Here I Am To Worship - Tim Hughes

 “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross”

This is Our God - Reuben Morgan
“Freely You gave it all for us,
Surrendered Your life upon that cross
Great is the love poured out for all
This is our God”

Arms of Grace - Beth Croft
“Your arms are open wide,
Grace takes me back again, You always take me back
There’s mercy in Your eyes
Thank You Lord for loving me,
There’s nothing like Your love”

I Can Only Imagine - Bart Millard
“Surrounded by Your glory, what will my heart feel
Will I dance for You Jesus or in awe of You be still
Will I stand in Your presence or to my knees will I fall
Will I sing Hallelujah, will I be able to speak at all?”

Above All - Paul Baloche/Lenny LeBlanc
“You took the fall, as You thought of me, above all”

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord) - Matt Redman/Jonas Myrin
“And on that day when my strength is fading
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing Your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more”

Your Love Never Fails - Chris McClarney/Anthony Skinner
“You make all things work together for my good”

Burning Ones - Chris Quilala/Jeffrey Kunde
“Let this love be like a fire,
Let our lives be like a flame
Fill our souls with Your desire
Let our passion bring You fame”

Beautiful - Phil Wickham
“When we arrive at eternity’s shore
Where death is just a memory and tears are no more
We’ll enter in as the wedding bells ring
Your bride will come together and sing “You’re beautiful”

The Way of the Cross - Matt Redman
“I resolve to give it all,
Some things must die, some things must live,
Not “what can I gain”, but “what can I give”
If much is required when much is received,
It’s time You had my whole life, Jesus have it all”

Hungry - Kathryn Scott
“Jesus, You’re all this heart is living for”

Jesus, Jesus (Take Me As I Am) - Suzette Thorndycraft
“Take me as I am,
And I will call You Lord,
Come take me here and now
And be my Saviour”

Facedown - Matt Redman
“And I’ll fall Facedown, as Your Glory shines around”

Blow, Mighty Breath of God - Anthony Skinner/Ross Huskinson/Tom Lane/Scott MacLeod
“Streams of mercy falling down,
Light of Heaven, all around
And it’s falling to the ground”

Obsession - Martin Smith
“My heart burns for You”

Make Your Home in Me - Michael & Helen Frye
“Now that I am here with You,
There’s no place I’d rather be
Now that I have felt Your touch
Make Your Home in me”

Surrender - Marc James
“I’m singing You this song
I’m waiting at the cross
And all the world holds dear
I count it all as loss
For the sake of knowing You
And the glory of Your name
To know the lasting joy
Even sharing in Your pain
I surrender, all to You”

Love Came Down - Brian Johnson/Jeremy Riddle/Jeremy Edwardson/Ian McIntosh
“Love Came Down and rescued me,
Love Came Down and set me free,
I am Yours, God I’m forever Yours”

Come to Me - Jenn Johnson/John Hendrickson
“Though Your heart and flesh may fail You,
I’m Your faithful strength,
And I am with you
Wherever you go”

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The last week has seen a couple of these posts from others - Worship Leader magazine posted their top 20, and then my friend and great blogger Joel Klampert posted his. Since the overarching opinion of these posts (and the comments made on them) has been that this is a highly subjective topic, I thought I'd give you mine - would love to hear your comments! (NB: I've not numbered them, as they're in no particular order)

Delirious - Cutting Edge (1,2,3,4)

The original, still for me the best collection of worship songs - still using songs like “Thank You For Saving Me”, “Lord You Have My Heart” and “Oh Lead Me” in sets today. My first experience in a youth band was with songs like “I’ve Found Jesus”, “I’m Not Ashamed” and the pinnacle - “Obsession”.

Vineyard - Hungry

When I first rolled up at a Vineyard church in 2001, songs from this album were some of the most direct songs I heard. The title track, “Make Your Home In Me”, “Humble King” and “Child of God” stand out as songs that speak directly of the intimate relationship we have with our Abba Father.

Matt Redman - Passion for Your Name

One of the first worship albums I heard start to finish - Paul Carrack’s harmony line on “I Will Offer Up My Life” resonated with me immediately. Again, songs like “It’s Rising Up” & “The Cross Has Said It All” formed a part of my early youth band experiences.

Matt Redman - 10,000 Reasons

Having 2 of Matt’s albums one after the other may seem odd, but remember, these albums are 16 years apart! Releasing fresh, new material, for many, is a challenge from one song to the next, and yet Matt manages to release (in my opinion) his best album almost 20 years after his first appearance at a Soul Survivor festival in the early 1990s. The title track sounds like it’s always been around, it is an uplifting, inspiring collaboration with Jonas Myrin, and songs such as “Never Once”, “Holy” and “Here for You” affirm this album’s status as a superb product of a life devoted to worshipping God.

