Favorite Worship CDs of 2008

In no particular order, here are my favorite worship CDs of 2008. If you have an iTunes gift card or some leftover Christmas cash, make these albums your top priority!


Justin Rizzo - Found Faithful
Justin is one of many worship artists that are ministering at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, yet there is something about Justin's songs and voice that stand out to me. He led worship for the Pre-Call Rally in Washington DC, and his song "Like A Tree" was stuck in my head for weeks. Finally I found a Youtube video of the song here, and I quickly learned it. If you heard me lead worship in the second half of 2008, you probably learned that song! The version on this CD is not as good as the Youtube version, but this CD is stuffed with great songs. The lyrics are saturated with Scripture and the music is very creative.


Rick Pino - The Undiscovered
Rick Pino's first CD Weapons of Warfare was just what I needed when I discovered it - abandoned, authoritative, intercessory worship. His previous album, Angel of Awakening, was more piano-based and obviously a studio recording. The Undiscovered is a collection of recordings that are as wild and varied of Rick's outgoing personality. There is hard rock songs like The Undiscovered, love songs to Jesus like Dove's Eyes (my favorite), and celebratory child-like tunes such as We Have The Best Dad.


Jason Upton - 1200ft. Below Sea Level
Jason Upton has been a long time favorite of mine, but he is definitely not for everyone. He is not Top 20 pop worship music. However, if you have some time to put on a CD and be alone with God, his CDs are perfect. This album is a little weird because it contains some of the kids songs he has been playing live lately (I thought there was going to be a separate children's CD?). However, the flowing, piano-driven prophetic worship you expect from Jason is still present. My favorite track is It Ain't Easy.


Jonathan David Helser - Walk Through the Walls
This is the second album from one studio session with Jonathan and his team. This album picks up where the last CD left off. This is definitely a very produced studio album, but each song has plenty of space and time to breathe. Most of the tracks take off into spontaneous times of worship. I also believe Jonathan is one of the greatest songwriters for worship music... period. Check out "I Will Not Be Silent" and "God of the Angel Armies" - awesome stuff.


John Mark McMillan - The Medicine
I do not know if this should really be considered a worship album or not. I suppose it depends on the audience. Some of these songs like Skeleton Bones and Dress Them Up are definitely appropriate for congregational worship times and some of the songs would definitely not be. This album is a bit more slick and ambient than John Mark's previous recordings, but I think it turns out fantastic, especially for some of the ballads like Carbon Ribs and Death In His Grave. As usual, the writing is so good that you could sell the CD jacket as a poetry book.


Eddie James - Freedom
Eddie James can not be fully appreciated without worshiping in a live setting with his team, or at least watching a live video (try this one). If you know me, then you know I am not a big fan of black gospel. But Eddie does a great job of merging gospel with modern rock worship to create music that appeals to a wide variety of tastes. Combine this with his amazing songwriting, contagious passion and a prophetic gift, and you have a great CD. Freedom is my favorite song. Plus... my brother is now on tour with Eddie and his team!

Jesus Culture - Your Love Never Fails
I discovered Jesus Culture from a live Kim Walker video on Youtube and I was blown away. These guys are like Hillsong United with a strong creative/prophetic edge. This CD continues on the path of the last Jesus Culture album with a mixture of original and cover songs led by Kim Walker, Chris Quilala and Mellisa Wise. I love Kim's version of Happy Day and You Won't Relent. The revised version of I Exalt Thee is powerful and the addition of the Vineyard UK song Beautiful was a nice surprise.


Kim Walker - Here Is My Song
I did not purchase this album when it was first released because all of the samples I had heard sounded like a studio recording with basic song arrangements. But I was wrong! What you have is a very well produced live CD with original songs that alternate with extended times of spontaneous worship. It is great! There's over 10 minutes of spontaneous worship after "I Surrender" and that is probably my favorite track.


Morningstar - Worship and Warfare III
Morningstar's worship has revolutionized my own personal worship life. However, some of Leonard Jones' live albums lack some of the fire and passion of earlier Morningstar recordings. However, I enjoy most of this album. The highlight is Leonard's song Bless The Lord which is followed by an extended time of spontaneous singing by the congregation without any instruments. It is very heavenly and powerful! Also songs by new worship leaders Amber Brooks and David Olinger are great. Long-time Morningstar worship leader Josh Baldwin's song Beautiful is... beautiful. (Josh released his own worship album this year. If I owned it, it would probably be on this list.)


