at our current church, i’m a member of the worship committee. and the worship committee is made up of others who don’t necessarily have the same ideas that i have.

when i first started leading the music, i was NOT comfortable with this round-table planning committee.

but now….

now i know its a blessing.

see - there’s one man who brought ideas to our group that we never thought of. he’s an older guy. losing his hearing. but, still a fan of the newer worship songs we’re adding. he’s given GREAT feedback on the music, the songs, the hymns, the powerpoint, and the special music.

i’m a better leader because of him.

and, yes, we do songs that i would NOT have picked. but, others in the congregation are blessed by them. and, sometimes we do the order/service/etc, in ways that might not suit ME if i was left alone to plan. but, i think it offers more variety of expression for our congregation.

besides, its not about me, right? its about how i can best serve them as they pour our their hearts before God on Sunday mornings.

how does your church plan services?

are you finding ways to receive input from others who might have a different vantage point?

This little site has been INCREDIBLY helpful to me over the past few years.

It’s worth checking out: www.guitarhymns.com

Just about any and every well-known traditional hymn can be found here - and chorded for pretty easy guitar playback.

Your guitarist will thank you!

we’re holding a week to pray for revival on our seminary campus, and i’ve landed in the thick of it. singing singing singing. i haven’t poured out my heart to God like this in a long time…. it feels like i’ve been holding my spiritual breath since we moved here and am finally able to release one HECK of an exhale.

in the evenings we are having 3 hour music/prayer/teaching sessions. we’re crying out for God to come and be real at our seminary. to rekindle the fire, revive the hearts, and restore the holiness. we want Him to bring revival to our campus. and we really really mean it. i’m not sure how many denominations and nations are in the room together, but i do know that it’s intense.

since we are an interdenominational institution, most of our corporate gatherings are more reserved, calm, reflective, planned, and balanced. but, the tone of these evening services are a mix of both: very loud, passionate, spontaneous, and intense - blended with respectful, planned, quiet, and pensive. its crazy.

those with pentecostal bents are in the corners and on the floor doing their thing, and those with more traditional leanings are sitting or bowing reflectively in their chairs praying and singing. but, we’re all getting along. we’re all experiencing the Lord’s presence together.

makes me think: when we get to heaven, will we all be in our separate rooms like on Sunday mornings now? or will we all be crammed together in one big room, so wrapped up in the Lord’s presence, that we don’t even notice HOW the person next to us is expressing praise?

…just a joke. nothing serious about this post at all.

but, it TOTALLY reminds me of my days in youth ministry. whew.

from ASBO Jesus

a few months ago, some of us got into a discussion over at Live to Worship regarding our takes on Worship Leader Magazine and SongDiscovery. The executive editor found our critiques and asked for more input. Since our responses were not so positive, I was pleasantly surprised that she quickly invited further discussion:

We work hard to make sure the magazine are both must reads and must listens, but welcome any and all of your input to make it better for our readers and for those who are ready to give us a shot (or another shot). I would love to hear from any of you directly on specific feedback just so we can improve - our primary goal is to equip the churches we serve (approximately 45,000) so we want to be in touch!!!!

Here’s where you come in. Some of us in the original discussion are asking our readers to bring further input into the discussion.

What do you like about WL mag?

What do you think could be changed?

What do you find most valuable about the SongDiscovery service?

What would you like to see more often?

discussion also continuing: Live to Worship and Chris From Canada

yesterday our church invited a Ukrainian congregation to our Easter service. as i’ve mentioned before, we share a building with this congregation, and have the blessing of crossing over into each others’ services at times.

we also have 3 or 4 other nations represented in our congregation.

so, as a worship leader, i had the privilege of serving the people of probably a half-dozen countries in worship yesterday. WHAT AN EASTER MORNING!!!!!!!!

we picked songs that were represented in the Ukrainians’ hymnal, and their choir sang in Russian for us. (have you ever heard the “hallelujah chorus” in another language? breathtaking!)

connecting with the congregation is of utmost importance to me. so, part of my self-imposed challenge was learning to speak a bit of Russian for our guests. and i had a BLAST declaring it before the congregation - they lit up when we said it!

say it with me:

Christos vas chres! (Christ is risen!)

Vai eistinu vas chres! (He is risen, indeed!)

i’m sure that easter rocked at your church, but OH i wish you could’ve been there with us!!

Songlist:
He Arose - Robert Lowry
Christ the Lord is Risen Today - Charles Wesley
Crown Him with Many Crowns - Bridges & Thring
My Redeemer Lives - Reuben Morgan
In Christ Alone - Getty/Townend

i’m stuck again - stuck on a song.

i listened to it a while back and it didn’t grab me, but i don’t think i waited for the chorus. if you haven’t yet heard “You Oh Lord” by Billy & Cindy Foote, you might wanna look it up. i don’t know if its Cindy’s voice, the chorus melody, or the powerful key change at the end, but this song really grabs me right now.

i looked for it on youtube, but couldn’t find it for y’all.

but it is on WL’s SongDiscovery # 58.

Chorus:
I will not fear; You are my deliverer.
My only strength; You are my song.
You have become my source of salvation.
You are the one who will carry me on.

May God Arise

i wrote this last year, during my personal devotional time on Good Friday.

we’d been at seminary for about six months, and the move from one region of the country to another was quite a change. the winter was long and dark and cold. and my insides were wintering as well.

this song was very much a personal prayer for Christ to rise out of the tomb of my heart.

He has.

and He continues to.

how has Christ risen in your life over the past year?

Dr. Joseph Stowell (former 18-year prez of Moody Bible Institute, and current prez of Cornerstone University) spoke at our seminary this morning, and blew me away with something he said.

He mentioned that he’s seen a number of Christian leaders fall hard while in leadership… (we can all name a few). he emphasized that none of these people were bad leaders. they were GREAT leaders…

BUT, somewhere along the way, they stopped following. they stopped being “fully devoted followers” of Jesus Christ.

and, that’s where things went wrong…

how do we, as full-time and even lay leaders, maintain a heart of following, even as we lead lead lead?