REVIEW: “Come Weary Saints”
August 26, 2008
I’ve published a full review of Sovereign Grace Music’s “COME WEARY SAINTS” over at theWorshipCommunity.com. Stop by and take a read!
This one is a bit different… hope you like.
John Stott on Worship
August 25, 2008
“All worship is an intelligent and loving response to the revelation of God, because it is the adoration of his Name. Therefore acceptable worship is impossible without preaching. For preaching is making known the Name of the Lord, and worship is praising the Name of the Lord made known. Far from being an alien intrusion into worship, the reading and preaching of the Word are actually indispensable to it. The two cannot be divorced. Indeed, it is their unnatural divorce which account for the low level of so much contemporary worship.
Our worship is poor because our knowledge of God is poor, and our knowledge of God is poor because our preaching is poor. But when the Word of God is expounded in its fullness, and the congregation begin to glimpse the glory of the living God, they bow down in solemn awe and joyful wonder before his throne. It is preaching which accomplishes this, the proclamation of the Word of God in the power of the Spirit of God.”
-John Stott, Between Two Worlds
Believe it or not, this is not from a book on worship, but a book on how to teach the Word of God. Powerful, convicting stuff, huh?!
INSIDE OUT / RUSH HOUR – greatest hits iTunes mix
August 22, 2008
Do you go to the Inside Out / Rush Hour youth groups at St. Simons Community Church and are looking for recordings on the songs we sing? Are you a worship leader looking for a few proven new songs to add to your set? Do you just enjoy worship music and are always looking for something new?. This iMix is for you:
And now for something COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!
My stack of c.d.s to review has grown taller than is manageable, so in a desperate attempt to knock out some reviews, and promote a few dear friends, here’s is my ‘Triple Play’ review special!
McKendree Augustas
A View for Opened Eyes
(c)2008
My brother-n-law – and one of my best friends – has accomplished quite a lot since he moved to Nashville a few of years back. He’s toured with Jeff Deyo, Britt Nicole, and is currently on tour with SonicFlood, and in the midst of the madness he still made time to write and record a debut cd worth being very proud of.
Honestly, I’m not exactly sure what to compare McKendree’s sound to. He’s got the ghostly electronics of Radiohead, the wide open atmosphere of Coldplay, with the pounding piano of Ben Folds, and the worshipful lyrics of John Mark McMillan, and at least a peripheral awareness of emo-guitar, all mixed into a creative, original, & refreshing debut.
By far the stand-out is “Beautiful“. The melody line is original enough to keep you guessing, but still has hook. The chorus is simple and singable. The music builds slowly, with the addition and subtraction of instruments sometimes from one line to the next. With the right people behind it, combined with a good music video, I’m convinced it could be a hit single – not only in ‘Christian’ radio, but a ‘cross-over’ hit. Yes, it’s that good.
A few other stand-outs are are the two corporate worship songs; “Attention“, & “Strength to Carry On“. Though the first verse of “Attention” is a bit hard to grasp at first, the rest of the song is the sort that a whole room of people can quickly latch onto, as is all of “Strength to Carry On“, which I’ve already led at our youth service.
There are some places that may lose the casual listener. For one, the intro song – “Proemial” – is likely going to turn away some, particularly those not already familiar with McKendree’s more accessible songs. That said, this c.d. is only a glimmer of what he is capable of (I’ve heard it ALL), and is a shimmering sign of what is to come.
“A View…” is well worth picking up, and will leave you wanting to hear more from McKendree in the future.
David Herndon
Into Danger / Out of Rescue
(c)2008
I would be lying if I said that I expected to be blown away from David’s 2nd c.d. David & I have been friends for a few years now – we’ve sung on worship teams together, & I’ve long been familiar with his music. Though there were a few good songs on his debut c.d., nothing there really moved me. In comes “Into Danger / Out of Rescue“, and I must confess: my jaw was wide open during the whole first listen. This was David Herndon?!
The melodies were memorable, the song-writing catching, his vocal delivery is absolutely convincing, and most of all, the lyrics CUT DEEP. I was already nearly in tears before finishing track one. “Into Danger…” is David’s “Time out of Mind” (Bob Dylan) or “Yankee Foxtrot Hotel” (Wilco) – production-wise, an alt-country masterpiece, and as far as songs are concerned, a very solid, and challenging collection that makes me proud to say “I know that guy“.
