Worship Freely Tunes {24}

Hi Everyone! So...this song is one of the many songs on Moriah Peter's new album Brave that I love. It's just a strong album filled with this amazing girl's inner-warrior. Check out her music, it's truly a work of art for God's glory and her testimony is amazing. This song has been accompanying me full blast on all my car rides. Enjoy and happy day! God bless!

Christian Wedding Song List: English & Spanish

Instead of doing my usual "Worship Freely Tunes" this Friday, I was inspired to make a list of my favorite Christian songs that someone could play at their wedding. My best friend who is like a sister to me is getting married next Saturday and just a while ago she asked me what songs I recommend. She's honestly the best-est friend God could have sent me. She's always been there to encourage me and pray with me. Congratulations Lynette! I wish you so many blessed years with your hubby. I am so honored to be that girl's bridesmaid! So these songs that I'm sharing with y'all are my favorites and I plan to play them at my wedding someday.  I decided to do English and Spanish songs because of my bi-cultural background.When it comes to the music that I listen to (because of my relationship with God, the fact that I sing, and music is my life) who I'm inspired by musically really matters to me. The problem that I tend to see the most when it comes to a christian couple wanting to celebrate their wedding is song choice. We all love praise and worship music but couples also want romantic music that talks about their relationship and this should not have to be separate from God. God is the creator of love and music so the two should go hand in hand, glorifying Christ and bringing joy to a couple's hearts. You don't have to settle for Music that's created by people who don't have a relationship with God just because of their catchy lyrics and melodies. I really hope y'all enjoy these tunes. If you know some songs that you'd love for future readers to skim through then feel free to leave them in a comment bellow. Blessings!

[If you're looking for christian instrumental music
then I recommend buying Pianissimo Brothers' 
"50 Beautiful Songs For A Christian Wedding".]

English

1). "Dancing In The Minefields"- Andrew Peterson
2). "Chasing You"- Jenn Johnson
3). "Love Is Not A Fight"- Warren Barfield
4). "The Way You Smile"- NewSong & Francesca Battistelli
5). "My Dear"- Bethel Music
6). "Life Is Beautiful"- The Afters
7). "Closer"- Bethel Live
8). "Come Awaken Love"- Hunter G K Thompson
9). "For My Love"- Bethany Dillon
10). "My Only Love"- Matt Maher
11). "Love Will Be Enough For Us"- Brandon Heath
12). "God Gave Me You"- Dave Barnes
13). "Hundred More Years"- Francesca Battistelli
14). "Thank God I Got Her"- Jonny Diaz
15). "Love Is In The Air"- The Afters
16). "The Marriage Prayer"- John Waller
17). "I'll Wait For You"- Moriah Peters
18). "Bless The Broken Road"- Selah
19). "Happily Married"- Raymond Gregory

20). "Don't Mean A Thing"- GL ft. T'Juan
21). "You Never Let Me Down"- Marvin Winans


Spanish

1). "Amor Inusual"- Tercer Cielo
2). "Bella"- Veinte Veinte
3). "Celebremos Hoy"- Tercer CIelo
4). "Bendita Mujercita"- Alex Campos
5). "Tu Poeta"- Alex Campos
6). "Un Viaje Largo"- Marcela Gandara
7). "Yo Te Amo"- Eunice Rodriguez
8). "Tu Mirada"- Quest Ft. Triple Seven
9). "Enamorados"- Tercer Cielo
10). "Tu Amor Es Un Sueno"- Tercer Cielo
11). "Te Extrano"- Daniel Calveti
12). "Te Amo Mas Que A Mi Misma Vida"- Rojo
13). "Sol Pido"- Fuego Liquido
14). "Sentirte En Mi Alma"- Tercer Cielo
15). "Mi Ultimo Dia"- Tercer Cielo
16). "Si No Estas Junto A Mi"- Tercer Cielo
17). "Regalo De Dios"- Tercer Cielo
18). "Mi Historia De Amor"- Daniel Calveti
19). "Mis Mejores Dias"- Deborah Pruneda
20). "El Uno Para El Otro"- Tercer Cielo

