Worship Confessional 05.25.08

I have been a local church worship leader for 6 years. I'm at the stage where I feel like I know a lot, lot more than I did when I started, and yet I feel like I soooo much more to learn, and I know I will. In these first years I have had the blessing and the curse of being a big part of 2 church transitions. These are the kind of transitions you've read about or heard about, or maybe even been a part of. It's been a blessing to see people being obedient to God's leading. I've seen people get the big picture, and really live out the idea that it's not about us. I've also had the curse of being the target on the stage. Yes, the senior pastor is leading all this, and I'm right there with him, but I'm the one really changing the music by adding new songs and styles, and taking away songs and styles, which is the hard part. We've made it through our second church transition, and we are seeing God's plan and reasons for the transition. With all that said, we tried something different yesterday, that is fairly common in a lot of contemporary churches. Instead of putting the announcements and offering time as a break between songs, we did all of the worship songs up front and put the break after the sermon as a buffer before the baptisms. I couldn't help but be a little concerned with people's thoughts about this, even though I knew the over all reaction would be fine. It ended up being a very powerful time of worship. The high point was definitely during the song "You Never Let Go". We really celebrated the promise that God loves us and is faithful to us, and that we don't have to fear evil, because Emmanuel, God is with us. I felt led all morning to lead the church to praise God with that song, while at the same time pray for Steven Curtis Chapman and his family. It just seemed so pure to think of them as we worshiped, if just for that one song. I was blown away when I got home after church, and I read a blog stating that part of the funeral was Matt Redman singing "You Never Let Go". I know that they will never know that we did that song and prayed for them, but I saw the sovereignty of God shine through that moment. I felt an instant connection by way of the Holy Spirit. Amazing!

Here was our set list:

"God of Wonders"-City on a Hill
"Unchanging"-Chris Tomlin
"Beautiful Scene"-mine
"You Never Let Go"-Matt Redman
"Center"-Charlie Hall

We talked about taming our temper, and letting God have our anger, which is relevant for everyone. Baptisms are always great, and we definitely had a lot of energy in our service. It's great to be a part of a worshiping church.

Ray Allen's Quiet Time

I just read that Ray Allen doesn't listen to music to get pumped up before a game. He likes the silence and time to collect his thoughts and clear his mind. Here's what he says about it:

"If you're always saying someone else's lyrics, you're taking time away from saying your own thoughts in your head,"

Current Favorite Commercial

I've seen this a billion times during the playoffs this year, and I'm not tired of it yet.

Cloverfield

I forgot to do a little review on this flick. I heard so many different reactions about this film, and I finally rented it a week ago. Most I talked to hated it, and a few I talked to loved it. So, I went into it opened-minded and looking forward to it, because it definitely looked original. I have to say that I genuinely enjoyed Cloverfield. It was a great movie experience. It had the original feel to it with just one camera angle the whole time. It had a realistic feel to it, and it put you into the action. I thought it was a great scary flick, especially the scene in the tunnel, which if you've seen it, you know what I'm talking about. They basically had 4-5 actors that carried the movie, and I thought did a great job, and they were virtually no-name actors. I liked that it was like a modern-day, Americanized Godzilla flick. You can tell they definitely drew off of the Godzilla movies. I also went into the movie expecting it to be good because J.J. Abrams did it, who we have to thank for LOST. All in all, I loved it. It's not a buy for me. It's not something I want to watch again soon, but for me that's a very tiny list anyway. If you like suspense and intense movies, and you don't get motion-sick to easily, I would recommend it.

Scott

Last night I met a guy named Scott. I'm pretty sure Scott is homeless, and I'm pretty sure he had a little too much too drink last night. Even in spite of all that, I was able to relate with Scott. He loves music and he's a great guitarist. Last night he played the mandolin for me and some others for a good 30-40 minutes straight, and he loved it, and so did we. I wasn't there for me, or to make myself feel more like Jesus, or something. I was there to help people like Scott have an enjoyable evening of eating together and hanging out, but I was blessed by Scott as he played and sang. Sure, he's possibly homeless, but he touched my life. I really can't wait to go help other people like this again. It feels right. It's nothing courageous or incredibly holy. It's what we're supposed to do. I call myself a "Christian", and sometimes there's no trace of Christ to be seen on me. I'm thankful that God put Scott in my life for that short amount of time, and I hope I see him again. Thanks Scott, and thanks Bek for taking this picture. It was a great surprise.

Great Quote

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't."
-John Piper

perspective

One of my biggest musical influences, Steven Curtis Chapman, suffered a huge loss last night. His 5-year old adopted daughter was tragically killed in a car accident, and unfortunately, their son was driving the car. I cannot begin to feel or imagine the grief that is running through this family today. He has written so many songs that remind us of God's faithfulness: "His strength is perfect when our strength is gone," "my Redeemer is faithful and true". Those lyrics impacted me as a very young teenager, and I pray for their comfort and peace today. My children are so precious to me, and I don't know how I would recover if something like this happened them. We must gain perspective in the midst of tragedies, and sometimes we're forced to. My perspective in the last year has been to make parenting my most important priority as I grow closer to God in my faith. My family is a gift from God, and I need to treasure my time with them more.

This is what I wore to work today...

...and I can finally wear it unashamed after 20 years of losing. We're looking good in the Eastern Conference Finals...so far.

