mikeymo's place: April 2009

4/29/09

Song of the Week - Tell the World - Hillsong United

Today we continue the "Song of the Week" series focusing on the songs that will be on the upcoming album Prepare by Gospel Light Worship.

"Tell the World" is far and away my favorite song on the record. On top of that, I predict that it will be the best track. I have a recording of just the music on my mp3 player, and (excuse me for saying this) it's good enough to listen to on it's own, without vocals. And it isn't even mixed.

The song was written in 2004 by Joel Houston, Maryy Sampson and Jonathan Douglass, showing up first on Hillsong United's 2005 album Look to You. Another version of it also shows up on their 2008 recording, The I Heart Revolution:With Hearts as One as well as the Hillsong Kids CD/DVD Tell the World.

This was, if I recall correctly, the first song we decided to put on the record, mainly because it really exemplifies the vision we have for the record: to "tell the world" about Jesus. The thrust of the record is evangelism; this song perfectly expresses that. Plus, it is a fun song to play and to listen to. It's got a good guitar riff, a bass solo, some killer drum fills and a catchy hook.

Here we are doing the song during a service last Easter. The album version is much cooler!

4/28/09

Belly Up to the Bar

Interesting conversation going on in the Twitterverse today. The topic - alcohol consumption amongst ministry leaders, or thereabouts.

You've heard the old saw that goes "You should never talk about religion in bars?" Turns out the reverse is true: You should never talk about booze in church. I've been involved in some pretty heated discussions both in cyberspace and in meatspace when it comes to religion and alcohol. The only topic that might be more hotly contested is gun legislation.

My life taken as a whole, I am far from a tea-totaler. I have personally consumed quite a bit of alcohol in my lifetime. I spent a lot of my adult life working in the bar and restaurant industry, and became quite a connoisseur of good wines, beers and liquors. I personally have no issues with alcohol consumption, and this is not going to turn into a treatise on abstinence.

It took some time myself to come to a perspective on drinking. My wife, bless her, never pushed me on it, rather letting God gently work on me. I struggle with many things, but alcohol is not one of them.

Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 10: 23-24 : All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being. We often hear verse 23 quoted as justification for whatever we want to do; but can we ignore the counsel of verse 24?

I do not think alcohol consumption is a salvation issue in and of itself. It is an issue that each must seek God's face and will about. But I do have a story to tell about "the other's well-being."

When I first started going to Gospel Light, I had a part-time job tending bar in a little neighborhood pub in Bridgeport. I had been working behind a bar since I was 15, and found it a quick and easy way to earn some cash. I had no problems with it, morally or conscious-wise at first. "In fact..." I thought to myself, "I'm doing good! I'm sharing God right here in the bar!" We used to get into some pretty deep discussions, right there in the Shamrock.

Around this time, I started getting a little heat from the church leadership. It seemed that my personality leaned toward leadership, and there were hopes that someday I would be moving into a leadership role in the congregation. But our conservative little church could not have a bartender in leadership. "Why not?" I asked. I wasn't doing anything illegal. Tending bar was a noble and storied profession. Plus, I needed the money.

The "heat" was gentle and loving, by the way. No fire and brimstone. Just gentle encouragement about "Being a light" and witnessing and all that. And it started to get inside me after a while. I started feeling a little tug on my heart. But I was still justifying it to myself.

One night, I was working at the bar when a man came in. I didn't know his name, but I knew him from church. More importantly, I knew that I associated him with our addiction ministry. He sat at the end of the bar and asked for a beer. Then he said "That's okay, right, Brother?"

It was like a knife through my heart. I suddenly became clear to me that God had something greater for me, and that I was not looking out for "the other's well being" by doing what I was doing. I could not share the Gospel while pouring another round.

I knew that that man had a struggle with alcohol. God had shown me that. I did not know what struggles anyone else in the bar had. Was I feeding their addictions, tightening the chains of their own bondages? I had no way of knowing. (By the way - I never saw him again. Not in the bar, not in church.)

