Before Creations Time

One of the songs that I have been singing a lot recently is Breathe by Andy Smith. I have had it in my itunes library for a long time, but only really picked it up for the weekend away when Martin suggested it was one we should learn. Wow. I sang it for the first time at the prayer meeting on the Thursday night before we left, and then Martin led it as the response to the first nights message, and it instantly becomes one of those songs that just leads people into the presence of God, in response of what He has done for us and crying out for Him to do more. I lost count of how many times we sang it that weekend.

Then last Sunday, I made the spontaneous decision to use it during a time of prayer and response at the end of the service, knowing that there were no words for the congregation to sing along with or music for the band, but feeling like God had put the song on my heart again earlier in the day, and that He was stirring me to lead it at that moment. Once again, there was just an awesome presence of God as people drew closer to Him in prayer and listened to the words of this song.

God seems to be really using this song to touch people, and so I decided to look a little deeper at this song and try and dig into where the lyrics have come from, and how it carries so much meaning.

The first verse says:

Before creations time
Majestically You reign
You patent Your design
On all that you have made
Creator God breathe life in us

I love the fact that the song begins with the glory and majesty of God, with references right back to creation, and in particular Genesis 2:7

The Lord God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being

What better place to start in worship than to think about God creating us as his people, and more than that creating all things, as well as expressing that God is before all things, even time itself! I love the way this verse captures so much of God's character in just a few lines.

The second verse goes on to say:

We took eternal life and traded it for dust
Your perfect sacrifice
Has brought it back for us
You hold salvation in Your hands

Again, the words so powerfully describe the way we have failed to meet God's standard, but moves quickly onto the greatest part of God's plan, the perfect sacrifice of His one and only Son for us.

The chorus says:

You turned my ashes into beauty
Turned my sorrow into joy
Breathe life, breathe life
You take these dry bone make them stand
Put a promise in my hand
Breathe life, breathe life

The first part of these lines appears to be drawn from Isaiah 61, which tells of the Spirit of the Sovereign Lord, that He will

bestow on them a crown of beauty
instead of ashes,
the oil of gladness
instead of mourning,
and a garment of praise
instead of a spirit of despair.

The second part of the chorus is taken from Ezekiel 37, which is a chapter of prophetic words spoken about God and His Spirit breathing life into a people that are spiritually dry. Singing this chorus is a powerful declaration of what God has done already and asking Him to do more as He continues to breathe spiritual life into us!

The third verse brings us back to the glory of God compared to the world around us:

The idols of this world
Will fade to shades of grey
When marked against the one
Who is the only Way
Bright shining sun that marks my path

Finally, the bridge ties together all the themes of the song in once place:

Wonderful, marvelous,
You make all things new
I was dead now im alive
All because of you
I will go and tell the world
How great you are

It begins with the wonder and splendour of God and His work in creation, followed by the message of the Gospel and our salvation and finishing with the Great Commission as we are sent out into the world to tell the awesome message we have to share.

I love the fact that this song is so full of biblical truth and sets out such a good pattern for our worship, to come to God in awe and wonder of what He has done, and then to respond with hearts that seek more after Him and His desires for our lives! It has been amazing seeing God starting to use this song to draw people closer to him, and I'm looking forward to continuing to use it in times of corporate worship as well as personally.

N.

Worship Album: Part 1...

So, we have talked about it for so long and now are so close to actually making this happen! I have been so blessed to play with and lead the band in some fantastic times of worship, particularly over the weekend away this month, and God is stirring something inside of each of us and it is time to put the creativity and skills He has given us to fulfill something that he has placed on our hearts for many months now.

My desire for this album is that we would capture a glimpse of the passion for worship that God has developed in us as a group of friends serving Him together, worshipping him together in our lives and through the wonderful gift of music that he has blessed us with. That he would continue to develop us as men and women who love him with our whole hearts, and that we would grow in authentic worship, and that our worship would be an overflow of his Spirit working in us and through us.

I pray that this album would be marked with a spirit of true worship, that as we prepare and record that God would be stirring our hearts for Him, that He would give us just a greater desire to bring glory to Him and lift His name high in worship and praise. I pray that God would bless each of us in the band, that we would each be able to play and sing and worship to the best of our abilities. I pray that the songs we choose would be those that have helped us to enter into worship and experience the presence of God, that He would guide us as we make these choices, and that the songs chosen would help those who hear this album to enter into a place of worship also.

Thank you God for the awesome times of worship we have had the privilege of leading in recent weeks and months together, and for the closeness we have developed as a band. Thank you for the passion you have placed in each of us to serve You. I pray as this project develops from here that your hand would be upon it every step of the way. Amen.

N

How He loves us

So I never really made the whole blogging for the summer thing work, mostly because I never knew quite what to put, and didn’t want to bore everyone to death with work stuff! But tonight, I felt like I had something worth putting into words.

If you know me, you know how much I love music, and in particular contemporary Christian stuff, I think about 75% of my iTunes library is worship music, and I love keeping up to date with the latest music releases, and hearing what others are using in worship. I personally find it really uplifting when I have worship music on when im at home, or in the car, and can listen to the same album over and over again if there is something that grabs me about it. So in rotation at the moment is Matt Redman’s new album (We will not be shaken), Hillsong United’s latest release, and a couple of other albums. But the last few days, there has been one song that I haven’t been able to get out of my head: How He loves us, by John Mark Mcmillan.

Now, my brother has talked about this song for a while, but I have never got around to listening to it until this last weekend. Wow. What a song. I was listening to this version on Youtube, and eventually bought the album (and another one) by Jesus Culture. This wasn’t a group I had heard of before, but I would encourage you to check it out, really powerful times of worship and an awesome band.

Musically, the song is brilliant in its simplicity, but for me it is the words that are what keeps drawing me back to this song. The first verse goes like this:

He is jealous for me

Loves like a hurricane,
I am a tree


Bending beneath
 the weight of his wind and mercy


When all of a sudden
I am unaware of these


afflictions eclipsed by glory


And I realize how beautiful you are


And how great your affections for me


There is something so fresh and powerful about the imagery he uses, that bring a unique perspective to the love of God for us and our relationship with him. The second verse continues:

We are his portion
 and he is our prize


Drawn to redemption by the grace in his eyes


If grace is an ocean we're all sinking


So heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss


And my heart turns violently inside of my chest


I don't have time to maintain these regrets


When I think about the way
 He loves us

At first I wasn’t sure about the “sloppy wet kiss” line, but it has really grown on me the more I listen to this and worship with this song. It becomes a beautiful picture of God’s affection for us, a father loving his children, a husband loving his bride. What a unique and fresh phrase that helps us dwell on the characteristics of God.

My favourite part of the song is the chorus, so simple and powerful:

Yeah, He loves us,

Oh how he loves us

Oh how he loves us

Oh how he loves us

I love how it declares such truth in such few words, its amazing to play and sing, singing with passionate hearts about the love of our Lord and Saviour.

I cannot wait to use this song in corporate worship, I think it has such potential to draw people closer to God as we reflect on his awesome power and majesty, and then the personal relationship he desires with each of us.

So, I think I have figured out that I’m going to use this blog to journal the most important thing in my life, my relationship with God, to share stuff I feel he is saying to me, and things like that!

Cheers,

N.