Behind the Praise - Sunday November 15, 2009

"God of My Days"

Zach Neese's perspective:"God of My Days" took me two years to write, because I was concerned about the hearts of the people that it would minister to. The lyrics had to be true in the mouths of both mourners and people who were rejoicing. It had to ring true as a sacrifice of praise and as a statement of faith. I began writing out of a holy discontent. I was frustrated by the Church's tendency to paint a happy face over the reality of people's suffering. Sometimes Christians come across as uncompassionate because we deny or fail to address people's pain. Our churches are full of people who are hurting, and many times we make them feel guilty about it.God isn't afraid to talk about pain. He never denies it. He guarantees it (John 16:33). He also guarantees that He will never leave us to face it alone (Hebrews 13:5) and that He is bigger than whatever we're facing.He is the God of every season and situation of our lives.Recently, my wife Jen and I had a baby girl, and God was right there rejoicing with us. A few years ago, we lost a baby boy. God was there for that too, wrapping us in His powerful, comforting arms and helping us mourn. In both situations, He was God. In both, He was worthy of praise, and from both, He will bring something miraculous.Maybe I don't understand. But I believe. He is God of my days, King of my nights, Lord of my laughter and Sovereign in sorrow. He is the Prince of my praise and the Love of my life. He never leaves me, and He is always faithful. He is the God of my days.

Click here to visit Zach's myspace - you can play the song from here.
www.myspace.com/zachneese

Click here to worship along with the gateway worship team:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHGaXj-gdEc

Click here for another arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBAExdZPad8



"Turn Your Eyes Upon the Cross"
Worship choir - Soloist Tami McLallen

"Hungry"

This song was written by Kathryn Scott while living in Glasgow. Kathryn found her self desperate for the Lord and this song became her personal cry for revival.

Click here to listen to Kathryn share her story:
www.theheartofworship.org/stories.shtml


Hungry I come to You For I know You satisfy
I am empty but I know Your love does not run dry
So I wait for You So I wait for You I'm falling on my knees
Offering all of me Jesus You're all This heart is living for
Broken I run to You For Your arms are open wide
I am weary but I know Your touch Restores my life

Click here for Kathryns' myspace:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=95452289

Here is Kathryns' bio:

Kathryn (Rainey) Scott was born into a very musical family with a passion for ministry. During her early childhood, her father Roy and singer/songwriter mom Mildred worked in a recording studio when the family wasn’t travelling across the UK with an evangelism group. It was during those early years that Kathryn made a decision to follow Jesus. And, by age 9, she had begun writing songs with the encouragement of her mom. At 19, she entered Elim Bible College (now Regent’s Theological College) in England, where she studied theology and met her future husband, Alan. The couple married after college and together began to seek God’s plan for their lives, believing they were called to plant a church but not sure of how to go about it. They began the journey by becoming assistant pastors at Alan’s home church, South West Glasgow Vineyard. At that time, Kathryn met award-winning artist and songwriter Brian Doerksen and began working with him to hone her own skills as a worship leader and songwriter. Soon after, she penned the songs Child of God and Hungry, which were eventually recorded by Vineyard Music. Two years later, Alan and Kathryn departed for Northern Ireland to plant a church of their own. A year later, Causeway Coast Vineyard began meeting in a local pub when the couple could find no other available venues. Within a few years, the church grew to a congregation of over 400 adults and 100 children. And, as the church grew, so did Kathryn’s reputation as a songwriter. She signed with Integrity Music and released her critically-acclaimed solo debut Satisfy in 2003. The CD included the popular songs At The Foot Of The Cross, Search Me, Know Me and the evergreen Hungry among others. She also continued writing with Doerksen and artist Paul Baloche, contributing songs and guest vocals to their recent Integrity CDs. In mid-December of ‘07, Kathryn will release I Belong, a studio recording produced by Brent Milligan. The CD features co-writes with Baloche and Doerksen and with her first writing partner and coach, her mom. Kathryn and Alan are busier than ever at Causeway and as parents to their young daughters Sophie and Emily Joy.

