Worthy is the Lamb

I have been privileged to be in places where God's power has been manifest more than a few times. When someone tries to confine those manifestations to certain parameters it usually results in limiting what God can do in that setting. All too often God is put in a box with four walls, a roof and a steeple. It is the same thing the Jews of old did when they confined God to the temple.

Solomon asked in his prayer in Second Chronicles, "The heaven of heavens could not contain Him, much less a house I have built." But the splendor of the temple got to them. Somehow they allowed it to overshadow the power of God. The temple became the end, not the one it was built to honor.

I have seen times God's presence has been manifest in a place. One Sunday in late 1995 the Expressive Worship team at the church we were attending did a number using the song, "This Kingdom" by Hillsong United. It begins, "Jesus, God's righteousness revealed. The Son of Man, the Son of God, His kingdom comes." It ends with the lines, "Jesus, God's righteousness revealed." That song set the stage for what was to follow.

Many of in the congregation were hearing this song for the first time. As the group finished and left to go to the basement to change clothes the music and vocal teams took over with another song to Him, "Worthy is the Lamb."

As the congregation started into the second verse people started falling on their faces before God. It was nothing orchestrated or directed by the leader but personal responses to God's presence. It was there, it was real, and it was wonderful. People just started dropping to their knees. It began in the congregation and spread. A few came to the altar but most just knelt where they were. In a couple minutes there were few who were not kneeling, most were on their face before God. Most were crying and some were just quietly praising God. It was not because someone else was doing it, it seemed to be the only valid posture for that time.

By now the Expressive Worship team had removed their costumes and they were returning from the basement. They had no idea what happened. Most of them felt His presence and joined the congregation kneeling. This scene played out for nearly a half hour. The song was played and sung over and over. "I bow down and worship, the Lamb upon the throne; For I desire, O Lord, to be called your own..."

This was the call that many there answered that day with their actions and changes in their lives. It is not the only way to worship. But on that day it was the right way to honor Him.

I have seen like occurrences with different manifestations in other settings but that morning was something I will remember because people responded to God in a special way. And He was faithful.

Desperation Band Gets Personal on Everyone Overcome

Desperation Band, featuring worship leaders/songwriters Jared Anderson, Jon Egan and Glenn Packiam captures live worship and perhaps its best effort to date on Everyone Overcome. Past efforts served their purpose and audience well, but this project propels the worship outfit to another level.

The sound of Everyone Overcome is still characteristic Desperation with extra guitar, turntables and crowd participation. But the more indie rock groove and ethereal compositions give the songs and the record a more personal, authentic atmosphere. It makes for a very appropriate comparison to Hillsong United. The joyous message and fresh beat of "Counting on God" is a terrific discovery, while the experience of "Overcome" into "Maker of Heaven" launches the record in expansive live worship.

The song craftsmanship on Everyone Overcome covers a broad scope of worship styles. Anderson, Egan and Packiam (and anyone else involved in songwriting) hit their stride, offering upbeat, convincing words that speak to unwavering confidence in God.

Desperation Band, its worship leaders and the congregation at New Life Church in Colorado Springs faced startling, tragic moments this past year. The triumphant words and sounds of Everyone Overcome are an example of their spirit and decision to be God's voice of joy to this generation.

Hillsong United Lyrics-Emmanuel

Hillsong United Lyrics-Emmanuel


Together in this place of worship
Your greatness we proclaim
We stand as one in giving You
All glory and acclaim

To You our hearts are open
To You our hands we raise
Come take the place
Of honor in our lives

Emmanuel
Our God is with us
Prince of peace
Mighty one
The ever-living God

See the praises of our savior
Rise to open skies
With the dawning of redemption
Your glory will arise
For You alone are worthy
Here in Zion you are praised
Our Lord and King
Forever You will reign

Emmanuel
Our God is with us
Prince of peace
Mighty one
The ever-living God

Hillsong United Begins U.S., Canada Tour with Battle Cry

Hillsong United – the youth-centered worship ministry of the Sydney-based megachurch Hillsong Church – started their tour Friday at the Battle Cry event being held Apr. 13-14 in Detroit. Nearly 30,000 teens were expected to attend the event aimed to combat a generation taken over by secular culture.

