PRO WORSHIP TECHNICS

SongCat – An Amazing Chord Sheet Manager for Worship Musicians (iPad)

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sat, 12 May 2012 06:19:16 PDT

If you are a worship leader using an iPad, there are loads of apps that can help on stage in terms of providing a tuner, displaying your lyrics, chords etc. Here’s a powerful app with an intuitive WYSIWYG-editing enabled interface that you might want to look at.

SongCat facilitates creating/importing new songs with chords, make set-lists and access them on stage or during rehearsals. Here’s a run down of the feature list:

• WYSIWYG Song Editor- simple drag and drop interface.
• Built-in workflow maximizes your productivity.
• Edit or Perform your songs/sets from multiple places: Top 5, Search-bar, Favorites and Tag Cloud.
• Powerful tagging mechanism allows you to easily group and personalize songs/sets.
• Add multiple users and flick between them.
• Monitor your activity via the Top-5 History for songs/sets.
• Push songs to your iPad from your PC/Mac via the web interface.
• Import large numbers of songs from pre-prepared ChordPro .zip files.
• Import songs in 2 line chord/word format.
• Create a song from scratch using either the in-app editor or using a web browser from any PC/Mac over WiFi.
• Search for songs based on title/artist/favourites/key.
• Create a set list and rearrange song order via drag and drop.
• Low lighting toggle button.

• Incremental auto-scroll.
• Transpose the chords of a song on the fly in edit mode.
• Add comments to chord sheets in edit mode.
• Email a song/set as a PDF.
• Print a set list.
• Easy access to help videos from home screen.

Here’s a video to better understand how SongCat works during a performance:

SongCat is not a free app, but for $2.99, has to be a keeper.

Here’s the link, check it out: http://iosmusicandyou.com/2011/08/16/ios-music-news-songcat/

Have you used an iPad on stage when you lead worship? What are your favorite apps?

42 Worship Songs for the Feast of Pentecost

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sat, 05 May 2012 09:10:01 PDT

One of my favorite Christian feasts, Pentecost, is coming up giving us another season to seek the power of the Holy Spirit to take control of our lives, churches and ministries! It’s also a special time to pray for a desire and the ability to step out of our comfort zones and go wherever the Spirit leads us. Here are some songs that’d fit into our worship during this feast:

What songs are you using for the feast of Pentecost?

Related articles:

51 Usable Songs for Easter Worship

37 Meaningful Worship Songs for Lent

A Video Reflection for Lent: What did Jesus Do?

5 Little Used Ways to Worship Without Songs

66 Free Christmas Songs (Stuart Townend, Laura Story, Phil Wickham...)

How to Pray in Silence – II: 7 Steps to Effective Scripture Reflection

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 08:29:34 PDT

Reading the Bible is one thing; it’s quite another to let it take deep and strong root in our hearts and allow it to shape our lives. In this second post in the “How to Pray in Silence” series, we look at a method of reflecting on what we read so that the reading does not end with…well…just reading!

Just about any method of Christian prayer incorporates the scriptures in some manner – for it is God’s Word that teaches, corrects, consoles and helps us to grow in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16). So here are some steps to effective reflection while we read:

1. Like the Psalmist, start with this type of a prayer: “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life.” – Psalm 143:8.

2. Choose a short passage to read – starting with the Gospels is a great idea, especially one of the many parables. Use a contemporary translation like the NRSV, NAB, NIV etc.

3. Read it multiple times very slowly, till every word is familiar. Every time it is read, chances are we will notice something that we missed earlier.

4. Now start asking these questions:

What do these verses reveal about God?
Is there a commandment here that I should obey?
Is there a lesson for me to learn in these verses?
Is this passage posing a challenge for me?
Does this passage reveal a sin that I am struggling with?

5. Not all passages will have an answer to every question. But when the Holy Spirit reveals an answer to any question(s), note it down in a personal prayer journal along with the passage reference.

6. Now offer a prayer of thanksgiving and make a resolution if required (for e.g. to fight a particular sin or obey a command etc.) and write it down too.

7. If possible, spend some time later in the day to go through the entry in the prayer journal as a recap, maybe even at night before going to sleep.

That’s it! Now this is obviously only one of the many different ways of pondering the scriptures. But it’s a useful method to start with and will lead to some amazing insights into God’s Word.

If you want to be updated when the next article in this series is published, please take a few seconds to subscribe by email using this link.

What is your favorite method of reading and reflecting on the scriptures?

Related articles:

How to Pray in Silence – 1: Starting With Scripture

4 Qualities of a Circumcised Worshiper

The Worshiper’s Lifecycle

9 Precious Worship-Transforming Lessons I Learnt From My Son

What is Worship - I

Experiments in Giving Our Congregations Opportunities to Respond

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 23:08:07 PDT

This is a guest post by Alastair Vance who leads worship for Story Church. Alastair is a stand-out worship blogger, musician and one of the kindest persons I’ve ever met online! His article has some great tips to creatively engage congregations during worship services, enjoy!

It seems that lots of churches today are dealing with similar problems when it comes to congregational worship. Our congregations are in danger of becoming more like spectators than actual participants.

There are many reasons cited for this shift. I read something once that indicated the more professional and slick the service is, the more unworthy the congregation will feel about participating. What do you think about that? I don't actually agree with it. If you attend a rock concert, there are not many people holding back, no matter whether they can sing or not.

Maybe we are not singing the right songs that connect with our congregations? We might be singing what we think are all the cool songs, but maybe it's just not a good fit for our church?

