Want or Need: TELEVISION

In an ever-growing materialistic society, it's becoming more difficult to distinguish the difference between what we really want and what we really need. It's time for you to weigh in on this discussion. It's real simple...is it a want or a need?

TELEVISION

WANT or NEED?

Music Monday 48

This is a post that you can participate in on every Monday. Everyone likes music, and there are obviously many tastes in music. This is here to see what different types of music are filling everyone's lives. Chime in!

I rarely buy an actual CD anymore, now with the download revolution. I recently downloaded Arcade Fire's "Funeral" album for $5 off amazon, so...

What music have you downloaded lately...legally?

Like I said...Arcade Fire "Funeral", and I also downloaded One Sonic Society's latest EP.



your turn...

Word Wednesday .::120

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Ezekiel 44:4-5 The Message

⁴ The man led me through the north gate to the front of the Temple. I looked, and—oh!—the bright Glory of God filling the Temple of God! I fell on my face in worship.

⁵ God said to me, "Son of man, get a grip on yourself. Use your eyes, use your ears, pay careful attention to everything I tell you about the ordinances of this Temple of God, the way all the laws work, instructions regarding it and all the entrances and exits of the Sanctuary.

This is a great picture of God's desire which is worshipers who worship Him in Spirit and in Truth. Glorifying God is a complete picture of linking our heart to God's heart through the Holy Spirit and understanding Him more and more through truth of Scripture. Ezekiel was overwhelmed by the presence of God, and so would all of us. The presence of God brings you to your face in worship, but the truth and instruction of God is equally as necessary. We must use our eyes, our ears, and our mind, as well as our heart in worship. Really cool scripture. Never noticed it before!


What's your Word?

Music Monday 47

This is a post that you can participate in on every Monday. Everyone likes music, and there are obviously many tastes in music. This is here to see what different types of music are filling everyone's lives. Chime in!

I watched the AMA's last night, and it was tragic. The only good part was all of the banter going on on twitter. There was a lot of material for us. The possible lowest point of the evening, besides Justin Beiber winning Artist of the Year, was when the Backstreet Boys & the New Kids on the Block joined forces to close out the show, so...

Even though I think the "boy band" is absolutely contrived and horrible, in your opinion, what's the best boy band ever?

I'll go with NSYNC, just because I respect the skills of Justin Timberlake.



...so, so, so horrible.

your turn...

Word Wednesday .::119

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Ezekiel 28:17 The Message

Your beauty went to your head.
You corrupted wisdom
by using it to get worldly fame.

Everyone of us have beauty. There's something uniquely beautiful about every human being, because God created us. To deny this is to depreciate the art of God. This scripture is typically viewed as a description of Satan, who was a beautiful and gifted angel. We are all beautiful and gifted in different ways, but the question is: How are we using our beauty and gifts? Is it for God or something else? If its something else, then we are acting like the devil.


What's your Word?

Worship Leader Nightmare

I came across this again. I forgot about it, but this is awful. There's no audio...can't imagine what it would be like with audio. This would truly be a worship leader's nightmare.

Football Con-Artist

Hilarious...

Word Wednesday .::118

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Ezekiel 18:3-4 The Message

^3-4 "As sure as I'm the living God, you're not going to repeat this saying in Israel any longer. Every soul—man, woman, child—belongs to me, parent and child alike. You die for your own sin, not another's.

This could be considered comforting, but I see more responsibility coming out of this passage. We're not responsible for our parent's sins, we also can't just take on our parent's faith. We have to have our own faith and relationship with God.


What's your Word?

Worship Confessional 11.07.10

Setlist with itunes links:
All Creatures of our God and King (youtube)
None That Compares (not yet recorded)
Radiance
Shine

Flow Sheet from Planning Center

Radiance - New Version

This is a little girl from my church. Her mom brought this video in to show me. Had to share it.



Click here to download my version of "Radiance" on Itunes.

Also chord charts are on my website...garydurbin.com

Songwriting::::FOR THE CHURCH, NOT THE CD

These posts on songwriting are not written from a professional point of view. These are just my thoughts as I experience new aspects of the craft. The best part of these posts will be your input.

