mikeymo's place

husband, father, pastor, musician, teacher

8/30/09

Sunday Setlist - August 30





It was an interesting day at Gospel Light this morning. You might remember, our founding senior pastor left in July to plant a church in the Bronx, New York City.



Today was the last day for our youth pastor, who is also leaving to pioneer a church plant. Elyano has also been our main drummer for several years, and part of his team includes Danny, our bass player. So today was the last day playing with these two wonderful musicans in a regular Sunday worship service. It was bittersweet, as we know they are moving on to advance God's kingdom, but we will miss them deeply.

Onto the setlist!
Opening

Revelation Song (Riddle)(D)


Main Set:

Freedom (James)(B)
One Way (Houston/Douglass)(B)
For Who You Are (Sampson)(B)
Mighty to Save (Morgan)(A)

Offerings:

Eres Todopoderoso (Salinas)(D)
Blow the Trumpet (Tendrup)(Dm)

"Freedom" by Eddie James is fast becoming one of the favorite songs of the congregation, and is one of the best to open a worship service. Josh and the girls did a great job today, leading the congregation to act out the parts of the song - clapping, jumping, spinning, and especially shouting. I thought they were gonna blow the windows out. Everyone was shaking their hands during the "no more shackles, no more chains..." lyric. If you don't know the song, check out the video in this post.

The setlist was picked out by Danny this week, and included some of his favorites. I also included our offering songs because "Blow the Trumpet is one of Elyano's favorite songs to play. It's one of the oldest songs we do with any regularity, but it is (to us) a classic, and part of the fabric of our church.

Check out other setlists at Fred McKinnon's blog.

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8/26/09

Survey Says - Part Two

Yesterday I blogged about the worship survey that we gave out at church. I went over some of the questions and what the answers were.


I left the more open-ended questions for today. Two of the biggest questions is "What Christian artists do you listen to?" and "Who is your favorite Christian artist?"


The answers to these questions were as varied as you could imagine. But still, some patterns can be drawn, and this information might be useful.


The most commonly-mentioned artist in the surveys was Hillsong. Some people specified Hillsong United, but I suspect that United was who most of them were referring to. We do quite a bit of Hillsong/United music anyway, so this was no big surprise. Israel Houghton was another strong showing; again, not a surprise there. We try to stay fairly current on the Hillsong stuff. We've done some of the newer Israel and New Breed music with our choir, and the team is recording "Say So" on our upcoming album, but we've done nothing (yet) from The Power of One.


Other artists with a strong showing: Kirk Franklin, Casting Crowns, David Crowder* Band, Mary Mary, Smokey Norville, Leeland and Carman. Yes, that Carman. (OK, so only two people listed Carman, but anytime I can get Leeland and Carman in the same sentence is a score!)


This represents who people are listening to not necessarily whose music they want us to play. But it's a good indicator of what styles of music people like.


57% of the responses that indicated a preference for "new, fresh" music or "familiar, well-known" music came back preferring new music. That was actually a little surprising. We had suspected the opposite to be true, based on our observations. But, it seems we were wrong.

As for songs, of course, there was a wide gambit of songs mentioned. One that kept getting mentioned, though, was "We Cry Out" by Brian and Jenn Johnson. "The Power of Your Love" and "I Can Only Imagine" got multiple mentions.

In the "Do you have any recommendations" question, there were a lot of varied answers. The vast majority were along the line of "No, you're doing great, keep doing it." which was awesome to read. There were several recommendations like "the vocals are hard to understand" and "the instruments are too loud" which indicates to me we've got some mix issues. (...and some ammo to ask for money for in-ear monitors.) Of course, there were some specific suggestions. ("...rock it out for Jesus." "Don't sing the chorus more than four times." "sing more hymns") and a lot of "Keep praying" type suggstions.

So what does it all mean? It means we have some thinking and praying to do. And that we can take encouragement from the fact that - in general - our congregation is happy with their worship experience. It means we can improve, and we have a direction to go in. And it means we're trying, and they know it. And that's what matters most.

