Greetings fellow worshipers!

I wanted to take this opportunity to share with you how amazing God has been in the area of working on songwriting lately with His people.  Being a part of The Worship Community Songwriters Group has been a huge blessing and encouragement to me.  Let me provide a little background for you.

It all started around age 10 or so for me.  I began playing “Father I Adore You” by ear at my family piano.  By family piano, I mean, it was a family heirloom or sorts.  Slowly, as years went by, I started to learn some of the songs my church would sing back in the day and plunk them out to the best of my ability.  My parents felt I had some creative potential so they enrolled me in some lessons.  I slowly began to play for small bible studies and also help out on the church worship team from time to time.  One thing bothered me though… I didn’t seem to possess the ability to write songs.  I envied everyone that could.  I always asked God why I couldn’t write songs.  I was very frustrated by it.

Fast forward several years to 2004.  My wife and I gave birth to a beautiful son.  When he turned 6 months old, he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia.  This brought about the most devastating time in our life!  Talk about a dry time with the Lord.  The last thing I wanted to hear was “oh just trust in God!”  Little did I know at the time, but that is exactly what God wanted from me.  I’m happy to report that he is, as of the writing of this article, six years old and cancer free!!!  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

It was during this dry time that I believe the Lord worked something in me.  James 4 says “come near to God and He will come near to you”.  Psalm 61 also spoke volumes to me during this very difficult time in my life.  I was reminded that God is to be my Rock, my Fortress and my Strength.  Before I knew it, I was spending more time in God’s Word than I ever had before.  Shortly after that, I felt the inner-workings of my first real song, Lead Me To The Rock.  Praise God!

Somewhere in the midst of all of this, I stumbled upon The Worship Community via a search engine result.  As I began to read through the pages on the site, I found myself interested and started offering input on various topics.  It was odd, but I found myself developing “friendships” with people I didn’t even know.  I found it a very inviting place to come and ask for feedback on song ideas, etc.

In February 2010, one of the moderators (Russ) started an official monthly songwriting challenge.  The object was to take a pre-defined passage of scripture and seek God’s wisdom on it and to work on writing an original song based on the scripture.  This intrigued me, because I found myself being purposely directed to a specific passage of scripture rather than waiting on God to just reveal a passage to me, not that there’s anything wrong with that either.  It was during this challenge however, that I found myself led to another TWC member’s (Wanna Be A Worshiper) lyrics.  They deeply inspired me and I reached out to collaborate with him on the song.  He penned the lyrics and I provided the musical recording, arrangement, etc.  The end result was a pretty decent song titled, Lord I Come.

Since February’s challenge, I have not been able to stop seeking God’s word.  I have never before been able to see all of the gems that the Lord blesses us with in the writings of His Word as clearly as I do today.  Not every song idea that comes is a keeper!  Not every song is going to be that next “big hit”.  Honestly, that is not the point at all.  I do know one thing for sure though… I’m more engaged in reading my Bible as a result of these challenges.  I find myself drawing close to Him and He in turn draws close to me and speaks volumes to my heart.  I find myself taking delight in meditating on and pondering the teachings of God.  Praise the Lord oh my soul!

I write all of this to say something plain and simple.  God is moving in His people.  God is giving us new songs to praise and worship Him with.  These songs are based on His Holy Word!  To date, we have roughly 30 original songs posted in the forums.  There is a wide variety of works ranging the spectrum from a calypso kind of feel to  driving rock tunes to mellow folk styles, etc.  Very exciting stuff!

How To Join In With Us On This Awesome Journey:

Simply visit this link:

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/forums/worship-arts-songwriting/

If you are interested in actively collaborating with others on this site, consider reading my article on collaboration to get started. The article can be found at:

http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/forums/song-center-share-originals-collaborate/4815-how-collaborate-other-twc-songwriters.html

Related posts:

1. February Songwriting Showcase [Songs Based on Psalm 31]
2. Developing A Songwriting Community Through Your Church, Part Three
3. Developing A Songwriting Community Through Your Church, Concluded (pt. 4)

Ragamuffin Soul by Carlos Whittaker

In 2006, I went to the Saddleback Worship Conference. I was looking to get podcasting going for our church, so I went to a workshop called “Podcasting/Blogging” by Carlos Whittaker. I was disappointed, because all this guy talked about was blogging. What I didn’t know was that his blog Ragamuffinsoul.com was becoming a phenomenon, and now has a worldwide following of more than 20,000 people and was ranked “Best Ministry/Theology Blog” by COLLIDE magazine readers. It also inspired me to start my own blog, and I’ve been blogging ever since. I’m now grateful that I went to that class, because now I’m in the blogging world, connected to all kinds of people. Carlos, or @loswhit, for us on twitter, really influenced me in that.

Now, Ragamuffin Soul has a soundtrack. In the spirit of transparency, I have to admit that I wasn’t expecting much. Not because I don’t think Carlos is a talent, but because he hadn’t really put out any songs of notoriety, so there wasn’t really that much anticipation from me on that end. After listening to the album, I must say that I was pleasantly surprised.

Ragmuffin Soul has some great songs for the church, which really excites me. There’s a lot of worship albums that get released, but not a lot of realistic songs for the church to sing, and I think this is a credit to Carlos and the Integrity family.

“Rain it Down” is a great song to kick off the album. It has a very infectious melody line to it. “God of Second Chances” and “We Will Worship You” should connect in congregational worship very well. I really like the last track, “We Will Dance”. It’s a great up-tempo contribution to the church. I can see a lot of worship services pumping with that one.

My main critique of the album is probably minor. I really think the songs “Because of You” & “In Your Presence” could have been cut. Not because they’re bad songs, but because they really don’t measure up to the rest of the album. In other words, I feel this should have been a 10 track album, instead of a 12 track album. It would have really made this a more power packed CD.

All in all, though, this is a great contribution to the local church. Worship bands will have no problem bringing these tunes to their congregations. As a worship leader, I really appreciate that. Great job, Carlos & Integrity!!

Buy this album on iTunes.

Related posts:

1. Integrity Music Signs Worship Artist and RagamuffinSoul.com Blogger, Carlos Whittaker
2. Jesus Saves – Carlos Whittaker, Jason Ingram, and Mia Fields
3. Carlos Whittaker’s EP Release with Blog Tour

So you’re a songwriter and worship leader writing songs for your congregation, but you also want to share them with the wider Body of Christ. You want to serve the Church by sharing the great song ideas God has shared with you. You’d also like to share the music with other songwriters and worship leaders for feedback and critique, potentially crafting great songs in the process.

But there’s one catch, you feel like someone will steal your great song idea and make it the next Church hit and the work that you put into it will be for nothing?

Well, fret not!

Under US Copyright Law, the very second that you, the writer, make a tangible copy of that song, you have a copyright.

