EP recording

We’re just starting the third day of recording our new EP here in London. We’ve had two fantastic days so far and really feel the favour of God as we record and seek to find new ways to be creative with the songs. One of the wonderful things about studio worship recordings is that you’re able to mix creativity with worship in a different dimension to when playing live, which is a real privilege. The challenge is to keep the worship feeling fresh and live even though it’s not a church meeting, but we’ve really felt the presence of God with us here as we’ve worshipped, and we’re praying that everyone who listens to the songs will feel the Holy Spirit on their lives.

Ben is in today putting down some lovely keys:

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Capturing the presence of God on a recording?

In preparation to record our new EP next week I’ve been reflecting on my recent retreat to the Holy Island (Lindisfarne) in the north of England. It’s one of those places where the depth of prayer on the Island over the years is felt as soon as you arrive, making it so easy to pray and become aware of the presence of God when you visit. It’s been a significant place for us over the years as we have often been to the Island to pray before making some important decisions. It was in this vein that I recently stayed on the Island as our roles change from leading a church alongside the worship ministry, to just focussing on worship leading, song writing and recording.

Lindisfarne was where some of the famous Celtic monks lived such as Aidan, who had a beautiful rhythm of worship, prayer and ministry. They saw some wonderful miracles and led many people to Jesus as they served the poor and worshipped our Lord.

Being somewhere where you can feel the presence of God easily makes me ponder the mystery of how we experience the Holy Spirit. Jacob experienced an open heaven in one place in Genesis 28 and exclaimed in amazement ‘This is the house of God!’, but in John 1:51 Jesus reveals the truth that wherever He is there is an open heaven, and we see this as He brings in the Kingdom wherever He goes.  And so now, this side of the cross, we get to experience an open heaven wherever we are and even when we worship in a recording studio we are able to capture that reality onto a CD – how amazing! So what happens as we worship that makes this happen? It must be that as we proclaim the truth about who Jesus is we bring in the Kingdom of God, creating a climate of faith which helps us to go deeper into His presence. I think that it’s only as we keep worshipping with faith that we train ourselves to become more sensitive to the presence of God so that we can experience Him wherever we are!

My hope and prayer is that next week when we record this new EP that the presence of God is released onto the recording so that each time someone listens to the songs they are caught up in a new place of worship and intimacy with Jesus.

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New Acoustic Worship Album

At last it’s September and Autumn is nearly upon us in the UK. My favourite time of year is still ahead. It’s also the month we’re getting into the studio to record a new acoustic worship EP. We’re going to be recording some of our new songs such as ‘See Him High’ and ‘Hide me again’ as well as older ones like ‘The wonder of the cross’. I love being in the studio and having the chance to experiment with the songs a bit, but still keep them simple enough for people to worship along to and feel connected…

Keep a check on this blog for more info and news as we record during September…

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Revive 2011

Well, that was Ichthus Revive 2011. A lot of fun with a wonderful sense of God’s presence and power. I particularly enjoyed being part of Jonathan Conrathe’s seminar stream about the gifts of the Spirit, especially seeing him release the power of God in prayer on the last day.

It’s always great seeing Greg Boyd, but he seemed to step up a gear this year and his messages we so powerful.

Here’s a pic from the event. Worship was real fun this year too and it felt like people were so ready to enter the presence of God.

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