Tag Archives: worship

by | August 29, 2012

Worship pastor overcame addiction, leads others to wholeness in Christ

By Mark Ellis

Matt Tommey

Enormously gifted as a worship leader, yet living a secret life of addiction, Matt Tommey now uses his art as a way to connect with God and lead others into personal and creative wholeness.

“I grew up in the church under a Steinway piano,” says Matt Tommey, worship pastor, artist, author, and founder of The Worship Studio. At 13, living in Columbus, Georgia, he gave his heart to the Lord and answered a very early call into worship ministry.

As a young teenager, several traumatic events – his grandfather’s death, sexual abuse by a same-sex family member, and a deteriorating relationship with his father created a perfect storm of brokenness.  Matt struggled for many years to overcome his inner distress, but succumbed to addiction and other unhealthy relational patterns.

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by | September 7, 2011

The new song in heaven: going beyond the 12-tone scale

By Mark Ellis

Anne Ortlund

 

Composers lament the same frustration as they attempt to avoid repetition in their music. After 2,000 years, the limits of the 12-tone scale leave musicologists with a hunger for something more.

“They have come to a dead end,” observes Anne Ortlund, the popular Christian author and speaker. For 15 years, Anne was the organist for Dr. Charles Fuller’s radio broadcasts. Her hymn “Macedonia” was chosen as the theme hymn at the World Congress on Evangelism in Berlin.

She believes the worship that Christians will experience in heaven will go beyond our imaginations – and outside the limits of our current musical scale.

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by | July 27, 2011

The Worship of Heaven…

By Jay Grant

Pastor of Prayer, Jay Grant

“Day and night the host of heaven never cease crying out, “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God Almighty, Who is, Who was, and Who is the come.” Rev 4:10

“Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne saying in a loud voice, ‘Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise.’”  Rev 5:11,12

“Then I heard the voices of those in heaven, on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them, singing: ‘To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.’”  Rev 5:13

The worship of God is our highest calling. It is good to awaken each morning by releasing our hearts to God in adoration. What is cool is we can worship God in all we do. We can offer our praise to Him in worship. We can offer our work to Him as an act of worship. When we love we worship. When we pray we can worship. In fact, God has made it clear that a void exists in prayer when worship is not a part of it.

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