Tangible means something you can touch. That means that the second you write it down or sing/play it into a recording device, the copyright is yours. It’s as simple as that.

Hey, but what about the Library of Congress Copyright application? Isn’t that what I’m supposed to do to “copyright” my music?

** Many people are under that impression. They believe that is the only way to legally and officially copyright music. There are some important rights that you get when you do register with the LOC, but the basic copyright isn’t one of them.

If, and when, you decide to record an album and distribute it to the masses, it’d be a good idea to register the song/recording with the LOC, but understand that it isn’t required to secure copyright.

If you write it down, it’s copyrighted. If you make a recording of it, it’s copyrighted. If it’s just an idea in your head and you share it with someone else, it is NOT copyrighted. So, make sure you’re making lead sheets, and/or recordings of your songs. That is basic copyright protection right there!

** If you plan to record an album and distribute it you NEED TO REGISTER YOUR COPYRIGHT with the Library of Congress for protection and distribution rights. This article isn’t advocating not registering with the LOC, just stating what a basic copyright is.

Sources: All You Need To Know About The Music Business Donald S. Passman (On Amazon)

Related posts:

1. Rehearsal Tracks and Copyright
2. Basic Health Care For Your Voice: Part 2
3. Basic Health Care For Your Voice: Part 1

The life of a worship leader is a happy one. These people get all the fame, the royalties, the best-looking girls (or boys), they get to travel around the world and sing their carefully crafted compositions to lots of loyal followers. They are perfect in every way…

No. The truth is they get irritable, they have bad breath and sometimes they do write some quite awful, cringe-inducing songs that sound like palid impressions of (most) Coldplay tunes. They are impatient, egotistical, insecure and most of the time they can’t play their instruments properly. They are normal… like us.

So, in a bid to help these poor, wounded souls along the way, here’s our Top Ten Worship Leader Do’s and Don’ts. If you are a worship leader this collection of gems won’t make you a nicer person, but hopefully it’ll make you even better at helping your congregation praise and worship Jesus with gusto and integrity.

1 . Do… make yourself clear.
We have said this time and time again, but agree a set of (obvious) signals. By osmosis the worship-leading ‘trade’ appears have adopted an almost masonic, yet well-known set of ticks and tricks. A leg-cock tends generally means a chorus is about to happen, a cocked leg with a shaky foot means a bridge is imminent and an obvious guitar chop means it’s time to end. The ending is important and you have to pre-agree the format. Are you going to end with a slowing ‘rout’ or a definitive final note at the end of a bar? Communicate what method you plan to execute during the rehearsal. Of course, there should be room for improv solos and numerous repeats within the body of the song but do make it clear to the individual musician what you want from them without them having to perform some kind of David Blaine-esque mind-reading technique.

2.  Don’t… keep playing your own songs
There are plenty of reasons to play your own songs at church – it’s personal, it underscores your church’s sense of community and it celebrates God’s creativity. There is, however, an unavoidable poignancy when you are singing your own songs and, without doubt, you will have more affection for them rather than others so be careful not to be your own publicity machine. Repeated medleys featuring your own ‘hits’ could prompt dreams of lucrative record deals, worldwide fame and houses in the country. That may be God’s will for your life, but it’s not for you to force it – he’ll open the doors for that if he wants it.

3.  Do… provide printed information to musicians
A set list is a given, but printing out the songs with lyrics and chords helps everyone. Don’t ignore the drummer – he or she wants to know how many versus and choruses there are. If there’s a rhythm pattern change on certain chords, it’s easy to refer to the printed matter without having to embark on a long conversation about where and when it comes. Don’t ignore musicians who sight-read: they need charts and it’s your job to find out beforehand if they do and provide them with the appropriate material at the rehearsal.

4.  Don’t…stick to a tried-and-tested formula
The worst thing that can happen during a service is the feeling that this is a just a ‘job’ for the worship leader and that the congregation is simply fulfilling a routine. Read the Bible – there’s no routine. One day David was looking after a few sheep then he was beating up lions and felling giants. Sometimes laziness creeps in, promoting an unhealthy reliance on tried-and-tested favourites. Congregations will tire of singing the same tunes each week and that leads to apathy. Bring the congregation into new places without having to rely on standards and formulaic set lists and sounds.

5.  Do…choose the correct key
Congregations want to sing without having to think about staying in tune and if they are, you have chosen the wrong key. It is tempting to choose the key that suits your voice and makes you sound good, but try to be sensitive to others and the limited range they may have. The key that’s listed on the official lyric chart might be fine for the writer but not necessarily for you or the congregation, so don’t take that as ‘gospel’. It’s always a horror when your congregation sounds like they’ve sucked on a helium balloon, or that they are singing a funeral lament. Sound out the rest of the musicians in the rehearsal if you have any doubts about the key you have chosen.

6.  Don’t…. overcomplicate things
Stops, starts, key changes, slowing down, starting up, solos, a cappella, medleys, loops are all in the worship leader’s chocolate box, but it is important not to gorge on them all at once. Stops are the musical equivalent of the caramel truffle and they can be irritating if used with gay abandon. Repeated stops confuse the congregation and let’s face it, they are unrelentingly dull. This is a practice that only musicians enjoy because it demands precision and if it comes off it gives them licence to pat themselves nicely on the back, content with a job well done. If the stops don’t come off they sound terrible – it’s just loud Morse code.

7  Do… learn basic musical theory
Your main vehicle as a worship leader in a contemporary church setting is music. Now that sounds extremely simplistic but there are still worship leaders out there who don’t know what a bar or a time signature is, or indeed anything about note values and why they are important.
You don’t have to be a virtuoso to be a worship leader, but a few basics that allow you to communicate properly in this context will do you no harm at all. A worship leader who is able to count a few bars is like finely honed gold and one who is able to transpose quickly and effectively is, well, a Godsend. If you are the traditional acoustic guitar-leading worship leader, learn some simple skills on other musical instruments and, if you are feeling particularly saucy, learn a few scales. If you do, the lead guitarist, who looks at you quizzically every week, will become a new-found friend. That could be a bad thing…

8.  Don’t… expect the band to second-guess what you are doing.
This is wholly frustrating, particularly for drummers. The staple song-ending sign for a guitar-playing worship leader is to perform a sort of chopping action. Now you don’t have to bash the headstock on the ground, but a centimetre-length solitary ‘chop’ isn’t going to do the job. If you want your drummer to end the same time as you and not make the finale sound like a drunk falling down the stairs, then make this action much more obvious. Nor is a nod and a wink sufficient – it looks like you are up to something dodgy and band members genuinely don’t know whether you have a straight-from-the-horse’s-mouth tip about the next winner at the Cheltenham hurdles or whether you are planning to repeat the chorus.

