Jonathon Douglass

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Jonathon Douglass is a lead singer from the Hillsong United band . He bears every trademark of a rock star - scruffy hair, designer stubble, and Chuck Taylor's.

Experiencing Worship
Douglass' first experience of what he describes as God's tangible presence was at a Christian youth camp. At 12, he was actually too young to attend the camp but tagged along with his older brother and sister anyway . One night while the band was playing, he felt something he is almost unable to put into words, I just remember lifting my hands, not really knowing what I was doing and singing these words that had a meaning I didn't really understand. I developed a longing for God's presence without knowing much about it.

Becoming Worship Leader
In worship, JD wants the people he leads in song to have the same kind of connection with God he experienced at that camp. I don't think there's a formula to make that happen , he says, sometimes it happens in half a second, thirty seconds, a minute or even a song.

But singing wasn't always something JD wanted to do. I was more reluctant, actually , he says, I always thought it was cool but I just never thought that I would sing and lead worship. Now, he sings and writes songs for the Hillsong United albums.

The most powerful songs come from a personal relationship with God and are filled with meaningful scripture, JD says. Three years ago, JD wrote One Way, a song inspired by a personal search, I questioned what I was doing and why I was doing it. He was still going to church, reading the Bible and praying but he felt like he had lost the reason for it all. I sat down one night after hanging out with God and the verses just came out back to back within a couple of minutes, he says, Things about God, how He's always there, how He never changes and how I'll never live for anyone but Him.

Worship And Life Change
Jonathon has also witnessed the life-changing effect some songs have had on people he has led in worship , They're lifting their hands, they're jumping up and down, they're screaming these lyrics and you can just see how God's working in people's lives just by the looks on their faces.

Being on stage is only five percent of what worship is about, JD says. The other 95 per cent is living a life that honours God. Behind closed doors, in the unseen areas of my life, I need to be solid with God, he says. JD spends time every day worshipping God and reading the Bible alone in his room to keep his focus on God. Whether he's singing at Hillsong's weekly youth meetings or at a worship conference in Japan, I need to make sure I'm ministering from a fresh and real place , he says.

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Other cool praise and worship leaders: Marty Sampson | Darlene Zschech | Jeremy Shum | Chris Tomlin