Thursday, July 29, 2010

BEHIND THE PRAISE - SUNDAY August 8, 2010





"Our God"



Click here to listen to the song by Chris Tomlin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_t_87NyHx0

"Bless Your Name Forevermore" worship choir with Steve Hiles

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=otCmCfkwBR0

"The Stand"

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=bN1JyZ5yvE0

"Footsteps of Jesus"



The lyrics were written by Mary Bridges Canedy Slade, a Fall River, Massachusetts teacher, assistant editor of The New England Journal of Education and wife of a minister. The melody is by Asa B. Everett who completed his medical training only to pursue a career in music. He studied in Leipzig, Germany for four years



Click here to sing along
www.cgmusic.com/cghymnal/others/f/footstepsofjesus.htm

"The Heart of Worship"



Check the liner notes of almost any modern worship recording, and the name Matt Redman is likely to be among the songwriting credits. Artists and assemblies regularly perform “Let My Words Be Few” (Phillips, Craig & Dean), “Better Is One Day” (Rebecca St. James, Petra), and perhaps most of all, “The Heart of Worship” (Michael W. Smith, Sonic Flood, Passion), a beautifully simple, acoustic confessional ballad. Still, as prolific as these works make him, he says the story behind “The Heart of Worship” in particular is a personal reminder that, “I’m just a little songwriter—and a pretty foolish one at that!”
The song dates back to the late 1990s, born from a period of apathy within Matt’s home church, Soul Survivor, in Watford, England. Despite the country’s overall contribution to the current worship revival, Redman’s congregation was struggling to find meaning in its musical outpouring at the time.
“There was a dynamic missing, so the pastor did a pretty brave thing,” he recalls. “He decided to get rid of the sound system and band for a season, and we gathered together with just our voices. His point was that we’d lost our way in worship, and the way to get back to the heart would be to strip everything away.”
Reminding his church family to be producers in worship, not just consumers, the pastor, Mike Pilavachi, asked, “When you come through the doors on a Sunday, what are you bringing as your offering to God?”
Matt says the question initially led to some embarrassing silence, but eventually people broke into a cappella songs and heartfelt prayers, encountering God in a fresh way.
“Before long, we reintroduced the musicians and sound system, as we’d gained a new perspective that worship is all about Jesus, and He commands a response in the depths of our souls no matter what the circumstance and setting. ‘The Heart of Worship’ simply describes what occurred.”
When the music fades, all is stripped away, and I simply come / Longing just to bring something that’s of worth that will bless your heart… / I’m coming back to the heart of worship, and it’s all about You, Jesus
Redman remembers writing the song quickly in his bedroom soon after the church’s journey together, with no grand intentions, by any means, for it to become an international anthem. He viewed the words simply as his personal, subjective response to what he was learning about worship.
But when Matt shared “The Heart of Worship” with Pilavachi, the pastor suggested making a few small adjustments to the lyrics so any member of the church could relate to it as well.
Amazed by how God has since taken the song around the world for His purposes, the songwriter smiles in regard to his own lack of foresight. “It nearly didn’t go any further than my bedroom. But I love that…”
The trademark tune soon became the title track for Matt Redman’s 1999 album, The Heart of Worship. The recording process was consistent with the artist’s sensitive approach to being in the studio.
“We decided to not get all complicated, and just let the song ‘breathe.’ We’re always trying to create more of a church atmosphere in the studio rather than just a technical musical gathering. Something happens when the people of God gather together and play out the praises of God in the presence of God. Hopefully something of that passion and purpose transcends beyond that studio room onto the recordings themselves.”
Following Matt’s original release, which featured a guest vocal appearance by Martin Smith, lead singer of Delirious, “The Heart of Worship” became a new standard of the modern worship music movement, sung by fellow artists, choirs, and church families alike. Among the ever-rising number of reinterpretations, Redman is especially fond of Michael W. Smith’s from his 2001 classic, Worship.
“I honestly like them all,” he admits. “It’s a great encouragement when people take the songs and run with them. Perhaps my favorite is Michael’s— maybe because it’s a live version and therefore really captures and conveys the heart of the song’s theme.”
Even more encouraging, he says, is when other pastors get in touch to let Matt know how God has used the song to take their congregations through a situation similar to the one his church experienced.
As teachable as “The Heart of Worship” has become, Matt Redman continues to learn about true worship and will journey further into that heart in summer 2004 with a new album, Facedown.
“It’s such a biblical posture in worship that speaks of reverence. If you look through the Bible, there’s a whole host of people who faced up to the glory of God and found themselves facedown in worship. So the album weaves through a theme of reverence, wonder, and mystery in worship, things I feel we really need to grasp more of in our worship expressions. I know that I do!”
Click here to listen to Matt Redman share how the song came about:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=dX0gvdoWf3w

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PH-snsXw1as

“Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)”



This song was co-authored by Chris Tomlin and Louie Giglio. Chris was touched by the story of John Newton and his testimony of God’s grace. In researching the song Chris discovered that the traditional final verse “When we’ve been there ten thousand years” was actually added a hundred years later. Chris and Louie added this verse back in along with the new bridge-chorus.

