bret's brain

Fear

2012-01-24T16:02:00.000-06:00

Saturday night was game night at Welstead homestead. The boys are starting to get to the point where we can enjoy more "advanced" games. It was Pictionary Jr. (which Cole & Mommy won) and Uno Attack (which Jack won). So Daddy was the loser of the evening, which was a chance to teach a little about being a good loser, showing humility, and letting the boys try encouraging instead of taunting. It worked out really well, actually.

While the boys are at the perfect stage for focusing on and participating in games, Lucy is far from it. She is in her own stage of life, of course, which right now comprises crawling, sitting up, and holding her bottle herself. Which sets the stage for what might be the most terrifying moment I can recall.

Lucy was crawling, sitting, holding her bottle and feeding herself while the rest of us played Pictionary. We heard the now familiar "thud" that comes with the territory of having infants and hard wood floors. We looked over to see that, while she was leaning against a couch and drinking from her bottle, Lucy's bottom had slid away from the couch, allowing her head to collide with the floor. As I left the table to get her, I saw the familiar expressions cross her face. Surprise, followed by confusion, followed by realization and recognition of pain.

After a ramp up wail, she started into what I can only describe as a silent cry. You know the kind? The mouth is open, the face is turning red, but no noise is coming. It's usually followed by a sharp inhale, and a long cry which is surprisingly loud.

But it didn't happen that way exactly, which is why my heart sunk through the floor in a moment of sheer panic and fear.

Her face turned more red, the mouth almost frozen in the silent cry. But the sharp breath delayed long in coming. She sort of rolled in my arms, like she was lost. Eyes wide, staring at nothing. Tears welling. Face a deep red. Mouth open. Silent scream.

Terrifying.

I've never felt so afraid as a father. For a few moments, I was terrified that I was powerless to help my daughter. Words like "concussion," "damage," and "irreparable" flashed through my head. Emergency procedures were compiling in me as we waited the seconds for something to happen. Tracie had joined me and we tried to assess what exactly was going on.

Then suddenly, mercifully, wonderfully, she took in a sharp breath and let it all out again.

Things started to look normal as I handed her to Tracie to let Lucy cry it out. The fear subsided. As the minutes passed, we realized she was fine. A little pale for a while, but acting normal. Her color returned, and she's been fine since.

I don't know what happened. Maybe she had pushed out all her breath, and her lungs couldn't remember what to do next. Like when I was a boy and fell hard on the ground from the roof of our wood shed. For a moment I couldn't breath, I couldn't yell, I couldn't speak. I could only wait in agony of waiting.

All I know is that I was terrified.

Sunday morning I read a verse from Hebrews that was part of the message. Hebrews 13:5-6 says,

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”

So we say with confidence,

“The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid.
What can mere mortals do to me?” (NIV)

It's easy, when the sun shines and those around you are well, to say, "I will not be afraid." It's harder when you think the sun is setting on a day that should last much longer.

I wonder how easy it was for David to write those words. To praise God for deliverance and salvation. I can say them now, of course. In that moment, though, I was shocked at how quickly I turned from David into Job.

Writing

2012-01-23T11:12:00.001-06:00

Last Monday Daniel Christian, a songwriter I greatly respect, posted to Facebook that during the next 5 weeks he would try to write 5 songs. After all of 30 seconds of thought, I sent him a message, asking him to bring me into the challenge: we'd both write 5 songs during the next 5 weeks, with the expectation of keeping each other accountable to the goal and playing the songs for each other when the 5 weeks is up.

Since then I've written 2 verses of a song. Which is more than I've done in the past 8 months. So it's progress, however slow. I'm still dogged by the expectations I put on myself that I can't write anything that doesn't automatically awesome. I'm trying to push through it, though. I wrote part of a verse about how I don't know what to write. It might get scrapped from the final song, but it helped me put more words to the paper and develop the music a bit.

Daniel, in what I imagine to be form that is true to him, was done with two songs on Friday, just 4 days into the challenge. He ribbed me a little over Twitter, which brought a chuckle. I'm excited to hear his new stuff, and (if I can be completely honest) more excited to hear my new stuff. It's not that I think myself a better songwriter in any way. Far from it. It's that I've tried and tried over the past few years to prime the pump, to get the pen scribbling to the point that a song overflows.

This is an opportunity for me to find my voice again.

So This Is The New Year

2012-01-10T10:12:00.001-06:00

I've probably used that blog title before. Death Cab for Cutie always sing their way into my thoughts when the phrase "the new year" enters my head. No matter. It's a good starting point.

Unlike Ben Gibbards, though, I do feel different. Every year, I feel a sort of awakening. December is such a full and busy month of ministry, and Christmas 2011 was a celebration, but also a lot of work. Followed by a week of travel to relax and see family. Followed by now.

Now I'm ready to take on the world again. In the new year God always breathes life into me. There's the promise of all that can and will be accomplished. There's the celebration of all the good that has happened in the past year. I hate dwelling on the bad. I think at heart I'm an optimist, and I'd rather hope for the best than focus on the rest. Which means I'm often disappointed. Comes with the territory. I'd just rather be hopeful and occasionally disappointed than the alternative. I know too many people who, no matter what God is doing around them, focus on the drudgery, the depravity, the blah of life. No matter how bright the silver lining, they're looking at the storm.

Why? Why dwell there? Have you ever considered that the wonder and awesomeness of the incarnation is that God has dwelt there? Do you know that He has done it for us? If you are a follower of Christ, do you believe Him when He said, "It is finished"?

Because we know how this ends. We know Who waits at the end of it all for us, Who has entered into our story, Who has invited us into His story, Who journeys with us and is impacted by us. We know that He breathes new life into us.

This new year I want to breathe life.

I've got some resolutions for the new year. Some are designed to breathe life into myself, some to breathe life into others. Again, these come out of a feeling of newness and possibility. I will always cling to possibility.

Eat healthier, get in better shape. Typical, yes. But I know how my physical condition affects my mood. So I'm focusing on small changes for now. Like drinking more water, snacking less often and healthier, and walking the dog each night. Which Gibson loves. I've lost 2 pounds the last 5 days, and I feel better, clearer. Next month I'm going to crank it up a notch -- a big notch -- with an exercise program.
Write some new songs. I've spent too long thinking my songs aren't good enough. A friend reminded me the other night that God has given me a talent and a way to bless others. I'm going to write some new songs.
Fix up Grandpa's guitar. This year I'm going to talk to someone, anyone, about Grandpa Welstead's guitar. It's a Martin from 1930, I think. It was smashed several years ago, but no one quite remembers how. I don't know if it can be restored, but if it can get back into working condition, I know it'd mean so much to Dad's family.
Focus on relationships. This is a tough one for an introvert, but I think it's necessary. The close of 2011 featured several moments when I realized how important and how wonderful the friendships are that I can call mine. I need to give more time to those friendships, speak words I've kept back before, dive in regardless of my anxiety.

Embrace the new year. Embrace the possibilities. Embrace hope.

Reorganization

2011-11-08T11:30:00.006-06:00

I've been thinking a lot about reorganizing. My time, my office space, my management of important details.

The end of my day needs reorganizing. I spend too much time watching television or playing Wii. I've got at least 9 books I'd like to read -- some enrichment, some pleasure -- that need to take a bigger part of my day. Or I should put more priority on a home project. There's always something that needs done. I tend to be tired from work at the end of the day, so I veg until bedtime. Maybe bedtime needs to be earlier, too.

My office is slowly closing in on me. There's an unused second desk in the corner, boxes of drama scripts that we might never use, a whole shelf of piano/guitar/voice books from albums that are older than my vocational ministry, 3 mallet keyboard instruments, an old and tattered love seat, and piles of stuff I need to do something with. It's time I do something with it all.

I'm the worst when it comes to keeping track of appointments and task lists. I have no real rhyme or reason. It's probably due to a lack of discipline in this area. After all, I have tools for keeping organized: laptop, smart phone. I'm just terrible at it. I've been reading a book that talks about habits, and I think I need to start small, replacing bad habits with better ones. For instance, instead of making a mental list, I need to get the list on paper. Instead of telling myself I'll make that phone call tomorrow morning, I need to create a reminder on my phone/computer.

Basically, I think my disorganized tendencies are holding me back. What's holding me back from changing these tendencies? Me. What's holding me back from changing me? Nothing, really. It's time to get to it.

300 Pages Toward Liking Robert Francis Taft

2011-02-02T15:10:00.004-06:00

Liturgy is interesting to me. Not so interesting that I'd write essays to comprise a 305 page book about it, however. Robert F. Taft, though, did just that, and I'm glad I read his Beyond East and West: Problems in Liturgical Understanding.

Honestly, some of the chapters were difficult to read, and almost impossible to skim. I just don't need to know that much yet about the methodology behind tracing the origins and developments of particular parts of liturgy over several centuries.

Others, though, got me thinking. A lot. I almost skipped the last chapter in the book, which is a written response from a journal called Worship when Taft received the 1985 Berakah Award. But there are some gems in there, and I present them here for your thoughts.

On ecumenism...

"The most important new language I learned in those years, however, was the language of ecumenism. Ecumenism is not just a movement. It is a new way of being Christian. It is also a new way of being a scholar. Ecumenical scholarship means much more than scholarly objectivity, goes much further than just being honest and fair. It attempts to work disinterestedly, serving no cause but the truth wherever it is to be found. It seeks to see things from the other's point of view, to take seriously the other's critique of one's own communion and its historic errors and failings. ... it seeks to put the best interpretation on what the other does and says, to shine the exposing light of criticism evenly, on the failings of one's own church as well as on those of others. In short, it seeks to move Christian love into the realm of scholarship, and it is the implacable enemy of all forms of bigotry, intolerance, unfairness, selective reporting, and oblique comparisons that contrast the unrealized ideal of one's own church with the less-than-ideal reality of someone else's."

And elsewhere, a quote from St. Ignatius' Spiritual Exercises: "... every good Christian ought to be more willing to give a good interpretation to the statement of another than to condemn it as false."

That's huge. We need to come out from behind our denominational doctrines and embrace our brothers and sisters as true intellectual and spiritual equals. We're all trying to just figure it out, what it means to follow Jesus Christ, and we have so much to learn from each other. The Church (capital "C") is not about us coming to the same doctrinal conclusions. It's about embracing the rich tapestry of orthodoxy and praxis and being the Church, the body of Christ, with all its different parts and movements and strengths and weaknesses.

Another quote, this time on creativity in worship. He's talking about how creativity -- of composers, artists, liturgists, poets, etc. -- becomes liturgy (the work of the people) only when it's received by the church...

"Creativity within a tradition is a creativity guided and limited by something more important than the creator.

"Does that mean that tradition stifles creativity? To maintain that is to fly in the face of the entire history of music, drama, literature -- and liturgy. Would anyone seriously wish to argue that musicians performing a Beethoven symphony are not being musically creative unless they rearrange the movements, interpolate a few melodies of their own, and throw out half of what Beethoven composed? Is an actor no artist unless he wrote the play, a soprano no diva unless she composed the aria? Are Shakespeare's tragedies or sonnets less creative because he did not invent the genres? Is T.S. Eliot no poet because he wrote in English instead of in an Esperanto of his own making?

"I think it is time that we liturgists came out strongly against this school-play approach to the awesome worship of God, and returned to the people the tradition that is theirs, not just ours. Let us preach what the church has always told us, that the first spontaneity and creativity of Christian worship is that of hearts and minds freely raised to God in love and song and prayer.

"What I am trying to say is that I must let the liturgy speak for itself instead of trying to make it speak for me, instead of exploiting it as a medium of self-expression. Like medieval cathedrals, liturgies were created not as monuments to human creativity, but as acts of worship. The object of worship is not self-expression, not even self-fulfillment, but God."

We run the risk of setting up creativity as an idol before God. It is human nature to recognize and praise that which is unique and beautiful and awe-inspiring. And I don't think there's anything wrong with that. If anything, we should always give words of encouragement to the artists around us, who are doing their best to be creators in the Spirit of the Creator.

But it becomes sin when, once we've recognized something wonderful, we don't then turn and recognize the Creator behind the creator.