9.  Do… think outside of the box
When you are putting together your set list be prepared to extend your boundaries and try not to repeat the songs that you played the previous week. Every song suffers when it is overplayed so it’s important you keep its metaphorical power dry. Shake things up a bit – drag out an old hymn or chorus. How about starting off with a tender song rather than a rip-roarer? Look in your diary – is this a pertinent date in history and is there message to be drawn from that? God loves creativity, and in your preparations, be creative.

10. Don’t… take the musicians for granted
Playing for a grumpy, unappreciative worship leader is like dragging a dead horse through soft sand. Even the most gifted, accomplished musician likes to be told that he or she has made a valuable contribution. Don’t overdo the platitudes – breathing requires little talent – but a kind word or a ‘well played’ will always be well received. If a musician has ideas for a song and you’ve had to reject them because it simply doesn’t fit, encourage them for trying something different – maybe you can use it in another context. Try not to sound like a cheesy Christian with all this – there’s nothing worse than rampaging insincerity.

Written by Tim Bowdler, this post first appeared on the Musicademy website.

Other posts you may like:

17 common worship leading mistakes and how to avoid them

Things that frustrate worship leaders – part 1 and part 2

Let the church lead worship not the worship leaders

BBC Radio 1 DJ talks up church

What is worship?

Related posts:

1. Hendrix Style Double Stops for Worship Guitar
2. Should You Use Loops in Worship?
3. Leading Through Brokenness

Guitarists perform a fine balancing act in worship groups. They are there to embellish and add the icing on the metaphorical worship cake. If they bring too much icing with their grab-bag of tricks they can destroy something beautiful within seconds.

Lead guitarists should be encouraged, though. Guitarists who choose an electric invariably see it as more than a passing hobby so the ones who really get into it often spend more time honing their skills and expanding their knowledge than is immediately noticed. That desire to hone their craft needs to be appreciated and embraced by worship leaders, congregations and churches as a whole. Yes it can seem a bit all consuming, self involved and even an identity to the outside world but if harnessed well and appreciatated, a good, team playing guitarist with a sensitive ear and a servant heart is pure gold. A guitarist without these traits is like a pew with a nail in it. Painful, and there to stay.

So, for the unloved lead guitarist who desperately needs a claw hammer, help is at hand.

1) Do… keep your volume levels in check
There are two schools of thought here – one that comes from you and the other that comes from everyone else. Your school of thought is: ‘I can’t hear myself’. Everyone else’s is: ‘The guitarist is too loud’.
Guitarists, who are offering their time to play at church want to worship like everyone else but volume, and the amount of it, can be a bone of contention. The trouble is as we all know, to get a great sound from your beloved tube amp, it needs to be cranked up a bit, but most amps are designed to be used at a volume WAY above church levels so, get a small amp and point it towards the instruments that produce volume and need to hear you. I.e. the drums – I.e. not the backing vocalists. Also try to get 6-10 feet away from your amp and angle the speaker towards your face. it’ll sound a lot louder then. And do use your guitar volume control or even a volume pedal to match the intensity of the song and the volume of the singing. Maybe set it on 8 for the rhythm parts and 10 for the out there stuff. Lastly don’t use too much pre amp distortion. You won’t be able to hear yourself and that classic ‘wasp in a jam jar’ tone will get lost in the mix. Cleaner tones, without masses of reverb or out of time delay, cut through more and generally the congregation can cope with them better than the uber metal sound. Don’t worry, you won’t  have to go super clean and join the Gaither band. Even classic rock and metal tracks had less distortion than you think.

2) Don’t… play all the time
Songs enjoy space and arrangements rely on musicians having the discipline to allow that space to happen. With electric guitar being potentially so dynamic its contribution can really lift a song, but as with anything that can add strong flavour, too much can ruin the recipe. So in music it is particularly tempting just to go in too early. Give songs time to build – don’t be the 800-metre runner who’s kicked in at 300 to go and is running out of puff in the home straight. Playing all time means you’ll stay on the same level and the beauty of worship is that it ebbs and flows. If you are simply strumming away, mirroring the worship leader’s part, then you are just adding to the noise not the beauty.

3) Do… maintain your equipment
String breaks cannot be helped, but you can do your best to avoid them by changing your strings more often. It sounds ridiculously simplistic but old strings sound dull, they give up the ghost at key times and it’s just distracting when a guitarist has to walk off stage for a couple of minutes to change a string if he doesn’t have a spare axe.
Then there’s the amp meltdown, the dodgy lead, the weak tuning peg, the temperamental volume pedal… all waiting to try the patience of even the most benign musician. Guitarists generally have a lot of gear and that means there’s more to go wrong and a rehearsal delayed by someone trying to trace the source of that infernal buzzing is like being stuck on a stationary train to Wigan. To be honest that’s often a result of having a lot of stuff to plug in that’s not regularly used elsewhere. Pulling and untangling cables and power supplies shortens their life expectancy dramatically so get yourself a simple, usable, permanent set up that requires the minimum setting up and plugging in. So guitar into board, board into amp, two plugs, bish bash bosh, and off you go!

4) Don’t… always play the lead lines
You can get in a rut with this: it is tempting, particlarly if you don’t know the chords to the song off by heart or can’t follow it by ear just to play the good old pentatonic scale  but that just suggests you are not really thinking about the song and that you’re merely going through the motions. Listen to the song beforehand and get some inspiration to find something that fits the arrangement hand in glove as if it was on a CD. That generally means a great but not necessarily complicated rhythm part with well chosen sounds. Most worship leaders want you to keep it simple but they love it when you come up with something that fits – and inspires – the rest of the band and the congregation.  Remember, you don’t need to be a technical genius to play something beautiful.

5) Do… play in different styles
There are no-nos in songs. Even tried-and-tested Musicademy musicians have been known to choose completely inappropriate styles. Playing a particular worship song ‘in the country style’ proved to be metaphorical banana skin once –  and the memory of that incident still hurts us now. It sounded like Billy Ray Cyrus pepping up a funeral. We’re only human. Still, in spite of that we still think there’s room for a bit of well-chosen variety. If you are a dyed-in-the-wool metalhead make sure that Slash licks don’t keep seeping into every single song. It’s also refreshing when you make a conscious effort to keep away from your ‘first love’ because when you do go there it’ll feel fresh and you’ll enjoy it more. Don’t persuade yourself that everyone loves your ‘signature sound’ – they do, but they’ll hate it if thats all they get for three straight Sundays. So play for the song - what sort of style was it originally written and arranged in? Could you find out the styles that influenced the writer? (there’s a lot of info out on the net if you dig a little). What are the authenic sounds and chops of those influences? Can the ENTIRE band pull off that style credibly? And crucially will the congregation apprecite it or will it turn into a bit of a mild comedy moment? – Reggae anyone?