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8/25/09

Survey Says

I've been mentioning how we recently conducted a survey of our congregation regarding their thoughts, desires and expectations of the music portion of Gospel Light's worship experience. A lot of worship leaders expressed interest in the results, so I thought I's share a little.


Methodology:


The survey was simple enough, divided into some closed-ended questions and some open-ended questions:


What style(s) of worship music do you like (Check all that apply)


  • Piano/Organ/Acoustic style soft music

  • Guitar-oriented contemporary

  • Hymns

  • Traditional Gospel-style

Which of the above do you prefer?


Do you prefer:



  • A lot of new, fresh, different songs?

  • A lot of familiar, well-known, comfortable songs?

How often do you listen to worship/Christian music outside of church?



  • I only listen to worship/Christian music

  • Most of what I listen to

  • I hardly ever listen to worship/Christian music

Which Christian artists do you listen to? (List as many as you like)


How do you worship personally?


Who is your favorite Christian artist?


What song(s) that we sing on Sunday really engage you in worship?


Is there a song(s) that you would like to hear used on Sundays?


Is there a recommendation you could make to the worship team?



This survey was distributed over a two-Sunday period, and we allowed three weeks for collection. We got enough surveys to account for about a third of our regular attenders, which is a pretty good statistical sample. (One caveat: my degree in marketing tells me that the most likely people to fill out a voluntary survey are those who are unsatisfied or desiring change. My experience in business back this up.)


Results


I'll split this up into two posts, but I'll get to the nitty-gritty today. Regarding those who indicated one or more (but not all) styles of worship, the results looked like this:



  • Piano/Organ/Acoustic - 29%

  • Guitar-oriented contemporary - 29%

  • Hymns - 10%

  • Gospel - 31%

For those who specified one type they preferred as a favorite:



  • Acoustic guitar - 5%

  • Soft piano/organ - 21%

  • Guitar-oriented contemportary - 26%

  • Hymns - 16%

  • Gospel - 31%

This is good news, because it largely reflects our own music mix. We've added some hymns recently to our "active" list of songs, and we've got a pretty good selection of some "Gospel-y" kinds of tunes. (although it looks like we can do more.)


I'm not seeing us as the next Nu Nation, but we do have a wonderful gospel choir called Send Judah First. Perhaps between the two groups, we can fill some more of that Gospel music need.


My next post will get into the more diagnostic questions, regarding worship habits, artists, and songs.

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8/23/09

Sunday Setlist - August 23 - Revival Day Three



Today wraps up our Back to School Revival weekend. And what a weekend it was! Four services, plus some street evangelism, a packed house, great music... what more could you want to get you recharged for fall?



The previous revival services were recapped here and here. Today we had two services: our regular Sunday morning gathering, plus a final close-out service last night.



For the morning service, our setlist looked like this:


Opening:

Your Grace is Enough (Maher)(G)

Main Set:



Freedom (James)(B)
Tell the World (Houston)(G)
History Maker (Smith)(G)
The Stand (Houston)(G)
You Are My World (Sampson)(G)
Montana (Gonzales/Gonzales/Gonzeles)(Am)

After rehearsal Sunday morning, we had (as a team) a long and rather frank discussion about the team, it's future, our goals, and the results of our worship survey. Perhaps Sunday morning wasn't the best time to do this, but it is the best time to get the whole team together. I'll share more about the surveys in another post, but we discussed some of the results. It seems most of the congregation is pretty happy with how we do things, which is nice to hear.

The service itself was amazing. Of course, everyone says that, but with GLCC in full "revival" mode, it really was. In between rehersal and service there were several youth hanging around, which is not unusual. What is unusual is that someone seems to have tweaked the settings on my AX10, so the first song (to me) was a disaster. But... all is good, and the rest of the songs went pretty well. In fact, I think we did the best job we've ever done with "The Stand" and especially "You Are My World." And several people came up after service and said that they really felt that worship was especially good Sunday. I think it has more to do with where everyone's hearts were at then our skill, but I'll take it where I can get it!


Danny was unavailible to play Sunday morning, so we had no bass player. That meant that both Justin and I had to do a little more "bass" duties, including turning the bass solo in "Tell the World" into a guitar solo. Dontcha just hate that?