21). "Lindo Viaje"- Tercer Cielo
22). "Guia Nuestro Camino"- Marcela Gandara
23). "Entre Tu Y Yo"- Tercer Cielo
24). "Exagerado Amor"- Tercer Cielo
25). "Estare"- Tercer Cielo
26). "Contigo Quiero Caminar"- Marcela Gandara

Worship Freely Tunes {23}

I'm really psyched to share this song with y'all. There's just something special about it...the lyrics, the music, the sound. It's truly a beautiful song. It gives me chills. We are the bride of Christ and one day we will see our King face to face. This song gives us a glimpse of what that looks and feels like. Hope you enjoy and let me know what you think. God bless!

"(Holy) Wedding Day"- The City Harmonic

Worship Freely Tunes {22}

I'm a little late on the music pick for this week but here it is and I guarantee that it was worth the wait...I love these people's hearts for the Lord. Their music makes me smile and I agree: There's something about what's homemade that makes things so much better. Bringing our intimacy with God to the public. Love it, truly.

"Second Chance"- Rend Collective Experiment

Worship Freely Tunes {21}

I love Hillsong's new album Young & Free. I mean, really. If you wanna dance for The Lord put this album on replay keep it on loop and you won't be able to contain yourself. It's not about following some movement, it's about embracing who the Lord created us to be and the fact that in Jesus we truly are young and free through His sacrifice, love, and grace. We are free because Jesus took our place, so let's walk in His freedom. Here's one of my favorite songs off the album, hope you guys enjoy!

"Wake"- Hillsong Young & Free

Worship Freely Tunes {20}

Ok. If you've been on my facebook or instagram recently then you know that I can not, I repeat...can not, get this song out of my head! Last night all of our internet was out and all I had left was my handy dandy cell. I had to search for some info about Carl Rogers for my Abnormal Psychology class and low and behold I find myself a song on my history that I never searched for. Hmmm...Coincidence? I think not. You know those moments when you can't explain why you give something so insignificant your full attention? My moment right there. I went to youtube and typed in the song title and I almost wanted to cry when I heard this song. I slumped down in my bed and thought, my Jesus...It was like my spirit spoke. Hope y'all enjoy!

"Love Knows No End"- Hillsong

Worship Freely Tunes {19}

This song is from Kim & Skyler's newest album called "Home." The first time I heard this song I felt like finally not just a christian love song but a song that really makes me think about Jesus my bridegroom and I His bride. I think this song is really special, at least to me it is. It makes me smile. If you've never heard it have a listen and if you have share your thoughts. 

"My One And Only"- Kim Walker & Skyler Smith

Worship Freely Tunes {18}

Oh my lanta guys!!!! Bethel's new album "Tides" came out two days ago and I love, love, looove it! You guys have to check it out if you haven't already. I really can't choose a favorite song but I did decide to share this one, simply because I can really relate to it right now in this season of my life. Enjoy! 

"Be Still"- Steffany Gretzinger

P.S  if you haven't already, hear this album on youtube 

or spotify and share what your favorite song or songs are.

It's Not A Religion, It's A Relationship

If there's one thing God cannot stand it's religion. God is God and His Son walked our walk and took our place so that we could freely enter His presence. Jesus did it so that we would no longer need any other intercessor but Him. He flung the gate wide open for those willing to approach. I just can't downgrade that at all. It was such a huge and hurtful price to pay but Jesus loved us. He hated the idols, and the unfaithful hearts were just too much for His heart to bear, and the sin was all too opposite of His holy nature but He loved us enough. Where sin resided His grace over abounded. He denied His own nature to come after us. Jesus with one glance could look past our mess and just see who our Father made us to be. Because He loved and continues to love us for us His message is so clear: Will we let His perfect love really transform us and break every wall? Trespass all obstacles we've set up? Will we dare let our Savior get close enough? You see it doesn't matter if you can't look at Him because He's looking right at you loving you at this moment knowing that when you let Him have His way in you you'll begin to love who He created you to be also. It's about setting aside who we think He is and just giving Him that chance to show us and reveal Himself to us, regardless of whether He comes the way we were expecting Him to or not. We've just got to let His Holy Spirit show up in our lives the way He desires to. 