Friday's event is the first in a series of concerts to reach out to tens of thousands of young Christians around the states and provinces.

"We are really excited about coming back to North America and we're looking forward to taking songs, which have been specifically written to be sung corporately, to young people across the continent," explained Joel Houston, Hillsong United's creative director as well as worship leader, in a statement.

As part of the international tour, the band will also be promoting the May release of All of the Above, the group's eighth album and first-ever studio recording. It includes twelve new, original tracks that are meant to inspire and excite Christians.

"With the tour and new record, our hope is to stir up a generation both locally and globally to live lives that are sold out for God and His Cause," added Houston, "lives that are committed to being His hands and feet on the planet, and to bringing justice to the hurting and the broken."

Another notable stop along the U.S. portion of the tour will be on Apr. 22 when the worship ensemble arrives in Nashville for the Gospel Music Association's Music Week – a weeklong event that brings together the largest collection of people involved in the Christian music industry. GMA Music Week also leads up to the Dove Awards, the most prestigious Christian music awards showcase.

While at the GMA Music Week, the band will lead the Sunday night worship service to be held at the Ryman Theatre. Alongside them will be the host for the night, Christian superstar Michael W. Smith.

Hillsong United has also recently launched a new movement called "The I Heart Revolution." Through it, they hope to unite the world by showing their travels all around the globe, and how God has impacted each of the regions they visited. In the compiled documentary, they will show video from Asia, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia from over the last 12 months.

"It became so clear that God is doing something significant among young people," said Houston in a statement. "Regardless of language or geography, whenever they worshipped God, something powerful happened."

Hillsong United to Embark on North American Tour

Australia's top modern worship team, Hillsong United, will embark on a US and Canada tour in April, bringing its explosive and passionate brand of modern worship to North America.

In addition, the team is preparing for the May release of All of the Above, the band's eighth CD and first-ever studio recording.

Hillsong United is expected to play before an estimated 150,000 people between April and August.

One of the first stops on the North American tour will be Nashville, where Hillsong United have been invited to lead the Sunday night worship service at GMA Music Week, gospel and Christian music's annual industry convention.

The worship night will be hosted by Hillsong United supporter and friend, Michael W Smith, and held on Sunday 22 April at the Ryman Theatre in Nashville.

Hillsong United's Creative Director, Joel Houston, who is also one of United's worship leaders and songwriters, said, "We are really excited about coming back to North America and we're looking forward to taking songs, which have been specifically written to be sung corporately, to young people across the continent."

"With the tour and new record, our hope is to stir up a generation both locally and globally to live lives that are sold out for God and His cause – lives that are committed to being His hands and feet on the planet, and to bringing justice to the hurting and the broken," Houston added.

Hillsong United Lyrics-Can't stop Praising

Hillsong United Lyrics-Can't stop Praising



In not be described
In just one lifetime
Look at the sun over the seas
Look at Your grace that covers me

Now I know, Try to find the words to express the way You are
But the beauty of the Lord
Cayes I know
Now I know, I know
Your love has saved me

In the morning
I can't stop praising Your Name
In the evening
I can't stop praising Your Name

In the morning
I can't stop praising Your Name
In the evening, I can't stop

And I want you to know
Yes, I want you to know, oh yes I
And I want you to know
Yes, I want you to know

Lord You're so amazing
Every word You say is true
Better than the finest treasure
So glad that I found You
You held me close when I was down
Your world has turned my world around

Now I know, yes I know
Now I know, I know
How much I love you

Hallelujah, we praise Your Name
We praise Your Name

Hillsong United Conference

Thousands of young people have attended Hillsong conferences held in Europe but the popular worship band has never hosted a conference in North America ... until now. This coming November 9-10 (2007), Orlando will see an influx of more than 5000 musicians, pastors, students, worship leaders and youth leaders as they attend the Hillsong United Conference.

The two days of concerts, speakers and teaching that focuses on worship and justice will be held at the First Baptist Church on South Young Parkway in Orlando with local radio stations Joy FM and Z88 FM helping sponsor the event.

