Behind the Praise - Sunday January 11, 2009

BLENDED SERVICE 9:30AM

“How can I keep from Singing”

There is an endless song echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring and though the storms may come
I am holding on to the rock I cling
How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough How amazing is Your love

Chris Tomlin joined Ed Cash and Matt Redman to write this song. The song is on the album "See the Morning". This song anchors the theme of hope found on the album. "How Can I Keep From Singing," is a rendition of the 1860 hymn by Robert Lowry. "How Can I Keep From Singing?" is listed in some hymnals by the opening line "My Life Flows On". The original composition has now entered into the public domain. The song is frequently cited incorrectly as a traditional Quaker hymn. Chris reworked the original text and crafted a song that could be sung to God during the difficult times.

Click here to listen to Chris share how he wrote the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6lTZySpbpo

Click here to worship along with Chris:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQI5wxtH6OY&feature=related

“You Are My King”

Billy and his wife Cindy live in San Antonio. Billy started leading worship in 1990, right out of college. Back then Christiandom didn't demand bands. They were satisfied with simplicity. Billy played his guitar and led worship by himself until several years later. He added a drummer (Joe McArthur) first and then a bass player (Shawn Skeen) and then Cindy joined in with vocals in 2001. Sometime around the year 2000 Billy began having vocal trouble which turned out to be a neurological condition called hyper-disphonia. There's really no cure for this condition. So Cindy began singing more of the lead vocals over time. Though Cindy sings most of the songs, Billy is still the person giving direction to the worship time and, of course, he writes most of the songs the band plays. Billy began song writing in the late 1990's. He's written several well known songs including:"Break Our Hearts", "Goodness and Mercy", "You Are My King (Amazing Love)", "Sing to the King", "I Have a River", "Die the Death", "You Are God Alone (not a god)", "You Are Welcome Here" and "Welcome to the Cross".

Learn more about Billy's ministry on his myspace website & ministry website:
www.myspace.com/billyfooteband

Learn more about Billy's ministry here:
www.billyfoote.com/

Click here to worship along with the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=LNBZXzN0tLU

Click here for another arrangement of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUO0NhsaGKc

“Amazing Grace”

John Newton wrote this hymn some time after converting to Christianity in the village of Kineton, in Warwickshire, England. The lyrics are based on his reflections on an Old Testament text he was preparing to preach on, adding his perspective about his own conversion while on his slave ship, the Greyhound, in 1748.
The melody most often used for this hymn was not original (nor was Newton a composer). As with other hymns of this period, the words were sung to a number of tunes before and after they first became linked to the now familiar variant of the tune "New Britain" of which the composer is unknown and is in William Walker's shape-note tunebook Southern Harmony, 1835.

Click here to view the many arrangements of Amazing Grace on youtube: www.youtube.com/results?search_query=amazing+grace+&search_type=

“And Can it Be”

Not many hymns begin with a question as does this one. However, it is not an expression of doubt but of wonder and awe. · How can it be that the shedding of Jesus’ blood 1900 years ago is relevant to me today? · How was it possible for the Son of God to have died for me? · Why should our Lord empty Himself of all His divine glory and become a man, in order to save “Adam’s helpless race?” There is considerable evidence that this hymn was written by Charles Wesley soon after his own conversion. Charles Wesley’s crisis experience occurred on May 20, 1738. He had been sick in body as well as in spirit. It seemed that God spoke to him through a vision. According to his Journal, this confrontation took place after reading the bible for some time. Following is his account: “At midnight I gave myself up to Christ: assured I was safe, sleeping or waking. I had continued experience of his power to overcome all temptation; and confessed, with joy and surprise, that he was able to do exceedingly abundantly for me, above what I can ask or think.” And Can it Be, that I Should Gain And can it be, that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood`? Died he for me, who caused his pain?
For me, who him to death pursued?

Amazing love! how can it be
That thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
’Tis mystery all! The Immortal dies!
Who can explore his strange design? In vain the first-born seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine!

Tis mercy all! let earth adore,
Let angel-minds inquire no more. He left his Father’s throne above,
(So free, so infinite his grace!)
Emptied himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race: ’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For, O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night; Thine eye diffused a quickening ray,
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,

I rose, went forth, and followed thee. No condemnation now I dread,

Jesus, and all in him, is mine! Alive in him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.