As I read the Book of Amos a week back one thing really just stood out to me. God was addressing His people with pain that turned into anger because of the way they were living, because of the sin that was all too undeniable to ignore. One day they bowed down and worshipped other man-made gods and idols and the next day they were in the temple praising the living God in their fancy robes. God couldn't stand watching how they played both cards generation after generation and how they participated in such a masquerade. It was just a strong feeling of I love you so much, but why don't you truly love me back? If we pay close enough attention is this not happening today? I was this person at one point in my teenage years, showing up to church forcefully and putting on a pretty face only waiting for that last prayer in the afternoon to storm off and get back to what I called "reality". My idols weren't wood or painted plastic the way some are today but they had names: unfaithfulness, shame, and insecurity to say the least. Clapping my hands one morning and then singing anything but christian music the rest of the day. One day His love was just so big and so in my face, shining through that it woke me up to not just sort of live for Him but to live in the day to day to know His heart. If He was willing to inundate my life that night in such a powerful manner then I knew right then and there that I wanted this every single day of my life. 

God said to His people:

*~*~*

(Amos 5:21-23) 

“I hate, I despise your religious festivals; your assemblies are a stench to me. 

Even though you bring me burnt offerings and grain offerings, 

I will not accept them. Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, 

I will have no regard for them. Away with the noise of your songs! 

I will not listen to the music of your harps.

(Amos 6:5) 

You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp and fancy 

yourselves to be great musicians like David. 

*~*~*

God wasn't saying that He didn't love music or fellowship but He was saying that He hated the fact that these things were being done out of religion, not because of true love for God, out of tradition and man-made regulation. Their lips were praising because they had to but there hearts were piled up sky high with idols. The music delighted the ear but the person playing the music, which is what God truly cared about, was so far from knowing God. Religion comes in all colors, sometimes it's so obvious and other times it's very neatly tucked away. The fact that God can just see right through us is why I think we feel the need to hide and why man-kind has always felt the need to hide. I think it's hard for us to fathom how holiness can look straight at us, touch us, and love on us. We don't need to hide anymore. This is to worship in truth. Let your heart be true so that He can begin to work. He loves you and I more than any song we could ever sing. In fact, he loves our music simply because we're the ones who are singing it. Without our hearts being in His hand it's just noise. You see, God offered us His Innocent Son so that through His amazing sacrifice we could have direct access to the Father once again. Since before time existed and we were in the heart of God He wanted to bring us into existence to be in relation with Him, to simply be with us and that was worship. To this day mankind has strayed. What causes us to hide from our creator, our Father, our friend? Sin. After sin crept in and we gave the enemy a foothold in our lives out came religion to invent rules so that we could earn enough merit to maybe have eternal life. maybe. Religion puts a price tag on us that Jesus already paid. God hates religion because it is only through His Son Jesus that we have access to Him. Access that isn't just offered after death, but every day of our lives. 

Religion in all it's splendor and glorious tradition didn't humble itself to die on a cross for us, it does not have life to give. Jesus bled until His very last breathe with you and I on His mind. The same eyes that saw our unformed body came to give us His body in exchange so that we could have the option to live forever by His side. Even after all that, He's not forcing us to be with Him...Jesus died to give us the choice.  Every day we have the opportunity to accept the grace of Jesus so that we can boldly approach the thrown of God. Job cried out for this when he was sick wishing and praying that if only there was someone who could plead his case before God for him. Jesus came to give us this. We don't need any other mediators (people, saints, idols). We just need Jesus. We just need His presence. I thank God that we've been given that option every day, to walk in His presence through the Holy Spirit. I thank God for such a love. I invite you to invite the Holy Spirit into your life, not just because you should or because He's just great company, but because your life will just never be the same after He invades every detail of it. I challenge you if you're a part of a worship team to think about this when you find yourself there leading, playing, or maybe in the crowd. Talk to God and let Him know that you desire Him to show up the way He wants to. As you drive He wants to talk to you just like a friend. When you're at work or at school He delights to be with you if you'll let Him. God wants to be with you and I. Beautiful, and honorable thought.

