Joining the Band

I've been playing in a number of bands since I started playing the bass about 8 years ago. I started off playing in a little praise band in Presbyterian Church. Then moved on to play in a ministry called ‘Worship Ireland’… we just wanted to spread the gospel around Ireland through music. We played youth events and street corners, to shopping centres to parties in parks around Ireland. Great times!

Then the journey with the Johnny Parks Band began in January 2008. First of all I met with Hambo and Matt, we chatted through some of the bands main values and their vision to challenge injustice through song and deed. Hambo's desire to have the biggest beard known to man; to help aid and equip the local church to worship, (alongside Matt's inability to wear his jeans at waist level…); this vision really struck a chord with me. I knew that I could commit to this. After a short ‘audition’ I was invited to a rehearsal.

Joining the Johnny parks band was a big deal for me… I had been influenced by Johnnys songs for many years at mannafest as I first came to know Jesus and to be on the ‘other side’ as such, playing these songs made me nervous but very excited.
I remember that first night I showed up at rehearsal… nervous wouldn’t be the word... but after the first few songs and plenty of rehearsal ‘craic’ my palms dried up and this was the start of a great wee adventure of learning, community, new experiences and friendship.

There is this expectation within the band that we each should push ourselves to become the best we can be at whatever we do, whether work, hobbys, or band. This would mean I would need to practice, practice… practice, just to keep up with the rest of the guys! This didn’t come easy but being surrounded by a really talented bunch of musicians drove me to push myself.
The initial months of being in the Johnny Parks Band were filled with many ‘firsts’ and many emotions, which made them some of the most memorable experiences to date! Playing with a band that are at the international recording level has been a real joy and I have loved it!
With love
Paul

Romania

Hi,
Big thanks to all of you who came out to support the Romania team on Saturday night. The team have more or less met their fundraising target. It was a great night of worship. Thanks also to the MarkFergusonBand who came out to support - you guys did a good job.

We haven't blogged as a band in a while - no excuse really but I feel there's a lot of stuff brooding so over the next few weeks I hope to add my fair share of thoughts and hopefully you will respond and help expand our hearts, vision and understanding.

Hope you are all well.

Claire

'All Is Well' - The Story

Hi,

Recently I wrote a song called ‘All Is Well’ that folk in our church in Belfast seem to have connected with. It seems to be one of those songs that I call a ‘God-song’…something that just came very quickly and that seems to speak into now. Below I have attempted to explain a little about where the song has come from and the story behind it.

All is Well is a song that is written based on Hannah’s Prayer in 1 Samuel 2. The song emerged during a testing time when I was deliberately looking for some clarity or answers in Scripture. I specifically turned to the Bible to discover a little more about what God was saying in relation to our health and wealth. Some questions had been pressing on my mind….’If God is a healer, why does he sometimes not answer prayers for healing?’ ‘If God is our provider, why are some people not provided for?’ and probably more poignantly, ‘Is our own health and wealth purely dependent on our levels of faith and purity in our lives?’ ‘If we are not wealthy or we are sick, is that due to us….to sin in our lives and to a lack of faith?’ ‘Do we control God or is He in control?’.

I appreciate these are big questions and I am most definitely not a theologian however they have been on my mind as I have watched others wrestle with them in our church and as I have watched the global economy beginning to slide. At times I have a concern that we demonstrate a belief that if we work harder, pray more, have a bigger faith, then God is more likely to do what we want.

Unfortunately, it seems that life does not always work out the way we want it to. If we pray more, we do not always get what we want. Life can be very difficult, even if we have faith and pray. Our previous drummers sister died despite our prayers, sometimes it is hard to pay the household bills despite our prayers, sometimes we experience loss that is too personal to mention publically….and this is only for us living in the relative luxury of the west. Are these things our fault? Is this because we haven’t been good enough, pure enough or faithful enough? I would argue that it isn’t our fault based on the fact that God is sovereign, that He is in control (not us).

Hannah had a sense of that in her prayer. She had suffered ‘great anguish and grief’ and had chased after God for an answer, a solution, a hope, a child. On this occasion, God heard her prayer and answered it by giving her a child. However, instead of patting herself on the back for her part in bringing about this happy outcome she prayed a prayer that articulated something of God’s sovereignty. She stated,

“The Lord brings death and makes alive;
He brings down to the grave and raises up.
The Lord sends poverty and wealth;
He humbles and he exalts.
He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap…
…It is not by strength that one prevails.”

