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One of the real bonuses and blessings that has come out of my elongated time away from St Petersburg has been the chance to travel widely and be in settings that otherwise I wouldn't have been able too.
And probably the greatest thing I've learnt has been to do with the Presence of God - which came after spending two days at a Kings Arms conference in Bedford on the Prophetic, in March. I came away from there different, changed for good I hope. Yet it wasn't (just) the teaching that did that, it was simply soaking in the Presence of God, enjoying Him. Just being his child in his midst. Just being.
Not long after that I found myself at another larger, long establish church.....yet, the worship style was such that it led us in it's own way, in the churches style that really reflected the area they were based and the level of mature Christians they had. Yet their well performed musical slickness didn't have anything on the one man and his guitar I'd just been with and the Presence I'd been so powerfully experiencing. And it's been something I've been thinking about, and pondering ever since. It's not something I think you can formulate, so as to get away from the work of God to trust on human ability, but it is something that I soon know they either have it, or they don't!
It's not even just the song, so as to get super spiritual, but it is amazing the connection between certain types of songs and entering into the Presence of God.
I'm blogging as the start of my own sense of figuring this all out. It's something I want with all my heart for my own life. That intimacy I felt and knew in Bedford has made anything else look poor. I want it more and more!
Not being a musician or singer, it's hard for me to go out and play it directly, bringing the Presence through my own playing, if that were possible. But it's something I know we so need I want to somehow effect the way my church, and others, lead worship.
In trying to communicate exactly what it is I'm seeing, it's hard to fully explain a situation and a feeling to someone who wasn't in that situation and didn't feel that feeling!
So I thought I'd start a series where I also include, by YouTube links, examples of what I mean, in the hope of exposing more people to different songs, which they too might find interesting, useful, or even better, Spirit anointed!
You see it really sort of started with this song for me (though this actually just started my chain of thought!) I believe its not a new song (though this version maybe newer), but it's been redone and re-sung, and has come out of Bethel Church, in Redding, California. And from what I've seen they have a real culture of worship, something that is changing and encouraging churches all around the world. So below is a link to the song I Love, I Love, I Love Your Presence. It is sung by Jenn Johnson. And it sums up so much for me!
Another one, maybe not that well known either, which I came across at Christ Church London, was Your Beautiful, by Phil Wickman. Here is a link (with a particularly good video);
So I hope you find these two moving and encouraging, and that their words turn you, like they have with me, to praise Jesus even more! He is worthy of all our worship.
Keep following, I'll be adding more in time as I continue to explore what it is that brings His Presence in ever increasing measures....