Misty Edwards - Relentless
When we named the 6:22 album Relentless, we did not realize that Misty Edwards would do the same. I am sure she was also not very concerned what we were doing. Regardless, this is a great album that also includes a very enjoyable full-length "Unplugged" CD with just Misty and the piano that includes tracks from this album and previous Misty CDs. My favorite track is probably "You Won't Relent."


6:22 - Relentless
How could I not include the two 6:22 albums from this year? I think this live CD/DVD are great, and I love that there are four worship leaders up here. It was a very powerful night of worship, and I think John Harrell mixed this CD in a way that captures that energy. I particularly love Beaty's song We Can Possess.


6:22 - A New Day Is Rising
I think this is the most professional sounding recording we have released with 6:22. The production and musicianship is superb. These are songs that were the soundtrack for an amazing New Beginnings Tour. I think the way "Take Over Me" turned out was freaking sweet.

Photos from Tipsy Teapot Concert

Here are some photos from our Christmas concert at the Tipsy Teapot on December 20. Daniel and Laura Phelps booked the show, played some of their Christmas songs and invited some guests to play as well. The Tipsy Teapot is a little used bookstore and cafe in downtown Greenville.

Looking Back at 2008

Throughout the Bible Yahweh is constantly reminding His people to remember His works. It is so easy to forget what God has done, and sometimes looking back helps us to be more thankful and aware of His presence. 2008 was promised to be a year of new beginnings, and God definitely fulfilled his word. Shepard and I have enjoyed a very crazy first year of marriage, and expect things to only get wilder. As we went away to the mountains for a few days, I was thinking back on some of what God has allowed us to be a part of this year. Hopefully as you read the list below and remember His works you will sense His presence.

• Hezekiah Fast (January 1-16) with a Solemn Assembly @ Vision Caster Ministries (January 16)
• 24-hour prayer begins at Vision Caster Ministries Monday through Saturday and continues unbroken for most of the year.
  
• 6:22's New Beginnings Tour from January to August with local gatherings at St. Paul Church, Vision Caster Ministries, University Church of God, Greenville Christian Fellowship and Faith Assembly of God. We also traveled to River City Christian Center(Washington, NC), Father's Heart Fellowship (Surf City, NC), Global River Church (Wilmington, NC), Westside Free Will Baptist Church (Kinston, NC), Frontlines School of the Spirit (Wilson, NC), Washington Assembly of God (Washington, NC), Stony Creek FWB Church (Goldsboro, NC), Rock Church (Tarboro, NC), Brice's Creek Bible Church (New Bern, NC).
  
• Worship and Speaking Mount Olive College in Mount Olive (March 27)
  
• Worship and Speaking at The Edge in Goldsboro (April 12)
• Music at 30 Hour Famine Lock-In at First FWB Church in Greenville (April 25)
• Bound4Life Mercy Seat Prayer Siege at Pitt County courthouse (April 26)
• Matthew leads a song at National Day of Prayer at Greenville Town Common (May 1)
• Day Seven: New Beginnings at Greenville Town Commons with Brandon Willett (May 2)
  
• Relentless, the third 6:22 album, a live CD/DVD, was released at Day Seven.
  
• Global Day of Prayer (May 11) is preceded by a week of nightly worship gatherings at Vision Caster Ministries with various worship leaders from the community.
  
• Worship for Harmony Church in Greenville (May 25)
• Worship for Pre-Call Rally @ Vision Caster Ministries in Winterville (June 27)
• 6:22 recorded the 8-song A New Day is Rising CD at The Sound Barn in Kinston (June 16-27)
• Matthew and Shepard lead worship for GYCII at Cragmont Assembly in Black Mountain, NC (July 6-10).
  
• WorshipFest ’08 at Greenville Convention Center(August 8-9) . Over 24 hours of non-stop worship... around 1000 in attendance... twelve people baptized... hundreds of cans of food collected for the needy... released A New Day Is Rising CD... Matthew shaves his head and ends his nazirite vow... and much more!
  
• The Call DC at the National Mall in Washington (August 16)
  
• Music and speaking at Global River Church in Wilmington (August 23).
• Matthew takes part-time worship leading position with Collide Ministries at ECU (September-current)
• Matthew takes interim worship leader position at Vision Caster Ministries (September-November).
  
• Co-led worship with Ryan Hudson at Collide Ministries Retreat @ Cragmont Assembly in Black Mountain, NC (Sep 12-14)
• Music and Speaking at See You After the Pole Rally @ Family Life Tabernacle in Winterville (September 24)
• 6:22's First Fridays at Youthquake from September to December
• Music at Harp & Bowl Conference @ Vision Caster Ministries in Winterville with Jacob Ferrell from ZHOP (September 26-27)
• Winterville is visited from well-known worship leaders Eddie James (Oct 6-8) and Rick Pino (Oct 17-18). ECU outreach with Eddie James and 20+ students are saved. Matthew gets to sing with Rick Pino.
  
