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Gary Humble (our Worship Pastor @ NHC) has just started to blog! Please head over there now and welcome him to the blogging world.

For those planning to buy the new album by Bart Millard (MercyMe), it will be available Aug 12 from iTunes for pre-order.

[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCkcGfyQz_c]

That’s recreate booked now.  Paid my deposit on Friday past.  Really looking forward to going now.

[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4DCZcQ2VXI]

Here’s another great lesson from Phil Wickham, this time for the song True Love.  You can find the chords for the song on his blog.

Do you plan to go?

Have you paid your deposit already?

Have you been before?

What made it special for you?

Please tell.

Rodney contacted me a couple of days back and asked if I would like to link to his blog stereotruth.net.  It’s a great site with regular updates on what’s happening right now on the music scene.

I like that the posts are so varied but still keep to the general theme and goal of the site.  Recent coverage of American Idol David Cook is good as well.

Here’s a snippet from their About page.

Stereotruth.net is the brainchild of Rodney Miller and Scott Dahlstrom.

Rodney brings a passion for great music, along with 15 years of radio experience focused for the last 5 years on the Christian radio industry.

Scott has been building websites and web-based applications for the past 10 years in Northern California. His employers and clients include small mom-and-pop businesses to Fortune 500 corporations.

Combining the love and knowledge of the web, along with the love and knowledge of Christian music and entertainment, the two partners have created what hopes to be a portal into that world. A one-stop shopping experience for your positive music.

I wish Rodney & Scott all the best with this venture.

I love it when artists do videos like this.  Here Phil is teaching us how to play Cannons which is a great worship song.  I can’t believe I have not bought this man’s album yet.

[youtube url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MiCMB1pEw]

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_MiCMB1pEw

(Update: My cover here)

Lyrics
It’s falling from the clouds
A strange and lovely sound
I hear it in the thunder and rain
It’s ringing in the skies
Like cannons in the night
The music of the universe plays

You are holy great and mighty
The moon and the stars declare who You are
I’m so unworthy, but still You love me
Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free
Song of Galaxies
It’s reaching far beyond the milky way
Lets join in with the sound
C’mon let’s sing it loud
As the music of the universe plays

All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours amen
All glory, honor, power is Yours forever amen

Sometimes we think it’s only the preacher or the band that needs to prepare for a Sunday.

I’ve been reading LIFESTORIES by Mark Hall (Casting Crowns) recently and came across this little nugget the other day.

“When I’m not living for Jesus daily and show up at church after squeezing out life on my own terms all week, I’m needy when I walk through the doors.

• I need the greeter to make me feel welcome.
• I need my friends to sit by me.
• I need my soloist  to sing my favourite song.
• I need the pastor to be engaging.
• I need the small group leader to love on me and do cartwheels when I enter.
• I need the small group leader to call me when I’m sick.

I am so needy because I’m not complete when I get there, and when I’m not being completed by my walk with Jesus, I unwittingly demand completeness from people.  I raise the bar of expectations, and people don’t meet my needs because it is impossible for people to do so.”

Mark then goes on to contrast that to walking daily with Jesus.

“When I faithfully pursue God, spending time with Him in Bible study and a spirit of unceasing prayer, then I’m completed by Him.  He indeed is all I need.

When I walk into church, I see people like He sees them.  In other words, I recognize and acknowledge that I’m an instrument.  I walk in and want to sit by others as a ministry.  I want to help greet visitors.  I want to make sure somebody called those who were sick.  Why?  Because a life of praise comes from understanding that this life is not about us.  It’s about something bigger than us.  It’s about loving God and loving others, the two greatest commandments.”

Dave said something along the same lines this morning at church.  He encouraged us to pray before we get to church that we would hear what God would want us to hear.

Is God saying something to me through all this, or did He just want to give me something to blog about?
Challenge: Pray and seek God daily and next time you do church (note: doesn’t have to be a Sunday) - come with expectancy in your heart and tell me it doesn’t make a difference.

Delirious - Kingdom of Comfort

 I’ve been a long time Delirious fan, but it always takes me a while to get into their new albums.  The first time I heard Glo I didn’t like it.  In fact it was a couple of years later when I finally picked it up again that it became my favourite Delirious album ever.

So, maybe the same thing is happening all over again, because Kingdom of Comfort didn’t really blow me away.  The tracks that stand out to me so far are Love Will Find a Way, We Give You Praise, How Sweet The Name and My Soul Sings.

Planetshakers - Saviour Of The World

I’ve only recently heard of Planetshakers after they used Healer at our church.  Overall, I like this album a lot.  It’s quite similar to Hillsong United in a way - maybe it’s because they are also based in Australia?

I love the songs Healer, My Life Is Yours (which I’m learning for next week), No One Else Like You (my favourite on the album), Take Me, and Boom!

Boom is like listening to a P.O.D. track!  Recently, I was so close to dumping all P.O.D. tracks from my iTunes library - however I like Boom.

I listened to an interview with Matt Redman yesterday on the March 08 episode of the WorshipCentral podcast.  It’s a really good interview and insight into how Matt approaches writing.

I want to write.  I have little notebooks by my bedside and everything.  I have melodies rattling round in my head.  One thing is making it very difficult for me to get started.  Fear.

What if someone finds and reads my unfinished scribbles?  Will they think it silly?  What if my song is no good?  Will I be able to take criticism?  Matt (or Tim) compares rubbishing someone’s song to calling their baby ugly!

It was encouraging to hear that even though Matt cannot read music or change guitar strings(!) it has not prohibited him from becoming a great song writer and worship leader.

One tip I wrote down is “Write with the door closed.  Rewrite with the door open“.

What tips do you have?

Check out the interview by downloading the podcast.