The album starts out with an upbeat, catchy groove on the song “Almighty Creator.”  The song speaks of all that God has created, including the fantastic line of the chorus that kids (and adults) can declare: “You created me to worship You.”

Several of the songs on this album have the same bluesy, rock groove that “Almighty Creator” has, giving the whole album a fantastic energy that isn’t cheesy at all.  On the flip side, there are several tender, worshipful, beautiful anthems on the album as well.

“Who is like You?” and “For You are Holy” make use of beautiful melodies and proclaim eteranal truths, still while being completely singable.

Probably the most powerful track on this album, though, is “The Gospel Song,” a four-line summary of who God is, what He did through Jesus, and how it affects us, sung beautifully by a child vocalist.

The vocals are another refreshing thing about this album.  With many chidren’s albums, it can be hard to listen to children’s voices over and over if they aren’t quite “right there.”  This album offers a wonderful blend of children’s choirs, middle school soloists, and adult lead vocalists throughout, giving the listener a pleasant experience, full of variety and the pleasure of listening to fantastic singers of every age.

I would highly recommend this album, first for something to listen to if you have little ones that will fill them with God’s truth while making them move and dance to wonderful music (I know this firsthand, as I just watched my 18-month old daughter loving this CD in the last week), second for music for your children’s ministry, and third, as a great collection of songs that are just plain well-written and great to listen to, whatever age you might be.

Have you thought about the fact that everything you do is a reflection of the God that created you, the One you worship, and the One you say you follow?

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

And that includes tweeting and updating your Facebook profile.

John Piper has just posted some great thoughts about this.  Think about his words as you think about how to be an offering while you use Twitter and your Facebook status update as well.

Consider  Acapella

Especially if you have several good singers that are very comfortable with harmony, consider dropping all or some of the instruments out and just having the vocals.  It is so powerful for the church to hear each other sing, and sometimes we just need to get rid of the noise and hear each other’s voices loudly and clearly.

Go Acoustic

If you’re use to a full band sound with full drum-set and several layers of instrumentation, pull it back.  Have your drummer just play a djembe and some shakers and take out the keyboards and electric guitars and replace them with piano and acoustic guitar.  You’ll be amazed at how the mood changes.

Again, do you have any other basic tips that would benefit others?  Share them by leaving a comment.

Add variety.

The most important thing not to do in music to do the same thing over and over again.  If you’re singing a song with several verses, change how each verse is done.  With a full band, start with one instrument, add another on the chorus, add more on the next verse, add the entire band on the next chorus, then drop out to one instrument again on the third verse, chorus, or bridge; then bring the full band back in for the last verse.

If you just have a piano or guitar, change the rhythm.  Start with muted strumming on the guitar or quarter notes on the piano for the first verse, then add more rhythm on the following verses.  Even something as simple as changing octaves on the piano can make a world of difference.

Layer your vocals.

Just as important as adding variety in the instrumentation of the song is adding depth to the vocals.  Start with a solo vocal on the first verse.  Add one harmony singer on the chorus.  Add all the vocalists on the next chorus.  Don’t always have everyone singing all the time.  Create and build energy with your vocals.

Tomorrow we’ll look at two more ultra basic arrangement tips.  In the meantime - do you have any tips you’ve found helpful?  Leave a comment!

Family Update.

The last few months have been quite the roller coaster ride for our family.  Our daughter ended up taking a two-week visit to the hospital, brought on by a stomach virus combined with allergies messing up her system.  Turns out she’s allergic to milk, eggs, and soy.  She ended up with an NG (nasal) feeding tube that was extremely difficult to deal with at first.  We finally got into the routine of all the extra attention she needed when, of course, things decided to change.

The doc’s mentioned that they don’t like to have children go more than three months with an NG tube, and our appointment was fast approaching.  My wife and I were fully expecting that she would need surgery to get a permanent tube placed.  Much to our shock, the appointment came and the doctor decided to take her feeding tube out!  The only catch was that she was getting thrown into deep water and she was either going to sink or swim for the next two weeks.  She’s never been a good eater (one reason for the tube), so we were very concerned.