I really believe it all boils down to the church's worship culture, and it's the worship leader and the pastor's responsibility to cultivate and grow that within our churches.

It's the "how" part that I'm currently struggling with and working on. How do we engage people and send them off running in pursuit of God during our corporate worship?

Corporate worship doesn't have to be (nor should it be) all about singing. To the average congregation member "worship" = "singing", but not everyone likes to sing and that is OK. Worship leaders and church leaders should know that singing is only one way to worship God. Does that concept work in our corporate worship setting?

Louie Giglio defines worship as "our response, both personal and corporate, to God for who He is, and what He has done; expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live".

"Response" is the key word here. I believe that more than trying to get our congregation to sing, we should be working on getting them to respond. While singing is definitely a big (and awesome) part of this, we need to be thinking of providing alternative opportunities for people to participate in corporate worship.

At Story Church, we often have communion and prayer opportunities in our services when we feel led. This is a good way to get congregations out of their seats and responding to God. However it's great to change things up now and again with the hope of helping people see things in a new light, or reevaluate something they've let grow into meaningless ritual.

Last September, Story Church hosted a Creative Worship day. We provided a range of different activities that people could participate in during the service. These included singing together, writing poetry, painting, hammering huge nails into a cross, among many others (read the full post here). This day was kind of an experiment and we had no idea if people would respond. To my surprise, they embraced the idea fully and it made the day a great success.

Since then, we have been trying to bring elements like those into the service that either complement or reinforce the message. An example of this recently was when Pastor Jeremy shared from the parable of the unforgiving servant. When the band got back up after the sermon we played "You Are My King" by Billy Foote. While the music played the congregation lined up to write out cards specifying debts owed to them. There were ink stamps and pads available to allow them to stamp PAID on the card, forgiving those listed for the hurt they had caused them. Powerful. It was such a releasing moment for many, and more meaningful than singing the song alone.

You don't always need props to give room for response. One time we placed words on the screen and had each side of the room take turns reaffirming truths over each other. This was simple, yet powerful and helps people not only understand the message, but retain it for longer.

While not really an in-service response, another effective way of concreting the message in the minds of our congregations is to have them leave with some token to remind them. I have a little key-chain boxing glove that hangs on my wall at work. It was from our 'Fight for your Heart' series. In the series we talked about a few issues we need to protect our hearts from - like greed and anger. I'd probably remember none of the points if I didn't have that key-chain to remind me.

We are a young church, many of us volunteers with full-time non-church jobs. Finding the time to dedicate to planning elements like this is difficult, but we've started and so can you! It becomes a lot easier when the message series is planned well ahead. Identify some creative people in your church and distribute message outlines in advance to get their brains thinking.

Here are some tips to finish off:

You don't need a new element every week.
You can reuse elements, but don't become too predictable.
In building these elements, engage some of your congregation who normally have no avenue for their skills - painters/carpenters/crafts.
Don't introduce elements for the sake of it. Make sure it's related and helps to reinforce the message.
Take it slowly. Don't introduce too much at once.
Plan early, let the ideas sink in amongst the team and then talk about what elements could be introduced.
Using music as a background to these times of response usually works better.
Have a prayer team ready to pray with anyone who needs it.

Have you tried something different to engage congregations creatively in your church?

Can you share what worked well and what did not?

Related articles:

How to Pray in Silence – 1: Starting With Scripture

5 Little Used Ways to Worship Without Songs

5 More Spectacular Bible Resources That You Shouldn’t be Ignoring

Worship and Music Workshop by Don Moen, Lenny Leblanc & Team – Free Download!

4 Qualities of a Circumcised Worshiper

Image: wallpaperswide

How to Pray in Silence – 1: Starting With Scripture

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 03:33:29 PDT

We can do without ministry, music, songs, technology etc. but never without our personal time with God.

I am talking dedicated silent time set apart every day minus all distractions.

Though I’ve covered it in brief in previous posts like this one, I’m starting a new series of posts on silent prayer – specifically on what to do during this time of silence.

This first post in the series is a guest article by my brother, Babu Victor. He’s a full-time missionary living in Bangalore who loves to preach the Word and belongs to the People of Praise Covenant Community:

“He went up the mountain and called to him those whom he wanted, and they came to him. And he appointed twelve, whom he also named apostles, to be with him, and to be sent out to proclaim the message, and to have authority to cast out demons.” - Mark 3:13-15.

You see, the goal, ultimately of being called to discipleship is to be with the Lord.

Being with the Lord is more important than anything we can do for Him in this world. In fact, how well we do whatever we can for Him in this world (for example – to proclaim Him or cast out demons) depends upon how well we are being with him. And this is good because the one thing we can do for the Lord that we will be doing for eternity is this: being with Him! For in heaven, we will not preach his word or cast out demons but we will simply be with him (1 John 3:1-3).

The gospel of John brings this out so well: “In my Father's house there are many dwelling places. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, so that where I am, there you may be also.” - John 14:2-3.

Jesus preparing a place for us in His (and our) Father’s House is the fulfillment of what began on earth: being with him. This is what all of us believers need to realize: that Our Lord longs to be with us and nothing gives him more joy than the time we spend being with Him.

This truth should lead us to make sure that nothing and no one comes between us and our time of prayer or quiet time with the Lord. Nothing, not even ministry, no matter how noble it is, can ever bring greater joy to the Lord than His beloved seeking to be with Him…daily. A consistent personal prayer therefore is a foretaste of Heaven itself.

