RWTC congratulates Seth Baron, the winner of the Guitar Survival Kit giveaway! Seth lives in Muncie, IN where he is the worship pastor at First Church of the Nazarene. As many of you worship pastors know you have to be a person of all trades at times and Seth is no exception. He sings, plays the guitar and has started to pick up the piano. He’s hoping second time is a charm.

“I love leading people in worship. God stirs my heart when His people sing to Him.” Seth said. “I love being in the middle of that! God has been so gracious to my family and we will forever worship Him!”

As 2012 is underway we will be announcing huge additions to Rockin’ With The Cross. As you may notice on our website our giveaway banner has changed to make ready the announcement of our mobile app platform. Many have asked for a mobile app and the ability to have everything you do, be available on the go. We are about to unveil an amazing music app. It will be a two part process with iPads, iTouch and iPhones getting the app first.  At the same time launching our wireless Bluetooth foot pedal system that allows for hands free song switching.  The app for Android devices will be released later this year. (the secret is out –we’ve joined forces with an established music app which has a 5 out of 5 rating on iTunes) At this moment we are in the process of adding the RWTC archive to the software and once that is completed we will announce our official launch to everyone. (just a little bit more time and we promise you will be blown away)

Remember that each membership allows us to keep going and equip others like you in ministry here in the U.S. and abroad. We are so excited at what the Lord is allowing us to be involved in and to do in 2012! Please know that you help us directly and indirectly minister to millions. Praying for you all!

Don’t we live in a great time of technology and tools?  One of the great new tools we’re embracing on Rockin With The Cross is an app called Spotify.  Spotify is a free (with ads) music service (like pandora or last.fm) that gives you access to an enormous archive of music (hey, that’s what we do!).  One of the great things about Spotify is you can create and share song lists (I’m sensing some synergy here!)

So we started creating some song lists to share with you!

We have already linked up our Top 25, the newly added songs, and the request list on our website.  We’ve also created some extra lists of newly released worship music and the new Christmas albums for 2011.

But since we enjoy giving andreceiving, we want to hear what your favorite Christmas songs are!  We have created a list on Spotify that allows you to add your favorite song.  You’ll need to do a few simple steps.

1. Open Spotify to our “Add Your Favorite Christmas Song” list
2. Subscribe to the list, so you can add your song
3. Find your favorite Christmas song and drag it to the list
4. Now we can all enjoy your song

Here are some links to our Spotify Song Lists:

• Top 25 Songs - now you can listen to the most popular songs on our site
• Newly Added Songs on RWTC - the audio to the new charts added on our site
• Song Requests – Take a few minutes and submit one of the songs others are looking for
• New Worship Releases – never heard of Elevation Worship? well now you can hear them
• Christmas Releases for 2011 – Hillsong, David Crowder, Tobymac and more!
• Add Your Favorite Christmas Song - jump in the fun

Happy Holidays!  We hope everyone had a thankful and joyous Thanksgiving.  We’re sure you are gearing up for the holiday season and most importantly the celebration of Christ’s birth!

Christmas Chord Charts

We have well over 100 Christmas chord charts on RWTC.  If you are looking for classic hymns (Silent Night, O Little Town of Bethlehem) or new songs from your favorite artists’ Christmas album (Chris Tomlin, Third Day, Casting Crowns) we have a nice selection.

Recently Added Songs Include:

• Mark Schultz - When Love Was Born
• Hillsong Live - Born Is The King (It’s Christmas)
• Hillsong Live - O Come Let Us Adore Him
• Francesca Battistelli - Be Born in Me (Mary)
• Sarah Hart - What Love Has Done
• Andy Kirk - Hope Is Born
• Bebo Norman - Come And Worship
• Matthew West - Give This Christmas Away
• Chris Tomlin - Angels We Have Heard On High
• Big Daddy Weave - I’ll Be Brave This Christmas

Free Holiday Music

Join us on Facebook, where we keep you up to date on what we are doing at RWTC and where you can find free MP3s this Christmas season.  Just today, Amazon begin its 25 Days of Free Holiday Music.

Evan we are so excited that you are using the talents God has given you for his Work! It really excites us that the next generation of worshipers, are rising up as well!

Remember each month we will be giving something away. So enter to win and let others in your ministry know about Rockin’ With the Cross. Each membership allows us to keep going and equip others like you in ministry here in the U.S. and abroad. Imagine each worship leader reaching their congregations. You can help us directly and indirectly minister to millions. Praying for you all!

New Releases This Week

Listen for free
on Spotify

• Newsboys - God’s Not Dead
• Chris Tomlin - How Great Is Our God: The Essential Collection
• Leigh Nash – Hymns & Sacred Songs
• Hillsong - En Mi Lugar (Live)
• Maranatha - Heart Of Worship Vol. 2

    

Listen for free

New Worship Music – released 11/1/2011

• Gateway Worship – Great, Great God
• John Mark McMillan – Economy
• Shake The Nation – Colliding Grace

 

Listen to our
Christmas List
on Spotify

• Smalltown Poets – Smalltown Poets Christmas
• Hawk Nelson – Christmas
• Jadon Lavik – Christmas

  

I blogged earlier this year about two acceptable definitions of worship — one being “a bowing and bending of the knee,” the other being “labor and service.” I believe that when we are adequately prepared in our labor and service, we are more able to bow the knee. Here’s what I mean:

At my home church in Pennsylvania, our worship team decided to try something a little risky, inviting all of our vocalists to join us on stage every week (five weeks straight) for one month. What is risky about that is that we’ve only had the larger vocal group sing twice this year, both involving a decent amount of planning, communication and two rehearsals each;  but both occasions with energy-raising results.  This new plan, however, involved NO rehearsals except for about 50 minutes on Sunday morning before Sunday School.  And even more crazy was the fact that we invited those people who absolutely could NOT attend that rehearsal to walk up on stage during the service and sing anyway.