I gave my notice that week. I do not judge anyone who chooses to consume alcohol. (Though I will take you to task on your drunkenness!) And I have no objection to a glass of good wine with a nice dinner with family. But for me, the after-work beer is gone, and so is the beer-slinging job. But God has different things for each one of us. In the end, each of us must come before the Master and ask what he wants of us.

Book Review - God-ol-o-gy

A couple of months ago, I was offered the chance to review this book, written by Christian George, a writer, speaker and current doctoral student at St. Andrew's University in Scotland. The complete title of the book is God-ol-o-gy: Because Knowing God Changes Everything.

The review was written for The Worship Community, and can be found there.

4/24/09

Sunday Setlist - April 26

Here's this week's setlist from Gospel Light Commnunity Church. Check out others at Fred McKinnon's blog!

Opening Song:

Finding Who We Are (Shamberger)(G)

Main Set:

All About You (Houghton./Cruse-Ratcliff))(E)
I'm Yours (Buchanan/Johnson)(Am)
O Praise Him (All This for a King)(Crowder)(Bb)
For Who You Are (Sampson)(B)
The Stand (Houston)(G)

Our self-imposed setlist limits are starting to wear a little thin for me, but the congregation seems to be still responding to the familiarity. Granted, it frees me from shuffling charts on Sundays, which is nice.

In the end, it turned out to be a pretty amazing service. I was having some tonality issues early on - I just couldn't find anything I was happy with. Also, Aquim plays drums a lot... busier... than Elyano does, so I was having a hard time finding space in some of the early songs. So basically in "All About You" I just kind of laid back and let Justin play keys up front, and did some light rhythm.

The tide was turned for "I'm Yours," though. That is definitely a guitar song. It is probably the most "rocked out" song that we do in service, and yet it's really cool seeing people lift their hands to it and praise.

"O Praise Him." Do I need to say more than "Crowder?" Anytime we can fit some Crowder in a worship service, I call it a good day. To me, this is one serious worship song. Some people I know find the "La, la's" silly, but I don't look at them that way. I look at them as being an opportunity to worship without the encumberance of words. I see more people lifting their hands and closing their eyes during that part than any other time in the song.

For the Hillsong portion of the service (seems like we always have one!), the duo of "For Who You Are" (Love it!) and "The Stand." (Love it more!) Aquim did a great job on "For Who You Are," which can be challenging for a drummer. (It's a pretty easy song for a guitar player) "The Stand" is one of my favorites. I lay completely off the first verse, just playing the walkup in the pre-chorus. (C-D-E-F#) I really don't start playing until the third repetition of the chorus, where the keys hand off to the guitar and we kick the whole thing up. I love what Danny does on the bass of this song. He does this great walk up with passing notes that really reminds me of the bassline in "New York Minute."

Toward the end of that song, we were just playing some stuff, and then I started playing the walkup again, and the whole congregation went back into the prechorus. Then we played five or six minutes of some free worship; Justing was playing around some stuff in C, and I was just strumming some C-F-C stuff, and the singers were just singing whatever came to their hearts. It was awesome!

During service, one of our women's cell groups was highlighted today, so they invited Sister Cathy to come and sing. Then she asked the musicians to come up. We had no idea what she was going to do. (This is where that whole "Be ready in season and out of season..." stuff comes in.) Fortunately, she was singing How Great Thou Art, so as soon as we figured her key (E) we were good to go. Man, can that woman sing!

So, how did your church do? Check out some others at Fred McKinnon's blog!

Travelling Thoughts

I just got back from basically two weeks of being out of the office and out of the house, give or take a day or three. So for this Friday, here's some random takes on the matter.

Travelling with family is far better than travelling alone. Even with all the arguments, frustrations and cramps associated with moving a large group of related people over long distances by car, it is clearly the best way to travel. Long live the Griswalds!

I have grown completely bored with air travel. This is largely because it sucks. The entire process is mind-numbing at its best, thouroughly frustrating at its worst.

Why is it suddenly okay to charge $8 for a sandwich that would cost you $5 dollars anywhere other than an airport? (Except, maybe, for a sports arena.)