• The BURN (October 31) @ Jarvis Memorial UMC in Greenville. Around 10 hours of continuous fasting, worship and prayer. There were no arrests downtown for Halloween!
• 40-days of fasting and prayer for a House of Prayer (October 3- November 12)
• Our prayers are answered by a week of 24-hour prayer at East Carolina University sponsored by Campus Christian Fellowship and hosted by the Baptist Campus Ministry (November 9-16)
• Concert at Hull Road Free Will Baptist Church in Arba (November 15)
  
• Worship at Brice's Creek Youth Retreat at Camp Don Lee in Arapahoe (December 12)
• Collide Christmas Concert (December 7)
• Christmas Benefit Concert for Hope of Glory Ministries (December 18). Collected $50 and around ten grocery bags of food.
• Tipsy Teapot Christmas Concert w\Daniel & Laura Phelps (December 20)

Photos from Christmas Benefit Show

On December 18 I hosted a Christmas benefit show for Hope of Glory Ministries, a local charity that shares the Gospel and clothing/food for those in need in Greenville. We collected around ten groceries bags full of canned food and $50.00!

This was show was an excuse to play my Christmas music (and a few other rarities) with a full band. Other acts included The Avenger, Daniel Phelps, and Hundredth. My brother Mark was in town for the holidays (he's been touring with Eddie James Ministries), and he was able to share a short word during my set. Some photos are below. The full set of photos is Rebekah Ireland's flickr page (thanks Rebekah!).

Re: Dressing Up

I had a lot of response through Facebook to my latest blog post. I thought I would share some of the replies for anyone who does not use Facebook.

Response #1
Good note, but here's a question for you: when would it be OK to dress up? Perhaps not even just OK, but Biblically mandated? Brain twister there for you... :) Though I know that our culture particularly struggles with "covering sins", just as Adam and Eve attempted to do, let's beware blanket statements... For instance, imagine a church meeting on the campus of a Fortune 500 company. What would Paul wear? Rugged Wearhouse or Brooks Brothers? 1 Corinthians 9:22 seems to tell us that a three-piece and tie would be the way he'd go in that particular situation. As you pointed out throughout your note: materalism is wrong. But the clothes in and of themselves are not. It's so easy for us to overcorrect because of the culture we grew up (talking about our generation-Christians). Let us remember: dressing up in nice clothes isn't a sin...attempting to cover our sins with cotton and linen is.

Response #2
I always looked at dressing up/nice for church as an act of respect and worship to my Lord. A bride wears a beautiful gown when she goes to meet her bridegroom. So that is kind of how I see it, dressing for my bridgegroom when I go to church. Of course a nice pair of jeans and a sweater are about as dressy as I get most times, haha, but you get what I am saying. Guess I never examined it that deeply...or thought about it that way.

Response #3
I agree with both of you guys. While it is not a sin to dress up, the tradition of dressing up has had a fatal effect on some churches and the outward appearance of the Church as a whole. The Church's heart, in many ways, has turned its attention to a person's outward appearance as opposed to a person's heart condition and their need of Jesus. I feel like, in most cases, this attitude is not on purpose, it's become a natural way of thinking. "She should wear decent clothes when she comes to church, she shouldn't look like that" - I heard a lady in my church when I was younger say this about an obviously poor woman and her two younger children, and I didn't really understand it at the time. As soon as I reached the age where I realized that "dressing up" wasn't a requirement, my mind was brought back to that lady's comment several years before. I know the lady that made that comment very well, in fact, she's my mother. Knowing my mom as well as I do, I know her heart and I don't believe she wanted to feel that way about the poorer woman, but that she had gotten so caught up in the tradition of dressing up for church that in her eyes, the poorer woman was purposely trying to offend her and the church by wearing her "dirty" clothes. And yes I know that Jesus says in Matthew 12 that "out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks," so my mom truly felt that way somewhere in her heart, but where did that come from? I believe it was with the tradition that dressing up was a requirement or an "unwritten rule" of church. So while it is easy for us to over-correct a tradition like this, I do think that this tradition must be combated by the Church to rid our hearts of any prejudice or judgmental spirit that has been brought on by the existence of this tradition and others