In fact, a good test of our love for the Lord would be what we treasure the most: being with Him or doing things for Him.

For those of us who are starting this journey of being with Him, I think the kind of “being with Him” that the Lord enjoys most is not us “talking to Him and being with Him” but a “listening to Him and being with Him.” That’s what the prophet Samuel did (1 Samuel 3:10).

Now let’s apply it:

1. Fix a time and place of daily silent prayer preferably in the morning (Mark 1:35).

2. Start with 15 minutes and increase by 5 minutes every month – the goal is 60 minutes or more.

3. Turn off all potential distractions during this time (mobile phones, laptops etc.)

4. Read the Bible attentively and let the Word speak and minister to you – listening is the key here. A wise man once said “you cannot possibly read 2-3 pages of the gospels and not be challenged by it.”

5. Plan your Bible reading – there are many free Bible reading planning tools available online.

6. Silence will seem difficult at first, but persevere and keep at it. In a few weeks, it’ll become easier and then enjoyable.

What do you do during your time of personal prayer?

Can you share the habits that work well for you?

Have you tried anything that did not work?

If you want to be updated when the next article in this series is published, please take a few seconds to subscribe by email using this link.

Related articles:

A Cool Resource to Build a Praying Worship Team

Where Do You Find God From Monday to Saturday?

New Bible Reading Plans @ Examen.Me

d365 - Work Out Your Salvation With Daily Prayer

5 More Spectacular Bible Resources That You Shouldn’t be Ignoring

Happy Easter!

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 03:28:59 PDT

Thank you for visiting my blog. A very blessed and joyful Easter to you, may the light of the risen Lord always shine upon you!

Worship Freebies (Hillsong, Baloche, Bashta, Jesus Culture, Rend Collective etc.)

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:39:45 PDT

This list of freebies has MP3 download of songs by Paul Baloche, Hillsong, Todd AGnew, Daniel Bashta, Philips, Craig & Dean etc. Also get a free image background, check it out!

Album/EP:

“Come and Drink”, a EP of 6 songs by Matthew Reed. Download via NoiseTrade.
“Worship Forward” by Various Artists (Paul Baloche, Kathryn Scott, Daniel Bashta, Jesus Culture, Rend Collective Experiment etc.). Download via Integrity Music.
“Hymns” by Ascend the Hill. Download via comeandlive.com.
“The Songwriter’s Cafe” by the team at All About Worship. Download via NoiseTrade.

Songs:

“Cornerstone” by Hillsong Live. Download via WorshipTogether.
“Sons and Daughters” by Jeremy Horn. Download via worshipleader.com.
“Oh Our Lord” by All Sons & Daughters. Download via worshipleader.com.
- “Letting Go” by Todd Agnew. Download via worshipleader.com.
"Lord Have Mercy” by Derek Blevins. Download via worshipleader.com.
“Great, Great God” by Philips, Craig & Dean. Download via FreeCCM.
“O Suffering Christ” by Andy Bromley. Download via Kingsway.

Worship Background: Love God, People, World

Download Link.

Hope you like these…to stay updated when the next list of freebies is posted, take a few moments and subscribe using THIS LINK, it’s free!

Proclaim – the First Ever Cloud-Based Worship Software

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 07:09:31 PDT

It’s always a joy to discover and write about new technology that’s useful for the Church. And cloud based technologies are truly trending in the the world of computing in almost all types of organizations – so why not the Church? I’ve covered some of these cloud applications in earlier articles, but Proclaim looks like an absolute pioneer in this area.

It’s the first and currently the only Church projection software that’s integrated with the cloud. It’s a product from the folks behind the popular Logos Bible Software.

Working with Proclaim starts with downloading a desktop content management tool – there’s a version for Windows and another for Mac available (Linux users are out of luck for now). The installation and setup wizard guides you through an account opening process to create a username and group. Once done, we are greeted with an interface to build church services.

There are many off-the-shelf templates to build the content of a service - available components include songs, Bible verses (standard translations like ESV, NIV, NLT etc. available, not sure there’s support for Catholic Bibles though), videos, images, custom text slides and even web pages. Slide content (including songs) can be created by uploading files from the local hard drive also.

Then the power of the cloud comes into play. The person delivering the sermon can independently create his/her own content into the same presentation by logging into a separate account (if it is part of the same group). Worship team members can use their individual accounts to create their content and it all gets synced and stored collaboratively! Finally, to project the presentation, there’s an “ON AIR'” button, which needs to be clicked. I am yet to test dual monitors though, which should hopefully work.

I find Proclaim user-friendly (the eye-candy is neat too!) – it took me just a few clicks to figure out how Proclaim works. Overall it’s a great start to an innovative initiative for the Church and it should only get better from here!

There’s an introductory offer of $10/month for churches with less than 100 members and $20 if the number is 100 or more, which is awesome for a country like USA I suppose. Here in India, it may be a bit out of reach for many ministries/churches. However, we should not forget that it’s still a highly competitive product when compared to other commercial worship software out there. Plus, the easy-to-use features and benefits of the cloud (there’s no competition on this one at the moment!) make Proclaim a compelling option.

Imho, a one-time fee for the desktop interface and integration with a user-selected cloud storage service like Dropbox, Box.Net, Skydrive etc. would make it even more affordable for international users. Who knows, Proclaim might come out with something like that.

What’s truly impressive is, this is just the first version of the product. It’s going to be fascinating to see what the next versions would bring to the world of worship visuals!

So do you think there is space for a cloud based solution like Proclaim? Have you tried it?