Worship Freely Tunes {17}

Hi y'all, just wanted to give you a little taste of my region and culture this week. Because I'm hispanic and born and raised in the Rio Grande Valley I thought I'd feature one of our very own. I really admire Eunice's music mainly because she's bi-lingual and her music is in english and spanish. This song is from her latest album Cielo y Tierra (Heaven And Earth) and in english it's called In Love With You. If you want you can check out her music and find this song in english on itunes. Enjoy and let me know what you think.

"Yo Te Amo"- Eunice Rodriguez

Worship Freely Tunes {16}

Identity. I love this song so much because it reminds me that God loves me. He loves who He created me to be and there's only one unique mold in the universe that He used to create me. May all our quirks be used for His glory. When we realize who He says we are we no longer have to imitate or depend on someone else's relationship with God to feel satisfied or close. Individually we have to seek Him and in that seeking we find our own flame. He made a special flame for each and every one of us to keep burning for.

"Find My Own Flame" -Will Reagan & United Pursuit

Worship Freely Tunes

Parachute Band- "Run To You ( + meet you )

Worship Freely Tunes {15}

Worship Freely Tunes {14}

I literally just found this song yesterday and it just feels like total confirmation to what The Holy Spirit has been teaching me as of late. Beautiful prophetic song. Words fall short really. God bless!

"He Is Like" - Tim Cones & Joy Maves

Bringing Your Intimate Worship to The Public

In the intimate we come to know our Father's heart. Because our spirits are seeing Him we come to know Him. Now from personal experience I can honestly say that it took me awhile to learn to love seeking The Lord without a live worship band playing, because of how involved I was in this, and without the large building we have come to call "church". When I first received Jesus in my heart I went through a series of processes and one of the first ones was my constant desire to be in "church". I'm talking about spending more than three days a week and hours and hours at "church". I had to be there because my spirit was a baby and was hungry and extremely thirsty. It was a season of separation: from all that the Lord showed me was unholy for me and from any triggers that reminded me of who I was. In fact, at first, if I wasn't there I couldn't find myself. You come to realize whether or not it's really God that occupies first place in your heart when you lose it all. God strips us of everything that we hold on to that isn't Him because He wants to be our fountain. This happened to me and I struggled, cried, and even turned away for a moment from my pure love for my Father. I couldn't sing, I didn't want to sing. 

Reflecting on this I compare my situation to that of King David's. I felt just like David in The 2 Book of Samuel when him and his team were carrying the ark of the covenant back to Jerusalem after it had been stolen from them. They were so happy, celebrating their great victory, when suddenly the ark slipped and in order to break its fall one of David's men touched it with his hand causing God to kill him on the spot. David became so angry and so afraid of God that he sent the ark away to another's home because he didn't know how he could trust The Lord after that. Time past and God showed David His faithfulness. God showed David that what He did was not because He was a cruel Father. The Lord showed David how much He loved him, because he was a man after God's own heart, by proving that His people die because they lack knowledge. The Word of God shows us in the 1 Book of Chronicles that David accepts what God had done because he realized that there were laws that God Himself established in the times of Moses that he and his men had disobeyed.

Because God took me by the hand and led me into the next season of my life, which was about seeking Him at any cost, I learned to love pursuing Him without the four walls that I had become so accustomed to. That basically looked like my best friend and I spending hours and hours and days and days in my living room just expressing our worship to God with our voices and instrument. In that season I learned that where the Spirit of The Lord was there would be freedom. This scripture became real to me. My friend and I learned so much not just about music but about what seeking and finding God really meant. More seasons past and suddenly I found myself in a totally different time and place in my life in which The Holy Spirit introduced me to simplicity. What happens when the instruments and the mics are gone? He taught me the simple joy, peace, and love that flows in His presence when I close my door and forget about the noise of life to fall on my hands and knees to worship Him. Just Him and I. Because I read His Word and began to learn who He really was I became not hungry for the expressions that I utilized to connect with Him, but merely hungry for Him. I craved Him. At any cost I wanted Him. Freeze that and picture this please. That is exactly where true worship is born. Because I sought Him, He faithfully revealed Himself and then suddenly our family worship times became overtaken by The Holy Spirit, which then led to that pouring out over any place that I found myself walking through or singing at. Because now worship wasn't a word I used so lightly and singing wasn't at all anything without worship. Before I sing I worship. Before we sing or play music or do anything else we need to worship. We are worshipers first and that will clearly be reflected wherever we go. In your spirit you can perceive the atmosphere and whether or not mountains are moving and lives are changing. You don't worry first about tuning and teamwork, first worship Him alone on your own and The Holy Spirit will show up wherever you go if that is your prayer and heart's desire. He will. In order for the public to experience the presence of God those that carry the ark and know how to enter God's presence at any time must cling to the moments that they spend seeking God so that they can release that wherever they go. These are the reflections of a psalmist, of a worshiper, and of a lover of God's presence.

(Matthew 6:6) But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Worship Freely Tunes {13}

Someone put my heart's desire into words and transformed those words into song. I know I always say how much I love a song but what can I say, music is a big thing for me and I love this song. And so, I share. 

"Sweet Sweet Sound"- Sarah Reeves

Worship Freely Tunes {12}

It's a two for one! When I saw both of these videos instantly I was like, this is too too good not share all at once. So...I'm sharing! This first video is a little snippet of the first night of Bethel's Spring Tour in Miami. Since my last post covered Spontaneous Worship this clip is a perfect example. Amazingly anointed! I love both of these videos because it's just about forgetting about the lyrics and bursting forth with a song from the spirit. Check it out, soak, and enjoy!

"Spontaneous Song"- Steffany Frizzel & Will Matthews

"What Does It Sound Like"- Steffany Frizzel & Jeremy Riddle

Random Snippets: Spontaneous Worship, Self-Discipline, Song Choice

///Spontaneous Worship///

(Psalm 33:3)

Sing a new song of praise to him; play 

skillfully on the harp, and sing with joy.

(Ephesians 5:19)

speaking to one another with psalms, 

hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and 

make music from your heart to the Lord, 

This was something I did but that I didn't know what to call at the time. When I led worship at a church at age 18 the Holy Spirit really became my teacher. I could feel Him so near instructing me how and what to sing. Suddenly between songs He would just take over and new lyrics would burst forth without me even thinking. The Pastor called it "prophetic worship" because sometimes I would prophecy through song but the band and I would just say, "lets flow." I compare these moments to a stream of running water because there was no stopping what the Holy Spirit was doing and it was a continuous overflow of new songs. It wasn't until last year that I first heard the term "Spontaneous Worship," when discovering Bethel Church in Redding, California. The Spirit connected me to something that I'd never heard of. He thught me what made Him happy. During our congregational worship times it's great to get a perfect sound and to have beautiful voices on cue but...the Holy Spirit could care less about that if we're not letting His voice be heard. He knows what's in the Father's heart and if we're ignoring Him in our churches then we'll be stuck in an old revelation when God always has a new one to give. Spontaneous Worship isn't something you practice because it comes from soaking in God's presence and worshiping him in spirit and in truth. It's a new song that isn't rehearsed that bursts from The Spirit's heart, to yours, and then to those around you. Many churches don't allow this because they seek an "order" but God's order looks nothing like ours. I encourage you to let the Holy Spirit move the way He wants to through you. There have been musicians, pastors, and singers that I have worked with that just don't want to have anything to do with this because they seek their version of perfection, just like there's those who's spirit's discern what comes from God and respond to the atmosphere. The Lord has given me prudence to know when and where but my heart's desire is that first off, as worshipers, we can all plug into what the Spirit of God is doing. David constantly talked about singing a new song to The Lord in his Psalms because he knew the difference between sitting and writing to moving and reacting at the time at hand. He didn't have time to write during a battle between the Philistines but he could begin to praise his God right where he was by sing out, "Praise be to The Lord my Rock, who trains my hands for war!" You'd be surprised to know that many of the songs that you hear now started off as spontaneous songs during a worship service or during a car ride. So I encourage you to let your spirit sing on stage and off. Let the Holy Spirit move through you, let Him be your teacher.

