Citizens has released “The Joy Of Being” through Integrity Music and the songs are now loaded into WorshipTeam.com “The Joy Of Being” is a recording of some great new songs.
Music is this experiential world that pulls at our emotions and sometimes says the very words we needed to hear without saying anything at all. The notes of a guitar, the melodic progression of a piano, the driving rhythms of drums, joining together in ways that captivate more than just the basic senses. Music digs deeper.
And even still, for all the ways we crave it’s power, can we become so obsessed with the feeling it brings us that we allow ourselves to be manipulated by it? For thousands and thousands of years people have been singing songs. Even before there were instruments to play, the sounds of gentle wind and violent thunder served as accompaniment and even inspiration for the lyric. Have we forgotten to dance the beautiful steps between our hearts and our minds, seeing them as one synchronized piece?
Even as the scales may weigh heavy to one side or the other of lyric or melody, we find ourselves at a point in history when all the decorations we’ve used to dress up the songs we sing in the church have been temporarily boxed up. Perhaps there’s never been a better time for honest introspection as we consider the songs that we sing in the church. Songs that teach us our theology. Build our faith. Rattle our defenses. Give breath to our emotions.
It’s just a voice and an instrument now in front of a shaky camera leading the people of God. This is the moment where we dig deeper then music can ever go. Where we take thoughtful inventory of the words moving from our lips to the ears of those listening. Where we find a middle that doesn’t diminish the importance of words and melody but strives to say what is true in the clearest and most wonderful way possible.
This record was first written as a call to ourselves to get back to middle ground, to a space that occupies more than just emotion or thought, but the soul; a call to be. To find contentment in the absence of production and the honesty of an unrefined voice lifted up in praise to our glorious God.
These songs are yours to use in whatever way you want. We have intentionally made these arrangements as basic as possible to leave room for your imagination. (That’s why ‘The Joy of Being’ was first recorded on iPhones!) If the aim of our worship is to bring God glory, why should there just be 3 or 4 styles and sounds that we use in the church globally to express our praise? There is a world of possibilities and a number of ways for us to articulate that through our own individual creativity.
Sing these songs in your life. Arrange the music in a way that best represents you and your people, and with time, we’ll share our own musical interpretations of these same songs! Let’s journey together in ‘The Joy of Being.’
All songs are loaded and ready to use- just access your WorshipTeam.com system database.
The songs are full featured with complete lyrics, chord charts and full length audio. Check out these great new songs, hear them in the original key, or choose your own key and play it the way you like it.
blessings
Cody Gentes
p.s. if you have never tried out Worshipteam.com, try it FREE for one month by simply going here: http://www.worshipteam.com/try ! See you there.