Seriously, airline guys... No movie on a five-hour flight? No TV show? Not even the stupid sky radio? Somebody go out and buy a DVD, will ya? If you're not going to give me a power plug for my laptop, give me something!

Ah, Las Vegas. You'll not find a more wretched hive of scum and villany. Or is that Mos Eisley?

Seriously, though, Vegas has changed. A lot. More slots, less table games. Still ridiculously expensive. Some people should wear a lot more clothes than they do.

Casino guys.... a ten-dollar fee to take fifty bucks out of an ATM? Don't you want people to spend money?

Oh, yeah, airline guys... That thing you call a lunch for seven bucks? Um, no.

Attention all iPod users! Put the earbuds in your ears! I do not want to listen to the tinny version of whatever hip-hop junk you are listening to. You're probably the guy who keeps his stereo cranked to the max at the gas station, aren't you?

It is very easy in this age of instant information to fall completely out of the loop in a matter of a day or two.

Two hundred bucks a night for a hotel room, sixteen bucks for a hamburger, three dollars for a soda, people losing money in the casino... would it kill ya to throw in the wi-fi?

It seems strange to me to see a 9/11 memorial in Nevada. I am fully cognizant that this might be a New Yorker bias. And it was nicely done, and it was at the New York, New York hotel. It just seemed out of place to me.

The amount of time it takes to go from zero to missing my family is much shorter than it used to be.

That's it. Random thoughts from a random mind!

4/23/09

Song of the Week - Mighty to Save

For this installment of Song of the Week, I'm taking a look at another song from the upcoming Gospel Light Worship album, Prepare. This week's song is "Mighty to Save," on of the more popular worship songs around today. This is actually a re-post of the original SoW installment from November 2008.

We are including this song, not only because it is such a favorite with our congregation, but because it really resonates with the theme of the record - evangelism. In this case, the song echoes what someone might say to another when sharing the Gospel.

The title is based on one of my favorite verses, Zephaniah 3:17

The Lord your God is in your midst, He is Mighty to Save,
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
he will quiet you with His love
He will rejoice over you with singing.

The song was written in the year prior to the release of Hillsong's record of the same name in 2006, by Marty Sampson and Ben Fielding. I was also on Hillsong United's The I Heart Revolution live CD earlier this year.

The song starts with the now familiar arpeggio - A, B, C#, typically played with heavy delay. (Nigel Hendroff actually uses two separate delays.) This goes over the basic chord structure of the verses - D, A, F#m, E.

Everyone needs compassion, love that's never failing
let mercy fall on me.
Everyone needs forgiveness, the kind that's of a savoir
The hope of nations.

The song steps up in power in the chorus.

Savior, He can move the mountains
My God is mighty to save, he is mighty to save...

My favorite part of the song is the bridge, which flows with unbridled joy:

Shine your light and let the whole world see
We're singing, for the glory of the risen king.

Instead of the usual performance video, here is an interesting video by the band, showing how the song is built.

4/19/09

Sunday Setlist - April 19

Here is the setlist from Gospel Light Community Church in Bridgeport, Ct.

Opening:

Only By Grace (Gustafson)(C)

Main Set:

How Great is Our God (Tomlin)(C)
Beautiful One (Hughes)(G)
We Cry Out (Johnson)(C#)
Your Grace Is Enough (Tomlin)(G)
Heart of Worship (Redman)(G)

We pulled "Only By Grace" out of the way-back bin for this week. We did it with a little more pep than usual, given its place in the set, but there was a lot of "comfort factor" with that song from the congregation, especially those who've been around for more than a few years. I continue to heart "We Cry Out." Not only is it a great worship song, but it plays to the inner rocker in me. I get to turn up loud, dial in some distortion and get to it. I tend to play arpeggios in the verses, and strum the chords. Aquim played drums today, and really went to the max on this tune. Our senior pastor really likes this song, and it continues to move the congregation.

