Leadworship.com’s Great Resources

Song/Hymn-writer Paul Baloche’s website, www.leadworship.com, is an anamoly in the world of commercially successful Christian artists.  Like a precious few others, he likes to offer songs and lead sheets for free!  He seems to get it, that these songs of worship – as in the days of Watts, Wesley and Fanny Crosby, need to be “out there” for the Body to use.  He also has a heart for making sure people learn from him, so he has many good “Thoughts on Worship”.

I want to specifically point you to his free songbook page.  For the non-musician, he has many full tracks you can listen to and be encouraged by (and may I encourage you to then go and buy one of his CDs, because you will be glad you did!).  For the church or private musician, most of his songs have available chord charts and lead sheets to download and use.  Of course, if you use them in worship, please be sure to give him proper credit and report the use to CCLI.

One of the neatest things about the songbook online is Paul’s sense of the seasonal.  He has placed songs for the Easter Season right there on top so you can access them.  A personal favorite right now is Great Redeemer, but there are many others worth giving a listen to!

Be blessed and equipped by this great resource!

A Series from the Psalms #2: “Maker” (Psalm 121)

• Listen to “Maker”.
• Print the lead sheet for “Maker”.

Before I had ever heard anyone else do Psalm 121 (“I lift up my eyes to the hills; where does my help come from?”), I wrote this, rather early both in my songwriting and Christian life. In fact, it’s the second song I ever finished writing for the LORD.  My good friend, Tom Helm, helped me with the bridge.

I find it amusing that – having written it as a bit of a rocker, and one derivative of Jethro Tull! – all other renditions of Psalm 121 are done slowly, with reverence and not a hint of 70s art-rock!

Ah, well! Here’s to a different take on the Psalm. Enjoy.

A Series from the Psalms: “A Meditation on Psalm 119″

I’ve been inspired – as have many songwriters – to write songs based on a number of the Psalms. I decided that this, the second half of Lent, would be a great time to introduce them in a short series. I think I’ll try to do several in the next week or two, as Lent fades into Holy Week…

Today’s song is called “A Meditation on Psalm 119″:

• Listen to “A Meditation on Psalm 119″

• Chord chart for “A Meditation on Psalm 119″

• Transcription of the flute part

I wrote this song waaaaaay back in 1999, while we were living and serving at Chicago’s Holy Trinity Church. As I’ve said before, the pastors, David Helm and Jon Dennis were amazingly forward-thinking in utilizing the gifts and talents of almost everybody at the church – certainly everyone who was willing. I am eternally thankful for that kind of encouragement.

I had been reading Psalm 119, thinking it would make great fertile soil for a song – or a whole album!

When I recorded it, I was blessed to be accompanied by two amazing talents: Jennifer Atala on the flute and the wonderful voice of my good friend, Gwen Camera. I’ve sung this song with others, but this original version has a special place in my heart.

A Meditation on Psalm 119 by Thomas George Fisher is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://blendedworship.wordpress.com.

Song of the Week: “Thanks Be to God”

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Thanks Be to God – Lead Sheet for Voice and Guitar

I lead music in three of the four chapel services we have weekly at our school: lower elementary, upper elementary and middle school (the high school, for better or for worse, is pretty much doing it on their own).

In our liturgically-starved environment, I like to bring little moments of reverence and consistency into the worship setting, and it’s surprisingly easy and well-received.

At my first-ever Anglican church experience (Church of the Resurrection, near Chicago) my then-girlfriend/now-wife, Anne led children’s church. It was an odd, yet rich and beautiful experience for me to see. One of the things I learned was how the kids were led into and out of the reading of God’s Word, with a little song – “This is the word of the Lord, thanks, thanks, thanks, thanks be to God” (before) and “Thanks be to God for the reading of His Word; thank You, God, thank You, God” (after).

For the youngest group at our school, I began using that exact tune (which I’ll post sometime, because it’s really sweet and easy for the kiddos to learn!), but for the upper elementary, I wanted something a little less sing-songy, so I created the simple tune you hear on the video above.

It’s the first of several liturgical songs I’ll post in the coming weeks. I hope you can use them or – better – be inspired to sing these ancient words with your own tune!

In His Peace,
Tom

Things that Make Me Worship at Christmas: “O, Holy Night” by Sara Groves

As Christmas fast approaches, I thought I would share a few of the Fisher family’s favorite Christmas albums.  One of our new treasures is O, Holy Night by the amazingly talented Sara Groves.  She does an amazing job of putting some beautiful new tunes to some Christmas classics, as well as adding some new songs to the canon.  Her voice, her style and her joy really go well together into a Christmas album.

This album is no extravaganza; it’s quiet and understated, even reflective many times.  So an album like this would be great by the fire on Christmas Eve night.  But it is a very creative project.  For example, “O Holy Night” and “It Came upon a Midnight Clear” are made completely new and innovative (and quite beautiful), and “Angels We Have Heard on High” has what I can only describe as a quasi-mariachi feel (including the brass band!).

Check it out!

(Oh, and if you decide to buy this, or any other stuff this Christmas, the Fishers have a special associates’ store on Amazon.com.  You pay the same price as usual, but it helps support our teaching ministry here in Bolivia.  Thanks)

O Holy Night
To go to our store’s home page, click here.

In His Peace,
Tom

Praise Him on the Moceño.

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I was at a Christmas arts and crafts fair with my family today, and decided to get me a new instrument.  I’ve seen these around.  The ladies incorrectly told me it was called a quena-quena, which just is not so!  Turns out, with a little research, it’s called a moceño, and it’s got a nice sound.

For you music geeks, you can play a chromatic scale from F# to C#, and that seems to be it, so it’s a little limited as far as playing the usual repertoire.  But no matter.  It’s a lovely addition to my growing collection of stringed and wind instruments.

Pagan Clothes, Pagan Music Leaders…

The book, Pagan Christianity, is out of control at this point.  Not only are the authors attacking things (buildings, orderly worship and pastors) for which there is no biblical prohibition (and, some would argue – see 1 Peter 5, for example – much biblical support and benefit to the Body); in the following chapters, they set up straw men to attack: dressing nice and song leaders.

Songwriters (and NONsongwriters) wanted…

Hi! If you are on Facebook (or if you would like to be), I’d like to invite folks to a) join my Group of Worship Songwriters and b) participate in a little songwriting experiment (no songwriting experience or musical talent required; just a heart for God!).

Click on over to this Facebook discussion to join the experiment! Thanks!

Worship Is Whatever You Do.

Today, at church, singing was uncharacteristically solemn for the second Sunday in Easter.

Stuff’s been going on with Pablo and Christy, the leaders. God’s been working on them.

Today, Pablo shared from several passages, discussing the idea that our “reasonable service” is to do whatever unto Jesus. Our worship continues beyond the church doors on Sunday morning.

Nothing new, but don’t we just need to keep hearing that truth over and over again?

So, Amen, Pablo.

I’ve got a few thoughts on this topic. A couple of vignettes: