Faith and Cancer

Pentecost by Mark A Hewitt. Used by Permission of a Creative Commons License. See   http://oldtractortinshed.net/ The time when we remember Pentecost is coming up - the time we remember when God gave us his Holy Spirit and filled the early Christian church with supernatural power. This is why I have chosen to make 'Wonderful Counsellor' my Song Spotlight this month. It is a beautiful song the highlights the characteristics of the Holy Spirit. You can listen to it in the audio player below. If you like it and want to sing it at your church, you can (by keeping within the CCLI license requirement of reporting your song use in your church's annual CCLI report). Please download the free chord chart and sheet music here . If you really like it you can also buy a copy of the CD that it is on 'A Deeper Longing' by clicking here or on itunes etc. Lyrics are below the media player. Wonderful Counsellor You give counsel to the wise You illuminate my eyes

Credit: Ginny on flickr ( Creative Commons ) So this week instead of having our usual church band practise, we had a social event instead. I run the rota on a 3 month basis and I make sure during that 3 month cycle there is at least one practise where we have time to just socialise, to be together as people, to share life. Oh and by the way, it is not only the church musicians and singers who are invited, we also include the sound team and multimedia teams too. This month was movie night! We all brought some drink and food to share and we watched a movie. On other such evenings, the band have all gone along to the local ten-pin bowling alley, or we play board games round someone's house, or have a Christmas party. The point is, the people you have been called to lead in your church ministry are people! They are not simply a tool or an instrument that so happen to make nice music once a week. It is also important that the team members get this idea too - they are people and

Still focussing on trying to create more space during our times of sung worship. We are getting there and some in the congregation are beginning to be more free during the less structured more spontaneous times. The List Strength Will Rise These Are The Days of Elijah I'm Forgiven (Amazing Love) I Can Only Imagine Who Is There Like You So what did you sing today?

freelyphotos.com - Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Having recently returned from The Pursuit, a 24/7 worship and prayer event, I have been challenged to create more space when I lead worship. There is such a joy as well as powerful moments of encounter when we step back and allow the Holy Spirit the space and time to minister to us. Not being so pre-occupied by getting through our set list, or executing a great transition, or moving on to the next item on the service plan. This was very evident at The Pursuit and the Holy Spirit moved in powerful ways. However, we did have a lot of time to dwell in His presence at this event - taking this back into 'normal' church context may look a little different. While at The Pursuit I also read an article by Tim Hughes in Worship Leader Magazine (March/April 2015 edition) called 'To Make A Wide Space' where he says: "Allow your setlists time to breathe. Perhaps cut a couple of songs out and give space for the songs to c

Photo Credit: The Pursuit www.thepursuit.co.uk  I have just returned from one of the most significant weekends I have encountered in over a decade. Why? Because I encountered God! Yes, I initially went to The Pursuit because I had been very kindly invited to lead some of the worship sessions. I was expecting to give and minister (which I did) but was not really expecting to receive much for myself - I was wrong! Based centrally in the UK (somewhere near Grantham) at an outdoor activity camp called PGL a couple of hundred people gathered in a tent with one aim - to worship God and to wait upon Him. It had a very different vibe to other Christian festivals I have been to. There was a very strong emphasis on community - indeed I chose to share a room with 4 other guys whom I had never met before. The 'stage' was barely elevated off the ground and was in-the-round so was placed right in the middle of the tent, breaking down the separation of 'us and them' of 'th