Worship - Heart of Worship

Heart of Worship by daphadillz

Recorded from MCBC Good Friday 2011 Service: Daphne C (lead vocals) / Rebecca L (piano, vocals) / Karwai K (acoustic) / Beverley C (cello) / Jeff P (drums, vocals)

When the music fades and all is stripped away and I simply come
Longing just to bring something that's of worth that will bless Your heart

I'll bring You more than a song for a song in itself is not what you have required
You search much deeper within, through the way thing appear - You're looking to my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship - it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it - it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus

King of endless worth, no one could express how much You deserve
Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is Yours - every single breath

I'll bring You more than a song for a song in itself is not what you have required
You search much deeper within, through the way thing appear - You're looking to my heart

I'm coming back to the heart of worship - it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus
I'm sorry, Lord, for the thing I've made it - it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus

Words Speak Louder than Actions...

Remember this rhyme from when we were kids? (Okay, I'm still a kid.) "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me." I have to say that it really is an ingenious little poem that teaches kids to ignore what people say... however... we all know that names can hurt like hell. Don't get me wrong - I'm sure with enough kinetic force behind them, sticks and stones can hurt very much, but really, I'd choose them over harsh words that have little to no physical momentum. (Nerd.)


When I was in middle school, I was the only gifted kid (see above re: nerd) to make it on the basketball team. I had no friends on the team, and was seen as the weird outcast girl. I wasn't cool, and I wasn't popular, so I got picked on every practice, by this one girl in particular. I'll blog about her again one day, cause it's a good story, but the short of it is that she would pick on me. At first it was little things, like she would whip the ball at me... Dude, we're on the same team. So my mom said that I should ignore it and maybe it was just her actions... But she didn't actually feel that way... Then she started cussing at me, and made fun of my late puberty-ness. Yea, not fun changing after practice. Then it was incredibly clear, that not only did her actions hurt my body, but her words crushed my spirit. Mean girl.


In some way, words speak much louder than actions. In the book of Matthew, Jesus was questioned as to what kind of foods people should eat or not eat. His response:

Matthew 15:10-11,15-20 (NLT)
Then Jesus called to the crowd to come and hear. "Listen," he said, "and try to understand. [11] It's not what goes into your mouth that defiles you; you are defiled by the words that come out of your mouth." [15] Then Peter said to Jesus, "Explain to us the parable that says people aren't defiled by what they eat." [16] "Don't you understand yet?" Jesus asked. [17] "Anything you eat passes through the stomach and then goes into the sewer. [18] But the words you speak come from the heart-that's what defiles you. [19] For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander. [20] These are what defile you. Eating with unwashed hands will never defile you."


A few of the kids that I had to mentor in the past asked me a question about drinking. Newly heading into university, I was nervous for them, and wanted to be able to tell them the right answers. To the best of my knowledge, there is nothing in the bible that says Christians should not drink. (I'm not a pastor or seminary student, but I don't think I'm wrong.) It doesn't say that you shouldn't swear either. However, it does say that from a good well, good water flows, and from a bad well, bad water flows. So. If Christ really is within your heart and this is something that you proclaim, then theoretically, certain behaviors should not come naturally. Those who cuss left, right and center ought to question if their behavior is indicative of the incredible changing power Christ has caused in our lives.

In the same way, faith brings about good deeds and good fruit. If we live double lives that ever leave those around us in doubt as to whether or not we have been changed, then really the answer is that we have not.

The challenge: Is it incredibly evident by how you live your life, by how you respond to situations, by your habits and your reputation, by your casual behaviours, by what you say and do, that you are a follower of Christ?