Hillsong Church's senior pastor Brian Houston and youth leader Phil Dooley are two of the featured speakers who will host seminars teaching young people how to transform their churches and communities. Other seminars will teach how to build a great worship team, how to write great songs, and how to use TV & media in church and youth ministry programming.

Hillsong United Conference to Hit America

More than 5,000 pastors, youth leaders, worship leaders, musicians and students from around the world will gather for the Hillsong United Conference in Orlando, Fla., this fall.

For the first time, the popular Australian modern worship band is bringing its popular youth events to North America this year, with the Orlando event slated for Nov. 9-10.

The Hillsong United Conference will feature two days of speaker presentations, teaching and concerts. The conference will focus on the subjects of worship and justice and equipping young people to bring both to their communities.

Australia's Hillsong United is one of the most popular young modern worship bands in the world, and the various conferences they have hosted in Europe have drawn thousands of young people and their church leaders who are looking to immerse themselves in worship and gain a better understanding how to bring a lifestyle of worship to everyday life.

The Orlando conference will feature guest speakers including Hillsong Church senior pastor Brian Houston and youth leader Phil Dooley, while the seminars will demonstrate how young people can transform churches and communities.

Some of the breakout sessions will teach song writing; building a great worship team; youth ministry programming; evangelism; and using TV and media. The Hillsong United band will lead music at the worship events and will also be accompanied by Hillsong worship leader Reuben Morgan.

Australia's Hillsong United scored its first No. 1 album by landing atop the Billboard Top Christian/Gospel Albums chart with the release of their eighth CD, "All of the Above" in May. The CD also debuted at No. 1 on iTunes' chart of Christian music digital album sales and at No. 60 on the Billboard Top 200 of all albums, not just Christian/Gospel.

Hillsong United Lyrics-Better Than Life

Hillsong United Lyrics-Better Than Life



Better than the riches of this world
Better than the sound of my friend's voices
Better than the biggest dreams of my heart
And that's just the start

Better than getting what I say I need
Better than living the life that I want to
Better than the love anyone could give
Your love is

You hold me now in Your arms
And never let me go

You Oh Lord make the sun shine
And the moon light in the night sky
You give me breath and all Your love
I give my heart to You because

I can't stop falling in love with You
I'll never stop falling in love with You
I can't stop falling in love with You
I'll never stop falling in love with You

Why Mercy Ministries was godsent for Hillsong

When the Hillsong Church introduced Mercy Ministries to the congregation, there was much excitement. There was finally somewhere that "girls in trouble" could go to keep their babies, or sort out other consequences of their sins while being pampered like a princess into a brand new life.

Pastor Bobbie Houston set up a Mercy register at David Jones, much like a bridal register, where members of the congregation could buy household goods for the girls at Mercy House: perhaps a washing machine or a dustpan and brush. It was like one big Hillsong wedding for the Mary Magdalenes they were forgiving. See how good God is to those sorts of girls?

But girls who have undergone the Mercy Ministries program say the experience did more harm than good, as the Herald reported yesterday. Rather than receiving psychiatric care and support, they were isolated from the outside world and given treatments which consisted of prayer reading and exorcisms.

To understand how this could come about, it is necessary to understand the relationship between Mercy Ministries and the Hillsong Church and the philosophy that unites them.

Hillsong has always been proud of the origins and progress of the Australian incarnation of Mercy Ministries. According to Hillsong folklore, a female congregant, unable to find help in Australia for an eating disorder, travelled to the United States for treatment at Mercy Ministries. Mercy Ministries was created by an American, Nancy Alcorn, who says she was frustrated in her role as a juvenile justice officer because of the injustices of the system. She determined to open a place for young women that would be independent of government funding and intervention, and free, so women would feel sincerely cared for.

While the Australian congregant was at Mercy Ministries, she was visited by a Hillsong pastor. The pastor was so impressed with the work being done she decided to bring the program to Australia.

Mercy Ministries was a godsend for Hillsong. Desperate young women who are violated by the world draw a sympathetic audience. It seemed a simple concept for Hillsong to mimic locally and it was presented as a utopia of female health. Hillsong is an organisation based on recruitment and fund-raising. Mercy Ministries was an opportunity to do both on a new and larger scale.

