SNEAK PEAK - MONDAY JANUARY 18, 2010

CHECK OUT THE CHOIR EXCELLENT BUCKET PROMO
www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLd8OABuNv8

Behind the Praise - Sunday January 17, 2009

THIS WEEKEND IS D-NOW

here's a short word from our youth Pastor Brandon Webb on the Parents conference this Friday night at 7:30PM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTsznfQ_86Q&feature=youtube_gdata

“Let the Praises Ring”

This powerful worship song was written by Lincoln Brewster. Brewster has been musically inclined since his early childhood in Homer, Alaska. At the age of one, his mother, Cheryl, noticed how well he could keep rhythm on a drum set his grandfather had given him. At the age of five, his mother introduced him to the mandolin. Quickly mastering the instrument, he began playing for cruise ship tourists alongside his mother in Homer, Alaska.
By the age of 12, Brewster had a band called Lincoln and the Missing Links, which included his mother on bass and vocals. In his late teens, he moved with his family to California where he joined the high school jazz band (playing guitar and drums) and marching band (playing snare drum).
Due to connections gained in Los Angeles, he had recording contract offers by 19. Feeling an emptiness in his life, Brewster attended church services with his high school sweetheart and Christian, Laura. He recalls feeling God drawing him close after attending a drama ministry performance with Laura. "I was afraid to lay down a lot of things in my life," Lincoln said. "One night, I laid all my cards on the table. I asked the Lord to come into my life, all by myself. It was the best night of sleep I'd ever had. I was very peaceful. I think that was what enabled me to blow off that record deal."
After receiving a call from Steve Perry inviting him to audition as lead guitarist for his next solo project, For the Love of Strange Medicine, Brewster accepted and began songwriting and rehearsals for the album. Brewster's guitar technique, tone, and equipment choices possessed similar qualities and texturing to Journey's Neal Schon, and was touted as a favorable feature in the resulting album. He also toured with Perry for six months from 1994 to early 1995.
At the end of the tour, Brewster and wife Laura moved to Modesto, California where they attended Calvary Temple Church. After working as a sound technician for the church for a while, the senior pastor offered Brewster the position of associate music director and youth worship leader.
In 1997, the Brewsters left California and moved to Nashville to serve as youth pastors and eventually as full-time music ministers at The Oasis Church. It was there that Brewster met with executives from Integrity Incorporated who were there to work on a new Hosanna! Music album. After seeing his talent on the guitar, one executive listened to a demo project Brewster had produced. Already impressed with the production work and artistry, the executive also learned that Brewster had played every instrument and performed all the vocals himself. In 2001, Lincoln moved back to California to become the worship pastor at Bayside Church in Sacramento.

Click here to visit Lincoln’s myspace:
www.myspace.com/lincolnbrewster

Click here to learn more about Lincoln:
www.lincolnbrewster.com/

Click here to visit Lincoln’s churches website:
http://www.baysideonline.com/

Click here to worship along with Lincoln Brewster:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjmko-fLmbY&feature=related

"Unto the Lamb" worship choir with Jennifer Reynolds

This great worship song was written by Brian Ming, worship director for CHRIST FOR THE NATIONS in Dallas.Here is Brians' testimony in his own words:Recently, God has called me out to the body of Christ to impart at local churches, at conferences, and various events. I feel called, not to one exclusive organization, or denomination, but to go where He opens the door. If you are interested in having me, my wife, and/or team come, send me a message. Well, a little background on me.....I've been in full time ministry since the age of 19yrs old (unless you count playing the drums for my parents church at age 9). I was youth pastor, college pastor, music pastor, young adults district cordinator, masters commission director, and the list goes on & on. I pioneered a lot of cool ministries (with the help of amazing people that God put around me).....I love working with young people who are passionate for Christ! We had a group that traveled all over the country leading people to the Lord through worship & dramas. God has allowed me to accomplish many things at a young age. I am very excited at what He is doing in my life NOW! I am currently the worship leader at Christ for Nations Institute & I have the privilege of being around some awesome students! God has put a desire in my heart to challenge this next generation to make a difference in their world, with a life of worship. As well as ministry on the platform, I feel just as called and anointed to be a loving husband to my beautiful wife Kristen, and a father to three amazing children.

Click here to worship along with Brian Ming - the song is on his stand-alone player
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=185732641

Click here for the Woodstock Georgia recording:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDdE8s_y4c4

“Happy Day”

The greatest day in history,
Death is beaten
You have rescued me
Sing it out Jesus is alive
The empty cross, The empty grave
Life eternal You have won the day
Shout it out Jesus is aliveHe's alive
Oh happy day, happy day
You washed my sin away
Oh happy day, happy day
I'll never be the same
Forever I am changed

This new song was written by Tim Hughes. Tim Hughes is a British-based Christian music artist, worship leader, and songwriter. Widely respected in Christian music circles, Tim is renowned for his Dove Award-winning modern worship anthem: “Here I Am To Worship”.Tim & his wife Rachel have been involved with Soul Survivor events around the world as well as the Soul Survivor Watford church for many years.Tim now heads up the worship at Holy Trinity Brompton, having previously been Worship Pastor at Soul Survivor Watford (a post now held by Ben Cantelon) and is passionate about resourcing musicians and worship leaders.

Click here to learn more about Tim:
www.timhughesmusic.com/

Click here to sing along:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAq_CVciNSs

Click here to purchase Tim Hughes “Happy Day”


“Overcome”

Seated above, enthroned in the Father's love
Destined to die, poured out for all mankind
God's only son perfect and spotless one
He never sinned, but suffered as if he did

All authority, every victory is Yours
All authority, every victory is Yours

Savior, worthy of honor and glory, worthy of all our praise,
You overcame Jesus, awesome in power forever, awesome and great is Your name,
You overcame

Power in hand speaking the Father's plan
You're sending us out, light in this broken land
We will overcome by the blood of the Lamb
And the word of our testimony, everyone overcome

Click here to learn more about Jon Egan composer of this powerful song:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=34106535

Click here to listen to the story behind the song:
http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=33819070&blogID=440712561

Click here to worship along with the Desperation Band:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sjYWrpNoCs

"God of this City"

The following is a short version of how this song came about.

A group named "Bluetree" wrote the song "God of this City", and it's quite an amazing. It happens that the members of Bluetree are Christian and were on a missions trip serving as a band in Thailand. They were asked to play in a bar in some small town called Pattama (or something of that nature), and were scheduled to play almost 2 hours of music for the bar patrons (pretty weird eh?). Well while they were there, the lead singer Aaron was taken back by the fact that there were over 400 underaged prostitutes in that same town. He spontaneously started singing about the thoughts and emotions he had about this and most of the song came to be that night. In a way, he told Passion Los Angeles, that the song was written for both their hometown of Belfast (which they've been praying for revival to happen in), and also for that town of Pattama in Thailand.

How Chris and the band heard it was Chris was doing worship at a conference out in the UK. Bluetree was also in attendance and Daniel Carson (Chris' guitarist) heard the song and told Chris to come over to give it a listen. Chris didnt make it in time to hear the song, but talked with Aaron and heard the story of the song afterwards and brought the song to Passion and Louie as they planned to do their Regional USA tour and World Tour.

Click here for the Bluetree version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqQhZKpZVCo&feature=related

Click here to worship along with Chris Tomlin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=d61LamkXfwk

"Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King"

This arrangement is by Thomas Miller, Worship Pastor of Gateway Church in Southlake, Texas. I had the opportunity to visit with Thomas during my sabbatical, he said the added chorus came to him on a Saturday morning watching college football. He was singing through the order for that evenings service and wanted to have some kind of transition to the next song and the following simple chorus came to him.
"Come Thou fount, come Thou King, Come Thou precious Prince of Peace; Hear Your bride, to you we sing, come Thou fount of our blessing."

The original hymn was composed by the 18th century Methodist pastor and hymnist Robert Robinson. The hymn is set to an American folk tune known as Nettleton, by attribution to the evangelist Asahel Nettleton who composed it early in the nineteenth century. Robinson penned the words at age the of 22 in the year 1757.