6) Don’t…. look for solos/new licks all the time
Hard work yields results and if that new solo or riff you have mastered after hours of practice sounds terrific in your bedroom then it’s certain to sound wicked in the worship set. Well, no. It is tempting to parade your newly acquired musical wares in front of a packed congregation and, if performed well, even more tempting to keep on doing it. This is a good way to get yourself removed from the worship rota. The ‘Sweet Child O Mine’ riff works well harmonically over the verse of ‘Dancing Generation’ – but, and its a big but – just because you can do something does it mean you should?

7) Do… use different sound combinations
It’s important that you listen to the music, experiment with sounds and try something different, but it’s also important that you have a clear intention about what you want to do. Make sure you have nailed it during the rehearsal – if you start messing around with the sounds in the set it’ll freak the band, and the congregation out. Don’t go overboard though – there are guitarists who turn up to church with a pedal board the size of a dining room table and throughout the service they’ll try to use all of them regardless of whether it fits in with the song or not. A good pedal junkie knows when and how, and keeps his or her or powder dry until the time is right. You may have bought your new fancy pedal and feel desperate to try it out but if the set list doesn’t warrant its use, resist the temptation – there’ll be other times.

Don’t… clash with the keyboards.
Keyboard players and guitarists have to work together. Like drummers and bassists who need to lock down a rhythm, these two have to find a musical ‘place’ where they can operate together without clashing. Being sensitive to what the keyboard player is doing is, erm… key, and if you can interlock and work out structure and arrangements that co-exist nicely, then you are halfway there. If the keyboard player is playing something busy, hold back, and if they are playing pads then you have licence to experiment a little. Rhythmical business by two instruments can often can ruin a groove so even if you cant hear the keyboard, try and look at their fingers to work out what rhythms they are playing and in what register. Worship bands need ‘teams’ that can work together (ahem) in harmony.

9)  Don’t… noodle in rehearsal
This is wholly frustrating and it drives, well, everyone up the wall. If you do this you’ll return to your car after a Sunday service to find all four tyres deflated. Noodling is Chinese water torture for everyone except you and the only thing that stops your worship leader and accompanying musicians from grabbing you by the ears and imploring you to shut up is that they are Christians, and they have the gift of love and patience. Noodling inbetween songs in practice times while the worship leader is communicating to other musicians, is wholly rude, completely insensitive, narcissistic, galactically irritating and plain wrong. If you are a serial noodler put your hands in your pockets, count to 360 and resist every temptation to start practising your pentatonic scales. If that’s just impossible, take off your guitar and step away from it when someone is talking through changes. And turn off your flippin IPhone. Don’t even think about phoning, texting, tweeting, playing tetris, to make use of the ‘dead’ moments between playing the songs…

10) Do… meet up with worship pastor on a regular basis
Most churches have a worship pastor and, as a mirror image of everyday society, they come in all shapes and sizes and, crucially, they have their own foibles. But, that said, let’s generalise gratuitously for the masses.
The archetypal worship leader plays acoustic guitar with some skill, can write a few tunes and has a reasonable voice. He or she is Jack of all Trades and, without being disrespectful, they are master of none. They have a basic understanding of music and their guitar-playing is fairly simplistic. It is, therefore, helpful to meet up with your worship pastor on a regular basis. During these meetings you can offer some tips, jam together, come up with song ideas, arrangements and pray together. It all helps. Even if your worship pastor is solely a singer or keyboard player it’s just useful to get an understanding of where they are coming from and spend some time together away from the constraints of the usual frenetic, time-limited rehearsals. You get to cut a whole lot more slack when experiencing ‘musical differences’ if you both know that you genuinely like each other and have got each others’ back.

Written by Tim Bowdler for Musicademy

Other posts you may like:

12 tips for electric guitarists

Pedals for electric guitarists

Lightweight Les Paul of Love (part 1) and (part 2)

Electric guitar styles – U2

Electric guitar styles – Coldplay

How to increase speed when playing guitar

Tips for acoustic guitarists

Pedals for acoustic guitars

Related posts:

1. What You Should Look For In A Worship Leader
2. Electric Guitar Styles – The U2 Sound
3. Hendrix Style Double Stops for Worship Guitar

At the beginning of February I issued a challenge to The Worship Community and invited any and everybody that wanted to participate to undertake a songwriting challenge.

Write a song for worship based on Psalm 31.

I am overwhelmed at the participation in this, our first ever, Songwriting Assignment. We had a great group of people sharing lyrics they penned, collaborating with other members on music, and sharing songs they had written. You folks are amazing!

Our goal for each monthly Songwriting Assignment is to provide an opportunity for The Worship Community members to learn and grow in their songwriting and collaboration and also to provide a space for Worship Leaders to come and listen to and ultimately USE the songs for worship in their collective worship gatherings.

So feel free to contact the author(s) of the songs you would like to use and discuss using their songs at your place. Also, if you don’t mind, in the comments section please list which songs “speak to you” and why?

David Powter: “Wonder”
Wonder (Psalm 31) by DavidPowter

Tom Kline/Brian Rossi: “Lord, I Come”
“Lord, I Come” by | PDF Chart

Gary Durbin: “I Turn To You”
I Turn to You by garydurbin

Jason Hopp: “Shelter”
MP3 | PDF Chart

Seth Dekkenga: “Untitled”
MP3 | Lyrics

Russ Hutto: “Lord of My Refuge”
Lord of My Refuge (Psalm 31) by russhutto
PDF Chart

Related posts:

1. Developing A Songwriting Community Through Your Church, Part Three
2. Developing A Songwriting Community Through Your Church, Concluded (pt. 4)
3. The Importance Of Songwriting (One Writer’s Story)

It’s pretty obvious these days that most Christian bands and artists have a bit of help on the platform. From AutoTune to Vocoders, musicians are getting pretty technologically advanced when it comes to creating music for worship. While some of this technology can easily be thrown to the wayside as “trendy” and not worth truly exploring, one simple fact remains: “loops” are here to stay. Originally a loop (as it applies to music) involved repeating a short section of music, a riff or motif, or a repeated background part or texture. While this still may be the case in some instances, bands and artists that use “loops” usually are referring to the background musical ideas and pieces that accompany the live band. Think karaoke without the main instruments and much less lame. Today loops incorporate synth patches and rhythmic textures, drum beats and guitar riffs, and are used commonly to fill out a thin texture or just add a fresh element to a worship experience.

So the question is: should you use them in a worship environment? Obviously there are benefits that loops can bring to the table, including:

• Perfect tempo. Loops are played with a click track that is piped into key musicians’ ears (drums, leaders, etc.), meaning that you’ll STAY in time throughout the entire song.
• Fill-in-the-blanks. Missing a musician you’d really like to have in your lineup? Adding a piano part or some background synth to a loop can wake up an old arrangement and really make your worship set come alive.
• Freedom. Ironically, loops tend to help musicians feel more “free” in their worship: they’re able to play around the loop’s textures, melodies, and harmonic elements in ways that weren’t possible before.

