Before The Throne

Worship Workshops 2011 - Jam Night

2011-06-03T14:41:00.000-04:00

Next Friday June 10th we'll be having an informal worship gathering at Christ's Church for all the area churches. Basically the plan is to jam some worship songs and pray together. You can find all the details by clicking here. If you are planning on coming I'd encourage you to check out the following song list and get familiar with any you don't already know. Please try to come with music/

Worship Workshops 2011 - The Heart of a Worship Leader

2011-05-23T13:57:00.004-04:00

Back in March Christ's Church hosted "The Heart of a Worship Leader," the first of our Worship Workshops 2011 series. It was very encouraging to have pastors, worship leaders, and musicians from several local congregations participating in this gathering. The format of this particular workshop was more of a forum than a lecture, so we had some great thoughts and ideas exchanged. Below you

Worship Workshops 2011

2011-03-28T10:04:00.000-04:00

After a few years of having an "idea" for some small-scale worship seminars, I'm excited to share that the idea is finally becoming a reality with the launch of Worship Workshops 2011. We have a broad range of sessions that we hope to host here at Christ's Church in the coming year; some focused on worship leadership and theological discussions, others offering musical instruction. The most

The Effect of Advent - Overwhelmed by Jesus' Humility

2010-11-05T21:28:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting here transcribing a great contemporary version of "Come Thou Long Expected Jesus" by Red Mountain Church and as I'm getting ready to enter the words into the sheet music I'm in awe of what God did. I just needed to stop and say "thank you God." "Leaving riches without number,""Born within a cattle stall," "from our fears and sins release us," @font-face { font-family: "Cambria

Great Video From LifeWay Worship Featuring Keith Getty.

2010-10-18T16:10:00.001-04:00

I know my last post had a video in it, but this one isn't a music video, it's more of a mini teaching. I stumbled upon it earlier today and was very blessed by the discussion these guys had. I always appreciate Keith Getty's emphasis on teaching the faith through quality lyrical content and a congregational "we" focus rather than the often shallow and individualistic lyrics that are so common

Before the Throne of God Above

2010-09-29T10:49:00.000-04:00

After listening to this song for several years I'm finally going to introduce it to Christ's Church this weekend. So for you CCA folks here's a preview (don't worry we won't be singing it this high), and for the rest I hope you enjoy it too and consider adding it to your repertoire if aren't using it already. It almost brought me to tears just to sing along with this video yesterday, but just

On Leading Worship - What Not To Do

2010-09-09T15:00:00.000-04:00

Typically my intent with this "On Leading Worship" series is to get away from the links to articles and movies I often post and keep my sharing limited to my own words and personal experience. But honestly, if someone says something that I would say, but better, I might as well just quote them directly. That being said, I was amused by this article and the way it

One on One With God

2010-08-19T10:45:00.025-04:00

"But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you." Matthew 6:6 (NIV) "You satisfy me more than the richest of foods. I will praise you with songs of joy. I lie awake thinking of You, meditating on you through the night." Psalm 63:5-6 (NLT)

Unfinished Worship Song

2010-07-12T13:43:00.010-04:00

Hi all, I came across this idea from Resound Worship and wanted to share it with you as well as get some participation going on. For some background on this concept, see the article from Worship Leader Magazine. I think I'm going to try doing this on Sunday and I thought it would be really cool if I not only used their words, but also wrote some of my own and also used ones that you the

On Leading Worship - Serving Through Prayer

2010-07-06T17:30:00.014-04:00

Someone recently suggested that I should start posting about my approach to planning and leading worship. I love the concept, but I’m not sure I’ve got a whole lot of wisdom to impart. In Star Wars terms, I’m still a young padawan learner when it comes to worship leading. So all the glory to God for anything good that I share here, and for everything else, just remember, I

Massacres in Nigeria

2010-06-21T09:22:00.003-04:00

This video really broke my heart this morning. At Christ's Church we pray for the persecuted church every first Sunday of the month and I have shared about what's been happening in Nigeria. But this video made it so much more real for me, especially seeing the children. I admire these people for gathering to worship after situations like this, talk about a sacrifice of praise. Please consider

Apologies for Blogosphere Absence

2010-06-07T12:07:00.002-04:00

If I still have any readers out there, I wanted to offer an apology for being so inconsistent with posting lately. I've been starting a lot of posts as I have a thought or idea, but then just saving them to complete at another time, which of course I never actually complete. Hopefully I can get more consistent again and I pray that whatever I post will be worth your time and will be glorifying

Our Competence or God's?