Bethel - Be Lifted High

Speaking of which..... The explosion of the Bethel worship team since 2009 has been nothing short of astonishing. Quality exudes in every area - musicianship, arrangement, songwriting, and most importantly, the pull of heaven to earth in worship. Awesome, simply awesome album.

Jesus Culture - Consumed

In the same vein, the Jesus Culture movement are firing on all cylinders in their quest to bring the sound of heaven to the lives of young people across the globe. This generation of “Burning Ones” instill passion into worshippers worldwide, and it is with this passion they intend to bring the name of Jesus into the lives of all who encounter the Lord through their “brand” of worship.

Vineyard - If You Say Go

Perhaps one of the lesser known Vineyard albums, this song features several amazingly deep worship songs - “Invitacion Fountain”, “If You Say Go”, “Undone” & “Sovereign Lord” being my personal favourites. 

Third Day - Offerings II

The first Third Day album I bought - and the buzz for their brand of worship has never left me. I love the truth that comes across in this album, a desire to bring something of worth to Him, and to see His glory - all done under an umbrella of an earthy guitar rock sound.

Rend Collective - Organic Family Hymnal

“Come on My Soul, tear down the walls” - from the moment this chorus started I felt something break in me - the idea that we can come to God with nothing, ask anything of Him and go away with as much of Him as we want was brought home to me listening to this phenomenal album.

Sarah Reeves - Broken Things

I was sitting at a set of traffic lights when I first heard “Crash” from this album.  I heard “Holy Spirit Crash into me, like a tidal wave”, and immediately tears came streaming down my face. This, and dozens of other stories like it from members of my church, make this an absolute must-have in this list for me. I have never heard an album that can take me deeper into His presence so quickly. Buy it if you don’t have it.

Tim Hughes - Here I Am To Worship

Tim’s first solo album - a great collection of timeless classics that should be in any collection. The title track fits so many occasions and situations, and tells the story of the gospel, and our response to it, succinctly.

Vineyard - My Soul Yearns

This could be the best, and most poignant album to come out of the Vineyard in the UK for a decade. This album displays everything about the Vineyard as a movement in one album  - hearts crying out for the presence and glory of the Lord, with some great times of spontaneity, and songs that speak truth, hope and freedom in His name. This album spoke to many of our worship guys in 2011 - awesome album.

Brian Johnson - Love Came Down

Recorded live at Redding’s SoundHouse studio with just Brian & Jenn, an acoustic, a piano, a cello & a hammered dulcimer - this album displays how less really can be more when we come to Him in worship. The songs are straight from the heart, the arrangements are sublime, and the atmosphere is thick with His presence.

Jars of Clay - Much Afraid

Gets me every time - “Five Candles (You Were There)”, “Hymn” and the title track are all special songs for me. I still do “Much Afraid” in my acoustic sets - superb song. 

Hillsong Chapel - Yahweh

A movement largely associated with making quite a lot of noise with a largely high-octane style have managed to redefine the acoustic set with “Yahweh”. All your favourite songs re-arranged and delivered in a quite beautiful setting. Some of the new versions of these songs have taken what were previously inaccessible songs for Sunday morning and thrown them right into the mix.

Laura Story - Great God Who Saves

There is such a freshness to this album - simple arrangements, catchy melodies and a high quality of songwriting - her original version of “Indescribable” is on here too!

Chris Tomlin - And If Our God Is For Us

Chris has been inspiring worship leaders for years, his songs populate many, many sets worldwide, and yet again, I feel some of his most inspirational songs lie in his more recent releases. The way he constructs songs is amazing, just when you think you’ve heard all the sections, a new bridge or tag line will pop up, giving the song yet another lift. This is particularly the case in “All to Us” - the bridge to this is my heart’s cry for the church.

dc Talk - Jesus Freak

I couldn’t leave this one out - it reminds me so much of one of the great catchphrases of John Wimber (“I’m a fool for Christ, whose fool are you?”). Again, songs from this album were present in many of the sets of my first youth band - songs I still hold dear.

Jeremy Riddle - Prepare The Way

Jeremy, for me, represents the turning point in Vineyard worship of the past few, and the next few years. His best songs (which are neatly packaged into this great live album) get lots of airplay at our church, and He has a superb gift for saying just the right words at just the right time in his worship songs. This album culminates with a stirring version of Horatio Spafforth’s “It is Well” - a song that really spoke to our church last year.

MercyMe - Spoken For

This album makes it on to the list by virtue of two astonishing songs - “Spoken For”, and “Word of God Speak”. Bart Millard’s evocative lyrics, combined with subtle, refined arrangements make this a must-have in my top 20.