There are certainly other ways loos can add to a worship experience, but as with all good things, they can also come with a price:

• Adds points of failure. Using loops means you’ll need extra equipment, a computer, and someone trained to run them. All this can be a blessing to your ministry, or just chaos. Choose wisely in your setup and you should be fine, but computers inevitably crash and people don’t always show up.
• Money. Buying the equipment to get started may be the option available to you, and while you can save some money following some of our guidelines, budgets always seem to be tightest around uncertain musical ventures…
• Musical constraints. Some of your musicians may not be ready to “hang” with a loop right away, especially if you have a drummer who loves to drag, or a singer who can’t count. These problems can be easy to work around in a normal band setting, but a loop is unforgiving–tempos must be locked in and lead sheets must be accurate!

While brief, these points outline the first things most leaders look for in the pros and cons of introducing loops to a worship team’s repertoire. Playing around with loops should obviously happen during practices and rehearsals, and ONLY when all musicians needed are ready should they be introduced (slowly) to a congregation.

We’ll cover more about introducing loops to a church in later posts, but if you’re interested in learning more, check out our website at www.LoopingWorship.com. Also, follow us on Twitter at LoopingWorship!

Related posts:

1. Why should I consider using loops in my worship service?
2. Introduction to Music Loops in Worship
3. Transitioning Your Band To Using Loops

A while back…ok, quite a while back I started writing a bit about using a creative team to plan worship services. (If you missed that article check it out here.) Well, here we are back in the saddle again.

This topic among discussions of creativity is probably one of the most important and yet, one of the most overlooked.

1.) Stop saying no to ideas that don’t fit your paradigm. How many times have you shot down and idea instinctively or had one of your ideas shot down in the same manner? This is one of the biggest road blocks to creativity.

You’ve probably heard this before, but it’s worth repeating: If you keep doing what you’ve done, you’ll get what you’ve always gotten. If you want the best ideas to rise to the top, you have to allow all ideas to rise, not shut them down.

2.) Get out there and see ideas of what others are doing (especially people/churches who do things you don’t normally do. We need to be good at finding resources, ideas that other people have tried and succeeded at doing. We need to be good at sifting through lots of information, looking at a lot of manuscripts until we find the cream of the crop. It’s kind of like a thankless version of American Idol. We go through a lot of auditions to find the one star, the one that stands well above the rest, the one that will speak to the most people. Use your feed readers like google, or even subscribe to blogs like this one in your email program. Get used to sifting through lots of material until you find the one gem.

3.) Take a semi-calculated risk. Some of us think we take “calculated” risks, but in reality we don’t. We calculate them so much that any real risk has been removed from the equation. I know the arguments, there’s too much on the line, we might lose people, we might make people mad, people might stop giving their money and we won’t have a job, etc. In all likelihood the only reason any of us are in the positions that we are is because someone, somewhere along the way took a risk and it paid off.

We have to take some risks. The bigger our organizations get, the harder risks become to take and the more comfortable we get with the way things are. We stand to lose too much, so we keep things the way we are, we make the same decisions.

Take a risk, do something that hasn’t been done before. Think it through, but don’t kill it just because you’ve never done it before.

In order to be creative, we have to remove the filter through which we evaluate ideas. We can’t judge an idea based on what we think we know. We have to learn from other’s mistaks. We have to take risks.

Related posts:

1. Creativity: The Missing Piece(s)
2. Book Review: Taking Flight with Creativity
3. WorshipChicks.com: A Community for Women in Worship Ministry

Over the last two years, I have been writing a self-biographical novel titled “What the Church has Taught Me : and What I am Trying to Forget.” It is basically a story of this artist/father/son as he struggles in his attempt to find a place and purpose in the Kingdom as both a servant and a son.  In anticipation of it’s publication, The Worship Community has graciously allowed me to publish a couple of chapters of the book for your enjoyment/critique, but be forewarned.  This is a vain attempt to hook you on the story, and then compel you to purchase a copy when it releases!  I hope you are okay with that. Please enjoy, and know that your opinion is both welcome and necessary!

Chapter 1: Small Town, Texas

Imagine, if you will, an apocalyptic moment in time. The air all around you is blood red. The streets are empty, silent, desolate, all except for a lone figure that you can hardly make out through the tepid visibility. It’s a boy, standing alone, whose fate is seems dire indeed. Surely, such a vulnerable individual could never survive in these brutal elements. The air is so thick that you can hardly breathe, and it is as though it is pricking your skin like millions of tiny needles, poking, prodding, finding every crevasse and pressure point. Is it a nuclear holocaust, or possibly an eruption from a nearby volcano, or massive wildfires ready to engulf your quaint little village? There must be something that you can do, some way to be a rescue, and pluck this beacon of vulnerability from the straights that afflict him.

Just as you are ready to don your blue tights, and stretch pair of tighty whities (or reddies, yellowies…take your pick) over said blue tights, a huge green station wagon pulls up with a honk, and said young boy throws his school books in the back, slumps in the front seat, and they drive away. Due to the fact that this apocalyptic situation occurs just about every day in March when the wind blows, the boy was neither fazed nor frightened. It is the everyday life of a boy growing up in a small town in West Texas.

This particular town is merely a dot on the map. No one travels there for the sites. Fast food arrived only recently  via the gas station combo. People pride themselves by the size of their truck, the points of the buck hanging on their wall, or how many yards they rushed for on the Varsity Football team. It’s the town in which every teenage sports movie is set. It’s the town where most horror film psycho killers find their solitude to commit their devious acts. It’s a town that sucked growing up, but in a good way.

Seminole’s story is similar to that of many small towns. It used to have a thriving downtown, which was practically deserted when Wal-Mart moved in. There are two steak houses, two Dairy Queens, 3 Allsups, which is the small town version of 7-11 and 15 Mexican food restaurants, which are rivaled numerically only by the number of fellowships in this town of 6,000. Not too much happens in Seminole, and the people there either love or despise that fact.

The town does have its charm. It is the largest oil, cotton, and peanut producing county in the state of Texas. There were places like the White Rabbit, the Hill, and the Tanks where the senior guys would throw “keggers” and try to pick up the freshman girls. Was Seminole stereo typical? You bet your Bubba teeth, and your options were slim when it comes to entertainment. Those options numbered three: drink alcohol, pick up girls, or drag* the strip.

