Unreal artist

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Easter or Thanksgiving?

Maybe it's because I am super stressed at work?

Maybe it's because I've spent a lot of time and effort into planning the Christmas Eve services, Dream Night and our Easter services?

Maybe it's because I am sleep deprived from putting together a slide show and a ministry fair display at the last night?

Whatever the case, I have to laugh at myself for wishing everyone a blessed Thanksgiving this morning at the tail end of our Easter service.

I AM thankful for Jesus. At least that part is right.

Acknowledgment

Here's the deal. Every time I am driving to or from work, it seems like God is working on me regarding my patience. Inevitably, I'll get cut off or if I change lanes, mine will suddenly slow down. And it seems like every time I am in a hurry, I can hear this voice in my head that says, "The last shall be first and the first shall be last."

Honestly, I hear that over and over whenever I am driving. So I've decided that I want to be a more courteous driver. I've noticed a lot of times that drivers will pretend not to see others when they have their turn signal on. (In fact, we just had a similar conversation in one of my training classes today about elevator etiquette.) But I've started to take notice.

It seems like drivers are using the action of checking in their side mirror or rear view mirror to indicate they are coming over. The courteous thing to do would be to also signal. But when I notice that drivers next to me begin the motion of checking their mirrors, I'll slow down to let them in front of me. But time after time, no one seems to acknowledge my random act of kindness.

So I'm bringing back the wave. The nod. The peace sign. If you let me into your lane, I'm gonna acknowledge your kindness.

The Nomadic Church & the Warehouse

I love that the church that I attend is in no hurry to buy some land and build a building to house our worship services. For a little over a year, we've been worshipping in a middle school in the middle of Ankeny, Iowa. We started in the school cafeteria and eventually grew into one of gymnasiums.

Currently, we had a need for some space that we can use for a variety of reasons. From small groups meeting to the worship team rehearsing to having some small space for our small staff, we're looking at possibly investing in a warehouse that needs some renovation. Trust me, it's nothing fancy. In fact, it sits right next to a bar called Good Times. My wife thinks it would be kind of funny to call our potential space as "God Times." I could see the neon signs ablaze above our doors, one of the O's burnt out, as God Times lights the night.

Recently, our pastor asked us what our vision was for using the space. Here's what I wrote back:

Every time I think about the warehouse I get so excited about what God is going to do through that facility. I have a few dreams on my heart that are God-breathed that all tie-back to the warehouse.

First of all, it will be a home for the worship ministry to practice each week. Not only will it help us prepare each week for worship, but it will give a space to grow in fellowship with one another and with God.

Secondly, I would love to carve out an evening each month in which we could open up the space and have a night of worship and prayer. We would just sing to our hearts' delight, worshipping God as a body of believers.

Thirdly, I believe that the NorthBranch Worship Team is supposed to write and record music in the warehouse. I believe God is going to lay songs on our hearts that will later be recorded and hopefully produced into a CD.

Next, I believe that God wants to use this space to bring awareness to the poor and oppressed. I have had a dream on my heart for several years to showcase movies that share the stories of the widows and orphans of the world. I believe these movies will draw us closer to God in knowing the heart of the Father. And I believe through these films, we will discover our calling to reach out and share the everlasting love of Jesus through prayer and missions work.

Lastly, I believe God is going to use that space to bring families and singles together to fellowship and grow in our relationships. From potlocks to game nights, we'll share in laughter and tears of joy and pain as we grow closer to one another and to the Father through our community.

February 10, 2008 Worship Set

I really loved this set today and wasn't sure what the church really thought of it. But at the end of the day, I was blessed in particular by a young family (with three boys no less) that approached me after the service. They had just moved to Ankeny and visited a church last week that didn't feel right. They walked into Hope NorthBranch half-way through our worship set and knew this was the right church for them. The matriarch of the family was on the worship team of their old church and was already interested in serving on our worship team after visiting once.
It's amazing to think that a young family can walk into a middle school gymnasium and feel like this is "it". This is home. This was my prayer today that our guests would become overcome by the everlasting love of Jesus. That the Holy Spirit would be undeniable. That the church would love on them with open arms.