2010-04-29T23:20:00.005-04:00

I get newsletters from a lot of different missionaries around the world. Recently I was reading one from missionaries in Turkey. I was very touched and challenged by a very honest and humble comment they made. They said that they often feel inadequate for the work they have to do. Now in the corporate world, this kind of comment might cause your boss to start looking for a replacement for you.

Pray for Turkey this Weekend

2010-04-15T15:11:00.002-04:00

On My Mind- Bono, Social Justice and the Church Part 2

2010-03-09T10:00:00.002-05:00

"He who is gracious to a poor man lends to the LORD, and He will repay him for his good deed." Proverbs 19:17Start with Part 1 of this post if you haven't read it already.Many teachers and apologists that I've read lately are sounding the alarm against the "social gospel." This is certainly understandable since influential emergent church leaders like Brian McLaren and Rob Bell are trying to

On My Mind - Social Justice, Bono, and the Church

2010-03-03T21:30:00.001-05:00

"The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; the wicked does not understand such concern." - Proverbs 29:7This concern that Proverbs speaks of is often on my mind, but I find myself questioning whether my concern is resulting in enough action. The message I keep getting from the Holy Spirit is that I can't treat it like a checklist item- just because I'm doing something doesn't

Fail Us Not

2010-02-16T20:26:00.005-05:00

Came across this video on CCLI TV. Decent song with a cool video concept, full of hope and just very real. Something that I think will really speak to a lot of people. Check it out if you get a chance, and find out more at failusnot.com "Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again?Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time?Has God

Come Ye Sinners

2010-02-08T14:35:00.000-05:00

I came across this song last week on Mars Hill's worship music website (Seattle - Mark Driscoll, not Rob Bell). I wondered who actually adapted this Joseph Hart hymn to a contemporary version and I've found recordings by Todd Agnew and Cambridge. I think I like Cambridge's version best, but Todd Agnew's version came out first, and his version is featured in this video.This song and video really

Confession of a Nigerian Christian

2010-01-28T06:00:00.000-05:00

This prayer of confession comes from The Oxford Book of Prayer, which despite containing prayers from false religions, has many wonderful Christian prayers that I have found to be a blessing. It's kind of humorous, but the metaphor is perfect for expressing the subtle way the enemy can get a foothold in our lives through sin. "God in Heaven, you have helped my life to grow like a tree. Now

Christian Music Cartoon

2010-01-27T06:00:00.000-05:00

This is a really funny cartoon done by Joshua Harris back in 1996. I think it's still pretty true of much of the Christian music industry today. I wish it weren't. Click on the image to see it in a larger format. Thanks to Rich at sounddoxology for the link to this.

Origins of Sunday Worship Might Not Be Pagan

2010-01-25T11:00:00.003-05:00

Some of you know this about me already, but for some time now I've had issues with participating in "Christian holidays." The first problem is that none of these special days of worship were instituted by God, as opposed to the Old testament ones such as Passover or Succoth (Feast of Tabernacles). But if that were my only qualm, that would be insufficient because we see that even Jesus

Ethnodology? Part 2

2010-01-13T13:19:00.002-05:00

In part 1 of this post I shared from an article by Robin Harris (December issue of Worship Leader) which argued that our responses to music are learned, not intrinsic. Because of this, in regards to cross-cultural missions, we need to be sensitive to helping people worship God in their "heart music," instead of forcing a particular Western style on them and expecting that they'll adapt (as was

I am a Promise

2010-01-05T21:55:00.004-05:00

So I'm working on a binder of music with about 15 songs in it for our children's ministry. It includes some easy praise choruses, hymns and children's songs. I had to get lots of song suggestions from the kids' ministry leaders because I really don't know too many children's church songs. I didn't grow up with it, just like I didn't really grow up with hymns, apparently you miss out on that

Ethnodoxology? Part 1

2009-12-16T09:45:00.000-05:00

Worship Leader Magazine had a great theme in their last issue, "We Being Many, are One," focusing on a global view of worship. I was challenged by an article called the "The Great Misconception," written by an ethnodoxologist named Robin Harris. An ethno-what? An ethnodoxologist, a person that studies the way people worship the Lord around the world. Yeah, I didn't know there was such a thing

God's Revelation Rejected

2009-12-07T14:52:00.004-05:00

Have you ever felt like you needed to modify what the Bible says just a little bit and then a certain person would come to Christ? Doesn't it seem like there's a new standard emerging where churches have to put on a cutting-edge entertainment program to have good "worship," or to reach people? The church is often tempted to try to make themselves and Jesus look as cool and appealing to the world