I ran across this via Bobby Gilles a while back and, well…it's agreed: some songs are worse than just 'train wreck'. And I'm really trying to be charitable here. Really, really, really. But as Gilles said, everything you need to know NOT to do (from writing a song to interpreting your Bible) is here in one video. In fact, these guys may want to consider sponsoring my Exploding Head series. But I'll leave it to you to judge. 

Just….wow. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

For kicks, here is a demo of one of the tracks we'll be doing. It was recorded here at the Art Institute of Austin, by our very own Kevin Northen (guitar). Feel free to sing along…

01 I Will Sing

When he chooses it (over the blue pill), everything changes. The blinders come off. Neo begins to learn the truth about his existence, his potential, and the role for which he was created.

I met with a local worship leader yesterday over coffee. We talked passionately about worship, scripture, and grace. But mostly Scripture. An hour and a half later, I left challenged, refreshed, and free in new ways because of the truth of Scripture and the power of brotherhood.  

Originally, I found this via Bob Kauflin. It's a video from the WorshipGod08 conference where Ryan Ferguson is reciting Psalm 25. It's a 4 minute proof text of the fact that you and I don't know the Bible. 

Click here to view the embedded video.

What would happen if we always heard/read/thought about Scripture like this? With this kind of life-giving thoughtfulness? If we read it with lips that believed its power? If we heard with ears that were hungry for life? 

What are you going to do about it? You can take the blue pill and go back to sleep…or take the red pill and see how far the rabbit hole goes.

I'm sure there's more to come…

My Redeemer Lives

You Are the Holy One (Engle)

Heavens Rejoice (Cofield)

How Great is Our God (Tomlin)

Shout to the Lord

Rise Up (Stephen Miller)

TAG: O Come Let Us Adore Him 

Response: Jesus Paid it All (Kristian Stanfill) 

UPDATE: we already have one house show that needs to be booked! Thanks for the $500 donation to get us started!

As a worship leader and amateur sound guy I realize there can be areas of tension between the stage and the booth. Between 'us' and 'them'.  But the goal of the worship leader and the sound person should be identical: to provide as few distractions for the worshipper as possible. I'm blessed to work alongside a worship staff and a media team who see our goal as one-and-the-same. But every now and then, we pass around this list (which I blatantly stole and adapted from the creative mind of Nathan Sutliff) just to remind ourselves…

10 Things Every Worship Leader Wishes Their Sound Person Knew

1. Sorry, that equipment is not in the budget.

2. I realize when I ask for more of “me” you just put your hand on the knob, looking at me without actually turning any knob at all. Tricky, tricky…

3. An acceptable volume level is not when less than 10 people complain.

4. Vocals and melody are really the most important thing for a congregation to hear.

5. A drum cage is a great way to control the sounds of our drummer (however, I am not opposed to chains…).

6. Microphone cues aren’t mere suggestions like the speed limit.

7. When you do a good job, I look good, when you do a bad job, you look bad. That's life.

8. You don’t own that booth; you are part of a team.

9. Batteries, batteries, batteries.

10. You are a vital part to making people experience worship. Thank you for your hard work and dedication. This is something I don’t tell you enough and should tell you more.

Of course, you have to consider the other side of the coin… 

10 Things Every Sound Person Wishes Their Worship Leader Knew

1. It may not be in the budget, but you should never buy microphones that are 2-for-1. Seriously. You get what you pay for, so don’t be cheap if you want better sound.

2. You have no idea if I am turning that knob or not when you want more in the monitor, so trust me.

3. Do you want a good mix or acceptable volume level? In our church, it’s one or the other.

4. My job is basically to make louder whatever you give me. A better mix starts on stage.

5. A drum cage makes the drums sound like they are in a box… that is the reason you never see them in real life.

6. More speakers doesn’t mean 'louder sound'. It means a fuller sound at a lower volume level and better coverage. 

7. Do you want me to mix or produce? Because that one guy is completely overplaying…

8. I can achieve anything with enough coffee.

9. Soundcheck time is not practice time.

10. My goal is not to draw attention to myself, but help point the congregation towards Christ. Thank you for what you do. Without you, I wouldn't have a place to serve. 