I thought we could have done better with "Your Grace is Enough." It was odd, because usually that is one of our better songs. Maybe it was having Aquim play. Not that he's bad at all, but his style is very different from Elyano's, so that may have been why it felt a bit off to me. Maybe I was the only one who noticed.

We made up for it with "Heart of Worship." We did the first verse mainly acoustic, and I played it different than usual. Usually I pick arpeggios lightly. Today I strummed, with heavy accents on the downbeats to match the drums. It gave the song a much different flavor and sound, I thought. Another classic that resonates well with the congregation.

Church was surprisingly crowded, given it was the week after Easter, a gorgeous day, and the end of school vacations. We had a baby dedication, so we had several guests. But it was glorious walking out into seventy-degree sunny weather for the first time in months.

Check out other churches at Fred McKinnon's Blog

4/18/09

Saturday Siliness - Britain's Got Talent

This has been getting a lot of ink (or pixels) this week, even on Fred McKinnon's blog, so I thought I'd " 'ave a go a' it."

Two years ago, an unlikely hero arose over in Merry Olde England by the name of Paul Potts. Paul got his frumped-up self on stage during the first season of Britain's Got Talent and completely blew everyone away by singing a perfect rendition of Puccini's Nessun Dorma. It is rare to see such surprise on professional nastyman Simon Cowell's face.

Paul went on to become the first season winner. We'll it appears lightning has struck twice. Behold Susan Boyle. You really need to watch the whole thing. (you need to click the link as embedding is disabled.)

While this lacks the pure emotional punch of Paul Pott's performance, Susan is a definite lession in not judging a book by it's cover.

Here's Paul's audition for comparison.

4/17/09

From the Studio - Take 9

What a week. I just got back from an excellent mini-vacation in upstate New York - three days of horseback riding, food, sports, food, falling in a lake and food. Highly recommended for anyone.

But, vacations must end, and there's still work to be done, including work on the album. I think this is about our eleventh three-hour session, and things are moving well.

Last week was the first week that the vocalists hit the studio. They recorded some background vocals for "Tell the World" and got some verses done as well. The vocalists will be back in the studio next week, and most of the remaining time will be for them.

Last night, though, was about music. We had to accomplish some stuff; specifically, we wanted to track the music for "Draw Me Close to You" and "We Prepare the Way," as well as track drums on "Mighty to Save."

We almost accomplished that. Chris was unable to attend, and he will be playing drums on "Mighty to Save," so we skipped that. "Draw Me Close" to you got done. At first we were going to just play to a click, but it was easier to have the drums track at the same time, so that's what we did.

"We Prepare the Way" is more piano-driven, at least in our arrangement, so we had Justin and Elyano track piano and drums, and then Danny and I tracked guitar and bass. Justin wanted to redo his part as well, so we did that to.

There's still some music left - We have to do drums for "Mighty to Save," acoustic for the last chorus of "We Prepare the Way," and I want to do an short solo entering the bridge to "Mighty to Save." That and some accent work with percussion, and the music is pretty much done. We'll have the vocalists work the next few weeks, and come back to do those bits in probably one session. It seems easy to get frustrated when you're working with the same songs week in and week out - I think we can all use a couple of weeks off from playing them, and come back to finish fresh.

The songs sound completely different with vocals over them, and what I'm hearing is making a world of difference. I've heard our vocalists singing "Tell the World," "One Way," " and "Say So" over the music in rehearsals, and they sound awesome - and that's without any plugins and over rough mixes. The finished project is going to be amazing!

Check out some more pix and sign up for updates on the projects Facebook page.

4/12/09

Sunday Setlist - April 12 - Easter Sunday

Here's the setlist recap for a beautiful Easter Sunday service at Gospel Light Community Church in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

We had a great service today, as befitting the most important holiday of the year. The church was packed to overflowing, and we had to bring in a lot of extra chairs. We don't have an overflow room, so people were sitting pretty close to the stage. The better to worship with! Lot's of music today, so let's get to it!