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Poured_Out_For_Us.m4v Watch on Posterous

I'm starting to get back into songwriting again, and this morning I got to thinking about the impact and depth of the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the Cross. This is what came out. Hope you enjoy it - constructive feedback is always welcome! :-)

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I had a time of worship this afternoon and started plucking a melody line around a couple of chords - as Brian Johnson often says, some of the best worship songs are birthed in spontaneous times, so decided to record it roughly using Photo Booth. See what you think - be constructive and ignore production - it's been recorded from my sofa with a MacBook using Photo Booth so production isn't important!

Holy_Spirit_Come_&_Dwell.m4v Watch on Posterous

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Matt Redman introduced Nathan Jess at Mission Worship’s “New Songs” Seminar over the weekend by saying that Nathan had soundchecked for him at an event in Northern Ireland, and that he’d been immediately struck by the strength of his voice. Admittedly, this was high on my list of compliments for Nathan - he has a voice that projects heart, feeling, emotion, and sincerity through his songs. It also turns out that he’s quite a songwriter, as his debut offering for Kingsway - ‘I Am Redeemed’ - shows. Let’s take a closer look.

Lyrically, this song portrays the Gospel message succinctly - telling a story of a man who came to earth, was betrayed, was raised up on the cross for our sins, and rose again to remain in Heaven with His Father for eternity. This message comes across poetically and personally, and like all the best worship songs, carries a degree of ownership for the worshipper - we can all take the message of this song for ourselves - we have been redeemed by Jesus and His sacrifice for us.

The arrangement is subtle, simple and effective. The influence of Claire & David Hamilton from Rend Collective works well in to the song - David’s guitar provides subtlety in the verses and a smooth opening riff to set the tone of the song (which also provides the bedrock for the chorus). Nathan’s vocal sits well in the mix - pushed forward, but not overpowering the backing. The drop back to just the acoustic guitar and vocal in the initial “Hallelujah” refrain is particularly well done, giving the song a base from which to build. This is the catalyst from which the song gets going - a strong progressive build-up follows in the subsequent choruses, with drums, bass and guitars working together. The layered vocals sit perfectly atop the build, providing texture and substance before a heavy guitar interlude releases a free, rocky rendition of the earlier “Hallelujah” refrain.

I’m really looking forward to hearing more of Nathan’s worship in the coming years - he has a purity in his worship that will inspire and encourage others, and also has the ability to put what’s on his heart into words, and poetic words at that. The Vineyard movement has always produced writers who can sing simple, personal love songs to the Lord, and in Nathan we have that and more - a passionate songwriter who’ll sing his heart out for the Lord.

Nathan’s single ‘I Am Redeemed’ is available on iTunes for a 79p download - buy it now! http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/i-am-redeemed-single/id480153235

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"You reveal and we respond, you have shown there's no one like You God"

King of Wonders, CompassionArt album

Claire Hamilton (of Rend Collective) launched her new Worship Re:Serve site last week (http://worshipreserve.blogspot.com) with a post that has got me thinking. Richard Foster's book Celebration of Discipline includes worship as one of the "disciplines" that shape us as Christians. The immediate thought I had was, that if worship is to be considered a discipline, that I'd like to ensure I'm doing it right!

Matt Redman often talks about striking the balance between revelation and response - how much do we ask for in worship, and in turn, how much do we give back to Him? I feel this is where the idea of "discipline" comes in. God is unchanging, He is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Therefore the only thing that affects our actions and mood towards God is us. How easy do you find it to sing an out and out praise song like Chris Tomlin's "Forever" when you're feeling low, down, or helpless? It's probably easier to sing something more reflective like Tim Hughes' "Beauty of Your Peace", a less energetic and more pensive song - song that asks God for revelation in the stillness of His peace. Is there anything wrong with that?

Ecclesiastes 3 talks of there being a time for everything. Therefore, there are times when we're empty and need to hear God speak into situations, and times when we're so full of His spirit that we can't help but sing His praise. Most of us lie somewhere in between these points - and your feelings towards where you lie on this scale probably vary constantly, sometimes changing within a matter of minutes. And, if you want a crumb of comfort if you're struggling with this - relax, take a deep breath, and tell yourself that this is normal. God created worship, and He has a plan for worship - a plan to take you deep into His love and whisper revelation to You, in order that you may respond by giving all of the glory back to Him.

The one piece of advice I can give you is that "discipline" often translates into "frequency" and "quality". The more time you spend doing something, and the more effort and thought you give to it, the more natural it becomes. Practice getting into God's presence - either "soaking" with a CD on in the background, or actively singing out to Him.

James 4:8 - "Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you"

Bless you all, have a great day. I'd love to hear your thoughts on this!