Worship - Mashup: Cannons / Glory to God

Cannons Glory to God by daphadillz

Recorded from MCBC Sunday Service: Daphne C (lead vocals) / Ernest N (acoustic, vocals) / Karwai K (electric) / Jared T (bass) / Jeff P (drums)

It's falling from the clouds, a strange and lovely sound

I hear it in the thunder and the rain

It's ringing in the skies like cannons in the night

as the music of the universe plays

We're singing You are holy, so great and mighty

The moon and the stars declare who You are

I'm so unworthy, but still You love me

Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Beautiful and free, the song of galaxies

Reaching far beyond the milky way

Let's join in with the sound, Come on, let's sing it out

As the music of the universe plays

We're singing You are holy, so great and mighty

The moon and the stars declare who You are

I'm so unworthy, but still You love me

Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Glory to God, Glory to God

Glory to God forever

All glory, honour, power is Yours, amen

All glory, honour, power is Yours, amen

All glory, honour, power is Yours, forever amen

We're singing You are holy, so great and mighty

The moon and the stars declare who You are

I'm so unworthy, but still You love me

Forever my heart will sing of how great You are

Harmonious Change

I remember it clearly. I had just got home from an 8 hour long night shift, and was crawling into bed utterly exhausted. At 7:30 AM in the morning on a cold fall morning, the rest of the world was just beginning to wake up. The fumes from cars warming up was beginning to float over dew-covered driveways, and the birds sung their last few songs before they would depart for the winter. I slowly made my way into my bed, prepared for a long day of catching on lost sleep... when all of sudden, I heard...



BRAAAAAAAANNNGGGG, BRRAAAAAANNNNGGG, BRRRAAANGG... If there was ever a time where I cussed out loud and actually meant it, that was it. Not only was I incredibly exhausted, but the sound of the alarm blaring RIGHT ABOVE my bed made me want to throw concentrated acid on my ears just to stop hearing it.



When I relayed this story to a friend of mine later that day, I briefly mentioned something about wishing that they would play a song like "Staying Alive," instead. (BTW, for you CPR savvy people who want to remember what the tempo is for 100 BPM to do CPR to, apparently Staying Alive is the tune that best fits... and pun intended.) Said friend looked at me and asked, "Are you sure a super loud song would be better?" UH YES.

What makes music is the change in pitch. A single note held over a long period of time not only is NOT music, but is rather annoying and is just NOISE. It's that change that we're looking for, that makes real music.

Much like how a faith without change in a person is meaningless. It's just words or actions, or worse yet, RELIGION. Just like change in pitch can make all the difference between noise and music, so does change in a life make the difference between religion and real faith.

Matthew 18:1-3 (NIV)
At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?" [2] He called a little child and had him stand among them. [3] And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.

Romans 2:28-29 (NLT)
For you are not a true Jew just because you were born of Jewish parents or because you have gone through the ceremony of circumcision. [29] No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people.

Take it one step further. When we allow God to lead the way in our lives, he writes a melody to match our notes and makes harmony. There is a difference between singing your own melody and expecting God to do harmony over your notes... and allowing God to pick the leading line.



The challenge: Are you trying to be the writer of the music, instead of following the Composer's lead? Is it leading to meaningless sound, or harmonious music? Is it evident by the change in your life that that your eyes are the Conductor?

Worship - Mashup: Unashamed / Amazed

Unashamed Amazed by daphadillz

Recorded from MCBC Sunday Service: Rebecca L (lead vocals, keys) / Daphne C (piano, vocals) / Keith L (acoustic, vocals) / Bonnie W (acoustic) / Dan K (bass) / Jeff P (drums)

I have not much to offer You, not near what You deserve

But still I come because Your cross has placed in me worth

Oh Christ my King of sympathy whose wounds secure at peace

Your grace extends to call me friend, Your mercy sets me free

I know I'm weak, I know I'm unworthy to call upon Your name

But because of grace, because of Your mercy I stand here unashamed

I can't explain this kind of love - I'm humbled and amazed

That you'd come down from Heaven's heights and greet me face to face

I know I'm weak, I know I'm unworthy to call upon Your name

But because of grace, because of Your mercy I stand here unashamed

Lord I'm amazed by You

Lord I'm amazed by You

Lord I'm amazed by You, how You love me

Here I am at Your feet in my brokenness complete

Here I am at Your feet in my brokenness complete

I know I'm weak, I know I'm unworthy to call upon Your name

But because of grace, because of Your mercy I stand here unashamed

How wide, how deep, how great is Your love for me

How wide, how deep, how great is Your love for me

Christ's Love and Basketball...

