Chris Tomlin - Everlasting God

[reverbbb]

Man, I have said it many times but I'll say it again. Chris Tomlin is one heck of a songwriter. His music is SO stylized for congregational singing. I saw him in concert about two weeks ago. Very inspirational and moving. Especially to see so many people singing at full emotion to our wonderful maker. Chris said that this is what it is all about for him - seeing other praise with true spiritual connection. He said that he never saw this phenominon coming when he wrote "Wonderful Cross" 10 years ago.

So, at the concert he played "Everlasting God". It was a VERY powerful and moving song. I recently came across this song while searching his library on iTunes. THAT'S IT!! I included this song for this coming Sunday's P&W. I gotta tell you, we could feel the power of this song as we rehearsed it for the first time.

If this song is not in your set list, you need to include it or lobby to include it. It is super simple (as with most all of Chris' songs). I cannot get the melody out of my head - the sure sign of a great song.

[MadHatter]

you're right...that is a great song...listening to it right now

[tkcrabby]

I just went here: http://www.brentonbrownmusic.com/

And picked up the chords and lyrics for this song, I gotta do it sometime. It's a great song! Thanks for bringing it up................... :yeah:

[MadHatter]

I love this song so much that I think I'm gonna try it with my trio...
it's nice, fairly simple so I can sing and play and do some fills and add some notes with out it getting too complicated.

I think it'll be a nice addition...but we'll have to see how it goes in practice.

sometimes the best idea's don't pan out in the practice room

[stephen]

Chris has been blessed by God to write some wonderful Praise music!

[tkcrabby]

"Chris has been blessed by God to write some wonderful Praise music!" No doubt , that is very true.

However, according to this that I found at Brenton Brown's web site,,,,,,,, Brenton Brown and ken Riley wrote "Everlasting God" ...............here's the link to the chord chart.

http://www.brentonbrownmusic.com/songs/song_description/everlasting_god_cc.pdf

[Coondog]

Everlasting God is truly an awesome Praise and Worship song. I think the writers and performers of this song should get equal credit. The lyrics and the musical content are incredible. However, Brenton Brown, Lincoln Brewster, and Chris Tomlin all have a very special and unique way of bringing life to this song. We have played this song several times at my church and each time it has been a favorite of both the band and the congregation.

Other songs off the lastest Tomlin album that are fairly easy to play and have been encouragingly welcomed by my church are Made to Worship and Amazing Grace (My chains are gone). Tomlin's version of Amazing Grace is on the soundtrack to the upcoming movie Amazing Grace. The added chorus puts a nice contemporary feel to spiritual classic.

Two more off of Tomlin's In The Morning CD that I would like to try are How Can I Keep From Singing and Rejoice. Both of these are great tracks.

[reverbbb]

Two more off of Tomlin's In The Morning CD that I would like to try are How Can I Keep From Singing and Rejoice. Both of these are great tracks.

Oops. That's what I get for assuming Chris wrote this song. I usually am able to detect that when I find the music credits on www.songselect.com. I was assuming that this song was so new that he had not published it yet. It might actually be listed but under Brenton Brown :embarassed:

"How Can I Keep From Singing" is a really energized song. I know that we could pull it off as a band. But I want to prepare our congregation for that style of Worship. The youth would be al over it, but some of the adults would be left with question marks on their faces. That's what happened when we did "This Is The Noise We Make" once - but never again since then.

[hotraman]

"How Can I Keep From Singing" is a really energized song. I know that we could pull it off as a band. But I want to prepare our congregation for that style of Worship. The youth would be al over it, but some of the adults would be left with question marks on their faces. That's what happened when we did "This Is The Noise We Make" once - but never again since then.

I encountered the same response with that Tomlin song years ago. It has a really cool rock n roll feel to it, some older folks just might not get it. However, I just keep trying with other songs, to help our church grow. "Made to Worship" & "Everlasting God" are well received at our church, too. But I'm stepping out again this weekend with Matt Redman's "Mission's Flame" Great words, but it may be hard for some to learn. But hey... we can dream, right? :yeah:

[Coondog]

Reverbbb,

Change is often hard for many church congregations. Whether these changes are in the style of music, the type of missions, or style of preaching, the most important thing to remember is that it is okay to change the method of delivery as long as the message remains the same. I am so thankful that God has gifted certain song-writers and musicians to introduce new refreshing Praise and Worship songs that appeal to many younger Christians and those seeking Christ. If change wasn't part of God's plan then we would all still be singing Gregorian Monk chants!

My best advice on preparing your congregation for a more energetic style of worship is by doing several things which I have seen work very successfully in a similar situation.

First, try and introduce a more energetic song into the song list at least once every couple weeks. Present this song as "special music", this way the congregation doesn't have to sing but can just concentrate on the music and lyrics. Eventually once it has been played several times over a few weeks, you can then ask the congregation to sing along if they like.

I have also experienced that playing a very energetic song works the best at the very beginning or the very end of the service. Playing at the beginning lets people know it is time to get up and praise God! Playing at the end is like a charge to action that lets people know it is time to go out into the community and show the love of Christ! The band, especially the vocalists, need to show alot of energy. Throwing in a few "Are you ready to get up an worship!" or "Let's lift our voices up to God!" always helps. If you look scared, like you are worried about what the congregation is thinking, then it will show. Keep up the energy despite the reaction.

Also tying in the lyrics of the song into something that is relevant in the service also helps take peoples attention away from the more energetic music style. For example, if someone has just given a great testimony of how they were still able to praise God after experience some very hard trials in their life, that might be the perfect opportunity to then play "Praise You in This Storm" or something similar. I guarantee that people that would normally not like this style of worship will be more accepting since the lyrics tie directly into someting relevant in the service. They will be willing to sacrifice the style of music for the message.

Our old music pastor had an ingenious way of introducing a new energetic song in a slower tempo and more mellow manner (softer bass, drums, electric guitar) than it was normally played. Overtime then he would eventually play it a little more energetic each time until it was finally played the way it was intended. This helped the congregation slowly acclimate to a new more energetic worship song and style.

I think a perfect way to lead into "How Can I Keep From Singing" might be to read a few verses in Psalms that talks about how David longed to worship God. Psalm 66 and Psalm 98 are great verses to get a congregation pumped up for worship. The focus will then be more on the lyrics and what it means to truly worship rather than the fact you are playing a new energetic song.

I hope some of this helps. I am sure that others participating in this forum might have experienced the same issue and could tell you what worked for them.

[Hooligan]

Awesome............

Amen to the folks needing to look energized. Being on the media team at my church I get to look at all the vocalists and musicians through the fish eye lens. The camera loves those those that are truley worshiping on stage rather than going throught the motions.

Completely involve your heart and soul in the music and forget the crowd and focus on the message within the song and the congregation willl be on that train with you. They'll sing louder, dance, and generally add to the worship.

[reverbbb]

Coondog:

Thank you for such an informative and sincere response. Your post has a lot of great suggestions. I may try a few of them or all your suggestions. I especially like the Psalm tie-in and the 'slower tempo' suggestions. Not only did you suggest Psalm, but some actualy verses too.

Thanks!