Click here for an arrangement of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQeIGbKqiw8

Click here for another arrangement of the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHPnGnzctCI&feature=related

Click here to worship along with the Gaithers: www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnzJ5BUdcyo&feature=related

CONTEMPORARY 11:00AM

“All to You”

This 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 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.

Click here to listen to the song online: http://play.rhapsody.com/lincolnbrewster/letthepraisesringthebestoflincolnbrewster/alltoyou?didAutoplayBounce=true

Click here to read more about Lincoln:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lincoln_Brewster

Click here to play Lincolns’ songs on his myspace – the songs are available on his standalone player, you can also listen to “Everlasting” and “Let the Praises Ring”
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=83285546

Click here to listen to Lincoln share about his journey and how a 70 year-old woman encouraged him during a time of worship;
www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJPh1asdTsw

"Not To Us"

One of the premier songwriters of today, Chris Tomlin is shaping the language of worship for generations present and future. And yet his gifts are rooted in one central truth, that God is the center of everything.Even as a small town Texan boy pounding out new tunes with his rag-tag garage band, Chris Tomlin had been blessed with a passion for purpose. He wanted to be more than just another guy with a song. As he grew, he became even more aware of the fact that everything-what we do, who we are-exists only for God's glory. Tomlin's sophomore studio project, NOT TO US, is an organic, edgy pop blend of his most compelling lyrics to date, the longest and most rewarding mile in his passionate pursuit of real life. NOT TO US is not just another worship album; it's a soundtrack for all of life. "God is a mystery beyond our comprehension," says Tomlin, whose most recent work includes WoW Worship and Passion: Our Love is Loud. "We can't figure God out. He won't be boxed in. He's bigger than all our questions and bigger than our answers. And when our lives become aligned with Him, we see life in a different light, hearts are restored and people are healed."

Lyrics:
the cross before me the world behind
no turning backraise the banner highi
t's not for me it's all for YOUlet the heavens shake and split the sky
let the people clap their hands and cry
it's not for usit's all for YOU
not to us but to YOUR name be the glory
not to us but to YOUR name be the glory

Click here to listen to Chris share more about how he wrote the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zt9K5rLHVk

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

"Wonderful Maker"

You spread out the skies over empty space Said, “Let there be light”
To a dark and formless world Your light was born
You spread out Your arms over empty hearts
Said, “Let there be light”To a dark and hopeless world Your Son was born
You made the world and saw that it was good You sent Your only Son, for You are good

What a wonderful Maker What a wonderful Savior How majestic Your whispers
And how humble Your love With a strength like no other And the heart of a Father
How majestic Your whispers What a wonderful God
No eyes has fully seen how beautiful the CrossAnd we have only heard that faintest
whispers of how great You are

Click here to worship along with Chris Tomlin:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPT-8zrWWJk

Click here to listen to Jeremy Camps' arrangement:
www.last.fm/music/Jeremy+Camp/_/Wonderful+Maker

“Breathe”

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

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

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

THIRD SERVICE 6PM

"Open Skies"

When David Crowder was attending Baylor University in Waco, Texas in the mid 90's, he learned that more than half of the 14,000 students enrolled in the college were not attending church. This was very disturbing to Crowder, and after many conversations with a friend of his, they decided to start a church that was college friendly. Thus, University Baptist Church was born. That was 1996. Today, almost a decade later, nearly 1,000 people, most of which are college students, are attending the church. Although David Crowder's music ministry has grown significantly since then, he can still be found leading worship there on many Sundays.

Click here to learn more about David:
http://www.davidcrowderband.com/

Click here to worship along with David Crowder:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=_PeaDArYoss&feature=related

Click here for another version:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwM8vgulzdI&feature=related

“He’s got the Whole World in His Hands”

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.

When all around is fadingAnd nothing seems to lastWhen each day is filled with sorrowStill I know with all my heartHe's got the whole world in His hands He's got the whole world in His handsI'll fear no evil For You are with meStrong to deliverMighty to saveHe's got the whole world in His handsWhen I walk through fireI will not be burnedWhen the waves come crashing 'round meStill I know with all my heart

Click here to worship along with Tim Hughes:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nG-zoopwV_I

Click here to listen online:
www.last.fm/music/Tim+Hughes

"Mighty To Save"

This is another song from the Hillsong music ministry in Sydney Australia. This song is by Reuben Morgan & Ben Fielding. This song has a great re-occuring text. "OUR GOD IS MIGHT TO SAVE". This is taken from the passage in Zephaniah 3:1717 The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing."

