mikeymo's place

I just got done doing some scratch mixes from last night's recording session.  I have one word - amazing.  The album is really starting to come together with the addition of vocals. 

Last night we finished up all the choruses for the guys in addition to some verses.  We began with our one original song, which is called "Calvary."  It was written by our very own Justin, and he began the session by tracking his vocals. The song is a duet, so in a couple of weeks we'll add the female vocals, but it sounds great now. 

The next step was vocals on "One Way."  That went very smoothly. "Mighty to Save" was another story.  That song has been a challenge for us since day one, mainly because there are so many parts to it.  It took a few takes, but we got a lot done on it.  It's going to be a duet, with a lot of dynamics and a big finish.  Finally, we got to "He Reigns" and knocked that out.  I just finished the scratch mix of that and it sounds great!!

So things are still on track.  We have maybe one more week of male vocals.  We have vocals on ten out of eleven songs now, and there's enough to start thinking about the final mixdown, listening for anything that needs fixing, and getting ready for mastering. 

Keep up with the latest, and invite all your friends to check out our Facebook page for all the news!

Sojourn Worship is an interesting group.  Ostensibly the worship team from Sojourn Community Church in Kentucky, Sojourn has grown beyond their walls with inspired, authentic and powerful worship music.  It's hard to describe how ground-breaking this record is.  Based on the music of Isaac Watts, Over the Grave is not simply a rehashing of centuries-old hymns.  Rather, Sojuorn has reimagined Watt's ideas and created truly modern hymns.   This record is deep and rich and theologically profound.  It is also masterful in it's performance and exquisite in its production.

I did not participate in the original Joint review of the record, but it has been re-posted on The Joint Review.   So check it out, and check out this amazing record.

For a couple of weeks now, I've been using the new Google Wave web app, and it seems time to jot down some early notes about it.  

For those who don't know, Wave is an interactive, online, real-time collaboration and communication tool.  And when I say "real-time," I mean it - you can actually watch others in your wave typing, letter-by-letter, backspace-by-backspace.  

Like most things Google, the first reaction when getting a Wave invite is "What do I do with it?"  And like most things, the best approach is to dive in and find out, and read as much as you can.  There are tons of third-party extensions that really expand the usefulness of the tool.

The default Wave dashboard looks like an email box, with three panes.  On the left is navigation and contacts, in the center is your "inbox" and on the right is a reading pane for the active wave.  Any box can be expanded or minimized.

Wave is pretty JavaScript-heavy and uses some open-source technology (like HTML5 tags) that are not supported by IE, so you would have to install Google's Chrome frame to make use of all the features.  Myself, I just run it in Chrome since it's optimized for that browser.  FireFox runs it fine, and I think Safari does as well. 

I've been using Wave mainly as a collaboration tool with my fellow Joint Review authors.  It's great - you can drag photos and links right into a wave, and drag in documents and modify them together.  Some of the gadgets are cool too - when you add a GoogleMap to a wave, it centers on your location.  Then you can work on adding directions, locations - whatever - together. 



I can easily imagine using this tool to plan events and meetings.  It's quite intuative and easy to use. As more gadgets and features come online, I can only see it getting better. 

Wave is still in preview - Google's not even calling it a beta - so it's invitation only.  If you get invited by Google directly, apparently you can invite other people.  When I got my invitation, I had a wave in my inbox with 8 invites.  After a week or so, I logged on to find 12 more in my inbox.  So far, no one that I have invited has any invitations to give out.  You need a gmail account to be invited, but you should have one of those anyway.

If you're using wave, or have questions, put them in the comments. 

So let me tell you about my weekend...  

First off, it wasn't a normal weekend by any stretch.  I started off Friday night teaching and helping lead worship at Gospel Light's Men's Encounter.  We did a short set:  Again I Say Rejoice (Houghton)(E), Finding Who We Are (Shamburger)(G), Draw Me Close (Carpenter)(G), Give Us Clean Hands (Hall)(G).  I also gave the message that night, teaching on the early life of Jacob, which played right off the Charlie Hall song.