Related Articles:

14 Free Church Presentation Software

How to Create Effective Slides for Projecting Worship Songs

More Free Backgrounds For Worship

Easislides - A Free Feature-Packed Song Projection Software

How to Embed YouTube Videos Minus the YouTube Logo

Free Solution to Stream Live Video of Your Worship Services

5 More Spectacular Bible Resources That You Shouldn’t be Ignoring

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:16:44 PDT

Considering the sheer number of Bible resources available online, a blog post listing just 5 of them was never going to be enough. So here's a follow-up list with 5 more. Have a look and let me know if I am missing anything:

1. YouVersion

The most popular mobile Bible is a treat to use in a PC browser too packed with a Bible reader, reading plans, multiple translations/versions, shortcuts for verses that you can paste anywhere, notes, groups and easy sharing on social sites. Also has audio Bibles and a neat Facebook app. You can seamlessly access the same Bible experience on the go with the plethora of mobile apps it provides for just about any platform be it iPad, iPhone, BlackBerry, Android, Windows Phone, PalmOS, Java, Sybian or MobileWeb!

Here's the link: http://www.youversion.com/

2. Go Tandem

Not strictly a "Bible" resource, Go Tandem requires the user to respond to an assessment questionnaire, based on which, it will provide a personalised spiritual growth experience by regularly engaging the user with relevant Biblical text and voice content via email and SMS. For more details about Go Tandem, check out an earlier post about it.

Here's the link: https://gotandem.com/

3. Bible.is

Very similar to YouVersion, Bible.is a great place to read and listen to the entire Bible for free. It also has a useful facebook app that facilitates group reading/studying of the Word apart from the text and audio Bible. Other features include Bible podcasts, audio Bible via SMS, twitter feed and more. Bible.is also has mobile apps for Android and iOS devices.

Here's the link: http://www.bible.is/

4. OliveTree

This service offers a user-friendly interface to read the Bible parallely i.e. two different versions side by side. It also features a neat search utility, multiple translations etc. OliveTree has an online learning center featuring tools for Bible study, theology, Greek lookup, videos and software including mobile apps for iPhone, iPad and Android. However, unlike YouVersion and Bible.is, not all versions of the Bible for the mobile apps are free.

Here's the link: http://www.olivetree.com/

5. Blue Letter Bible

I came to know of this one through a comment in the first post on 5 Bible resources. Blue Letter Bible is a rich resource offering a searchable Bible with multiple translations, commentaries, study tools and devotionals apart from a dedicated section of resources for women in ministry. For bloggers/website publishers, BLB also gives away a script to locate a scripture reference on your site and display a pop-up box showing the text of the verse. There’s also an app for iPhone and iPhone, not sure if an version will be made available though.

Here's the link: http://www.blueletterbible.org/

Do you use any of these resources? Can you share your experience?

Related articles:

5 Spectacular Bible Resources That Internet Christians Shouldn’t be Ignoring

3 Remarkable Chrome Extensions Worth Installing

New Bible Reading Plans @ Examen.Me

Download and Listen to the Entire Bible!

Bible Genealogy - Awesome Free Bible Study Resource

Become A Walking Bible!

51 Usable Songs for Easter Worship

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 08:25:50 PDT

Probably the most important feast for Christians, Easter is on the way and it’s time to look out for songs usable for Easter worship! Songs of joy, victory, redemption, resurrection, the Name of Jesus etc. would be appropriate for the occasion I suppose. Here’s my attempt at putting together a list of congregation-friendly praise and worship songs that are suitable for Easter services:

What songs are you planning to use in your Easter worship?

Related articles:

37 Meaningful Worship Songs for Lent

A Video Reflection for Lent: What did Jesus Do?

5 Little Used Ways to Worship Without Songs

66 Free Christmas Songs (Stuart Townend, Laura Story, Phil Wickham...)

Worship Freebies (Paul Baloche, Tim Hughes, Gungor, Rend Collective etc.)

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 08:43:26 PST

This list of freebies has MP3 download of songs by Paul Baloche, Tim Hughes, Rend Collective Experiment, Newsboys etc. Also get a free motion background, check it out!

Songs:

“The Same Love” by Paul Baloche. Download via Kingsway.
“We Are Saved” by Paul Baloche. Download via Facebook.
- “Wait For You” by Nikki Fletcher, Luke Hellebronth, Tim Hughes. Download via Kingsway.
"The Cost” by Rend Collective Experiment. Download via WorshipTogether.
“O the Blood” by Thomas Miller and Mary Beth Miller. Download via Kingsway.
“Crags and Clay” by Gungor. Download via WorshipTogether.

Worship Motion Background:

Download link

Worship Song Tutorial:

“I’m Free’ by Newsboys

Hope you like these…to stay updated when the next list of freebies is posted, take a few moments and subscribe using THIS LINK, it’s free!

37 Meaningful Worship Songs for Lent

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 08:57:31 PDT

Lent is a blessed time to think about Jesus and His marvelous work of salvation. It’s good to set aside a season in the church calendar to reflect on the price of our sin and the outrageous grace with which Christ saves us still! It’s also a time to consider our response to our God and renew our commitment to Him. During church services in this season, appropriate worship songs can help us in our reflections.