Response #4
Much has been said already, and I don't want to repeat. What I have the most trouble with is the general formalization of church, which dressing up usually expresses. Formality as it pans out at least from my experience usually precludes honesty and sincerity of heart. Many see formality as an expression of reverence, but I think formality is often really a false replacement for true reverence, something easier, something requiring less humility, something that isn't too offensive to our hearts which in their natural state incessantly cling to self-love (and it hurts to rip away self-love). If dressing up were an expression of true devotion (and you know, sometimes it really is!), the surrounding community will know the person's good heart by their demeanor, and I don't think their dress would be an offense. Let's face it though, is this common? We all know the answer to that. But many people (and many churches practice this at large) do not fear God as the all powerful Being He is. Many don't consider their sins weighty, and they treat grace which comes by Christ's sacrifice lightly. And this troubles me equally with those who pretend to count the gospel as a weighty thing by outward formality only. Praise God though, that indeed God is to be truly feared, but the gospel is that much better in light of the fact! I pray for depth in my own fear of God and depth in my own understanding of the potency of the gospel of grace, and may my outward expressions of this always reflect both, dress included. I pray this for the church as well of course, but don't think these words mean I'm any less susceptible to this pride Matthew's confronting.

Response #5
We also have to be careful that we do not fall into the place of judgement over people that dress a certain way. A person that does not dress up can be just as lost and far away from God as the person who "dresses up" to hide their mess. The priests in the OT were mandated by God to dress in a certain fashion with an exact list of requirements. This was required to "enter" into the presence of God. Without this priestly garment God could strike the priest dead. That sounds pretty serious to me!! Now, that requirement must pass through cross of Jesus Christ. This means that the requirement to dress in a certain manner was nulified by the blood of Jesus. Now, we are covered by the cleansing blood of the Lamb, which is the only garment we need to be able to come into the presence of God. Therefore, I would argue the ANYBODY that dresses in any fashion to make a statement to others, or to intentionally "buck the system" is either following man's tradition or trying to create a new one.In addition... We all are charged with examining our hearts before God. If my heart is right, I should be able to dress according to my faith and not be looked upon with judgement. We should be modestly clothed according to the word. The ultimate question to ask is...Who is picking your clothes?? Does the Holy Spirit have the opportunity to speak to you what to wear and what not to wear? If we all would listen to His preferences, we would find that we might dress for the occasion, and in the occasion have an opportunity to speak to people we may not have had the chance to speak to had we worn what WE wanted to wear. So inherently, I don't care if a person has on a tie or tie-dye, the issue for me is the person's heart. If I can "see" the person's heart I can look past all the other junk. Everybody else is just hiding!!

Response #6
Perhaps the answer to this particular tradition of men is not demanding that Christians cease dressing nicely for church; rather, what is needed is a deeper understanding of the biblical idea of modesty. Modesty is not merely dressing in a non-sexually-provocative manner; modesty is dressing and acting so as to take attention off oneself. In the assembly, the goal is to be entirely focused on our Creator and Savior. If anyone steals attention from Jesus by the way he dresses, whether through overdressing or underdressing, that person is not being loving to his neighbor or to his God. If anyone uses the way another is dressed as an opportunity to judge him or her, that person is also not being loving to his neighbor or to his God. Christian love dictates that we dress such that other people are not distracted from worshiping God, and that we do not judge those who dress in ways we are inclined to deem inappropriate.

Response #7
Hi Matthew- What a great topic to explore and all the discussion comments are stimulating and insightful. There is much to be discovered along this path. Here is my first 2 cents worth. In God's world we are allowed to wear anything we choose to church or any where else. That's called freedom. But on the other hand He warns about the importance of being aware that other people, especially people who are culturally and socially different, and can only "see" the outside of us, can easily form opinions and attitudes about us that are the exact opposite of who we are and what our motives are for living our lives the way that we choose to do. Now with the knowledge of God we are free to make our own decision about when it's OK (to us) to dress in a particular way or the lifestyle we choose to present to the people who only see the outside of us. There is much to be explored in this one simple "mystery" of God.

Exposing Men’s Traditions: Dressing Up

**This article is part of a series called "Exposing Men's Traditions." Please read my first article "Exposing Men's Traditions: Why?" for a better understanding of my reasoning for writing.**

This first tradition I want to expose is “dressing up” for church. This practice is harmful to the advancement of the Gospel and the health of the body of Christ.

1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

This is from the story of Samuel anointing David as king of Israel. In this story God reveals some of what He is like. He does not see things like we see. He prefers the ethereal to the tangible, the invisible to the seen, and a pure heart to a pretty face. This is a foundational truth for our understanding of how God works and what is important to Him. Dressing up for church implies that God is concerned with external appearance more than (or as much as) our internal condition. This practice distorts our perspective of God, and paints a false picture of God for those who do not know Him.