Click here for a version of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_OLyPhHHWk

If you like more of a traditional arrangement check out this choir arrangement here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUhU0HgTq94&mode=related&search=

Offertory Sunday will be "Glory" sung by Deborah Reavis and Jessica Kellner
Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeFnd7Q_1Gg

PREVIEW - WORSHIP CHOIR - Wednesday January 13, 2009

Check out the spring worship choir anthem line up here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=U402JRV6j1Y&feature=youtube_gdata

Behind the Praise - Sunday January 10, 2010

"My Savior Lives"

This is a new song by Jon Egan & Glenn Packiam of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Co. When asked about writing songs for the church in an interview Jon shared the following.

Those songs were written out of innocence just to equip our own church. I think that probably is the reason for the success. The heart of these songs, the heart of us as worshippers or worship leaders, has always been to help our people in our spheres of influence. The fact that it's equipped the Church beyond our church is overwhelming, wonderful, and humbling. Jared: We weren't really following anyone into it; we were just excited about what God was doing. We started to try our own songs at times other than Sunday morning. We just put it out there to see if it would live. It began that way, and it crept into the culture of Sunday morning.

Click here to listen to the song:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=139038586

Click here to worship with the New Life church:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_SB-SpNm00&feature=related

"Thou, O Lord"

This is one of our Choirs' favorite anthems, based upon the Psalm 3
Psalm 3A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom.
1 LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, "God will not deliver him." 3 But you, LORD, are a shield around me, my glory, the one who lifts my head high.4 I call out to the LORD, and he answers me from his holy mountain.5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
6 I will not fear though tens of thousands assail me on every side.7 Arise, LORD! Deliver me, my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people.

Click here to hear the Brooklyn Tabernacle choir minister the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=y284YvkYrZo

Click here to hear the Lee University Campus choir minister the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0yOfnwPNd4

Click here to listen to the Prestonwood Choir arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=PZtDVYOb-fw

"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

“Draw me Close to You”

Kelly caught "the worship bug," as he calls it, about 12 years ago while attending a worship conference at his California Vineyard church. He was on the worship team and was able to spend some time with Canadian worship leaders Andy Park and Brian Doerksen. A couple of years after the conference, he started leading worship, as well as writing worship songs.
One of those songs was "Draw Me Close."
As it happened, Kelly had just finished a church service in late January 1994, but his heart was not quite in it. "My heart was heavy that day because I had come to the realization that I had put my ministry in front of my relationship with the Lord. So I literally cried out to Him, "I lay it all down again to hear You say that I'm Your friend." Within 20 minutes, he says, "the song just spilled out."
"This song has always been intensely personal for me," Kelly adds, "and continues to bring me back to my knees, that my relationship with God should come first before the call, the vision, and the ministry that He has given me."
At first, he didn't actually use the song at his church because it was such a personal song. "I cried when I wrote it," he explained. "Still, I actually thought it was a really different song, like something Barry Manilow would write." Worship leader Andy Park was the first to hear the tune, oddly enough, while he was busy replacing the kitchen floor in his house. "He had it playing on a boom box," Kelly says, "and when he heard the line, 'I lay it all down again,' he broke down."
Park then asked him to play on a live record in July of 1994, and asked if he would lead on the original recording of the tune. Over the next couple of years, Kelly was invited to do a lot of conferences, where he would be asked to present his song. But because it was so personal, he rarely did it.
The years following these were filled with struggle and disappointment for Kelly "We've gone through some tough times in the last five years. Times when I felt God was calling me to full-time ministry. Honestly, it's been very difficult figuring out my faith and my walk with God. During these years, 'Draw Me Close' became much more to me than an 'I'm in ministry' kind of song. It became much deeper for me. Life, and all the stuff we wind up going through makes it really hard to keep the Lord at the center. God ends up using pain and brokenness to draw us to Him. The song became very germane and poignant to those moments--a 'come home again' kind of song."
Kelly says brokenness, as he's come to understand it, is a universal experience throughout life. "The song connects with anyone who is going through brokenness." He continues, even years down the road to hear from people who've been impacted by the song.
Over the past few years, a couple of high profile Christian music artists have recorded his song. The Katinas recorded his song for Rocketown Records' Exodus project, taking the song to number one on Christian radio charts. Michael W. Smith recorded "Draw Me Close" on his Worship project, which sold over a million copies in just about a year. It's also on Smith's Worship live video and DVD.
Kelly, a soft-spoken man, is in awe of what's happened, yet at the same time he doesn't follow the charts or keep tabs on where the song is being played or how wide reaching the impact of the song has gone. "I don't even think it's important to know the hugeness of what has happened. I see it as only a gift from God to me...and it's turned into the gift that keeps on giving. People in ministry like to know that what they're doing is making a difference."
He also said he doesn't revel in the uniqueness of the song, choosing to look at this song's success in the larger context. "I've written 75-80 worship songs, probably had about a dozen published, and this is the one that has done well. It's really a bit of a phenomenon, if you ask me."
The song is based upon Psalms 73:28, 84:2, 16:2, 16:11, 42:1-2, 63:1, 73:25