Here are 37 usable worship songs for Lent that I can think of (in no particular order):

“Mark [Jesus'] reply. It contains justice, clemency, and truth in full measure. Let the sinner be punished, yes but not by sinners. This, unquestionably, is the voice of justice, justice that pierced those men like a javelin. Looking into themselves, they realized their guilt, and one by one they all went out. Two remained behind: the miserable woman, and mercy.” – St. Augustine (Homilies on the Gospel of John 8:1-11)

What songs are you using for your Lenten worship services?

Do let me know in the comments.

Related articles:

A Video Reflection for Lent: What did Jesus Do?

5 Little Used Ways to Worship Without Songs

A Video Reflection for Lent: What did Jesus Do?

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 22:01:57 PST

In Luke 4:1-2, Matthew 4:1 and Mark 1:13, we read about Jesus going into the wilderness and staying there for 40 days. The Bible tells us that during this time, He was tempted by the enemy, fasted, lived with wild animals and was attended to by angels. It’s not often that we reflect a lot on what happened during those days, but hey it’s Lent, so now is a good time! And this beautiful video will help, check it out:

Can you share some resources to help with Lenten reflections?

Related Articles;

The Jesus Film - An Awesome Evangelization Tool

Lord Make Us Instruments of Your Peace

Free Solution to Stream Live Video of Your Worship Services

How to Embed YouTube Videos Minus the YouTube Logo

Free Instructional on Playing From Chord Charts for Worship Keyboardists

Hillsong - Free Instructionals for ‘God is Able’

Is Your Church Like this?

5 Spectacular Bible Resources That Internet Christians Shouldn’t be Ignoring

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 07:57:53 PDT

The Internet is full of resources to help further our Bible reading and study. Whether you want to read, study or use the Bible for yourself or put it up on your blog/website etc., there’s bound to be a service or app out there to meet your needs. In this post, we will look at 5 of these online bible tools. For more posts related to the Bible, do check out this link: http://goo.gl/PCdCC

1. e-Bible

e-Bible is a cool online Bible resource that offers reading plans, concordances, commentaries and dictionaries. You can also set it up to send a verse to your mailbox on a daily basis. e-Bible provides useful tools for website/blog owners to embed the full Bible on their website/blog or provide a verse-link plugin – just reference a verse and it will automatically be linked to the related text by e-Bible. There’s also a mobile app for ipad and iPhone users, ~~Android users though are out of luck for now~~. An Android app has been released now – in fact it’s the ‘first voice’ activated Bible app i.e. you speak Genesis 1:1 and the app brings up the verse and reads it out!

Here’s the link: http://www.ebible.com/

2. My Study Bible

Covered in detail in a previous post when it was in beta, this is a Bible resource created by the good folks at LifeWay Christian Resources. This service is awesome for online Bible study packed with features like word study, dictionary, commentary, video player etc.

Here’s the link: http://www.mystudybible.com/

3. Bible Gateway

Considered the grand daddy of online Bible resources, Bible Gateway is a great place to read and study the Bible. Provides tons of translations in many languages, audio Bibles, advanced search, reading plans, devotionals and tools to embed a Bible search and verse-of-the-day to your blog or website.

Here’s the link: http://www.biblegateway.com/

4. USCCB Bible

This is a resource run by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Nothing fancy, just the text of the entire Bible neatly sorted by books and chapters for quick access to any verse. For those who wish to access a modern translation of the Deuterocanonical books not found in non-Catholic Bibles, this is a must-have.

Here’s the link: http://usccb.org/bible/books-of-the-bible/

5. Biblia.com

Biblia is currently in beta, but it’s already being talked about as the next big thing in terms of online Bible resources. Created by the same folks who built the popular Logos Bible Software, Biblia has lots of different translations and facilitates using the Bible side-by-side with related reference books. Like Bible Gateway, it provides cool plugins to embed a verse-of-the-day and a Bible search box. Biblia also provides a widget to embed a complete, scrollable Bible on your website/blog.

Here’s the link: http://biblia.com/

What online resources do you use for Bible reading/study? Can you please share in the comments?

Related articles:

Grow Spiritually Through Daily Bible Engagement With This Free Service!

A Fantastic Resource to Access the Bible on the Internet, iPhone, iPad, Android, Twitter & Facebook

Start! Bible - Free Gospel of John

d365 - Work Out Your Salvation With Daily Prayer

Bible Study Tools - Dive Deep into the WORD!

Examen.me - An Outstanding Prayer Journal & Bible Study Tool!

Image: www.nydailynews.com/

5 Little Used Ways to Worship Without Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sun, 19 Feb 2012 19:57:31 PST

Think of worship and far too often the image of a band on stage with people in front raising their hands comes to mind.

Worship songs are a tool to worship. So are musical instruments. However, the current wave of worshiping primarily with song that’s passing through almost the whole world can sometimes overshadow this truth. So we end up worshiping mostly with song. Worse, we may end up worshiping only with music and song.

The Bible teaches us many other ways to worship without music and I believe worship leaders should be open to integrating these practices also into their worship sessions and not be over-dependent on music and song. In this post, we look at 5 alternatives to worship without music:

1. Pray – so simple and yet sometimes so easily ignored while worrying about putting together the next smashing set-list or figuring out the vocal harmonies to that cool song we will use next Sunday etc. While a sincerely worded, Spirit-led prayer is an act of worship by itself, it can also be valuable while transitioning from one song to the next.

2. Bible Reading and Study – Reading, reflecting, memorizing, studying and most importantly applying the scriptures are all part of worship. Next time you are rehearsing with your team, try taking some time out to simply read/chant aloud selected portions of scripture together.