I remember the first big crush that I ever had - he was one of the most popular boys at school in grade 6, and he was good at everything. He was smart, he was athletic, musical, and cute! Alas, I was smitten. Of course, my grade 6 mind couldn't possibly imagine telling him or ever letting him know that I had a thing for him despite the fact that we had some classes together and we sat right next to each other. So for years, I never let him know that I was head over heels for him. (Even to this day, we are good friends and that grade 6 mentality still tells me to never ever let him know... Actually he probably figured it out in grade 6... I wasn't very stealth haha.)


But don't get me wrong - I found ways to interact and do things with him, hoping all the while that he would never find out that I liked him. He was athletic, so I joined all the sports clubs and teams that I could. In fact, I picked up basketball because of him. At the time, there was a sports club that you could join, and knowing that this was the type of thing he would join, I picked up basketball and learned to get really good at it! Sure enough, he joined the club haha. Within a year, I loved basketball. It was my favourite sport, and even going into high school, it was my primary sport up until my knee injury. By that time I'd forgotten the real reason that I'd picked up the sport because I loved the game.


Such is the story of how many people find Christ. Often people will go to a conference, or an event for very wrong reasons (i.e. lots of people join Christian softball leagues in order to find a girlfriend or boyfriend), but often God has a greater plan than that and we end up finding Him amongst our wrong motives - and we come to love Him and form a real relationship with Him. It doesn't mean it's right, but it means God's plan is greater than our small intentions.

But it doesn't stop there. Christ's changing power demands that once we have engaged in a relationship with Him that we make our future decisions intentional for His purposes... no longer should we involve ourselves in activities for our own motives (a boy we like for example haha), but now that we have been transformed, so should our motives behind our decisions. Christ should now consistently be the reasons behind our actions. If we truly attest that we have experienced Christ's love, then it should only be natural that we abandon our own motives to strive for His alone, in confidence that God will provide for those other things that He knows we need.


2 Corinthians 5:13-17 (NIV)
If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. [14] For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. [15] And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again. [16] So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. [17] Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

The challenge: What's motivating you? Do you make decisions for yourself, or for His glory? What's your life's mission statement?

Unrecognized Footprints

I'd tell you to close your eyes for this exercise, but then you wouldn't be able to read it. So. Here goes. Imagine where you live. Perhaps it's on Bayview Avenue... Bayview Avenue... is just really a street, in the city of North York. North York is a tiny part of the Greater Toronto Area. The GTA is really a city in the province of Ontario, which is one of many in the country of Canada, on a continent called North America. North America is one continent on the Earth, which is part of the milky way, in the Solar System, in the Galaxy. Get the point? If you don't feel really small right about now, maybe you needed to do it with your eyes closed haha.


Romans 1:20 (NLT)
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities-his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.

This verse has really stood out to me. God drops big anvils on us to remind us that He is Lord, and yet we accept what we see as the norm, and forget to give Him the glory. When was the last time we had to think about taking a breath, to hope that if we jump, that we'd land back on the ground? All of creation is balanced in this perfect system... and yet we aren't amazed?


God also gives us little hints that he's around. At a time where I was going through a really tough time, I remember putting on a really good act, trying to pretend that everything was okay and that I wasn't upset. Inside, I was drained, and felt like following God's commands was not only a thankless, lonely, and difficult work, but that God wasn't going to be pleased with my offering or that I was failing by being so tired and drained by life's stresses. That day after service, a complete stranger came up to me in the foyer and said, "Keep up the hard work, because your efforts are appreciated. Good job." I nearly bawled my eyes out right then and there.


I remember once praying: "God, are You even hearing me?" And it took me a long time to realize that it was I who wasn't listening to His response.

The challenge: Perhaps it's the little things that count more, but whether big or small, God demonstrates His presence every second of every day. Question is... did you catch it?