Artists, I'd also venture that it's a sin to put our own self-expression above the needs and worship expressions of our churches. It's beautiful selfishness. Don't hear me wrong: be creative, absolutely! But don't use the church as a stage for your creativity. If you are bringing creativity into times of corporate worship, then serve the corporate setting. Serve the church. Serve the body of Christ that it might be built up and encouraged to do the work of God in the world. That is a noble and worthy use of our art. It's beautiful self-sacrifice, an imitation of Christ that will last long after our art is forgotten.

Liturgy

2011-01-23T22:09:00.005-06:00

I'm reading Springtime of the Liturgy by Lucien Deiss for my Masters of Worship Studies degree. I've been reading some of the more significant writings of Clement of Rome, Saint Justin, Melito of Sardis, as well as portions of the Didache, sources of Jewish prayer, and early canticles of the church. I know, it sounds fascinating. But, actually... it is!

Unfortunately, half the stuff I'm reading makes me wish I knew more about what I'm reading about. In other words, this is becoming a survey of the topic, a scratching of the surface of a rich and complex history of Christian writings that I have up to now known nothing about. There's a coffee house my mother-in-law introduced me to called Agia Sophia (Holy Wisdom) that has shelves of books by the Church Fathers. My curiosity has presently been piqued, and I look forward to flipping through some pages over a few cups of coffee next time I'm there.

I had to share this quote, though, from the wisdom of Hippolytus, a priest in the church of Rome around 200 AD. He wrote a blessing for when someone brings an offering of cheese or olives:

"Again, if someone offers cheese and olives, let the bishop pray thus:

Sanctify this curdled milk
by uniting us to your love.
Grant too that this fruit of the olive tree
may never lose its sweetness.
It is a symbol of the abundance
that you made flow from the tree (of the cross),
to give life to those who hope in you."

The best part, though, is the footnote after the first sentence of the prayer. "Sanctify this curdled milk by uniting us to your love" literally means, "make this coagulated milk holy by coagulating us to your love."

Wow.

There are elements of ancient praxis that I think we lack in church today. Likening our union in Christ to the coagulation of milk is not one of them. Ha, ha.

Finding Our Voice (Part 3)

2011-01-18T10:07:00.003-06:00

The following is the third of three articles I've written for a class as I work towards a Master's Degree in Worship Studies. Your voice in this conversation over the next couple weeks would be most welcome. Contribute in the comments below, or on Facebook.

In the last blog, I asked some really abstract and pretty difficult questions. Here’s what I want us to take away from this discussion. When Chris Tomlin writes a worship song, it might be catchy, and it might play on Christian radio stations several times a day. But what does it tell of New Cov’s story, and our place within God’s story? Or, for another example, when we display a background of a waterfall or a majestic mountain scene, how close is that to the environment – the context – that we actually encounter each day? Are there images that would hold more meaning?

I believe that God has created New Cov for a unique purpose and has given us a unique voice to add to the story He is telling through Jesus Christ in Lincoln and around the world. I would love to see us use our unique voice to create worship expressions that are true to our community. Who can better tell New Cov’s story than New Cov? A song written by someone within New Cov will have greater meaning for New Cov. The same goes for a photo taken in Lincoln by someone within New Cov, or a drama written, or a painting painted, or a prayer offered. Our own worship expressions will hold greater meaning, and will better allow us to focus on our vision of transforming the world through Jesus by connecting, developing, and mobilizing people for God’s glory.

I want to challenge each of you to consider how you might add to the worship expressions that we use at New Cov. The possibilities on this are varied and vast. Here are just a couple of opportunities where I see this playing out in the near future.

Photography Team – Whether you are an amateur with a point-and-click or a pro with the latest Canon, you can find a place on our Photography Team. The purpose of the team is to provide a way for photographers to fellowship, share photography, and work on projects that will benefit the ministries of New Cov. In terms of New Cov’s Mission Statement, the Photography Team connects photographers, and gives them an opportunity to develop their art and their relationship with Christ.

I envision a time when most of the backgrounds we use on screen for lyrics or message notes are provided by our Photography Team. The beauty of God’s creation is just as evident in a Nebraska sunset as it is in a picture of mountains, and it’s a scene that we can relate to. Another option would be pictures taken by our missions teams or the missionaries we support. When singing the lyrics, “But what I have, to You I gladly give: a heart that’s broken for the world,” we could be viewing people groups that we are trying to reach, which will provide greater depth and connection to the song and the purpose God has called us to.

Lyristmoot – If you like to write poetry or prose or lyrics or literature, then you have a voice to contribute to our Lyristmoot group. The purpose of the group is to provide a creative outlet that connects songwriters, to write songs that will help the congregation connect with Christ in worship, and to challenge each other to develop in artistic integrity and musical creativity. We primarily focus on writing songs, but even if music isn’t your thing, you could partner with a musician to write a worship song that will speak the unique voice of New Cov.

There are songs to be written about our desire to serve Lincoln, NE. There are songs to be written to voice our cries of desperation in our quarterly prayer guides. Songs of celebration around our baptism services, songs of awe and wonder around Christmas, songs of dedication during lent… we must speak our hearts to God, and too often we are using someone else’s heart to speak to Him when we could be using our own. I’m not saying we should give up on the songs we love by Paul Baloche, Hillsong United, and a host of other great Christian artists. But we should contribute our own voice as well. And as Lyristmoot develops, we will probably consider similar groups focused on dramas, prayers, responsive readings, and other word-based expressions of worship.

Those are just two suggestions, but there are other ways you can contribute to the language of worship at New Cov. In February we will be holding a special night of conversation around these topics. Then in March, I’d like to invite you all to a Worship Ministry Team meeting where we’ll continue the conversation and lay out a plan to hopefully bring this vision to fruition. Until then, consider these questions:

What are the pros and cons of using worship music written within New Cov?
Where is God directing your heart lately? In other words, what is your passion as you follow Christ, and how is that part of New Cov?
What are other expressions of worship (besides songs, dramas, pictures) that can come from the members of New Cov?

Finding Our Voice (Part 2)

2010-12-22T11:26:00.002-06:00

The following is the second of three articles I've written for a class as I work towards a Master's Degree in Worship Studies. Your voice in this conversation over the next 3 weeks would be most welcome. Contribute in the comments below, or on Facebook.

Context and Interpretive Community

Facebook has opened our sociological eyes in a number of ways, hasn’t it? With Facebook, it’s okay to talk about ourselves to no one in particular. We can keep a tally of how many friends wie have. We can “like” someone or something and let everyone know it. And we can create a profile that shows the best possible version of ourselves if we’d like. Not that Facebook is all bad. It’s allowed me to interact with friends on another level and I think it has enhanced the friendships I have with quite a few people, whether they live far away or whether I see them every day.

One curious aspect of Facebook is the “Mutual Friends” portion of a profile page. Let’s say you’ve had a friend request from someone and you visit their profile. You notice that the person is friends with Joe and Bill and Ben and Maya, who are also friends of yours. Right away you have a better understanding, right or wrong, of who this friend-in-waiting is. You might be able to guess their temperament, or their sense of humor. But what is the basis for these assumptions? In large part, you assume these things based on your mutual friends. You attribute personality to one person based on the personalities of those you know who are in community with the one.

You have probably heard of – and maybe you know a lot about – postmodernism. The preceding Facebook example fits in with a very postmodern way of thinking: meaning is found in context. For example, the word “leaf” has very little meaning. If someone says “leaf” you wouldn’t know what to think. Your mind could be flooded with dozens of images of leaves. But if someone says “brown leaf,” well, now we’re getting somewhere. “Brown oak leaf” has even more meaning. “I saw a brown oak leaf at the edge of the forest” provides a lot of context, and now when we think of “leaf” we have a more definite picture in our head.

Another postmodern construct is the interpretive community. With interpretive communities, a community of people can govern their own interpretation of a text. Practically, this can be good or it can be bad. Take, for example, any pro-socialism literature. The author will certainly believe in socialism. But in a capitalist society, the interpretive community – the general consensus – will have a disbelief in a socialist system. Interpretive communities are a means of preventing an idea from becoming oppressive. But interpretive communities can go too far, as well. Take, for instance, the vast variation of interpretation of the Bible, which has caused splits and schisms, and has been the justification for the Crusades and many other injustices. Or consider that peaceful Muslims and Muslim extremists both cite the Koran as their guiding text.

Where does this happen within our church? Where do contextual meaning and interpretive communities figure into the equation? Maybe a better approach would be to ask where they aren’t part of the equation. During worship we blend Scripture with song lyrics to give each greater meaning. Dr. Tim Johnson sometimes asks Steve Ingracia to speak, as Steve is particularly gifted in the history behind and around a passage. When the message focuses on Jesus being a servant of all, we will often spend time talking about SOS opportunities. We’re also largely autonomous as a church body, able to determine what form of church structure is best for us.

To close, I’d like us to consider a more specific area of New Cov which is linked to these postmodern ideas, and that is the area of worship arts. Let’s discuss these questions, and in the next blog I’ll take it a step further:

What is the context at New Cov for a worship song by Chris Tomlin? In other words, what meaning is attributed to the song when we use at New Cov?
On a scale of 1 to 10, with 1 being no context and 10 being a lot of context, how much context can we provide to a song by David Crowder* Band?
Is interpretive community a good thing when it comes to artistic expressions?
How can we have greater meaning in worship expressions such as songs, dramas, videos, screen backgrounds, etc.?

Finding Our Voice (Part 1)

2010-12-06T10:55:00.003-06:00

The following is the first of three articles I've written for a class as I work towards a Master's Degree in Worship Studies. Your voice in this conversation over the next 6 weeks would be most welcome. Contribute in the comments below, or on Facebook.

The Uniqueness of the Local Church

There are four words that always bring out the skeptic in me: one size fits all. No matter where I see these words, I always put up a barrier, prepare for disappointment, brace myself for what I know is coming. I’ve never tried on a “one size fits all” hat that looked and felt comfortable. My head might not look it, but it’s pretty large. I’ve never purchased a “one size fits all” shirt or pair of shorts. The next biggest laugh is the “one size fits most” category of clothing. Inevitably, though, I don’t belong in the “most” category either.

If one size did fit all, we would all look about the same. We’d all have the same shape and height and build. Shopping for clothes would be much faster, wouldn’t it? You wouldn’t need to try anything on. You could just look for colors or styles you like, and know that it’d fit just right. Then again, if we all looked the same, mankind wouldn’t be nearly as interesting.

Fortunately, we are not the same. Every person is uniquely designed. God has made us all different. When He “knit me together in my mother’s womb” he knew that I’d be different from every other person on the planet, in the same way that every leaf on an oak tree is different, or every snowflake that piles up in the yard is one-of-a-kind.

The value in being unique and different is that we can complement each other. Dave Ramsey, in his Financial Peace University personal finance course, teaches that in each married couple is a “nerd” and a “free spirit.” They have the potential to irritate and frustrate each other, unless, they are shown how they complement each other, and then the differences make the relationship much better, and husbands and wives can come together to manage their finances with great success.

We also see this complementing effect in the body of Christ. In 1 Corinthians, Paul writes that the eye and the foot and the mouth and the hand are all essential parts of the body, and can’t be interchanged or discarded because each is different. In fact, the different body parts, and the different members of the body of Christ, are all necessary precisely because they are unique.

I think we can take this out a step further, and say that churches should be unique from one another. One church might have a great opportunity to serve the poor in our community, while another church might be better positioned to send missions teams to other parts of the world. One church may have a heart for local groups of displaced refugees, while another church may want to focus on a ministry to students at the local college. Just as God makes us to be unique individuals, He makes us to be part of unique churches.

So my question is: what makes New Cov unique? God has called us together as a community of believers for such a time as this. But why? I think that’s something we need to address and constantly revisit: what is God calling us to do right now that He’s not calling the church down the street to do?

This series of blogs will end up talking about the way we worship. But to start the discussion, I just want to talk about what makes New Cov unique. Please comment below, follow the conversation and keep commenting as we move toward a new way of understanding worship. To start off with, let’s talk about these questions:

What are some of the ways that New Cov is unique to other churches in Lincoln?
What has God placed on our hearts to do?
What about the way we “do church” is different than other churches?
What are our unique prayers to God?
What are our particular strengths? Weaknesses?

