This week I am so excited to share Pia’s testimony! If you enjoy it you can find more of her writing at Taste & See!
When one has been a professing Christian for a while, it is always so easy fall into the trap of the dry season. I am no exception, having gone through a long stretch of stagnation in my walk with Jesus a mere couple of years after making the commitment to follow Him. It was a slow fade, with me not realizing how the fire in my heart gradually lost heat as I fell in love again with the world and what it had to offer: professional success, people’s admiration, and material rewards. Continue reading →
Today Adam is sharing his favourite worship song and how it has impacted his faith. I am excited to share this post, as although I’ve not known Adam long, it’s obvious just how much he loves Jesus, and wants to share His message of freedom. And he’s actually sharing a song that I had never even heard before!
Hi Adam, what is your favourite worship song and why?
My favourite worship song is No Longer Slaves by Bethel. It’s such a powerful song, and so meaningful to me, as when I first heard it I was going through a really hard time.
Why was that?
When I first heard this song I was so broken; full of fear, which lead to prison sentences and drug and alcohol abuse and suffering from bad paranoia. I walked in that church that day absolutely broken, tears streaming my face, as I’m no longer a slave to fear I am a child of God was played from the worship team. God really touched my heart that Sunday morning. He told me directly that I was no longer a slave to fear. I was his child. It’s a moment I’ll remember for a lifetime.
Is there a particular line that spoke to you?
Yes, the line is
you split the sea so I could walk straight through, my fears are drowned in perfect love.
There was a time where I couldn’t see a way a through anything. This just reminds us how God makes a way, even when we see no way.
In Adam’s own words: I’m from Worksop and am an ex-drug-addict who’s been saved by God’s grace. I’m now in a bible school, learning about the bible in the mornings, and going out on outreach in the afternoons 2 days a week, helping those still trapped in addiction. I love Jesus and I love people! Amen!
I am looking for more people to join in with this series, if you are interested please get in contact!
This week’s Sounds of Freedom comes from Lydia. She opens up her heart to share her feelings on worship music today.
Confession: I love worshipping. I don’t always love worship music.
After much discussion and debate with friends, worship leaders and pastors, I’ve concluded that I am not a lone wolf and that, in fact, there is a chronic affliction amongst this pack of the musically-minded in our inability to connect in worship.
Having grown up in a Vineyard church in the midlands, the core Vineyard value of worship and the emphasis on creativity within our movement runs through my veins. I’ve been blessed over many years with wonderful worship leaders, worshipful friends and different expressions and experiences of worship wherever I have visited or lived. I’m a passionate pursuer of Jesus and a bit of a music fiend, so I find it extremely irritating when I arrive at church to worship and find myself unable to concentrate, distracted not only by the thoughts of the week but by the musicality of it all: by bands lacking direction from their leaders, by arrangements that don’t quite work and by my frustration with myself for not seizing the opportunity to worship.
I often listen to secular music and find many of the lyrics and melodies easy to worship God with, so why is it that I sometimes find it easier to worship God in a basement full of sweaty twenty-somethings who are there to worship the band? I believe it is because God has made me for worship. If He has inspired creativity in me then no wonder I am drawn to places where heaven-given melodies flow and lyrics written by troubled souls unknowingly sing of His goodness. Of course I was also made for corporate worship, to come together with the body of Christ but I must remember I was made for worship in the everyday and not feel guilty for my current struggle to connect during a church service.
Through live albums, where the passion for Jesus is contagious, I am re-learning to worship without distraction.
When asked for secular album recommendations, it can take me days to consider a piece that has had an impact on my life and that might be appropriate for that particular friend at that particular moment in life. I do not want to give glib advice when my passion for music is so key to how I live! When I apply my rule of thumb to recommending Christian music, I struggle. I draw a blank because if I couldn’t recommend a piece of Christian music to my non-Christian friends then I often wouldn’t listen to it myself. Cheesy, poorly-produced, repetitive and boring are words that typically come to mind when thinking about such albums. There are, of course, many exceptions to my general dislike of Christian music that would make my friends cringe, and these have been reshaping my understanding of the sound of Christianity!
As Dave mentioned in a previous post, Elevation Worship have been turning out some beautiful things, Bethel and the new Hillsong albums have been inspiring in my worship times at home – usually in the shower where I can get away with singing as loudly as I like! Special mention should go to Dave Miller at Trent Vineyard for his role in the amazing live album ‘Rooftops’ from the national Vineyard youth conference ‘Dreaming The Impossible’ and to the Hillsong We Are Young & Free album from 2013, which reimagined and inspired youth worship in many churches across the globe.