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As a few of you may know, I write for a worship music site - allaboutworship.com. These past few weeks have marked a realisation of a vision that Wisdom Moon (the founder of AAW) had for creating a “collective” album - a showcase of worship songs written by some friends of the site. In it’s first few days of release, the album featured highly in the Noisetrade top downloads, peaking at #2. Here are a few of my thoughts on the album:

The feeling of unity and collectiveness is portrayed succinctly with Matthew Reed’s ‘Crash This Place’, with the stirring bridge of “we are one, let Your Kingdom come”, combined with a chorus that invites the Lord’s Spirit to come and “crash this place with love” - powerful gang vocals really communicate the message of this great worship song.

Writing the “complete” worship song is the ultimate challenge for any worship leader or songwriter, and in Joshua Seller’s ‘To The One (Worthy)’ we find this challenge met admirably. The arrangement is uncomplicated, replicable by most typical church bands, the melody is catchy and singable, and the lyrics are heartfelt, yet with a strong rooting in the Word. 

The middle tracks on the album see piano-based worship leaders Jared Anderson, Dave Fitzgerald and Sarah Reeves come to the fore. Many of you will already be familiar with some of these tracks, Jared’s anthemic ‘Great I Am’ is an awesome praise chorus, telling of God’s greatness and power in a powerful and great worship offering. Dave’s ‘We Are An Ark’, (featuring Bethel Church Redding’s Jenn Johnson on backing vocals) has been one of my favourite worship songs of the past year. Dave and Jenn’s voices combine superbly in this poignant track, telling of the richness of God’s plan and purpose for us as Christians. If you are familiar with the practice of “soaking”, this is a great track to do this to. I have encountered few better songwriters than Sarah Reeves for stirring up images of the Holy Spirit moving in power, and ‘Mighty Wave’ is a great example of this. If you want an entire album of this amazing brand of worship, I encourage you to check out her Broken Things album - you will not be disappointed.

Moving further through the album we find acoustic duo Jenny & Tyler’s interpretation of Psalm 46. If you are a fan of tight harmonies set against subtle acoustic backing, this track’s for you. There is a reassurance in this track - the message given is that we can rest sure and confident in the greatness of His love, He is with us and will not leave us. Thanks for bringing this message in such a great track guys.

The power and depth of Andrew Ehrenzeller’s vocal in the closeout track ‘Nocturne for a Thief’ is simply stunning. The combination of this powerful vocal over a strong arrangement of off-beat drums, pounding bass, melodic piano, searing guitar and some beautifully layered backing vocals sees this album out strongly. (By the way, if you think the vocal at the start of the track is good, wait until you get to the bridge...)

For the sake of keeping this review readable I’ve touched on over half the tracks on this album - but there’s a whole load more - offerings from Will Retherford (whose opening track features Lisa Gungor), Darrell Evans, and David Walker complete the line up on this great collection. Did I mention that this album is FREE? No excuses, get yours today at http://www.noisetrade.com/allaboutworship 

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Third Day and Brandon Heath perform Rich Mullins "Creed" in the studio from Garrett Viggers on Vimeo.

Hi guys, thought I'd share this with you.

Had this introduced to me a while back by a good friend who knows Garrett - it's an awesome version of Rich Mullins' "Creed".

More of Garrett's music can be found on his website, and he also features on Brian Johnson's "Love Came Down" CD/DVD (review here).

Hope you enjoy it!

Bless you.

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First time I've done this - recorded a demo of a worship song I wrote this year based on Jeremiah 17. I love Jeremiah's faith and assurance in his salvation and healing - it gives a real positive affirmation of his calling. Your comments would be most appreciated - it's only a rough demo copy so I know the production's not great. I hope you enjoy it, and are blessed by it.

Jeremiah_17.mp3 Listen on Posterous

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“My Soul Yearns, even faints for the courts of the Lord;

My heart and my flesh cry out for the Living God."

Psalm 84

Our heart’s cry as Vineyard worshippers has always been to know the Lord more intimately, to gain a deeper relationship with Him, and Worship has always been one of our strongest tools in doing this. John Wimber (the Founder of the Vineyard), whose song “Isn’t He” is used in a time of worship in “Lift Up His Name” on this album, was a worshipper in spirit and in truth. A good friend of mine said of this album that it really captured Vineyard Live Worship - simple songs of adoration and praise to a God who we’re called to know better.

Recorded live at the UK’s National Vineyard Leader’s Conference earlier this year, this album contains songs from recent Vineyard UK releases Creator and The Lamb Has Conquered, together with a selection of other Vineyard tracks, both older and new. Also included are a couple of insights into the spontaneous times of worship from the conference, and these come under the two parts of “Lift Up His Name”.