I was also approached by a young man interested in singing as well. And I auditioned a college student after worship today as well. We're definitely growing. I just don't know what to do with all of these people. Thank you for the blessings though, God. You are amazing...

Here was our worship set today:

Call to worship:

• Hallelujah (Be High and Lifted Up) by Tim Hughes

Worship:

• Mighty to Save by Hillsong United
• Everlasting God by Brenton Brown
• From the Inside Out by Hillsong United

Offering:

• Beautiful Jesus by Kristian Stanfill

God bless!

February 3, 2008 Worship Set

Wowsers. I can't believe we're into February already. Time flies when you're worshipping!

This week, I busted out yet another hymn and another New Life Worship tune. I really love the chorus to Live to Worship...it's simple.

You are glorious!
You are glorious!
And I live to worship you.
And I live to worship you.
You're glorious!

Good stuff.

Here's the set:

Call to worship: Live to Worship (New Life Worship)
Worship: Glorious One by Steve Fee and Came to My Rescue by Hillsong United
Offering: Joyous Light from the Passion Ancient and Modern Hymns
Communion: Savior King by Hillsong United

Yes We Can!

Tomorrow is "Super Tuesday"...so get out there and vote!

I am standing with Obama. Yes, we can...

Sunday, January 27, 2008 Worship Set

I don't know what's gotten into me lately but I have been grooving to hymns. Perhaps it was the discussion with my parents requesting that I mix in some traditional hymns with the contemporary music or one of the members acknowledging that she really appreciated our rendition of Jesus Paid It All. Nonetheless, I busted another one out this week for our offering.

Here was our worship set for last weekend:

Call to worship:

• One Way (Hillsong United)
  

Worship:

• Glorious God (New Life Worship)
• Almighty God (Tim Hughes)
• Consuming Fire (Tim Hughes)
  

Offering:

• I Stand Amazed (How Marvelous) arranged by Chris Tomlin
  

Sunday, January 20, 2008 Worship Set

I will admit that the first service felt awkward for some reason today. I can't put my finger on it exactly but it felt like the church was watching a concert instead of worshipping with us. Some of the songs we played today were a little heavy on guitar solos but nonetheless I believe the Holy Spirit can lead a guitar solo.

The other funny thing about our set is that it was 100% New Life Worship meets Desperation Band. I guess I had a thing for New Life Church today for some reason.

Here's our worship set...

Call to worship:

• Glorious God (New Life Worship)

Worship:

• Endlessly (Desperation Band)
• This Is Our God (New Life Worship)
• Here In Your Presence (New Life Worship)

Offering:

• Maker of Heaven (Desperation Band)
  

Blog Accountability and Worship Sets

In my last post I mentioned my New Year's resolutions which were to...what were they again? Oh yeah...live healthier spiritually, physically and emotionally and...blog/journal more.

I was thinking about combining the two thoughts into one by keeping track of my progress online, creating accountability of sorts.

My biggest focal points for living a healthier spiritual life would be my disciplines of reading God's word and praying.

Living a healthy physical life would entail that I would watch my diet, exercise regularly, and get enough rest.

And honestly, I think hitting the first two goals results in being emotionally healthy.

In thinking about these goals recently, I think it would help me to track my progress online and show my growth...so that's what I am going to do. If I didn't hit the mark, then I will admit it. I'm not going to exercise every day and there will be times when I stay up past my bedtime. But I think over time I will grow closer to achieving these goals.

Lastly, I thought I might start posting our setlists out on my blog in case any worship leaders stumble across it and are looking for new songs to check out. I know I'd benefit from posts like that so I am going try it myself.

New Year's Resolutions

Do you make New Year's resolutions? I don't really officially write them down but I am cognizant of them in my head.