Here is the original last verse:
“The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbid (forget) (forbear) to shine
But God, who called me here below,
Will be forever mine”

Click here to hear Chris Tomlin share about how he wrote the alternate chorus:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PU_4lIik9D8

Here is more information on how the song came about.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IliVc9JqW0I

Click here to watch the music video
www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXV6HJxUebg&mode=related&search=

BEHIND THE PRAISE - Sunday August 1, 2010


"New Doxology"

This is a new arrangement of the traditional Doxology. The added verse was written by Thomas Miller worship pastor at Gateway church in Southlake, Texas.

Click here to listen to Thomas share about how he wrote the additional verses from the third person:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BhN5sdKLDcQ

A doxology (from the Greek doxa, glory + logos, word or speaking) is a short hymn of praise to God in various Christian worship services, often added to the end of canticles, psalms, and hymnsThis doxology has widespread use in English circles, in some Protestant traditions commonly referred to simply as "The Doxology" and in others as “The Common Doxology”, is:Praise God, from Whom all blessings flow;Praise Him, all creatures here below;Praise Him above, ye Heavenly Host;Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Amen.

This text, which was originally the seventh and final stanza of "Glory to thee, my God, this night", a hymn for evening worship written by Thomas Ken in about 1674, is usually sung to the tune Old 100th, but also to Duke Street by John Hatton, Lasst uns erfreuen, and The Eighth Tune by Thomas Tallis, among others.

Click here for a recording of the Gateway version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_7VhWC4TAU

Click here to listen online:
www.rhapsody.com/gatewayworship

Click here to hear and see the Doxology
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHCGwJvKRBY&mode=related&search=

Click here to hear one of the most accomplished guitarist present a unique version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBE6dfT87yo&mode=related&search=

"Your Grace is Enough"

Matthew "Matt" Maher is a singer/songwriter/worship leader originally from Newfoundland, Canada, who later relocated to Mesa, Arizona. He has written and produced 3 independent albums, The End and The Beginning (2001), Welcome to Life (2003), and Overflow (2006). All three albums were produced by Maher, with Welcome to Life and Overflow both being co-produced by Maher and Nashville engineer Jeff Thomas.

Matt is most known for his song, "Your Grace Is Enough" which Chris Tomlin recorded on His 2004 Gold release, Arriving. The two met at a Youth Specialties conference held in Phoenix when Tomlin's band was asked to "back" Maher up. Tomlin instantly fell in love with the song. Since then, the song has become a popular worship anthem. Matt recorded a new version of the song, combining both his and Tomlin's versions, for the album "Empty and Beautiful". The song was released as a single on iTunes in March 2008, and reached #2 on Billboard's Adult Christian Contemporary Chart, where it remained in the top ten for over 8 weeks.

Click here to learn more about Matt Maher:
www.mattmahermusic.com/index.php

Click here to visit Matt’s myspace:
www.myspace.com/mattmahermusic

Click here to listen to how the song was written
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QIgGHA27nG4

Click here to worship along
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtnE_e1LylY

“Give me Your Eyes” Worship choir & Tim Feldman

Click here to hear the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWIpQuGwSyQ

"Friend of God"

Israel Houghton serves as one of the worship pastors for Lakewood Church in Houston. Here is a portion of his amazing story.
I really should have been one of those abortion statistics you read about. My mother became pregnant with me when she was 17. My mother's white and my biological father's black. Her family wasn't supportive of their relationship and gave her the choice to have a back-alley abortion or to be disowned. I'm here because of the decision she made-and because of her conversion shortly after that. So when I lead worship I'm crazy. I realize how fortunate I am to be called by God and to be protected, to be covered by him. I'm incredibly grateful.

I grew up in a fairly legalistic home. My parents loved God, and they did the very best they could with what they knew. They came from a very discipleship-oriented, fairly heavy-handed way of doing kingdom work. So I would have more easily said, "I am afraid of God" than "I am a friend of God." The view I had of God was dysfunctional, almost like he was looking for opportunities to punish me. That was more what I caught than what was taught.
But the more I said "I am a friend of God," the more that old, condemning view was purged from my life. I gained a healing sense of God saying, "I want to know you."

