Your title here

I felt a little sad when reading this post.  I do understand a bit where he’s coming from.  Sometimes we can feel we’re not in a position to sing certain songs to God.  However, I feel the root of his problem is deeper than this single issue.  

I struggled a little with my reply, but I pray it speaks to Jon (the post author).

I’ve mentioned before that some people find certain worship lyrics too difficult to sing.  Usually because the words are asking more of them than they are willing to give to God.  How do we help people in this situation?  It would probably depend on why they aren’t willing to surrender that particular area of their life.

Maybe it’s because they don’t feel worthy, or maybe it’s because they feel they are doing alright without God interferring with that particular area.  There’s probably a dozen other reasons.

To avoid hurt, put all your trust in God.  People will let you down.  The church will let you down.  God will never let you down.

Found a piece of paper today with some words I had jotted down during my course a few weeks ago:

The choice You made, to die for me
The blood You spilled, so I could live
The joy You give, in knowing You
Is worth much more than I can give

The theme on Sunday was hope, so this song was good in that it starts “I confess my hope…”.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmNmmXlvsY]
Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLmNmmXlvsY

(Ok, I’m back to my camcorder again.  The web cam is going back to it’s owner!)

OK, I got the Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000 set up today and recorded “All I need is You” using it. I’m not really pleased with the results.

Why?

• The web cam saves the videos in Windows Media Format only, which doesn’t import too well into Adobe Premiere, so I had to use Movie Maker.
• The sound skips and gets worse near the end. At first I thought it was because my speakers were on, so I turned them off and it made no difference. Sound was still bad.
• The video picture is grainy in low-light conditions.
• It claims 30fps, but I doubt I was getting near this at times. It’s USB, so the bandwidth will be shared with all my other USB devices.

I love this song by Hillsong United. I’ve never used it during congregational worship, but for solos and personal worship.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1zXsXFZLG0]

Direct link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1zXsXFZLG0

Came out of work tonight and the car wouldn’t start.  My wife was near by, so she came and collected me and we went and bought a tow rope.  We then attempted to tow the car which proved to be a disaster.

After about 5 minutes, neither of us were prepared to risk towing the whole way home.  We pulled over at a set of shops.  A man walks past and asks us if we are OK.  I give the usual bloke response, “Yeah, Yeah, car won’t start, but we’ll be alright.”

“I’ve got some jump leads, I’ll go get them.  I only live over there.”, he said.  He came back with the jump leads very quickly.  As he was connecting them up I said, being the positive Christian, “I don’t think this will work”.  I turned the key and the car started straight away.  We were so happy - and thankful.  God is good.

A little later than I had hoped, but better late than never!  I’ve uploaded two new videos - see posts “I Worship You O Lord” and “I Can Truly Say“.

I’m going to trial a new web cam (Microsoft LifeCam VX-3000) over the next few days as I wasn’t happy with these latest videos at all.  So expect another video or two soon.

If you have any recommendations for web cams - let me know!

I’d never seen this site before.  I signed up today and browsed through the forums a bit.  Lots of people on there looking for feedback on songs they have written.  It seems very good and fairly busy.

Also, I love the New Song Cafe videos they do.  I’ve seen a few on YouTube before, but didn’t realize they came from here originally.

www.worshiptogether.com

It feels like I haven’t lead worship for ages. Here’s the plan for this Sunday.

(Bb) Everlasting God (Brenton Brown & Ken Riley)
The choir did this song last Sunday. I thought it was great and I love the song too. I came across this song on YouTube (via another blog) last night as well.

(G) For Who You Are (Marty Sampson/Hillsong)
I love the pre-chorus on this song - “Holy, righteous, faithful to the end,
Saviour, healer, redeemer, and friend.”… James, our drummer does a great job here building up for the chorus.

(G) Your Grace Is Enough (Chris Tomlin)
Sang this for the first time a few weeks ago. It went very well, so I’d like to play it again this week to keep it familiar. I think I can flow into this from the previous song pretty seamlessly.

(C) You alone are God (Hillsong)
The pre-chorus helps to build this song up before singing the chorus. My favourite part is the bridge. You can real fun with this song.

(G) Let Us Adore (Reuben Morgan)
I haven’t sang this song in a while. It’s got a great chorus and bridge. It’s a real worshipful song. The link to the song doesn’t have the alternative chorus lyrics which is normally sang after the bridge - “Come and behold Him, Bow down before Him, Jesus Christ is the Lord“.

(G) Saviour (Marcus Lee & Dan Brummitt)
Still love this song from Abundant Life Ministries in Bradford. Couldn’t find the chords online for this. If I find them later I’ll update the post.

(G) God He Reigns (Hillsong)
This starts off very low for my voice but is a great song. I’ve added it to the list as a spare song. We’ll probably finish with Saviour (above).

(G) Jesus, Holy and Anointed One
An old favourite… this is one of those songs that will last forever… in my mind anyway! Again, this is here as a spare song.

:: UPDATE ::

The service went very well this morning. I really enjoyed it. I was a little nervous as I hadn’t led in a few weeks. That disappeared after a few bars into the first song.

Everlasting God was great - we sang it once at the start and again at the end. You Alone Are God was great also - we sang it before and after the sermon - the words “Reign in all the earth, reign in all the earth, Jesus” are still going through my head. Brilliant.

I don’t ususally repeat songs in the set list like that, but this morning it just felt right. We didn’t do Saviour, God He Reigns or Jesus, Holy and Anointed One.

I’ve booked a holiday to New York in July! I’ve only ever been there once for work purposes. This time it’s just me and my lovely wife for a few days. I’m so excited! So, you may see some New York related posts between now and end of summer, but I’ll try not to go off tangent too much!

So, to keep things topical… what church should I check out on Sunday morning?
I came across a travel diary online tonight where the writer visited Brooklyn Tabernacle, and even went to their prayer meeting!

Has anybody ever been to Sylvia’s where Sunday brunch is reportedly accompanied by gospel singers? I read about it in a travel book and it sounds great!

On my old site I write:

“My degree course was coming to an end soon. I had some time (between all that studying!) to reflect on my 3 years away from home, friends, and family. God had really looked after me. I don’t think things could have went better! I made some great friends, met my wife and acheived a good degree! This song is really my personal testimony.”

The words of this song fit over and over again through life. When I look back on life recently I can see God’s hand in it. This is one of my favourites - next to Strength.

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIlx9CK6RsI]

Direct Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lIlx9CK6RsI 

I Can Truly Say

chorus
I can truly say, Your hand’s been upon me
I can truly say, that You have watched me
I have felt You by my side
As each day passes by
I can truly say, Your hand’s been upon me

verse 1
When I look back upon my life
To times I asked the question ‘Why?’
I can see the way you had control
Over things I thought I carried alone

verse 2
When things get too hard for me to bear
You reach out your arms to me in care
The burden I had is now no more
You’ve lifted me up, I love You Lord

© Copyright, Alastair Vance, 28th February 1996