Finding Our Voice: A Series on Worship

2010-12-02T09:26:00.005-06:00

There are around 6,885,253,366 people living on this planet at this moment, according to the United States Census Bureau daily estimate calculator. That's almost 7 billion individuals, with individual thoughts, worries, hopes, perspectives, and prayers. Each individual looks at least a little different (even identical twins have some differences). Each individual is shaped by different experiences, and sees the world differently. No two people do exactly the same work. Everyone contributes, everyone is part of a greater experience.

As a Christian, I believe that all will know that Jesus Christ is Lord at some point in their life or afterlife. Those that confess Jesus' name and put their trust in Him will live with Him forever in eternity. In John's vision of heaven, he describes "a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and in front of the Lamb." They worshipped, saying, "Salvation belongs to our God, who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb." (Rev. 7:9,10)

As an individual, I believe that my voice is unique among this multitude, and yours is, too. As God has made us each in a unique way, he has given us each a unique voice. First Corinthians 12:12-31 speaks of the importance of all the parts of the body of Christ. Again: we all contribute based on our unique abilities, gifts, and calling.

I don't think it's much of an extension of this thinking to say that God has given each of His churches a unique voice, and a unique calling. And this is what I want to talk about. As a pastor and member of New Covenant Community Church, I want us to explore our unique voice -- as a church -- in worship. And I'd encourage those from other churches to do the same.

Over the next 6 weeks (or 3 months if you're reading our church newsletter instead), I'll be posting 3 articles about our unique voice in worship. I'd like you to contribute to the discussion in the comments, either at my blog, http://bretwelstead.blogspot.com, or on Facebook, where these articles will also appear. Please join the conversation if you feel led, regardless of your perspective or church background. As I said, everyone contributes to the greater experience. I'm inviting everyone to speak into this, and to respond to others who are commenting. I look forward to hearing from you and responding in the weeks to come.

Sunday Setlist #111 (Jonah: from the belly)

2010-09-07T09:46:00.002-05:00

September 5, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
As It Is In Heaven (G)

Message
"Rescued From Ourselves" - Tim Johnson

Special
Praise You In This Storm (F)

Singing Together
Desert Song (D)
You Hold Me Now (B)
Revelation Song (D)

Announcements/Offering

Child Dedication (11:00)

Ministry Report - Chris & Kristin

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

This was a morning where I wasn't totally there. Mainly I was just tired. Since I learned I was going to India in October, I've been having some sleepless nights. I'll wake up around 3 AM or 4 AM, and my mind will start running through a lot of things to do, things I'm worried about, etc. I don't think it's that the trip to India has me stressed, but when you add up everything and toss on the trip to India, it's a lot for me to think about, I guess.

So I went to bed around 11 Saturday night, then woke up at 3 AM. Then I was pretty much up until about 5:30 AM. Fell asleep and the alarm went off at 6 AM. Net sleep amount: 4.5 hours. Bad news.

I felt out of it all morning. But as I'm looking back on the Sunday, I recognize two things. 1) Several people thanked me for worship. This makes me hope that God's Spirit moved, even if I had a hard time sensing it. And 2) God may have been asking me to worship Him the way Jonah did: in the midst of the storm/fish/darkness. In my caffeine-driven Sunday morning sprint to an afternoon nap, I was worshiping in the middle of fatigue, and anxiety. It was a fish of sorts, and I was looking forward to getting out of it. But while I was there, I worshiped, and I hope God was blessed.

Ali led "Desert Song" and "Revelation Song." David filled in on tenor as a sub this week, and Joe filled in on bass guitar. It felt a little rough, musically, but that could have been my feelings about my own playing and singing for the morning. Everyone else did a great job.

It was a moving morning. We started with the message and invited people to worship in the midst of the storms they're going through. I think it was a good opportunity to switch the service around, so that people could respond to the message with songs that communicate difficulty and pain, but also the goodness and provision of God.

We closed with announcements, child dedications during one service, and a great report from a couple who led a trip to Africa in July.

God is good, and I thank Him for the storms in my life. They help me draw nearer to Him, and He always sees me through to the clouds clearing afterward, when I can praise Him all the more.

Sunday Setlist #110 (Jonah series: storms)

2010-09-01T11:32:00.003-05:00

August 29, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
You Never Let Go (B-flat)
Desert Song (D)
All We Need (G)

Message
"Running From God" - Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
Rescue Is Coming (B)

Announcements

Ministry Report - RFKC

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

We started the service with a reading of Psalm 23, which naturally led into "You Never Let Go." We introduced Hillsong's "Desert Song" and taught it to the congregation. Wendy did a great job leading it, and I think the song carries particular meaning for her right now. Truth be told, we all feel like we're in the middle of a storm sometimes, or in a dry desert period of our life. It was the perfect song for the morning.

Between the songs and the message I led a "storm" demonstration. It was corny, but cool. People got into it pretty quickly and we heard a lot of positive feedback after. Basically you get the whole congregation rubbing their hands together, snapping their fingers, patting their legs, clapping, stomping their feet. The result sounds like a rain storm that builds then fades.

Tim's message tied everything together: the storm demonstration, the lyrics we sang, and the special. The message was that God is with us in the storm, and that He will rescue us. He may teach us something with the storm, but He is always there, and will always come to our rescue.

The special was David Crowder* Band's "Rescue is Coming." While verses ran on the screen, I used my Line 6 DL-4 to create a loop that sounded like the opening blips and bleeps. As the song continued, images on the screen showed the many ways we get lost, which resolved with the chorus lyrics that "rescue is coming."

I'm blessed to work with such great volunteers, who put their all into the music, or lights, or MediaShout, or whatever creative endeavor we attempt. I hope we do our best presenting the Gospel in creative ways, and I pray that God uses that effort to His glory.

We closed the service with a focus on how we serve the youth inside and outside our church. We also talked about what we're doing globally, and introduced members of our upcoming trip to India as well as missionaries who were heading back to their overseas home after a few weeks here in the states.

Reflections on Rain

2010-09-01T10:53:00.003-05:00

I'm enjoying a brief respite in a coffee house, with a dark roast served to me in a cardboard cup, as if I'd want to go anywhere else. It's raining outside, and I'm drawn to reflect and, for a few moments, let the rain take my thoughts.

David Grey is on the loudspeakers. The very name of the artist feels like a storm, and the music fits.

We're in the middle of a series on Jonah. Jonah, who had the audacity to think he could run from God. Jonah, who found himself in the midst of a holy storm at sea, where buckets of rain soaked his clothes as the realization that he could not escape God must have soaked into his mind. Waves knocked him off his balance like the hand of God, slapping some sense into him.

Jonah, who looks noble as he tells the crew that to save themselves they must throw him overboard. But based on his track record, this was probably a coward's suicide attempt. Jonah, who let the water and silence engulf him, only to find life in the belly of a fish. A strange and wonderful baptism that made his heart sing in the stench of stomach lining and rotting fish food. Three days in the fish, and a new life and new purpose when he rose again from that darkness.

I wonder if it's raining in India? I'm very excited to go, to see, to smell, to experience the land of the people that I have prayed for many times over the past few years. I'm praying the visa application comes through. I'm praying I can get everything done in the 7 weeks leading up to the trip.

I'm praying God will speak to me through this time, that I'll take the time to soak in this experience like rain.

Carlos Whitaker has a song called "Rain Down" that is wonderfully unabashed in its Trinitarianism. There are very few "worship" songs that are.

Sometimes rain can be the most welcome thing in the world. It can cool and refresh and envigorate. I think of playing with my brother in the rain-filled ditches at home as kids. The rain came with a cold front on a hot day. It felt incredible, and the idea of escaping inside seemed too tragic to even consider. I think of Tracie and I getting caught in a downpour back when we lived in our apartment. We went for a bike ride and got soaked. It seemed funny, and we laughed all the way home, moving as quickly as possible along neighborhood streets, as if we could dodge the lightning we watched on the way.

Ben and I used to sing "Rain" by Jackopierce at our shows. I used to write a lot of music for us. But at some point I became so self-critical of my writing that the first draft had to be the perfect draft of a song. I've not allowed myself a creative process for a long time. And it's a hard habit to change. I'm trying, though. Rain can sometimes feel the same: oppressive, halting, confining.

It looks like the rain is letting up.

Sunday Setlist #109 (Jonah series: running from God)

2010-08-23T11:45:00.003-05:00

August 22, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (G)
Be Glorified (G)
O Praise Him (A)
We Lift You Up (A)

Announcements

Child Dedication (9:30)

Message
"Running From God" - Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
Psalm 139 (You Are There) (B)

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

We started out this Sunday with a reading of Psalm 139:1-10. I invited the congregation to engage, to remember God's presence and protection as David did in the Psalm. We then went through our worship set. The team was outstanding! There were a couple hiccups, but overall the music was solid. The set was fast and loud, and I was encouraged to see many hands raised, to hear clapping and loud voices. I and the teams take seriously the chance to lead songs that point people to Christ. When I experience a morning like Sunday, I'm encouraged.

The crux of the message was to recognized that Jonah went to Tarshish instead of Nineveh, thinking he could escape God's call for him there. So what is our Tarshish? When we see or hear God's leading, and when we respond with an "escape" of some sort, what is that escape?

We closed the service with MercyMe's version of Psalm 139. It sounds a little dated. Dane asked at rehearsal when it was written. "1998, I think," I said. Dane replied, "I thought so." It kind of had an early Counting Crows vibe. Then again, it kind of sounded like Amos Lee. Regardless, it's a pretty simple song, which left tons of room for interpretation. Jami got out the brushes for the drums, Clyde played electric, Gary played keys (organ and piano), Dane on bass, and Steve and Cathy on backing vocals. After the service was over we reprised the song with Gary soloing on guitar. Gary told me during services that his wife was probably sick of the song, since he had just put it on loop and played along for what seemed like hours.

This week I'm reflecting on my escapes. Where do I run where I think God can't find me? I'm also reading through Psalm 139 to remember that God's presence is always around me, wherever I go.

Sunday Setlist #108 (Intro to Jonah series)

2010-08-16T16:13:00.005-05:00

August 15, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
For Who You Are (A)
Blessed Be Your Name (G-A)
How Great Is Our God (A)
The Stand (A)

Message
"Intro to the Bizarro World" - Tim Johnson

Offering/Announcements

Child Dedication (9:30)

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Today we started a new series on Jonah. We're calling it Adventures of Jonah in the Bizarro World. If you're not familiar with the concept, Bizarro World -- or htraE -- is the backwards world in the DC comics universe where everything is opposite what you'd expect. One of the most well-known residents of htraE is Bizarro Superman, and there are several other Bizarro versions of DC heroes and villains.

When you read Jonah, nothing turns out like you'd expect. The prophet runs not toward but from God. A fish provides not death but salvation. God saves rather than condemns a nation of really evil people. Jonah does not rejoice over this but whines, etc.

So for this series we're taking on a comic book theme. Special thanks to the program "Comic Life" for the ability to quickly create awesome bulletin covers for the series. :-)

Worship on Sunday was great! Justin and his team led the songs. After "For Who You Are" Justin referenced the previous Sunday mountaintop experience, as well as the Global Leadership Summit, and talked about how going back to our regular lives after such experiences can sometimes feel like a punch in the gut. So we reflected on Psalm 56:8, 12-13. No matter what our lament, God hears. And God is good and faithful to hear us.

We took a moment to "record our laments" by writing them down before continuing to the next songs. It was an awesome interactive experience, and I think it kept people engaged and allowed us all to pour out our hearts a bit to God. The team led music wonderfully.

To introduce the message, we showed a clip from a very well-known show that did their own take on the Bizarro World.

Tim's message was a brief setup, followed by a short interview with a modern-day Jonah: our friends JB and DB, who are missionaries in southeast Asia. They shared with us times when they have run away from God. They're only home for a few weeks a year, so it was great to hear from them.

Announcements was very cool, too. What can sometimes be a dry time when people check their watches was highly entertaining and -- hopefully -- motivating. Jeff, whose wife is our Children's Director, made an impassioned plea for volunteers for DiscoveryLand. He was funny, his message was heartfelt, it was well-delivered... for a guy who claims "I don't do the on-stage thing," he did it very well.

We had a couple rough spots this week. First, a monitor was plugged into the wrong mix, and we didn't notice it until the service started. It was hard to diagnose the problem on the fly, and Justin went most of the first service unable to hear his acoustic. We were able to fix it, and thankfully we all laughed about it afterward. The other problem is that we went quite a bit over in both services. In retrospect, we could have maybe shortened the arrangements of the songs a bit, kept a closer eye on the clock, and thus been honoring to our downstairs volunteers.