Opening Song:

I Can Only Imagine (Millard)(E)

Main Set:

Tell the World (Houston/Douglass/Sampson)(G)
Free For All (Houghton)(C)
We Cry Out (Johnson)(C#)
How Great is Our God (Tomlin)(C)
My Savior, My God (Shust)(E)

Altar Call:
The Heart of Worship (Redman)(G)

Also today, our choir, Send Judah First, did a couple of songs:

Come Thou Almighty King (Wright)(F)

He is Exalted (Paris)(E)

Our KidzPort minstry 10-12 year olds did a short "Cardboard Passion" skit. In it, they acted out Passion Week silently, while one of them held up cardboard signs telling the story. Background music included This Blood by Carman and Via Dolorosa by Sandi Patti. The 7-9 group then came up and did a special song - There Is No One Like You by David Crowder* Band.

See what a lot of other churches did for Easter Sunday. Many of us list our setlists at Fred McKinnon's blog - check it out! (More pix here)

4/11/09

Saturday Silliness - The Final Frontier

I am very, very, disappointed in J.J. Abrams and the folks at Paramount. Why? Because the are premiering the new Star Trek movie in just about every country in the world before it premieres in the U.S.

The world premiere was this week in Australia. Austrailia! Why, of all the places under heaven, would they show this movie in Australia? I hear Uzbekistan is getting it next. We have to wait a month!

In protest (who am I kidding? This fan-boy will be out there on opening night, Spock ears and all), I am posting the best of the trailers - a classic video mashup of epic proportions. (Seriously, this one is way better.)

Engage!

4/10/09

Song of the Week - Say So - Israel and New Breed

Psalm 107: 2 says (NKJ): Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, Whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy..."

Thus is the inspiration for another song on Gospel Light Worship's upcoming album, Prepare. "Say So" is an upbeat and energetic tune from Israel and New Breed's last live album, A Deeper Level. The song begins by asking a simple question: "What does it mean to be saved? Isn't more than just a prayer to pray? More than just a way to Heaven?"

The theme of our album is "evangelism." And "Say So" is a perfect fit into that ideal, because as the "redeemed of the Lord," we need to do more than just live in our own private little world, do more than reflect and rejoice in our own personal salvation. No, we need to say so, to tell others, in the words of the song, "I am redeemed, I am redeemed!"

Likewise, Matthew 5: 13-14 says: “You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

We are called then to be active in our work here on Earth. Israel says in the second verse "Oh that the church would arise, oh that we would see with Jesus' eyes. We could show the world, heaven." Our purpose then, is to be that salt and light. The "answer to the call" is another facet of evangelism, and is why this song is on the record.

The song was written in 2006 by Israel Hougton and Michael Gungor. As is not unusual for Israel, it is written in the key of E. (Actually, I think the root is an Emaj9, but hey, I'm a guitar player!) It's a pretty simple song to play. The verses progress : Emaj9-Dmaj9-A/C#-Dmaj9-Emaj9. (simply, E-D-A-D-E). The prechorus is C#m-D.

Into the chorus is just a E-Bm7-A-D-E. The bridge uses some suspended chords, and there is a nice little guitar solo on the live album. Our arrangement brings the bass up front a little more, gives it a little bit of a different groove. You can listen to a short clip of the music here. (this is the second time through the bridge.)

Keep checking back for more updates on the new record and the songs we're doing! Meanwhile, here is my favorite video of this song - just the man and his (really, really expensive) guitar.

4/9/09

We're Not Dead Yet!

I just finished reading Newsweek's cover piece, entitled : "The Decline and Fall of Christian America." by Jon Meacham.

This article comes as a result of a survey I wrote about last month, done by Trinity College in Connecticut, and a follow up article by the Christian Science Monitor, which was actually a highly-edited version of another piece. Thirdhand information sure does get around!

Meacham's article points out that - according to this survey - Americans who claim "no religious affiliation" rose from 8% to 15% since 1990. That number is what all the hoo-ha is about. Meacham writes: "While we remain a nation decisively shaped by religious faith, our politics and our culture are, in the main, less influenced by movements and arguments of an explicitly Christian character than they were even five years ago." Really?