Here's a short clip of "The Stand" (camcorder mix)




video


Sunday Night

Sunday night was the last of the revival services for this summer. The church was packed-out, which was awesome for a Sunday night. There was a lot of eager anticipation for what the night would bring. We started with a short worship:



Turn it Around (Houghton/Lindsey)(D)
We Cry Out (Johnson)(C#)
You Are My World (Sampson)(G)
Wrap Me in Your Arms (Grothe/Gungor)(B)
You Are Good (Houghton)(E)




After worship, our choir, Send Judah First, came up and led the congregation in our own arrangement of "He is Exalted."



Pastor Mac closed out the weekend with a great message on the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the power of Pentecost. We had a huge, all-church altar call that lasted for a while. I can't even remember all the songs we did, but we did play "Holy Spirit, Rain Down" and "Empty Me" and "Give us Clean Hands." I keep my guitar amp on the floor near the monitor wedges, and it was surrounded by folks praying, so I played bass for the altar call, which is always a nice switch. But after four days of non-stop playing, my poor fingertips were about raw!

So, the revivals are over, and everyone is in great shape. The church was full of some people we've not seen in a while, which is great. A bunch of people accepted Christ, more rededicated themselves, and many were baptised in the Holy Spirit. Who could ask for more?

As a closer, I want to leave you with a short clip of the kind of preaching we had all weekend. All the messages can be found here.


video

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8/22/09

Revival Recap - Day Two


Yesterday I wrote about the kick-off of our 2009 Back to School Revivals at Gospel Light. Last night was the second service, and things just kept getting better!

We opened the service with a short worship selection from Gospel Light Worship:



Holy is the Lord (Tomlin/Giglio)(G)
Give Us Clean Hands (Hall)(G)
How Great is Our God (Tomlin/Reeves/Cash)(C)




After we finished, the worship continued with an incredible local worship band called Tru Destini. These guys completely tore it up with an amazing jazz/R&B fusion of original worship music. Everyone was so moved that there was an altar call right there before the message.






And what a message! Pastor Mac preached on "Champions of God." He talked a lot about Jacob, and how a Christian might be battered and bruised, but keeps on fighting. Jacob's blessing wasn't that he had victory in his fight with God; Jacob's blessing that God changed him. You really need to listen to this message.

Today, our youth took Pastor Mac down to New York City, to the site of our church plant in the Bronx to do some street evangelism, and then do some sightseeing in the city. Our revival concludes on Sunday with the morning service, and then a final meeting on Sunday evening.



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8/21/09

Revival Recap - Day One


Last night kicked off our third annual Back to School Revival at Gospel Light. I wrote a little about it, pre-event, yesterday.


It's always good seeing the church full, and it's always great seeing Pastor Mac. As usual, he kicked things off with a bang.


Short worship set by our youth worship team (plus this old dude..)


Friend of God (Houghton/Gungor)(D)
Trading My Sorrows (Evans)(G)
Tell the World (Houston)(G)
Finding Who We Are (Shamburger)(G)
Empty Me (Way/Comer)(E)




We had kicked around a couple of other songs like "I'm Yours" and "All Because of Jesus." But this turned out to be a great set. Following our worship, one of our young ladies (I can't call her a "girl" anymore) sang a song of her own, which was simply amazing.


Getting right into the word, Pastor Mac preached a powerful message called "Gilgal." You can hear it here.




More tonight! You can follow the revivals on Twitter by searching the #glccrevival hashtag.

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8/20/09

...like a train on the edge of the town

It's coming. Can you feel it?


Tonight kicks off our annual Back to School Revival at Gospel Light. This is the third year we've been doing this, and if the trend is to continue, this year will be bigger and better than ever.




We have a lot of regular events at GLCC, but the revival has been one everyone looks forward to. As in years past, we will be having Brian McDonald as our featured speaker. "Pastor Mac," as we call him, is a gifted and annointed man of God, who never fails to stir up the Spirit and lift hearts. I could sit for hours and listen to him.




Combine that with great worship, testamonies, and special presentations, and this is looking to be a great time!

If you're going to be anywhere in the New England area this weekend, consider stopping by!