Click here to worship along with Michael W. Smith:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWG9-PJFcK8&feature=related

Click here for another arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALzCQn8LA4M

Click here to hear an arrangement by Kutless:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-07PKW9PRI

"From the inside out"

This powerful worship song is by Joel Houston. Joel Timothy Houston (born September 19, 1979) is a song writer and worship leader at the Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. He is employed as the producer of Hillsong's youth band, Hillsong United. He is the oldest son of Hillsong Church's pastors Brian and Bobbie Houston and grandson of Frank Houston. He has two siblings, a brother Benjamin and a sister, Laura.

Click here to worship along:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tv0qZl_Qu84

Click here to listen online:
www.last.fm/music/Hillsong+United

"It is Well"

Click here to watch the Gaither video version with David Phelps
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPFVijGcLtI

Click here for more background information:
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_With_My_Soul

To listen to the song click here:
www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/i/t/i/itiswell.htm

"Sing Hallelujah"

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

Behind the Praise - Sunday December 27, 2009

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

“Hark the herald angels sing” Christmas Carol was written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley founder of the Methodist church, in 1739. A sombre man, he requested slow and solemn music for his lyrics and thus “Hark the herald angels sing” was sung to a different tune initially. Over a hundred years later Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) composed a cantata in 1840 to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. English musician William H. Cummings adapted Mendelssohn’s music to fit the lyrics of “Hark the herald angels sing” already written by Wesley.

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDPwNPAV6tAg:

Click here see the various arrangements available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hark+the+herald+angels+sing&search_type=&aq=f

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Christmas Bells" on Christmas Day 1863 in the midst of the American Civil War and the news of his son Charles Appleton Longfellow having suffered wounds as a soldier in the Battle of New Hope Church, VA during the Mine Run Campaign. He had suffered the great loss of his wife two years prior to an accident with fire. His despair in the following years was recorded in his journal.The poem has been set to several tunes. The first tune was set in the 1870s by an English organist, John Baptiste Calkin, to his composition "Waltham". Elvis Presley, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Jimmie Rodgers have recorded this version. Less commonly, the poem has also been set to the 1845 composition "Mainzer" by Joseph Mainzer. Johnny Marks, known for his song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", set Longfellow’s poem to music in the 1950s. Marks' version has been recorded by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Ed Ames, Kate Smith, Frank Sinatra, Sarah McLachlan, Pedro the Lion, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, The Carpenters, MercyMe, Bing Crosby, and Bette Midler. Marks' composition is now generally accepted as the de facto version and is generally what is used for modern recordings of the song, though Calkin's version is still heard as well. In 1990, John Gorka recorded his arrangement entitled "Christmas Bells", which uses stanzas 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the poem. In 2008, Mark Hall, lead vocalist of Casting Crowns, recorded his own arrangement, which was released on their Christmas album, Peace On Earth.

Click here to listen to the Casting Crowns version:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7670CXvPX0

"Sing, Sing, Sing"

This song was written by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves, Daniel Carson, Travis Nunn and Matt Gilder. Chris shared the following on how the song was written. "This song was written together as a band. Really it’s the only song that we’ve written together like that. Usually I have most of the song written before I bring it to the band, so this one is unique because it came out of us being in the room together. I remember the guys getting the feel of it and it beginning to come together musically. So I just found a corner of the room listening to what they were doing with my headphones and started singing out that first lyric idea of the chorus, “sing, sing, sing.” This song became a big part of our Passion regional events and World Tour. It is crazy to see how immediate this song is with the audience. It’s the most fun I’ve had with a song in a while. I love the energy and the connection this song brings with the audience."