This album has a real feeling of consistency to it, in a similar way to the feel you get from other “brands” of worship (Hillsong, Jesus Culture, Planetshakers etc). I said when I first heard the last couple of Vineyard UK albums that I would have liked to hear them live to see how they played out, and songs such as “I Respond” and “The Lamb Has Conquered” have been given a real lift here. The simplicity of arrangement - just a couple of guitars (acoustic & electric), keys, bass & drums - gives such space for the band and the worship leaders to invite the presence of the Lord to move. The result is just that - you can almost reach out and touch the Lord’s presence when worshipping to this album.

In my opinion, the point of bringing new songs to the church as a whole, is that the whole church gets to benefit from them. Church worship teams of all sizes and technical ability should be able to pick up these songs and run with them, to edify the church and deepen times of sung worship. Presented in this light, every one of these songs does just that - with simple yet effective chord sequences and melodies that are powerful yet easy to learn, churches of all shapes and sizes should have no problems applying these songs to Sunday morning worship times. In order to further facilitate this process, Vineyard Records have made the chord charts available on their website, and even provided “SongTeach” instructional videos to help learn acoustic guitar parts for the songs.

It can often be hard to discern where to get new material from for times of worship on Sunday mornings - we are blessed with many different Worship Leaders, bands and churches to get influence from. One of the principal reasons I started going to a Vineyard church 11 years ago was it’s worship - the songs were living conversations with a living God - a God of love, peace, grace, and mercy, a God who lives through all who call upon His name and love Him above all others. I can think of no better songs to sing than ones that describe this relationship - which this album does succinctly. Bless you guys, this is an anointed worship album.

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During a good discussion last night with some friends, we got to the subject of the crossovers between worship, the Word, and Prayer. I’m intrigued, how often do you think about this?

To give you a couple of examples, look at the way Matt Redman (for one) brings the Word to songs such as “Better is One Day” (see Psalm 84), “Undignified” (see 2 Sam. 6), and “Facedown” (Numbers 20). Matt is a good example of a worship leader whose outlook is not merely focused on sung praise, but on increasing intimacy with the Lord - (See “Intimacy”, “Now To Live The Life”, and “You Must Increase” for Matt’s guidance on how to do this).

On Sunday, we sang one of my favourite songs of prayer to the Lord - Martin Smith’s “Thank You For Saving Me”. A song (and without the music, a very definite prayer) of Thanks and Praise to the Lord, this song gives us the opportunity to thank Him for His mercy, grace, forgiveness, greatness, and sacrifice on our behalf. A great prayer for all to see.

If you see yourself as not being able to connect easily with worship, this could be a good start - listen to a few songs, look up the lyrics and pray them. If you’re a scholar of the Word, and have verses that touch your heart, use a search engine to find songs that go with them. If you are looking for inspiration for your prayers, look for songs that match your heart’s cry.

What experiences have any of you had with this? Can you share any testimonies?

Bless you all, have a great week.

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With Bethel Music’s next corporate release looking very much as if it will be a predominantly acoustic offering, I thought it would be a good time to reflect upon a great live acoustic CD/DVD from Brian Johnson (worship pastor at Bethel Church, Redding). Recorded in 2009 by Jeremy Edwardson at the Soundhouse in Redding - the venue and production team for many of the Bethel and Jesus Culture releases - this album offers an intimate insight into Brian’s heart for worship. Brian is joined by his wife Jenn (backing vocals), Jeffrey Kunde of Jesus Culture switches from his usual guitar duties to play grand piano, Martin Rosenhoff plays a stirring cello part, and Gabe Valenzuela provides percussion. A very interesting twist to the arrangement sees Garrett Viggers adding his gifts on the hammered dulcimer for the latter half of the album.

The first thing that strikes me about this album is how natural it is. To illustrate this, one need look no further than the final track - 'Light A Fire'. I’ve been to a number of workshops and seminars over the years that have gone into the intricacies of writing lyrics for worship, but nowhere have I seen anyone explain how what seems like such a simple set of lines can make such a powerful song as this. Unsurprisingly from a church that lives, breathes and prays for the coming of revival, simply asking the Lord to “light a fire in us oh God, that no one can take away” creates a powerful message for a wholehearted song of worship to the Lord. If we want our congregations to sing passionately and in abandoned praise to the Lord, then it is imperative that the songs we give them to sing are easy to learn and easy to follow. Brian’s songwriting style heavily promotes these attributes, and the result (as you can see on the DVD) brings a room full of worshippers with the ability to sing their hearts out in deep engagement with the Lord.

