We’re starting the sermon on the mount this week, specifically a passage that modern bible translations have given the subheading: beatitudes. As we study Jesus’ words and see him flip upside down our understanding of being blessed, “It is Well” seems an appropriate song. I’m sure many of us can reflect on a time when our soul shouldn’t have been well by the world’s standards, but with the grace and power of the Holy Spirit, we were able to have a peace and joy that surpasses all understanding.

This version of the traditional hymn was done by Michael Bleecker, the same guy who wrote “Overwhelm Me” which seems to have become a favorite at Origins. My hope is that hearing and singing it in a non traditional way will cause those of us who’ve known this song for years to re-listen to the lyrics. It is such an incredibly powerful song and I don’t want for us to pass by it without hearing the truth in it and worshiping through it. I hope you guys like it.

I recorded this while I was in New Mexico a few weeks ago and it was pretty awesome being in the mountains and singing this song. I’ll shout out a special thanks to Justin Caldwell for all of the help recording as well as the vocal coaching.

I can’t wait for the concert!

This is the view from the balcony at this house, which is why singing the lyrics “praise Him under open skies, everything breathing praising God” is so inspiring and fitting:

I hope that you enjoy this song when it comes up Sunday morning “in the company of all who love the King.”

A couple of things to note… 1) this is my new guitar! 2) this is just a quick preview so you can hear how it goes – the actual song on Sunday will be structured somewhat different.

Oh, the girl singing is Whitney. She’s just one of many talented musicians at Origins. It was a blessing getting to sit down and record with her. Thanks, Whit!

I would usually post a video here, and I did record a video, but I can’t find the stupid cable to get the stupid video off the stupid camera. I’m not frustrated at all . However, since I record the audio directly into the computer and sync it with the video, I do in fact have the audio, so I will at least post that.

I used my electric this week instead of my acoustic and I also threw in an ambient “pad” in the background that was made by this dude, who blogs about guitar and worship. Thanks for the pad, I’ll be using it Sunday!

Anyway, I really like this song and it fits perfectly with the sermon series that we’re in. Give it a listen below and check out the lyrics as well. I hope you’ll dig it.

As usual, I only give this one take because I don’t have time to do a real recording, so please be forgiving of my singing and a couple of wrong chords.

We’ll be starting off worship with this Sunday morning. It’s a super easy song and will likely be familiar to some of you.

Oh yeah, some of you may remember my new delay pedal…I decided to figure it out a little more and I recorded this video using the pedal which is why it’ll sound a little weird (weird but hopefully good!).

Matthew 7:8, Matthew 21:22, Mark 11:24, Luke 11:10, John 16:24, James 4:3, 1 John 3:22, 2 Chronicles 7:14, Psalm 2:8.

As I reflect on these verses I realize how little I pray and how weak my prayers are.  I hope I can step up to this week’s challenge and begin to pray big!

This song, by Shane Barnard, is a reflection of these verses and others.  We’ll sing it right after the message and I hope that it draws us into the message and turns our hearts to worship.  I’m looking forward to this week and what everyone’s response will be.

So why bring this up? Well, it really does have me thinking about what songs we sing, what they say, if they’re biblical, and whether or not I can relate. We’re introducing a song called “It is You” this week that I hope and pray doesn’t disgust anyone, isn’t cheesy, and speaks truth. It’s a pretty simple song…lyrics like ~”will you meet us here? we have come to worship you. god of mercy and grace. it is you praises are for”, etc. There is, however, something that the conservative backgrounded peeps may not be used to, “As we life up our hands…” To expand on point #5 above, if I ask you to lift your hands, it’s not because it’s a proper way to do things and it’s not to try and conjure some emotion that wouldn’t otherwise be there. Instead, I think there’s something to be said of us taking a certain posture towards God. In scripture we see bowing on knees, face to the ground, jumping and dancing, lifting of hands, quiet reflection, and more. I believe as we get out of our comfort zones, we create the potential to encounter God in a unique way. Come Sunday morning, you’re free to sit, stand, kneel, jump, or whatever you want…but I encourage you during this song in particular to try lifting your hands. If you relate at all to the blogger, then singing something that isn’t true probably won’t sit well with you. So singing, “as we lift up our hands” while we’re all standing there twiddling our thumbs is a tad silly, isn’t it? Again, I’m not going to force anyone into anything, but I don’t want us to be a congregation that just goes through the motions. I suppose the other option is to metaphorically lift your hands, or perhaps to just not sing those lyrics.

I first heard this song done by The Stillpoint Band down at Hill Country SW and it always engaged me in worship. Unfortunately, the only recorded version I could find out there was by the Newsboys and I don’t like it at all. But rest assured, it should make for a great song Sunday morning! Check it out below, but a little disclaimer: I just recorded this during my lunch break and thus didn’t bother to set up a mic and plug in my guitar. The audio is straight from the camera so won’t sound as good as usual. I also widened the lens angle so you’ll have to see my face on this one…I heard that just the guitar was awkward, but this feels more awkward for me!

It is essentially the Lord’s Prayer with a focus on recognizing that God loves us and will take care of our needs. It’s a simple song, but says a lot. I’m looking forward to worshiping with everyone this week.

Side Note: I’ve had the chorus of this song stuck in my head before but never knew the melody. I figured I could learn it and record it all in about 30 minutes. Turns out the melody has some atypical parts and there’s a chord in there that while easy, I’m just not used to playing. You’ll notice a few mistakes in the video, so please be easy on me. On a positive note, I got the lighting fixed and the video quality should be pretty good from this point on.

Overwhelm Me is my favorite song of his. I’ve been using it in leading worship since I heard it for the first time many years ago. It is a passionate plea with God to take us out of the place that we’re in and move our hearts toward Him. Though we may know that He is the giver of life and joy, we so often ignore this and pursue other things that we think will fulfill us. Asking God to “overwhelm me” and “shake the ground I stand on” can be dangerous since it sometimes means that to get our attention He really does have to shake up our entire world. However, in the end, it is essential. His way is best. His love is greatest. We’ll be singing this song after the sermon on Sunday and I am praying that we are all able to divein to a deep encounter with Christ.

Side note: big improvements on the video quality this time around. The resolution and frame rate are much better, but I still don’t have enough light in the music room so it looks a little grainy. Hopefully I can get that aspect fixed soon.

EDIT: I just found Bleecker himself on Youtube doing this song and apparently he has 2nd verse that I didn’t know about…sweet! We’ll probably just stick to the one, though, since it’s a new song. He also mentions on his video that the song was written from Psalm 51:10-12, 62:7-8 and Mark 7:37. Very good to know…enjoy!