Bubba’s Buzzword of the day
The Drag – a hereditary chemical reaction that occurs in the brain after being subjected to decades of pure boredom.  The result is a desire to use your vehicular mode of transportation and drive said mode through one area over and over again with the hopes that something exciting may happen. Examples of excitement include freezout, which the subject of Dragitus Ridus roll down their windows on a cold night and the remove of all upper body clothing in the vehicle, peel out, which is the squealing of your tires in the attempt to subject injury to your transmission, and butt out, which I will leave to the imagination.

I have heard many theories as to the cause of greenhouse emissions throughout our planet, and how Texas is a very large contributor of those gases.  I know why that is. It’s because of the drag, and I do mean the carbon monoxide emissions spewed from your 1986 Ford F-150 and not necessarily the excessive play of “butt out.” We would spend hours a day driving around on this drag. It looped around the Sonic Drive in and ended up in the parking lot of our football stadium. All of my friends did the drag.  All of the older and younger kids did the drag. You weren’t cool unless you did the drag.  In fact, I remember the first time that I “rode the drag” with my sister.  It was just after a basketball game, and my sis and her cheerleader friends let me tag along. We were listening to C & C Music Factory with the windows down, and I was at that moment the coolest seventh grader in the whole of Seminole.

Seminole is home to about a dozen fellowships ranging from die hard Church of Christ, who believe that they will be the only ones in heaven, to the raging Charismatic, who believe that they will be the most popular, with hordes of “bling” in their crowns. Religion is part of the weekend lives of just about everyone in the town, but much like the rest of the country, it doesn’t go much beyond that for the majority.

My religious life began quite typically. My mom raised me, because my parents were divorced. I remember vividly my mother sitting at the back door to our home, crying as my father left. She was married for 24 miserable years, and not only were my parents getting divorced, but he would shortly be remarried, and we would struggle through life trying to get by on child support and my mother’s meager government pay check.

I don’t say that to speak negatively of my father. He is now a good and generous man and a huge supporter of my dreams, without which, I would be pretty lost out there! I do speak of that time because it is necessary to understand the deep hurt that infidelity and divorce brought to my family. It’s an important distinction of this young writer.

What also is extremely important is that I grew up without a consistently present fatherly role in my life. There was no one to teach me how to hit a jump shot. I didn’t have anyone to teach me how to shave, how to treat a girlfriend, and of course I didn’t grow up in a home where I saw a husband and wife relate and love one another well. It is possible that it may take a lifetime to realize the totality of the impact that growing up in a fatherless home had on my life.

My Dad is a man who has done well with his life as it relates to being a good financial steward. I could always count on him when I was in need. Many times Christmas became bearable because of his contribution. Today, my father serves as a deacon at his local fellowship in the mountains of New Mexico. He has come a tremendous distance on his journey with Christ. When he told me he had been nominated and he accepted, it was a complete shock, because the last time I heard he was asked to do something in a fellowship, it was to end the service in prayer, and his response was, “I believe I’ll pass.” There is not another man in the universe like my dad, and I love the fact that he has never been persuaded by what society says he should be and I admire what he has become.

***

As a child, I was the definition of ADD, always into everything, having the attention span of a gnat, constantly in my sister’s business and constantly into trouble. This wasn’t because I was intentionally mischievous, but simply because I was a boy. I lived on a farm, so there were so many things to shoot with my BB gun, so much grass to burn down, and so many cats around the house to torment. My dad had built us a nice house, worked hard in the fields all day, and occasionally would come and pick me up, and I would ride with him on the tractor and pee outside.

We had a good amount of land devoted to the art of cotton farming, much of which was owned by my Grandmother. The land was irrigated, and cotton sprung up from the desert like an oasis every summer. When the cotton grew, the apocalyptic sand storms stopped because the top soil “stayed put.” Child labor was a part of the gig. I hoed in a field most days in the summer, which differs drastically from hoin’ in the city. Different goals all together. Weeds were our enemy. If they overtook the farm, the value of our cotton dropped quickly, and one bad summer would take years to dig out. It was the perfect place for a child to grow up. You were expected to work hard, and you had to be creative to have any fun at all. Now that I live in the city, I seldom see a teenager mow their own yard, and we wonder why we have a generation of youth without any work ethic.

I remember my first torrid love affair at the tender age of four. My heart was smitten for a girl named Abigail, and she and her family came to live with my family because they were having hard times. She had beautiful blond hair, and that was the point when I started to figure out that girls were different and that was pretty cool. Her older sister married us, but it was doomed from the beginning. The financial stress of no allowance and cramped living quarters caused a rift in our relationship. We sought some counseling, once again from the older sister. I was told that I had issues, which I most certainly did. I peed in the bed at night, my older sister consistently beat me up, and I lived in a house full of girls. Of course I had issues! When we finally broke it off after three hours, my heart was broken and I wasn’t sure if I could ever love again, until I met Sharon.

Sharon was, and probably still is, the niece of legendary country singer Tanya Tucker. She was, and probably now isn’t, in my kindergarten class, and to me, she was like a chocolate ice cream cone after playing on the playground for an hour, knowing that on that morning, my mother gave me $.35 so that I could partake of the tasty treat. I desired her. I longed for her. She would turn her tongue over and stick it out so that you could see the veins on the bottom, which come to think of it, I could too, but the fact that she did it first must have left an impression on this impressionable kindergartener. We played Connect Four and Candyland together. I can’t count how many times I cleaned my sister’s room because she threatened to tell Sharon that I wet the bed, but one day, I noticed that Sharon smelled a bit funny. It was probably my own stank after recess, but I was only just old enough to distinguish right from wrong. I was still quite a ways from distinguishing the tender, lovely smell of a woman from that of a five year old who had refused to bathe that week. It’s tough juggling love and loss in kindergarten, but fortunately there was nap time to help me focus.

***

My family had been attending an evangelical fellowship* until about the time when I was four. Naturally, I couldn’t sit still, and farted in public, so I can vividly remember being hauled down the long aisle yelling, “Please momma, forgive me! Please!” I am sure that most of that congregation was asking God to smite me. At the very least, they would no longer have someone urinating off the roof of the fellowship hall, which is always a plus. Are you detecting a theme of my childhood? Yes, urination, for some reason, was an important part of my formative years.

*BUZZWORD OF THE DAY
Fellowship – The local expression of the Church. You will not hear me refer to a fellowship as a church, because I don’t want to infer the incorrect definition of the Body of Christ to someone who is unfamiliar.

True to so many believers at that time who were beginning to look for something more than the dirge of the Church of the 50’s, my mother began to attend other fellowships when she wasn’t singing in the choir of the big one. The leadership found out about this activity, and put up with it until my parents went through a terrible divorce. Then she was no longer allowed to be in any kind of leadership and we were basically asked to leave. That was my first experience being snubbed by the religious elite that should have been our help during such a tragic time.