These themes of simple, effective, teachable and heartfelt songs continue right through the album with songs such as “Worthy is the Lamb”, “I Really Love You” and “I Love Your Name” - all marked with Brian’s humility in songwriting - giving all the glory back to the Lord in worship. Interspersed within these songs we find a couple of Bethel favourites - a contemplative version of Keith Green’s “Oh Lord You’re Beautiful”, and the title track of Bethel’s first live album “Here is Love” gets another outing here. The title track - “Love Came Down - brings to mind a talk given by Bill Johnson - pastor of Bethel Redding and also Brian’s father - where he talks about the need for storing up the Lord’s goodness, grace and love so that we always have something to hold dear, even when we seem away from Him and aren’t necessarily hearing direct from Him. I’ll leave you with the empowering lyrics of the first verse:

 “If my heart is overwhelmed, and I cannot hear Your voice,

I’ll hold on to what is true, though I cannot see.

If the storms of life they come, and the road ahead gets steep,

I will lift these hands in faith, I will believe.”

Amen to that Brian, bless you. 

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In a conversation I had with Innes Johnston from eatacd.com last week, we were talking about some of the emerging artists and bands they had on the site, and Awaken found their way into the mix. A band whom Innes knows well, their efforts were mainly geared towards live playing (always with the promise of recorded material on the horizon) and the guys at eatacd.com wasted no time in getting them on board once their EP was produced. Their EP is now available for download here 

If I were to sum up this EP in one word, it would be “energy”. From the first 5 seconds, the guitar leads you into a highly charged introduction to “Known By You”. This celebration of who Jesus is (our Risen Saviour), and who we are in Him (His children, known by Him), powerfully expresses the Gospel in a lively, inspiring worshipful chorus. As could be expected from a band with two drummers, the rhythm is strong, driving, and the dominant force in the opening song, including a worshipfully uplifting display of drumming and vocals to close out the song.

I’m a huge fan of old songs and hymns being updated, when they’re done well, and the rendition of “There Is A Redeemer” definitely makes it’s way firmly into this bracket. From the subtle opening, with a clean delayed guitar, you are taken into an atmosphere of abandoned praise to the Lord in the chorus. Nothing is held back in this song, the drums are again powerful, the guitars and bass complement the heavy rhythm track well, and yet there is still space for the vocals to sit atop this mix and come to the fore. This rework of an old song is very reminiscent of Rend Collective Experiment, and would fit nicely with the latter’s version of “Thine Be The Glory” for feel, edge, and passion.

It is important when producing a short EP to display variety, and here we find ourselves at the title track. A moving, laid back introduction displays the quieter side to Awaken, with a subtle yet powerful vocal and guitar arrangement. You can almost hear the Spirit of the Lord moving in this track, building through the initial verses and choruses. The presence of the cello on this track gives a good point to drop back to, and this is particularly evident before the closing, highly charged chorus. Here, Awaken’s brand of rhythmic explosiveness and passion comes to the fore again, with rousing drums and powerful vocals.

The EP closes out with the sole acoustic track on the album - “All My Life”. A stirring declaration of faith, trust, and surrender, this song combines a warm acoustic guitar and cello backing with a moving vocal line. This song serves as a welcome reminder to us that everything we have, every gift and every treasure, is from Him and for Him. He holds all our promises, and all our hope is in Him. The message of this song is superbly put across, and will serve as a real blessing to anyone who listens.

These guys have got something. The rawness, the energy, the passion, the heart of Awaken all come across with this offering, and I pray that this would be the start of a great new chapter for them. Bless you guys.

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photo © 2010 Gillian B | more info (via: Wylio)

"No death, nor life, no present or future

No angel no demon, no power no creature

Can take me away from the love that's in Jesus Christ"

(Carl Cartee, Mark Harris & Glenn Packiam - from Forgiven Forever (The Kingdom Comes EP))

This chorus, a representation of Paul's words in Romans 8:38-39 has been on my heart a lot this week.

God calls us not to live in fear, worry, anxiety, or shame, but rather He calls us, His redeemed children, to live with hope, faith, trust, assurance and love.

I pray this week that whatever comes your way you'd look to Him, to His perfect love, and know that you're hope lies in Him. If He is for us, who can stop us?

Bless you,

Ed

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On a previous album release by the Bethel Church, Redding, Brian Johnson asked "What does it sound like, when heaven comes down?" If worship is to be the order of the day in the heavenly realm (and the book of Revelation certainly points to this being the case), I would suggest that we are starting to shape what we'd like it to sound like. The latest release from Bethel in the form of Be Lifted High draws on everything the current "sound" dominating many contemporary worship albums has to offer - vocals pushed to the fore, driving guitars and bass, subtle yet highly effective keys, and intricately woven drumbeats. Then Bethel, as we've come to expect from many of their endeavours, ask God to take everything to a whole new level, and He provides. Let’s take a closer look.....

