughout my days To be righteous in Your ways--righteous
7. Serious Rap
Composed and recorded in 1990 at my apartment on Lookout Mtn., GA using a 4-track tape recorder.
It’s time to get serious about way we Christians live; Don't try to slip through society's sieve.
It's time to show your colours & take a stand; Show them You're a Christian living in this land!
Tell me how obedient will you be - Or have you outmoded authority?
How simplistic can it possibly be? God said it; I believe it, & it's settled for me!
Come on, What does Bible say? I won't have any other way!
Who cares what you want or what the world dictates?
I'm gonna follow Jesus Christ and throw off those weights!
Armchair radicals, they make me sick, Like a candle trying to burn without a wick.
Does your faith have action to pay the price? Are you willing to die or go to jail for Christ?
Be an angry young man in a nation of boys Who are tossed in the tempest like humanism's toys.
Don't you be scared to stand up and fight, To build God's kingdom and to say what's right!
How do you give? It's time to check it out. Do you know what sacrifice is all about?
Try giving more than just this ten percent; I guarantee you won't wonder where it went.
See all these people living on welfare? If Church was working, they wouldn't be there;
If our men were generous and our women worked at home
We could care for the homeless if we all helped some.
Is the sovereign Lord the potentate of time? C'mon, show a little faith, it's not a crime!
We're afraid to act for fear of presumption, Slight the kingdom without the slightest compunction.
It's not convenient to carry a cross, Condone materialism, counting all things loss!
You can't live for God and Hedonism, Or love your neighbor, espousing egotism!
8. FISSION
Composed in 1989, recorded in 1991 direct to stereo cassette at an apartment on Lookout Mtn., GA using a borrowed drum machine and a borrowed electric guitar, plus a padlock and a handful of kitchen utensils for the ending. I have always regretted that I didn’t multitrack it so that I could not balance the volumes of the vocal and guitar.
How do You expect me to live in this cage? I'm prying at the bars, heart full of rage.
How could You make me so beautiful & terrible Stick me into it and put me on stage?
Human Condition; Human Condition; Noble Ambition; Live with Perdition.
As I peer through the bars, I see other cages: The righteous, the wicked, of fools and of sages
All of us here try to break from the prison That's duressed mankind there for all the ages.
Human Condition; Our Lamentation - Human Condition; Immoral Defribulation
I see through the bars to Your holy way. I read what is right and I'm told not to stray,
But I can’t find the strength to break these iron bonds That pierce me and pound me and pull me away!
Human Condition; Man's inhibition - To holy mission; Human Condition.
How can I live in the cage of my humanity; Will I be rebellious to You for eternity?
My body was meant for good, not for evil; How come it gets so entranced by the devil?
God-man with pierced feet and hands; (Mortal Tribulation)
Walks through the prison and stands; (Holy Frustration)
Twists the key & unlocks the bands.
9. MORNING PRAYER
Another song from my dorm room at Covenant College recorded direct to cassette tape in 1988.
Lord, I'm talking to You again. I know that I been living in sin.
Don't want to have those old thoughts hanging around,
So I beg You to hear me with my face on the ground.
CHORUS I love you , Father; You care for me. I love, You, Jesus, 'cause You set me free.
I love You, Spirit, You know I do. Almighty God, Yes, I love You.
Lord, listen to me--I know You will-- I got some praying that I gotta do still.
As You listen, please help me find That perfect plan that's been on Your mind.
Lord Jesus, help Your children in need, And bless all those who are planting the seed.
Refresh my spirit so that I may Love and serve You diligently all this day.
10. Hide Me, Jesus
Composed and recorded the crazy year I graduated, got married, and started working as a missionary and moved three times. Recorded on a 2-track tape deck in my apartment on Lookout Mtn., TN with just vocals and my acoustic guitar layered several times such that the tape hiss got bad and I couldn’t go back and adjust any volumes.
I've been thinking in the threatening tide - A rude awakening - for Your love I cried.
I am thirsty; how hard I have tried. Cover me with mercy, so deep and wide.
Hide me, Jesus - in Your love I hide. Hide me, Jesus; pull me to Your side.
In the darkness, so deep and strong, I wait for You – no it won't be long.
Your loving arms where I belong - Forgive us Lord, we have done wrong
Take my burdens; they're too much to bear. I need You, Savior, Your loving care.
Use me, Savior, in the world out there. Hold my head high; I’ll see You in the air.
11. Package Deal
So I was on a summer mission trip to France in 1986 with my friend Chris Elliott and we spent a week at Ecole Radio Biblique in Marseille. Someone who didn’t know any better let us into the studio while the staff was gone and Chris produced these words on a slip of paper, then I offered to rap them, and we got carried away - I think we both contributed to the synth and percussion tracks. Anyway, this is what we produced. Since we used professional mic’s mixers and reel-to-reel tape, it sounded pretty good. But then I copied it to cassette and copied that cassette and accidently recorded over the first cassette so we’re back to that good ol’ tape hiss.
Package Deal--Didn't care how I feel.
It was a nice, pretty package, all tied up with string But when I looked inside, I saw the opposite thing.