Seems to me that politics and culture are being more shaped by religious faith than ever before. Or, shall I say, by the lack of religious faith. At no time in my recollection has there been more discussion, yelling, complaining, and editorializing about faith-based issues than there are today. In towns and cities all over America, those on the political left are screaming about Christmas displays on town greens, the Ten Commandments in courthouses, prayers at city-council meetings and the faith of federal judges.

The irony is, of course, that we we are in danger of becoming a land of religious intolerance, much like the land our forefathers fled from. Instead of embracing our Constitutionally-guaranteed right of freedom of religions, we are facing a time where a person is not entitled to their religious views. I live in a state where two men are allowed by law to marry, one of three in the country right now. But, not only are they allowed to marry, but the state tells me I have to agree with it. I have to like it.

All over this country, people are being harrassed for their religious beliefs - beliefs protected under the Constitution. Ask Elaine Huguenin. Ask the Ocean Grove Campground Association. (Since when is a private photography business or a privately-owned Christian camp a"public accomodation?")

For anyone who says Christianity is on the decline, I would invite them to go to church. In churches all across America, people are coming in droves. Many churches are expanding, especially evangelical churches. Yes, many traditional liturgical churches are failing; but is this a result of a shift in religious values, or a decline in them? And while a Newsweek poll showed that the percentage of people who would classify America as a "Christian nation" has decreased slightly, still, 62% of those polled identified it as such.

This in the face of a carefully-designed and well-planned offensive to wipe religious views off the map of the American landscape. Funny, but those who scream for tolerance are generally the most intolerant. If you publicly say that you think same-sex marriage is OK, the most I would do is tell you I worry for your salvation. If I publicly stated I think it is not in God's will, I'm accused of hate speech. What kind of tolerance is that? Tolerance is apparently not a two-way street.

Yet in light of that, still well more than half of America identifies this nation as "Christian," and still 85% of Americans claim to be religious. Hardly sounds like we're on the ropes.

To be fair, I do not view Mr. Meacham's article as "attacking" Christianity. (Interesting also is how many commenters have "edited" the title to be "The Decline and Fall of Christian America") He is not writing about "Christianity in America" as much "Christian Amercia." He points this out in his follow-up article. Still, I think the premise is wrong. "Christian America" is still very much alive and kicking, as is Jewish America, Muslim America, Bhuddest America and so on. Our society is one based on rule of law, and many of these laws are built on a foundation of faith. The very premise that we have "religious freedom" is built upon the "religious" ideal of freedom of choice. Christ did not force people to believe in Him; he invited them. Read John 1 if you don't believe that.

4/7/09

Things Than Make You Go "Hmmm"

There's some really good stuff flying through the pipes and tubes of the interwebs lately. So I thought I'd give you a sampling of some stuff that helps steer the mighty ship that is my mind. (Yeah, right!)

The Light Washed Path - "Whatever Happened to Self-Control"

The LWP is a blog written by Pastor Nick Champlin of Faith Christian Church in Clearwater, Florida. Pastor Nick generally pulls no punches as he brings biblical truths into focus. Sometimes, I read what Pastor Nick writes and have to say "Oh, snap!" (Plus, he is a seriously mean guitar player!)

Today he writes "The reluctance to set a standard and [e]nforce it with teaching has resulted in more and more Christians believing that if God wants them to stop any practice He’ll deal with them and 'take it away' from them." Oh, snap! Read the whole post here.

Stephen Brewster - "Finding the Finish Line"

Stephen works in the Christian music industry - and has a great talent for coming up with encouraging nuggets. Today he wrote on his blog: "Unfortunately, some people see mile markers as finish lines. As they pass a marker, they slow down. They stop working as hard. They think they have lost, or worse that they have won, yet there is still so much in front of them. Some people pass a mile marker and they quit. "

I think this is all too true. Read the rest of Stephen's post and some comments here.

Fred McKinnon - "What I Learned on the Mountain, Pt 1."