Here is a devotional thought on the song
www.gospelflava.com/articles/songinword-friendofgod.html

Here is an interview with Israel that gives great insight into Israel’s walk with the Lord. www.cbn.com/700club/guests/interviews/israel_houghton_041205.aspx

Click here to listen to the song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty0SO7IvtXM

"How He Loves"

One night during a prayer meeting, a youth pastor was praying and said, "Lord, I would give my life today if it would shake the youth of the nation. " Later that night, he died in a car accident. John Mark McMillian, a friend of his, soon after his death, became a youth leader and then a youth pastor. Nearly three years later, McMillian wrote this song. McMillian believes that God's gonna use this song and this story to shake the youth of the nation.

Check out John Mark McMillan’s story behind the song on his myspace website:
www.myspace.com/johnmarkmcmillanworship

Click here to listen to David Crowder sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWgeUrD4MHI

“You Are God Alone”

This powerful song of God’s sovereignty was penned by Billy James Foote.
The song was popularized by the trio Phillips, Craig & Dean. They share the following on why they selected the song for their album “Let the Worshippers Arise”.
“We’re drawn to songs that have a message we can sing with real conviction
and passion,” says Randy Phillips. “It can be musically phenomenal, but if
it doesn’t have a message that fits with Phillips, Craig & Dean, then we
probably ought to let somebody else record it. We believe that people can
be healed, delivered, impacted and empowered by praise and worship, and
when we place a song in the family of songs we sing, we believe it has to
be strong enough to really cause someone to be changed. ‘You Are God Alone’
definitely has that potential.”

It is the message of a particular verse that kept Dean’s attention after
hearing the song. “There’s a line that says, ‘You are not a god dependent
on any mortal man. You are not a god in need of anything we can give.’ I
kept trying to justify in my mind that there is something He needs from us
- our praise. But the truth of the matter is that He really doesn’t have to
have anything from us. He is self-sustained. He is God all by himself.”
That same theme of reverence and recognition of God’s presence is what also
inspired PCD’s Shawn Craig. “I love the way this song reminds us of God’s
greatness,” says Craig. “It’s a trite phrase, but I think in the last 10 or
20 years there has been a temptation for us to emphasize God’s eminence
rather than his transcendence. We’ve learned to appreciate the value of
being intimate with our heavenly Father, almost to the point of thinking
Jesus is our buddy. Yes, there are elements of truth in friendship with
God, but I think it’s important that we first remember that He’s great and
He’s awesome before we think about Him being our buddy. He’s the Creator,
He’s holy and He’s a consuming fire.”

Click here to hear the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKVyg6DA0hg

“Holy, Holy, Holy”

Holy, Holy, Holy is a hymn written by Reginald Heber (1783-1826). Its lyrics speak specifically on the Trinity as stated in Christian theology. It was written specifically for the use on Trinity Sunday, which occurs eight weeks after Easter The tune used for this hymn, "Nicaea", was named after the Nicaean Council in 325. It was composed by John Bacchus Dykes in 1861 specifically for the lyrics. The composer wrote many tunes to hymns (over 300) and many are still in use today.

Click here to listen to the story behind the song:
http://hymns.lifespringonline.com/?p=13

Click here to listen to the song:
www.joyfulministry.com/holyholyt.htm

Click here to read more about the song:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holy,_Holy,_Holy

Click here to hear a vocal arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTuPeErzEWk&feature=related

Click here to listen to an organ arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=una7Q2z0WME

Click here to listen to another organ
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWCXI-b0O54

Click here for an acoustic guitar arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XFrhK1n_K9M

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Behind the Praise - Sunday July 25, 2010


"The Lord Reigns"

Here is Klaus' testimony in his own words:

There are moments in each person’s life that shape us and cause us to change our course. One such moment in my life happened in the spring of 2003 at an “Encounter” event in Mexico. I attended the conference to help with worship and ended up with an encounter that would change my life. The word I received that weekend from Lindell was that I had not been forgotten, the Lord had need of me in this hour, and that a fountain for the nations was about to open up.
Soon after, I received an invitation to be the Worship Leader at Christ For The Nations Institute in Dallas, Texas. From the fall of 2003 through the spring of 2005 I had the privilege of entering into the presence each morning with about 1000 students who were hungry to see God move in their life. That season also opened up the opportunity to produce two CFNI Worship projects,"Glorious" and "Overtaken".
I was born in Germany, but by the time I was ten, my family ended up in Canada after several years in Chicago and Michigan. At the age of five I began taking piano lessons and continued training in classical and jazz until I was about 18. I remember hearing Keith Green for the first time and being captivated by the sound of his heart. A lot of other influences weighed in to shape my musical mindset.
In 1984 I left Canada and moved to Dallas, Texas to attend Christ For The Nations, Institute. Soon after graduating, I married Julie, who is an amazing woman and my best friend. We have three children, Candace, 11, Aaron Judah, 2, and Olivia Grace, born June 20th of last year.
After a number of years in music ministry in Plano, Texas, we felt a season of change coming into our lives. In 1995 I left the church where I was leading Worship and began getting involved with real estate and remodeling homes. Through the years I have continued traveling and Leading Worship while building custom homes in McKinney, Texas.
In the spring of 2005 I left Christ For The Nations and started Pure Worship Ministries. We are producing Worship that I believe, touches the heart of God and ministers to His people. The best is yet to come.

