Music

Interview::Theology and Practice of Worship

/0 Comments/in , , , , , , , , , , /by

Here is a great interview of Bob Kauflin with the Desiring God guys on the Theology and Practice of Worship. If you have a few minutes it is well worth the time to watch the interview.  I have been preaching on worship for the last month or so and opened up our Christmas series talking about worship as well. It has been said that “worship is the activity of the human soul.” Everybody worships…the question is not “do we worship?,” but it is “what or whom is the object of that worship?.” We have found ourselves in the American Church with a real problem because we have placed an extremely high value on form and not so much on the theology and “God” behind the worship. We have these crazy things called “worship wars” that should never happen in the Church of Jesus Christ. We fight over the style of the worship, the dress of those leading, the instrumentation of the worship…all the while, the object of the worship is robbed of His deserved glory. I believe that there is always going to be a battle going on for our allegiance in worship. The Bible is pretty clear that (1) we have an enemy; and (2) he is battling hard to get the allegiance and affection that Christ deserves away from Christ and to any other thing that we might worship. The enemy is working overtime to get us distracted from the True object of worship–Jesus. We have had several really good conversations and discussions about worship here in this local body on Sunday nights following the messages, which is so good to see. We need to have honest discussions about worship in “spirit and truth.” One of our senior adults said it so well last night and basically quoted Paul in 1 Cor. 10:31 in our discussion. He said, “when you get up in the morning and have a drink of water…that is worship. When you go to your job…that is worship. When you have time with your family…that is worship.” Amazing time last night! Paul couldn’t have said it better himself!

    So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV)

 

Student Weekend at FBC Oronogo–Friday Night

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Theme: Identity: Who are you?

I preached on the Disciple’s Identity: You are “in Christ” out of Matthew 11:25-30 on being “yoked” with Christ. It was a really good night with a great group of people. What I love about my friend, Steve Snider’s leadership for the weekend is that he wanted to it be for both students and their parents as well. They are really trying to partner with the parents and families, not just minister to the students only. It is a very D6 kind of thing going on…very cool. Read more

Backstage with U2s Bono and The Edge

/0 Comments/in , , , /by

I have always been a huge fan of U2 and I also was a “band nerd” in high school and college, so I love Broadway musicals. ?The best of both worlds has collided in a new Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” coming out soon.

What I absolutely love to see in this “60 Minutes Overtime” video is the creative process between Bono, The Edge, and the musicians. ?I have a good friend, Jeremy Ball, who is an amazing guitarist and musician, who has talked about he sees music in “colors.” ?There is place toward the end of this segment where Bono and Edge have this conversation about how the song is just “too brown” and needs some more “color.” ?Brilliant! ?Amazing musicians who see in vivid color. ?I’ll just stick to my simple campfire guitar playing of simple chords. HA!

Enjoy!

Awakening

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

awakeningcover

For most of you all that know me very well, I have a huge heart and affection for the Passion folks. ?When I was a student pastor, I would follow Louie and Tomlin around the country for Student Life Camp each summer. ?It was (and still is) a pretty bad “crush.” ?Actually, I think I like the movement so much because it really speaks to my heart like not a whole lot of other things. ?I think that it is because it is all about making Jesus famous…taking His Fame and Glory to the nations. ?I think the other thing is that worship has always been a huge part of my connection with the Savior. ?There have been times of worship, both corporate and private, that have been very instrumental in my journey. ?Many of those times have been around songs and sermons at Passion conferences. I love that they are still influencing the future generation to preach the Gospel to the Nations.

I first met Chris Tomilin over a very cheap meal for youth pastors in Fort Worth, TX while I was in seminary and he was a student at Texas A&M. ?He was working for Dawson McAllister Conferences and we had a very enjoyable conversation over a “conference information lunch” about ministry, college life, and Taylor Guitars! ?My, what God has done through him and used him to influence millions of people through his music! ?What I loved about him was his “guy next door” demeanor. ?He didn’t care to “work the room” like so many others in that room, but was very humble and personal. ?It is amazing how God places experiences in our lives to teach us on this journey. ?Pretty cool.