I've been writing worship songs for the last 8 years. For the most part, I have always been writing with a future CD/album project in mind. I've always, for the most part, considered the congregation in my writing above all else, but there was always that thought of the future project in front of me.

As I was approaching 2010, I was planning on doing a new full-length album with new songs I'd been writing. The only problem was I didn't have the money, so I decided with prayer to do an EP, which I'm really happy with. The EP is called "Kingdom EP". For the last few years, God has burdened me heavily to be more and more Kingdom-minded. Part of that is providing songs for the Church to sing. The EP represents six songs that have been embraced the most by my church and others. It was such a culmination of what God had been doing through my writing.
Since I did this project, I found myself writing more than ever this year, but with no future project planned. This has brought me to an exciting reality that I needed to be reminded of: I'm writing for the church, not a CD.
So, what does this mean?

Two things...
First, it means that I'm refocusing on my first motivation for writing worship songs. When I first starting writing songs for the church, I wasn't sure if they would actually go over well. I certainly never expected to record them for an actual project, and I definitely never thought they would go outside the scope of the four walls of my church. I wrote them for my particular congregation, and I'll never forget how rewarding it felt to see and hear my church worshiping God with something I wrote. I'm getting back to the wonder of that.

Second, it means that I'm approaching the selection of the songs the same way I would for a project. When you record an album, it's important that you put not only your best songs on there, but the right songs for the project. This past couple of years, I've written well over 50 songs. Just like when I select songs for an album, I'm going through those songs and identifying the good, the bad, and the ugly. Then I start bringing out the appropriate songs for the appropriate times. I've recently brought out two songs. One was one that wrote a year ago and the other one I wrote two weeks ago. I've done the same thing for recording an album.

I have dreams and I have goals, when it comes to my music, and they are different. My dreams are like most artists' dreams. I would love to see a song or two be sung in churches all over the world. It would be cool to be with a label and travel and work with amazing producers....but that's not my goal. My goal is simple. It's to invest in the Church. I could obviously do that through my dreams, but that's not my present reality. God has placed me in a particular place to minister to a particular congregation. Anything that happens outside those walls will be because He opens those doors.

As a worship leader and song writer for the Church, I need to keep the big picture in mind. The big picture is the Church. The more I prioritize, invest and write for the Church, the more I'm living for something that will last forever.

Word Wednesday .::117

Word Wednesday is posted every Wednesday. Each week I post a scripture that I've read that week that has spoken to me in a fresh way. I believe that if we read God's Word every day, He will give us at least one scripture every week that will impact us. Sharing Scripture with each other is like iron sharpening iron. Leave a comment and share a scripture that has impacted you this week.

Here's the scripture that stuck this week:

Ezekiel 13;1-6 The Message

^1-2 God's Message came to me: "Son of man, preach against the prophets of Israel who are making things up out of their own heads and calling it 'prophesying.'

^2-6 "Preach to them the real thing. Tell them, 'Listen to God's Message!' God, the Master, pronounces doom on the empty-headed prophets who do their own thing and know nothing of what's going on! Your prophets, Israel, are like jackals scavenging through the ruins. They haven't lifted a finger to repair the defenses of the city and have risked nothing to help Israel stand on God's Day of Judgment. All they do is fantasize comforting illusions and preach lying sermons. They say 'God says...' when God hasn't so much as breathed in their direction. And yet they stand around thinking that something they said is going to happen.

One thing I have learned in life is...be careful what you preach.

What's your Word?

Life after Darlene: Thoughts for Church Leaders

I just saw that after 25 years of ministry, Darlene Zchech and her husband will be leaving Hillsong Church. Click here to read the article. As far as legacies go, she most definitely has left an incredible mark, not only at Hillsong Church, but for the Church abroad. As an anointed song writer, she really sparked a huge flame with a single song called, "Shout to the Lord", which rocked my heart in the mid 90's and opened my eyes to this thing called "worship", along with many others, I'm sure.