Saturday, my wife Jill and I jumped in the car and headed up to Middletown, Rhode Island, stopping to pick up our daughter at URI.  Why?   Glad you asked.  We were treated to a wonderful evening at Lifepath Church, home of my Joint Review mate Joel Klampert.  Lifepath was hosting a concert by the legendary Bill Mallonee.   Bill and his wife Mariah Rose Muriah Rose gave us a wonderful, intimate performance, full of captivating stories and amazing guitar work.  If you don't know Bill's work, or the Vigilantes of Love, then find him.  Now.  After the show, we went to dinner with Joel and his folks, and Bill and Mariah Muriah and had some great fellowship and food.

Sunday morning I helped lead worship at Lifepath with Joel.  Here's our setlist:

Be Thou My Vision (Traditional)(D)

Main Set:

Glory to God Forever (Fee/Beeching)(G)
The Lord Reigns (Keuhn)(G)
The Solid Rock (Mote/Bradbury)(D)
Where You Go I Go (Johnson/Mohr)(Bm)

Communion

This is the Gift of God (Able/Cartee)(E)

Closing:

Your Name (Baloche/Packiam)(G)
Say So (Houghton/Gungor)(G)


Yes, they do that much music at Lightpath.  There may have been another song, actually - I'm doing this from memory.  I got to play Joel's Les Paul, which was sweet, although there were volume issues on the last song.  Other than that glitch, it was a great weekend.  So here's a plan for you for next summer: take a vacation to beautiful Newport, and visit Lightpath.

This will be part of Fred McKinnon's setlist carnival.


I found out today that I had spelled Muriah Rose's name wrong.  Apologies to a talented and gracious lady.

Just in case you were wondering how the End of Days comes about, you can stop trying to figure it out by reading Revelation.   It's all right here, shamelessly ripped off from The Ancient Mariner.

• It is much more efficient to shop online, or from a mass-market bookseller.
• The value people place of having a nice, bound copy of a book is much less than in the past.
• The value people place on what's inside hasn't changed. Just the means of delivery.
• If the publishing companies and retailers can get off their collective duffs and realize that formats and devices don't matter, and develop a workable, cross-platform ebook solution, then printed books are probably doomed to the fate of vinyl records - still available, but rare, and appealing to a niche market only.

Let it never be said I'm not cultured.  Just because I love pounding drums, overdriven guitars and a serious bassline does not mean I cannot appriciate the finer things in life. 

I've long been a fan of The Irish Tenors (who are only Finbar Wright, Anthony Kearns and Ronan Tynan!) and have wondered what would happen if that magical sound would be applied to sacred music.  Guess what?  Along comes "The Priests."

The Priests are literally that: three working Catholic parish priests, all from Northern Ireland.  Their debut album was released in Ireland a year ago, and has become the fastest-selling classical album debut in U.K. history.  In November, they are scheduled to release their sophomore album, entitled Harmony.  I hope to be able to review the album when it arrives, because the songs I've heard are amazing.

Now, I know that classical, sacred music is not to everyone's taste, but would it really kill you to broaden your horizons a bit? 

While considering that, take a listen to this. 

Matt Redman is on of the top worship leaders in the world today.  Chances are if you randomly picked ten tunes being sung in churches today, three or four would be written or co-written by him.  Matt Just released an album of twelve brand-new songs.  How does it stack up? See what The Joint says:

JOEL: A great CD. great worship with a few that will have to grow on you. The title track is brilliant!




CONNER: While I have the utmost respect for Matt, I basically slept through the first 4 songs. Then all of a sudden “The Glory of Our King” came on and the CD actually started for me! It was hilarious because when the CD started over, I liked them SO much more! I think. So, I believe that for fans of Matt Redman, you’ll like this CD because you’ve heard it before…but then there’s some real gems that surprise you!


I haven’t mentioned the lyrics because it’s Matt Redman. Hello! Great stuff here. As always it’s thoughtful and singable.





MIKE: Great songs, deep lyrics, outstanding production. If it had a serious rocked-out tune it would be perfect!