3. Silence – We had a beautiful silent retreat on “holiness” some time ago in my city and it was funny to see that among those who attended, the ones who struggled most with being silent were the people who had led many ministries for ages. They just couldn’t stay still having been used to activity all the time!

We hear God best when we close our mouths and listen to Him. Maybe somebody should write a new song called “Open the Ears of my Heart!” Take some quiet time away from activity and spend it with God, it does wonders to our relationship with Him.

4. Thanksgiving – We are called to be grateful people (Colossians 4:2). Reflecting on the many blessings we have received from our generous God and thanking Him is a useful way of focusing on God. In small group worship sessions especially, we have this practice of encouraging people to say their own brief praise prayer out aloud so everyone can give their thanks and praises. Apart from building up the community as a people of praise, it also gives another way for the congregation to participate actively in worship.

5. Intercession – A worship leader’s role is also intercessory – standing between God and His people and praying for them to have an experience of Him. The Bible says “first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people” - 1 Timothy 2:1. I know ministry leaders who have exclusive time set apart for intercession on a regular basis. It’s a wonderful practice of worship that we cannot ignore.

What other alternatives are you aware of/practicing to worship without music?

Worship Freebies (Matt Maher, Don Moen, Stuart Townend, Dave Bilbrough etc.)

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 20:18:18 PST

This list of freebies has MP3 download of songs by Don Moen, Building 429, Stuart Townend, Aaron Keyes, Dave Bilbrough etc. Also get free motion backgrounds, “mini songs” for the liturgical services by Matt Maher and more. Check it out!

Songs:

“Psalm 62” by Stuart Townend & Aaron Keyes. Download via Kingsway.
“Somebody's Praying For Me” by Don Moen. Download via Bible Study Magazine.
“Overcome” by Building 429. Download via FreeCCM.
"Gasoline!” by Skillet. Download via FreeCCM.
“Arms of Grace” by Beth Croft. Download via Kingsway.
“Lord There's None Like You” by Chris & Jennie Orange. Download via Kingsway.
“I Am Redeemed” by Nathan Jess. Download via Kingsway.

“Mini Songs” for the new Translation of the Catholic Mass and Other Services by Matt Maher:

Kyrie
Alleluia
Gloria
Holy Holy Holy
When We Eat This Bread
Great Amen
Lamb of God

Download free MP3s and lead sheets for all of these via WorshipTogether.

Worship Motion Backgrounds:

You can download free motion backgrounds like this and more @ http://www.motionbackgroundsforfree.com/

Worship Song Tutorial:

“Everything Changed” by Dave Bilbrough

Hope you like these…to stay updated when the next list of freebies is posted, take a few moments and subscribe using THIS LINK, it’s free!

Worship and Music Workshop by Don Moen, Lenny Leblanc & Team – Free Download!

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 04:15:35 PDT

Don Moen, Lenny Leblanc & team are currently touring South India with worship concerts in Bangalore, Chennai and Coimbatore. The concert here in Chennai turned out to be a beautiful evening of worship. If that’s good news, it became better ‘cos they followed it up with a worship workshop the next day.

Big names like Don and Lenny don’t frequent India too often, so people in worship ministry here wouldn’t want to miss a seminar like this – probably why the event was a sell-out, even though it took place on a Monday afternoon.

For those who missed the seminar, here’s the next best thing: a free download of the audio recording of the entire workshop. A full 2 precious hours of free worship training.

I have to warn you though, it’s a simple mono recording, so don’t expect high fidelity audio. However, the voices are clear enough to follow easily.

There are 2 sessions here:

1. Qualities of a worship leader/musician

In this session, Don Moen talks about being yourself off and on the stage, caring for people, encouraging participation, earning trust, avoiding predictability, submitting to authority etc.

2. Worship Band Demo

In this session, the band demonstrates principles of playing a worship song, sound-checking, maintaining flow etc. breaking down the roles of the drums, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, bass and keyboard in worship. Some great tips here for everyone!

Interested? Download links are given below, go ahead, it’s FREE!

4 Qualities of a Circumcised Worshiper

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 11:08:38 PST

Circumcision?

Wasn’t that dealt with once and for all by the early Church?

Yup it was.

But the subject didn’t end there.

It evolved.

In St. Paul’s writings, it subsequently took on a profound spiritual angle that I believe every worshiper and worship leader should look at closely…very closely.

The ‘spiritual’ circumcision or ‘circumcision of the heart’ leads to the practice of the following 4 sound qualities (Phil 3:3-16 and Colossians 2:10-12):

1. Worship by the Spirit of God

The first quality of a circumcised worshiper is his/her worship itself: it will be in and by the Spirit of God. The verses above deeply challenged me to make more room for the Spirit of God to have His say in the way I worship or lead worship. For that is the type of worshipers that God is looking for (John 4:23).

Is my worship really Spiritual? Or have I allowed it to become mindless routine, a matter of technique etc?

2. Boast in Christ Jesus

One unmistakable hallmark of St. Paul was that he was sold out for Jesus…I mean, we are talking about an absolutely Christ-consumed, Christ-saturated and Christ-centered individual!

It’s an incredible challenge today: Is Christ really my most valuable treasure, goal, boast and passion?

3. No confidence in the flesh

The circumcised worshiper’s security is in the Lord and not in this world. St. Paul further says the whole self formerly ruled by the flesh is replaced with a heart fixed on eternity. St. Paul lost a whole lot materially and yet considered it all as rubbish.

Again, it’s a great point to reflect upon: Is my confidence in Christ 100% and rock solid? Or do I still have one leg resting upon experience, ability, talent, money etc?

