Hi everyone! My wife Becca, and my Beautiful children Levi and Ava Grace just returned from a wonderful vacation in Florida. Yes, we barely missed all the crazy hurricanes but had great weather and and a great time. My favorite day was Ava’s third Birthday. I got to take her to downtown disney and buy her the princess dress of her choice and then take her to the magic kingdom’s Cinderella castle for lunch with Cinderella and all the disney princesses. What a blast!!! She was GLOWING but I still don’t know who enjoyed it more, her or me and Becca. Levi was just big enough to go on the “Big boy rides”, so we got to enjoy Splash mountain, thunder mountain and all the other rides together. It was very cool!!! After a long year of writing and producing “Open”, touring across Canada and traveling around the world to Australia, Japan and the Philippines, it was a well deserved amazing family time. When I got home I was honored to be officially ordained into the ministry by Pastor Mel Davis and my Father Mel Mullen. I was Ordained along with friends and fellow ministers of the gospel, Ryan Cook, Melissa Furst, Melanie Mitchel and Bryce Birmingham. It was an honor and I was very moved by the response of our church family that I love so much. Today I found out that “Open” was nominated for 3 GMA (Gospel Music Association) awards for Praise and Worship song of the year, Praise and Worship Album of the year and Music DVD of the year. So it has been an adventurous, and Awesome week. I am sure the Journey to come will be lots of work, very rewarding and lots of fun. 

It is great to be home with my wife Becca and our Beautiful kids, Levi and Ava Grace. To me there is nothing more fun than coming home with gifts for my family. Levi has been running around the house like a crazy Ninja in his new Samari outfit and my baby girl Ava just wants hugs from Daddy in her new Japanise clothes. Becca is the most amazing supportive wife to allow me to do what God puts on my heart. I am so greatful. Leaving home is one of the toughest things for me to do but God gives us all the grace we need to serve Him faithfully. Last year when I was in Australia I felt the Lord speak to me and say “I’m going to send you back to the Philippines”. I wasn’t sure if it was just in my mind or maybe it was just a desire that I had so, I asked the Lord to confirm His word to me if this was really his voice. That night I was at Hillsong Conference and they decided to anoint everyone with oil in the whole stadium of twenty some thousand people. I usually am careful to to be apart of such a mass anointing service but I was personally asked to be apart so I thought I would do my best to be a blessing. Shortly after I was prayed for I was given a cup of oil and escorted to a section of the stadium to pray for some people. When I got there it was a section full of people from the Philippines. I began to weep as I was praying simply because God had confirmed His word. I was in awe that “God would speak to me”. So I told the Lord that I would be obedient and go at the first opportunity. When Pastor Aki and Marge Mizuno called me to come to Japan, I was deeply honored and I also remembered the vow I made to the Lord. So I made the Journey to the other side of the world on 08/08/08. The ultimate day of new beginnings. It was the day the olympics began in China, a new day for China and the entire world. I was stoked as I landed in the beautiful city of Hong Kong. As I arrived in the Philippines I was greated by our dear friends Pastors Jonathan and Vicky Sabastian. They have an AMAZING church in Manilla and many churches in the Philippines and around the world. Pastor Jonathan and Vicky are very close friends to my parents and I have been close to there boys Hans and Josh. It was great to see them all. That night I was apart of a large youth gathering in there church. And I also had the privilege to preach at there church on sunday. Over 100 people gave there lives to Christ during those meetings!!! Praise God!! On the Saturday I had the privilege of doing a music clinic at Victory Church in Manilla. It is a church of over 28000 believers. Pastor Steve Murrell and Pastor Manny Carlos have been great friends of my father for many years as well. They asked me to do a clinic on developing a worship culture in a church. About 400 musicians, worship leaders and songwriters were there. This was right up my alley!! I LOVED imparting on this subject. At the end of the service the place was filled with the High praises of Gods people. I also got to meet with some of the staff in the church and we talked about there kids and how my parents raised me. There was many questions and many very cool answers that I know really helped the pastors there. Sunday night I got to hang out with my good friend Hans. What a awesome guy and we have so much in common. Monday I was off to Japan. Japan is so cool!! The roads are like video games, there phones and cameras are so cool and there cars are so compact. It is amazing!!! I loved the food there except the crab cake that I had that was a bit weird. Eric Boseman from El Paso and Chris Doucette from Vancouver met me there. It was so fun to play some great music with some good friends. I was very curious how it was going to work leading a Japanise congregation in english would be, but it was amazing!! The people there LOVE to Worship. I learned alot about a soft and tender heart from the Japanise people. We basically lead worship and preached at a summer camp for Pastor Aki’s group of churches. What an honor. I have to thank pastor Yasuhiko for serving us so well and making us feel so apart of what God was doing. He is my best friend in Japan. Sunday we got to do three services, One in Japanise, one english and one youth service. I LOVE the youth of Japan. What a future they have.  Well that is the very short version of my trip, thanks for your prayers and support. If you want to hear more I will be speaking at Word of Life Red Deer on Sunday August 24. Blessings to you all!! 

