The Carpenter's Son Jim Coleman  2004                     Produced by Jim Coleman, MD                    All compositions Coleman-Gunn 2005                           Recorded at Insomnia Studio, Nashville, TN               Engineered by Eddie Gore

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           Guitar, vocals---Jim Coleman

           Piano and B-3 Hammond organ---Chuck Leavell

           Harmonica---Terry McMillan

           Bass---Victor Wooten and Pops Popwell

           Pedal Steel Guitar---John Hughey

           Percussion---Tom Roady

           Drums---J.D.  Blair, Nioshi Jackson,Raymond Massey

                   Backup singers---Angie Primm, Melinda Doolittle, Gale West

The Carpenter's Son

1.          Stories From the Bible - Taken from Matthew, chapter 23, this song relates Jesus' confrontation with the Pharisees who he knew to all be hypocrites.  I wrote this one night as I put my daughter to bed and she asked me to read her a story from the Bible.  I opened the New Testament to this chapter of Matthew and read this story described in this song.  It relates to the hypocrisy of the Jewish church leaders of the day who pretended to be righteous when, in fact they were corrupt.  "You make clean the outside of the cup, but within it is full of extortion and excess," Jesus said.  "You are like whitewashed tombs which outwardly appear beautiful, but, within contain the remains of dead men's bones."  Things in life are not always as they seem. 

2.         The Carpenter's Son - Jesus of Nazareth was born the son of a carpenter.   This is described in the Bible in Matthew 13:55 and in Mark 6:3.  He was a teacher of great wisdom and miraculous powers who was sent by God, the Father, for the redemption of mankind.  The voice of Jesus can be heard today calling each of us to follow him just as he called the disciples.  This song, "The Carpenter's Son" presents Jesus as the savior of mankind who is the one who can "wash your sins away."  Just as he spoke to Nicodemus he tells us all that we must be born again to enter the Kingdom of God; not a physical rebirth, but, born "of the water and the spirit," meaning the living water from God, the fountain of life (Psalm 36: 9) and spring of living water (Jeremiah 17:13) and a spiritual rebirth which is a gift from God through the Holy Spirit (Romans 8:16, 1st Corinthians 2:10-12, 1st Thessalonians 1: 5, 6).

3.         Matthew 26 - The Betrayal of Jesus -  In Matthew, chapter 26, the betrayal of Jesus is described.  Jesus knew that the time had come for him to be sacrificed for the sins of man.  He knew that it was Judas who would betray him.  In the garden of Gethsemane Jesus met with his disciples and told them what was about to take place.  He repeatedly asks God, "Oh, my Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken away from me?" (Matthew 26: 39).  He knew the suffering he was about to undergo and was pleading with God to be taken away from the situation so that he wouldn't have to be tortured and crucified.  He later realizes that he must drink from the cup so that "Thy will be done" (Matthew 26:42).  Jesus proceeds with God's plan for the redemption of Man, knowing that at any time he could have called "twelve legions of angels" to intervene and save his life (Matthew 26:53).  But, what Jesus was carrying out was the plan that had been in place since the beginning of time. 

4.         The Sermon On The Mount - The words to this song come almost directly out of Matthew, chapter 5.  This is where Jesus gave the Sermon on the Mount. This sermon has been called 'the Beatitudes' because it presents a code of ethics and standard of conduct for all believers.  In the kingdom of heaven, wealth, power and authority are unimportant.  The beliefs and attitudes of the kingdom people are not a carbon copy of the world's selfishness, pride and lust for power, but, rather, reflect the humility and self-sacrifice of Jesus.  It was on a hillside near the town of Capernaum that Jesus gave this sermon, which was transcribed word for word by his disciple, Matthew.  It was his longest recorded sermon and in it he describes the traits he was looking for in his followers.  The best example of each trait is found in Jesus himself, and, if our goal is to become like him, the Beatitudes will guide and challenge the way we live each day.

5.         Miracles - This song is based on the gospel of John in which he describes the miracles performed by Jesus.  The book of John contains 8 miracles, 6 of which are unique to John's gospel.  This gospel does not contain a genealogy or any record of Jesus' birth, childhood, temptation, transfiguration, his parables, or his ascension.  It is, rather, focused on the miracles performed by Jesus in John's attempt to prove that he was the Son of God.  Written after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and before John's exile to the island of Patmos, the gospel of John give us a personal and powerful look at Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God.

6.         The Narrow Door - In the gospel of Luke, chapter 13, verses 23-24.  Jesus is asked if only a few will be saved and he replies that many will try to enter through the narrow door, but, only a few will be able to do so.  This is also mentioned in Matthew, chapter 7, verses 13-14.  The reference here is similar to that in Matthew19: 23, Mark 10:24 and Luke 18:24 where Jesus says,  "it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter into the Kingdom of God."  It is faith in Christ and not your riches or self pride that are important.  You have to strip these things away to enter through the narrow door.

7.         East of Eden - In Genesis chapter 3 the fall of man is described.  Adam and Eve are banished from the Garden of Eden and are told to go and live East of Eden.  There, Adam and Eve are forced to learn the difference in pleasure and pain as God makes them pay for their sin of disobedience.   They are taken from the innocence of their lives in the garden and made to earn a living from "the cursed ground." This song describes the judgment by God for their sin and relates how mankind is destined for eternal life, but not in this world.

8.         The Apostle Paul - Probably no one other than Jesus himself had a more profound influence on the development of Christianity than the Apostle Paul.  Paul originally persecuted the Christians, but, after having an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus, he became a believer and went on several missionary journeys, establishing churches throughout the region.  Paul wrote fully a third of the New Testament and became more zealous as a follower of Christ than he had ever been as an enemy of the early church before his conversion.  This song is a tribute to this great man.

9.          Provin' Ground - The Biblical references for this song are in John 3:3-5, Psalm 32: 5, Romans 10: 9-10, and Ephesians 2:8.  Jesus' reference to the "water and spirit" refers not only to our physical birth (water) and spiritual birth (Spirit), the water also represents the cleansing action of God's Holy Spirit (see Titus 3:5) and that people don't enter God's kingdom by living a better life, but by being spiritually reborn.  Jesus spoke of "living water" as God's gift to man (John 4:10).  There are many verses in the Old Testament that speak of thirsting after God as one would thirst for water (Psalm 42:1, Isaiah 55:1, Jeremiah 2:13, Zechariah 13:1). As we go through life trying to quench our thirst for God we try to prove our faith by our actions and deeds.   The ground we walk in our daily lives is the proving ground of our faith in Christ.

10.       Gospel Train - As it says in Thessalonians 1, chapter 4:16, "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first.  After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air."  This song asks where you will be when the Lord calls for you?  Will you be ready to answer the call, knowing as stated in Matthew 24:44 and Luke 12:40 that the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him? Will you be ready for the Gospel Train?