Poetry: None See the Wind

None see the wind,
only what it moves;
a feather ruffled, a leaf stirred,
but from where did it originate?

Such is God’s Spirit -
Him we cannot fully comprehend,
His greatness, His vast majesty -
no words can aptly describe.

When will God speak and how?
Through what means will He choose -
His Word or creation, a psalm or melody?
Finite minds cannot understand His lofty ways.

I am, quite frankly, glad -
glad not to know all!
God, You take care of all things,
even the tiniest details of life.

How You love us so!
Blessing, speaking at an unknown hour,
bringing joy and hope,
peace and clarity when least expected.

Yet the times You’ve perfectly set aside;
the moments wrought meticulously by Your hands -
by the Lord of all, my Father, Creator -
the Saviour of my soul!

Filed under: Christian, Poetry, Worship, Writing , art, Christ, creative writing, God, God's Spirit, hearing God, Holy Spirit, jesus, Jesus Christ, knowing God, Lord, poem, poems, poet, Poetry, relationship with God, Spirit of God, Worship, worship through writing, writer, Writing

Sunday Setlists – 09/28/08

(This post is a part of Sunday Setlists.)

Early service:

• Choir: Cry of My Heart (Terry Butler)
  
• Saviour, Like A Shepherd Lead Us (Dorothy Thrupp/William Bradbury)
  
• God Leads Us Along (George Young)
• All the Way My Saviour Leads Me (Fanny Crosby/Robert Lowry)
• Choir: Be Thou My Vision (Mary Byrne/Eleanor Hull/arr. by Keith Christopher)
• Lead Me, Lord (Samuel Wesley)

Contemporary service:

• Awesome Is the Lord (Chris Tomlin, et al)
• Send the Fire (William Booth)
• My Hope Is You (Third Day)
• Nothing But the Blood (Matt Redman)
• How He Loves Us (John Mark McMillan)
• Rain Down (Martin Smith/Stuart Garrard)

Today was a good day. Some scriptures that I feel God has led me to for our church were shared with the church (and this confirmed them even more for me), and the message was a timely one. I’m praying that God spoke to and changed many hearts today.

Filed under: Christian, Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christian, Christianity, Church, classic worship, contemporary, contemporary worship style, flute, God, high church, Holy Spirit, hymns, lead worshipers, leading worship, organ, piano, praise band, praise team, Prayer, revival, setlists, songs, sunday, Sunday Setlists, traditional, traditional worship style, Worship, worship confessional, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship setlist, worship setlists, worship team

Poetry: Lord Most High, My Adonai

Lord Most High, my Adonai.

You are Lord of all -
Creator of all, God Most High.
Lofty, exalted, strong and mighty -
the great I AM.

Let me hunger for You,
yearning for Your Word -
such living water for my soul.
my Strength and Provider,
all that I need;
Let me not want but for You and Your will.

Nothing else satisfies,
nothing and no one else.
Only through You is there salvation -
Jesus Christ: slain for the sins of the world.
That You would sacrifice so -
for ones so lowly – a world unworthy;
and You live!
Oh, how You love us so!

Lord Most High, my Adonai.

Filed under: Christian, Faith, Heart's Cry, Poetry, Worship, Writing , Adonai, art, Christ, creative, Creator, God, gospel, great I AM, I AM, jesus, Jesus Christ, living water, Lord, Lord Most High, poem, poems, poet, Poetry, poets, psalmist, psalms, Savior, Saviour, the Gospel, words, Worship, worship in words, writer, writers, Writing

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Margarita has been sponsored! Click here to search for other children in need!

Meet Margarita, a four year old girl from Nicaragua who has been waiting for over six months for a sponsor. For $32/month & through your letters, you can show her God’s love through Compassion International. Here is more about Margarita:

Margarita lives with her mother. She is responsible for running errands and cleaning. Her mother is employed as a laborer. There are 6 children in the family.

Margarita is not presently attending school. Singing, playing with dolls and playing group games are her favorite activities. She also attends Bible class regularly.

Because of your sponsorship, Margarita will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers. (from Compassion.com)

Sponsor Margarita now!

If she’s already been sponsored, search for other children in need.
(Only click “Select this Child” on Compassion’s site if you are going to sponsor.)

You can also help by donating to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , charity, child in need, children in need, children living in poverty, Christ's love, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Church, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, helping those in need, margarita, needy child, needy children, nicaragua, nonprofit, nonprofits, poor, poverty, school, seek first, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting

Sunday Setlists – 09/21/08

This post is part of Sunday Setlists.

Early service:

• Choir: Soon and Very Soon (Andrae Crouch)
• Because He Lives (William Gaither)
• The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power (Andrae Crouch)
• Jesus What a Beautiful Name (Tanya Riches)
• Choir: On Eagle’s Wings (Michael Joncas, arr. by Phillip Keveren)
• In Christ Alone (Stuart Townend and Keith Getty)

Contemporary service:

• Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble? (Martin Smith)
• Sing Hallelujah (Mark Stokes)
• Revelation Song (Jennie Lee Riddle)
• Send the Fire (William Booth)
• Take Me In (Holy of Holies) (Dave Browning)
• Freedom Reigns (There Is Freedom) (Michael Larson)

Wow. I’m very late in posting this. It has been quite the week! God is doing amazing things, and I really feel that we are nearing revival, something we’ve been praying for tremendously.  God really moved during both services on Sunday.