Here are some photos of last years revival. Hope to see ya!

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8/17/09

In the Studio - Take 14

I've been tied up with some things this weekend, including a minor medical emergency (no, not me, and everyone's alright) so I never got to post after our studio session Thrusday. So here goes...

After last week's restart of our recording project, we were eager to continue momentum on the album. The goal: drums and bass, as much as possible. If you recall, we had a challenge getting the beats down for "One Way." I'm not sure why, but that song continues to kick our collective butts. Like the last time, though, we pushed through. Elyano kept working at it, and finally we got the track down.


Danny was along as well, and was recording bass with Elyano. This is one of those situations where you realize the difference between playing live and recording. All the little licks and riffs and fills we do playing live have to go out the window; studio recording is really an exercize in simplicity and thoughtfully approaching music. It's a challenge playing a stripped down bassline, especually when there is no other melody instruments to take up sonic space.




We wound up re-recording electric and bass together. Danny and I locked in with Elyano's drum work, and it all went well.

If "One Way" dominated us, we took it out on "He Reigns." One take and out - it was perfect. Of course, we still need to add keys and more acoustic to it, but the core of that song is done as well.

Next week, we're having our Back to School Revivals at Gospel Light, so there will be no studio time. We'll all be playing at the church on Thursday night. But the following week, we'll be back at it hard.

Stay tuned...

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8/16/09

Sunday Setlist - August 16th



Interesting weekend of worship at Gospel Light Community Church. We did another acoustic set this weekend.


This weekend was the Father/Son and Mother/Daughter weekends. Since most of the band was away at the Father/Son weekend, I wound up leading worship this weekend. Two Sundays of me singing - Bridgeport may never be the same!


Here's our setlist:


Opening:

Your Grace is Enough (Maher)(G)

Main Set:

He Reigns (Furler)(C)
God of Wonders (Byrd/Hindalong)(G)
Mighty to Save (Morgan)(G)
You Are My King (Amazing Love)(Foote)(D)




Offering:



Blessed Be Your Name (Redman/Redman)(C)


We had most of our regular female vocalists today. In addition, Pastor Amy joined us for the first time on keys. She's been rehearsing with us for weeks, but this was the first time she's played on a Sunday. I think she did a great job, and look forward to her being part of the team.

Things went pretty smoothly, all considering. I thought "Your Grace is Enough" suffered a bit without percussion, but the others went well. Not having any of our usual "lead" vocalists, we took "Mighty to Save" down two half-steps to G. (We usually do it in A.) It was a little easier to sing, and no one seemed to mind.


We used to do "Amazing Love" all the time. (And I do mean all the time.) We haven't done it in a while, I think. It seemed fresh to me in any case.


It's been fun doing stripped-down acoustic arrangements these last two weeks, but I'll be glad to have the whole band back next weekend. We're having our annual "Back to School" Revival next week, so we'll have services on Thursday, Friday and two on Sunday. I'd better get my fingers warmed up now!


Check out other setlists at Fred McKinnon's blog.

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8/12/09

They Just Don't Get It, Do They?

One of the things that the major (and minor) music labels have been struggling with of late is the changing buying habits of the music-listening public. In short, the fact that we buy "songs" and not "albums" now.

The music industry has always had a love-hate relationship with singles. On one hand, singles drove sales for many, many years. Back in the hay day of radio, singles were the only way most people could hear new music. Then they would - hopefully - go to the local record store and buy an album. Oh sure, we would also buy 45 singles, but we bought a lot of LPs, too.

Many artists objected to their songs being released as singles. In one famous case, George Harrison blocked his label from releasing "My Sweet Lord" as a single in 1970. (All of the other Beatles had released solo albums in 1970, and none had released any singles.) Apple (records, not computers) didn't release it as a single in the U.K., but did in the U.S., where it was an instant success. Harrison held out less than two months; the song was released as a single in the U.K. in January '71.

In today's digital download era, the single has resurged with a vengeance. 99 cents songs are all the rage, and consumers are spending about three times as much money on single-song downloads as they are on albums.