The most note-worthy song is “Church or a Brothel“, which – by title alone – brings up issues many will be uncomfortable with, and asks questions which society as a whole often shy away from. My personal favorite, however, is “Reflection” – an alt-country performance that, oddly enough, rings with subtle shades of mid-80s Tears for Fears, and the Police. It’s that sort of genre-bending creativity, and the strong production value, that makes “Into Danger…” so worthwhile.
Personally, I hope to hear David pursue this direction even further, but until then “Into Danger…” has been – and will be – a permanent fixture in my car’s c.d. collection. That’s where I keep my favorites.
Matthew Perryman Jones
Swallow the Sea
(c)2008
As I’ve written about before in this blog, there was a time a few years back when Matthew & I used to occasionally play out together in the Athens/Atlanta area at places like Eddie’s Attic & the Bean’ry, and he’s the fellow who introduced me to Indelible Grace’s music (he appears on most – if not all – of their cds). He’s a gentle spoken man, a strong songwriter, and has an absolutely beautiful voice.
I was excited to discover earlier this week the release of his 3rd studio full-length, “Swallow the Ocean“, and though the whole c.d. has not yet grabbed me, it holds promise, and a few singles which have already probably made it into my ‘favorite new music of ’08’ list.
The first song of note, which I’ve featured on this site before, is “Save You“, which has already enjoyed some popularity as an iTunes single, after appearing in a number of popular prime-time television shows. The song is simple, and lovely, bringing to mind what Coldplay might have sounded like if Chris Martin had been raised in the southern USA. My personal favorite is “Without a Clue“, which show-cases a nice piano hook, and great lyrics that look back on the romantic naivete’ of youth. With it’s anthemic chorus, it’s hard not to note U2’s influence on Matthew’s otherwise southern acoustic folk style.
Though I’m not yet sold on the whole disc – his debut was so fantastic that it’s hard not to judge all his later releases by that standard – it definitely contains a few ‘must-download’ singles, and if my guess is right, will prove to be a worthy investment as a full-length as well.
Here’s hoping I get to gig again with Matthew in the future.
That’s all… I hope I’ve been of service to direct you towards some great new music that will move your soul.
Jesus, lover of my Soul: God’s love for sinners
August 17, 2008
(originally delivered at the University of Georgia WDA campus ministry)
Let me first admit to all of you — this is not an easy subject for me to write on. God’s love is a many sided thing, and as of late I have been receiving His hard love — discipline, correction, and rebuke. I have built up over the years a number of bad habits, which He is busy stripping me of at the moment, and I’m finding that rather hard to deal with. So, right off the bat, I don’t want you to think that the image of God’s love that I’m painting it all rosy, pie-in-the-sky by-and-by. Yet God’s love is real.
And yet again, I feel I have bit off FAR more than I can chew. I feel like St. Augustine when, it is rumored, he encountered a young boy on the beach that compared Augustine’s attempts to write books about God to the boy’s own attempt to pour the sea, bucket by bucket, into a small hole in the sand. This has led me to acknowledge outright that if I say ANYTHING tonight that speaks to you, it is not I. This is my attempt to pale the entirety of the Pacific into a small hole in the sand.
But seriously, I approached this subject asking myself, “How do I make this material new?” knowing that many of you will have grown up in the church, and may have heard it so many times that, sadly enough, you’ve grown cold to it. But I don’t know that it’s my job to make the truth new, so much as to remind you of it, so apart from a few new angles, that is exactly what I’m going to do.
As the third part in a series on God’s love, I thought I might quickly summarize. First, we talked about how God has shown His love for us in giving the law. He illustrated God’s love using his own fatherhood as an example. We saw that like a good father sets rules in place for my child for his protection and well being, that he might enjoy life within the boundaries that it was meant to be enjoyed, God did the same in his law. Next, we were spoken to about God’s love expressed through the prophets. We saw how again and again God’s people have played the prostitute, leaving our groom to chase after our lusts, and yet we saw how God has been faithful, working continually to call us back unto Himself.
Tonight as I speak to you, I hope along with Paul in Ephesians 3:14; “And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge–that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” And in light of that, let me add — if you think you’ve got a grip on this “love that surpasses knowledge”, you REALLY haven’t yet even begun to understand. Read the rest of this entry »
Louie on Louie (Giglio/Tomlin/Redman church-plant)
August 15, 2008
Man, I do love Louie! His preaching is passionate, God-centered, & Biblically solid, and his vision is HUGE! For those of you who agree, I really do suggest watching this official video from the Buckhead (Northpoint) Church blog. May God inspire you to deeper faith (and acts of faith) as watching this did in me!