It seems that Hannah was stating through these words that it is God who decides the answers to our prayers. He is the sovereign Lord who sees our circumstance and decides in His way how to respond. He in not controlled by us; neither can He be tamed by us. He is beyond us and chooses to act in His time for His pleasure. This does not mean that He is a cruel, detached, disinterested God. In my life I have seen Him be a wise, loving generous God. He knows more about us and the state of the world than we do. Therefore we can engage with the Father and present our prayers and requests to Him knowing that He cares.

There is very little we can do when we are faced with testing times apart from throw ourselves on the Lord and ask that he responds. However we can do this with assurance that He is a good Father and that He has our best purposes and interests at heart.

‘All Is Well’ comes from that place. It is a song that makes the conscious choice to declare that all is well with my soul because He is God in control. Ultimately, we can trust Him. Regardless of our circumstance or difficulty and even if He does not answer prayer in the way we would like we can still trust Him that all is well.

Like everyone, I have experienced hard and painful times. Times when I have questioned God and sought answers. However, I am pleased to be able to worship God by singing a song that reaches back to Hannah’s prayer and connects with her experiences of trusting a sovereign God. I hope that this song can be an encouragement to you too. Even in the dark days of the fallout from the credit crunch and how that is effecting our lives, I hope you can trust the Father enough to declare that all is well with your soul.

Our 2nd home - Canada!

Hi,
We arrived back from Canada this afternoon after an incredibly encouraging time in Toronto and Espanola. We arrived in Toronto last Wednesday evening and hooked up with the guys from Unite Productions who took us to a bar to hear a funk band. It was great to hang out with these guys again after the Starfield tour - they are a great bunch of people with incredible hearts of service and hospitality. Our set at the Youth Specialties Convention went really well and we felt encouraged by the response people made to our songs. After the Starfield tour we felt more sure than ever of our call as a band to serve the church and we were blessed to sense that God was opening doors in Canada. We went back this week with a sense of excitement and we have left more convinced than ever that God is continuing to strengthen our relationships in Canada and create opportunity for us to minister and be ministered to.

We feel really called to serve the church and so even though we enjoy leading worship at the bigger conferences we are really excited about visiting churches, meeting new people and somehow drawing alongside them in a way that serves their vision. We want to say a huge thankyou to the guys in snow white Espanola (5 hours North West of Toronto). Our time with Tim & Deb Faulkner and their church proved to be immensely encouraging. I think we all felt overwhelmed at one point or another of the weekend. We had the opportunity to meet with 10/12 people who were interested and/or involved in worship - this stuff feels important to us - we want to serve these people in the best way possible and so we are so delighted when we get to meet people and explore their needs and questions around worship. People are always so encouraged by what we bring but more and more we find that we come away feeling so blessed and uplifted. The people we met were so generous with their words of encouragement and we feel really excited for the church there. This small church in Espanola is a real well of worship and so it is exciting for us to pray with these guys and look forward to visiting again when we know we will see change in the community and God's kingdom extended in that place.


We feel committed to and excited about the local church and so if you're reading this and think we could serve in your church please get in touch. We'd love to touch base with more churches in our own wee country.

Rich Worship Leaders....hmmmm

Hey all

Hope this finds you all well.

A while ago I was at a wedding where I bumped into some old friends. We spent a wee bit of time catching up and during the conversation it came to light that they thought I was a full-time worship leader worth at least a million pounds. I was subject to quite a bit of ‘banter’ during which time there were quite a few negative comments made about worship leaders and money. It got me thinking about what people really think about worship leaders as it seems to me that there are a few myths!.

We are not all rich! In fact, it is probably important for me to state that myself and the band take no money from what we do. We’ve spent the entire year leading worship across Ireland, the UK, Canada and the USA playing songs from our new album (and other songs). This is the third album that I have recorded with a record company (Survivor Records). And throughout the entire year, we have taken absolutely no money. Not a ha’penny! We have earned some money through selling CDs and honorariums however every penny of this has been reinvested back into what we feel called to do….leading God’s people in worship, encouraging other worship leaders/musicians and supporting local church (particularly our own).

I have heard about how some worhsip leaders have made a lot of money from writing songs that are sung across the world. And I have heard them be criticised for this. However, I want to state that the worship leaders that I know do this because they love God and love the church…not because they want to get rich.

I remember writing my first worship song. I didn’t know it was called a ‘worship song’. I didn’t know there was such a thing as ‘worship album’ let alone a ‘worship industry’. I wrote the song as an expression of my love for the Father. It felt really natural…not forced or contrived. We sang it in the wee church that I was going to at the time and there was no other agenda.