Hi Everyone!!! It’s been a while since I have written in and just let you know what has been going on. The last few weeks have been CRAZY and AMAZING!!! My Dad and I and some good friends went to the “Hillsong Conference” in Sydney Australia. It was Amazing!!! It was great to see how God is working on the other side of the world. I met with many pastors while I was there and it was really encouraging to see that the churches are alive, growing peoples lives are being ever changed by the message of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I also had the privilege of meeting with Darlene Czech, Joel Houston, Rueben Morgan and many other members of the Hillsong team. What a blessing they all are! So authentic and real!  As soon as I came home we went right into our Friendships for life conference with John and Lisa Bevere. It was an AMAZING and FUN weekend. I have never heard our church be that loud in there praise and worship and that is saying alot for our church. You can tell that there is a real hunger for God rising up in Canada!! It is so good to see. John and Lisa really bring incredible, solid teaching to the body of Christ. They are real and honest. Being around them is like being in the rocky mountains….just so refreshing!!! They have become such great friends to our church. We love them very much! In less than 2 weeks I go to the Philippines and Japan. I am so excited!!! Last year at Hillsong conference I felt the voice of the lord say to me “go back to the Philippines”!!! I did not know what to do with this and I told the lord that I needed confirmation. So that night at the conference they were anointing everyone in the stadium with oil. And my good friend Nick Caine asked me to go and pray for a section of people. As I went they directed me to a section of people ALL from the Philippines!!! I am sure that I got more blessed than anyone that night. I wept and cried for the mere fact that I knew God had spoken. So I told the Lord, “I will go at my first opportunity”.  So when I got the call to go to Japan, I obeyed God to go to the Philippines as well. I will be preaching for 3 days with our longtime friends Jonathan and Vicky Sabastian at Jesus Christ Saves Global Outreach. It is an amazing church in Metro Manilla. Then I will be going to Nagoya, Japan for a week to a worship Conference. I have never been to Japan and I am so excited to see what God will do. Thank you for your continued prayers and support. This is a exciting time in life for Becca and I. All the Glory to God!!! 

Check out this abundant resource for all your worship needs.  You can buy all Jachin’s Open songs there.

This is an AWESOME DAY!!! Praisecharts.com has all of the new songs from the “Open” CD and DVD done up beautifully and professionally at praisecharts.com. They are great for churches and worship teams as well as anyone who just wants to learn and play at home. I had the opportunity to meet Ryan Dahl from Praise Charts recently when I was at Victory Christian Center in Surrey, BC a few months ago. Ryan and his team do a great job of charting worship music for all the major worship companies such as Integrity, Worship Together, Maranatha Music!!! and many more. And now they do my music as well!!! Ryan is AWESOME and has a heart to serve the church at large. I would encourage you to check out praisecharts.com for your personal use, your every sunday needs and make sure you pick up the charts from the “Open” live CD and DVD. 