4. Desire for more of Jesus

St. Paul pressed on.

He was focused.

He knew his destination, the path to get there and stayed right on it…unswervingly.

Can I say something similar about myself? Do I still have the hunger to go further in my walk with God or am I content with the little I have? Thank God for His Word that keeps calling me to focus and refocus on Christ all the time.

How can we follow St. Paul’s example in our journey as a worshiper or worship leader?

Related articles:

How About Jimi Hendrix in Your Worship Team?

The Worshiper’s Lifecycle

9 Precious Worship-Transforming Lessons I Learnt From My Son

How Can a Worship Leader Enter the Kingdom of God?

Remembering Michael Jackson

6 More Handy Android Apps to Support Your Songwriting

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 08:54:31 PST

It’s been a while since I blogged about songwriting or Android, so in this post, I’ll cover some of the Android apps I’ve recently discovered that would be useful for songwriters in particular. If you haven’t checked out the previous posts on this topic, you can do so now by clicking here and here.

Dictionary - Merriam-Webster

Great app to get word ideas when searching for alternative words to use in your lyrics. The app provides synonyms, antonyms, example sentences, audio pronunciations and more to help refine your lyrics.

Thounds

This is the app for the Thounds community – a cool service to record your musical ideas, share them with others and collaborate together to create songs and music. You can also export your creations to soundcloud by connecting your Soundcloud account with Thounds.

Soundcloud

Soundcloud itself has a neat android app to access your Soundcloud account on the go. By setting your account to “private”, you can use it as your personal cloud drive for your song ideas. If you’re the social type, you can always use the app to share your creations on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare too.

Catch Notes

A feature-rich app to jot down lyrics and record melody ideas with automatic cloud syncing for anywhere access to your songs. You can use private and public streams to keep your ideas personal or share them when co-writing with someone else.

RhymeBrain

RhymeBrain has a database of 2.6 million words to find out rhymes for words that you input. Nice to have an app like this when looking for rhyming ideas.

Bible.is

While YouVersion is probably what you’re using as your mobile Bible, there’s no harm in looking around for alternatives. The Android app from Bible.is facilitates reading, listening and check this out, seeing the Bible too by integrating videos from the Jesus Film project! Great tool to kick-start song ideas from the scriptures.

Related articles:

45 Tips for Skillful Worship Songwriting

Connect and Share With Worship Songwriters Online for Free!

7 More Essential Free Android Apps for Songwriters

20 Free Apps to Kick-start the Android Market Experience!

Top Android Apps for Worship Leaders / Musicians

8 Essential Free Android Apps For Songwriters

8 Must Read Blogs for Christian Songwriters

How About Jimi Hendrix in Your Worship Team?

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:31:30 PST

You’d have read recently that Jimi Hendrix was named the best guitar player in history by Rolling Stone magazine in a top-10 list put together by guitar players and music experts. The list has some expected names like Eddie Van Halen, Pete Townshend, Eric Clapton etc. though the sequencing didn’t seem so right to me. You see, I have an awfully subjective mind and it’s unable to understand why Brian May, Django Reinhardt or Joe Satriani didn’t make it to the top-10 either!

Some of the reasons for giving the No. 1 spot to Jimi Hendrix were innovation in rock music, use of the whammy bar, playing the guitar with his teeth, popularizing the wah wah pedal and so on.

Got me wondering.

What if we looked out for the best guitarist or best any kind of instrumentalist for that matter in worship music? What would be the reasons to pick someone as the ‘best worship musician’? Would we consider only:

Musical skills?

Musical knowledge?

Creativity?

Ability to play different musical styles?

Or would we look for more...

You know, stuff like…

Disciplined prayer life?

Love for scripture?

Humility?

Servant heart?

Team player?

If you were putting together a worship team, what would you look for?

Would someone like Jimi make it?

Related articles:

The Worshiper’s Lifecycle

9 Precious Worship-Transforming Lessons I Learnt From My Son

What is Worship – III: Inside the Church

How Can a Worship Leader Enter the Kingdom of God?

2 Unbreakable Daily Habits for Worship Leaders Taught by Jesus

Worship Freebies (Rend Collective, Graham Kendrick, Matt Papa, Hillsong…)

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 06:58:36 PST

This list of freebies has MP3 download of songs by Kristian Stanfill, Rend Collective Experiment, Aaron Keys, Jared Anderson etc. Also get an entire album of 13 songs by All About Worship, 2 video tutorials (Hillsong, MattRedman) and more. Check it out!

Album:

All About Worship Collective (Volume 2) by Matt Papa, Sovereign Grace etc. Download the entire album via Noisetrade. 13 free songs there!

Other Songs:

"Build Your Kingdom Here” by Rend Collective Experiment. Download via Kingsway.
“You Will Reign” by Kristian Stanfill. Download via WorshipTogether.
“Great I AM” by Jared Anderson. Download via Kingsway.
“Song of Moses” by Chris Moerman, Pat Barrett, Ben Smith, Aaron Keyes & Graham Kendrick. Download via Kingsway.

Backgrounds:

Beautiful set of backgrounds on “Hope.” Download via KineticFaith.
Background on “Joy.” Download via VintageChurch.

Worship Song Tutorial:

The Wonderful Cross (Chris Tomlin & Matt Redman) by Brian Wahl.

Forever Reign (HillSong). Piano tutorial by Matt McCoy.

Hope you like these…to stay updated when the next list of freebies is posted, take a few moments and subscribe using THIS LINK, it’s free!