The first week was a little rough, but at the end of it, things started to look up.  She’s been seeing a speech and an occupational therapist to help her eat better and something they’re having us try seems to be the perfect trick that she needs.  She’s begun to eat better and our days are becoming much less stressful.  Now, the next thing to work on is getting her to calm down for sleep at night.  That, coupled with the business of a new job out of town, has been one major reason for me not blogging.

God is Good

Through all of this, we have learned to truly trust God, even in doubt and pain.  We have learned to not let circumstances determine our emotions.  We have learned that God truly has a plan in place, even if we can’t see it or understand it.

Moving Forward

Because of our daughter’s health issues I’ve had to take a step back from leadership in worship ministry at our church, as well as not blog nearly as much as I used to (hence the obvious lack of posts lately).  I am eager to get back in the blogging community and dive into leadership in worship ministry again.

I have a fantastic new job as a graphic designer that is going really well.  However, I really, really miss doing worship ministry at the church.  My job is a half hour out of town and our family situation is still a bit demanding.  So here’s the question: What are some things I can do to help continue to encourage and build the worship ministry at our church that can take five to ten minutes a day?  I know you don’t know our whole situation - but any thoughts you might have would be helpful.

After many tears, sleepless nights, and hospital tests without many answers right away you start to lose heart, doubt, and even seem to lose faith at times.  Then, when you reach a point of calm, you begin to believe the lies that God is disappointed in you for losing faith and for questioning Him and His sovereign ways.  Then He brings this amazing thought to mind:  although we are not always faithful, He is.

No matter what we think or feel, God is continually waiting with outstretched arms to hold us and carry us through trial, even when we ask, “why.”  Oh, He is good, and He is taking care of us.  We hold on to this promise during this time, will you, when you go through trial?

Because of the LORD’s great love we are not consumed,  for his compassions never fail.  They are new every morning;  great is your faithfulness.  I say to myself, “The LORD is my portion; therefore I will wait for him.” Lamentations 3:22-24

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect, not only to the good and gentle but also to the unjust. For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly. For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps. He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly.

Granted - Paul is speaking directly to slave/master relationships which we don’t specifically see in our culture today (although there are some of you who read that might see them) - but if we think about submission between ourselves and someone in a position of authority over us, there are some great things to learn:

• Be in submission - even to someone who is unjust.  Chew on that for a while.
• When we do good and suffer it is a gracious thing in the sight of God.  When we do bad and suffer for it - that’s just the due penalty for our error, and there’s no room for complaint.
• We trust in the one who judges justly.  What a sweet promise to know that even though we might be under unfair authority - God always knows our hearts and will judge justly forever.

Are you strugging with submitting to authorities who are in a position over you?  Think on these words from 1 Peter throughout your day today.

• Our pastor has graciously been on top of things to have messages (titles, texts, themes) planned through April - this has allowed us as a worship planning team to plan music through the end of March.
• Because of the fact that we can plan music so far in advance, we can strategically plan how to teach our musicians new songs, then teaching the congregation new songs - all while highlighting and emphasizing the Scriptures used in upcoming messages.
• We will be singing “And Can it Be” a few times throughout March for two reasons: 1) The lyrics lend themselves so well to what will be taught during our gatherings and 2) we can encourage people to memorize a great hymn of our faith.
• I’m going to begin writing for our church newsletter - because of our music planning, the article I’d like to write ties directly into the hymn we will be memorizing and the teachings that will be coming, all while reminding the people who read the article about what it means to worship God.

These great benefits of planning have just come from planning only two months worth of music!  Imagine what kind of impact our ministry will be able to have when we become consistent planners, even more in advance.

Are you like me and have just truly discovered the benefits of planning ahead, or have you been reaping fruit from planning for a long time?  What are some great examples of how planning ahead has helped you in worship ministry?

• Monday and Tuesday - two-part series on topics ranging from leadership to new music to music theory.
• Wednesday - How to Be an Offering - back to this blog’s original roots.
• Thursday - Review (book or music or technology)
• Friday - Nothing - I’ve decided it’s okay to not post every day of the week (especially since I haven’t posted ANY days of the week for a while)

I’m not going to be able to get to any comments left until either evenings or early mornings of the next day - and those of you who follow on Twitter I’ll be tweeting those same times.

God has blessed me with several things in the last week - one major one being a new outlook on several areas of my life - I’m looking forward to seeing the fruit of it.