We started to attend a small charismatic fellowship, which were of course all the rage in the late 70’s and early 80’s. Robert Tilton and Jimmy Swaggert were the poster children of this movement, and who the *emerging church of the 80’s emulated. Just like today, in many cases, people made the mistake of attributing a movement of the Body of Christ to superstars in the movement, rather than to the sovereignty of an involved God. That certainly got us in trouble, but I am a bit concerned that we didn’t learn anything.

*BUZZWORD OF THE DAY: Part 2
Emergent-when someone gets a new idea, writes a book about it, has a conference, other people come to that conference and then act like it was their idea, come home, fire the choir director, and piss everyone off.

Did I just commit blasphemy to the cause of emergent movement by attributing it to the 80’s as well? There weren’t any candles or guitar wielding worship leaders wearing bowling shoes and sporting a *euromullet. Yes, today’s emergent church is not the first. It is probably won’t be the last. It could be the most significant, and is forced to the forefront of forward and backward thinking Christians because we live in an age that the information can be distributed beyond local boundaries or media moguls. Let’s only hope that we stop building on men, and rather on the principles outlined in scripture and made real by the Holy Spirit. If we choose the former, it will only be a matter of time before the magazine photos of ministers with toothy grins will be replaced by that of ministers behind bars or blubbering on and on about how much of a sinner they are. History has a way of repeating itself, and judging by what recently happened in Colorado Springs, those repeats only become more shocking, but at the very least they are far less devastating because the world has grown to expect it thanks to the 80′s. Finally desensitization works in our favor!

*BUZZWORD OF THE SAME DAY
Euromullet – a variation of the American mullet that is not shortly followed by camouflage and dead meat. The hair is short and messy up top and long on the sides and back. Where the American mullet is business up front and a party in the back, the Euro is all party.

And now back to the 80’s charismatic “emergent church.” My mother was skeptical at first. Due to the divorce, she was in dire need of healing and acceptance in which she hadn’t found until we began to attend this fellowship. It seemed that most people there were weirdos according to the rest of the community, so there was plenty of grace and need for one another to go around.

One morning, I responded to an altar call, not necessarily because I was convicted, but because I was bored out of my skull and had already finished off the grape juice in the communion cups in the fellowship hall. What happened after was nothing short of a miracle, and it has never happened since.

Basically, the pastor prayed for me, and I was “slain in the Spirit.” Now, if you took that phrase literally, one would assume that the Spirit of God used a blunt object and struck me in the head hard enough to kill me, but fear not, I lived to tell the tale. I only lost consciousness, but not at the result of any object, but because the Holy Spirit needed to do something. That makes me chuckle. Only in the Charismatic Church can you unexpectedly pass out, and it be OK, unless you brought your own oxygen with you that Sunday morning. That typically prompts concern.
I know that some fundamental alarms may have just sounded, but hear me out, because it wasn’t about me. It was the *Holy Spirit speaking to my mom. As they were praying, all I remember is going out like a light. I didn’t see or hear anything. I was just out.

Like I said before, I was the very definition of ADD, and my mother was freaking out because I was so still. Honestly, she thought something could be wrong, but at least I was still breathing. I don’t remember this moment in history other than the fact that it was a really nice nap, but I do know that it had a profound impact on my development as a believer. Of course after that, I figured that every time someone prayed for me, it was an excellent excuse for naptime, so pretending to pass out became a bit more of a common place, although I am much like my son in that I was completely unable to stay still or keep from laughing.

* BUZZPHRASE OF THE DAY
Holy Spirit – The heart of God and Christ active here on earth. The Holy Spirit is man’s conduit to God and who also convicts of sin and reveals God’s infinite nature to our finite minds. Also referred to as the Holy Ghost, but I am a product of Scooby Doo, and expect to hear Shaggy go, “Zoiks, it’s the Holy Ghost! Run Scoobs!” and the Holy Ghost is floating shortly behind them moaning and being super scary. Then Scooby trips over the leaver that starts the conveyor belt, and a hook comes up and pulls the sheet off the Holy Ghost and they discover it was just old man Harry from the mill. Thelma would follow, saying, “He was just trying to keep developers from reopening the mill as a trendy high rise urban loft development,” and old man Harry responds, “And I would have succeeded if it weren’t for you kids.” Yeah, so I prefer Holy Spirit.

That Sunday morning was my mother’s first encounter with the supernatural, and something inside of her came alive that day. I don’t know if it was the baptism of the Holy Spirit or just the awakening of that which was already there, but it was indeed real. From that point on, the Holy Spirit became an active part of our household.
Suddenly, in a place full of tears and pain, there was life and joy. Times were still hard, and often times made harder by the oh so popular “God wants you to be a millionaire” message, which we were certainly vulnerable being a poor, single family attending a Charismatic fellowship. My mom raised two difficult kids after she had raised three more difficult kids. I cannot think of a time when my mom did something wrong. I have never heard a curse word come from her mouth or even an ill word spoken about anyone, including my father. Well, I take that back. She did recently call someone a jackass, but they indeed are deserving of such a title. She’s in her 70′s now. She deserves a little slack. She prayed often and fervently for her kids, family, and friends, and has impacted so many lives. It’s too bad she didn’t have enough faith, prayer hankies, or Evian water from the stage of a crusade to be a millionaire though. That would have been cool growing up.

With my mother, what is significant is that on that day, she discovered the Holy Spirit’s role in her life, and it healed her broken heart, gave her a sense of purpose, and which helped make me into the man I am today, but I want you to know that that was a struggle in and of itself. You see, I became a “goooood” Christian. I wish that you could hear the voice that is in my head when I say that phrase, because it would make you chuckle. Well, I guess it is better said that I became good at being a Christian.

***

Popularity in school starts at a very young age. I remember being in second grade, the year the Challenger exploded, and wanting Pony shoes, because the Kangaroos were going out of style. I never got the Pony shoes, or the Kangaroos for that matter. I remember having the need for a pair of parachute pants, so that I could break dance during recess, but I never had parachute pants. In fact, break dancing was against the rules of my elementary school which was run by a school board of Church of Christ fundamentalists who believed that the dance would lead you down a path of teenage pregnancy and permanent jazz hands. I actually received corporal punishment for such deviant action. In other words, I was beaten with a board by a stranger. My, how times have changed.

It seemed to be the highlight of the school faculty’s day to be able to give me “licks.” Most of them were looking for an excuse and I would typically oblige them. I would get into fights, throw a dirt clod, or talk out of turn. I had a voice louder than most growing up. It was technologically proven, so if I did anything out of order that included my voice, the entire hall heard it, and there was a flurry amongst the faculty to see who could get their paddle first and me out in the hall second. Every such action may have been a stern warning for most, but for me, it was always the board.

