Worshp Confessional

Crazy weekend... Both Dave and I have the crud that's going around. I've been to the doctor twice now. The first time he gave me an anti-biotic that seemed to work and just about got rid of it, but then it came back stronger than ever. I went back yesterday and he gave me two doses of it. Hopefully it goes away now.

So I led worship this weekend, crud and all. Funny thing is that I seemed to get a few more compliments than usual this weekend. What does that mean? Do I sound better when I'm sick? Do I try harder when I'm sick? Do I care more when I'm sick? Or is it just a coincidence? If you were there, I'd love to hear which you think it is. ;)

For some reason this week we had a hard time finding a bass player. Kevin was scheduled to run sound so he wasn't supposed to play, but 4 others (that's right, 4 others) couldn't make it so he ended up doing it. Like he said, God must have really wanted him to play this weekend. Thanks to Charlie for going solo on the sound board for the first time. I got quite a few comments about how good it sounded!

Here's what it looked like...

Band:
Me - agtr/vox
Lynette - vox
Ross - drums
Kevin - bass
Daniel - egtr
Dave - keys

A/V:
Charlie - sound (first time running solo!)
Jess - Pro-Presenter (Andi got sick too!)
Crawford - lights
Bradley/Andi - service directors??? (I like it, I like it!!!)

Setlist:
Let the praises ring (Brewster)
All we need (Hall)
-welcome-
All we need (reprise)
Revelation (Third Day)
-debt video- (very funny)
-message-
-communion-
From the inside out
-offering-
From the inside out
-dismissal-
Let the praises ring

This was our first time doing "Revelation". I had trouble dialing in the bridge vocally so we just scrapped it and did the chorus an extra time. I almost scrapped the whole thing because of it, but the band talked me into doing it and I'm glad they did. I got a few comments on how much people loved that one. You can hear a short clip of it at the beginning of the podcast here.

Inside out was a tough one for me this week. I probably should have dropped it a key or two since my voice was going. I actually dropped out of it during the last part of the second service.

Does this ever happen to you? I'm struggling to make it through Inside out and I look out in the congregation. I see my wife talking to her friend and giggling. I look over and see another couple giggling as well and naturally assume that they're laughing at me because I'm struggling so much on the song. So what else is there to do but just shut it down... so I did.

Afterward I ask her about it and turns out they were giggling about something completely different. In fact, she said it sounded okay. She was wondering why I stopped singing.

Why do we always think it's about us??? And why is my wife talking during the worship service??? ;)

How was your week?

Crazy Love

I just picked up this cool book called "Crazy Love". It's written by Francis Chan who I've heard speak a number of times including a year ago @ the NYWC in San Diego where he completely rocked my world.

The cool thing about this book is not just the new insight on our relationship with God, but also the online videos that accompany it.

If you get a chance, you should check it out...

Crazy Love

Southwest Church Planters Forum

Danny's Song Confessional

So this week was pretty amazing. Unfortunately, Pastor Dave and I both got that crazy chest cold thing that's been going around. Fortunately, I went to the doctor and got some antibiotics (only because my wife made me) and was about 90% by Sunday morning. Unfortunately, I think Pastor Dave's cold hit its peak about 9:00am Sunday morning.

We were all set to have him lead the first 2 songs and then decided to call that off because of his congestion. So I substituted a familiar song that we didn't practice, but the band nailed it because they're just cool like that... ;)

Here's what it looked like...

Band:
Me - agtr/vox
Dave - keys
Kevin - bass
Ross - drums
Daniel - egtr 1
Dalton - egtr 2

This was one of the first times that we ran 2 electric guitars (both of them High Schoolers). I think it went pretty well. We tried to work out parts and they played off of each other pretty well. I think they even kind of took turns playing lead and rhythm. I only remember one time when I looked over and saw them both playing the same chords, same frets, same patterns. We'll get there...

Here's the set:

Oh Praise Him (Crowder)
-welcome-
Here in Your Presence (Desperation)
Danny's Song (Loggins & Messina)
-message-
I'm coming Your way (Desperation)
-offering-
I'm coming Your way (Desperation)
dismissal-
I'm coming Your way (Desperation)

What can I say, we picked three really long songs.
Oh praise Him is about 7 minutes long, Here in Your presence is at least 8 and the version that we did of I'm coming your way (complete with verses... I never knew it had verses, but they fit so well with the message) was like more than 10 minutes long. So all in all, we probably did close to 30 minutes of music. That's crazy when you factor in that we finished the service in right around 60 minutes.