Fred is the Worship Arts Pastor at St. Simon's Community Church in Georgia. He really has a heart for networking worship leaders and building relationships. This post on his blog, however, was so insightful and introspective - yet profound for everyone. He writes: "How often do we get SO FOCUSED and SO FIXED on our destinations and goals that we miss what’s happening around us? In an age where we boast “being releveant” in our churches, ministries, and lives, do we stop long enough to discover what “relevant” really is?"

Check out what else his mountaintop experience taught him.

Russ Hutto - "Carving out Creativity"

Russ is another worship leader, from House of Joy in Valdosta, Georgia. He is an avid blogger and songwriter.

Sometimes I struggle with creativity. I search for the muses and they're just not there. Russ wrote a great post the other day that might help me. : "This year I’ve written more music than in any other period of my life. It’s not because I’ve become more creative, it’s because I’ve channeled my creativity into a disciplined approach at writing songs. One per week."

See what else Russ is doing to push his creativity.

Mike Mahoney - "Easter Roots"

Unashamed Self-Promotion Alert!

Seriously, though, there is a bunch of great stuff at The Worship Community. I wrote this commentary for them about taking advantage of this time - Easter - to relflect on the awe and majesty of God. "We’ve crafted out a familiar God, a “Jesus is my friend” kind of a God, and that’s okay. But God should also inspire a sense of “awestruck” in us, and sadly, that’s something that can be missing from many modern worship services, even on that holiest of holidays, Easter."

There's more - read it here.

If there's anything that you've read lately (or written) that makes you go "Oh, snap!" then link to it in the comments section.

4/6/09

Want Some Stuff?

I usually don't write on Mondays, but this is pretty good:

Joel Klampert is offering a great giveaway over on his blog in time for Easter. Check it out. A must visit if you are a music lover.

Basically he is giving away a gift basket full of great music, DVD's especially for kids.

So go over there!

4/5/09

Sunday Setlist - April 5 - Palm Sunday

Wow, what a great Palm Sunday service at Gospel Light Communuity Church. We had an awesome time of praise and worship in preparation for Easter Sunday next week.

Here's the Setlist:

Opening:

One Way (Houston)(B)

Main Set

Tell the World (Houston)(G)
I'm Yours (Buchanan/Johnson)(Am)
Once Again (Redman)(G)
Came to My Rescue (Sampson/Davies/Thomas)(C)
Hosanna (Fraser)(C#m)

Obviously the opening of the service was a little on the loud side! And that's just the way we like it. I love watching our oldest member - in her nineties - clapping and singing to a Fusebox song. Nothing like it!

I don't know that we really intended to do the whole Hillsong/Fusebox thing with the set, but it worked out well that way. "Once Again" was a big slowdown from "I'm Yours," but there was a lot of noise in the sanctuary, with people shouting and clapping at that point. Then the simple acoustic guitar chords cutting through that was great, actually, like a call to worship. We have Esther sing the verses on "Once Again." She has a great, voice that sounds good with an acoustic guitar.

"Came to My Rescue" really reaches people, I think. We must've done that bridge ten times - no one seemed to mind. I play acoustic on that song, and Elyano does some great things on the drums, but it's the lyrics that minister.

"Hosanna" was a given for Palm Sunday. I think we really did it well this time. We've struggled with it at times in the past, but I think we had the right combination of keyboard and guitar this time. Plus - and more importantly - the congregation was really responding to it.

We have a baptism service this evening, so I'll probably update this post with that service.

Baptism service addenendum:

Friend of God (Houghton)(E)

Trading My Sorrows (Evans)(G)

Rescue (Anderson)(G)

You Are Good (Houghton)(E)

Check out Fred McKinnon's blog for some other churches and setlists.

4/4/09

Saturday Silliness - Hopefully, This Isn't Me!

I hope I'm not this guy! Enjoy!

4/3/09

Song of the Week - He Reigns - newsboys

Since we didn't get to record last night due to some scheduling issues, I'll return to the regular Friday feature "Song of the Week" this week instead of the "From the Studio" series I've been doing.

I thought that since we are getting closer to releasing the album, I would take a few weeks to talk about the ten song that are making up the record, give you an idea of what they are and why we chose them.