The songs that we write now come from the same place….a personal, intimate desire to please and glorify the father. Some of them remain in the living room and some of them get sung at our church. They are all significant. We desperately want to obey and worship God and we are committed to edifying the local body. This is why we do what we do…(plus we love playing and listening to music!!)

We don’t do this to get rich. If we did we would have stopped many many years ago. We do it for the Father. We do it to see His people encouraged, stimulated and challenged. We all hold down jobs. That’s what pay the bills. We do this in our spare time and take no money from it…because we love it and feel called to it. And we don’t want to stop. And you know what….it’s actually tough sometimes because we would LOVE to be fully realeased into this. We would love to be free to fully invest our time into our gifting. However just because that isn’t possible right now, it doesn’t mean we love the Father less or are less committed! We will still be faithful and do what we are called to do.

And even as I am typing this now, I have a smile on my face because it still excites me. I still love the Father and I love leading others in worship. I feel free doing what I do.

I would really encourage you to continue to pray for us….for our protection, guidance, courage etc and that we can continue to remain faithful to the calling God has on our lives in times of plenty and in times of need.

Bless you

Johnny

Obedience vs. Sacrifice

Hi

Recently I have been pondering...

...what is more important: obedience or sacrifice?

I know what most of you will be thinking - that 'To obey is better than sacrifice' (1 Sam 15 v 22) however sometimes I am not sure if we really act this out. I regularly hear worshippers talking about worship as out highest calling however these verses suggest that first and foremost comes obedience. This is what the Lord requires.

I have been thinking about this recently because I have seen a number of relationships get damaged amongst people I know. People who are friends of God, followers of Christ and part of the family...yet things have been said and done that have caused anger and pain.

Whilst this happens, and might be inevitable, it is not Gods plan for us. God never intended us to be dysfunctional. He didn't intend failure in relationships. He intended us to be in relationships of love and safety. Through out scripture God shares advice and guidance about how we are to treat each other and how we are to live in community. This requires a trust in the Father and courage to love. It avoids operating out of a place of fear. It demands risk, vulnerability and sacrifice. However, most of all it probably requires obedience.

If we are to love and protect each other sucessfully we need to obey what God tells us through scripture about how we should treat each other. Regardless of our circumstance or current state.

I am not perfect. Our band isn't perfect. But we prioritise the relationships over the songs. We want to be obedient to God in how we treat each other over and above how we lead God's people in worship. The sacrifice is pleasing to God but obedience is a priority.

Johnny

Nashville

Hi,
We arrived in Nashville last night after a wee tour of America. We flew from Belfast to Newark to Chicago to Nashville with a 1hr 12minute turnover between landing in Newark and departing for Chicago. We are glad to say that we made it with alot of running through the airport. We arrived, picked up our car and made our way to the Renaissance Hotel. Our rooms are great and it'll be fantastic to stay in one place for 4 nights. We have great intentions to use the fitness centre and pool but we'll see...

We got to hook up with a good friend Shane Wilson today. Shane engineered the Break the Silence album in Ireland and so it has been absolutely great to come in see him in his hometown.

We hope to enjoy some of the sights and sounds of Nashville over the next few days as well as play at the Youth Specialties convention tomorrow night alongside the Robbie Seay Band. We will keep you posted on how that goes. A few pics have been posted on our facebook page so make sure you don't miss out on seeing those!!

Thanks for praying for us and keeping up to date with our travels.

Claire

California

Hey

Hope you are well.

So....we've just returned from a wee trip to California and it's been eventful to say the least. In fact, it seems like a soap opera.

We had a medical emergency on the flight out and were re-routed to Iceland where we also had 2 passengers arrested for aggressive behaviour towards cabin crew. They were evicted from the flight and had to go to the local slammer! I also ended up in hospital in Sacramento for a couple of days and missed our next gig (but the rest of the band played and did a great job). And to top it off, When I got home to Belfast, I checked my guitar at the airport and the head was snapped clean off!! It was like losing a friend.

Anyway, we have a new band page on Facebook and have posted a video diary up there to let you see how the trip went. to view it, you can follow the link and then select to become a fan of the page. Dead simple. Just paste this into your browser http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Johnny-Parks-Band/14039416754

We'll be posting more footage of our next trip to Nashville and Atlanta and will keep you in the loop as stuff goes up.