All in all, though, a great kick-off for the new series. I'm looking forward to digging into this book of the Bible that a lot of us shrug off as familiar.

Sunday Setlist #107 (The Feast of the Father, part 2)

2010-08-10T10:51:00.003-05:00

August 8, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
In Christ Alone (D)

Announcements

Message
"The Feast Of The Father" - Tim Johnson

Communion/Dance
Prodigal

Communion/Singing Together
We Are Hungry (E)

Singing Together
All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises (F)
Awesome Is The Lord (G)

Offering/Singing Together
Hosanna (G)

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Wow. What an awesome end to our summer series! It's been a while since I've been moved to tears of joy during a service. Too often I'm focused on serving and don't make the space in my heart to reflect, and to fully take in as much of the love of Christ as I can. But this Sunday was so moving for me, and I pray God was blessed by our worship.

Where the cross was last week, this week there was a banquet table. Betsy and Kim dressed the table with china place settings, a beautiful table cloth, linens, crystal stemware, candelabra, and plates of fruit and bread. The cross was on the platform, too, and became a focal point later.

We started the service with one song, then moved to the message. Tim invited people to come to the table, to take that initial step of following Christ, or to recommit to Christ. He recapped the differences in the two sons and emphasized that all of us are invited to the table. Then, to set up communion, he invited people to reflect on the following song and presentation.

Hannah, who has grown up at New Cov, who is an amazing dancer, who was just three days away from moving to D.C. to go to college, appeared on the platform and danced to the song "Prodigal" by Michael Gungor Band. It was the most beautiful dance I've seen in a long time. Every movement spoke volumes and tied in so well to the lyrics of the song. Hannah danced what might be her last dance at New Cov, and it was worship! There was no doubt in my mind where her heart was focusing, and she communicated it well: from raising her hands to God, to bowing before the cross, to slowly walking around the banquet table and bringing the focus to communion. She ended sitting on the side of the platform and focusing on the table. After Tim invited everyone to come observe communion, Hannah was the first to take it.

Then she did something else wonderful. Tim and Youth Pastor Troy were both at the front to pray for people after they took communion. In the first service, Hannah went to Tim's side and gave Tim a huge hug. In the second service she hugged Troy. Both pastors, I'm sure, have had a huge impact on Hannah, and she let them know. The cool thing is it prompted others to hug Tim or Troy, too.

I've been thinking on this since Sunday. It's not as if Tim or Troy, or any of us on staff, are holier than the rest. These brief embraces weren't directed at them necessarily. But they were a reminder that we are all in community together, that we all should love one another, that those outside will know we are Christians by that love which is from God and which has formed us into a family of believers. And so I was moved as I watched people embrace at the table, as I remembered that we have all been gone at some point from our Father's presence, and we have all returned to find Him waiting with open arms.

As people took communion, we sang "We Are Hungry." When everyone had come to the table, we continued to celebrate through singing. The room was energized as the Holy Spirit prompted our worship.

It was a Sunday I won't forget for a long time.

Praise God the Father, who continues to welcome us home. No matter how many times we find ourselves wandering the road, no matter how many times we come to our senses and turn back to Him, He's always watching and waiting to run to us, to welcome us back and celebrate our coming.

Sunday Setlist #106 (The Feast of the Father, part 1)

2010-08-10T10:11:00.004-05:00

August 1, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
Happy Day (B-flat)
Glorious (A)
Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee (E)

Announcements

Child Dedication (11:00)

Message
"The Feast of the Father" - Tim Johnson

Communion/Special
Communion (G)

Singing Together
Sing To The King (E)

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

I kind of wanted to title this blog post "The Best Laid Plans..." because this was one Sunday where we had to adjust quickly. Originally, this was to be the last of the Reckless series. But Tim wanted to spend two weeks on this particular topic, which meant changing plans. We had to bump back some songs, find a new song for communion, adjust service orders, and talk through a couple special elements. So here's where it ended up...

On this Sunday, Tim talked about our invitation to a celebration. God has invited us into community and communion with Himself through Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Rather than focus entirely on the celebration banquet that ends the parable of the two sons, Tim went to another parable: the parable of the wedding banquet in Luke 14. Tim used that to talk about objections to the invitation. It was a great message, and hopefully it challenged people to think about why they haven't yet taken a step of commitment to Christ.

For communion, we had stations around the cross, which was placed at the center front of the auditorium this week. At each station, one person gave the bread ("This is the body of Christ, broken for you..."), one person gave the cup ("This is Jesus' blood, for without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness..."), and one person gave a sealed invitation ("You are invited into relationship with the Father..."). The sealed invitation was to be opened later in the week, and invited everyone back the following Sunday for a communion feast. Invitations were also made available for those who decided not to come up for communion this Sunday.

This presented a little problem, because the song we chose for communion was by Third Day, and it was loud and live. With people coming to the foot of the cross and platform, we didn't want to blast them with too much sound. So we tailored the song to be more acoustic and contemplative. The band did a great job of toning it down but still being creative with their parts. The result was a very moving moment, as people took the elements and reflected on the body and blood of Christ, and our invitation into communion with God.

We closed the service with "Sing to the King." It was an awesome morning of worship. Through the week to follow, everyone was encouraged to read through Luke 15, and to open the invitation on Friday...

Sunday Setlist #105

2010-08-10T09:55:00.003-05:00

July 25, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
The Glory Of It All (A)
Mighty To Save (A)
Jesus Messiah (A-flat)
Revelation Song (D)

Message
"Redefining Hope" - Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
Prodigal Son's Prayer (G)

Announcements

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

We're getting close to wrapping up the series on the parable of the two lost sons. It has been a great series, and from a music/arts perspective, it's allowed us to do some very creative and fun things. This week, we put a lot of effort into the special, a country song by Dierks Bentley performed live with The Grascals.

I should mention that I don't listen to very much country music, and most of what's being played on country radio stations these days drives me positively crazy. Too many catchy one liners and rural cliches. But when it edges into bluegrass, I get interested. And when the subject matter of the song is a son coming home and finding acceptance, I really stop to listen.

Several weeks prior, I borrowed a banjo from a friend and started pickin' (and grinnin'). I asked our violinist to play, and wrote the parts for her. Then the Monday before Sunday I ran into Ted, who used to play mandolin at New Cov. When I mentioned the song, he said he would be available, so we put him in the mix. We added another male vocalist for the harmonies. And our drummer came up with the perfect substitute for the deep marching drum sound: he played a filing cabinet. The result was a great recreation of the bluegrass tune, and a radical departure from our normal music style. It was fun to put together, it got everyone's attention and focused them on the hope found when we return home, in this case when we return to the Father.

The worship set turned out great, too. The addition of mandolin and violin was fun, especially on "The Glory Of It All" and "Mighty To Save." Kristin did a fantastic job leading "Revelation Song," and the worship set worked well to point people to Christ.

It was a great morning! Great message, great worship, great music. I'm blessed to be a part of New Cov, and I realized that particularly this morning.

Sunday Setlist #104

2010-07-26T21:59:00.004-05:00

July 18, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
Marvelous Light (Key of A)
Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King (Key of D)
Revelation Song (Key of D)
How He Loves (Key of A)

Message
"The True Elder Brother" - Curt Liesveld

Offering/Special
God Did (Key of Am)

Announcements

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

On the 18th Justin and his team led singing. It was an awesome morning. The songs flowed well together, the sound was right in the zone, and people were engaging in worship, focused on Christ and singing His praise.

Tim was out of town, so Curt handled the message. Which was great! Except... at the same time his daughter-in-law was giving birth to a little girl, Norah. Bummer. At one point before services, I started thinking, "If Curt's notes are good, maybe I could... nah. That probably wouldn't work." Instead, we got a great message from Curt, because he showed a video of Norah's older brother's reaction when he learned he'd be an older brother. Johnny was excited, and the video was precious. But, as Curt challenged us, being the older brother comes with responsibility and sacrifice.

The special during the offering was Shane & Shane song "God Did." It was great!

One other note: we tried a knock-off version of the Countryman headset. It's produced by All Pro Sound, and it's called the Chameleon. It worked pretty well. In fact, the wire is easier to manipulate to get it just in the right position. It picked up beautifully! We had a clear signal from Curt throughout. And the nice thing about the Chameleon is that it costs $90 compared to $360 for the Countryman. Hopefully it'll stand the test of time.

24 No More

2010-07-20T23:23:00.005-05:00

Just finished watching the first season of 24, and I've got to say we're disappointed. I know some of my friends and family are huge fans of the series, and I guess I don't blame you: there are some great aspects of the show. But I've always thought this would be a series we'd watch all the way through someday. I don't think that's the case anymore. Here are some of the reasons we probably won't watch season 2 thru 8:

1. No character development. All of the characters seem pretty flat to us. There's little inner conflict, little reason to see where they're going. Palmer is a good guy, Jack is a tough guy, Teri is clueless, Sandra is ruthless, Kim is a moron, Keith and Nicole are almost non-existent. And you can figure that out in just a few episodes.

2. Plot twists are ridiculous. We found ourselves laughing pretty often. Examples: "Kim is kidnapped again?!?" "She stabbed the man she was in love with?!?" "Oh, that guy we thought was dead really hasn't been dead and has been behind this whole thing." Really, it was the last 3 episodes that just pushed us over the edge. Kim being kidnapped again, Nina is revealed as the traitor, Palmer almost explodes by phone, then does explode in anger, etc. Pretty crazy, and it gets ridiculous after a while.

3. Dennis Hopper as the villain. The man was a good actor in his day, and I've enjoyed seeing him in movies over the years. But this was not even close to his finest role. The accent was hilarious, and he wasn't nearly evil enough.

4. Editing. So, Jack just crashed his van into the building at dock 11-A. He's chasing Drazen Sr. and Drazen Jr. down the dock. Shots are fired at him! But have no fear! Apparently, he brought along his trusty stage hand with the blue shielded helmet to cover him! :-) Where did that guy come from? One second Jack's alone on the dock, the next he's got a guy in a haz-mat suit watching his back.

The one thing that really kept us watching (and tempts us to watch season 2) is the last minute of the episode. They have great hooks that make you want to find out what happens next. LOST was the same way. But in the case of 24, the hook just isn't enough to invest 24 hours times 7 more seasons.

I'm sure Jack would save the world over and over again. I'm sure we'd have plenty of "I didn't see that one coming" moments. But after season 1, I'm just not that interested in seeing how it plays out.

As Tracie just said to me, "I'd rather be watching LOST for the third time."

Bring on the retaliation if you disagree. I'll bet it'll be more entertaining than watching any more 24. Maybe season 2 is 24 times more awesome! Please let me know if that's the case. Otherwise, I think we'll start watching something else. Any suggestions?

Sunday Setlist #103

2010-07-13T11:46:00.002-05:00

July 11, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
Let God Arise (Key of G)
Oh For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (Key of G)
Hosanna (Key of E)
Revelation Song (Key of D)

Message
"Church Checkup" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
By Our Love (Key of G)

Announcements

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Sorry for the absence from these. Here are a few notes on this past Sunday.

We introduced "Revelation Song" and I think it went well. The song has such a great tone -- musically and lyrically -- of reflecting on our awesome God. I was excited to do this one, and I hope it makes its way into a regular rotation. I commented during the service that we sometimes fail to recognize that Jesus is the Eternal Creator God. We picture him as our "buddy" and focus on the humanity while neglecting the divinity of Jesus. This song focuses greatly on the divinity, and it helps me worship in that sense.

One fun thing about this week was letting Katie lead "Revelation Song" and letting Ali lead "Hosanna." It's awesome to have strong singers on a team who can lead when asked. I think it better reflects the different parts of the body of Christ that Paul talks about in Romans 12:1-8.

The special this week reflected the theme of the message, which was focused on what God is calling our church to do. We chose the song "By Our Love" by Christy Nockels. Ali sang and played it solo, and did so beautifully.

Team C never ceases to bless me musically and personally. I hope they had as much fun worshiping our God as I did on Sunday!