Click here to learn more about Klaus Kuehn:
www.klausmusic.com/

Click here to listen online:
www.imeem.com/atst/music/c1gewWR1/klaus_kuehn_the_lord_reigns

Click here to worship along with Klaus:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eaWrJtY4fYY&feature=related

"That's Why We Praise Him"

This song was written by Tommy Walker: Tommy has led worship at Christian Assembly in Los Angeles, California with his pastor, Mark Pickerill, since 1990. He has traveled with Promise Keepers, Greg Laurie Harvest Crusades and Franklin Graham.He has also been privileged to serve with such church leaders as Jack Hayford, Bill Hybels and Rick Warren. He has recorded worship projects for Maranatha! Music, Integrity Music, and Get Down Ministries. He has written over 100 songs that are currently being tracked by C.C.L.I. and are being sung in churches around the world, including He Knows My Name, Only A God Like You, That's Why We Praise Him, Lord I Believe In You, Mourning Into Dancing, Break Through, This is What Christmas Means to Me, and his latest song, I Have a Hope.For the last decade Tommy has traveled internationally holding worship concerts and mercy ministry outreaches in places where people are in great need. He has led his worship team to the Philippines, Japan, Korea, Singapore, Guatemala, Zambia and Brazil. Tommy has been married to his wife, Robin, for seventeen years. They have four children, Jake, Levi, Emmie and Eileen. To be found faithful to His God, his family and his local church will always be his greatest achievement.

Check out Tommy Walker here
www.tommywalker.net/

Click here to sing through the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3OopRS5hYg

Click here to listen to the song:
http://wordmusicnow.com/Song.asp?SongID=100

"I AM" soloist Ben Mclallen

click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHz2_HLw7fg

"Love Lifted Me"

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Th_L2IA94Gg

Matthew 14: 30-33 (NASB) But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind stopped. And those who were in the boat worshipped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!”

Rowe and Smith wrote this song in Saugatuck, Connecticut. According to Rowe’s daughter:
“Howard E. Smith was a little man whose hands were so knotted with arthritis that you would wonder how he could use them at all, much less play the piano…I can see them now, my father striding up and down humming a bar or two and Howard E. playing it and jotting it down.”

“There is a Fountain”

This is one of the first hymns William Cow¬per wrote after his first attack of temporary madness. Cowper had been promised a post as Clerk of the Journal to the House of Lords, but was dismayed upon learning he would have to undergo a public examination in the House before beginning his duties. The following article from the North American Review, January, 1834, describes his dilemma, and how God prevented him from destroying himself:

As the time drew nigh, his agony became more and more intense; he hoped and believed that madness would come to relieve him; he attempted also to make up his mind to commit suicide, though his conscience bore stern testimony against it; he could not by any argument persuade himself that it was right, but this desperation prevailed, and he procured from an apothecary the means of self-destruction. On the day before his public appearance was to be made, he happened to notice a letter in the newspaper, which to his disordered mind seemed like a malignant libel on himself. He immediately threw down the paper and rushed into the fields, determined to die in a ditch, but the thought struck him that he might escape from the country. With the same violence he proceeded to make hasty preparations for his flight; but while he was engaged in packing his portmanteau his mind changed, and he threw himself into a coach, ordering the man to drive to the Tower wharf, intending to throw himself into the river, and not reflecting that it would be impossible to accomplish his purpose in that public spot. On approaching the water, he found a porter seated upon some goods: he then returned to the coach and was conveyed to his lodgings at the Temple. On the way he attempted to drink the laudanum, but as often as he raised it, a convulsive agitation of his frame prevented it from reaching his lips; and thus, regretting the loss of the opportunity, but unable to avail himself of it, he arrived, half dead with anguish, at his apartment. He then shut the doors and threw himself upon the bed with the laudanum near him, trying to lash himself up to the deed; but a voice within seemed constantly to forbid it, and as often as he extended his hand to the poison, his fingers were contracted and held back by spasms.
At this time one of the inmates of the place came in, but he concealed his agitation, and as soon as he was left alone, a change came over him, and so detestable did the deed appear, that he threw away the laudanum and dashed the vial to pieces. The rest of the day was spent in heavy insensibility, and at night he slept as usual; but on waking at three in the morning, he took his penknife and lay with his weight upon it, the point toward his heart. It was brok¬en and would not penetrate. At day break he arose, and passing a strong garter around his neck, fastened it to the frame of his bed: this gave way with his weight, but on securing it to the door, he was more successful, and remained suspended till he had lost all consciousness of existence. After a time the garter broke and he fell to the floor, so that his life was saved.; but the conflict had been greater than his reason could endure. He felt for himself a contempt not to be expressed or imagined; whenever he went into the street, it seemed as if every eye flashed upon him with indignation and scorn; he felt as if he had offended God so deeply that his guilt could never be forgiven, and his whole heart was filled with tumultuous pangs of despair. Madness was not far off, or rather madness was al¬ready come. After recovering, Cowper came to realize how God can erase the stain of any sin.