A couple of days ago, Jenn Johnson tweeted “from the first 5 seconds of “You Are Good” happiness increases. Breathe Him in today”. That, to me, sums this album up perfectly, it’s about proclaiming His goodness, for His glory, for our salvation. The searing guitar riff for ‘You Are Good’ sets the track up, then after a brief pause for contemplation we are taken into a rocking praise anthem, singing because He is good, dancing because He is good, shouting He is good. From here, Brian Johnson continues with his take on his own ‘One Thing Remains’ offering, (that you may have previously heard Chris Quilala lead on Jesus Culture’s Come Away album). I have previously expressed my admiration for this song, but to reiterate, this is quite a song, another one that would fit Jenn Johnson’s ‘happiness’ category - you just can’t help smiling when you think of the amount of love God has for us.

From here we go to, in my opinion, the best track on the album - ‘Furious’. Driving undertones led by Jeremy Riddle’s unmistakable vocal gifting combine with powerful lyrics that succinctly describe God’s burning love for us. Jeremy Riddle has recently taken over as assistant worship pastor at Bethel, adding a great asset to an already highly gifted and anointed team. This offering, together with his other 2 songs on the CD (‘God of the Redeemed’ & ‘One Thirst’ (also featuring Steffany Frizzell)) continue with the same quality and blessing as displayed in Jeremy’s previous albums, and fit perfectly with the Bethel sound.

Another particular highlight of this album for me is Jenn Johnson’s ‘God I Look to You’. Certain Bethel-based albums and tracks have a habit of putting me in a place where I have no choice but to believe God is standing in front of me, forcing my attention on Him and Him only. The chorus of “Hallelujah, our God Reigns”, that you want to go on for eternity when singing this track, does just that. Jenn’s heart, as with many at this church, is wholly for the Lord, and this is an infectious attribute when she’s worshipping. This chorus is meant to be sung at the top of your voice, with passion, fervour and love, and Jenn does all this, and more besides, leading the congregation into a great place of praise for the Lord.

This album not only sees more good offerings come from established, well known worship leaders from Bethel, but also sees the emergence of some newer ones. One such leader is William Matthews, whose energy, passion and hunger for the Lord is abundant on his two tracks on the album - “Hope’s Anthem” and “Deep Cries Out”. William’s page on Bethel Music’s website describes him as fun-loving and energetic, two qualities you would definitely associate these tracks with. I’d add one more - natural. I love it when worship music is sung from the heart, with integrity and authenticity, and William delivers this with these great offerings.

So, if you are looking for an authentic, passionate live worship album this year, look no further. Close your eyes, sit back, and do as these guys do (and inspire us to do) day in, day out, worship the Lord with all your heart.

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(Firstly, a quick word about the photo, it is my daughter Erin (now nearly 5), being held in my arms at just a few days old. As soon as I saw the title for this album I sensed an opportunity to use a photo I’ve long regarded as my favourite photo of my beautiful little girl. Huge thanks go to Will Taylor for editing the photo for me to make it more suitable for the job. Check out more of his photos and articles at http://www.bigdaddywhale.com)

As part of a growing relationship with Innes Johnston from eatacd.com, a Christian media distribution organisation based in Scotland, I am doing a few reviews of independent worship albums in their catalogue. In the first of these, we find Petey Allan’s The Father’s Arms - a punchy, primarily guitar-led album with strong, catchy vocal lines.

The album starts with two very approachable up-tempo guitar songs - “My Soul”, and “You’re the One I Love”. A great characteristic of these tracks for me is the thought that has gone into their arrangements. Far from simply being all-out rockers, with overly complicated production and over zealous musicality, there is a clear message within these tracks. Indeed, in each track we find that on more than one occasion the arrangement is stripped back to vocals, bass and drums, ensuring that the vocal lines come across as the main message of the songs.

Petey’s voice is strong throughout the album, cutting through the mix on the up-tempo songs, and leading the slower, more reflective songs with passion and soul. On that point, I am particularly impressed with the diversity shown on this album. There are, as I have mentioned, some out-and-out electric songs on here, though these are balanced well with more reflective, acoustic-led tracks such as “Take My Heart”, and also piano-led tracks such as “You Gave”. The standard of the album is unerring, even with these shifts in focus, and this is again a testament to the quality of musicianship and production on the album.

Lyrically this album is heartfelt, passionate, and easy to follow, good attributes for congregational worship tracks. I particularly like the message behind “Take My Heart” - praising God for who He is in the verses, then asking Him to take us and use us for His glory in the chorus. As Christians, we long to see His Kingdom come, and His will be done through us.