Every week as I prepare to lead God’s people in worship I have to pick a song list. I am sure many worship leaders have many different ways that they process picking songs for there church, but I would like to share how I do it and hopefully it will help you in your process. First of all I like to worship (what a novel Idea for a worship leader). Sometimes it is sitting down with a guitar but often it is in my car or in my home around the house. Often there will be one song that week that I find myself singing all the time. That song often becomes the centerpiece of the worship set for that week. Why? Because If I am not engaged as a worshipper, I won’t make much of a worship leader. I always remind myself that God has to be first to me, even as I am leading others. If a song or a line of a song connects deeply to me it will probably reverberate to everyone else. As I am preparing I need to remember that worship leading is not a popularity contest, it’s not about the latest, coolest song, or the coolest new sound or style. It’s about the presence of God meeting us and touching our lives forever. However I want my church to be culturally relevant and current so that people that have never experienced Christ would be captivated by the sights and sounds and eventually be captivated by the deeper spiritual connection to God that happens when we worship together. When I eventually find that first song (the centerpiece of the set) I note what key it is in as well as a general theme and lines of the song that really stick out to me. Let’s say that song is “My Chains are Gone” by Chris Tomlin in the key of G. The obvious themes are freedom and grace. I have written a song called “More Than Amazing” that is in the key of F and modulates to G so I would put that song ahead of “My Chains are Gone” so that there would be a smooth transition as well as a constant theme. And just for fun we would end with “Freedom We Know” by Joel Houston. It is a upbeat fun song that declares our freedom in Christ. I am not the type that likes to end the same every week. Every set should have dynamics just like a single song should have dynamics. It should have dynamics that make you feel the tension and the release of that tension. A set of songs should not be one giant build, it should be a mountain range of feelings and moods that make you want to continue to participate. A common mistake that Worship leaders make is to start at a 10 and stay at a 10 for too long. Soon, a 10 feels like a 2 and everyone’s ears are done and the people begin to disengage not because they want to but because there bodies and ears physically just can’t deal with a 10 for too long. In continuing to build this set, I would begin with a new song I wrote called “Giving My All”. It is a Rock Worship song. The words are like a Ballad but it is rock to the core. It is very engaging and hits a 10 right now with our church. After “Giving my All” which is in the key of D, I would stay in that key with a song like “This God” By my friend Tommy Walker. This is a feel good song that is a bit more laid back and has a easy to sing “Hallelujah” bridge. The song is full of scripture, it talks about who God is and builds our faith. This set would be about 25 minutes in length and would be energetic yet amazingly worshipful. It would go from “Giving My All” in D to a easy transition to “This God” it would then become very worshipful and transition to the key of F for “More Than Amazing” and Build to a Modulation to G and “My Chains Are Gone” and end in energetic praise with “Freedom We know”. Of course I would put alot of prayer into worship for that day and I would also be ready to change ANYTHING if it just didn’t feel right. Even to the last minute. In conclusion, you gotta know that my thought is to make the worship service amazing but the most important part is a reverence and sensitivity to the presence of God. That is by far the most important thing we are looking for as we prepare to worship Him together. 

Psalm 111:9 - says “What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has”. As I was leading worship at my home church on sunday night there was such a sweet yet powerful sense of the presence of God that fell as God’s people began to worship Him with all there hearts. It had the feeling of “Awe”! It was that feeling when you don’t care what song is being sung or if there is even a song at all. You just want to stand there and you don’t want to move even a bit. What an amazing place to be. I truly have never experienced anything as fulfilling on the planet as the presence of my God. It is AMAZING!!! “Awe” is the word you say when nothing else can be said or comes even close to appropriate to such a Great God!!! When we were on tour a few months ago I had the privilege to lead someone to Christ at a concert who explained his encounter with God’s presence as “I didn’t want to move because I had never felt anything like that before.” That night my friend was changed forever!!! I am not into worshiping just because of what we feel but I never want to lose sight of a God that wants to touch and bless us as regular people. Sunday nights worship experience brought me back to the first song that I ever wrote called “I stand in awe”. I wasn’t trying to write a cool song. The truth is, I didn’t even know how to write a song at all. “I stand in awe” was just what came out that wonderful day. I never want to lose that, and I hope my church never loses it either. It seems that the more we know “How to” do things the worse we are when it comes to spending time with God. If I can be like I was when I was 17 I am better off than a 32 year old that “knows what he’s doing”. I would trade in experience for innocence any day. Jesus said in Matthew 18 -“I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. I hope none of us lose the “Awe” in our friendship with God. The “I don’t know what else to say so I’ll say “Awe”, God you are AWESOME!!!!  

