Hillsong gave me a song
A Personal Tribute to the Greatest Worship Band
It was on a Sunday morning, very early i could still remember, my eyes were still shut and i was partly sleeping. I had woken up to a lovely sound coming directly towards my ears, this sound was so cool that it kept me awake humming for a while until i finally opened my eyes to discover the source of this beautiful ‘resonate’.
To my pleasant surprise it was Gabriel (a former room mate of mine while on campus) who was playing this song. It is usually a norm for us to play gospel songs on a Sunday morning in our hostels, but i have never heard such a wonderful one as this. So i asked Gabriel the name of the artist and title of the song, he replied ‘‘Hillsong- All for Love’’.
I quickly google searched my phone to see more of their songs to download and thereafter my life changed!
It is quite amazing how just a single song can change a person’s life at an instance, well there are a lot of amazing things about Hillsong you need to know - right from their humble beginnings to a miraculous change of purpose and a massive musical success.
Hillsong- an initial small christian church which started in Sydney, Australia- was founded by Brian Houston(an Australian Pastor and Evangelist) and his wife Bobbie Houston, together the couples formed a worship group/ band initially called Hillsong Live up until 2014, when it was changed to Hillsong Worship.The church started with only 45 members and over the years has grown into one of the largest churches in the world. Brian Houston in an interview was quoted as saying;
‘‘When i started the church i wanted to have a church that wrote song, that influence the way people worship’’.
Today more than 50 million people sing their songs every Sunday, which i’am well among and Gabriel inclusive.
In addition they’ve grown into one of the largest churches in the world, fair to say they can be called a ‘‘megachurch’’ with “over 30 worship services in Australia’’. They also have an estimated 100,000 people attending their churches every weekend and over 10 million followers on social media. Simply Amazing! feat if you ask me.
Commercially, Hillsong has released over 120 albums and sold more than 16 million records across the globe, you can criticize Hillsong for their decision to market their mandate, but you certainly can’t criticize them for a lack of creativity and craft.
From high-level musicianship to a distinctive, original sound that continues to evolve and develop over time, Hillsong has in so many ways changed Christian praise and worship music — and simply “Christian” music — for the better, namely through a dedication to artistic excellence. They set a standard unmatched by any Christian worship band — and on par with the quality of popular “secular” music. In an interview, Joel Houston(worship leader and son of Brian Houston) said;
“We want to do everything with excellence not just for the sake of excellence but because if we’re going to do something we might as well do it the best we can.
Such excellence has created a worldwide buzz in churches here in Nigeria, and cravings to watch videos of Hillsong anointed performances during worship sessions on Sunday. I practically traveled a long distance away from home one Sunday to attend a church i had learnt will be performing Hillsong worship songs on the day, and the aftermath experience was worthwhile. Though am not an addict to the band, but i’m addicted to the divine inspiration i get while listening to their songs, which i believe is from Heaven.
Joel Houston also added;
‘‘the only thing that matters about our story is everything we do represent the heart of God’’
And the heart of God was revealed in one of their worship single performed by the beautiful lead vocalist Taya Smith- titled ‘‘Oceans’’ a song which won several awards at the 2014 GMA Awards and of which am a huge fan. The song was a revelation, a spiritually deep message that connects your soul with heaven’s bliss. Absolutely! Awesome i must say. Taya Smith played a huge role to that success by gracing the song with her incredibly gifted voice.
I believe that God created worship music for the sole purpose of connecting the human heart and our soul with heaven, such connection should inspire us to build and strengthen our faith to do great things, i stand as a testimony today of how God has used a small church from Australia to inspire my faith and give me a new found belief that i can do all things through Christ that strengthens me.
Reflecting back to that Sunday morning in school, i can only thank my room mate Gabriel for playing that song and above all i extend my gratitude to ‘Hillsong for giving me a song’.