As I was listening to this album I was picturing tracks from it being used in youth services. As with bands such as Casting Crowns, Hillsong United, and Planetshakers, all of whom are headed up by worship leaders with a passion for youth, there is an exuberance about this album. I pray that songs from this album will get out into the Kingdom, igniting that spark from which His fire can spread.

Petey Allan’s album is available from http://www.eatacd.com

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I've been listening to this song a lot recently, it goes some way to describing where I'm at just now. God wants us to tear down the walls, loose the chains and free our hearts for Him. He wants the best for us, He wants our hearts. Giving our hearts back to Him is the least we can do.

Isaiah 6:8 shows us Isaiah's prophecy of the Lord asking "Whom shall I send, who will go for me", and of the response - "Here I am, send me". Seize the opportunity, stand up, put your hand up for the Lord, He will give you the tools you need. I pray this would be your anthem this week.

(It's a stirringly good video too.....)

Bless you,

Ed

Rend Collective's "Organic Family Hymnal" (on which this is track 1) can be found here on iTunes 

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This week, Hillsong United released their latest album - "Aftermath" in the UK. This is an amazing album, even by their own high standards, the subtlety of the production and the strength of the vocal lines is highly commendable. By way of a celebration of this, and (as a side issue), my 1000th tweet I am going to give away a copy of this album.

All you need to do, for your part, is to write my 1000th tweet for me. I'd simply like your favourite worship-related quote or Bible verse. This can be done by way of a comment, or by an @ reply to me on Facebook or Twitter (@edrotheram). The closing time will be 10pm GMT on Friday (25th February). I will use the winning entry as my 1000th tweet, and will either post a CD (UK only), or gift a copy through iTunes.

Simple, now the rest is up to you!

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I've just finished reading one of the most amazing books I've ever read. I saw Banning Liebscher speak and lead the ministry at the Jesus Culture event in London last October, and was instantly struck by his passion, fervour and relentless love for the Lord, and I bought his book.

As a reader, I tend to start books read 40-50 pages and then buy another one. I have so far done this with no less than 7 books this year, and felt that this trend was becoming ridiculous. At the start of this week I prayed and asked the Lord to tell me what I should be reading. Rather than tell me directly, He responded with the words "Burning Ones". I know that this is a song by Jesus Culture (from the Consumed album), and set about listening to that track. This word has been slowly unpacking itself this week, and I believe it is in the bridge of the song where the Lord's word has it's heart:

"So let this light be like a fire, Let our lives be like a flame, Fill our souls with Your desire, Let our passion bring You fame"

Passionate, God-centred lives, burning like fire, shining light for all to see (in a nutshell). Banning's book "Jesus Culture" has the subtext "Living a life that transforms the world". Section 3 of this book is called "Burning Ones". This is the book the Lord was pointing me to.

This book begins with words to the effect of "You're reading this book because You are one of a new breed of revivalist emerging in the earth. God has chosen you to be integral to this." Did not see that coming! After an initial few pages of "Lord, are You sure?" He began to reveal things to me. He started to show me that some of the struggles I'd been through are not unique, and that in Him I have been given the greatest love I will ever know. Keeping that a secret is not an option.

At the aforementioned Jesus Culture event in London I was healed of a problem with my wrist that I'd suffered with for 16 years. Banning was leading a time of ministry in which the Lord gave Him words to pray for "anyone who had a problem with arthritis or arthritic symptoms, specifically in relation to joints". Yep. Then, "anyone who has been suffering with this problem for over 10 years". Kelly (my wife) was sitting next to me and prayed for me, and I wasn't sure whether it had been healed. I had (and in fact still have) a click in my wrist when I rotate it, and because that hadn't gone, I was unsure as to whether I had been healed. After a second round of prayer it still hadn't gone, so I was still unsure.

I had for several years been periodically wearing a wrist support for this ailment, and in fact had been wearing it up until the day of the event. Suffice to say, I haven't worn it since. Every day my faith grew that it had in fact been healed to the point where there could be no doubt. Banning's book contains countless testimonies like this, and there are people everywhere who need to know God's healing power. I now feel compelled to go and find some of them!

To this end, having read everything Banning has to say on this subject, I intend to endeavour to Advance the Kingdom in whatever way I can. My prayer for you is that you will ask the Lord to show you His heart for you. This book tells in hundreds of places just how much the Lord wants you, how much he wants to use you to advance His Kingdom and reveal more of His love to you and others. Bless you.

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Drew Reese's EP is now available at http://drewreese.bandcamp.com. A great worship album from a passionate and anointed songwriter and worship leader, this contains compelling versions of both Chris Tomlin's "Awakening", and Matt Redman's "Facedown", together with 3 self-penned songs from Drew.

My review of this album is here.

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