Worship God ’08 Blog-love, & a review of my electives…
August 13, 2008
Before I post my final review, I’d love to point out a few of my friend’s takes on the event:
Nate Fancher on REDISCOVERING THE PSALMS
Brad Loser’s WORSHIPGOD08 DEBRIEF
and conference host/speaker/dude, Bob Kauflin’s overviews of Craig & Thabiti’s talks, and Mark & David’s.
I think you’ll find we were in significant agreement about the conference.
If the other electives available were even half as helpful/enjoyable/awesome as those I signed up for, then this may have been the greatest conference in history.
My first elective was THE TASK OF THE WORSHIP LEADER led by none other that Bob Kauflin himself. And our task? To be diligent in connecting individuals, where they are, to WHO HE IS, not to encourage people’s faith to be placed in a song, an emotion, or even a worship leader, but in Christ, as revealed in His Word. He encouraged all of us worship leaders to:
1.) value the content of a worship song more than it’s hook,
2.) adjust our arrangements & volumes to serve & showcase the lyrical content of worship songs, &
3.) use instrumental solos wisely, in order to be careful to not turn ‘worship’ into mere performance.
Yes – it was challenging AND convicting. His closing statement challenged us to “never settle for having a good meeting”, because meeting with God should be far more than that. Amen.
My second elective was WRITING SONGS PEOPLE WILL WANT TO SING by Craig Dunnagan. Craig is an old friend of our Worship Director, Fred McKinnon, and I can see why – they have historically shared a common vision, and interests. This was, according to Craig, the first time he’s taught specifically on this issue – I wouldn’t have known. He shared on the priestly, pastoral, and practical heart of Psalmists, told fascinating stories about other songs & artists we’re all familiar with, and best of all encouraged us in writing corporate worship songs that are both theologically correct AND accessible. My favorite quote from his session: “a great worship song sounds like ANYBODY COULD have written it, but only one person DID.” O, Holy Spirit, birth at least one of those songs in me.
Next I sat in on a mass guitar lesson with Drew Shirley of Switchfoot, who is a member at a Sovereign Grace church in Cali. He was humble, approachable, and hardly – if it weren’t for his clothes – would strike you as a rock-star at all. Sadly, he had JUST arrived as the session began, and was a bit scattered, actually hooking up equipment WHILE teaching. He gave some fairly simple tips, likely more helpful to the beginning guitarist than the more experienced. I, personally, was far more blessed by his presence and his heart than by his actual lessons. That says a lot, I think.
Next was the most horrifying session of the whole conference: the SONG EVALUATION led by experienced successful worship songwriter, Mark Altrogge. I entered the room to see my own song, All in All, front & center, loaded up in iTunes and projected onto the screen in the front of the whole room, which was A PACKED HOUSE! Ack! Even with Brad & Lowell behind me cheering me on, I felt my stomach in my throat, expected it to be shredded. Thankfully, it wasn’t – in fact, the critique was overall very positive. Whew!
Sadly, I only attended the first part of Todd Twining’s excellent VOCAL BLENDING elective. The content was fabulous, but I couldn’t stay awake – coffee couldn’t do a thing…I simply needed a nap. That said, I stayed for 3/4s of the session, and took a lot home, but it would be hard to share in a blog – very practical stuff.
Lastly, the only session I found somewhat disappointing was TRAINING UP THE NEXT GENERATION OF WORSHIP LEADERS. I suspect that was because it really was different than I suspected, and they were following so many days of great material. One thing that struck me was something they said that echoed one of my own beliefs: “encourage all guitarist TO SING”, that way they not only are able to demonstrate worship on stage, but they are able to engage with God through the content and not simply perform, which is the temptation.
Overall, they were some excellent sessions. Honestly, I’d love to attend another Sovereign Grace conference someday. Kudos to them for making this one so impactful.
Worship Confessional, St. Simons Community Church 8-3-08
August 10, 2008
I present to you… my first worship confessional… well, actually my second. I deleted the whole first draft. I came across as an arrogant, self-centered idiot in it, which rendered me entirely incapable of editing it in iMovie. This one is better, but still I wonder – will anyone want to watch a 13 minute worship confessional? I can taste the sinking blog stats now…
By the way, in order to participate in Fred’s ‘Sunday Set-Lists’, the set-list for Sunday was:
WALK IN: Tell the World – Hillsong United
1. My Savior Lives – New Life Church/Desperation Band
2. Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall
3. Lead me to the Cross – Hillsong United
4. How Great is Our God – Chris Tomlin (w/ How Great Thou Art)
CLOSING: Hosanna – Hillsong United
Worship God ’08 Report pt. 4: Main Sessions 3, 4 & 5
August 7, 2008
Now, I’ll admit right off that though I’ve gotten a great deal out of his blog, and have also profited greatly from reading his books, I’ve never found Mark Dever to be a very engaging speaker. Add to that the fact that he was given the monumental task of showing how the Psalms related to Jesus in “GLORIFYING CHRIST WITH THE PSALMIST“, I’m sad to admit that this was the session I got the least out of. It was much closer to an “introductory overview” than a sermon, and was almost more content than I could take in during a session. I did find one reminder encouraging, and that is that the example that the Psalms give of simultaneously acknowleging our sadness in the midst of times of suffering, while showing us how to remember God’s past goodness, and resting in the work he has done in the saints who have come before us.