Sunday Setlist #97

2010-06-01T11:42:00.005-05:00

May 30, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
Indescribable (Key of G)
Happy Day (Key of B-flat)
As It Is In Heaven (Key of G)

Announcements

Offering/Special
Prodigal Son (Key of E)

Message
"Reckless Series Intro" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Communion/Singing Together
Jesus Messiah (Key of A-flat)

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Something new I tried this week was writing out comments that set up and transitioned between songs during the worship set. The reason for this is a desire in me to connect the dots more, to tell the story better, so that people coming in see the bigger picture: God created everything, God in Jesus Christ came to redeem everything, God is in the process of making all things new and will come again. Here are the comments I made:

"This morning we’re going to sing 3 songs that I’ve picked intentionally because they tell God’s story. If you look at God’s story, the narrative of the Bible, you can simplify it into 3 major themes: creation, incarnation, re-creation. God created the world and everything in it, God was incarnate in Jesus Christ to redeem the world, and God is now actively re-creating the world through the body of Christ, the church. We are a part of His story, not the other way around. So we’re going to sing “Indescribable” which tells of our Creator. We’re going to sing “Happy Day” which tells of the resurrection of Jesus and His victory over sin. And we’re going to sing “As It Is In Heaven” which looks forward to Christ’s return and His reign as King. Let’s celebrate God’s story this morning by proclaiming it. As we sing, remember that we are part of His story. We’re blessed to be part of the re-creation and salvation of all of creation: not just the salvation of the nations, but of the earth, the cosmos, everything is being redeemed by Christ for God’s glory.

[Here we sang "Indescribable"]

Jesus is fully God and fully man, and we embrace this mystery. Let’s celebrate Jesus: God among us, who takes our sin away.

[Here we sang "Happy Day"]

Whenever we sing or say the Lord’s Prayer, we look forward to the coming kingdom of God, and we affirm that He is all we need.

[Here we sang "As It Is In Heaven"]

Father God, you reign in Heaven. Through Christ you have provided a way for us to be with You. Thank You for your grace, thank You for your Spirit that dwells in your people, the church. We welcome and praise You, in Jesus name, Amen."

I think this was a good step, but the results weren't exactly what I hoped for. I need to train my team to go ahead and jump into the next song while I'm talking, or to have a cue when it's time to start the next song. Both services I had to turn around and visually cue someone to start the next song, and it felt awkward.

The other thing is that the comments felt recited. In fact, I did print them and read them during worship. That comes from waiting until the last minute to figure out my comments (boo). I need to spend more time preparing these comments so that 1) I can edit them so they're more conversational; 2) I can be prepared to just say them, which will make me feel less awkward about them; and 3) I can prep the team to move into songs without my cues, so we can keep the flow of worship going.

Bright spots in the service... the special set up the message this week. It was a song by the Rolling Stones called "Prodigal Son." This was a lot of fun! Ben came up with some fantastic electric solo lines, I tuned my acoustic to open-E and strapped on a harmonica, and by the time Gary, Jacob, and Jami got a hold of it, it sounded like Folsom County prison, or Bob Dylan's early stuff. We had a blast playing this one, and many people appreciated the change in sound and style. Plus, the song does a great job telling the parable, which was a great jumping off point for Tim with the message.

Also, to illustrate the two sons, we're using a couple of visuals that I'm excited about. First, each week we're showing a picture of one person representing both sons. Each week we'll have a different person, to show that this story speaks to all of us. We're going to remind our people that Jesus was speaking to "sinners" (younger sons) and to Pharisees (older sons) when he shared this story, and both groups needed to return to the Father. It's not about trying to be more like the older son: far from it. It's about realizing that God loves us in a reckless (prodigal) way, and being reckless (prodigal) in the way we love God and others.

We've also had a couple of seamstresses create two robes to represent the two sons. They'll be on stage throughout the series. This was a cool project to try. Both women helping added their ideas and input. We had some great discussion about the significance of each son and how they should be represented.

This week we closed the service with Communion, singing together "Jesus Messiah." All volunteers this week did a fantastic job, and I was blessed by the service.

Sunday Setlist #96

2010-05-24T11:29:00.005-05:00

May 23, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
All For You (Key of G)
O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing (Key of G)
Hosanna (Key of E)
Tear Down the Walls (Key of A)

Announcements

Baby Dedication

Message
"Shadow Mission" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
God Is Moving

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

This Sunday Tim delivered an awesome message to expand on the video of John Ortberg we watched last week. This was the second "Summit Sunday" to make our people aware of the Global Leadership Summit that we're helping to host in Lincoln this August. Last week we watched a previous Summit session with Ortberg about a leader's shadow mission. This week Tim added to that and personalized it to New Cov.

The music was solid. Team D did a great job leading. Angela, a new addition to the team, does a great job leading with her whole self, and invites the congregation to worship. Justin's new Crowdster guitar sounded pretty sweet! Between the three guitars (4 if you count that Justin's has electric and acoustic outputs) they covered all the parts and played well off each other. It was just a standout week for music!

One thing I'd change is to challenge all of our teams to have more in mind than just great music. We need to take people somewhere, in the songs we sing but also in the words we say, in the way we connect the songs to God's narrative. The last few weeks we've had some great music, but I think we can do more. That falls on me, to share what I'm learning and thinking, and to lead our teams into what I believe is a better way to praise on Sunday mornings.

This coming week we're starting a new series based on the parable of the prodigal son. I'm excited to see how God speaks through it, because I feel like He's been speaking to us as we've planned it.

The Younger Evangelicals

2010-05-18T00:44:00.003-05:00

I'm in the second of three books I need to finish by the time class starts in June. The Younger Evangelicals: Facing the Challenges of the New World by Robert E. Webber is a challenging read, but it's been good so far. I'm still trying to decide what I think about it. I read tonight this summary of the differences in theology between fundamentalist evangelicals, pragmatic evangelicals, and what Webber describes as the younger evangelicals, the next generation of evangelical church leaders. Tell me if this resonates with you:

"The younger evangelical is at odds with the traditional and pragmatic evangelical when it comes to theological method. The method of the traditionalist [fundamentalist] is to treat theology as a science, subject, as all other sciences are, to the empirical method. Through an analysis of the data of revelation, one could be brought to propositional truth. Theology, the traditionalist says, is a system of objective truth understood by the mind. The pragmatists, on the other hand, are not theologians and care little for the nuances of theological thinking. They tend to reduce theology to Christianity 101 to make it clear and understandable to the seeker.
"The younger evangelical sees theology as the way to understand the world. It is an understanding based on the biblical narrative. This is the approach to faith that has captured the postmodern mind. Postmoderns have abandoned the modern worldview in which the supremacy of interpretation is given to science. In this context younger evangelicals are calling on us to see the world primarily through the Christian story. They believe in the God revealed in the great events of creation, incarnation, and re-creation, interpreted first by the prophets and apostles in Scripture, protected in creeds, and handed down to us in the worship of the church. This is the growing vision of the younger evangelical, a vision that stands within the historic confession of faith. Theology is not a science but a reflection of God's community on the narrative of God's involvement in history as found in the story of Israel and Jesus."

These are broad strokes in a much more complex issue, but do you see this in your church experience?

Sunday Setlist #95

2010-05-17T23:31:00.003-05:00

May 16, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
The Stand (Key of A)
Sing to the King (Key of E)

Announcements

Baby Dedication

Video
"A Leader's Shadow Mission" - John Ortberg

Offering/Special
Glory of God

Here it is on Planning Center. By the way, I'm posting these service recaps as a part of Sunday Setlists, which you can find at TheWorshipCommunity.com.

I'll say right off the bat that this was not my favorite service. I'll add that I feel blessed to work with a team that graciously takes the servant-leader role.

On Sunday we had the first of 2 "Summit Sundays." The purpose of these is to encourage people to attend the Global Leadership Summit, which we're helping to host here in Lincoln. The Summit is an incredible event that I've been privileged to attend for the past 5 years. I'd encourage anyone to attend: this can be a life-changing event. In my case, it was, but that's another post.

So this Sunday we showed a session from a previous Summit by John Ortberg. Very cool. Ortberg talked through Esther, and talked about how every leader, every church, every Christian has a God-given mission. But we also have a shadow mission, which can derail us. Fantastic message.

The bad news was, the message was 40 minutes long. And we run a 60-minute service. Throw in announcements and a child dedication in the first service, and we've got very little room for praise. In fact, in the first service we had only one song at the start of the service.

The good that came out of it was an opportunity to talk with the musicians and singers about serving the greater purpose. We, as a church, feel the Summit is important and a chance to reach new people for Christ and for kingdom purposes. So we decided that changing the format of the service just this once was acceptable.

Personally, though, I feel a little disappointed in retrospect. Not because my plans were put aside, but because of all that I'm reading and learning lately. The worship service can be so much more than we make it sometimes. And as Robert Webber writes in Ancient-Future Worship, "Worship does God's story." Worship should enact and proclaim the meta-narrative of God: how He created the world, how He was incarnate in Jesus Christ to redeem creation, and how He is re-creating the universe. God's story is our glorious past, and it is our future hope.

Really, this is bigger than just Sunday's service. I'm wrestling with what worship services are in the evangelical contemporary realm compared to what they should be, or at least what they could be. I recognize that I miss the mark most weeks: that our planning process focuses in the wrong areas and we don't tell God's story completely. And I recognize that I need to change this, and that, as Ortberg said in his message, I may be at New Cov "for such a time as this." Whether or not I am... well, we'll just have to wait, and pray, and see.

Sunday Setlist #94

2010-05-10T12:41:00.003-05:00

May 9, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
All For You (Key of G)
Holy, Holy (Key of E)

Announcements

Mission Moment

Singing Together
Shine (Key of G)
Changed (Key of G)

Message
Dr. Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
Flying Boy

Here it is on Planning Center.

Mothers' Day always makes for difficult planning. We're never sure if we should plan a message themed for the day, or acknowledge moms, or treat it like any other Sunday.

To add to the craziness of yesterday, we left open the option of wrapping up the financial series (Break Free) that we've done for the past four weeks. We also thought it'd be nice to hear from two members who were recently in central Asia on a mission trip.

We started with two worship songs, introducing "All For You" by Paul Baloche for the first time and following with "Holy, Holy" by Tim Hughes. I alternated between electric and acoustic for the morning, but only really sang during the late service due to a cold. Fortunately this team is stacked with singers, so I don't think I was missed.

We then had announcements, focusing on Royal Family Kids Camp and DiscoveryLand for the summer months. I interviewed Stacy about her experience at RFKC last year, and we showed one more video.

Then we had Chris and Zach talk about their time overseas. I won't go into details here to protect the people we know in central Asia, but it was a good recap of their time there. I think they did a great job of helping us know what it felt like to be there, what they experienced, and why it's important that we go there and support missionaries there.

We followed that with two songs that sing to the great commission: "Shine" by Matt Redman and "Changed" by Aaron Niequist.

Then Tim talked about the importance of moms. He went to a couple scriptures in the Bible where God uses the image of a mother to talk about how much He loves us, and how He will never leave us. Tim also spent some time praying in the service for a few groups of people who might not be excited about Mothers' Day: those who don't have a good relationship with their mom, those whose moms died recently, and those who want desperately to be a mom but can't. This is why Mothers' Day is tricky. We know of some people who don't come to church on Mothers' Day because it's too painful or too uncomfortable. But we also feel the need to honor the moms who are there. It's hard to strike a balance, but I think it's worth the work.

To close, Wendy played a song she wrote called "Flying Boy." The lyrics and music were great, and a nice way to honor moms. As women left, they were given a flower and wished a happy Mothers' Day.

Sunday Setlist #93

2010-05-03T11:52:00.003-05:00

May 2, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
New Doxology (Key of E)
Be Glorified (Key of G)
Let God Arise (Key of G)

Baptism (9:30 service)

Announcements

Message
"Buy Now, Pay Later" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Offering/Special
God and Money (Key of C)

Singing Together
Marvelous Light (Key of A)

Here it is on Planning Center.

Tim was back this weekend to wrap up the Break Free series with a message that focused on giving. It issued a challenge to everyone, no matter what their current giving level, to give more in a way that is proportional and regular.