One of the most important aspects of her legacy at Hillsong, to me, is her apparent realization that her ministry was much, much bigger than her. Because of this realization, there is a definite, strong life after Darlene Zchech at Hillsong. It would've been very easy for her to build that worship ministry on her strengths alone, but instead she realized that she would have been doing the church an injustice. I remember buying the big Hillsong CD called "Shout to the Lord" way back in the 90's. A lot of great songs, and Darlene was featured and prominent throughout the album. Now, you listen to a Hillsong CD and she's not prominent at all, in a good way. Because of her big picture heart, we are being inspired and blessed by so many different artists and songwriters.

Just imagine if she would have allowed pride to seep in alongside all the success.

What if she insisted on being in the forefront, as other anointed, gifted leaders waited in the wings?
First, those leaders would have moved on. I experienced that before I started working for the church. I remember sitting there, trying to maintain a pure heart while not being used. I was willing and ready. I was gifted, but that meant that someone would have to give up a little bit of the reigns. I eventually moved on, and even though I caused no drama and held no resentment, it was a frustrating time. Looking back, it could have discouraged me from serving ever again.

Second, the church would have missed out. Even though Darlene is an extremely gifted singer/songwriter/worship leader, there were people like Reuben Morgan, Miriam Webster, Joel Houston, and Brooke Fraser, just to name a few out of many. In those four names alone, we have songs like: "Hosanna", "Mighty to Save", "Made Me Glad" and "From the Inside Out". Not only would we not have these songs, but Hillsong Church would have missed out on the future vision from their younger leaders. Darlene didn't allow insecurity or some futile sense of worth in her position from keeping her to empower the future leaders of the church. She helped train, disciple and mentor them into being Spirit-filled, Spirit-led worship leaders that would take the church to future generations.

Third, Darlene would have missed out on the joy of passing the torch. Pride can really screw things up. I can just hear some of the things pride would have been saying to Darlene. Things like: "No one else can lead as well as you do." or "Watch your back...the younger crowd is gonna steal your spot and kick you out." I have seen first hand how those lies of Satan can totally destroy a person and make them think and act in the flesh, instead of the Spirit. It can rob us of the joy of mentoring someone to take our place. Simply put, if we don't pass the torch, the fire will go out.

I think we can learn a lot from Darlene's example at Hillsong, especially as church leaders. We need to evaluate ourselves and ask ourselves tough questions.

Where are we finding our worth? Is it in our title or position? Eventually, those will go away.

Who are we investing in, discipling, and mentoring? If we're experienced, we can really help young leaders and teach them.

Is our ministry built around our talent or personality? That's a tremendously shallow foundation.

Let's work on replacing ourselves more than holding on to our positions. I think if we do that, there will be life after us.

Music Monday 46

This is a post that you can participate in on every Monday. Everyone likes music, and there are obviously many tastes in music. This is here to see what different types of music are filling everyone's lives. Chime in!

I've had a great week of checking my dependency on God. It's not a bad thing or a time of struggling. It's a wonderful time of soul searching. In music, the deepest thing is the lyrics, so...

What's your favorite song, lyrically?

The song "Poverty" by Jason Upton is probably one of, if not, the shortest song I know. I heard it first back in 2002. I actually was able to meet him. His humility and love really showed me how genuine his music was. These lyrics move me every time I sit down and sing it or listen to it. We cannot be bought if we find fulfillment in Christ and not earthly gain. There's a lot of power in that.

Here's the lyrics:

There's a power in poverty that breaks principalities
And brings the authority's down to their knees
There's a brewing frustration and ageless temptation
To fight for control by some manipulation

But the God of the kingdoms and the God of the Nations
The God of creation sends his revelation
Thru the homeless and penniless Jesus the son
The poor will inherit the Kingdom to come

Where will we turn when our world falls apart
And all of the treasures we've stored in our barns
Can't buy the Kingdom of God?
Who will we praise when we've praised all our lives
men who build Kingdoms and men who build fame
What will we fear when all that remains
Is God on His throne, with a child in his arms,
and love in his eyes
And the sound of his heart cries




your turn...