At home, it was only slightly different. There was certainly no need to spare the rod on this behind. When my son gets out of line, we have a special plastic spoon that we use to remind him that his butt can turn different colors. My mom used what ever was handy at the moment.  I have been spanked with shoes, fly swatters, belts, every utensil in the kitchen, hands, toys, vinyl records, swinging doors, brooms, combs, brushes, the mane from a My Little Pony doll, and the list goes on and on.

There is a good reason behind why so much sense had to be beaten into me. My brothers paved the way. They were legends to the small town of Seminole, not because they were football stars or started a fortune 500 company, but because they could whip anyone in the town. They were tough as nails, and I was expected to be the same, but I was just a bit different. Instead of rejoicing over a victory in a fistfight, I would typically cry. I was always encouraged to fight like my brothers. The funny thing was that my friends never got into fights themselves. Now looking back, their prodding was both rooted in their desire to see a good fight and to see me cry afterwards.
I also had to go to a special education class because I talked too loudly. You would think that special education classes would be reserved for children who are mentally handicapped, but they had a big seat with my name on it. We would sit and play board games, and my teacher would incessantly tell me to speak quietly. When I did, I got a scratch and sniff sticker. I guess that I did start speaking more quietly, because I literally graduated from the short bus to the long bus sometime around 2nd grade.

But there was also so much wonderment that happens during this time. You discover that you don’t have to pull your pants down all the way to the floor to pee. You learn how to do the spider on the swing set on the play ground, where you convince a girl to sit on your lap opposite of you and swing together, and you discover that “Ohhhhhh mama….” feeling for the first time. It was amazing being that young in a small town. You could act like a boy full of energy and curiosity and exhibit a ferocious appetite for any toy that resembled a firearm and not be required to go on medication before you could attend class the next week.

There were Transformers, GI Joe, Thunder Cats, that show with the black helicopter that went really fast and rose up out of a volcano, and the show with the black motorcycle that went really fast and jumped out of a warehouse, and that show with the black car that went really fast and jumped out of the back of a semi trailer. There were forts and tents and sleepovers on the trampoline, tree houses, exploring, bike trails and your first kiss on the playground. You could be a boy, run a muck, and suffer the consequence if need be. Parents worried far less about their children. Children feared far less on their walk to school.

I had an amazing childhood which reached a turning point far too prematurely. That carefree nature was slowly replaced with the desire to be accepted. One realizes that there are two paths in life: to ascend the hierarchy of the socially apt or journey the quick decent to being normal like everyone else. I began that ascent in 4th grade, and then tripped, struggled to gain footing, stopped for directions from Lucifer himself, and plunged into the abyss.

There was a group of girls one grade older than me who were the purdiest things I had ever seen. They were named Melanie, Chrissy, Sara, and Candy. Of course they were named Melanie, Chrissy, Sara, and Candy. Those are the quintessential name sakes of the hot girls in any school and consequentially in every teen movie, and Chrissy would often give me a ride home with her parents because my mother would have to work late, and we lived by each other. I thought I was the “it” guy in school because I got to ride home with Chrissy.

One day that crossroad came, and I was invited to Chrissy’s birthday party. This was a big deal, and everyone on the emerging social scale was going to be there. I spent the better part of the day looking and smelling just right, and of course rehearsing what I would say. When I arrived, I found out that Melanie thought I was cute! Melanie! She was a whole year older than me, and she thought I was cute! So we sat in the same chair for a while. I put my arm around her. We ate cake from the same plate.

About that time, everyone decided to go and jump on the trampoline, which is the most dangerous of all backyard play equipment. Kids would be safer playing lawn darts with steak knives than jumping on a trampoline. This was before there were nice foam cushions on the sides and safety nets. We were all bouncing and having fun, and Melanie says, “Double bounce me Rocky! Double bounce me!” So I did, and she went flying in the air. “Do it again! Do it again!”, she pleads, and I did it again and off she went squealing. The third time, she didn’t ask. I just assumed that she wanted it a third time, because I wanted to anticipate the needs of my woman, so I double bounced her again, and off she went squealing again, right off of the trampoline.

The squealing quickly turned to a quick cracking sound and a whole lot of screaming, and mass chaos broke out. There were mom’s hurdling lawn chairs, 4th and 5th graders with their arms crossed, glaring at me, and suddenly it was that dream that we all have where we are in a room full of people in your thighy shorts, and don’t know what to do. Do you run, hide, duck, or cover? That is how I felt standing on that trampoline. Melanie was one of the four hot girls in the grade above me, the most precious asset to Seminole Elementary School and I broke her arm! Right then and there, the open door to coolness was slammed in my face.

If I had not double bounced Melanie that evening for the third time, it is entirely possible that my life could be completely different. To have a relationship with one of the fabulous four would have no doubt been the springboard that I needed to be a top dog in Jr. High. Instead of a springboard, I got a trampoline, and only wish that at that time, I had the wherewithal to understand how significant that moment was, and to know that there are times, through the hand of God’s divine providence that we reach a major fork in the road. For David it was a giant, a crazy king, and ultimately a naked girl. For Paul, it was the status of the religious elite, the experiencing of Jesus, and eventually the road to Damascus. I have no idea what would have been if Melanie had not broken her arm, but I do know that after that evening, my life was never the same.

That moment will come in all of our lives. It will probably come a number of times as God in his immense grace and mercy weaves our depravity, selfishness, and greed into His ultimate plan of our destiny. Often times, I wonder foolishly, if because of my mistakes, I have missed God’s destiny for my life. In truth though, when I look at all God has shown me because of my mistakes, I can’t help but wonder in amazement if indeed those mistakes were part of his plan. At this point, my Calvanistically driven brother in law gives me a sports slap on the butt. “Good doctrine Rocky.  Good doctrine.”

Related posts:

1. Songs in the Night

Recently, the words to a song that I wrote a few years ago keep running through my head. I feel compelled to share them here in the hope that they will be a blessing to someone.

Lord, I come into Your presence once again
And I bow my knee before You
By Your blood, You made the way for me
There I find Your grace and mercy

I lift my hands to You alone
And I cry out “You are holy”
And as I stand before Your throne
I am in awe of what You’ve done for me

As I pondered the last line of the song I began to think about what He has done for me–the list could go on forever, but what came to my mind right away was that God has done the following for me:

Saved me through His Son Jesus
Given me peace and freedom
Healed me many times
Never condemned me
Showered me daily with His grace and mercy
Loved me unconditionally
Held me through trials
Carried me through days that were gut-wretching
Given me a hope and a future

So much more that I haven’t even put into words–He is an amazing God and I am blessed beyond words that I am His child.

Father, thank-you for Your unending love, grace, mercy, compassion, healing, restoration, deliverance, provision, help and forgiveness. I would be lost without You. Amen

Related posts:

1. Songs in the Night