This Sunday was the first in a long time where I led worship without picking up a guitar even once. We've got three great guitarists on the team, and I was excited to have Kevin play acoustic, and Ben and Gary play electric. It was freeing to not have to think of chords or leading the team into the next section by what I'm playing. I will say it'll take some getting used to for the team. It's hard for me to lead musically without the guitar in my hands. But overall the team did fantastic. Everyone listened to each other and adjusted well when needed. This is a team that understands and values listening to what everyone else is doing, and it shows. Despite a few rough spots, the music was solid, which allowed for great focus on the object of our worship, Christ Jesus!

Cathy sang "God and Money" by Jill Phillips for the special. She did a great job with it. Kevin played a drop-tuned acoustic to give it a lazier feel, and Gary fed that with slide guitar. Jami and Dane also kept things very simple in the rhythm section, resulting in a greater focus on the words of the song.

For a change this week, we closed with congregational singing. I think this is good in terms of providing a congregational response to the message, and I'd like to continue to try it. It felt weird, though, and might take some getting used to.

Oh, and Dane did announcements. He's got a great stage presence and always comes across as pretty funny. It was really great this time, because he interviewed a couple (Merlyn and Julie) about the Hospitality Team. While we were talking before services about the interview, Merlyn joked that his favorite part of being on HT was dodging cars in the parking lot. We laughed that he should come bursting in the side doors to the auditorium.

Well, during second service, that's exactly what he did. Without telling Dane he was going to do it. Right in the middle of Dane talking through some announcements, someone starts pounding on the doors to be let in. As soon as Tim, who was confused as the rest of us, opened the doors, Merlyn came running in and yelling about the crazy drivers. Dane, obviously improvising, did a great job of making it a very funny moment. Merlyn, too, acted like he had rehearsed this "bit" perfectly.

Sometimes I love it when a plan doesn't come together. :-) The improv can be much more captivating.

Ancient-Future Worship

2010-04-28T13:04:00.006-05:00

I started reading a book for MWS503 this week. It's called Ancient-Future Worship: Proclaiming and Enacting God's Narrative, and it's the last book Robert Webber wrote before he died in 2007. He even writes in the intro about the book being completed just weeks before his passing.

I wanted to post a quote that I feel has a lot of weight, before I forget it. There's so much to think about in the following paragraph. Feel free to comment, or not. I'm posting this in large part for myself. In keeping with the author's advice, I went to the conclusion of the book after finishing the introduction. In the conclusion I read this:

"What stands at the very center of worship is Word and sacrament, through which God's vision for the world is proclaimed and enacted. What contextualizes this worship more than anything else is its music. Music is the vehicle that communicates worship in the language of the people. Music is also the vehicle of our personal response to the story of God's work in history. We also proclaim God's story in hymn and song, but nowhere in Scripture or in the history of the church have hymns and songs ever been held as a replacement for Word and Table. Word and Table remain the God-ordained way to remember God's saving deeds in history and anticipate his final triumph over death and all that is evil. So if you want to do ancient-future worship, learn God's story and do it in Word and Table and use hymns and songs for responses not only from the great treasury of the church through the centuries but also from music that is current."

Sunday Setlist #92

2010-04-28T12:51:00.004-05:00

April 25, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
"For Who You Are" (Key of A)
"Mighty to Save" (Key of A)
"From the Inside Out" (Key of B-flat)
"You Hold Me Now" (Key of G)

Announcements & Greeting Time

Message
"Total Money Makeover" - Dr. Brett Yohn

Offering/Singing Together
"Gone" (Key of E)

Here it is on Planning Center.

This weekend, Brett spoke on some practical steps for managing money well. The cool thing was how he delivered it. He modeled Paul's example from 1 Corinthians 7:10 and 12. First he went through 5 Biblical principles on managing money (saying, "Not I, but the Lord") and then he went through the same 5 principles and added his own advice to them (saying, "I, not the Lord"). It was a clear way to say, "This is what the Bible says... and this is what I might add."

Music was awesome. The new Team D features Joe and Mark on electric, and they did well together. We also added another fantastic singer to the group, and they managed some great harmonies together. Half the team this week (Justin, Erica, Tyson, and Amy) went to see Hillsong United in Kansas City last Thursday, and coincidentally (or not) we had an all Hillsong United worship set. Rockin'.

For the special, Justin sang "Gone" by Switchfoot. The team played it expertly, Justin could give Jon Foreman some tips on singing, and (not intending to toot my own horn here) the video created for the song was pretty cool, too.

Pretty straightforward service this week. This marks the first Sunday in a while where I was in the service, but not on the platform. It was nice. I enjoyed helping out on MediaShout, and it was cool to just enjoy having others lead.

I could get used to this.

Sunday Setlist #91

2010-04-21T11:16:00.002-05:00

April 18, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
"Happy Day" (Key of B-flat)
"Blessed Be Your Name" (Key of A)
"Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King" (Key of D)
"All We Need" (Key of G)

Announcements & Greeting Time

New Member Introduction (11:00)

Message
"Having It All Without Having It All" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Offering/Singing Together
"Oh You Bring" (Key of G)

Here it is on Planning Center.

Tim continued the Break Free message series this week where he left off last week. A big issue in being financially free is learning the art of contentment. We used a great clip from the game show Deal or No Deal that shows a guy risking over $600,000 to try to win $1 million, and instead he walks away with $1. Great illustration, and great way to address a difficult subject in a fun way.

We also used a video during the announcements. Royal Family Kid's Camp is a ministry we support each summer, and they put out a fantastic promotional video this year. But the video is over 8 minutes long, which is too long for us to use in services. Fortunately the video is a series of 5 vignettes. I sliced and diced it a little with iMovie, and viola, we have 5 weeks of videos around 2 minutes each. I was glad we could use it, because the video offers people an incredible look at the camp and the importance of serving in this area. In my opinion, this is one of the best ways to utilize video in services.

This was the first run for the new Team C, and it was awesome! We've got 3 very talented singers, one of whom is also a very talented acoustic guitarist. We've got a new electric guitarist who can come up with a ton of interesting sounds and textures, and we've got a violinist providing some great lines. I'm so excited to hear this new team, and I think we'll be able to meld and grow over the next 6 months. Looking forward to it!

Sunday Setlist #90

2010-04-11T22:14:00.003-05:00

April 11, 2010 - New Cov

Singing Together
"Awesome Is The Lord" (Key of G)
"Center" (Key of E)
"How He Loves" (Key of A)
"We Lift You Up" (Key of A)

Announcements & Greeting Time

Child Dedication (11:00)

Message
"Beyond Paycheck to Paycheck" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Offering/Singing Together
"Take My Life" (Key of D)

Here it is on Planning Center.

Today we began a new series entitled Break Free. Tim set up the reasoning behind the series perfectly as he started the message: every week, an average 65% of prayer requests we receive have to do with financial trouble, job hardships, and stress related to money problems. The Bible lays out some practical steps for managing finances well, and so for the next 4 weeks, that's what we're talking about. Tim scratched the surface today, going to Genesis 41 and the story of Joseph interpreting Pharoah's dreams. Tim used a clip from Up to illustrate how things don't always go as planned in life, but we can prepare for surprises to some extent.

The songs required a little work to make them transition well, so after "Awesome Is The Lord" I drew our attention to Psalm 121 before moving into "Center." During "Center" we also had the congregation read the Psalm together. Tim also worked the first chapter of Colossians into both hours, which ties in perfectly with "Center."

We also had a child dedication during the late service.

For the offering, we invited the congregation to sing along with David, who led the Tomlin remake of "Take My Life" while we gave our offerings. David did a great job with the song, and I played piano to round out a more delicate sound for the song.

Overall, it was a great service. But I was excited to get home and work on some projects outside. The weather these past few days has given me major spring fever!

Sunday Setlist #89

2010-04-04T18:18:00.003-05:00

April 4, 2010 (Easter Sunday) - New Cov

Special
"Christ Is Risen" (Key of B)

Singing Together
"Happy Day" (Key of B-flat)

Announcements & Greeting Time
Picture Directory Signup
Youth Pancake Feed, April 18
Missions Banquet, April 18

Message
"The Goat Has Left The Building" - Dr. Tim Johnson

Singing Together
"Happy Day" (Key of B-flat)
"O For A Thousand Tongues To Sing" (Key of G)
"In Christ Alone" (Key of D)
"All The Earth Will Sing Your Praises" (Key of F)

Benediction

Prayer Time

Here it is on Planning Center.

Christ is Risen! Today we celebrated our Savior, and the life we have in Him. It was a great service!

We started with Jeremy Riddle's "Christ Is Risen." I so love the power and joy of this song, and I've been hoping to sing it for over a year now. The band handled this one skillfully, I sang as close to Jeremy Riddle's melodies as possible, and Cathy sang some great harmonies. The only piece missing was a video that Terry worked so hard on. A couple of typos that we didn't catch in time kept us from showing it during the first service, and a particularly rough time getting the monitor mixes right made us nervous about using the click track to show the video second service. I felt really bad for Terry! I know he put a lot of time into it. Unfortunately, we just couldn't make it work this time. I hope we'll have an opportunity to use it again sometime.

We sang "Happy Day" by Tim Hughes, then had a few announcements before Tim started his message.

Tim's message was awesome this week! He reprised a message that he did 6 years ago, based on a message by Rob Bell. Tim calls his version "The Goat Has Left The Building." It's all about the High Priest of the Israelites, who on the Day of Atonement each year would ceremonially lay the sins of the people on a goat -- a scapegoat -- that was then led out of the community, symbolizing the removal of sin from the people.

Of course, that system was imperfect, and Christ was the perfect fulfillment of the system. He's both our ultimate High Priest and the perfect sacrifice! The goat has left the building: our sins are forever removed from us.

Our message featured a live goat, which was an adventure. Fortunately, the goat was... ahem... properly relieved before services. But it was fun having the goat led in and featured on stage. We also had a High Priest. The dramatic finish of the message had the High Priest slowly crossing the stage and sitting in a chair, as Christ sat at the right hand of God when He had accomplished our salvation. When the High Priest sat, the place erupted in praise! We cheered and yelled, and moved right into our singing together.

We played a shorter version of "Happy Day," Crowder's version of a classic hymn, a modern hymn, and a song by Paul Baloche (all listed above). We closed the service with a benediction, then invited people to pray over a couple members who are leaving on a mission trip this Friday.

This was a tough service to prep for. We had a hard time finding an actor to play our High Priest. We wanted someone from outside of the church to add to the wonder and presence of the character. We also had a hard time finding the right vestments for our Priest. We wanted to use Exodus as our guide, since the description is so complete and the vestments inspire awe. But we couldn't find anyone who had such an outfit (shocker). We should have just had some members create one, but by the time we realized we couldn't procure one, it was too late for that. In the end we borrowed a High Priest outfit that was probably closer to what was worn in Jesus' time. It was still regal and prominent, so it served the purpose we hoped for.

We had brass in this service, and two electric guitars. This is more than our typical mix, which meant we maxed out our monitor wedges. This was an issue. Some of our instrumentalists were frustrated that they couldn't hear everything they wanted, and it was part of the reason we didn't use the video for "Christ Is Risen." I'm going to start praying for money for an Aviom system!

Regardless of these problems, the service was well-focused on Christ, and since this Sunday is always packed (we were around 700 between the two services), it was worth the extra work. I pray that those who attended were blessed, and I pray that God was blessed!

Sunday Setlist #88

2010-03-28T12:59:00.003-06:00

March 28, 2010 - New Covenant Community Church

Singing Together
"Happy Day" (Key of B-flat)
"Here Is Our King" (Key of B-flat)
"Hosanna" (Key of G)
"We Are Hungry" (Key of E)

Message
"Fasting"
(including video: "The Fast")

Communion
"Desert Song" (Key of B-minor)

Announcements
Pancake Feed, April 18
Missions Banquet, April 18
Good Friday services
Discover New Cov class today

Baptism/New Member Introductions
Lauren (baptized and introduced)
Jacob (introduced)
Sara (introduced)

Here it is on Planning Center.

For the second week in a row, we incorporated some classic rock into the setlist. We didn't plan to do it back to back weeks, but Justin had planned on doing "We Are Hungry" in the style of "Baba O'Riley" by The Who. I opened with a simpler version of the keyboard arpeggio, but on guitar. Tyson entered on drums, then Amy on bass, then we all hit the power chords together. Good times!

