Thursday, March 27, 2008

Behind the praise - Sunday March 30, 2008

"You Shine"

This song was written by Brian Doerksen. It begins with a boy chorister. Brian shared the following about the recording in Dublin, Ireland.
We recorded live on February 16, 2002, beginning the evening this way: I stepped to the front steps of the church and lit a match in the darkness. Then I lit a single candle held by Jeffrey Flynn, a boy chorister from St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin. As Jeffrey concluded the chorus of "You Shine" and the band began to play, we began to light candles all around the balcony of the old stone church we were worshipping in, and the candles continued to burn throughout the entire evening. The night seemed like "the eye of the storm" for me: full of peace and God's presence while the time before and since has been full of challenges.

Click here to learn more about Brian:
http://www.briandoerksen.com/

Click here to worship along with Brian Doerksen:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4He5Ylh9NBI

"You are Good"

Nearly Disposed - Israels' Testimony
My mother became pregnant at the age of 17 in Waterloo, Iowa. You can imagine how this is shaping up. She was given the choice of a back-alley abortion or being disowned by her family. Thank God she chose the latter. Ultimately, she was disowned, abandoned by my biological father, and ended up in San Diego, California. Picture this. It was 1971 and my mother was 8 months pregnant, all alone, thousands of miles from home, and forced to enter reality unprepared. Pretty bleak. One day while walking down the street, a lady pulled up in her Volkswagen Bug, got out, and respectfully yet boldly, began to share the Gospel with her. Words of life and hope began to overtake the words of rejection and abandonment she had grown accustomed to. There on a street corner, she ended up on her knees and cried out to God-committing her life to Jesus Christ. The lady gave her a bible and that's how I got my name. My mother started reading at page one and well, you know-you have a bible, my name's on every page!
I'm often asked by skeptics or the stoic, why I'm as passionate about worshiping God as I am. The answer is simple for me. In this age of disposable relationships, I could have easily become a statistic and at best, a distant memory of a youthful mistake. Instead, a Sovereign God rescued my mother and me and gave us hope, a future, and a testimony of the providence of God. The very least I can do is enter into His gates with fresh thanksgiving, His courts with a passionate praise, and eventually bow before His throne in intimate worship. As far as leading worship goes (which is my passion and calling), I now realize that there have been demands put on me from every part of my experience since day one - culturally, emotionally, musically, and more. So things tend to sound cross-cultural, cross- denominational, and cross-generational. I like to call it, "The Sound of New Breed Worship." I tend to lead from an internal platform founded in Psalm 124:2, "If it had not been for the Lord who was on my side"....where in the world would I be? In an age of disposable relationships, maybe we should be asking ourselves that question a lot more often. I am confident that we would worship with far more conviction, intensity, and overwhelmed gratitude if we did. It is my delight to encourage you today.
Israel
Click here to learn more about Israel Houghton's ministry.
www.profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewProfile&friendID=99989541

Israel leads a worship band called "New Breed" here's their website, you can listen to portions of the songs they sing including "You are Good"
www.newbreedmusic.com/

Click here to learn more about Israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel_Houghton

Click here to worship along with Israel:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAGZ8HmiWCM

Click here to see Israel singing "You are Good" in concert:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCpy1Bg255A&feature=related


"No More Night"

Click here for the song sung by David Phelps and narrated by Joni Erickson Tada
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDQijZ0OpaU&mode=related&search=

Click here for an arrangement by David Phelps:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vX3HHtytDo

Walt Harrah is a noted song writer, session singer and record producer.His songs include Think About His Love (Integrity Music), In The Lord Alone (Maranatha Music), and No More Night (Word). He has been a session singer for 20 years, appearing on dozens of film soundtracks from "King Kong" to "Amistad," and numerous television programs, including the Oscars and the Tonight Show. He served as producer and singer with the vocal group Haven, a regular contributor to Haven Ministries radio programming. He has appeared on numerous recordings for Integrity Music, Maranatha Music, Word and other Christian recording companies. He received a bachelor of church music from the University of Southern California and a masters of divinity from Fuller Seminary. He serves as worship minister at Grace Evangelical Free Church in La Mirada, California.


"Mighty To Save"
This is another song from the Hillsong music ministry in Sydney Australia. This song is by Reuben Morgan & Ben Fielding. This song has a great reoccuring text. "OUR GOD IS MIGHT TO SAVE". This is taken from the passage in Zephaniah 3:1717 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Click here to read more about Reuben Morgan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_Morgan

Click here to worship along with the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXCAhKDZRlo

"Here in your Presence"

Jon Egan wrote this song after meditating on the presence of God. He said that as he leads worship for the youth, he sees what a few moments spent in the presence of the Lord can do for people.

Click here to listen to Jon Egan share how he wrote the song, scroll down to the song:
www.theheartofworship.org/stories.shtml

Found in Your hands, fullness of joy
Every fear suddenly wiped away here in Your presence
All of my gains now fade awayEvery crown no longer on display,
here in Your presenceHeaven is trembling in awe of Your wonders
The kings and their kingdom arestanding amazed

Here in Your presence, we are undone
Here in Your presence, Heaven and Earth become one
Here in Your presence, all things are newHere in Your presence,
everything bows before You

Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless
in every wayWonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way

Click here to worship along with the New Life worship team:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFZyT2fEK3I

"Above All"

This song is by Lenny LeBlonc Lenny is a great song writer who lives in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. My brother Eddy served as the Campus minister at the University of North Alabama and would have Lenny over to lead worship periodically. Eddy said Lenny "the person" is the same guy as Lenny "the artist". I think that says a lot. I was re-reading Brennan Manning's book "Abba's Child". His second chapter is simply called "The Impostor", this section convicted me concerning how I treat others.
One lonely night in the Colorado Rockies, I heard this message: "Brennan, you bring your full presence and attention to certain members of the community but offer a diminished presence to others. Those who have stature, wealth, and charisma, those you find interesting or charming or pretty or famous command your undivided attention, but people you consider plain or dowdy, those of less rank performing menial tasks, the unsung and uncelebrated are not treated with the same regard. This is not a minor matter to me, Brennan. The way you are with others every day, regardless of their status, is the real test of faith." Brennan Manning "Abba's Child"
In 1991, years after Paul and Lenny had become well-known Christian songwriters and worship leaders, Lenny invited Paul to his Alabama home to collaborate on a project. Paul sang Lenny an unfinished song that he had started. The lyric began, Above all powers, above all kings/Above all nations and all created things, and went on to extol more of God's greatness. It was powerful, but Paul wasn't happy with any of the choruses he had written for it. Early the next morning, Lenny slipped into his studio to play around with the tune. Instead of expanding on Paul's verses with more majestic phrases, God gave him a chorus that touched on the paradoxical nature of Christ's life: Crucified, and laid behind a stone/You lived to die, rejected and alone.

Click here to worship along with Lenny:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9C_1imlGRE

Click here to worship along with Michael W. Smith:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7Sn5rV6oM0

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