A Music Player for Musicians to Help Learn and Practice Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 08:35:19 PST

Musician who have challenges identifying the chords/notes of a song should check out this neat application. It’s a java based music player that packs some unconventional features to help you go beyond simply listening to a song. It’s lightweight, doesn’t even require an installation as it’s an executable JAR file – so all you have to do is simply double-click the JAR file to get going. Sounds good? Read on!

This app for musicians is called SlowMP3, but it also plays WAV files. Once opened, it presents a simple single window interface with basic music player controls at the top and transcribing functions at the bottom. The wave spectrum of the MP3/WAV file fills the rest of the screen in between.

Use the File-Open menu to open a song and you’re on your way. Hit the ‘play’ button on top to listen to the song. Now let’s cover the musician specific features:

1. Use the “Speed” controller placed at the top right hand side to slow down the playback speed – useful to figure out the notes of a solo.

2. Use the “Transpose” controller next to the “Speed” controller to transpose the file up to 6 steps lower or 5 steps higher.

3. You can use the mouse to drag and select portions of the song and SlowMP3 will play the selection as a continuous loop, so you listen to complex parts of a song repeatedly.

4. Once the “Transcribe” button is switched on, the virtual piano keyboard will highlight the notes being played, which will help figure out the chords. This works best when combined with feature no. (1).

SlowMP3 is also cross-platform, working on Windows, Linux and Mac. Here’s the free download link: http://www.rinki.net/pekka/slowmp3/

Do you know any other free app that has similar or better features for musicians?

Related articles:

How to Determine the Tempo of a Worship Song Accurately

Learn to Play a Song on the Guitar With Free Chords/Tabs

The Best Freeware For Songwriters

14 Free Church Presentation Software

8 Essential Free Desktop Software

Top Android Apps for Worship Leaders / Musicians

The Most Feature Rich Free Video Converter!

Happy New Year!

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 06:16:26 PST

Wish all of you a blessed, happy and successful new year!

Thank you for reading my blog, hope to see you next year!

Guitar How-To Learn to Play Worship Songs on Guitar For Free

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Sun, 01 Jan 2012 08:26:21 PST

Remember Brian Wahl, the indie worship leader/songwriter from North Carolina? There’s a review of his worship album “You Have Rescued Me” posted here sometime ago.

Brian has recently launched a fabulous free online resource called “Worship Tutorials”, dedicated to helping those who wish to learn and play worship songs on the guitar – kinda similar to “Guitar Praise” and “For Your Glory.”

The site is neatly divided into 3 sections:

Video tutorials – easy video instruction of a worship song.
Song videos – video of Brian playing the song. So once you learn a song, you can use this video to play along and experience how the full song is delivered.
Chord charts – A list of popular worship songs with their chord charts.

The content is categorized by artist name, clicking which will give you access to all the chord charts and videos by that artist.

Here’s a guitar how-to of Chris Tomlin’s “Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone)” for you to get a flavor of what is available:

So if you’re a worship guitarist looking for more resources to learn trending worship songs, this resource is worth checking out. Here’s the link: http://worshiptutorials.com/

What song learning resources do you use to learn worship songs? Let me know in the comments.

Related articles:

Extract Chords for Your Favorite Worship Songs Automagically!

Learn to Play a Song on the Guitar With Free Chords/Tabs

3 More Sites to Get Free Worship Chords

Hillsong – Free Instructionals for “God is Able”

Free Instructional on Playing From Chord Charts for Worship Keyboardists

Christmas – A Call to Worship

noreply@blogger.com (Gangai Victor) — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 19:28:50 PST

The title of this post was our theme for this year’s Advent worship service we had last week. I love this theme – I mean God visiting man gotta be a great reason to worship Him, right!

The Bible says there were enough invitations and divine signs all around indicating something special was indeed happening! There was the annunciation, then Joseph’s dream, an unborn baby leaping for joy in his womb, then a guiding star, not to forget a choir of angels…wow!

The invitation was universal: starting with a priest (Zechariah), the call extended to the royal magi and the simple shepherds. All of them humbled themselves before the King of kings presented in the form of a new born baby. I wanted to capture some of that response to the call to worship Jesus as the focus of Christmas this year.

This is how the session went:

1. Opening video: Simple Christmas by WoodsEdge Community Church. Youtube link: http://goo.gl/p8E4J

2. Song: Hark the Herald Angels Sing

3. Scripture reading: Luke 1:46-55, The Magnificat.

4. Song: My Soul Magnifies the Lord (a simple 4 liner based on the Magnificat that’s popular here)

5. Video: Bebo Norman’s “Come and Worship” set to scenes from the movie “The Nativity Story.” It ended up being the high point of the session.

6. The video led into an altar call singing “O Come Let us Adore Him” and the chorus of “Blessed be the Lord God Almighty” by Bob Fitts.

7. We closed with another video, “Christmas in a Nutshell” by the wonderfully talented Dan Stevers.

People found the session moving and meaningful, many especially enjoyed “Come and Worship”. What could have been done better was the transitioning from video to song – I am not too experienced in using video, need to work on that bit.

What’s the theme of your Advent/Christmas service?

Can you share how it went?

Related articles:

More Christmas Freebies (Paul Baloche, Kirk Kirkland, Lifeway...)

What is Worship V: Ministry

The Worshiper's Lifecycle

10 Things Everybody Ought to Know About Jesus

9 Precious Worship-Transforming Lessons I Learnt From My Son

Image: Graceway Media