"Hosanna" is the Paul Baloche song, by the way. I chose it and "Here Is Our King" to remind us of Christ's entry into Jerusalem. Liturgical churches would celebrate Palm Sunday today, so I thought it appropriate. Justin chose "We Are Hungry" for the dual emphasis of focusing on Christ and fasting. :-)

Tim's message was the final on the series about spiritual disciplines, this one covering fasting. He challenged us all to fast all week (not a continuous food fast necessarily, but to give up something we turn to for comfort/rest, and to instead focus on God during the time we would have spent in our comfort activity). He wrapped up the spiritual disciplines series nicely, reminding us that spiritual disciplines do not make God love us any more, and not doing them does not make God love us any less. Instead, it's about gaining clarity in our relationship with God.

For the Lord's Supper we chose "Desert Song" by Hillsong. We changed up the way we did communion from the first service to the second. In the first service, Erica sang it as a solo, then we had a break in the middle of the song where everyone took the bread and the cup together. After we had all taken the elements, Erica invited the congregation to sing along.

In the second service, after realizing that the break came way too soon and the elements were not near handed out yet, we decided to do the entire song, then take the elements together and not return to singing.

This was a good move in terms of timing, but I missed the congregational response of singing. Something that has been in my mind lately is the need to have some sort of response to the Word in our service. We usually do a solo following the message, and I can't help but think we're missing something when we don't allow the congregation to respond in some way to the message. True: communion is a response in a way, but confessing together, "All of my life, in every season, You are still God, I have a reason to sing, I have a reason to worship!" is a powerful witness and a powerful affirmation of faith.

I'm glad we value humor at New Cov. In the first service Justin lost his guitar pick, and I had to give him a new one before we started the second song. He commented, "That's what we keep him around here for," prompting a good laugh from everyone (including me). In the second service Tim made an impromptu reference to a verse, but couldn't remember if it was 1 Peter or 2 Peter. I did announcements at the end of services and looked up a verse before speaking. Then I made sure to point out to Tim while on stage, "I looked up the verse before I got up here," which also got us all laughing.

Finally, we baptized one woman and introduced her and two others as new members. I like the approach to introductions we've used the past two weeks. It keeps it pretty surface level, and it feels relaxed and allows everyone to get to know the new members. We found out this week that Sara was an actress in New York City for 10 years, and that Lauren is studying art therapy. Cool stuff that invites conversation when you see a new member in the Gathering Space between services.

Sunday Setlist #87

2010-03-25T10:34:00.002-06:00

Here's a new thing.

I ran across a website called TheWorshipCommunity.com. I'm still checking it out, but one of the things I like that they do is called "Sunday Setlists." Every week they post a blog where worship leaders can comment, leave their own setlist for Sunday worship, see what everyone else is doing in worship services all over the place. I find this sort of information interesting and somewhat helpful. So instead of just observing, I think it'd be best if I joined the conversation. Here's the first of my Sunday setlists. Every week -- hopefully in a more timely fashion -- I'll post what went on at New Cov on Sunday morning. Feel free to comment here on my blog, or on the Facebook repost, or go to the blog for TheWorshipCommunity.com to see more setlists.

March 21, 2010 - New Covenant Community Church

Baptism/New Member Introductions

Singing Together
"Let God Arise" (Key of G)
Believe it or not, we were able to fuse Tomlin's song with Van Halen's "Jump". The results were rockin', and our whole congregation celebrated and cheered God together.
"Holy Holy" (Key of E) w/ "Holy Holy Holy"
In the middle of Tim Hughes' song, we moved to the first verse of the hymn, and then back to "Holy Holy."
"You Hold Me Now" (Key of B)
By Hillsong United.

Message
"Rhythm and Sabbath"
Tim talked about the importance of rest. He pointed to how much Jesus, the Son of God, God incarnate, still needed to take a break. As an illustration, Tim talked to our drummer, Jami, about how he used to play when he was just starting on drums. Jami demonstrated a loud, all-out energy sound that he used to play. But as Jami grew in his skill level, he learned how resting and laying back in his playing makes it musical.

Offering
"Rest In You" (Key of A)
By Hillsong. Joni did a great job singing this song, and during the instrumental section we posed some questions to everyone on the screen, asking them about their rest or lack thereof. It was interesting: I found myself feeling like the questions were taking too long... then realizing my own restlessness with the exercise.

Closing Prayer
Tim closed with a prayer for Karen, who left Tuesday morning for Haiti.

Here is what it looks like on Planning Center.

To see setlists from other churches, go to the Sunday Setlist blog on TheWorshipCommunity.com.

Arrr, matey.

2010-03-19T20:44:00.006-06:00

One of Cole's regular bedtime picks is Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. This is a great thing in my mind. I used to read the same book when I was a kid. Silverstein had an amazing way with words, a slightly twisted wit, a dry sense of humor, and -- I mean this in the best sense -- the mind of a child. Tonight I read this one to Cole, and it always makes me chuckle. So I thought I'd share it with you.

"Pirate Captain Jim"

"Walk the plank," says Pirate Jim.
"But Captain Jim, I cannot swim."
"Then you must steer us through the gale."
"But Captain Jim, I cannot sail."
"Then down with the galley slaves you go."
"But Captain Jim, I cannot row."
"Then you must be the pirate's clerk."
"But Captain Jim, I cannot work."
"Then a pirate captain you must be."
"Thank you, Jim," says Captain Me.

I found this quote on Wikipedia, apparently from an interview in 1963 with Aardvark magazine:

"I believe that a man who is a sensitive painter is sensitive to life, and therefore would be sensitive as a writer or as a storyteller, but having the ability to write is something more than merely seeing. Having the ability to paint is something more than merely seeing the colors, seeking the form. It’s in execution, in skill."

Visit the very silly ShelSilverstein.com.

The Essentials of Biblical Christian Worship

2010-03-16T14:54:00.004-06:00

As a preface, let me state that the following, my final paper for MWS 501 (A Biblical Theology of Christian Worship), is not even close to comprehensive. This is a huge topic, and I have read so much over the past few months. There is so much more to talk about in this area. But we're limited to 3,000 words (the following is 2,997) so this is what I came up with.

I'm pleased with the result, and though it was difficult to write, the process of writing really helped to clarify it in my head.

So, brave reader, enjoy the following. Or fall asleep trying.

The Essentials of Biblical Christian Worship:
Responding to the Revelation of God

“Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you're gonna have to serve somebody.”[1]

Latreuein is a Greek term occurring about 90 times in the Septuagint. Based on its use in Biblical and non-biblical literature, it would probably be best translated “to serve.”[2] Yet we see it in verses like Exodus 3:12, which reads, “When you have brought the people out of Egypt, you will worship God on this mountain.”[3] In other words, God told Moses that God’s people were to serve Him at Mount Sinai, as a form of worship to Him.

Do we recognize this truth? What is our concept of the word “worship”? Do we incorporate service, homage, reverence, and awe into these seven letters, or do we have a much smaller picture of what the word means?

Worship is more than activities that take place on the weekend. And yet the language of today suggests that worship is a few well-rehearsed and well-transitioned songs. We in the church ask each other questions like, “How was worship today?” This gives the impression that worship is a measure of human experience or performance. Worship leaders use phrases such as, “Now let’s continue to worship,” or “Let’s spend some time in worship.” This implies that worship is confined to a specific time in the worship service. Just as the word “worship” is full to the brim with meaning, so also do these phrases sometimes overflow with unintended connotations. Over the history of the church, and perhaps the last half-century in particular, we have limited the scope of what it means to worship.

To redefine worship, to regain the richness of what it means to worship, we must look to the Bible. The Bible is at its core God’s story, the true story of God and the world He created.[4] Creation came forth from the words of God, and to gain an understanding of what it is to worship the Creator, we must look to God’s word to us, the Bible.

God has, throughout the history of man, initiated and defined the relationship between Himself and his people. At Mount Sinai, as part of his covenant with Israel, God gave Moses detailed instructions on the sacrificial system, the building of the tabernacle, and the laws which would guide the Israelites.[5] These were the boundaries for worshiping God. In Jesus we see the fulfillment of each of these boundaries, and Christ confirmed this with his words, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”[6] If we are going to understand worship, we must first acknowledge that God, through Jesus Christ, has established the foundation, and is the foundation.

With that in mind, this paper will seek to define and defend the essential elements of Christian worship from a Biblical perspective. Drawing from Scripture’s examples in the Old and New Testaments, we will explore four essential facets of true worship. First, worship needs to be Trinitarian in theology and in practice. Second, it must recognize the struggles of the present age but anticipate the coming kingdom. Third, true worship, though not limited to the “worship service,” is demonstrated by the structure and content of believers’ gatherings. And finally, authentic worship encompasses all aspects of the worshiper’s life and faith.

Trinitarian

We live in an individualistic culture that sways dangerously into the realm of narcissism, concerned with my rights, my life, my liberty, self-esteem, self-worth, self-realization.[7] It is only natural that when worshiping God, we see worship in the same light: my baptism, my offering, my church.

The problem is that this way of thinking is antithetical to one of the great mysteries of God: the Trinity. This way of thinking is—in practice—Unitarian. By contrast, Trinitarian worship recognizes the importance of the Trinity and articulates the view that “worship is the gift of participating through the Spirit in the incarnate Son’s communion with the Father.”[8] In other words, worship is not our own. Worship is participation in Christ’s worship of the Father.

One of the key elements of Trinitarian worship is belief in the sole priesthood of Christ. When God established his covenant with the Israelites at Mount Sinai, the Day of Atonement was provided to deal with the sins of Israel. The high priest would each year carry out the appropriate rites to remove the sins from the people of God. In this way Israel would remain holy and continue to be the nation that God blessed and through whom God blessed the world. In the letter to the Hebrews, we see that Jesus was the ultimate high priest, offering once and for all atonement for the sins of mankind. “The perfection of his sacrifice makes it possible for him to enter heaven itself, ‘now to appear for us in God’s presence.’”[9]

This is crucial to our understanding of worship. The only way that our sacrifice, our offerings, and our worship is acceptable to God is through Christ, our high priest. In other words, we must understand our worship as a participation in the perfect worship of Christ. We can not view our offerings as our own, but by the Spirit we participate in Christ’s worship of the Father. “It is he who leads our worship, bears our sorrows on his heart and intercedes for us, presenting us to the Father in himself as God’s dear children, and uniting us with himself in his life in the Spirit.”[10] This removes any chance of pride or performance from our worship.

Our view of worship will also carry into all aspects of faith and spirituality. John Witvliet had it right when he wrote that worship “both reflects and shapes our view of God and the world.”[11] Thus, a Trinitarian view of worship causes one to understand life in Christ as participation in the Trinity. Communion, for example, is an extension of the Son’s communion with the Father. [12] Baptism, too, is not our own, but a participation by the Spirit in the baptism, death and resurrection of Christ.[13]

A Trinitarian view of worship recognizes that worship is not about us. It is not by our own power or righteousness. Instead, worship is about Christ. The only way we have access to the throne of God in heaven is because He is our mediator, our high priest, and our lead worshiper. With this truth we can rest in the assurance that Christ has offered all the offering and sacrifice necessary to secure our salvation. Our worship is not a means of gaining favor with God, but a thanksgiving to God for his saving grace given to us through Jesus Christ.

Present and Future Age

A second essential element of Christian worship has to do with our understanding of time. In his second letter to the Corinthians, Paul states, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”[14] One might read this and discern that the old self is gone and we are a new creation in Christ. This is true, but the statement also points to an understanding of time. Paul was trained as a Pharisee, and as such he thought of time in terms of “the present age” (pre-Messianic advent) and “the age to come” (post-Messianic advent). Paul’s statement in Corinthians understands that the old age is passing away, and the age of the kingdom of God has now arrived in the death and the resurrection of Christ.[15]

There is a tension here, though. For if God’s kingdom has come in Christ, why is there still sin and evil in the world? In Paul’s understanding, the answer is that the old age and the age to come are now overlapping. The evidence of this is the Spirit. Paul describes the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing the fullness of the kingdom coming soon.[16] This tension recognizes the importance of the Spirit. Beyond that, there are two reasons we must understand the tension between the “already” and the “not yet.”