The emphasis has not been on how well the harmony sounds or making sure we cut off our words at the same time, but on leading the observing congregation in worship by our body language, our faces mirroring the words we sing and our voices lifted boldly before the Throne.

Now, my wife was one of the singers who, because of our children, was unable to attend the Sunday morning rehearsals but truly wanted to sing.  The responsibility was therefore on her to learn the songs and come prepared, but even though she kept the music on repeat in the house throughout the week, there was still one song that she was less familiar with than the others.  She is new to the “singing worship songs on stage” concept and was nervous about whether she’d be able to truly worship (bowing the knee so to speak), knowing that everyone was looking at her.  She told me afterward that with the three songs she knew well, she was able to engage her whole heart and mind on the object of her praise while she sang, but that one song she was less familiar with, she had to disengage and focus on remembering the words, melody and when or when not to sing!

I believe what she did during that fourth song was a sort of sacrifice of praise in the sense that in order to not distract the congregation she was leading; she chose to ensure she was performing the song properly.  Therefore, that could fall under the category of worship that involves labor and service.  But her spirit was moved more when her worship of labor and service was matched by her worship of bowing the knee because she was well prepared!

I can say the same for songs that are new to me, when I am leading and am ill prepared, I struggle to remember the tempo, the chords, the melody, the roadmap … how in the world can the congregation view me worshiping our Savior when I’m struggling to remember how the song even goes?  Unless I can fake it really well … which is something I don’t aspire to do.

For the good of our own hearts, for the good of our congregations, for the offering we’re presenting, let’s do our best to come prepared to worship, no matter what we’re preparing to offer.

Courtesy of CCM Magazine November 2011 pg. 38 written by Aaron Shust

Did you know you can request songs on Rockin With The Cross? All users can add requests and view the request list.

Is RWTC missing a song you want?
request it!

Are you good at figuring out chords?
view the list and help someone else

What’s with this Spotify app?
One of my limitations has always been if I had a copy of certain songs.  That is no longer true … there is a free service called Spotify that provides access to an enormous archive of music (both secular and Christian).  Now you have access to all of the new music.

Want to hear the new Casting Crowns album, Come to The Well or Shane & Shane‘s new The One You Need or The City Harmonic‘s I Have A Dream (It Feels Like Home)? You can on Spotify!

How is RWTC using Spotify?
You can listen to songs on our Request List. You can also add songs to our collaborative Spotify request list. First subscribe to our list, then you can drag any song into our list. We’re giving this a try to see if it catches on with our users.

So, please check out our song lists on Spotify:

• RWTC – Requested Songs
• RWTC – New Songs Added
• RWTC – New Worship Music

Drop by our page or email us to let us know what you think!

The chord charts to Phil Wickham’s new album, Response are already available!  We don’t have charts for the other new albums yet, so please enjoy the music and share your charts with others!

• Robin Mark – Fly: Live From Ireland Songs Of Praise And Worship
• Phil Wickham – Response
• Shane & Shane – The One You Need
• Marc Chopinsky – Israel’s Hope
• David Crowder*Band – Oh For Joy (Christmas)
• Tobymac - Christmas In Diverse City (Christmas)

 Submit chord charts of new music to Rockin With The Cross and we’ll give you free access!

• Leeland – The Great Awakening
• Rita Springer – The Playlist
• Gungor – Ghosts Upon The Earth
• Matt Maher – The Love In Between
• Jeremy Riddle – Furious

Be sure to submit your chord charts of new music to Rockin With The Cross

• Kimberly Guidry (Louisiana)
• Eddie Guzman (Texas)
• Don Bowden (Florida)
• Michael Davis (Massachusetts)
• Paul Glass (Missouri)

One of the things we have enjoyed most from these contests is getting a chance to meet some of our users and hear about their heart for Jesus as well as their ministries.

Don Bowden

Don is a Computer Programmer by trade and volunteers as a youth ministry coordinator with St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Lakeland FL. He and his wife started their involvement with the youth when their two sons were in the group but now that they are in college they have continued to their involvement.

“Sometimes we question our sanity for still working with teenagers even after ours have left the nest, but we find it very satisfying.” Don said.

Don has played guitar on and off for more than 30 years, so when his wife asked if he could learn some Praise and Worship songs for the youth, he agreed.  That eventually led him to play Praise and Worship before the Youth Group Meeting which then led to the start of a Praise and Worship Band (mostly teens from the Youth Group) that now plays at Mass regularly. “These days, because there is so much good Christian music out there and thanks to Rockin’ With the Cross, Christian music is pretty much all I play.” (The picture is Don playing from RWTC!)

Kimberly Guidry

Kimberly is from Crowley Louisiana and works as an accounting specialist at a job she says “I LOVE for 20 years.” Her activities include four grandchildren, and plenty of music. She plays guitar, sings and is the director of the church choir in Lyons Point, LA and part of a Christian music group called the Lake Arthur Prayer Coalition where she often provides music at retreats, weddings, and funerals.

“This music won will be a great asset in my music ministry.”

Remember each month we will be giving something new away. So enter to win and let others in your ministry know about Rockin’ With the Cross. We are honored to be a part of your ministry! Each membership allows us to keep going and equip others like you in ministry here in the U.S. and abroad. You are helping us directly and indirectly minister to millions. Praying for you all!