Sunday, February 23, 2014

Because I Know - (Song from 02/15-02/16 at New Life)

I've had a few emails and Facebook messages asking about the song we did a couple weeks ago, "Because I Know". It was a song I wrote and recorded a few years back on an album which is now sold out (The Rest Is Silence). It's also one of the tracks on the project set to be released later this year, "Shine Brighter", which will be a compilation of previously released worship tracks and a couple of brand new songs (which I mentioned in an earlier post).

So, in the meantime, feel free to listen to the song below and add it to your SoundCloud playlist... and most of all, enjoy!!


Saturday, February 22, 2014

Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow



"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need... roads." 

- Doc Brown (Back To The Future)

It's a little bit of a shock to realize that the future that Marty and Doc (and the sudden appearance of Elizabeth Shue) arrived in is next year for the rest of us - 2015. All those cool gadgets we were looking forward to, auto-fit clothing, hover boards, flying cars - haven't exactly shown up yet. That far off year of 2015, with all of its promise, still lies a tad out of reach. Well, not the year so much, just the promise. Somewhere between 1985 and now, the future just... happened.

So what does the future look like?

Well, to quote another movie, "Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future." (I'll give you a second to recall who said that one). The funny thing about the future is that it always feels way past tomorrow, a stone's throw away from today where we heave our hopes, our plans and the things we feel are just not possible today. The future has potential... endless potential. It's that time when we will be able to write that novel, that song, spend time with our kids, catch up with our friends, travel. It's that promotion we think we'll have, the wisdom we feel we'll have surely gained, the point beyond the struggles of "now". It's a treasure chest of dreams and mile markers, and storage for missed opportunities of today. But, somewhere between then and now, the future just... happened.

So often are we enamored with the prospects of tomorrow that we forget today is the future we were so eager to embrace yesterday.

Did you miss that?

Today IS tomorrow... (okay, now I've made you go cross-eyed... sorry...) we blink, open our eyes, and it's the future date we thought about when we were 15. But, for some reason, we miss it. We keep thinking that the future is still that stone's throw away... and since we aren't ready for it, all of the things we looked forward to get pushed a little further...

down...
the...
road.

As a creature of imagination, I tend to get lost in tomorrow. I picture what it will look like in a few years... but when those few years become a few weeks, a few days,... when they become today, my eyes are still gazing off in the distance. Man, I can NOT wait for tomorrow.

But,...

...imagine if we lived out the potential of today, this moment. Not in some superhuman or unreasonable way... but really treated today as it should be, the treasure chest of dreams and mile markers... a chance to not miss opportunities. I believe this more and more each day, that the best way to have a future you want is to create, embrace and build on the present you have. In my faith, that reminds me that eternity doesn't start sometime down the road, eternity is in the steps I take - today.

Years ago, I had an idea of what today would look like and was excited about the future with all of its plans and possibilities. Today, not only am I still enamored with tomorrow, but I'm realizing just how incredibly cool today is...

...even without the hover boards.

Monday, February 17, 2014

Weekend Setlist: 02/15/14 - 02/16/14


This was a great weekend at New Life: Peoria - I had the cool opportunity to lead the music with an incredible team and see Courtney Johnson and Jon Montoya continue to step out and develop as leaders. They did a great job and took lead on the songs "Like A Lion" and "The Stand".

We also were able to pray for Pastor Greg Rohlinger, his family and the community at Palm Valley Church as Greg continues to stand strong and battle against the disease he's been fighting the last few years. It's always a great moment to link together as a united body, especially when you are rallying together around such an inspirational individual. Continue to pray for Greg as he recovers from his latest surgery!

Here's the setlist from this weekend:

You Alone Are Worthy - Lincoln Brewster
Like A Lion - Daniel Bashta
The Stand - Joel Houston
Because I Know - (this one was one I wrote)
Beautiful Things - Michael & Lisa Gungor

Monday, February 10, 2014

Worship Compilation, New Life releases... and more new stuff!


Heath Michael Bottomly

Many of you have heard the songs I've been able to write over the years and it's been very cool to see what God has done with many of them! Since several titles are now sold out, I'm in the process of compiling several of the worship recordings from albums over the last 10 years... and writing/recording a few new ones as well, onto one full project. 

On a similar note, we have some cool things coming up at New Life, including a new EP from our very own Sean Brainard, entitled "Moments". He's been tracking at our studio, HEATHROWE Studios and it's sounding killer! I've also been able to work on the artwork for his project and everything is coming together really well - so stay tuned for more info on its release (but I CAN tell you it's on April 6th...)!

In the meantime, here's a link to one of the tracks that'll be on my compilation, off of "The Rest Is Silence" project... enjoy!

Song: It's You That Can Change Me