A wonderful worship/ musical movement has swept through the churches, world-wide, in the past generation.    The Praise and Worship movement has redefined how we facilitate worship in most evangelical denominations.   Whether you love it or long for the old school ways, this music continues to impact the lives of countless people with its pathway to concentrate our minds and spirits on the Lord in an overall more simplistic approach to lyrics, melodies and harmonies.  This genre allows for great “choirs” of participants to sing together as one voice and to worship God in Spirit and in Truth.  It makes room for an intimate time of listening in our hearts as we sing, to hear the various messages of the Holy Spirit that are being imparted to each individual and to each corporate body of believers and to the unbeliever who is being wooed by that same Spirit to belief in Jesus Christ. These songs and remixed hymn arrangements guide us in prayers for family, friends and others.    This genre has the substance of connection with God and has great value in the church.

So MUCH is going on in worship beyond the lyric and the song.  Through worship we go to war and find peace. Through worship we release bondages and find our liberty in Christ.  Through worship we find our true motive of love and find renewed strength to get the job done.  We listen in our hearts to find it.

I love the worship movement AND am also a firm believer in embracing all types of Christian music that is brought to the feast.  Why limit ourselves to one genre when the Lord has prepared such a wide variety of styles at this banqueting table?  Has He not used fresh style to speak to every generation?

Shouldn’t the music of the church lead the world instead of the other way around?

I am thrilled to be joining up with a seasoned band of worshippers at Jersey Baptist who also have embraced a variety of musical styles as we, together, lead worship in both Traditional and Contemporary settings.  (Also Modern worship and Southern Gospel as well as children’s. Etc)

I am having such a BLAST singing with these dedicated folks in the choirs and enjoy the wide variety of styles we present including traditional octavos, hymns, gospel, Southern Gospel, Praise and Worship, and many other genre.

These musicians have quickly welcomed me and befriended me and I am thankful.  Also, I am so grateful to those who have over the years organized such a wide ranging system to facilitate the musical/worship needs of this place.

Music should unite us, not divide us.

If you don’t have a church home or are a musician without a place to minister in your giftings, I invite you to try Jersey.  It’s really FUN (good musical hard work too!) and above all, ministry is really happening here!  You can feel it. You can sense it.  And you can see it. May all the glory go to the Lord!

We like Chocolate!

Spring Hills Baptist Church of Granville, OH recently held a Women’s Breakfast, welcoming warmer spring weather (yay!), ladies of all ages from the church and other guests.  Tables dotted with fresh daisy-filled tin vases of colorful greens and blues brightened the festivity and a rainbow of chocolates, candies and table favors were generously sprinkled within easy reach.

After a brief welcome and prayer, we were treated to a marvelous breakfast spread of sizzling bacon, hotcakes, and other goodies including a flavored coffee and juice bar, provided by the local restaurant, Allison’s.  Delicious!

Mmmm…delicious breakfast and great conversations!

(Thanks for the invite, treats and a special thanks to Dina for running sound and lyric for Zac and I!  Super big thanks to Z for singing with his dear ol’ MOM J)

Passing the Torch

The on-going theme at Spring Hill is to minister God’s truth to the generations.

“Generations” was the theme of the Saturday Women’s Breakfast as well.  Founding matriarch of the church, Mrs. Cathy Pound was invited to be the featured speaker.  Before she began her meaningful talk which included a look at how the generations have evolved over the years from the turn of the century to 2015, and how we can be effective witnesses for Christ through his word and prayer in this current time, my son Zachary (the token male, lol) and I shared four songs leading into the theme of the day.

Friends Reunion:  A Taste of Heaven

We saw many dear friends, new and old that we consider extended “family” sitting before us as we ministered through the spoken word and song.  Our selections included:  “10,000 Reasons”, “Word of God Speak”, a new song written especially for this event entitled “To the Generations” and “None But Jesus”.  Zac accompanied us on his guitar and I played a little piano as well.  Everyone joined in the singing.

Singing with my son, Zac in the Fireside Room at Spring Hills

In the coming days, songs such as these will be released on the Blog, in the hopes that you, readers, will be greatly encouraged.  Today I wanted to share the words of  “To the Generations”, inspired by that beautiful day.   To us, being back with our old friends and family was indeed a taste of heaven.  The room was packed with fellow believers in Christ Jesus, the living Son of God and together, we worshiped Him in the presence of His Holiness.  I, personally, was thanking God for the sacrifice and leadership of this church in our family over the years.

To the Generations

V1

Before us stand

A great cloud of witnesses

Faith on grace

Fought the fight

Won the race

Now it’s our turn

Now it’s our time

Connecting with the past

Protecting what will last

Building the bridge of faithfulness

Chorus

Pass the torch, light the flame

Teach the Word of God to generations

Pass the torch, light the flame

Pray the prayers that change

Live the truth, stand for right

Guardians of the gospel

Be guiding light

Through Jesus Christ

To the generations

V2

God of our fathers

Go before us

Cloud by day

Fire by night

Light the way

Now it’s our turn

Now it’s our time

We cry out to you

Command us, take us through

Lead us out into the promised land

Bridge

Pass the torch (now it’s our turn)

Light the flame (now it’s our time)

Copyright 2015 KingdomRock Music/ by Wendy James