There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Emmanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains.

The dying thief rejoiced to see
that fountain in his day;
And there have I, though vile as he,
washed all my sins away.

Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood
shall never lose its power
Till all the ransomed church of God
be saved, to sin no more.

E’er since, by faith, I saw the stream
Thy flowing wounds supply,
Redeeming love has been my theme,
and shall be till I die.

Click here to worship along with the Gaither homecoming singers:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IH7MH7n3j28

Click here for another arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=roArM2ldIZ0&feature=related

"He Knows My Name"

This worship song was written by Tommy Walker. Tommy shared in a recent interview his conversion and call experience.
When I was 11 years old – that was a very big year in my life. That's when I gave my heart to the Lord, and I started playing guitar. This group Love Song, which was one of the first Christian rock bands of all time, was touring through town. That night they were in my living room, and Chuck Girard – the piano player – was playing my mom's baby grand piano, and we were singing a few songs together. It was one of those moments. I said, "That's it. That's who I want to be when I grow up." It was actually a very profound moment. It's through worship music that God really touched me and spoke to me. It's only natural I'd pursue that.
The following is how Tommy wrote the song:

The story of how “He Knows My Name” was written is not very exciting, nor is it inspirational. Basically it’s a story of just trying to be faithful to do my job. In that way, it is a story of self-discipline. Let’s just say, routine discipline stories are far from riveting. However, the fruit of the smallest act of discipline and obedience can be quite another story altogether. When my pastor, Mark Pickerall, wrote a sermon with the title “He knows my Name,” he asked me if I could write a song to go with it. I felt utterly uninspired that day; but out of the discipline of song writing, which is part of my job description, I dug in and gave it a shot. I remember thinking as the words and music began to come to me, “wow, this is the simplest song I’ve ever written. Maybe it will work in kids’ church”. Well I went ahead and finished it – something all songwriters struggle to do when something isn’t coming out just right. And like a good, obedient, somewhat disciplined worship leader, I taught it to my church and basically, nothing happened.
A few months later, the women of my church sang it at their women’s retreat and suddenly God moved. They told me that a sense of the love of God entered the room in such a powerful way that many of them were weeping and experiencing all kinds of inner healing. When I heard this, I thought maybe I should give this song one more try. The following weekend, we sang it at church and sure enough it happened: People began to weep. But the funny part is that I also began to weep. God was speaking so intimately to me reminding me that he knew my name and was concerned about the things that concerned me. *(pg 3 He Knows my Name – Tommy Walker integrity press)

Click here to read more about Tommy Walker:
http://www.tommywalker.net/

Click here to listen to Tommy’s music on his myspace site:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=97429791

Click here to worship along with the Promise Keepers worship team:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hXsiWoyjw60

"My Jesus, I love Thee"

Sixteen year old William Featherston of Montreal, Canada wrote this simple but profound hymn in 1862, not long after he was converted to Christ. William wrote no other hymns that we know of and his brief life ended just before his twenty-seventh birthday. Here is a story about the influence of this song:
A Protestant Episcopal Bi¬shop of Michigan once related the following incident to a large audience in one of the Rev. E. P. Hammond’s meetings in St. Lou¬is. “A young, talented and tender-hearted actress was passing along the street of a large city. Seeing a pale, sick girl lying upon a couch just within the half-open door of a beautiful dwelling, she entered, with the thought that by her vivacity and pleasant conversation she might cheer the young invalid. The sick girl was a devoted Christian, and her words, her patience, her submission and heaven-lit countenance, so demonstrated the spirit of her religion that the actress was led to give some earnest thought to the claims of Christianity, and was thoroughly converted, and be¬came a true follower of Christ. She told her father, the leader of the theater troupe, of her conversion, and of her desire to abandon the stage, stating that she could not live a consistent Christian life and follow the life of an actress. Her father was astonished beyond measure, and told his daughter that their living would be lost to them and their business ruined, if she persisted in her resolution. Loving her father dearly, she was shaken somewhat in her purpose, and partially consented to fill the published engagement to be met in a few days. She was the star of the troupe, and a general favorite. Every preparation was made for the play in which she was to appear. The evening came and the father rejoiced that he had won back his daughter, and that their living was not to be lost. The hour arrived; a large audience had assembled. The curtain rose, and the young actress stepped forward firmly amid the applause of the multitude. But an unwonted light beamed from her beautiful face. Amid the breathless silence of the audience, she repeated:

‘My Jesus, I love Thee, I know Thou art mine;
For Thee all the follies of sin I resign;
My gracious Redeemer, my Saviour art Thou;
If ever I loved Thee, my Jesus, ’tis now.’