Now that I am nearing my mid-30s, my health is one of my biggest concerns. I really would like to exercise more and eat a healthier diet. It was more or less confirmed tonight as I listened to a podcast on our way back from Minnesota and as I shifted uncomfortably in my seat from not feeling well. My back is out of whack and I feel like I am coming down with an ulcer or something, honestly. I was stressed out from driving in crazy winds and drifting snow. So as I reflected on how I was feeling and after watching one of the best movies over the weekend called "The Great Debaters," I hereby solemnly resolve to:

1. ...live healthier spiritually, physically and emotionally.
2. ...blog/journal more.

That's about it. Anything above that would make my resolutions too complicated. =)

Here's to 2008!

The Drummer...Girl

I would venture to say that I am a little stressed about Christmas since it's less than 2 weeks ago. I know I have a lot to accomplish before now and then but it seems like when that happens I procrastinate and become more apathetic.

I am wigging out about putting together my first-ever Christmas Eve service, and of course I feel like it's going to be very monumental. One of the biggest challenges I've had so far this year is finding a drummer to sit in with us for our worship service. All four of my drummers have commitments so I asked a long list of drummers from our sister church, which is much, much bigger. I think at the weekend I was 0-10 which is easy for me to relate to considering I am a Minnesota Timberwolves and Iowa State Cyclones fan.

Every weekend I struggle what to say when it comes to the offering. We want first-time visitors to feel welcome and we don't want them to think we're after their money. After all, I think besides us Christians being major hypocrites the second reason for not attending church would be that there's this perception that we're after their money so we can build a big 'ol building. So this weekend, I looked at Christmas songs and zeroed in on the "Drummer Boy" which is a story about a musician that has nothing to bring to Jesus except the gift of music. So I shared the lyrics of this song with the church before offering and then tactfully (I am far from that) asked if anyone in the church wanted to bring their percussion gift before Jesus this year for Christmas since we needed a drummer.

God provides. After the service, I found my drummer and I am totally excited about HER playing for us. First of all, I love the fact that our drummer is a young lady since it seems like this is a male dominated role. Secondly, I love the fact that our drummer is a freshman in high school. And thirdly, it's our lead guitarist's daughter so I know it will make the night all that more special.

Pray for Colorado

My heart is broken over what happened in Colorado over a short period of time. Some young adults were gunned down at a YWAM (Youth With A Mission) and then a few hours later some folks from New Life Church were gunned down in their parking lot. Thankfully a security officer at the church was able to respond quickly...otherwise it could have been much worse.

YWAM really hits home for me because I have some friends of mine who are missionaries with YWAM...stationed in Jamaica but currently serving in China.

And New Life Church Worship and The Desperation Band are probably two of my favorite worship teams. That church has already gone through so much in such a short period of time.

Because YWAM and New Life Church have given so much (even to me personally), I think we need to give back in prayer and support of these ministries.

Last week as I was reading from Exodus 17, I was thinking that if we approach the cross with a humble and worshipful heart, we can overcome anything. The great thing about these verses is that Moses wasn’t alone…Aaron and Hur stood by his side and lifted him up when he was drained…when he had nothing more to give. (see below)

Exodus 17:8-13

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. Moses said to Joshua, "Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands."

So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When Moses' hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

Stand strong, New Life Church and YWAM. We will be at your side, lifting your hands so that you may overcome this tragedy. We’re praying for you.

Jesus, please send your grace, love and compassion to this ministries and the communities of Colorado Springs and Denver.

God provides

Our humble little worship team has been borrowing space from Kingdom House of Prayer the last 9 months. They have been so generous and gracious to us in loaning us the space on Wednesday nights to allow us to practice and fellowship as a team. While us practicing there on Wednesday nights doesn't necessarily fit into their vision for 24/7 worship and prayer, I was happy that we had opportunities to volunteer down there for various events.

KHOP recently revamped their schedule and is pushing more towards that 24/7 worship and prayer model. Unfortunately for us it meant that we needed to start looking for a new practice space. We've been down this road before and truthfully I kind of like the adventure of it all. In fact, I had been spouting off to a fellow member of our ministry to have some fun and faith when it comes to overcoming these obstacles. Little did I know I would be facing that same challenge myself.