If one thing pulls me out of this struggle to connect, it is the reminder of my God-given purpose. I was put here to bring Him glory and I will therefore continue to learn to engage in worship. The power of God’s presence as we worship together and in the quiet of our hearts will never cease to amaze me.
Through the trials of life I’m sometimes asked why I worship and in my response I am reminded of a quote I once heard: ‘Sometimes you worship because you believe it and sometimes you worship until you do.’ In my journey to reconnecting with worship music, I will continue pressing into God’s love, hungry for more of His presence, worshipping in spite of and also because of this life.
I will worship because God is ALWAYS good and that is reason enough to teach my broken human heart to worship Him.
Lydia Johnston is 22 years old and studying Biomedical Science at York Uni. Her favourite worship song is Do it Again by Elevation Worship
This week Margaret shares her favourite worship song, and how it has encouraged her through hard times.
It wasn’t hard for her to decide. When I asked if she wanted to share, she responded within seconds.
My Favourite worship song is In Christ Alone. For me it says everything about what God means to me: he is my rock and my comforter in times of trouble. That sums him up for me.
He is my strong anchor when things are going rough, I can depend on him to protect me, he will keep me strong in times of trouble ….I stand complete in him!
What a powerful answer! I followed up by asking if there was a time when this song was especially important to her. I guess you would think that someone with such an obviously strong faith might have had an easy life.
We have been through years of illness with my husband Peter, looking back I can see a pattern of God’s grace to us, supplying our needs in all sorts of ways. When I sing this song it has great meaning, only through him can I be strong, his love has always been there for us. And it always will be.
Isn’t that a fabulous reminder that even in the toughest of times, we can put our trust in God and that through him we can be strong.
Margaret was born and bred in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, and is fond of this little place. She is part of the Worksop Gospel Community Choir and loves music with a passion. She also enjoys worshipping at her local church, St Johns in Worksop.
In the first of a new series, David Gaskell shares his favourite worship song, and how it has impacted his life.
When I was asked to write about my favourite worship song loads came to mind. At present the Elevation Worship album; Here as in Heaven, many songs in it point towards God and show thanksgiving. Also I’ve been reading Matt Redman’s book 10,000 reasons, which explains amazing stories surrounding his heaven sent worship song, and since watching the movie God’s Not Dead I’ve really enjoyed the song Like a Lion by David Crowder Band or God’s Not Dead By The Newsboys. But the one song that always inspires me and takes me to a place of worship is the song How He Loves By David Crowder Band.
I first heard this song when Alice (my youth leader at the time) took our church youth group to Soul Survivor in 2012 (don’t look at the photos, I don’t look that good in them). The song was played and instantly I was taken aback at actually how much God does love us and me. The song sings about how “great his (God’s) affections are for me (us all)” and his love is better and stronger than any other kind of love song by Adele, Beiber or any other secular artist; past, present or future. The song says “He Loves” 22 times within the 5min 19secs of the song, which really hits home actually how much he does love and no body could out love God. The one line within this song that does cause “conflict” is the infamous “Sloppy wet kiss” line Vs “Unforeseen kiss” line. In my view both do work; the unforeseen line brings the image of someone kissing you unexpectedly and leaving you thinking: “Dude, did you just kiss me?” as it was unexpected and in someways undeserved. The sloppy wet kiss line was explained to me by Katie at my church in York, that it’s like getting a kiss off your Nan. She gives kisses that are wet, sloppy and are in no way dignified, but behind every Grandma kiss there is so much love, you get over the fact you’ve had your second shower of the day courtesy of your grandparent’s spit.
This song spoke to me so much that I decided to have it played at my full emersion (re)baptism as I came up put of the water. The song hit me in such a way because it reminded me that God loves me so much that he took all my sins away, meaning when I came up out of the water I was made clean again. This song will go with me wherever I go, when it’s forgotten and I’m the only one who remembers it, it will be just as powerful then as it was the first time I heard it.
The song is one of the greatest love songs about the greatest love story ever, where I am the princess being saved by prince charming (Jesus on the cross).
David Gaskell is a Physiotherapy student from the North West of England.
If you are interested in sharing what your favourite song means to you, please leave a comment below, or get in contact through the contact page.
Me Set Free 