Worship

Jason Upton

Bio By The 700 Club

CBN.com – FAMILY SING-A-LONG
The last few years of Jason Upton’s life have been a time of engagement with the Lord, family and community. Two of his recent CDs, On the Rim of the Visible World and Family Music are reflections of this time. Jason recorded these projects with the Goodland Band (an expression of community comprised of Jason’s closest friends and family that center their lives around God’s presence here and now. No matter where they are, they journey together in union with Christ. Jason wanted to give this fellowship a voice through singing and writing.) He says this has been a different experience for him. Usually what he does in worship is just him expressing himself to the Lord. Because Jason’s been a part of the “Life Movement”, he thought it would be good to celebrate life. These albums are celebrations of children, family, and all the chaos and fun those bring and the simple things in life. Jason also says that in the church it would be good to involve children more in worship music. On these albums, Jason’s wife and children and their friends and their families have participated in the songwriting and recording. Jason calls these albums “community” albums. Family Music was recorded in Jason’s home. It was a family sing-a-long that was great to be a part of. Jason says his children are the most proud of the project and they have been distributing their CD to their friends.

Jason has also been ministering in different places around the world. Scandinavia and South America are areas Jason is passionate about and that God has put on his heart. Jason travels 30-35 dates a year and is only away from home 70 days a year. He has found that this works best for his family. Jason is also working on a couple of live, solo albums.

WALKING IN JOY
One of the biggest things concerning Jason right now is being a parent and “how does that work” in conjunction with God. Another thing he has been learning and has become a key phrase for him is that the expression and the activity of worship are not the same. We need to bring our worship to expression because God is after the activity of worship, not just music. Also, Jason is learning to walk in the joy of the Lord. He is enjoying God in the simple things of life as well as the deep things. Sometimes we can get so locked in to forms of worship, which is part of our humanity. God is more whimsical than we think. Jesus is fun. God is not all cut and dry.

WHEN THE TIME COMES
One of the songs from Jason’s latest solo project, 1200 Ft Below Sea Level, is “When the Time Comes.” He wrote it the night his daughter, Lucy, was born. There are a few key points to the song. A key point Jason makes note of is that God creates things not for human approval, but for human discovery. God doesn’t love the undiscovered or later discovered things less. No matter what, God is committed to His creation and doesn’t give up. Also the song’s message is that God is wisdom and wisdom asks questions. God asks more questions than He gives answers. Jesus asks questions, older people ask questions. It is the way wisdom works. This is a song of a young man learning the ways of wisdom.

Go behind the scenes of The 700 Club with Jason Upton.