The founders of Mercy Ministries are fundamentalist Christians who are primarily obsessed with women's bodies and what they choose to do with them. The Bible is used to justify the supposed inferiority and intrinsic sinfulness of women and homosexuals. Hillsong teaches that a woman's purpose, as an afterthought of God, is as a helper and a companion at best, and with Eve as their ultimate matriarch, the cause of the fall of all mankind.
The teaching when I was at Hillsong included the lesson that women are attached to their offspring eternally. All the miscarriages, terminations and stillbirths a woman has during her life time grow up in heaven, waiting for their mother to join them.

But you will never see any of this on Hillsong pamphlets. All you find are photos of shiny, happy people holding hands. And inside the front cover is a promise that a truckload of love is waiting for you whenever you want it. It's only in the third dimension that you discover how much love costs. The love dries up when the money runs out or, worse yet, when you don't agree with the program.

Mercy, justice, liberty and compassion are concepts that evangelicals view as their own. They believe their God is the author of these values, and that with a monopoly on truth they have an imperative to administer them globally.

It is no surprise that the girls and young women who attended Mercy Ministries did not receive the psychiatric help they were seeking. Fundamentalist Christians are suspicious of psychiatry and psychology, unless prefixed with the word Christian. Psychotic symptoms such as voices are evidence of demons that medication cannot expel. I recall one Hillsong pastor proudly describing his own daughter's employment at Mercy Ministries. He said she could counsel by birthright, aided by her bible college wisdom.

Having worked in a women's refuge for five years, I know there are few social services out there. And such little love. It's hard for young women who are tired, frightened and hungry to distinguish love from opportunism. Something has to be done to advocate for the needy when fundamentalists can smell their blood.

Hillsong celebrates womanhood at 12th annual Colour Your World conference

The Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, erupted in a chorus of celebration on Wednesday night as thousands of women filled the arena for the opening of Hillsong's 12 annual Colour Your World Women's Conference.

The conference coincides with the 100th anniversary of International Women's Day today, bringing together women from 36 nations, and guest speakers from the UK, America, and Australia, to celebrate the value of womanhood and see justice brought to those in need around the world.

"There is no place on earth like the Church that can gather the wounded, the broken and the blessed. I believe that God wants to increase our lives and see the Church rise up," Colour Conference founder and Hillsong's co-senior pastor, Bobbie Houston said in her opening night address.

"In this room we have the blessed and the broken. If we can govern our hearts in our blessedness and our brokenness, I believe we can create a place which accommodates both. We can be women that accommodate a place where everyone is welcome," she said.

"We are living in days where the church is rising, with all her diversity; rising and beginning to find her voice, stature, and unity.

"Some of you have come into this arena and encountered something and you can't define it. Let me tell you it's the presence of God. Tonight, this arena is the House of God!"

The powerful opening night was followed by an exciting second day, as women came expectant and excited. Louie Giglio from the US shared an inspirational message about the greatness of God. This was followed by powerful teaching from the UK's J John and Priscilla Shirer, new to the Colour platform, shared about creating a God awareness in your everyday life.

Saturday, the final day of the conference, will be dedicated to issues of social justice, as women are challenged about the great need in the world, and effectively equipped to bring help and answers to the planet's most vulnerable.

Hillsong United Lyrics-Best Friend

Hillsong United Lyrics-Best Friend



Have you heard of the one called Savior?
Have you of His perfect love,
Have you heard of the one in heaven,
Have you heard how He gave His son'
Cause I found this love,
I believe in the Son. Show me Your way.

I believe in the One called Savior,
I believe He's the risen One,
I believe I'll live forever,
I believe that my king will come,
Cause I found this love,
I believe in the Son. Show me Your way.

Chorus:
Jesus, you are my best friend,
And you will always be,
And nothing will ever change that,
Jesus, you are my best friend,
And you will always be,
And nothing will ever change that.

Bridge:
Nothing will ever change that,
Nothing will ever change that,
Nothing will ever change that,
Nothing will ever change that.