So I put out some calls to some of the churches we partnered with over the summer at Ankeny's annual Summerfest. We had played a half-hour set with three other churches during the peak of summer at the Ankeny band shell. So I figured I would call them up and see if they would be willing to loan us some practice space since we're technically nomads...a church without its own space.

The United Methodist Church responded and within a week's time, we had a new home.

While the space and the media equipment isn't ideal, God provided nonetheless. It allows us to get together during the weekday to practice and fellowship, to prepare for the weekend's worship services. It's located in Ankeny so I don't have to worry about the band traveling too far from home. And honestly it's nice to partner with a church in the area...to share the same vision of reaching the community of Ankeny, which only 30% attends church. Hopefully it will be the start of a great friendship between churches.

Grace Like Rain

This weekend's sermon topic was about "Grace" and our worship team played "Grace Like Rain" by Todd Agnew as our offering song. The song mixes the traditional hymn "Amazing Grace" with a powerful chorus written by Agnew.

Provided our worship team didn't practice this week (that's another story) they hit a home run during this song. The Holy Spirit was upon the team and it turned out to be a very moving song to play.

I listened to Pastor Mike's sermon about grace and one comment he made that really struck a chord with me was, "God liberally give us grace." Now before all the legalistic theologians respond to this post, let me clarify that he was saying that no matter where you were in life, God's grace is still good enough for you. You could be a murderer, a rapist, a slanderer, or whatever.

At the second service as we finished Grace Like Rain, we walked out into the lobby of the school and the sky opened up and poured out a beautiful rain over us. All I could think about was God liberally raining down His grace on us.

Have mercy on me a sinner.

New Life Worship

If there's one record that I can't seem to stop listening to, I would have to say it's New Life Worship's My Savior Lives.

When I am in worship leader mode, I try to find new and fresh music that the church would respond to. Most worship CDs I would hard pressed to find 1-2 doable songs we could utilize during a worship service. In this case, I would venture to say that most of the songs I would consider using.

Some of my favorites tunes of this record include:

• My Savior Lives
• Endlessly
• Here in Your Presence
• Your Name
• Promises
• Live to Worship
• This is Our God

We've already played "My Savior Lives" a couple of times and though it's a high arrangement, it has a ton of energy and the church responds.

We also have been jamming to "This Is Our God" and are introducing this song into our regular worship this weekend. Tomorrow night I am using it during a Harp & Bowl worship set so we'll see how it does. I knew this song was a winner when my 5 year-old boys asked me if I would sing it back to them so they could learn the chorus.

"Here In Your Presence" is a beautiful song if you can stick with it. I made my wife listen to the song today and it didn't resonate too well with her because it took too long to build. I tried to reason with her saying that it was structured much like "The Stand" but she has some merit in thinking that. The bridge on "Here In Your Presence" is quite awesome though as they repeat over and over...

"Wonderful. Beautiful. Glorious. Matchless in every way..."

"Your Name" is a song that explodes near the end. There's a part in there where they cry out over and over, "Jesus! Jesus! Jesus!" Even my two year-old picked up on it right away and started yelling it with them.

"Live to Worship" almost sounds like Chris Tomlin wrote it. It just seems to fit his style...similar to "Made to Worship" or "Holy Is the Lord."

And how can you not love "Endlessly?" One of my worshippers on our team said that it's one of our church's anthems.

So go out and buy this CD...you won't be disappointed.

My life as a worship leader

I'm not really sure what I am going to write, but I wanted to write so we'll see where my fingers lead on this keyboard...

Almost a year ago, I received an e-mail from our worship ministry team at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, Iowa asking if I would consider helping with worship at our satellite church in Ankeny, Iowa. Because at the time I was going through a season of busyness and purging distractions from my life, I ended up deleting the e-mail. Thankfully my wife was also on the e-mail thread.

Because I felt like I was trying to protect my time spent with my family, I was a little surprised when she cornered me later that week and said, "I think that we should volunteer at NorthBranch Church to get them through the holidays."