The major labels and Apple (computers, not records) are striking back, so to speak. EMI, Universal, Warner and Sony "Rootkits R Us" Records are teaming up to develop a format called CMX. This will supposedly bring enhanced content to people who purchase full albums. Apple is working on its own plan, called "Cocktail" to do much of the same thing.

Here's the problem, and here's what they don't get: many artists have forgotten (or never learned) how to make an "album." They write two or three good songs, package it with eight or ten tracks of garbage, and call it an "album."



Back in the "Album Era" - from the early sixties to the late seventies or so, records were often made thematically, and meant to be listening events. I remember quite will listening to entire albums over and over, because every song was good, and the progression of songs took you on a journey. Try putting on Simon and Garfunkle's Bridge Over Troubled Water or Elton John's Don't Shoot Me, I'm Only the Piano Player or the Eagle's The Long Run and then only listening to one song. Or, if your in a harder mindset, Van Halen's Fair Warning or The Who's Who's Next.

The Eighties signaled the death-knell for albums - MTV saw to that - but there were still some keepers: Brothers in Arms, No Jacket Required, An Innocent Man, and of course, Synchronicity. (Note: I'm excluding concept albums like Tommy and Kilroy Was Here. And live albums.)

Today, few artists produce albums. I'm not saying none of them do. U2's No Line on the Horizon is one of the most brilliant albums in years. David Crowder* Band's A Collision is another group of songs that work best when listened to together. And the recent Israel Houghton offering The Power of One fits my definition of an album.


So my advice to the record labels? Stop trying to game the system by figuring out ways to change our buying habits. Instead, put out a better product! Because a lot of small and indie artists are. And I can buy their tunes on Amazon as easily as I can buy yours.

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8/9/09

Sunday Setlist - August 9



It was a different service than normal today at Gospel Light. Most of our youth - which means most of the worship team - are away on a week-long mission trip. That can only mean one thing - acoustic set time!

So we did in fact have an acoustic set, although Chris was available for drumming duties. I really like when we get to do these stripped-down sets. They seem more intimate and personal, somehow. I wouldn't want to to do them all the time, but a couple of times a year is nice.

Opening Song:

Blessed Assurance (Crosby/Knapp) (D)

Main Set:

Blessed Be Your Name (Redman)(C)
God of Wonders (Byrd/Hindalong)(G)
O Praise Him (All This for a King) (Crowder)(Bb)
Came To My Rescue (Sampson/Davies/Thomas)(C)
Revelation Song (Riddle)(G)

Offering:

Montana (Gonzales/Gonzales/Gonzales)(Am)

We had decided recently that we want to incorporate more hymns into our worship services. "Blessed Assurance" is a natural - everyone knows it, and it's a rare "guitar-friendly" hymn. In fact, it sounds great with an acoustic guitar. (Though I'm looking forward to doing a more "Third Day-ish" version with the whole band. The song went over well, and was a great "call to worship" for us.

"Blessed Be Your Name" and "God of Wonders" are staples of mine for acoustic sets. This is the first time I've done "O Praise Him" on an acoustic in service, but it worked well. I found that by stumming between the bridge and the sound hole, I got a brassy, echo-y sound that went well with the song. I still torture the vocalists by making them sing in Bb, but it's really the best sounding key for this song.

"Came to My Rescue" was the highlight of the service. I'm fortunate that I didn't pop a string during the bridge, I was playing so hard.

I was also my week to bring the message, so by the end of service I was pretty exhausted. We had a great all-congregation altar call, though, using Israel Houghton's version of "Moving Foward." All in all, a great day.

Check out other services at Fred McKinnon's blog.

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8/8/09

Saturday Silliness - Second Fiddle

Recently I looked at some list that was, like, the "100 most memorable movie characters," or something like that. It had your Travis Bickle, and your Darth Vader and your Tony Montana. Oddly, Rhett Butler wasn't on the list. I figured he was a shoo-in.

But what about the poor second fiddle? They guy next to the guy? The "Also Starring:" guy? They get no respect. So here, in no particular order, are my favorite second bananas, Han, Rusty, Gimli, Quint and Khan.