Click here to worship along with Chris Tomlin:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=tGPN2Z-bgS0

"In the Cross of Christ I Glory"

There is a sto­ry (prob­ab­ly apo­cryph­al) about the in­spir­a­tion for these words. The tra­di­tion is that Bow­ring was sail­ing past the coast of Ma­cao, Chi­na. On the shore were the re­mains of an old, fire gut­ted church. Above the ru­ins, he saw the church’s cross still stand­ing. The ti­tle of this hymn was carved on Bow­ring’s tomb­stone.

"Completely Done"

The old is gone, the new is comeWhat You complete is completely doneWe're heirs with Christ, the victory wonWhat You complete is completely doneThis song was written by Jonathan & Ryan Baird. Jonathan is part of Sovereign Grace Church in Pasadena, California, where his dad, Lynn Baird, is a pastor. Jonathan leads the worship-team ministry, and is the primary worship leader at his church. Jonathan also sings and plays guitar for the band West Coast Revival (WCR) with his brothers Aaron and Ryan. Jonathan married his wife, Nicole, in October 2005. They live in Sierra Madre, California. Ryan is a member of Sovereign Grace Church in Pasadena, California, where he helps lead worship and leads the sound team. He sings and plays keyboard for the band West Coast Revival (WCR), which recently released its first self titled album. WCR plays for Sovereign Grace churches in the western U.S., and occasionally travels to the East Coast as well. Ryan and his wife, Chalene, were married in July of 2005. They live in Pasadena.

Go here to get a free download of the song:
www.sovereigngracemusic.org/albums

Click here for a sample at the Worship God '09 conference:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-4xnWaaWs8




"Before the Throne of God Above"

This song was written by Charitie Lees Smith Bancroft in 1863, but was recently published by Vikki Cook who wrote an alternate melody for it.
You can hear the old version by clicking here. http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/b/e/beforetg.htm
You’ll recognize the tune as “Sweet hour of Prayer”

Click here to read through the words:
www.inchristalone.org/BeforeTheThrone.html
What a great line in the second verse:
“For God the just is satisfied to look on Him and pardon me”.

Click here to worship along:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_GB_N_79-Q&mode=related&search=





"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 away
Every crown no longer on display,
here in Your presence
Heaven is trembling in awe of Your wonders
The kings and their kingdom are standing amazed
Here in Your presence, we are undone
Here in Your presence, Heaven and Earth become one
Here in Your presence, all things are new
Here in Your presence, everything bows before You
Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchlessin every way
Wonderful, beautiful, glorious, matchless in every way

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

Behind the Praise - Sunday December 20, 2009

"Go Tell it on the Mountain"

"Go Tell It on the Mountain" is an African-American spiritual dating back to at least 1865 that has been sung and recorded by many gospel and secular performers. It is considered a Christmas carol because its original lyric celebrates the Nativity: "Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere; go tell it on the mountain, that Jesus Christ is born."

Like many carols, the precise history of “Go Tell It on the Mountain” is a bit fuzzy. Although generally considered an anonymous work, Studwell believes the piece was written by Frederick Jerome Work (1880-1942), a black composer, teacher and scholar. Work was deeply involved in the collection, arrangement and dissemination of black spirituals, so it is possible, says Studwell, that Work only discovered and preserved the song. However, Studwell’s research has led him to believe that Work actually penned the piece, which was then arranged and disseminated by his nephew John Wesley Work. Studwell places its first publication in the early 1900s, but the piece gained little notice until the 1920s when the Fisk University Singers began performing the song. Even then, it did not make much of a splash.“I looked through hundreds of carol collections and other song books and I could not find it in any collection prior to the 1950s,” says Studwell. About that time the song steadily began to gain in popularity, winning over listeners with energetic beat and its enthusiastic call to action. “Most carols of the 20th century are not so enthusiastic. This is more like some of the older carols, like Joy to the World or Come All Ye Faithful in that regard,” says Studwell. “It shows some real enthusiasm for the Christmas holiday."