ALASTAIR: For me, this is the definition of a worship album.



Check out the entire Joint Review!!

Over at The Joint, we reviewed Matt Maher's recent offering, Alive Again.

In short:

JOEL: It is a very interesting CD and will take some time to unpack and get used to. I love the writing on this CD, but I don’t think that every song on this CD was of equal caliber. I was also disappointed that there were no liturgical songs on here like previous CD’s. However the songs that stood out make this a worthwhile CD.



MIKE: Great songs, great music. Matt Maher fans will love it. I wish the mix was better.



ALASTAIR: If you are a Matt Maher fan you will probably love this album. There is some nice songs on here that will work well in any church setting. Some are suited more as special songs rather than congregational. “Alive Again” is an amazing track, I just wish it wasn’t so much better than the rest.

Come on over to The Joint and read the whole review!

Intersting weekend at Gospel Light this weekend!   It started with a street meeting in the middle of the Bronx, New York City.   The Bronx is where our latest church plant is being started, and some of us went down there to help Pastor Jim and Andrea with this outreach.   Our choir, Send Judah First, sang a few songs, as did the choir from Pivot Ministries.

Here's a video of some of that:



Onto Sunday!   The setlist looked like this:

Opening:

God of Wonders (Byrd/Hindalong)(G)

Main Set:

Cover the Earth (Cruse-Racliffe/Houghton/Houghton)(D)
Your Grace is Enough (Maher)(G)
God of Wonders (reprise)
Shout to the Lord (Zschech)(G)
Hosanna (Fraser)(B)

Offering:

Trading My Sorrows (Evans)(G)
Lord I Life Your Name on High (Founds)(G)

Strange day today. Chris had car trouble, so both our scheduled drummer and our backup were unavailable. I decided to forgo the electric guitar totally, play acoustic on the fast songs, and play drums on the two slow songs and the offering.  (because to me, "God of Wonders" needs an acoustic guitar and "Hosanna" needs a beat.) I had actually never played "Hosanna" on drums - not that it's hard - so that was fun.  And I love playing "Trading My Sorrows" on drums. 

After our set, we were again joined by Pivot Ministries.  Pivot is a Christ-centered drug and alcohol program for men.  One of the requirements of the program is that the men participate in the Gospel Choir, which is quite good.  (they've put our several albums) Pivot ministered with several songs.  We love it when these guys come out.   There's a cell-phone video of some of their home-spun rapping below. 

All in all a great day, to be topped off by an evening service tonight.   Next week... well, that'll be a surprise!

As usual, this will be part of Fred McKinnon's setlist carnival.

I love progress.  Last night, we had tons of progress.  

As I mentioned last Friday, we were hoping to start vocals this week.  But before we could do that, there was some music left to do.  I specifically did not track any guitar last week, because I wanted to let the other guys finish their stuff.

This session began with guitar.  I added acoustic to "He Reigns," and then retracked the electric part to the same song.  Once that was done, I did electric on "From the Inside Out" and "Calvary," and then another electric track on "Mighty to Save." 

So...   we are finally finished with the music.  At least mostly - there will undoubtedly be some redos and fills during mixing, but the bulk of it is done. 

On to vocals.  We had decided to record only the guys this week, so Josh, Justin and Elyano warmed up the ol' vocal chords and got down to work.  First up: "Say So."  Justin is singing lead on this one, did a great job.  We also had all three guys do their choruses.  Then we moved on to "Tell the World" and the guys finished up their parts there as well.   Outstanding job by the guys!! 

Next week we'll continue with the guys' parts, and maybe get some of the girls involved.


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As part of Blog Action Day 2009, I agreed to write a post today on the topic of Climate Change. Trouble is, climate change is not something I've thought too much about.  This in spite of the fact that it seems to be all the rage.  "Green is the new black." is a common mantra, and some would have "Global Warming" be the Fifth Horse of the Apocalypse.   (And lo, I saw a rider on a green horse, and his name was Al Gore...) 

