RELOADED report and other news!

Apologies for my seemingly negligent approach to keeping this site up to date, as I'm sure a lot of you will know a lot has been happening recently...

Firstly, a quick update on the 'RELOADED' event advertised below. It was an amazingly successful evening, and God did some exciting things! A huge thankyou to everyone who took part or helped organise it, we couldn't have done it without you! And for everyone else, make sure you keep checking this site for more details of the next RELOADED, which will take place on Sunday the 19th of November at 7pm, usual venue. The next one promises to be even bigger and better, so watch this space to make sure you don't miss out!

I've now started uni - I'm studying music at City University, and LOVING every minute of it! God's blessed me so much already in so many different ways, I can't wait to see what else he's got stored up. And let's just say there might be some very exciting musical collaboration in the pipeline... :) !!

My university CU went to 'Only One Life' - a Londonwide event for all London University Christian Unions. It was a fantastic evening, the worship was amazing (of course!!), and it was really encouraging to meet together with so many other Christian students! There were testimonies from people who'd become Christians during their time at uni, and it really spurred me on to stand up for God at uni and take the great message out there. It's all so exciting!!!!!

Anyways have to dash, will write again soon :D (I really will this time hehe).

News

Apologies for my seemingly negligent approach to updating this site, as I'm sure a lot of you know, a lot has been happening recently...

Firstly a quick update on the 'RELOADED' event which was advertised below... It was an amazingly successful event. Thankyou so much to everyone who took part or helped to organize it, we couldn't have done it without you! Make sure you keep checking this site for details of the next RELOADED event, which will be taking place on Sunday the 19th of November at 7pm, at the usual venue. Watch this space...!

I've now started uni - I'm studying music at City University, and loving every minute of it! God's blessed me there so much already in so many different ways, I can't wait to see what's going to happen next! Let's just say some exciting musical collaboration might be in the pipeline... :) !! I have also been taking part in an African Dance and Drumming class at uni, it's definitely an interesting experience! Reminds me of a very long and energetic aerobics class. Fantastic for getting fit, I'd recommend it to anyone at all :D

Well done and thankyou, if you've made it to the end of this entry, will write again soon!

RELOADED Event

Just writing to let everyone know about an event going on, Sunday 15th October at 7pm. An evening packed with music, dance and testimonies, also including worship and much more. This relaxed and welcoming environment would be ideal for anyone looking to find out more about Christianity, any new Christians, or anyone at all really! A fantastic chance to meet all kinds of people, and no obligation to take part in anything. Feel free to bring millions of people, you never know what might happen...

ADMISSION FREE

Event address:

The King's Centre
(The corner of Granville Road & Park Avenue)
Ilford
Essex

Newday Report

Got back from a power packed 6 days at Newday Christian camp last Tuesday. Should have written sooner but other things kind of took over. Well what can I say...? A lot happened.
The real highlight I think would have to be Sunday evening, when Adrian Holloway preached the gospel and asked if anyone wanted to make a commitment. Most of the non-Christian friends that we took to Newday went forward to give their lives to God. They were just 7 of 200 in total that made first time commitments that evening. How awesome is that?! I know I shouldn't be surprised really... after all God can do anything, but I found it such an amazing experience just watching these people step into their new lives. Ahhhh it was good.

I think on a more personal level, God taught me a lot about leading, and the fact that it's not all about what I can gain from God, but it's important to look after the spiritual well-being of other people too. Something I really need to think about more!

The worsip was amazing (thank you Paul Oakley, Simon Brading and South African band!!), the teaching was spot on and God was just so present all the time...

Bring on Newday 2007!!!!

Update

Well it's been a while since my last update, and a lot has been happening recently. Just came back from Mobilise/Together On A Mission '06, the yearly Brighton Conference run by New Frontiers. It was a totally amazing experience, I was blown away by the awesome power of God in the meetings, and as usual the worship was top quality. Some fantastic new songs avaiable...! If anyone happens to be reading this who went, please feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you got out of it. I'd love to hear some stories.

Newday is coming up in less than a fortnight now, it's going to be a life-changing experience - we've got more people coming from our youth than ever, so we're expecting God to do something amazing! God's been speaking to our youth group (Pulse) a lot about fresh outpourings of the Holy Spirit, and our total dependence on Him to do anything. Let's be praying that Newday is a massive turning point for Pulse - that we're all totally ruined for God and His purposes for His kingdom and our lives. So watch this space...

Also, 7pm this Sunday 23rd July at the Kings Centre, Granville Road, Ilford, we have a massive event called 'RELOADED' packed with music, dance and a lot of powerful stuff. Admission free, everyone welcome!!

A Broken Song

Brokenness has been a really significant issue for me in the past few months as I’ve been exploring more and more the true meaning of worship. During a significant time, I found I wasn’t able to worship God in the way that I wanted to. I was struggling with issues in my life and found that nothing felt right. As I struggled to deal with all this myself, God began to show me that it’s during these times of brokenness when true worship emerges. Worship is the recognition that God is God and deserves our everything, even when we don’t ‘feel’ like worshipping Him. Worship is a discipline and a sacrifice. It comes with the realisation that in our weakness He is strong. In our brokenness He has the space to work and have His way. When we aren’t trying to fix ourselves He has room He needs to fix us.