Han Solo




I suppose it could be argued that Han Solo wasn't really a second fiddle as much as a co-star. But really, he was. Star Wars was about Luke, and Darth and Obi Wan and Leia. Han came in during the second act, the rouge that you weren't sure was a good guy or a bad guy. But in the end, he saved the day, didn't he? Where would Jedi-wannabe Luke be without Han? Splattered all over that canyon, that's where.



Best Line: "I know." (Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back) I mean, can you be any cockier than that?



Rusty Ryan



In a film series that packs an amazing amount of star power, there's usually a problem finding the "one" who really stands out. And while the films may be named after Danny Ocean, it's Rusty who really drives things forward. He's the guy who comes up with the names of the other cons, who keeps Danny focused, and who's got the stones to make the call to Terry Benedict. Plus, he loves to eat!


Best Line: "And for God's sake, whatever you do, don't, under any circumstances... " (Ocean's Eleven) We never found out what, but I bet it was important.


Gimli, son of Gloine


Another star-packed film series, where it was easy to forget some of the stars, was Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Gimli, played to perfection by John Rhys-Davies, was the comic relief in Jackson's films, but also was a key (if diminuative) part of the plot. His constant bickering with Legolas was perhaps missed on a first viewing, but by the end of the trilogy the view can appriciate the relationship these two men had.





Best Line: "That still only counts as one!" (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) In case you didn't realize it, Gimli and Legolas were in a constant competition to see who could kill more of the enemy. Gimli was just clarifying the rules.


Quint



The late, great Robert Shaw portrayed many iconic roles, but none so memorable as Quint, the hard-edged shark fisherman from 1975's Jaws. Quint was no-nonsense, and all business. He knew the sea, he knew men, and he knew fish. He was a modern-day Ahab, seeking after the Great White Shark, perhaps as vengance for what had happened to him in his youth, aboard the USS Indianapolis. I think in the end, Quint knew that the only way to destroy the shark was to let it destroy him as well.



Best Line: "Well it proves one thing, Mr. Hooper. It proves that you wealthy college boys don't have the education enough to admit when you're wrong. " Just because Quint led a simple life, doesn't mean he was simple-minded.




Khan Noonian Singh


I don't care who you are, there is not a more menacing villan in all of sci-fi than Khan. It's that fact that there is a deep-seated humanity about him. Darth Vader was bad all the time; Khan could be gracious and charming. Khan's not bad, he's just misunderstood, or so the saying goes. Ricardo Montalban, who played Khan to perfection, said that the very best villans are the ones who don't see themselves as villanous. Khan believes he is on a noble quest - either to return his marooned crew to Earth (and power) or to avenge the death of his wife. He sees himself as a hero - and that's what's so frightening. If Quint is the modern-day Ahab, Khan is the Ahab of the future, chasing James Kirk " 'round the moons of Nibia and 'round the Antares Maelstrom and 'round Perdition's flames" if necessary.


Best Line: "I've done far worse than kill you, Admiral. I've hurt you. And I wish to go on... hurting you. I shall leave you as you left me, as you left her; marooned for all eternity in the center of a dead planet... buried alive! Buried alive...! " With that sentence, so powerfully delivered, we both see the root of Khan's anger, and the depth of his madness.


Honorable Mention: Hector Barbossa. I just love this guy.

Best Line: "And thirdly, the Code is more what you'd call "guidelines" than actual rules."

So who's your favorite second (or third) banana?

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8/7/09

In the Studio - Take 13



If you read yesterday's post, you know we were scheduled to re-start our worship recording project.

Well we did it.

Actually I did it. I'm not saying that to be conceited. I'm saying that because I was the only one there. Yesterday's post explained the plan: since all the other musicians were out of town for various reasons, I went in to record some guitar parts by myself, working to rhythm loops. (clips of the loops are in yesterday's post)


The session went really well. Our engineer, Gabby, has a new computer (turns out his Mac was fried, not just the hard drives) and was ready to go. Here's what we got done:

Mighty to Save - acoustic
Your Love is Deep - acoustic
Draw Me Close - acoustic
He Reigns - acoustic
From the Inside Out - acoustic
One Way - electric


Six songs in one session - I'm feeling pretty good about that. I still have to track electric on three of these songs, but I've gotten about a third of my stuff done in one session.