The next thing I knew, I volunteered my time to help with their only weekend worship service on Saturdays and a few remaining dates for the Alpha Course. Despite lacking fancy media technology the mother church owned, my transition to NorthBranch was pretty easy. I honestly walked into a great situation with a talented backline that was hungry to worship.

It didn't dawn on me how much the church had grown on me until the last weekends of leading a member told me they should create a permanent name tag for me. I stopped writing my name on the sticky name tag and thought about that for a second but said, "Actually this is my last weekend here leading worship."

Those words really sunk in. At the time, the church had called a pretty dynamic pastor named Scott Rains that really spoke to my heart. Our families were bonded together already and the church simply felt like home. But surely God didn't want us to drive a half hour each way to church. Or maybe He did.

After a couple of conversations over coffee at Java G's and some arm twisting by both Pastor Scott and Pastor Molly, they laid out the offer to come to NorthBranch to develop and grow the worship ministry. I thought they were nuts. Surely God didn't want us to drive a half hour each way to church. Or maybe He did.

God must speak to my wife pretty regularly because later in the week she said, "You're going to take that worship leader role at NorthBranch aren't you? This is something we're going to do aren't we?"

I replied, "We are?" I figured she would think it was nuts to drive a half hour each way to church. She didn't think that way.

"Yeah, I think we should," she said.

I started my full-time unpaid position at the beginning of the year and I haven't looked back. Honestly I've been surprised that I haven't burned out or grown bored. Quite the opposite has happened. I seem more engaged with worship and my role. It actually agonizes me when we're on vacation and I have to miss church. I miss seeing the people, hearing the message, following the Holy Spirit in worship.

I'm glad my wife listens to God and is obedient to Him. It's been an incredible journey so far NorthBranch Church...I can't wait to see where God leads us from here.

Invisible Children: The Proof 2006

Tonight my wife came home from Immersion in a mess. Justin showed the Invisible Children video at the church service and it broke her heart into a million pieces. She echoes what was said tonight, "Something must be done. It's time to move."

Thanks for taking a risk and showing the video tonight.

Broken Leg

Every time I hurt one of my kids by accident, I can't help but feel what God felt like when He watched his Son hang on a cross. He must have wanted to switch places with Jesus at the drop of a hat. If God has fingernails, I'm sure he was biting them...or He was pacing in heaven while He tried to overcome the terrible butterflies in His stomach.

Yeah, that was me on Friday night. We drove to my sister's house and Logan crumpled on the trampoline as he and I jumped together. I knew immediately it wasn't good. And several hours later, the doctors at the ER confirmed that he has a buckled fracture of the tibia.

As I mowed the lawn tonight, I thought about how I wished I could rewind time and do that night over again...how I wish I could trade places with him. I thought about all of the things I would consider doing to trade places with him. I stopped short of sawing off my arm (yeah, I think weird things) because I wanted both of my arms to be able to hug my kids.

Anyway, if you could keep Logan in your prayers I would appreciate it.

Missed Appointment?

We just spent the week on vacation primarily visiting my in-laws in Nashville. It was very relaxing and worth the long drive to Tennessee.

While we were there, my father-in-law lined up an appointment for me to meet with a small business owner who was interested in having me develop a website for his business. We left at 9:30 and drove the half-hour to his office and chatted along the way. I got to see parts of the city and countryside that I've never seen before on the way down.

When we arrived, we found the door unlocked, a candle burning and a puppy roaming the office freely. There wasn't a sign of "Mike" anywhere. My father-in-law gave him a call and it turned out that he blew us off to check out some potential business.

I more or less laughed in disbelief and chalked it up to the way people do things in the south. And I thought about how I just wasted an hour in the car for a missed appointment.

However on the way back to my in-laws' house, we passed a cemetery along the road. For a split second, my eyes fell upon three people holding hands and praying. It was one of the most moving and beautiful images I had seen all week. A sudden sense of peace fell over me and I smiled thinking how God didn't want me to meet with Mike but to see this image of his children praying to him.