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Hello again!
One quarter of the year is gone already – how quickly time passes!
Perhaps around this time, we are all settling into the new routines of our lives, be they school, work, or (for me) army heh. But even as we are growing accustomed to our paces of life, I hope that we are continually refilled with wonder and awe when we regard the sheer greatness of our God. The psalmist David says in Psalm 8:3–4, "When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained; what is man that You take thought of him, and the son of man that You care for him?" The mind-boggling majesty of our Creator and Saviour is hopefully a constant reminder for us to praise God simply because He is worthy of all our praise.
I'd like to challenge you all to spend some time going into nature (e.g. visting a park, star-gazing, catching the sunrise at ECP) and marvelling at God's wondrous creation, and thence take some time to worship Him. Sometimes this really puts things into perspective – our God holds the entire universe in His hands, and yet He still chooses to develop a personal relationship with each and every one of us. How amazing is that!
– alvin(:
Intimacy with God entails spending a lot of time with God – so much time, in fact, that our entire lives are to be lived worshipfully. It's good to recapitulate what worship as a lifestyle really means, and here are two sermons by John Piper and Dave Faulkner reviewing this very idea.
Here's one more article by David Santistevan offering practical tips on how to go about intentional personal worship, which is important because we must first understand how to worship ourselves before we can even think about leading the congregation in worship.
Snarky Puppy – Things of Gold
Not a tutorial this time around, but a performance video; Snarky Puppy is a collective that creates incredible experimental music, and I always like how they layer their various sounds. The overlay of the Rhodes (electric piano), Moog (synthesiser), Hammond (organ), and grand piano in this track is really on point, and of course that Moog solo just blows me away. It's great watching them make space for each other and even look at one another a lot to make sure that everyone's on the same page – something our worship teams should be doing too. (Click on the image to view.)
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John Mark McMillan – Future / Past
John Mark McMillan is the poetic lyricist behind "How He Loves", and even though his other tunes are less well-known, they are just as compelling and declarative. "Future / Past" is a drum-driven alt-rock track from Borderland about the juxtaposition between God's dominion and His friendship with us. And it's also always nice to watch a video of people worshipping together with fervour and passion.
Also by John Mark McMillan: Daylight, Heart Runs
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Lecrae – All I Need Is You
Rap is a genre that people don't often associate with Christianity, but Lecrae very accurately incorporates his faith into all of his raps. "All I Need Is You" is a single off his album Anomaly with an interesting pop / hip hop vibe, and perhaps more enticing than the music are the lyrics about the vastness of God's love. Lecrae is also featured on the most recent single from Hillsong Young & Free, This Is Living.
Also by Lecrae: Tell The World, Overdose
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One more thing that I forgot to mention in the last issue: if you have any comments, suggestions, or just feedback in general, please do drop me an email or a text! Your ideas are greatly appreciated(:
Over and out!
EUPHOR!A // ISSUE 02 // MAR–APR 2015