Next week: Drums/bass on these songs, plus whatever else we can get done.




(Oh, and I have backup copies of all the files... I'm just sayin' )

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8/6/09

Here We Go Again... again

OK, so after our studio disaster of last month, and two false starts, the studio has reported to us that they are back up and running, computers fixed, software loaded, plugins, well, plugged, and we're ready to go.


Only one problem. Almost all of the band is out of town between working at a youth camp, summer college sessions and our youth ministry's mission trip.


But... I do not want to waste another week. So here's what's happening. I've been working all weekend on rhythm loops for some of the songs, especially the ones that are acoustic-driven. I'll be heading back into the studio tonight with those tracks, and will begin recording guitar parts for these songs. Let's hope that works out as well as it looks on paper.


I've redone some of the arrangements based on notes we had taken at our last listening session before we lost everything. I really believe that the finished product will be better as a result of all this.

Below are some clips of some of the loops. I really like the way "One Way" came out. (about :50 in) These were made using Hydrogen. These don't reflect, obviously, what the drums will sound like, but I spent a couple of hours practicing to them last night, and they will be a good reference for me.


I'll let you know how it turns out. Stay tuned, campers...




video

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8/4/09

Book Review - 100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs - Steven Elkins


As a children's pastor, I am always looking for resources to bring fresh, exciting and interactive learning to the children in our ministry. The folks over at Thomas Nelson Publishing have put together a great book here for parents and children's ministries alike.


100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs delivers just as the title advertises. The book is chock full of simple bible stories designed for young children, each accompanied by a song. The stories cover the entire bible, from the Genesis creation story ("In the Beginning") to the final judgement in Revelation. ("You Can't Get to Heaven on Roller Skates")


The stories bring out the simple truths of the biblical narrative, broken down to a kid-friendly level, with colorful illustrations by Tim O'Conner. Important words are colorfully highlighted so that the reader can stress them, and each story also contains a one-sentence life application, which does great bringing home the point of the lesson.


Besides some songs that are obviously custom-written for children, there are also great kid-friendly arrangements of some Christan standards, like "Amazing Grace," "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot," as well as all-age favorites like "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands" and "Father Abraham."


Anyone involved in teaching children the Bible should have this book in their ministry toolbox.
100 Bible Stories, 100 Bible Songs is available from Thomas Nelson Publishers.

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8/2/09

Sunday Setlist August 2


Here's the Sunday setlist report from Gospel Light Community Church in Bridgeport, Ct, on a warm and rainy Sunday morning.

Opening:
Your Grace is Enough (Maher)(G)

Main Set:

All Because of Jesus (Fee)(C)
Freedom (James)(B)
History Maker (Smith)(G)
Healer (Guglielmucci)(B)
Higher (Fieldes)(C)


Offering:

Ancient of Days (Sadler/Harville)(G)


With the exception of the opening song and the offering song, nothing on this list has been played during the main part of the service for at least seven months. So let's boogie:

"All Because of Jesus" is a song we introduced as an offering song last week. It was very popular, and made it into the main set this week. Great song, great vibe, lot of fun to play. A keeper.




"Freedom" is a song by Eddie James and The Ultimate Call. It's really high-energy and fun. Today was the first time we've ever done it, and judging by the clapping, shouting and dancing, it won't be the last. If you've never heard this tune, watch the video below - you'll wanna play it.

The three "H's" made it back into our available list in July. "History Maker" by Delirious? is one of my favorite worship songs, and I was glad to be able to play it. "Healer" really ministered to the house today. When we play it, Justin does most of the melody on the keys; I just do that haunting, repetitive B note through the verses, then come in with some overdrive in the chorus.



It turned out that the multi-echo I had set up for "All Because of Jesus" worked well for "Healer" and "Higher." In fact, it worked really well for the intro to "Higher." (Not that Nigel Hendroff is in danger of losing his job or anything.)

And of course, "Ancient of Days" is one of those great, timeless songs that everyone in our church loves.

So how was your service? Once you're done watching the Eddie James video below, jump on over to Fred McKinnon's blog to see some more setlists.


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