My Next 10 Tunes

I am a lurker. I subscribe to a couple of my colleagues' blogs and read up on their lives. I'm not sure if they know I lurk behind the scenes and read what they are up to. Nor do I know if they know I have my own blog.

But their latest blog postings served as a catalyst for me to post. They both participated in the "Next 10 Tunes" exercise. Basically, this means that you put your iPod on shuffle, and list out the first 10 tunes you see, with commentary.

So here's mine:

10) Breath of God - Shane Barnard
Ironically, this happens to be one of my top 10 favorite tunes of all time. It's a prayer that God would breathe the breath of life (the Holy Spirit) into us all.

9) Breathe - Amy Lee (with David Hodges)
Weird. Two songs in a row about breathing. All I can think of when I hear this tune is the angelic voice of Heather Noble leading worship at Wells Fargo Arena at Easter. Again, this is another prayer about asking God to let His holy presence to live in us.

8) Passion - Kutless
Off their "Sea Of Faces" album, admittedly I don't know a ton about Kutless. I like their alt rock sound and crunchy Nickelback vocals, but I haven't spent a ton of time listening to this band as others.

7) Eggplant - Train
Off Train's self-titled album, this catchy tune (well, most of the songs on this album are catchy honestly) has a sweet groove and builds into an awesome tag. And let's be honest here, there aren't enough songs in the world about eggplants.

6) Swing On This - Alice In Chains
I miss Layne. Why did heroin have to take his life? I even bought a pair of wrap-around sunglasses back in the 90s when I was obsessed with the grunge movement. You gotta hand it to Layne, he had one of the most distinct voices in the business. And their harmonies were extremely tight and unique. What do I love about "Swing On This"? It mixes grunge with blues. Try putting those two combinations into a blender and drinking it.

5) Sixteen, Maybe Less - Calexico / Iron & Wine
Could this group any more polar than Alice In Chains? It's a beautiful, sweet-like-honey folk tune layered with gorgeous and breathy harmonies. It almost has a country sound, especially with the slide guitar.

4) Fallin' To Pieces - Rob Thomas
Miss Matchbox 20? Me too. But Rob's solo stuff is just as good. Fallin' To Pieces has a great guitar lick that drives this tune. It almost has a gospel feel to it especially with the multi-part harmony woven into this tunes. Definitely has a great groove that has me tapping my feet. And did I hear a banjo in this tune? And a violin? Yes, I believe I did.

3) A Long December - Counting Crows
Adam Duritz rules. I love his voice, his style, his songwriting skills. This is a beautiful tune that pulls on your heart strings. You could be in an amazing relationship and be completely steamrolled by the emotion of this song about relationships. Lyrically this song is genius...well, most of Counting Crows songs fall into that category. Love the end of this tune when they back everything down and just have Adam singing with the piano. And you'll have "Nah, nah, nah, nah..." stuck in your head the rest of the day.

2) Meet Virginia - Train
Hmm. I sense a conspiracy here with two Train songs from the same album on my 10 Tunes list. I LOVE this song so it's a definite welcome to my list. The chorus is raw and emotional. And if I were in a rock band, I would want to cover this tune.

1) Waterfalls - Dry Bones Dancing
Betcha you've NEVER heard of Dry Bones Dancing. My good friend from Minneapolis, David James Stewart, started this band with some of his friends from Bethel College. Stew and I were obsessed with Shane and Shane at the time and met over our mutual adoration of the group. And our friendship took off from there. I had agreed to serve as a band manager and booking agent for this band when we decided to move to Des Moines. I miss these guys terribly. Anway, Waterfalls is one of Stew's songs and it was always one of my favorite songs on their album "Not Afraid." I love the structure of the song, especially the melodic verses and harmonies.

Books. Books. Books.

I think I have a problem. I am reading four books right now.

On Tuesday mornings over coffee, I meet with the worship leader at Lutheran Church of Hope WDM. We decided it would be a good idea to read, "The Heart of an Artist" by Rory Noland. I am 75% through the book but got sidetracked and haven't finished yet. What makes it worse, I started reading some other books.

My wife and I have been reading "In a Pit with a Lion on a Snowy Day" by Mark Batterson. It's turning into one of my favorite books. Every other sentence is profound and my wife keeps asking me to re-read sentences as a result. I have been reading it with a pen to underline stuff that speaks to me. I might as well underline every word. ;)

For fun, I picked up "On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness" by Andrew Peterson - an amazing singer/songwriter that I have followed for a few years. He is truly a creative genius so I was curious to read this book as it's kind of a Lord of Rings type of book. Very enchanting and captivating. I checked this out from the library so I have to read this against a time table. Better get cracking!

And then a few weeks ago, a friend of mine who lives in Atlanta told me about "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan. I ended up buying two copies of the book over the weekend and gave a copy to a friend. I started tearing into it and it started messing with me in a good way. I love being stirred up. I love it when God speaks through others. This is a good one, but I am afraid I need to finish my other books first before I become too engrossed.

So...do you have this problem too? Reading too many books at the same time?

Innocence from the Window

Last night I stayed up too late playing the guitar and listening to music. So it was no surprise that I was a bit sleepy when I dragged my 34 year-old body out of bed this morning. The morning shower simply didn't cut it so I stopped in at our local "ShortStop" to get an 89 cent cup of coffee (at least coffee doesn't cost as much as gas or milk).

When I walked out, there was a pick-up truck parked next to my Corolla and a little girl insistent on getting my attention. I sheepishly gave her a little wave, as I didn't want to cause concern to her mom or dad (at least I was hoping that's whom she was with). But that wasn't enough for her.