Seriously, though, how is a Christian supposed to balance his responsibility of stewardship of God's creation with his responsibility to spread the Gospel and strive against moral outrage?  Are we better off lifting our voices against abortion and sexual slavery and the like, or is climate change enough of a "real" issue for us to sink our teeth into?

As with many things, I suspect the correct answer is "a little of both."  There are prominent evangelical Christian leaders who both support and oppose a "global warming" agenda in the evangelical church.  So how are we, as leaders in local congregations, supposed to shepherd in this area?

Let's start with a couple of basics.  "Climate Change" is certainly real.  It can be physically measured, in glaciers, ice cores, fossil records, insect and animal populations, sea levels and more.  What we don't understand completely is how or why it happens.   Is it a natural part of our planet's cycle?  Is it - at least partially - caused by human activity?  "Global Warming" is the idea that human activity is causing the Earth's temperature to slowly rise, and thus accelerating climate change. 

What we do know is this - We are called to love God and love our neighbors.   What we need to think about is how our stewardship of the planet God placed us on relates to those two things; do we "love God" by needlessly polluting His creation?  Do we "love our neighbor" by squandering the planet? Probably not.

Christ often practiced what I call the "Greater Principle."  He would conform to that law which was "greater."  He would heal on the Sabbath, because it was the greater good.  He would break traditions to conform with God's law of love.

What is the "greater" principle here?  Should I detract my time from teaching, preaching, service and defending the unborn to protest global warming?   Maybe not.  But - should I be a good steward of what God has given me?  Of course. Is it "loving one's neighbor" to use energy-efficient appliances, to drive a fuel-efficient car, to turn off the AC when it's not very hot, to carpool and take mass-transit when possible?   You know what?  I think it is.

Here's the problem.  "Evironmentalism" can easily become an idol.  We lay so many things upon the altar of a "green society" and are willing to bash one another because of it.  That's not love.  Tossing around pseudo-science (on both sides) to prove a point?  That's not love. Especially when there is little to no consensus on the causes and extent of climate change. But there is also no harm (and a lot of good) in doing what we can as individuals to protect our environment.  So lower that thermostat, turn off those lights, and get on the train. And while you're on the train, talk to the guy next to you about Jesus.

I don't generally cross-blog like this (OK, who am I kidding?) but I thought that this had relevance to a broader audience then the (twenty) people who normally read the (outstanding) GLCCKids blog. 

We did a short demonstration on Friday night that turned into more than I intended.  And it has a good takeaway for anyone in leadership.  And especially for those who are developing leaders.

So click on over there and check it out. 

Christy Nockels is an amazing singer.  A regular contributor to Passion conferences, she is half of Christian band Watermark, along with her husband Nathan, and has several #1 radio hits to her credit, along with several Dove nominations.   This year, Christy released her first solo record.  How did she do?   The Joint knows...

Joel: It’s a well done CD that is just that and nothing more. I am not a fan of the cover tunes at all. I think “Marvelous Light” is not a great version. Again great voice, but this CD does not express the talent that she is.



Conner: Each listen grows on me a bit more however something falls a little flat. I’m not sure if the one thing that’s always stunned me (her voice) is a bit covered by the musicality or if it is the cover songs or what but something doesn’t feel right. Good song writing and musicality but there’s a missing piece. I don’t think that “Marvelous Light” or “Hosanna” actually compliment the CD, I wish I heard more of her material, however I do think “No Not One” is a cool alternative to Brandon Heath’s!

Mike: Amazing vocals, quality songwriting, so-so production. But a very good album, all told. A songwriter as good as Christy should skip the cover tunes.

Al: A great album from Christy. Her voice is fantastic. Her worship style is fresh and chirpy.

"Chirpy," huh?   Why not read the whole Joint Review and see what we really think??  And what this record means to churches and worship leaders.
 

We had a baby dedication as well; Josh and Lauren's son Caleb.  His grandfather is Pastor Miller, our founding pastor, who gave the message.  And Daniel did a song of his own creation, which was incredible.  It basically tells the story of the biblical Caleb, using that story to inspire and encourage his baby nephew.  It was a touching, wonderful moment.  Since Blogger is pretty dopey when it comes to embedding music, you can hear it here.   Take a few minutes and give a listen.