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; A broken and a contrite heart, O God, You will not despise.
[Psalm 51:17]

Below is a poem I’ve written, hope it’s helpful.

My song is broken.
I don’t know how it broke, it just suddenly didn’t seem to work any more.
The words didn’t come out right, and the inner ‘power’ that always used to make it work, seemed to have just disappeared.
However I still sing it, in the hope that maybe it might start working again.

My song is broken, oh I’m so sad.
It was all bright and bubbly once, and now it doesn’t seem to have any life left in it at all.
I don’t know how to fix it, or who will fix it for me.
Maybe You know, God.
So I’ll still sing it, in the hope that maybe You might have a look at it for me?

What’s that You say…?
You still want it anyway?
Oh, ok… well here it is…
You seem to like broken things.
You took me in when I didn’t have a hope in the world.
Maybe there’s hope for my little song after all.

I have a feeling that even though my song is broken on the outside, and the feelings don’t come with it and it’s dry, You still find it precious.
After all, You are God, deserving my everything, and that song is all I have to give You.
It’s the song of my life, which is without You, a hopeless case.

You did say You love worship that comes from a broken spirit, because in my weakness You are strong.
So I’ll keep on singing my song, broken though it may be, in the hope that You might fix it.
The key is just to carry on giving it to You, day by day, week by week, persevering until the end of this life.
And if by then it still isn’t fixed, it’s guaranteed to work in heaven, where everything’s made new.
True worship, you see, is discipline – giving Your songs to God even when they’re broken, even in the dry times, even when you don’t feel like it.
Please fix my song God…

The Weight Of Your GloryFree mp3 song download

Click here to listen to this song
The Weight Of Your Glory
as you read this article.

This track "The Weight Of Your Glory" came to me as a result of a very powerful experience during a worship session at a Christian youth event.

As I let myself be drawn deeper into worship, I became very aware that I was before God’s throne, and all I could feel was the awesome power of God. It was like there was a heavy weight in the air, but the place I was in was full of light. It was a life-changing experience, and I haven’t been the same since.

I decided to use this as the title for my album, because it sums up the essence of my passion for God – I’m so tiny compared to the weight of His glory, so I want to give my all to Him in worship.

The Weight Of Your Glory

In Your presence
How can I not bow?
I lay down my pride
As Your glory fills this place

As Your power falls
And light shines all around
Your Spirit rests so silently
And then I know

You are the one, the only God
And light shines all around Your throne
How great You are in all the earth, my God
I stand in Awe of who You are
Your holiness, Your awesome power
And bow before Your throne
As the weight of Your glory falls

And we cry holy is the Lord, God almighty
Who was and is to come
Who was and is to come
[repeat]

The Weight Of Your Glory
Artist: Sarah Drizen
Album: The Weight Of Your Glory
Year: 2005
Track: 3
Duration: 0:03:31
Type: MP3 Audio


FREE DOWNLOADS: All my music is available through this website and from the Internet Archive. Below I link to the two most popular formats, so choose the one that is relevant to your needs. Other formats, including two Real Player streams and Ogg Vorbis are available there.



The Weight Of Your Glory
Ideal for your iPod / mp3 player
File size: 1.7MB
MP3 encoded at 64 kbits/s - Smaller file size - Faster download

Click here to download "The Weight Of Your Glory" for your iPod / mp3 player



The Weight Of Your Glory
Ideal for burning onto CD
File size: 5.4MB
Bit Rate: VBR

Click here to download "The Weight Of Your Glory" CD Quality

This track is released under a Creative Commons license

Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

A bit about me, but more about my music

The title song, The Weight Of Your Glory came to me as a result of a very powerful experience during a worship session at a Christian youth event. As I let myself be drawn deeper into worship, I became very aware that I was before God’s throne, and all I could feel was the awesome power of God. It was like there was a heavy weight in the air, but the place I was in was full of light. It was a life-changing experience, I and haven’t been the same since. I decided to use this as the title for my album, because it sums up the essence of my passion for God – I’m so tiny compared to the weight of His glory, so I want to give my all to Him in worship.

Mystery simply expresses the wonder of God’s sacrifice, I’ve often wondered how it’s possible that people as tiny as us could be so important to God, that He could make the ultimate sacrifice of His son’s life to save us. That’s just how amazing His grace is!

Deeper is a song of devotion to God. I’ve always loved the idea of deep intimacy with God in a one-to-one situation, and this song conveys my desire to go deeper with God in every possible way.

There Is A Call was a prophetic song that I had bubbling up in me for quite a long time before I put it down on paper. It was something which I always found exciting – the idea of worldwide revival, everyone and everything glorifying God, and the fact that we can be a part of that if we give ourselves to God and His will for our lives.

Only For You was the first song I wrote. It was created out of a desire to show people how much God has affected my life, and how much He means to me. In return, I believe He deserves everything we have, so life should be lived only for Him.