It always gives us a chuckle and helps us refocus our priorities. Whether you lead worship with a full band, piano and organ, or a vocal mic and iPod, the goal is the same: to create a worship environment with minimal distractions. Jesus said, "If I be lifted up, I will draw all people to myself." By working together, we can be undistracted in worship as we proclaim Him. 

"Will our children have to jump over our generation to earlier ones to find the Christian message again? Or will we have celebrated its fullness in such a way that they can remember from our worship what transcended our understanding, but will touch theirs?"

-Donald Hustad, True Worship

I wonder what our children will say about worship of God. What will their understanding of the essentials of Biblical worship be? By our action, our tradition, our liturgy, what are we teaching? 

We must make sure the music we use for worship does not become the music we worship. 

1. The controversial Stockholm Syndrome, from Derek Webb. Perhaps one of the craftiest lyricists of recent years, Webb is known for his blatant allegiance to Scripture and his scolding of white, middle-class Republicans for appearing to love the GOP more than Jesus. 

Most impacting tracks:

What Matters More, which charges contemporary Christianity with hating homosexuals instead of loving them. ("if i can tell what's in your heart by what comes out of your mouth, then it looks to me like being straight is all it's about."), The Spirit v. The Kick Drum , and Freddie Please (an address from Jesus to the infamous pastor Fred Phelps and his commentary on homosexuals). 

2. Backspacer, by Pearl Jam. If you're a Pearl Jam fan, you've gotta have this one. If you're not a Pearl Jam fan, then you've really got to have this one. With matured lyrics and tones, PJ have released one of their best projects to date. The post-punk grooves in The Fixer and west coast riffs in Johnny Guitar make this a pretty amazing soundtrack. The Impact Track has to be the heart-wrenching Just Breathe: the deathbed confession of a man recounting the love he's been blessed with in life.  When I die, I pray someone plays this at my memorial service.

3. Kind of Blue , by Miles Davis.  While it's not new (1959!), it's relatively new to me. Jazz historians divide jazz music into two periods: before Blue (pre-1959) and after Blue. For many jazz musicians, blue was a watershed moment when culture, history, and art collided to forever change the course of human history. I'm beginning to appreciate and understand that more, largely due to Kind of Blue. 

Impact Tracks:  The title track, So What., which is not followed by a question mark (‘so what?’), but by a period (‘so what.’) as evidence to the cultural climate of segregation in the late 1950s, and the groovy Freddie Freeloader. (HT to Robert Gelinas for pointing me to it!) 

4. Letters to the Editor, Vol 2. (Andrew Osenga). Formerly with The Normals and Caedmon’s Call, this is Andy’s third solo project. 

A playful and organic vibe (‘Canada’)..yet almost anthem-esque (‘Staring Out a Window’). One part Paul Westerburg telecaster, one part shoulda-been-the-Juno-soundtrack, and two parts soulful vocals and deeply rooted lyrics. Absolutely great stuff. 

Impact Track:  ‘Let Us Know You’, which is worth the price of the album alone. 

5. Big Whiskey and The Groo Grux King, by Dave Matthews Band. After the passing of long-time bandmate, friend, and saxophonist LeRoi Moore in August 2008, DMB produced their heaviest album to date. Both emotionally and musically. 'Nuff said. Impact tracks are Funny The Way it Is and Why I Am.

6. Glorious (Paul Baloche). I've been a fan of Paul's since the early days of 'Open the Eyes of My Heart'. IMO, much of today's worship music seems to be worshipping a God who's concerned with my well-being. Glorious breaks that trend with some genuinely God-focused worship. Impact Tracks are the title track, Glorious, and We Will Hold On. 

What music have you run across this year that has moved you? Inspired you? Healed you? Changed you? 

I'd love to know! 