Click here to read more about Reuben Morgan http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reuben_Morgan

Click here to worship along with the song: www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXCAhKDZRlo

Click here to worship along with the song:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=sR8rlTIU8_Y

"Jesus Paid it All"

The following is from Alex Nifong who wrote the additional chorus:
I have an old hymnal that I frequently play through sometimes during my private times alone with the Lord. I was playing through that song one day in Jan of 05 and I just started praying and singing out the phrase O praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead. It was as simple as that. Just a prayer that came right out of my heart. This is a new arrangement of the old hymn, based on the recording from the Passion album "Everything glorious". It adds a new line "O praise the One who paid my debt and raised this life up from the dead". Check out the composer of the tag on his website www.alexnifong.com/

Here’s a story about the song:The words were written by Elvina M. Hall and the music by John T. Grape on New Year’s night, 1886, some missionaries were holding open-air services in order to attract passers-by to a near-by mission, where meetings were to be held later. "All to Christ I owe" was sung, and after a gentleman had given a short address he hastened away to the mission. He soon heard footsteps close behind him and a young woman caught up with him and said: "I heard you addressing the open-air meeting just now; do you think, sir, that Jesus could save a sinner like me?"The gentleman replied that there was no doubt about that, if she was anxious to be saved. She told him that she was a servant girl, and had left her place that morning after a disagreement with her mistress. As she had been wandering about the streets in the dark, wondering where she was to spend the night, the sweet melodies of this hymn had attracted her, and she drew near and listened attentively. As the different verses were being sung, she felt that the words surely had something to do with her. Through the whole service she seemed to hear what met her oppressed soul’s need at that moment. God’s Spirit had showed her what a poor, sinful and wretched creature she was, and had led her to ask what she must do. On hearing her experience, the gentleman took her back to the mission and left her with the ladies in charge. The young, wayward woman was brought to Christ that night. A situation was secured for her in a minister’s family. There she became ill and had to be taken to a hospital. She rapidly failed and it became evident that she would not be long on earth. One day the gentleman whom she had met on New Year’s night was visiting her in the ward. After quoting a few suitable verses of Scripture, he repeated her favorite hymn, "All to Christ I owe"…and she seemed overwhelmed with the thought of coming to glory…Two hours afterward she passed away.

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

Click here to worship along with a younger generation led by Kristian Stanfill:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-OOjfaBGnA&mode=related&search=

You can go here to Kristians' myspace and click on the song just to listen
www.myspace.com/kristianstanfill

WOW - here it is in Spanish
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zRRBtWP_buA

"How Great is Our God"

This worship song was written by Chris Tomlin. Chris said he almost apologized to the Lord for writing such a simple song, but felt that the English language could only go so far in describing the greatness of our God. After writing the song he felt in his spirit that he had written a song that would be embraced by the church around the world.
Chris received his first guitar from his father, Connie, at the age of eleven after contracting a case of mono. Then, Tomlin wrote his first worship song at age fourteen. He entered college planning to study medicine, but he stated that he felt God's calling to something else and did not pursue that career.In the mid-1990's Tomlin spent time leading worship at the Dawson McAllister Youth Conferences, as well as at various camps around the state of Texas.Following college, at Texas A&M University Tomlin continued to play and write songs, and in 1997, Louie Giglio asked if he would be interested in working with the Passion Conferences. Tomlin agreed, and he has played a key role ever since. His first nationally released solo project, entitled The Noise We Make, was released in 2001, which saw the emergence of songs "Forever" (his most famous song other than "How Great Is Our God"), "Be Glorified", and "Kindness", all of which made the top 200 in the CCLI 2005 top 500 worship songs.
According to Christian Copyright Licensing International's list of the top 25 worship songs in the United States as of August 2007, Tomlin held 5 spots with songs he has either written or co-written with other songwriters: "How Great Is Our God" (#1), "Forever" (#5), "Holy Is the Lord" (#7), "We Fall Down" (#12),and "Indescribable" (#22).
Click here to listen to the story behind the song: www.theheartofworship.org/stories/Story-302-HowGreatisOurGod-Tomlin.mp3

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

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

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

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

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