This was all. Through Christ she had conquered and, leaving the audience in tears, she retired from the stage, never to appear upon it again. Through her influence her father was converted, and through their united evangelistic labors many were led to God.”

Worship along with Crystal Lewis by clicking here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgjkl_Nv1Yg&feature=related

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

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Behind the Praise - Sunday July 18, 2010




"All the Earth will sing Your Praises"

Paul Baloche says that this song was his attempt to write a song that would cover the story of Jesus from the cradle to the empty grave, a song that would encompass the gospel. Click here to hear Paul talk about the song.

www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-312-AlltheEarthWillSing-Baloche.mp3

Click here to worship along with Paul
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8rY7dwwqYs

“Hosanna”

I see the King of Glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes yeah


I see His Love and Mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing


Hosanna hosanna
Hosanna in the highest
Hosanna hosanna
Hosanna in the highest


I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith


I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees


Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like You have loved me
Break my heart for what breaks Yours
Everything I am for Your Kingdom's cause
As I walk from earth into eternity


Brooke Gabrielle Fraser is an award-winning New Zealand singer/songwriter. Brooke is the eldest of the three children born to former rugby star Bernie Fraser and his wife Lynda. Brooke started taking piano lessons at age 7 and she continued to take these until she was 17. She started writing songs at age 12 and taught herself the acoustic guitar at 16.

Brook started performing at the ''Parachute Festival'', a Christian music festival held annually in Australia and has continued to do so each year since 2000. She is one of the worship leaders at the Hillsongs church in Sydney, Australia.

Click here to visit Brooke’s myspace:
www.myspace.com/brookefraser

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7SMUf6QcyQ

"Everything" - Worship choir & orchestra

Everything, everything, Lord, You are everything to me;
Everything, everything, Lord, You are everything to me.
My treasure, my priority, Who can compare to You;
Great is the measure of Your royalty,
Oh Morning Star, You truly are everything.


Click here to worship along with the Lakewood Church:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=YHmNXvUhZtI

"He Keeps me singing"

A Methodist preacher by the name of Luther Bridges, was born in 1884, he married Sarah Veatch and three lovely sons were born of their union. Pastor Bridges accepted an invitation to minister at a conference in Kentucky in the year 1910, so he left his family in the care of his father-in-law and made the trip to Kentucky. There, two wonderful weeks of ministry resulted. The last service closed with great joy and he was excited to be called to the telephone. He couldn't wait to tell his wife about all the blessings. But it wasn't her voice on that long distance line. He listened in silence to the news that a fire had burned down the house of his father-in-law and his wife and all three of his sons had died in the blaze. That distraught father leaned heavily on His Savior and expressed his faith in God during a tearful moment by penning these words:
There's within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low,
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still, In all of lifes ebb and flow.

Click here to listen to a quartet arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNQ4RbfF4jM

Click here for a recording of the song:
http://my.homewithgod.com/heavenlymidis/hekeepsmesinging.mid

Click here for a ragtime piano version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiJrzRg17l4

“Breathe”