We rehearsed a new song last night called 'All is Well' and it is beginning to sound really really sweet. I think you'll like it. David was also playing his new Gretch and it honestly sounds like a wee bit of heaven. Yum.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers recently....please keep it up as we dont want any more crazy shenanigans like the last trip!

Peace,

Johnny (and band)

Challenged, Exhausted and Humbled.

The band arrived home to N.Ireland today after a week in California. This has been a very different trip for us and probably the most challenging yet. This was the first time we have gone out as a full band and we had a lot of fun and were soo glad to see around San Francisco and San Jose. It was great to hook up with an old friend out there and use him as a tour guide (great job Stephen!). As most of you will now already know we had a really challenging and exhausting experience. Youth Specialities wasn't quite what we expected and by that we don't mean that having a small number was a problem but it was more of a surprise given the number they would normally expect. We are continually challenged to give ourselves in worship despite the circumstances and this is something we want to grow and develop in. Leading worship is a real treat and privilege and so despite the numbers, venue, tiredness etc we want to have hearts that are ready and willing to engage with God.

Unfortunately JP was unable to lead worship at 'The Journey' in San Jose however the rest of the band drove down and led the 2 morning services. This was a huge blessing to the church, they felt that they had been led in worship in a sprit-filled way and enjoyed the contemplative style that we took on that day (we had a lot of reflecting and contemplating going on!). The people at the church were soo warm and friendly and greeted us with a pot-luck Irish party. This really lifted our mood and was the ideal way to finish a really hard day. We are so glad we were still able to do what we had planned and very sad that JP couldn't experience this with us.

I am continually humbled by what God has allowed us to do - as we drove to the Vista point (just over the Golden Gate Bridge) and looked over at 'lit-up' San Francisco there was a real moment of praise in my heart that God had brought us here, tested us and challenged us and of course that Johnny was able to be with us to finish our journey. God surprises us at every turn, it is an honour to serve him even when it's hard and when he takes us to the the limit of our emotions and strength. We love Him.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. Thanks to the folk at The Journey for hosting us in such a kind, gentle and humble manor. You made a difference.

Claire

California Trip - did we do the right thing?

Hi all

I hope this finds you well. We are out on the road in California and have had a fairly eventful trip. As you can see from the previous post out flight out was pretty krazy. What was meant to be an uneventful 15 hour journey turned out to be a 48 hour ordeal involving police, ambulances and visiting more places that we would have liked. We finally arrived in Sacramento a few hours before we were due to play and when we got on stage we were pretty shattered. Plus, I had a pretty bad cold which made the job tough.

Although we had a good night with Youth Specialties, we were initially disappointed with the numbers who were able to make it out....there were only about 70 in the crowd.

The next day, after getting some tattoos, we were getting ready for our next trip only for me to be rushed to Sutter General Hospital in Sacramento in the middle of the night. I thought I was dying...but it turned out to be kidney stones!! (Which are apparently one of the most painful things you can get.) So I am sitting in hospital now, writing this blog, while the rest of the band are in San Jose leading worship at The Journey.

I think all these hassles/frustrations and pain have made me consider was this trip really worth it? We've put a lot of time, energy and money into being here and it has all been for what we would consider to be little gain. I've felt quite reflective about it and have been wondering if we made the wrong desicion to come here. The trip hasn't really gone as anticipated. I can remember agreeing to do this trip and at that time I didn't really have peace in my heart but I decided to push on ahead...it seemed like too good an opportunity to turn up. My family were not that keen for me to take it on but at the time I thought it was OK and a good idea. In my desire to get out and 'do something' I ignored myself, my family and possibly ignored Gods prompting.

We've chatted a lot as a band recently about how all our decisions need to come from a place of peace - a place where we all feel (and our families feel) that we are moving in Gods will and in his timing. I feel on this occassion, I was just a little too hungry and under pressure to create something that maybe wasn't in Gods timing. Maybe I was trying to rush Him and myself?

Certainly, things have not gone as we would have liked. It is not that we expected everything to be perfect....life isn't like that but I (and prob the band) have not had as much of a sense of ease and peace on this trip as we would normally have. I think there is a lesson here for us. I think we need to listen to ourselves and to God more, notice His timings and operate from a place of peace. I certainly need to do things that have my family's blessing...otherwise it doesn't work.

We are going to be out in Nashville and Toronto soon and we do have peace and blessing about those trips so it will be interesting to see how those turn out in comparison to how things have gone here!

Peace to you,
Johnny