I am often moved beyond words (which is often difficult to believe from this wordy-girl) by music. It has a tremendous amount of power over me.
It’s now how I commune with God and it’s taking on a whole new shape as we begin to look at forming a “house church” style of worship in various homes once each month.
JJ and I are particularly drawn to the music of Bethel Live – based out of Bethel Church in Redding, California.
Since I’m working on an eBook, I need to cut-down on the amount of writing I’m doing here for a few weeks, so I decided to post a song that is moving me at the moment each Wednesday.
This week is one of my favorites and I never tire of it – “I Love Your Presence” sung by Jenn Johnson of Bethel Live.
I challenge you to press the “play” button, sit down, and rest in this, friends.
Because as much as we love His presence, He loves ours even more.
May you be aware of His presence as your go about your day today…
I will sing a new song to you, O God! I will sing your praises with a ten-stringed harp. – Psalm 144:9 (NLT)
Wow! Beautiful!! I love her voice. Thank you for posting this Natalie…it started my kids and myself off to a great Wednesday!
YAY!!!!
Some of those lyrics are from a old David Gray song….”Babylon”. Just some useless information, didn’t know if you knew or not! :)
http://www.sing365.com/music/Lyric.nsf/Babylon-lyrics-David-Gray/13B443B7DEFD73A148256A06002B1D31
I know – it’s one of my very favorites, Lisa! It’s part of the reason I love this song so much!!!
That was beautiful. Thank you for sharing.
WOW! Praise You Lord!
Wow…i love hearing music that gives me chills when it’s really good. This has given me chills! What a great musical start to my day. Thanks Natalie, now I have a new band to listen too and Bethel Live has one more listener.
Mark, they are AWESOME. They also sing under the name “Jesus Culture”. Great stuff!!!
LOVED this song Natalie! Thanks for sharing it! I was EVEN MORE blessed by the song that followed…”Love came down…”. These moments of pausing with Jesus and music are just what my soul needs. I am defintiely one who connects with God through music…my avenue of abiding. However once having children, time with “music n me” became scarce. I am seeking to find that time again….
YES! Don’t you love that song??!!!! I have been listening to it as well. Worship is so incredibly important – in fact, it’s critical to deepening our intimacy with our Creator.
Love seeing you here, girl!
I believe it is a powerful tool to worship Our Lord. But I”m curious does anyone know if Bethel received permission to use the lyrics from David Gray? No one seems to know, and many don’t seem to care, but as a Christian it pricks my conscious when I hear this song. How can we be the salt and the light and bring forth a sacrifice which “may” or “may not” have been taken from someone else without their permission? Sure we can pray that God deals with them, but as Christians shouldn’t we hold ourselves to a higher standard? Yes, we make mistakes but when they happen let’s not ignore, let’s grow from them. I don’t know, but the first time I heard this song I was filled with joy, until I heard those lyrics (which I like David Gray’s song too) and then it was like something kept scratching at my spirit and conscious. I feel that way now everytime I hear the song.
Hmmmm… I don’t know, Roland. I guess I just assumed permission had been granted as I think David Gray would have asked them to take it all down if not. I’m sure he is aware of this because while it may not be a mainstream worship song, it certainly is popular enough for someone to have made the connection and brought it to his attention. The University of Texas threatened to sue a high school in my community (I don’t live in a major city) because they had the same mascot and logo – forcing them to change everything this year. Who knows how such a major university found out about a midsize high school in Indiana? But they did.
I agree with you – as believers, we need to commit to living righteously. I’m guessing permission has been granted because in this sue-happy world, it’s very likely Bethel would have been slapped with a lawsuit by now.
You bring up great points – thanks so much for sharing them here, Roland!
That’s what I thot too as soon as I heard this song, that some of the lyrics were taken from David Gray’s “Babylon”, that did make me a bit uncomfy coz it’s someone else’s music.