David Powlison, who spoke on “ENDURING TRIALS WITH THE PSALMIST”, was almost the opposite. I have read Powlison twice now – first, one of his own books, which I gave away before I was finished, and second in a chapter in “Suffering & the Sovereignty of God“: his is the only chapter I take exception to, in what is otherwise one of my favorite books of all-time. That’s just to say, I was primed for disappointment. I was wrong. Powlison is a compassionate communicator, and easy to follow, and I took so many notes that it would be very hard to cover them all. His teaching was laced with gems, as he taught through Psalm 28, eventually bringing three very helpful applications for us as worship leaders:
1.) Remember the Minor Key
2.) Slower tempos allow time to process
3.) Allow for silence – a time for rest
The final main session I missed in order to catch my flight on time, sadly. It was given by Bob Kauflin, and given my experience listening to him on other occasions during this conference, I have no doubt it was powerful. My wife heard some of it online and said to me, “Who is this guy?! He’s GREAT!” I love the fact that Bob would most certainly take issue with that, pointing the glory back to God and saying “HE IS GREAT!”
In review of the main sessions, of those I attended, be sure to not miss KNOWING GOD…, EXPRESSING EMOTION…, & ENDURING TRIALS.
Next, the electives…
Worship God ’08 report pt. 3: Main Sessions 1 & 2
August 5, 2008
One thing that made Worship God ’08 unique from many worship conferences is the content of the main sessions. Apart from the fact that the Psalms are the Old Testament hymn-book, none of the sessions were necessarily directly related to worship as it is commonly understood: corporate singing. Likewise, only one of the sessions was taught by an individual others would consider a “worship leader”, and that was Bob Kauflin, the organizer of the whole event. Instead, the speakers were primarily Bible teachers, Pastors, & even Seminary professors, all of whom were solidly evangelical, and who took their time applying serious scholarship to the text before reaching into the various areas of application. It was like a 4 day seminary for worship pastors, and much akin to drinking from a fire hydrant. In fact, I will likely be going over my notes for several weeks in order to process it all.
The Wednesday night main session was KNOWING GOD WITH THE PSALMIST by Craig Cabaniss, a pastor in Frisco, TX. “Where do we get our ideas about God?” Craig asked at the outset, noting that “…our perception of God will shape our response to God.” Focusing his attention on Psalm 33, he drew attention to the WHY of worship, and challenged us to “…respond to GOD, who He IS and what He has DONE, and not to whether or not we are familiar with or like a song“. Craig taught with great passion, and began the conference on the right step.
Thursday morning’s session was EXPRESSING EMOTION WITH THE PSALMIST by Thabiti Anyabwile, a jovial yet passionate pastor currently serving in the Grand Camman Islands, and the author of the excellent new book “What is a Healthy Church Member?” in the IX Marks series. Taking apart Psalm 73, and teaching through it piece by piece, Thabiti pointed out that “…we as humans are terrible at predicting the source of joy…“, later adding that all “man-centered emotions ultimately lead to despair“. The 73rd Psalm, it turns out, is a helpful reminder that believers may be experiencing a wide range of emotions. Thabiti challenged us “too often we lead from ‘happy’ to ‘great joy’“, not addressing the fact that much of our congregation are simply not there. Emotions are real, and important, but we – as pastors and worship leaders – need to address our congregations, and lead worship, in a way that directs our emotions God-ward, and guides and trains people’s hearts to respond to the right things. Emotions for emotions’ sake will lead to despair, but “when I see Him, I will be satisfied“. I found Thabiti’s applications particularly helpful, as he encouraged us to:
1.) Avoid shallow ways of triggering emotions
2.) Address the full range of emotions in our corporate worship
3.) Teach about and address suffereing
4.) Help our people see God in way that draws them from self-centeredness to God-centeredness.