Click here to worship along with Kathryn Scott:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gPbAz4H6ZE

Click here to listen online:
www.imeem.com/ronny1994/music/EaWlJeAP/kathryn_scott_hungry/

“At the Cross”

Hillsong music ministry

Here’s another worship song written by Darlene Zschech and Reuben Morgan. Here’s a short portion of her testimony and how God delivered her from bulimia.

Darlene's no stranger to troubled teen years. Outwardly her childhood seemed glamorous—she was singing and dancing on a weekly children's television show in Australia, Happy Go 'Round, at the age of 10. But when she was 13, her parents divorced. The pressures of television, combined with the emotional turmoil of her parents' divorce and the custody battle that ensued, took their toll. By age 14, bulimia reared its ugly head. But in 1980, God intervened: Darlene's father rededicated his life to Christ and started taking Darlene to church, where she asked Jesus into her life at 15. While there she also met Mark, her husband of 16 years, with whom she shared faith in Christ. Darlene and Mark dated for a year and a half and married one week after she turned 19.

Click here to learn more about Darlene:
www.darlenezschech.com/

Click here to worship along with the Hillsongs music ministry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HRjXBbtbEpM

Click here to worship along in Spanish with the Hillsong music ministry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3l8_5WXEpF0

“Here I Am to Worship”

If songs are like children to their writers, then 25 year-old Englishman Tim Hughes carried "Here I Am To Worship" to full term, letting the reverent tune take perfect shape over a nine-month period. Back in 1999 while still in college, he first sat down to craft a musical response to his reading of Philippians 2:5, which says, "Make your own attitude that of Christ Jesus." And from the start, he had the humility part mastered. "I was playing around with my guitar when the verse just came out," he modestly recalls. "However, I couldn't get a chorus that I was happy with. The original one was embarrassingly bad!" Thankfully, Tim recorded the verse into his Dictaphone, and months later during a quiet creative time, he patched it together with another strong melody idea and brought "Here I Am To Worship" to fruition. "I'd been reading about the cross and thinking through Jesus' amazing sacrifice," Tim says of the lyrical theme. "Sometimes when God meets with us we don't quite know how to respond properly. It's often too much for us to take in. Hopefully in a small way the chorus captures that: 'Here I am to worship. Here I am to bow down. Here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, worthy, wonderful.'" Although the song had been completed, the writer was still not convinced of its potential. Leading worship at his Soul Survivor home church one day, Tim sang "Here I Am To Worship" for his fellow members and was duly advised by his pastor Mike Pilavachi to start using it more often. Since then, Hughes - who built his own chops leading Delirious and Matt Redman favorites - has seen the song take on a life of its own. It must be a God thing.... People have seemed to really connect with it, and we've had some special times in worship using the song," he admits. "I remember one time at the end of a Worship Together conference in San Diego when we'd been performing the song. The band stopped, and then the congregation just kept singing the chorus for about 15 minutes."

Click here to listen to the story behind the song by Tim Hughes.
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-196-HereIAmtoWorship-Hughes.mp3

Click here to worship along with Michael W. Smith: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_kAjok4-Uk

Click here to read more about the composer Tim Hughes
www.crosswalk.com/spirituallife/worship/1227531/

“Jesus Messiah” Offertory by Jason & Stephanie Meyer

This song was written by Chris Tomlin, Daniel Carson, Ed Cash and Jesse Reeves. Chris shared the following on how the song came about.

I have always wanted to write a song with the word messiah in it. I have always been intrigued by the idea of Jesus being the Messiah and I wanted to capture that in a song. Jesus the one who came to save us, he is a rescue for sinners and a ransom from heaven.

Messiah is the transliteration of a Hebrew term, Mashiach. The New Testament (Greek) equivalent is Christos. Both terms mean "the anointed one."

Click here to listen to Chris share how the song came about:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHpHIotUzPA

Click here to worship along with Chris Tomlin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAssOfn5cAI