Click here to listen to James Taylor sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEUn1AxDYo

Click here to see the various arrangements available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=go+tell+it+on+the+mountain+&search_type=&aq=f

"I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day"

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote "Christmas Bells" on Christmas Day 1863 in the midst of the American Civil War and the news of his son Charles Appleton Longfellow having suffered wounds as a soldier in the Battle of New Hope Church, VA during the Mine Run Campaign. He had suffered the great loss of his wife two years prior to an accident with fire. His despair in the following years was recorded in his journal.
The poem has been set to several tunes. The first tune was set in the 1870s by an English organist, John Baptiste Calkin, to his composition "Waltham". Elvis Presley, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, and Jimmie Rodgers have recorded this version. Less commonly, the poem has also been set to the 1845 composition "Mainzer" by Joseph Mainzer. Johnny Marks, known for his song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer", set Longfellow’s poem to music in the 1950s. Marks' version has been recorded by Fred Waring and the Pennsylvanians, Ed Ames, Kate Smith, Frank Sinatra, Sarah McLachlan, Pedro the Lion, Harry Belafonte, Johnny Cash, The Carpenters, MercyMe, Bing Crosby, and Bette Midler. Marks' composition is now generally accepted as the de facto version and is generally what is used for modern recordings of the song, though Calkin's version is still heard as well. In 1990, John Gorka recorded his arrangement entitled "Christmas Bells", which uses stanzas 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the poem. In 2008, Mark Hall, lead vocalist of Casting Crowns, recorded his own arrangement, which was released on their Christmas album, Peace On Earth.

Click here to listen to the Casting Crowns version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7670CXvPX0

"Good Christian Men Rejoice"


Words: Heinrich Suso (?-1366); Folk­lore has it that Suso, hear­ing an­gels sing these words, joined them in a dance of wor­ship. This song has survived several complex revisions since its anonymous fourteenth-century creation. In 1601, Bartholomaeus Gesius wrote a modern arrangement of the traditional tune, now called "In Dulci Jubilo." Later, Johann Sebastian Bach included Gesius's theme in his Chorale Preludes for the organ. In its next generation, Sir John Stainer made further refinements to the tune under its new title, "Nun singet und seid froh." The Christmas song that we enjoy today is courtesy of Reverend Dr. John Mason Neale, who translated the lyrics into English from German.


Click here to listen to a wonderful choral arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HAHe1i27U6c

Click here for an organ arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6N-ZAHRfRF8

"Away in a Manger"

Away in a manager is always the first carol that children are taught. Away in a Manger was originally published in 1885. The publication of Away in a Manger was in a Lutheran Sunday school book and this created the misconception that the lyrics of Away in a Manger were actually written by Martin Luther himself. The author is unknown. The music to Away in a Manger was composed by William J. Kirkpatrick in 1895.

Click here to see the various versions available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=away+in+a+manger&search_type=&aq=f

Click here to hear celtic arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOJb6uOF05Q

"Untitled Hymn"

This song by Chris Rice was on his recording "Run the earth and watch the sky". What a great name for a recording.

Click here to learn more about Chris
www.christianmusic.com/chrisrice/bio.html

Click here to worship along with the song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=39XD1ImxGWw&mode=related&search=

Click here to listen to worship along with song
www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_4g8_e16dc&mode=related&search=

"God is With Us"

Lisa Speir will share this reflective song by Casting Crowns. Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhzWypOp-E4&feature=PlayList&p=827530AE83D06DAF&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=8

Behind the Praise - Sunday December 13, 2009

"Joy To The World"