The title of the record is Prepare, and it is going to mostly have a theme of evangelism in one form or another - either the spreading of God's Word ("Tell the World"), or the response to the call ("Your Love is Deep").

"He Reigns" was chosen because it evokes a vision of the width and breath of God's church - literally from the "African plains" to the "Amazon rains." The proclamation of Revelation 13:7 comes forth - Christ is given authority over every tribe, tongue and nation - and they choose to praise him.

The genesis of this song possibly comes from former newsboys frontman Peter Furler's experiences attending Bethel Chapel in Nashville - a large, multi-cultural congregation. At a place like that, the variety of worship styles abounds. But, they end, we are all "God's children." Furler said on New Song Cafe that he felt the song is one of the most powerful he's ever written.

The song, co-written by Furler and Steve Taylor, was originally released on the 2003 studio album Adoration: The Worship Album, This was guitarists Jody Davis' last recording with the band (although he has recently announced his return) and his staccatto playing gives the tune it's signature sound. Furler's gentle vocals at the beginning of the song are wonderfully offset by the choral ending, complete with the counterpointed tag "It's every tribe, every tongue, every nation... hallelujah, hallelujah!" The song hit #4 on Billboard's Hot Christian and #6 on the Hot Christian Adult Contemporary charts.

If you can remember F-C-G, you can play this tune. (OK, you have to remember C-F-G in the bridge, but, c'mon!) Do a little palm-mute in the verses and let 'er rip in the choruses and you're all set.

4/2/09

He's Back!

Last summer I wrote about Todd Bentley. You remember him? He was the guy running the supposedly incredible revival meetings in Lakeland, Florida last year. Todd claimed he had healed on one hundred consecutive nights, and that he somehow had raised 25 people from the dead over the phone. (I am not making that up.)

Todd ran into a bit of an issue last August, when apparently he left his wife, because he was having an "unhealthy relationship" with a staffer. He was asked to leave his ministry, "FreshFire," at that time.

Well, I guess all has been forgven. He has a new ministry, Morningstar Ministries. He has a new wife, the aformentioned staffer. He is apparently going to attempt to return to ministry.

Now, I'm all for forgiveness and restoration. I think I'd be in pretty bad shape were it not for forgiveness and restoration. But... can this really be a good thing? Aren't there admonitions in Scripture that various ministers not be "notorious sinners?" Is seven months really enough time for healing all the hurts that Mr. Bentley has done? Can he be possibly ready for a return to the national stage, er, pulpit?

Yes God can do great things with sinners. Absolutely. King David is an example. But, shouldn't David's example be don't be like me instead of be like me and be forgiven?

I don't know the answer, but I think we need to ask the questions.

4/1/09

Come and See

Ever wonder what would happen if you stopped talking to people and simply lived your life?

Would someone get to know you better if you spent an hour telling them about yourself, or if you invited them to live with you for a week? What do you think?

In John 1, we see the beginning of Jesus' public ministry. Does it begin with huge speech in front of thousands of people? OR with him gathering a crowd and telling them all about himself? Maybe he had some bios written up to hand out.

No. None of that. When he was first approached by two of John the Baptists disciples, and they asked him something about himself, he simply said "Come and see." (v39)

When Phillip approached his friend Nathanael and told him about Jesus being the Messiah, Nathanael was doubtful. He asked "Can anything good come out of Nazareth?" Phillip's answer? "Come and see." (v46)

Too often we spend our days trying to convince people of things, especially when we share Christ. But it is much more effective to just show them. People will be more affected by what they experience than what they hear. Our lives should be an open invitation to Christ, then.

If we truly reflect His light in our lives, then those around us cannot help but see it, and be affected by it. John recognized Jesus as the Lamb of God, because he saw the Spirit descend on him and remain on him. God will bring people to a place where they will see the Spirit on you and in you - you just have to let them.

So the next time someone questions you about your faith, why not say "Come and see?"

This summary is based on my sermon, "Come and See." You can listen to it here.

Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)

blogspot hit counter