Jachin is almost booked for 2008.  We are now taking bookings for 2009.  Contact us at adam@jachinmullen.com.

Before you read songwriting 102, scroll down to songwriting 101 and get a read of that first. Writing worship songs is one of the Joys of my life. Probably the greatest key to remember when you are writing is that your role in writing worship songs is to connect people to God. A cool hook or phrase is a nice bonus but it is when people get touched by the presence of God that really gives me the greatest sense of fulfillment and Joy.When we write worship songs we are simply putting words in people’s mouths that they have been desperately wanting to say to God for so long but have not known quite how to say what they feel. Worship songs give expression to the eternal feelings that we all have on the inside of us. So really the best way to write is to say what YOU want to say to God or simply speak of who He is to you.As I write I often feel like I am walking on a tight rope trying to balance the thoughts and melodies that fly through my mind and out my mouth at a million miles an hour.In those moments I am trying to balance the most important elements of a worship song, simplicity and creativity. Simple melody lines and lyrics that everyone can sing and understand yet “say it” and “sing it” in a new creative way.  Bottom line is that worship songs are to be sung by EVERYONE and that means that people need to be able to easily connect and find the melody and arrangement incredibly appealing. I would much rather have a song on my Ipod that I need to learn and grow into than one that I am sick of after the first play and I never listen to it again. But a worship song has to be more broad than my own tastes and likes. Especially if we are building “Generational Churches” that include every age demographic. It is also important to balance being theologically right and simple enough that anyone can understand what the song is saying.My goal when I wrote “Open” was to create a song that anyone could sing no matter where they were on there journey of faith. I think the goal was accomplished. In a “pop” song, the grove/ vibe / style / melody line and hook of the song is most important to the person listening and the words are secondary. In a worship song it is polar opposite. The words are the most important and everything else follows because we are expressing our deepest prayers and hearts cry to our maker. Obviously the goal is to write worship songs that say what everyone wants to say and does it in a simple but creative way that makes us all want to participate in the song.I really want to encourage you to continue to write simple songs from your heart that really connect you to God. If you walk the tight rope of simplicity and creativity you are bound to write something that will bless alot of people. See you at Songwriting 103 

WOW!!!! That is all I can really say about Generations Conference 2008!!! It was AMAZING!!! I have never been to a conference this exciting in my entire life!! I can really feel that there is a new momentum in the church in Canada! It was amazing to lead worship and sense such a strong presence of God and receive a true impartation from the men of God that brought the word of God to us. We received a incredible impartation from Brian Houston, Tommy Barnett, Matthew Barnett, Peter Danials and amazing Canadian speakers such as John and Helen Burns. I really want to encourage you that God is doing great things in Canada and all over the planet!!! More than ever we need to unify and interconnect to hear what the spirit of God is saying to the church today.Psalm 133 says - 1 How wonderful and pleasant it is      when brothers live together in harmony! 2 For harmony is as precious as the anointing oil      that was poured over Aaron’s head,      that ran down his beard      and onto the border of his robe. 3 Harmony is as refreshing as the dew from Mount Hermon      that falls on the mountains of Zion.   And there the Lord has pronounced his blessing even life everlasting.  I believe that we are in a time where we can receive the refreshing and blessing that God commands to us when we stand in a place of agreement in our family, church and nation. I am sooooo excited for Generations Conference next year!!! Book it on your Calender April 1-4 2009. I can’t wait to see you there!!!