A friend's suicide had left her reeling, but out of Marie Barnett's desperate need for God came a worship classic sung around the world.
Marie Barnett didn't consider herself a worship songwriter, although she had led worship with her husband John for years and wrote her own compositions during her personal worship time. John was the writer, penning what Barnett terms "tons" of worship music through the years (including "Holy and Anointed One"). "He's the worship writer," she explains, adding "I never sat down and wrote thinking, This could be sung in a congregation. It was more between me and the Lord in my bedroom with the door locked."
But that all changed during a Sunday evening service at the Mission Viejo Vineyard in Southern California. The Barnetts were leading worship as they had done hundreds of times before, and words to what would become the worship song "Breathe" just spontaneously came out.
" We had been singing 'Isn't He' by John Wimber," Barnett recalls, "and my husband continued to play. I was so enthralled with Jesus at that moment, thinking I could never live, I could never even take a breath if I didn't have a word from Him every day. And so I heard those words-'this is the air I breathe, this is my daily bread'-and I started singing them."
Before she knew it, the congregation had joined her. Still, it wasn't as if Barnett left that night convinced she has a worship hit on her hands. There had been other spontaneous songs, but she soon realized "Breathe" was different. "People would come up to me at the grocery store and say, 'You know what we were singing on Sunday night? I've been singing it all week.'"
So they began to sing the song regularly in church and it continued to elicit a strong response, bringing many to tears. Barnett says even now she can hardly get through it. "I think the word 'desperate' digs deep into me," she says by way of explanation. "The longer I'm a Christian, the more desperate I am for God."
Not to mention Barnett was feeling particularly desperate around the time the words for "Breathe" came to her. A dance teacher by day, Barnett's boss of 10 years had recently taken his own life, leaving behind a note asking her to take over the dance studio. "He was very depressed and had just gone through a divorce and was on all kinds of weird medications and into New Age thinking," she recalls of the tragic incident. "He even came to church with me once right before he took his life and I was like, Well, what good did that do? In the end, the event left Barnett with questions for which there were no answers. And that desperation came out in her songwriting."
Shortly after being written, "Breathe" wound up on Vineyard's Touching the Father's Heart #25 and seemed to be on its way to finding a broader audience. But if there's one thing Barnett learned from watching her husband's songwriting career, it's that the timing isn't up to us.
"We recorded the song for Vineyard and then nothing happened," Barnett says. "Not that I thought anything about it because to me it was just a neat thing the Lord gave to our church." Five years later, worship leader Brian Doerksen was putting together Vineyard's Hungry and contacted Barnett about including "Breathe." Then came Michael W. Smith's version on his 2001 release, Worship.
Barnett was driving in her car when she first heard the track playing on the radio. "I just started bawling. I love that version because at the end when he's saying 'Cry out to Him' it's like 'Oh! People are worshipping Jesus! Yea!'"
Since writing "Breathe" Barnett regularly contributes songs to the worship time at Vineyard Community Church of Laguna Niguel, the California church plant where she and her husband lead worship today. And she continues to run the dance studio as her late boss wished. With more than 600 students and 20 classes to teach each week, Barnett says the business venture provides with her plenty of material for her songwriting. And to round out her schedule, she also teaches at worship conferences, going "wherever people invite me."

Click here to worship along with Michael W. Smith:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oad8ov10AjY

Click here for a moving video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwLgyMzzh0M


“Healer”

This is an article from the Hillsong church webpage about the Healer Story. Initially it seemed that Mike Guglielmucci wrote the song and then was healed, but after further investigation it came out that Mike had made up the story. It doesn’t minimize the message of the song or the healing power of the Lord.
Removal of a song from the album This Is Our God
On August 20, 2008, Michael Guglielmucci, a former Planetshakers pastor who composed a number of songs for Hillsong, including “Healer” from the album This Is Our God - a song about his cancer struggle - admitted he had lied about ever having cancer in the first place. Representatives of churches with which Mr. Guglielmucci had affiliations told the press they were totally unaware of the situation. In an e-mail sent to Hillsong members, the church’s general manager George Aghajanian said the news was even a shock to Mr Guglielmucci’s own family and that the suspended pastor was seeking professional help. A statement is expected to be read at congregations affiliated with Australian Christian Churches on Sunday, August 24, 2008. The ACC promised that all money donated by listeners inspired by the song will be returned or donated to charity, and is currently auditing Mr. Guglielmucci’s bank accounts to determine the amount of funds raised. The track “Healer” was promptly removed from the tracklist of the album This Is Our God on Hillsong’s website where one can buy MP3 tracks , and there are plans to revoke CDs and DVDs that contain the song.

Click here to watch a news report on CNN about the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei7v2b2lEyQ&feature=related

Click here to hear Brian Houston share his thoughts on the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1SsMbckSUo&feature=related

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaB53_AS7Ug&feature=related
Click here to purchase Kari Jobe’s version of “Healer”

"HOW GREAT IS OUR GOD"

This worship song was written by Chris Tomlin. Chris said he almost apologized to the Lord for writing such a simple song, but felt that the English language could only go so far in describing the greatness of our God. After writing the song he felt in his spirit that he had written a song that would be embraced by the church around the world.
Chris received his first guitar from his father, Connie, at the age of eleven after contracting a case of mono. Then, Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. He entered college planning to study medicine, but he stated that he felt God's calling to something else and did not pursue that career.

In the mid-1990's Tomlin spent time leading worship at the Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences, as well as at various camps around the state of Texas.

Following college, at Texas A&M University Tomlin continued to play and write songs, and in 1997, Louie Giglio asked if he would be interested in working with the Passion Conferences. Tomlin agreed, and he has played a key role ever since. His first nationally released solo project, entitled The Noise We Make, was released in 2001, which saw the emergence of songs "Forever" (his most famous song other than "How Great Is Our God"), "Be Glorified", and "Kindness", all of which made the top 200 in the CCLI 2005 top 500 worship songs.

According to Christian Copyright Licensing International's list of the top 25 worship songs in the United States as of August 2007, Tomlin held 5 spots with songs he has either written or co-written with other songwriters: "How Great Is Our God" (#1), "Forever" (#5), "Holy Is the Lord" (#7), "We Fall Down" (#12),and "Indescribable" (#22).