Kevin said I needed to check out the new Passion CD…it is amazing…as usual!

The title song is great and really speaks to my heart right now. ?What would happen if we all truly had an “awakening” and Christ became the center of all of our lives! ?What could happen if we “woke up” to the fact that the Gospel of Jesus Christ needs to go to the nations? What would happen if we were awakened to the fact that the Gospel needs take root in our own lives and our neighbors’ lives? Amazing things would be done for the name of Jesus!

Here are the words…

In our hearts Lord, in this nation
Awakening
Holy Spirit, we desire
Awakening

For You and You alone
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
For the world You love
Your will be done
Let Your will be done in me

In Your presence, in Your power
Awakening
For this moment, for this hour
Awakening

Like the rising sun that shines
From the darkness comes a light
I?hear Your voice
And this is my awakening

Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
From the darkness comes a light
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
Like the rising sun that shines
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing
Only You can raise a life
Awake my soul
Awake my soul and sing

In our hearts Lord, in the nations
Awakening

I
n our hearts Lord, in this nation
A
wakening
H
oly Spirit, we desire
A
wakening
F
or You and You alone
A
wake my soul
A
wake my soul and sing
F
or the world You love
Y
our will be done
Let Your will be done in me
I
n Your presence, in Your power
A
wakening
F
or this moment, for this hour
A
wakening
Like the rising sun that shines
F
rom the darkness comes a light
I
hear Your voice
A
nd this is my awakening
Like the rising sun that shines
A
wake my soul
A
wake my soul and sing
F
rom the darkness comes a light
A
wake my soul
A
wake my soul and sing
Like the rising sun that shines
A
wake my soul
A
wake my soul and sing
O
nly You can raise a life
A
wake my soul
A
wake my soul and sing
I
n our hearts Lord, in the nations
A
wakening

Written by Chris Tomlin and Reuben Morgan / ? 2010 sixsteps Music / worshiptogether.com Songs / Vamos Publishing (Admin. by EMI CMG Publishing) / Hillsong Publishing (admin. in U.S. & Canada by Integrity?s Hosanna! Music) (ASCAP)

Chris Tomlin ? Vocals, Acoustic Guitar ? Matt Redman ? Vocals, Acoustic Guitar ? Kristian Stanfill ? Vocals, Acoustic Guitar ? Christy Nockels ? Vocals ? Nathan Nockels ? Vocals, Keys ? Brett Younker ? Vocals, Acoustic Guitar ? Jesse Reeves ? Bass ? Daniel Carson ? Electric Guitar ? Travis Nunn ? Drums ? Matt Gilder ? Keys

awakening

Taylor sings at “Steadley Idol” Talent Show

/0 Comments/in , , , , /by

Here is our new rock star singing Linkin Park’s “What I’ve Done” at his talent show on Tuesday.? He did an AWESOME job and we are SO PROUD of him!? He was originally the 53rd act out of 56 acts!? Crazy!? They didn’t turn ANYONE down…the ultimate “ALL SKATE!”? So, three hours later, Taylor finally got to get on stage and show his stuff!? He actually missed his first baseball game because of this.? He could have played in both the 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. games and STILL gotten to the talent show to perform with time to spare!

I can’t wait until we get into our new building which we share a property line with!? My heart would be to offer up our auditorium to them to have a great facility and better sound system for their special events.? We really want to be a good neighbor and they can definitely use the help it seems.

Hope you love it like we do!!

First Night of musical

/1 Comment/in , , , /by

The first night of “I’ll Be Home For Christmas” went really well! Jenny did an awesome job on her solo! Of course she did…I taught her everything she knows.

My mom and dad, my mom’s sister and her husband( Barbara and Jack) came too. Thanks for not saving us a seat, dad! Just kidding!

Here are some pictures of the night. Will add more when I get on the computer, not my iPhone.