This is part of Fred McKinnon's Setist carnival.

I really liked the new Star Trek film, and I will certainly get it when the DVD hits on November 17.   But there's only one Kirk.  No matter how badly The Shat treats his fans. 

We had some ambitous goals for this weeks studio session.  Here's the email I sent out on Wednesday:

---

Michael Mahoney October 7 at 1:43pm


What needs to get done?
Guitar and piano on "We Prepare the Way" and "From the Inside Out"
Piano on "Your Love is Deep" "He Reigns" "From the Inside Out" "Draw Me Close" "You Said"
Retrack electric on "Mighty to Save" and "He Reigns"
Retrack Bass on something... Danny knows.
Record everything on "Calvary"

---

In other news, we've made some changes to our Facebook Page.  First thing was that we now have a custom URL:
 
www.facebook.com/GospelLightWorship
 
Secondly, we added an iLike music page.  For those of you who have not signed up as fans, you'll go right there.  Fans will always land on the Wall page, so just click the music tab at the top.  Check out the instrumental clips we've posted, and let us know what you think so far!

I'd love to invent an instrument.   A musical instrument, of course.

Imagine coming up with something no one else has.  And of course, you'd be the best in the world at playing it.

This strange-yet-gorgeous thing pictured to your right is the Eigenharp Alpha. This marvel has got 120 high-resolution programmable keys, 12 percussion keys, 2 strip controllers, a bunch of pedal inputs and a windpipe.  It comes with custom-written software and a USB interface.  It can record and play loops, transpose, change scales, and alter tempos, beats and voicings, all while playing live.  Wow.

For those who don't have the quid to pony up the £4k to buy this work of art (that's over six grand to us Yanks),  there's it's baby brother, the Pico, coming in at a paltry £349.


Below is some James Bond-style hotness courtesy of a couple of guys playing Alphas.   Hang on to the 1 minute mark - you won't be sorry.

We'll be working on this for an upcoming Sunday.   Hey, ya gotta aim high!!!  Click on the image to humongificate.

October's issue of Christianity Today has an interesting article on the ongoing discussion between opening campuses and planting churches.

Now, for the record, I'm a church plant guy. But that line is getting more and more blurry as more and more churches tweak the "multi-campus" model. No longer is the old "theater" church campus the norm (that's the one where the people sit in an auditorium and the pastor gets "beamed in" onto a big screen.) Many churches are turning to a more blended approach.

My problem with multi-site churches is this: why are we not raising up pastors? Why are we not raising up people who can teach and preach God's Word? According to Thomas White, of the Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary "And when you're showing a pastor on the screen yet have a campus pastor: is the campus pastor not fit to teach? If he is, then why is he not teaching? A church plant would be better."

In my view, multi-site churches have the dangerous possibility of becoming cults-of-personality. When we begin following the man instead of the Word, we start slipping away from what church should be. If the senior pastor never gets to meet the vast majority of members, there's a problem. If the "church" is fostering an anonymous, slip-in-and-slip-out mentality, then it's not working.

But... and this is a big one, I'm starting to see some reasonable arguments in favor of some model of multi-campus churches. Larry Osborne from North Coast Church, Vista, Ca.: "It depends on leadership. If I have a gifted communicator, I tell them to plant. If I have someone who is a good shepherd, I suggest a multisite." That actually makes some sense. Not every pastor is a Billy Graham, and if there is still a strong pastor at the site, maybe this makes some sense.

The best argument I've seen is what I'll call the "interim" argument: campuses might make sense if they evolve into churches. Bob Hyatt from Evergreen Community in Portland, Or. says: "Multisite is a step towards church planting... It's something new in a new space, yet doesn't have to be instantly self-sustaining." That actually makes a lot of sense to me.

I don't think this argument (if it is one) is going to be settled anytime soon, but, it's good to see that ideas are continuing to flow. What do you think?

(Thanks to Tyler Braun, who's tweet got me reading the article, which I have quoted liberally.)