///Self-Discipline///

(2 Timothy 1:6-7) 

This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift 

God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has 

not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of 

power, love, and self-discipline.

You have been given the power by The Holy Spirit to discipline yourself. It doesn't matter how old you are because God's Spirit is given to anyone who responds to His call. Whether you sing, play an instrument, dance, or minister all together discipline is something that we all need to enforce in our lives. Discipline is what has now accustomed me to vocalize each time before I sing to maintain healthy vocal chords and what helps a guitar player play certain chords and memorize a musical scale. If you're like me going through preparation, through a psalmist school, or a ministry school then you know this: you will only learn what you practice. Without making yourself practice, your gift will never reach it's full potential. God always has more to teach us but we've got to be responsible and apply what has been taught to us.

*Discipline- training that corrects, molds, or perfects the mental faculties or moral character

Take advantage of all the training being thrown at you.

///Song Choice///

Just like there are numerous stars in the sky, there are numerous songs out there to chose from. We each have our own style when it comes to the way we choose music: some of us popcorn choose (so not recommended), others go check out popular songs and go for that, some choose songs that they like or that they think the congregation/audience will like. So what's the best way? I love this topic, I love talking about this. Here are some tips that I've learned and that I've been taught, so I share!

1. Pray. Ask God what He wants to tell His people. Ask Him how to guide his people because each service is different and God will always have something new and specific to say.
2. Observe. When you get to the place that you're getting ready to sing, play, or perform at look at the people. Are they sad? Borred? Fired up? If the congregation or crowd looks depressed then you want to gear more toward starting with praise songs that will get them meditating on God's power or faithfullness. If the congregation or crowd looks on fire already (which is every worship leader's/minister's dream) then take them deeper with praise or worship songs that reflect giving more of ourselves to God or songs that bring everyone together to cry out to God as one.
3. Message in Action. Now that you've prayed and God has reveled to you what He wants to say and you've observed the specific crowd, act on it. Though you may not understand why, the Holy Spirit knows exactly why so just be obedient and you'll see the fruit.

• I think song lists are a good guide but once we cling tight to it's order we tend to brush off anything that's not on the list. So be prepared to let the Holy Spirit surprise you and your obedience will have its reward.
• Don't choose songs because you love them. You need to be in constant connection during the week with God so that the days you give you truly give. Choose the songs that the people need.
• Respect the authority no matter what, even if you know better because God's anointed are protected but just like David was anointed he also recognized King Saul's anointing by refusing to take revenge out on him. Pray for your leaders but if their vision is truly not matching up with what God is constantly revealing to you then decide whether or not you want to continue with a vision that you don't share. Can to be together if they are not in accord?
• Express your worship to God with your music and gifts as if each time were the last time here on this earth.

Worship Freely Tunes {11}

The cry of my heart...speechless. Enjoy!

"Spirit Break Out"- Kim Walker Smith

Worship Freely Tunes {10}

Happy Friday and 1st day of March!!! Since you're already here, enjoy a new tune and stay awhile  I really really like this song. Let's just say I like it enough to be screaming as I drive to school in the morning. Yup, other cars better watch out with the glory cloud around my car. Anyways, have a listen because I'm pretty sure y'all will like it. God bless!

"With Everything"- The School Of Worship