In many ways what I drew from these first two main sessions is quite similar: to lead passionately, doing all I can to put together worship sets, and lead in a way, that meets our people where they are, and merely where I think they should be. I was also challenged to better address our congregation in a way that leads them to see God, and aspects of God, and leading songs that give them an opportunity to respond to revelation genuinely, rather than merely encouraging emotion and excitement for the sake of emotion itself. Though it may be exciting for me to see a whole room ‘stirred up’, doing so when the emotion isn’t genuine may actually be training our people to lead the ‘train by the caboose’ to use the old Campus Crusade for Christ illustration of FACT (the engine), FAITH (the cars), & FEELING (caboose). These were helpful reminders, indeed.
Next up, Mark Dever, & David Powlison’s main sessions…
Worship God ’08 report pt.2: New Songs
August 5, 2008
At the very outset of the conference Bob Kauflin noted that there were, usually, two different sorts of conferences, as far as worship goes. There were those where the worship teams pulled together sets of all the most popular, and familiar new tunes, which everyone would be familiar with, or there was THIS CONFERENCE, where they would predominantly do all brand-new, original music, so we’d have fresh, new, Scripture-drench songs to bring back to our own congregations. In all honesty, given that the great majority of those in attendance were worship leaders themselves, we grabbed hold of even the entirely unfamiliar songs and sang them with every ounce we had within us. I must say, it was very refreshing to be in a room full to the brim of folks who’s hearts were just overflowing with passion for God every time the corporate singing began.
Though I’ve not yet grown familiar enough with these songs to know which one’s I will choose to introduce in the various corporate worship environments that I’m blessed to lead in, here are a number of the new songs we sang this weekend that have at least become a part of my personal worship time:
From the brand-new Sovereign Grace Music c.d. “Psalms” (you can listen to these songs at this link) these songs really moved me:
“Praise the Lord”, “God Shall Arise”, & “Blessed be the One”.
From the NA Band release “Looked Upon” I was really touched by:
“God over All”, & “Nail My Glory”. I must say that I am VERY interested in seeing Devon & Jordan Kauflin continue on as songwriters.
And lastly, from Pat & Joel Sczebel’s independently recorded “You and You Alone“:
“Trust in You”, & “You are Good”. I’ll admit it, these recordings could be better, but those are two POWERFUL songs, and seeing them lead (with Pat’s other son, Joel’s brother, Josh) brought tears to my eyes, not only because they demonstrated how music can be both simple and excellent, but also thinking of my own two sons, and looking towards the future, and what a blessing it would be to have my boys writing, recording, and leading worship with me one day.
More reporting on the actual sessions still to come…
Though I did indeed miss my lovely wife and family, I am in a bit of conference withdrawal!
Worship God ’08 report, part 1: intro
August 2, 2008
Anyone who’s been following me on Twitter, BeenUp2, or Facebook is likely well aware that I have been in Gaithersburg, MD at the Worship God ’08 Conference hosted by Covenant Life Church/Sovereign Grace Ministries, and what an experience it has been so far!
I’ve been blessed to hook up face-to-face and get to know some fellow TheWorshipCommunity members, like Brad & Lowell from Clear Creek Community Church (who have taken me in like a member of their own church family), and other gifted and friendly worship leaders like Nate from Grace Church in Chapel Hill, Tim & Joel from Mars Hill Seattle, and Ryan & Jonathan from West Coast Revival, as well as the whole Sovereign Grace Music crew, who are incredibly friendly (when Bob Kauflin glanced at my name-tag and recognized my name he proclaimed “I AM SO GLAD YOU COULD MAKE IT!” then gave me a monster bear-hug… that definitely made me feel more than welcome).
One thing that really stands out about this conference is that, in spite of the foremention list of folks, this has really been a conference for the ‘average’ worship leader: very little ‘flash & bang’ or big production. Worship has been led by real worship teams that lead on Sundays at various churches, leading mostly original songs written in-house at their specific church. We’ve also been exposed to a WIDE variety of musical forms: bluegrass, jazz, rock, gospel, and combinations I don’t dare label, but which worked wonderfully (one team consisted of a Coldplay-esque rock worship band, accompanied by a violin & viola, drum-loops, record scratching, a black gospel singer, and a soulful blue harmonica player – oh, and they led almost soley old hymns… and for some reason, it wasn’t even that weird, in the moment).
I’ve got a great deal of content to share, but that will have to come later. Needless to say, this conference has already been of great benefit to me, and I encourage any who have a chance to go in the future to do so. More to come…
FOR WHAT IT'S WORTH 