At early service, it felt as if strongholds had been broken, and this continued throughout both services. In fact, in thinking back, even morning prayer was full with God’s presence, determination and purpose. Both choir and congregation blessed me also with their energy and worship. And if I must say, both The Blood Will Never Lose Its Power and Jesus What A Beautiful Name are songs that are now topping my list of “soulful” favorites to sing to/about the Lord!

We did many songs that were new to the congregation at contemporary service, but God really used the lyrics, so reflecting His Word, to touch hearts. In fact, God used it to touch us on the worship team throughout the week as well. It was a powerful Sunday, a powerful weekend, a powerful week!!

Keep praying! I’m praying that the Holy Spirit will lift our eyes to Jesus, fill us continuously and empower us to take real action in sharing God’s love and truth both inside and outside the Church.

Filed under: Christian, Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christian, Christianity, Church, classic worship, contemporary, contemporary worship style, flute, God, high church, Holy Spirit, hymns, lead worshipers, leading worship, organ, piano, praise band, praise team, Prayer, revival, setlists, songs, sunday, Sunday Setlists, traditional, traditional worship style, Worship, worship confessional, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship setlist, worship setlists, worship team

Take a Look

Some posts, links and thoughts worth bringing to your attention:

By the way, if you would like to subscribe to the RSS feed of this blog, do so by clicking here.

• Shalom – a 17-year-old boy in the Philippines is in need of a sponsor via Compassion. I posted about him because I think that the older children on Compassion can often be overlooked, but they need your love just as well. EDIT: Shalom has been sponsored! Search for other children in need here.
• In Crisis, Wall Street Turns to Prayer – Christian business men being united in more fervent prayer. This is such a great witness of God! He is working, let revival come!
• Encouragement! – If you need encouragement and reminder, God loves you and you are worthy because Christ died for you!
• Freedom Reigns (There Is Freedom) – Powerful, Scripture-soaked song by Michael Larson, recorded by fellow blogger and worship leader Alastair Vance. Let God’s words strengthen and transform you, for where the Spirit of the Lord is THERE IS FREEDOM!

DO Intercede:

• Pray right now for revival in our country, in our churches, and in our own hearts!
• Pray blessing on all, even those who are against the Message of Christ or against you.
• Bless with your words, thoughts and prayers – always.
• Pray for yourself and all people to be even hungrier for God’s Word and living it!
• Pray for all strongholds and lies of the devil to be broken.
• Pray for God’s Spirit to lift all eyes to Jesus!

And a quote on worship and music from Jonathan Edwards:

We sing in worship to engage and express our affections. There is no other reason to sing. If we aren’t dealing with our affections in worship, we might as well just read the lines of the songs dryly together in paragraph form without any music. We worship with music to because God has created music with a certain nature where it tends to move our affections deeply.

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, Encouragement, Faith, God's Word, Worship , america, believe, believers, bible, Christ, Christian, Christians, Compassion, compassion international, country, deliverance, Faith, freedom, freedom reigns, god's will, God's Word, Holy Spirit, hunger, intercede, intercession, jesus, Jesus Christ, Music, pray, Prayer, prayer for revival, revival, salvation, scripture, the Gospel, the Great Commission, truth, Worship, worship music

Compassion Friday!

EDIT: Shalom has been sponsored! Click here to search for other children in need!

This week Shalom is still in need of a sponsor. He turned 17 just last Friday and lives in the Philippines. Through your letters and contributions, speak God’s love into his life through Compassion International. Never underestimate the power of even a letter from afar sent to bless someone in need!

Here is more about Shalom:

Shalom lives with his father and his mother. His duties at home include buying or selling in the market, washing clothes and helping in the kitchen. There are 2 children in the family. His father is employed as a teacher and his mother is employed as a project worker.

For fun, Shalom enjoys playing a musical instrument, basketball and volleyball. He attends church activities, Bible class and youth group regularly and is in high school where his performance is average.

Because of your sponsorship, Shalom will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers. (from Compassion.com)

Sponsor Shalom now or read more about him here.

You can also help by donating to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , charity, child in need, children in need, children living in poverty, Christ's love, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Church, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, helping those in need, hide-n-seek, needy child, needy children, nonprofit, nonprofits, poor, poverty, running, school, seek first, simon, soccer, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting

In His Hands

Things I’ve learned and things God has done this week have been absolutely amazing (and it’s not over yet!)

• Tuesday’s praise team rehearsal wore me out in a good way. God’s presence was strong, and it was truly worship of Him. Afterward, a few of us went to eat and had some wonderful conversation as well.
• Wednesday’s choir rehearsal was wonderfully fun and more focused, and afterward a small group of us stayed conversing about reaching out to our community, encouraging one another, worshiping some more and praying together. What happened when rehearsal ended was an answer to prayer in itself!
• To top it off, we’ve got an extra worship team rehearsal tonight and I’m stoked that God is bringing us together yet another evening this week to exalt His name and sing His praises!

