Dan Ryker's Blog

In celebration of Christmas I thought I’d share this prayer & spontaneous song. I’ve called it ‘The Grinch Song / Prayer’. We were praying for people in the intellectual community who do not have faith in Jesus Christ. I saw a picture in my mind of the Grinch as played by Jim Carrey in the movie ‘How the Grinch Stole Christmas’. I envisioned him up on top of the mountain with the sleigh stacked high with the toys he had stolen from all the children down in Whoville. But then his heart that had been shrunk began to beat. He exclaimed, “I’m FEELING!”. And that is what I was sensing some of the people in the intellectual community need as well. They need to FEEL. They need to feel the love of God. They need their hearts to begin to grow, and their ability to feel to over take their ability to think. They don’t need their brains to shrink, they just need their hearts to grow. And for faith to spring up out of a revelation that Christ loves them. “We love, because He first loved us.”, and, “”God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” (1 John 4:19 & Rom 5:8).

So … Merry Christmas! And may everyone come to know Christ… even the Grinch. ☺

(Remember, this was totally spontaneous in an improvisational setting.)

‘The Grinch Song / Prayer (spontaneous)’
You can download and listen to all Dan’s music here

Here’s a couple of songs that popped out spontaneously during some recent worship times.

I’m not sure I’ve ever used the word ‘tantalize’ before in a song, but it does seem appropriate when you’re talking about God’s Love and being in His presence. You get tastes of Him and have brushes with His presence and it makes you even more aware of what it will be like to be in Heaven, and makes you want to be as close as you can be to Him here on earth. … It tantalizes you.

(Remember, this was totally spontaneous in an improvisational setting.)

‘Tantalize Me (spontaneous)’

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Here’s a quirky little thing where I actually beat box a little during worship. … Let’s say ‘Yeah’ to God. … Enjoy.

(Remember, this was totally spontaneous in an improvisational setting.)

‘Say Yeah (spontaneous)’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s music here

I love the presence of the Holy Spirit. I love being able to live life with God and I’m so thankful that God has poured out His Spirit on all people (Joel 2:28). Even though He’s given me free access to His Spirit through the work of Christ, I have to choose to walk in Him. I have to choose to seek Him out. If I don’t pursue God’s presence, then the natural effects of my flesh will separate me from Him. And living life in my own zone is pointless. I relate to Moses when he told God that If he doesn’t have His Presence, then he’s not going anywhere. Here’s that text from the bible…

Exodus 33:15-23 – Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. (16) How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” (17) And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” (18) Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” (19) And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. (20) But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.” (21) Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. (22) When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. (23) Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” (emphasis added)

In season after season, I find myself coming back to this passage as I realize again that I NEED God’s presence to go on. This is my thought again lately. Life is just pointless and shallow if it’s not being lived from within His presence and being directed by His Spirit.

I love verse 16 where it says, “What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”. Unfortunately, as I look around at the cross-section that I’m able to see of the church, I wonder how much of a difference there is between us and ‘all the other people on the face of the earth’. And this verse points out that if we are not seeing a difference between God’s people and the rest of the world, then it’s because His presence is not with us. My passion is to see the people of God walking in the presence of God.

God was pleased to grant Moses’ request and show him His glory because He was pleased with Moses and knew His name. We have been adopted as God’s children (Eph 1:5-6) and He knows us. And through Christ He is pleased with us (Eph 3:12). So, we should expect that God desires to give us His Glory as well. Do we want it? Remember .. His Spirit has now been poured out on all people, but we have to choose to enjoy Him.

The song ‘Give Me Your Glory’ was inspired by this passage and these types of thoughts. I recently sang it again in a live acoustic setting and so I thought I’d share it with you.

‘Give Me Your Glory (live)’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s songs here

Here’s the studio version for comparison.

‘Give Me Your Glory (studio)’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s songs here

For those of you who have my worship album, you’ve heard the studio version of ‘Precious is the Lamb’. Today I thought I’d share a recording that captures the type of environment that the song was birthed in. It was written spontaneously, in a home fellowship. The song is probably the simplest song on ‘Imminent Presence’ and this acoustic instrumentation just seems to suit it well. Or maybe I just like it because it’s easy for me to feel the roots of the song this way. Hopefully you’ll enjoy hearing a representation of this song like it might have sounded the first time it was sung. And even though I’ve sung it a bunch of times now, you’ll still hear a spontaneous section in this recording.

‘Precious is the Lamb (live)’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s songs here

And just for fun … here’s the studio version for comparison.

‘Precious is the Lamb (studio)’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s songs here

Here’s a photo that was taken at the ‘Song Writer’s Showcase’.

Two of my songs made it into the top 12 of the HOPE 107.9 Worship Song Contest! There were 435 entries, so I was really glad to get 2 of mine into the 2nd stage of the contest.

Friday the 16th, at the People’s Church in Salem, I played my 2 songs along with the other 10. At the end of the evening they announced which three are going on to the final round. Those three songs will be shared at Worship Northwest in Feb. and they’ll decide on the winner there. That song gets exposure to a bunch of record labels.

I feel like I performed the songs well. But I didn’t make it into the top 3, so I won’t be progressing on to the final round.

Just to make myself feel better … A few factors may have played against me. The crowd’s vote was 25% of the total score, and I had 2 songs in the contest, so that may have split the votes of people who related to my songs. Also, there were a couple of contestants from large churches who had lots of people show up to vote for them. But, I think most importantly, it seems like the judges were going for songs that are a bit more solidly in the main stream style of popular worship music. … or maybe the biggest ‘ding’ against me is that I looked ‘hot’ and that would be a distraction to people … at least that’s what my wife said. ☺

Ryan Smith DID make it into the top 3 with his song ‘Fire of God’, and I TOTALLY think that that song should be there. I think it should win the whole thing.

I wrote an intro to both of my songs for the ‘Song Writer’s Showcase’. And I thought I’d share them here to give a little more background on where these songs came from.

All My Reservations – intro
One morning I was standing in my studio in the presence of the Lord. My hands were up in the air and I could feel the presence of God thick around me. It was as though I was being moved gently back and forth by a spiritual breeze. I began to envision the massive cotton wood tree outside our house also being gently moved by a wind. And then I began singing to the Lord. This song spilled out almost complete as I sang it for the first time.

‘All My Reservations’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s songs here

Oh, My Jesus – intro
‘Oh, My Jesus’ was birthed out of my love for jazz music. As usual, I was singing spontaneous worship to Jesus around the house. That day it was in a jazz vein and one particular melody stuck in my head. I sang it pretty much all day, and recorded the various sections of the song as they popped up. I hope you’re OK worshiping Jesus with a little ‘swing’ in your step. If that’s new to you … well … give it a try.

‘Oh, My Jesus’

You can download and listen to all Dan’s songs here