Another cool thing that we did this week was our first ever multi-track recording. I picked up a super cheap (less than $200) motu 828 interface on ebay. I set it up and was got it working for the 2nd service. So I was actually able to do some post-edit on the music and message without too much trouble.

Here's what it looks like...

Instruments to Snake (duh)
Snake to board (double duh)
Board to Aviom (aha!)
Aviom Thru to Motu Interface (double AHA!!!)
Motu to Macbook Pro via Firewire
Firewire to Audacity

It actually worked better than I thought it would. I honestly didn't expect to get a solid recording for another couple of weeks, but we did it! I honestly couldn't have done it without the fact that we had an incredible tech team this week thanks to Andi's scheduling skills! ;) In fact, I think I'll start including them in the confessional.

Here's what the team looked like:
Lead Audio - Enrique
Audio 1 - Richard
Lights/Audio - Chris
Lights/Everything - Bradley
ProPresenter/Scheduling - Andi

They rocked it... Great setup time and super smooth transitions.

How was your week? And if you were there, what did you think of ours?

Oh yeah, in case you were wondering what the heck Danny's Song is... here it is for you.

High Schooler's in Church?

I took this out of an article I read in Outreach Magazine about College
Students in the Church.

...each church has the responsibility to make students a valued part of ministry. An array of responsibilities always need to be filled within the church-sound and lighting technicians, ushers, greeters, nursery workers and parking attendants. Ask students to pray during services. Train those who are more spiritually mature to teach elementary school children.

The essential church utilizes all capable believers in the body for service, including students. Want to keep your students? Put them to the task and then watch them grow.

I think we're doing a great job at this at our Church... but could we be doing better?

For example, Sue our Children's Director did a great job incorporating High Schoolers this summer in our "Summer Sizzler's Program." And we're using kids on the Sunday Morning Worship Team almost every weekend, but what about other areas? Could we be training kids to run lighting and sound? What about Ushering, Welcoming and even preaching?

I usually think of Youth Ministry as kind of a Church within a Church, but
does it have to be that way? Why can't they be the church? Are there any legal issues to worry about? Hmmm...

I can see High Schoolers doing this as well. Thanks Alex.



Just thinking out loud I guess...

What are your thoughts?

Worship Confession - Landslide

So I'd have to say, we had one of the best services ever this weekend. We kicked off our new series called "Fear Knot" with a bang today. Unfortunately you had to be there to know what I'm talking about. The recording just doesn't do it justice, but we're working on that.

I recently appointed Andi Waldrop as our leader over the Tech Crew and let me just say that it showed today... in a good way. There were a ton of elements and transitions this week and despite our struggles with setup, the tech team navigated them pretty much flawlessly thanks to our new leadership. Way to go!

One of the things that I strive for when leading worship is to lead with one foot in heaven and one foot on earth in an effort to draw people into a true place of worship. Pastor Dave is so good about thinking of how to do that very thing as well and I think we nailed it today.

Here's what it looked like (sorry, no video)...

-Countdown Video-
Let the praises ring (Brewster)
I am free (Desperation)
-"Reality" Promo Video-
-Welcome-
Blessed be Your name (Redman)
-Bumper Video-
-Intro of series-
-"What about Bob" Video-
-Message Part 1-
Landslide (Stevie Nicks)
-Message Part 2-
You are my refuge (Pastor Dave)
-offering-
You are my refuge (Pastor Dave)
-Wrap up-
I am free (Desperation
-Dismissal-

As you can see, there were a lot of elements and a lot of transitions. I think they all went off without a hitch. That's why I think it was one of our best services ever... not to mention that Skyler and Dalton nailed "Landslide"!

Here's what the band looked like...

Me - Vox & Agtr
Dan - Bass
Brandon - Drums
Dave - Vox, Keys & 12 string on "Landslide"
Skyler - Backing Vox & Lead Vox on "Landslide"
Dalton - Egtr & Agtr on "Landslide"

So, if you were there, I'd love to hear your feedback on the service. If you weren't there, I'd love to hear how your Church plans for and executes transitions and/or bridging heaven and earth?

So leave a comment! ;)

Worship Confessional Coming Soon!

It's been quite a while since I've done a confessional. For sure there's one coming next week and there might even be some video.

I'm so excited about this weekend. Here's a little hint...