She started knocking the glass, waving like she couldn't control her flailing arms, with a huge grin on her face. Her 4 year-old smile made my day. I bust out laughing, waved again and this time offered her a wink. She tried to wink back but instead I got a cute blink as a substitute. She continued waving as I backed my car out of its space and headed for the interstate.

And that my friends, was a better way to start my day than a house blend cup of coffee.

Revival Generation

I have been grooving to the worship music of Brian and Jenn Johnson lately. They are worship leaders at Bethel Church in Redding, California. There's something passionate and stirring about their worship music and it messes with me in a good way.

This morning on the way into work I was listening to one of their albums on my iPod when "Revival Generation" started playing. About this time, I was approaching an entrance ramp and a line of cars and trucks started merging onto the interstate. At that moment I looked up and saw "City Wide" on the back of a big truck in front of me. It made me smile.

Revival is coming.

Here are the words to the song.

I heard an old man talking of a time that was long ago he said
The fires been dormant for awhile but he was praying
And with this prayer my heart caught fire and now it won’t let go
Cause I found the reason why I’m alive

Were a new breed rising and we’re coming we’re gonna take a stand
There is a new passion burning in our hearts
A new love for Jesus a new hope and a vision
For this revival here we are

Its REVIVAL TIME
We are a REVIVAL GENERATION
Its REVIVAL TIME
We are a REVIVAL GENERATION

Consecrated is who we are its who we’re called to be
We’d rather see revival than build these kingdoms of pride and greed
Fan into flame this revival fire let it burn
Crush your children until our hearts are inflamed

Copyright 1997 Brian Johnson

The Adopting Church

I will admit that God was moving me with disturbing images and stories over the weekend. I watched both “City of God” and “Blood Diamond” over the weekend and had my heart torn to shreds by the imagery that my eyes took in. Today, I read the following story on CNN about a little boy in Africa that flees slavery to return home.

I thought the themes and the political agendas Blood Diamond was pushing in its story was pretty telling. During one part of the movie, Solomon (the African man looking for his family) asks the journalist (who is writing a story on the illegal diamond trade business) whether or not Americans will come to their aid after they read her article. We all know the answer to this question. We watch these movies, read these books, read these stories and articles and we mostly don’t do anything. We shake our heads and say, “That’s a shame. We should really do something about that.” And then we don’t.

This is why we are to become the “Adopting Church”. So that we can partner with a pastor, who partners with a church, which partners with a community, which partners with a village, which partners with a region, which partners with a country… Our prayer is that this adopting church concept becomes viral…that other churches and other affluent people will wake up to what we are called to do.

For Sale By Owner

I'm sitting at the kitchen table, posted as a sentry carefully watching for someone to step to the front door to knock. Foot traffic has been admittedly slow today with the exception of a young woman and her two little boys. They came right after 1 PM today and I was completely hopeful this was going to be easier than the last time we tried to sell our home. They seemed like the kind of family my wife would want to sell our house to. It doesn't matter if the price is right; we'd like a sweet family to enjoy it years after us.

I do love the fact that we faithfully trust God in this situation. It is, after all, His idea for us to move. We feel the calling and a longing to move a few miles north of here, closer to a community we both grew up in but never figured we'd be back. But God has a really funny sense of humor and we've been serving up at Lutheran Church of Hope NorthBranch for a year and a half. And now it feels like our community...our family...our home.

It reminds of me of how people confuse the word "church" as many immediately gravitate to the word building. But the church is comprised of the people who with one voice worship God. The same feels like it could apply to the word "home." While we live in this yellow house on the corner of Colby and 99th, our home feels like it's in the Ankeny area.

And so I sit here and wait on the Lord. Nope, I'm not waiting for God to knock on the front door. He's already here...he already lives here. But we wait for a buyer and it's in God's hands. So we faithfully wait on Him.

Life Is Too Short

“Work like you don’t need the money, love like you’ve never been hurt, and dance like no one is watching.” Satchel Paige

Yesterday I received an email that broke my heart. One of my friends from church and colleague at work unexpectedly and suddenly passed away at the age of 42. Her name is Lori English and she had a huge heart for God.

She was very active in our church and specifically I got to get to know her better on a short-term missions trip to Jamaica. Her passion was children and she spent most of her week at West Haven Orphanage loving on those beautiful kids. She had a ton of empathy for me when my heart was broken leaving Copse Place of Safety after a visit. She knew what Jesus' heart feels like. She knew the compassion and love He has for his people.

Lori was active in a marketplace ministry that I help organize and she spent a season praying with us here at work. I always loved running into her in the office and catching up.

More recently, she fell in love with Tom and they were engaged to be married this summer. She asked me a few months ago to sing in her wedding and I obliged. I was honored to lead worship for her special day and she already knew she wanted me to sing, "How Great Is Our God" by Chris Tomlin. I hope someone sings it at her funeral. One thing I know for sure; I won't ever be able to sing the song the same way.

As I was lamenting with a friend of mine about this loss, she said to me, "Let's honor Tom and Lori by loving our spouses the same way they were in love." That really rang home for me. It really put things in perspective about how short life is and how we must not take anything for granted, especially the people around us who love us and we love.

It reminded me of the quote I started this post with by Satchel Paige. If this were my quote, I would rearrange a few things in it to read...

“Worship like no one is watching. Love like Jesus. And work as if you're working for the Lord."

As I write this post, I write it with envy as I know that Lori is in good company as she sits at the feet of Jesus today.

Unreal artist

This guy is amazing and you NEED to check him out. Brilliant!

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.