I had been feeling discouraged lately, on top of being “divinely” discontent. But on Tuesday afternoon God reminded me of some things, and the hope that this brought has made the more difficult things in my life right now easier to push through. One of the big things God spoke to me this week was:

Be okay with playing a part, then God will bring you to the part He wants you to play.
- Pat Sczebel, Leading Worship in a Small Church from WorshipGod08 Conference
(Listen here or see the list of all seminars here)

Remember Luke 16:10: He who is faithful in a very little thing is faithful also in much.

I was also inspired as he spoke about his desire to learn guitar and his determination in this. So I’ve now set a goal for myself instead of just randomly playing worship songs. I picked out 5-6 songs, and my goal is to learn these well so that I could lead worship from the guitar on these songs. There are other songs I can already play, but I need to branch out, and I’ve gotten a list down with things that will help me play just about anything after I learn them well enough. (I’ve already been playing for three months, and have been surprised that what I once gave up in my childhood is so much easier now!) I’m hoping that maybe in a small group or something, God will allow me the opportunity to try “real-time” leading some songs. It’s one thing to play by yourself, but it’s often another when it’s with others listening or joining in.

I want to keep my mindset on being faithful in what God already has me doing, in leading one of our services at church, in taking part in the worship team of the other, and preparing for whatever the future may hold… without constantly concerning myself with what the future may hold–trusting, trusting, trusting HIM! Most of all, my desire is to be faithful in whatever roles I am currently called to serve, trusting that God will equip and prepare me as He sees fit, and knowing that He holds everything in His hands!

Filed under: Christian, Encouragement, Faith, Worship, Worship Leading , Body of Christ, choir, Christ, Church, Encouragement, Faith, faithful, God, God's Word, Gospel of Luke, growing, guitar, Holy Spirit, learning, Luke, praise and worship, praise team, Sovereign Grace, trust, trusting, Worship, Worship Leading, worship seminars, worship team, WorshipGod08, worshiping

Sunday Setlists – 09/14/08

This post is apart of Sunday Setlists. Click the link for more worship setlists.

Today was a good though distracting day for me, but I thought the services went extremely well. It was also our first week with our new worship leader for our contemporary service (I lead only the traditional service.) I’m excited about what’s in store for our worship ministry, and praying God will do more in both our choir and in the praise team, both us as individuals and as a whole.

Early service:

• Choir: I Will Call Upon the Lord (Michael O’Shields)
• Blessed Assurance (Fanny Crosby)
• Trust and Obey (John Sammis/Daniel Towner)
• ‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus (Louisa Stead/William Kirkpatrick)
• Choir: He’s Always Been Faithful w/Great Is Thy Faithfulness (Sara Groves/Thomas Chisholm/William Runyan; arr. by Gary Rhodes)
• Offertory: Knees to the Earth (Christy and Nathan Nockels)

Contemporary service:

• Look My Way (Lenny LeBlanc/Lindell Cooley)
• Hosanna (Brenton Brown/Paul Baloche)
• Beautiful One (Tim Hughes)
• Better Is One Day (Matt Redman)
• Dance Like a Father (Jessie Goodman)
• Knees to the Earth (Christy and Nathan Nockels)

Filed under: Christian, Worship, Worship Leading , blended, choir, Christian, Christianity, Church, classic worship, contemporary, contemporary worship style, flute, God, high church, hymns, lead worshipers, leading worship, organ, piano, praise band, praise team, setlists, songs, sunday, Sunday Setlists, traditional, traditional worship style, Worship, worship confessional, Worship Leading, worship ministry, worship setlist, worship setlists, worship team

Compassion Friday

EDIT: Shalom has been sponsored! Click here to search for other children in need!

Meet Shalom, who as of TODAY is 17 years old. He lives in the Philippines and is in need of a sponsor. For $32/month & through your letters, you can show him God’s love through Compassion International. Here is more about Shalom:

Shalom lives with his father and his mother. His duties at home include buying or selling in the market, washing clothes and helping in the kitchen. There are 2 children in the family. His father is employed as a teacher and his mother is employed as a project worker.

For fun, Shalom enjoys playing a musical instrument, basketball and volleyball. He attends church activities, Bible class and youth group regularly and is in high school where his performance is average.

Because of your sponsorship, Shalom will have new opportunities to learn and grow physically, mentally, and spiritually. Thank you for your concern and prayers. (from Compassion.com)

Sponsor Shalom now!

If he’s already been sponsored, search for other children in need.
(Only click “Select this Child” on Compassion’s site if you are going to sponsor.)

You can also help by donating to the Global Food Crisis Fund.

Filed under: Christian, Compassion, God's Word , charity, child in need, children in need, children living in poverty, Christ's love, Christian, Christianity, Christians, Church, Compassion, Compassion Friday, compassion international, contribute, contribution, do your part, giving, God's Kingdom, God's love, helping those in need, hide-n-seek, needy child, needy children, nonprofit, nonprofits, poor, poverty, running, school, seek first, simon, soccer, sponsor, sponsorship, waiting