Isaiah 53:2 (Referring to Jesus)
For He shall grow up before Him as a tender plant,
And as a root out of dry ground.
He has no form or comeliness;
And when we see Him,
There is no beauty that we should desire Him.

Luke 7:25 (Referring to John the Baptist)
“But what did you go out to see? A man clothed in soft garments? Indeed those who are gorgeously appareled and live in luxury are in kings’ courts.”

1 Corinthians 4:11 (Referring to the apostles)
To the present hour we both hunger and thirst, and we are poorly clothed, and beaten, and homeless.

The most important characters in the Scriptures were not concerned with external appearance to further their ministry. Why are we?

James 2:1-4
My brethren, do not hold the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with partiality. For if there should come into your assembly a man with gold rings, in fine apparel, and there should also come in a poor man in filthy clothes, and you pay attention to the one wearing the fine clothes and say to him, “You sit here in a good place,” and say to the poor man, “You stand there,” or, “Sit here at my footstool,” have you not shown partiality among yourselves, and become judges with evil thoughts?

In many churches a dress code may not be stated publicly, but what do you see when you walk in the doors? You see whatever is considered appropriate formal middle-class clothing. On most days throughout the week, I wear jeans and a t-shirt. In many church meetings I would stick out noticeably and likely receive judgmental looks from people.

From my experience, when you invite someone to church they usually bring up something about having to dress up. Either they do not have clothing that they feel would make them appropriate to come, or they want to know what they need to wear to make sure they fit in. This is sad! People are intimidated to walk into a church building for fear of being judged by the clothes that they are wearing.

1 Peter 3:3-4
Do not let your adornment be merely outward—arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel— rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

1 Timothy 2:9-10
In like manner also, that the women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works.

Matthew 23:25-28
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.
“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

I also think that dressing up for church creates a general atmosphere of pharisaical fakeness. Do we really believe that we can cover up our mess and present a picture perfect family? We should not put up fronts. Our fleshly instinct is to try to appear as “good people.” The Bible encourages us to actually confess our sins to one another – on purpose!

We are sinners, and dressing up conflicts with a Gospel that says we are fallen. When Jesus died, He accomplished what we could not accomplish. His blood atones for our sin. It is the acceptable offering to the Father for our eternal salvation– not our good works. Nothing about salvation has to do with us. We do not earn anything. It was given by God’s love and accessed simply by faith. Now we come to Him (and go to others) openly, transparently, naked and brutally honest.

By dressing up I think we are – in a weird way – trying to achieve righteousness by our works. Most of us would confess with our mouths that we believe that Jesus died for our sins, but now we try to live without sin in our own strength. It does not work that way. We are justified and sanctified by faith in Jesus Christ. There is no need to cover ourselves – Jesus covers us.

The idea of dressing up came about when the middle class was emerging (see Pagan Christianity for documentation). It was a way of separating people based on their wealth and social status. The Gospel does not separate people, it includes people. Jesus came to bring together what was separated. God desires a diverse family. Suits and ties and tie-die and flip-flops and jeans and skirts and black and white and short and tall are welcome! In the words of Enter the Worship Circle: “There's none too poor, too dirty, too broken, too naked, too stupid, to be thrown outside His love.”

Dressing up can also reflect a materialistic attitude that leads to poor stewardship. Clothes have become an idol in our society and a symbol of the status quo. For many people, the clothes they wear are tied to their self-esteem, coolness and personal confidence. Some are addicted to shopping and attaining all of the latest stuff. I do not have time to go into all of the Scripture references about materialism and greed, but, needless to say, most Americans are spoiled rotten. We have closets full of clothes that we rarely wear. As soon as our clothes start getting slightly worn or go out of style, we buy something new.

Personally, I have not spent any money on new clothes in a year or two (except to replace shoes – and they were only $8 at Steve & Barry’s!). Most people could do the same. In Luke 12:22 Jesus says not to worry about the clothes you will wear because He will provide for our needs if we seek Him first. Many are wasting money and building treasures on earth just to try to prove themselves to others.

You do not have to prove yourself to God! He loves you just like you are. He knows your sins better than you do. He sees and has seen everything, and He still wants to be your best friend. Save your money and stop dressing up. Let us be real with one another, admit how far we have fallen, confess our sins, put our faith in Jesus Christ and let Him cover us. God bless!

PS. Want to dig into this topic a little deeper? Check out Adam and Eve. Why did they cover up when they sinned? Who covered them? Why do we wear clothes?