This Sunday was our Communion service, where we observed the Lord’s Supper/Last Supper. Rather than the typical flow of things, we opened with baptism (the first in our new building!) and prayer time, followed by a video to help set the tone. The video was "Communion" (Vibe Video) with some great images underneath Jesus’ words out of Luke 22.  The band followed softly with Nothing But The Blood (Redman) and Stand in Awe (Riddle). 

As the pastor brought the message of The Last Supper, the band stayed in place. When the bread was passed, we did an original tune called ‘Lacrimosa’. The Latin title means ‘weeping’, and compares the betrayal of Judas, the denial of Peter, and the failings of Tom Cottar… followed by redemption for us all. It’s a simple, acoustic-and-violin tune. Maybe I can post lyrics and an mp3 soon.. 

As the cup was passed to the congregation, we did a bare-bones version of Jesus Messiah, emphasizing ‘his body the bread, his blood the wine, broken and poured out, all for love…’, followed by the invitation/response of Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) and God Of My Days.

Funny thing.

Just at the end of ‘God of My Days’ I glanced at the clock…straight up noon. If you weren’t raised Southern Baptist, it doesn’t mean much. However, if you were, you know there are three things you come to count on: fried chicken,  women with big hats, and the fact that church gets out at noon. (If you’re lucky, the preacher finishes early and you can beat the Methodists to Lubys…).

But when I gave our lead Pastor the ‘now, back-to-you’ head bob, no one was ready to leave just yet.

So we continued singing and worshipping. because of the significance of this sacrament, we wanted to emphasize God’s supremacy, his authority, and the freedom we have only because of Him. So we picked up with God of This City and Mighty to Save. 

We wanted to end in celebration (how else?), so as the congregation sang the last parts of Mighty To Save,  I felt like it was only fitting to end our time with Jon Egan’s ‘I Am Free’. (‘the blind will see, the mute will sing, the dead will rise, etc..)

Bottom line: Baptism. Communion. Scripture. Worship…..wow. 

I hadn’t heard it in a while, but yesterday I caught Dave Matthews’ "Grace Is Gone" again for the 2000th time. As I sang along, I caught myself fighting back tears. Why?

Because I’m a wuss. Because it’s one of my all-time favorite tunes. Because, even though it’s debated whether the song is about the death of his father or the loss of a girlfriend, I still deeply relate to death and loss. Because I resonate with the song’s lyrics  such as this: 

"I could never love again so much as I love you
Where you end where I begin is like a river going through
Take my heart, my eyes cuz I need them no more
If never again they fall upon the one I so adore"

It’s a beautiful lament of loss and love. I can picture him at the end of the bar with a broken heart and a crushed spirit, pleading with the bartender, "Excuse me, please, one more drink…could you make it strong cuz I don’t need to think…"

It’s raw and honest and painful and nearly hopeless… which is why I love it. And it’s why I struggle with a lot of the sanitized worship we (I) sing most of the time.

In my experiences with God’s refining process (and life in general), there are plenty of times when a good lament is in order. The death of friends. The struggle of Kingdom living. The weight of sin on my every step. Yes, God is good. Yes, better days are ahead. Yes, we shall overcome. But many times the ‘now’ is hard and, although our Hope has come, we still live in the ‘now’.

So where are our songs of lament? Where are our worship tunes that dig deep into the emotion of struggle and pain and hurt that lead us to our Emmanuel Who brings us Hope? Where are our blues? Sometimes, in my personal worship, my heart is not ready for How Great Is Our God (although He is…), and I fear that by always beating that particular drum, we are missing out on another equally great proclamation: that God is great even in suffering. That He understands our feelings of near hopelessness and helplessness. Our crushed expectations and dreams. That, somehow, when we pour out our raw, unfiltered pain at His feet… he heals us in the midst of it all. He doesn’t take us out of it…but walks with us through it. 

And therein lies the beauty.

Is it acceptable to have worship songs of lament? If so, where are they? Why do they not exist? Are we so ‘in the bubble’ that we’ve become anesthetized to real life hurts and struggles and simply continue holding hands and singing our Pie-in-the-Sky songs, hoping that if we sing them enough…we’ll eventually believe them?

Don’t know the song? Watch the video.