Click here to listen to the story behind the song:
www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-302-HowGreatisOurGod-Tomlin.mp3

Click here to listen to Chris share about how the song came about on newsong café:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpfKli_4LQ0&mode=related&search=

Click here to worship along with Chris:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjxPG_mRHDs&feature=related

Click here to learn more about Chris’ ministry:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Tomlin#Biography

Click here to visit Chris’ website:
http://www.christomlin.com/

Click here to visit Chris’ myspace:
www.myspace.com/christomlin

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Behind the Praise - Sunday July 11, 2010



"Your Name is still Higher" The worship choir & orchestra will share this powerful song about the name of the Lord.

"Our God"
Click here to listen to the song by Chris Tomlin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_t_87NyHx0

"God So Loved" Crossroads Youth choir Click here to listen to the song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=PS7tMu3XpWE

“I have a River”

I have a river, a river of life,
Flowing in side of me, and it never runs dry.
I have a treasure, a glorious prize,
The Spirit of God in me, in abundant supply.

Verse 1
Jesus, You are my living water,
And I’ll never need what this world offers.
So I will rejoice,
For You have made me glad.
I want this world to want what I have.

Verse 2
Spirit of God, my source of power.
You’ve given more, than I could ask for.
So I will rejoice,
For You have made me glad.
I want this world to want what I have.


Click here to listen to the song:
www.emusic.com/album/I-Have-a-River-MP3-Download/10941126.html

Billy Foote has been a worship leader for 16 years. He travels with his band and his wife, Cindy, is the vocal lead. Together they lead worship at college, youth, mission and church-wide events. Billy is also a prolific worship song writer. He’s written many widely known songs such as “You Are My King (Amazing Love),” “Sing to the King,” “You Are God Alone (NOT A god),” “I Have a River” and “Break Our Hearts.” Billy and Cindy desire to teach that worship is more than a song or something to do at an event. It’s a lifestyle.

Billy and Cindy adopted their daughter Libby and you can follow their family story at www.followthefeet.blogspot.com. Currently Billy and Cindy are also adopting from Ethiopia. You can follow this adoption journey at: www.adoptingaria.blogspot.com. They make their home in San Antonio, Texas.
You may also visit www.myspace.com/billyfooteband

Click here to learn more about Billy’s ministry:
www.billyfoote.com/

“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 the Hillsongs ministry:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=klxcJaOooPI

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

"Still"

… the challenge of the Church is to keep worship accessible to all people - Rueben Morgan

Rueben wrote the song "Still" as a reminder to "be still and know that I am God". Reuben has a passion to see the church and the world inspired to worship God. A worship pastor on the Hillsong church leadership team, Reuben works alongside
Darlene Zschech to create an atmosphere of praise and worship that draws
people into God’s presence and helps soften hearts to Jesus’ salvation message.
Reuben is an integral leader of the Hillsong church worship team, teaching often
at the Worship and Creative Arts program. Leading worship on a weekly basis at
Hillsong church, Reuben was the youth Music Pastor who helped to establish
‘Hillsong United’- currently one of the most sought after youth praise and worship
bands having appeared at Creation, Edmonton and Soul Survivor in 2003. He
was one of the major producers on four of the United albums including Everyday,
Best Friend, King Of Majesty and To The Ends Of The Earth. With a congregation
of over 15,000 people, Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia is potentially the
nations largest local church with a TV program that reaches over 125 different
countries across the globe. Hillsong has been instrumental in

Click here to worship along with the Hillsong version
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk8horRi3_E

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

“Spirit of the Living God”

Daniel Iverson (Born: Brunswick, Georgia, USA September 26 1890; Died: Asheville, N.Carolina, USA January 3 1977
Daniel Iverson was educated at the University of Georgia, the Moody Bible Institute Chicago, Columbia Theological Seminary Decatur Ga., and the University of South Carolina. He was ordained a Presbyterian minister in 1914, and served churches in Georgia and in South and North Carolina. He organized the Shenandoah Presbyterian Church in Miami, Florida, in 1927; and ministered there until retiring in 1951.

In the spring of 1926 Daniel Iverson, a Presbyterian pastor from Lumberton, North Carolina, visited a friend who was conducting a revival in Orlando, Florida. One evening Iverson was extremely moved by the sermon he had heard on the Holy Spirit, and he wrote a hymn that Christians have been singing ever since. Iverson died in Montreat in 1977, but we are still singing his hymn. Spirit of the living God,

Spirit of the Living God fall fresh on me;
Spirit of the living God,
fall fresh on me.
Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me.
Spirit of the living God,
fall fresh on me.

Click here for a solo arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=BagH-zTfnsQ&feature=related

Click here for a gospel arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SST1vxJ886k&feature=related