Worship Confessional 05.18.08

Our worship service was weird this week. When I say weird, I mean the true meaning of the word, which is, according to dictionary.com, "involving or suggesting the supernatural; unearthy or uncanny;fantastic or bizzare."
At Bethany, we definitely developed an identity of a worshiping church in our community, which praise God for. Our worship service is full of intensity and people physically expressing their worship. I have learned a value lesson regarding worship services. When I was at the Saddleback Worship Conference in 2006, a pastor named Buddy Owens challenged us to quit walking away from church wondering how I did that day. He challenged us to "leave it there". If God is in control, and His Spirit moved and guided, then it was nothing short of amazing. In short, if I'm being Spirit-led as a leader, then it was great, and I'll leave it right there.
That's what I practiced this week. Our worship service was by no means "dead", but it was lacking it's normal, characteristic energy from the crowd. In these situations, I have learned to trust God, continue to sing His praise, reflect His glory. I'm so glad that I did, because God was faithful. He was moving, and even though it didn't manifest itself through energetic praise, there were people with heavy burdens there seeking Him, and that doesn't always mean joyful praise. God moved in the weirdness, and I embrace that.
We're going through a study of Proverbs. This week we tackled the topic of "Surviving my Schedule", and focused on making God our priority.

Here's the songs we used:

"Holy and Exalted"-mine
"Hosanna (Our Praise is)"-Brenton Brown
"You are my King"
"Now to the King"-mine
"Glory in the Highest"-Chris Tomlin

I'm so thankful to lead a worshiping church. It's great to not feel like a cheer leader. I really feel like the lead worshiper praising our God with a great church.

YES!!!!

I really think we have a shot at beating Detroit. The problem the Celtics had with Cleveland was that they were a bigger size team, and we got hurt on the offensive boards. Detroit is smaller, and if Ray Allen starts playing moderately well, then we should be able to beat the Pistons. Go Boston!

Worship Confessional 05.11.08

As a worship leader, I have a tendency to measure worship. What I mean is I measure it by the crowd's response. This could be called a vice for me. This is something that I have improved in immensely in the last 6 years. I still stay connected to the crowd, but I am more concerned with God's pleasure than mine, but I still need to improve. With that said, Sunday was amazing. The church was connected from the first song to the last. I believe the presence of God was felt by many people, and that's what it's all about.

The set list was:

"Forever"- Chris Tomlin
"Alleluia (Our Praise Is)- me
"All Glory"- David Paul Regier
"Blessed Assurance"- Hymn
"Everything"- Tim Hughes

I can't tell you about a pinnacle of worship or a big song. They were all big, and I am so thankful for a church that comes to worship together. My friend David Paul Regier wrote a song called "All Glory" that we did. If you haven't heard it, you must. It's one of those annointed songs by God and scripture. Very moving for me. Great things are happening at Bethany, but I don't mean in the building. I think what's happening in the building on Sundays is an overflow of hearts that are beating for God outside the building. That's what we need to keep happening with our church.

My heart is beating...

...with these thoughts.

Worship Confessional 05.04.08

This is something that some worship leaders do on their blogs. It's a way to share what we as worship leaders experienced in the worship services that we lead every week. This is my first one, so here goes.

Today we started a new series called "Word to the Wise". This is an 8-week series on the proverbs. Today we talked about seeking wisdom. I love to team up with the pastor and support what he's talking about with my set list. It's a balance of being theme-oriented and Spirit-led. Here's the set list:

-"Today"-Brian Doerkson
-"I Will Boast"- Paul Baloche
-"How Great Thou Art"- Hymn
-"Your Name"- Paul Baloche
-"All Who are Thirsty"- Brenton Brown

This was a great set. God was definitely all over it, which for a worship leader, that means everything. "I Will Boast" seemed to really wake everyone up and get them focused. "How Great Thou Art" is just timeless. I actually do a version I heard Tim Hughes do a couple of years ago at a conference. It's the same song, just with a different time signature and beat. Then came "Your Name". All I can say is "Wow"! This is a song I have fallen in love with, and I am so thrilled that our church really grabbed it today. We ended it by just singing the name "Jesus" over and over. It was really powerful and dynamic. I ended the worship with the song "All Who are Thirsty". It was just so appropriate. We had some really high impact songs throughout the morning, and this was a really mellow, meditative, soft song. It really seemed to just hover over us as we sang it. It was a day of just focusing on the name of Jesus, and calling on His power. God's presence was definitely manifested in the praise of the people.

I feel relieved today

We had an amazing time of worship at church today. We did the song "Your Name", and it was powerful. Gotta be one of my favorite songs right now. We went to Rancho Viejo for a little mexican food, and got home at half time of the Celtics game. They roasted the Hawks by 34 points. This series should be a wake-up call for my boys. We'll see if they can de-throne King James.

I feel worse today

Boston 100, Atlanta 103. Why must they do this to me? I am nervous now. This will be very disturbing and embarrassing if we lose to the Atlanta Hawks. Now we move on to the dreaded game 7. This is win or go home. We shall watch and wait. Go Boston!

I feel better today

Boston needs one more in Atlanta to finally end this very annoying series. I didn't wait 20 years to watch the C's get beat by the 8th seed Atlanta Hawks in the first round. That could possibly be worse than their winless past 20 years. It must end tomorrow night. It will end tomorrow night.

Microsoft executive's computer of choice

I want one.