When I first met you, I liked what I saw, But even then, I think you knew that was all.
Leading me on was no problem--for you. When I look the other way, I can hear you say
"Him? Ha Ha Ha, he's just a package deal!"
Package deal means you get the whole works, Then you can't take it more; it drives you berserk.
But I kept my cool, 'cause there isn't a rule. I won't be made a fool of the package deal.
Sayin she loves me, then puttin' love on hold. Going out with other guys until they get old.
She'll come back to me--at least then she did, ‘Cause all the time she knew my heart was sold to the…
12. One Foot Above Zero
Composed while mowing a vast lawn on Lookout Mtn., TN in 1990 and recorded the same year at my apartment on a 2-track cassette deck using Ray Dameron’s trap set, Rob Thacker’s guitar, and Ed Sunder’s synthesizer. The guitar ending was added several years later; I don’t remember who I borrowed that guitar from.
Somewhere between alive and dead your vapid soul lies.
Between wide awake and asleep in bed, your banal faith flies.
I would that you were hot or cold, that you were either North or South
You insipidity's growing cold, and I'll spit you out of my mouth! (Rev. 3:16)
CHORUS: You're living one foot above zero; The sword hanging by a thread is about to fall.
One foot above zero - The axe is laid to the tree that looked so tall. (Matt. 3:10)
Paradise waits; You are called by My Name, But you love to dance one foot from the flame.
If we claim fellowship with God, yet walk in the dark, (I John 1:6)
We deceive ourselves and live a fraud; we've missed the mark.
Choosing friendship with the world is enmity to God unfurled. (James 4:4)
Why this worldly denigration; do you covet their destruction?
No one who puts hand to the plow and then looks back (Luke 9:62)
Is fit for service in the kingdom now; they've left the track.
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance or be severed off and burned.
Bow to God and give remittance in humility returned.
13. GLASS
I composed this on Lookout Mtn., TN, based on 1 Corinthians 13:12. This recording was made direct to mono cassette tape during a concert by The Experience in 1991. Paula Wilson sings lead, Joe Kickasola plays drums, Steve Humes is on Electric guitar, I’m on bass guitar, and Rob Thacker is on synth.
I cannot see it clearly, though by now I thought I would.
You know I love You dearly; I'd do anything I could.
But I cannot wash this window clean; the filth will not erase.
Conceals Your glory inbetween, and I cannot see Your face.
CHORUS: I see You dimly through the glass. I'm not as I will be.
But when the time has come to pass And all my imperfection cast,
I'll know You as You know me!
Though Love has come, and You have been an anchor to my soul,
There is no glass to see You where the breakers roll.
Though now the maelstrom tempests blow a hope that cannot fail,
There will one day be peace, I know. Your kingdom will prevail.
I stand, the looking glass before me, and still I strain to see
A dim reflection of Your glory; my visage can't agree.
But I believe that You're here within, and Grace will now ensure
To see beyond the stain of sin, and hope will still endure.
I see you dimly.
14. Lord, I'm Lonely
Composed and recorded direct to stereo cassette tape in my dorm room on Lookout Mountain, 1988.
Lord, I’m Lonely. I try to do what pleases You, But find it very hard to do.
For no one else is pleasing You; They're all against Your point of view.
Lord I'm lonely; I try so hard to do what's right But no one seems to see the light
Inside of me it's such a fight to turn away From grey to do what's pleasing in Your sight.
But I see that You're not far away. I feel your presence as I pray;
The dark of night transforms to sunny day!
Jesus, You love me! You care for all my hurts & needs
I know You're my closest friend; You'll carry me on through until the end.
I'm not lonely; I know that Jesus cares for me, Because He died upon that tree;
He paid sin's price for all to see! Lord, help my life to be the key--
In showing love to others, let them see Your light in me
Lord, when there's no one around to hear me cry out, I know you're there without a doubt.
You're the only one I can depend To help my hurting soul to mend.
Help me Father to see those lonely hearts there Who don't know You and don't know prayer.
Show me how to love and how to shine Your light Into their loneliness and give them joy like mine!
15. Fill Me Up
Composed in 1991, recorded in 1992? on a 4-track tape player.
I want to be changed, Lord Jesus, Sanctified by Your Spirit.
Oh, I've got no righteousness, so fill me up; fill me up, Lord.
Let me be holy as You are, Lord. Take away my sin; purify my life, And I will glorify Your Name.
16. Real Funky
This instrumental is just plain fun. It all started with me composing a percussion track out of kitchen utensils in my apartment on Lookout Mountain, TN in 1990 (silver serving tray=ride cymbal, cookie tin with rice in it=snare drum, hand over mason jar=Indian talking drum--kind-of). Then I pulled out my trumpet and piddled around with that (I must have had a 4-track by then), then added guitar tracks. I took it on family vacation with me to Crescent Beach, FL, and there added the last track of my brother Ben playing Bass and me playing synthesizer.
Again, the mp3 album is much better quality than the linked demo clips but still not professional quality. If you would like a copy of this album for free as a zipped set of mp3’s click here! Check out my other albums at www.NateWilsonFamily.Net/#Music ~Nate