One of our most popular Christmas carols is the result of the efforts of Isaac Watts and Lowell Mason—and, some believe, George Frederick Handel. Watts was a frail, quiet man only five feet tall. Mason was an energetic publisher, choir director, and composer. Handel was a large, robust musical genius. Handel and Watts were contemporaries in London and one imagines they must have appreciated each other's talents. Mason lived 100 years later in Boston.
In 1719 Isaac Watts, already a notable scholar and author, sat down under a tree at the Abney Estate near London and began to compose poetry based on Psalm 98. Watts had begun writing verses as a small child. In his teen years he complained that the songs in church were hard to sing. His father said, "Well, you write some that are better." And so he did. For the next two years, young Isaac wrote a new hymn each week. (He would eventually write more than 600 of them, all based on Scripture.) Today, hymns like "Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed" and "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" are hallmarks of the Christian church, and Watts is regarded as "the Father of English Hymnody."In 1741 George Frederick Handel, who was already famous as the composer of several operas and oratorios, decided that he wanted to do a truly great work. After spending time in prayer, he arose from his knees and for 23 days labored almost continuously day and night. The immortal Messiah, now a Christmas tradition, was the fruit of that incessant struggle.A nobleman once praised Handel for the "entertainment" he had furnished in one of his compositions. In no uncertain terms Handel let the nobleman know that his music was composed to make men better, not to entertain them.Almost a century later, Lowell Mason set Watts's poem of "joy" to music. For years it was assumed that Mason used tunes from Handel's Messiah for portions of the arrangement, but the veracity of that claim is now debated among scholars. Listeners can judge for themselves. But this we know: It was Mason who ultimately brought the pieces together to give us "Joy to the world"

Click here to listen to the acapella group Take 6:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=evywpq32Oa0

Click here if you like Michael Bolton:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=CXY8Vtnrsxc

Click here for the various recordings:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=joy+to+the+world&search_type=&aq=f

"Down in Bethlehem"

Click here to listen to this song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXyyELHqkII&feature=related

"Hark the Herald Angels Sing"

“Hark the herald angels sing” Christmas Carol was written by Charles Wesley, brother of John Wesley founder of the Methodist church, in 1739. A sombre man, he requested slow and solemn music for his lyrics and thus “Hark the herald angels sing” was sung to a different tune initially. Over a hundred years later Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847) composed a cantata in 1840 to commemorate Johann Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. English musician William H. Cummings adapted Mendelssohn’s music to fit the lyrics of “Hark the herald angels sing” already written by Wesley.

Click here to listen to the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDPwNPAV6tAg:

Click here see the various arrangements available: www.youtube.com/results?search_query=hark+the+herald+angels+sing&search_type=&aq=f

"Angels We have Heard on high"

The words of the song are based on a traditional French carol known as Les Anges dans nos Campagnes (literally, The Angels in our Countryside). Its most common English version was translated in 1862 by James Chadwick. It is most commonly sung to the hymn tune "Gloria", as arranged by Edward Shippen Barnes. Its most memorable feature is its chorus: Gloria in Excelsis Deo! (Latin for "Glory to God in the highest")

Click here to listen to Josh Groban:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZSfhyjKr7pE

Click here for an arrangement by Christina Aguilera:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Zlz1NNBsOw


“You are For me”

Click here to visit Kari Jobe’s website:
http://www.karijobe.com/

Click here to hear Kari share about how she wrote the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mB4phSOaheM&feature=PlayList&p=E7841C140C8806D7&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=7
Click here to listen to Kari Jobe sing the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HdfKTTeGj2U&feature=fvw

Click here to purchase “You are for me”


"O Holy Night"

"O Holy Night" ("Cantique de Noël") is a well-known Christmas carol composed by Adolphe Adam in 1847 to the French poem "Minuit, chrétiens" by Placide Cappeau (1808-1877), a wine merchant and poet. Cappeau was asked to write a Christmas poem by a parish priest. It has become a standard modern carol for solo performance with an operatic finish. In the carol, the singer recalls the birth of Jesus. It was translated into English by Unitarian minister John Sullivan Dwight, editor of Dwight's Journal of Music in 1855, and lyrics also exist in other languages. On 24 December 1906, Reginald Fessenden, a Canadian inventor, broadcast the first AM radio program, which included him playing "O Holy Night" on the violin. The carol therefore appears to have been the first piece of music to be broadcast on radio. It later appeared in an edition of carols by Josiah Armes, published by Oxford in 1936, subsequently increasing its popularity.

Click here to listen to Josh Grobans' arrangement:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQWXfHzOKUU

Click here to see the other arrangements available:
www.youtube.com/results?search_query=o+holy+night+&search_type=&aq=f