First, we must recognize our current mission in the “already.” One of the terms of God’s covenant with Abraham, Jacob, and the Israelites, is that God would bless the nations through them.[17] God had set them apart for this purpose, but the purpose was never fully accomplished by the Israelites. So God in his wisdom sent his Son. At the start of the gospel of Matthew, the evangelist uses a genealogy to trace the generations from Abraham, who was set apart, to Joseph, husband of Mary, mother of Christ. This connects the mission of the Israelites to the mission of Christ. Matthew ends, too, with Christ making this commission to his disciples:

“All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.”[18]

Christ, then, is the fruition of God’s covenant with Abraham, Jacob, and the nation of Israel to redeem the world. And in Jesus’ words to his disciples, he commissioned the church to be part of the same calling.

Worship, therefore, must embody in Christians a lifestyle that is winsome to the nations. That is our purpose for this time. Our songs should sing the language of bringing Christ to the nations. Our resources should go towards evangelism, missions, and outreach. Our prayers should petition God to bring justice to the oppressed.

God has given us this time to recognize that things are not right, and we have a part in making it right.[19] And worship should be the fuel that moves us outside the walls of our church buildings. Though sin and death surrounds us, we are to be a light to the nations, pointing people to Christ with our words and indeed our entire lives.

Second, we must recognize our future hope, the “not yet.” Dr. Gerald Borchert calls this the Eschatological Perspective as found in Paul’s letter to the Philippians.[20] We are to live and find hope and joy in the expectation of Christ’s return. This perspective can be found in the entirety of Philippians. Paul encourages the church at Philippi to grow in knowledge and insight “until the day of Christ.” Live according to the gospel in the knowledge that “you will be saved—and that by God.” Press on toward our citizenship in heaven because “we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.”[21]

When we live in the light of Christ’s return, we remember that we are not alone. Christ is with us by the Spirit. We also remember that Christ’s final victory over sin is already won. Most importantly, we remember our security of salvation in Christ. This affects the way we proclaim Him, the way we view Table Worship, the way we minister to others, and all aspects of our faith. Our songs should point to the promise of Christ’s return.

The Worship Service

A third essential of Biblical Christian worship deals with the worship service. When most people hear the word “worship” they think of the worship service. Worship services in Christian churches around the world take a variety of styles and forms. Some churches claim their worship to be contemporary, others blended, still others traditional. Musical instruments, artistic expressions, usage of Scripture, and views of the sacraments vary greatly between denominations.

What is the Biblical model for the worship service? Is there a right and wrong way to conduct services? In Planning Blended Worship, Robert Webber wisely begins the discussion by differentiating between style, structure, and content.[22] The content of Christian worship must be Trinitarian, which has already been addressed in this paper. We turn now to elements of structure and style.

The structure that Webber strongly recommends is based on the church in Acts as well as the church through its first 600 years. This structure is the fourfold pattern of worship: Gathering, Service of the Word, Table Worship, and Dismissal.[23] In my view, the Service of the Word and Table Worship are of particular importance to this discussion, and are absolutely essential. Both activities find their roots in Acts 2:42: “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teachings and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”[24]

The Service of the Word is transformative in the worship service. God’s words in the opening chapter of Genesis cause creation to burst forth.[25] Much later when God speaks to Job, Job is overcome by his unworthiness to reply and covered his mouth in silence.[26] These are just two illustrations of the power of the word of God. The written word of God—the Bible—is awe-inspiring and life-changing. It “takes up residence within us and shapes us into Christ’s likeness.”[27] Therefore Scripture must be a regular part of the worshiper’s life, and it must be an integral part of the worship service.

Table Worship should also be a regular part of the worship service. Four images have formed our understanding of worship at the Table. The breaking of bread in Acts 2:42 (cross reference Luke 24), the Lord’s Supper in 1 Corinthians 11:20, Communion in 1 Corinthians 10:16, and Eucharist in 1 Corinthians 14:16.[28] These pictures express, respectively, the presence of the resurrected Christ, remembrance of Christ’s death for our sins, participation in the intimate relationship we have with Christ, and thanksgiving for God’s gift of salvation to us.[29] These are essential aspects of worship. We must always recognize the presence of the resurrected Christ. We must remember Jesus’ sacrifice and give thanks for our salvation. And we must acknowledge that we are part of the body of Christ, along with every other believer.

This leads to another essential aspect of the worship service, which is also apparent in Acts 2:42. Koinonia, or fellowship, was a huge part of the early church meetings. A danger of our individualistic culture is the tendency for worship services to become based on individual experience, which creates a sort of “tunnel vision” relationship between the individual and God. While our relationship with God is obviously crucial, we should also give attention to other believers. Based on Paul’s language in verses such as 1 Corinthians 14:3-26, 1 Thessalonians 5:11, and Ephesians 4:11-16, a purpose of the worship gathering is mutual upbuilding or edification.[30] The church is the body of Christ, and it needs growing and maturing. As noted before, worship is often synonymous with service. In this case, serving each other worships God, and builds up the body of Christ in the process. “In one sense the body of Christ is already complete.... In another sense that body is said to grow to perfection… The body metaphor reflects the ‘already—not yet’ tension of the two ages. It is a heavenly entity and yet it is an earthly reality.”[31] Our worship must consider others and seek to build them up. Examples of structural elements that serve this purpose are hymns, which not only praise God, but they are rich in theology, and are thus a teaching tool. Other examples are times of discussion following the teaching, times of intercessory or healing prayer, and the passing of the peace.

The worship service, then, serves a number of purposes integral to Biblical worship. First, there must be a focus on the word of God, which changes us into the likeness of Christ. Second, there must be a proper understanding of the table, which gives us proper attitudes of celebration, thanksgiving, remembrance, and participation. Third, the worship service is not only vertical, looking to God, but horizontal, looking to those around us. These purposes of the worship service are all essential to Christian worship, because as stated in a quote by John Witvliet earlier, our worship and our view of God and the world around us are interrelated. In forming a worship service that includes these aspects, we are guiding believers to live out their faith in the world in these ways.

And what of style? Webber again sums it up nicely:

“Style is not now, nor has ever been, a matter of biblical tradition. Whether our worship is formal, informal, or a combination of both, the style of worship depends on taste. We must allow our style to reflect who we are as a people. No one style is normative for all churches.”[32]

Authentic Worship

I will conclude with a final essential of Biblical Christian worship that has been alluded to throughout this paper. True Christian worship is not confined to the worship service, but encompasses all aspects of faith and life, so that the profession of faith in worship matches the living out of that faith.

In James’ letter to believers, he instructs them to avoid double-mindedness. “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.”[33] Our worship, what we profess on Sunday, should be evidenced by how we live our lives Monday through Saturday.

Worship that is inconsistent with life transformation is empty and unacceptable to God. Through the prophet Amos, God tells Israel “Though you bring choice fellowship offerings, I will have no regard for them. But let justice roll on like a river, righteousness like a never-failing stream!”[34] To worship the Father in a way that is acceptable to Him, we must let the Spirit transform us to be Christ to the world:

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.”[35]

True worship shows reverence and homage to God, serves God, points others to Christ, demonstrates the wonder of the Trinity, is mediated through Jesus, and is meaningfully structured in the worship service. It is our present and expectant response to the revelation of God, and it will transform us until Christ returns.

Sources Consulted

Bartholomew, Craig G. and Michael W. Goheen. The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.

Bechtel, Carol M., ed. Touching the Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008.

Borchert, Gerald L. Worship in the New Testament: Divine Mystery and Human Response. St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2008.

McCann, J. Clinton, Jr. “The Hope of the Poor: The Psalms in Worship and Our Search for Justice.” In Touching the Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship, edited by Carol M. Bechtel, 155-178. Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008.

Peterson, David. Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992.

Torrance, James B. Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996.

Webber, Robert. Planning Blended Worship: The Creative Mixture of Old and New. Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998.

[1] Bob Dylan. “Gotta Serve Somebody”, Slow Train Coming, Sony Music Entertainment Inc., 1979.

[2] David Peterson, Engaging with God: A Biblical Theology of Worship (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1992), 64.

[3] Exodus 3:12, (New International Version), emphasis mine.

[4] Craig G. Bartholomew and Michael W. Goheen, The Drama of Scripture: Finding Our Place in the Biblical Story (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 11.

[5] Exod. 20-31 (NIV).

[6] John 14:6 (NIV).

[7] Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1987) quoted in James B. Torrance, Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 41.

[8] Torrance, Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1996), 30.

[9] Peterson, Engaging With God, p. 229-230. Hebrews 9:24 (NIV).

[10] Torrance, Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace, 29.

[11] John D. Witvliet, series preface to Touching The Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship by Carol M. Bechtel, editor (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008), xi.

[12] Torrance, Worship, Community and the Triune God of Grace, 32.

[13] Ibid, 74.

[14] 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NIV).

[15] Bartholomew and Goheen, The Drama of Scripture, 188-189.

[16] 2 Cor. 1:22 (NIV).

[17] Genesis 12:3, 22:18, 28:14, Exodus 19:6 (NIV).

[18] Matthew 28:18-20 (NIV).

[19] J. Clinton McCann, Jr., “Hope of the Poor: The Psalms in Worship and Our Search for Justice,” in Touching the Altar: The Old Testament for Christian Worship (Grand Rapids: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2008), 160.

[20] Gerald L. Borchert, Worship in the New Testament: Divine Mystery and Human Response (St. Louis: Chalice Press, 2008), 140-145.

[21] Philippians 1:10,28; 3:20 (NIV).

[22] Robert Webber, Planning Blended Worship: The Creative Mixture of Old and New (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 1998), 20-22.

[23] Ibid, 20.

[24] Acts 2:42 (NIV).

[25] Genesis 1 (NIV).

[26] Job 40:1-5 (NIV).

[27] Webber, Planning Blended Worship, 88.

[28] Ibid, 129.

[29] Ibid, 130-131.

[30] Peterson, Engaging With God, p. 206.

[31] P. T. O’Brien “The Church as a Heavenly and Eschatological Entity”, 111, quoted by Peterson, Engaging With God, 210-211.

[32] Webber, Planning Blended Worship, 22.

[33] James 1:22 (NIV).

[34] Amos 5:22,24 (NIV).

[35] Romans 12:1-2 (NIV).

IWS Day 3

2010-01-07T19:19:00.003-06:00

Today was our first day of class time.

We started the morning with breakfast. May I just say that grits were a welcome addition to the culinary experience, and I should have guessed they'd be on the menu this morning. Hooray for grits!

After breakfast was a morning chapel service, followed by an entire day with our professor, Eric Bolger. The only time we broke was to head to the refectory for meals. Refectory is from the Latin reficere, which means "refresh or renew." And if you think that's what I'm learning here, you're mistaken. I got that from my MacBook dictionary.

Our class time is refreshing, challenging, engaging, discussion-based, enlightening, humbling, convicting, and tiring all at once. After just a day I feel energized and blessed with new ideas and concepts swimming around in my head, new perspectives that I feel are things I should have known all along. I'll try to put some of these things into a few sentences.

Scripture: Analysis versus Participation
When it comes to our view of Scripture, it's clear that one of the biggest problems we face today is the critical bias that comes with looking back into history. We have this view that, because we are more advanced technologically, because we can see the lessons learned by those that have gone before us, that we are above the people that have lived through ages past. We tend to think of this as being the greatest time in history, and we tend to think of ourselves as having the best perspective. This is a product of the Enlightenment and the modern age: it's all about analyzing and looking at the past with a critical eye.

But is it true? Are we in a better place than David was? Or the Israelites? Or Paul and the infant church? It depends on what you mean by "better." Is sin lessened today? Are we better off as a Church or as a culture than any past generation?

We forget that our task is not to take a critical view of the meta-narrative of God's story... our task is to be part of it. Christ lived, He died, He was resurrected, and He will come again. That's the big story. And we are part of that story, part of God's story. We are characters in God's overarching story of redemption, and we already know how it ends. Our purpose is to join God's movement toward that ending, to obey God, to worship Him, and to let His story play out in and around us.

This is one of the positive aspects of post-modernity, in my mind. The modern perspective is one that criticizes/analyzes the bigger story, as if we have an objective view of it; the post-modern perspective is one that strives to experience the bigger story.

Returning to Trinitarian Worship
Another thing that is blowing up in my mind today is the need for us to worship God as He has revealed Himself: as a Triune God. Too often we worship in a way that focuses on either the Father, the Son, or the Holy Spirit, but rarely do we recognize and praise all three. The ancient church explained the Trinity with the phrase "God is one substance in three persons." We believe this, but do we worship God in this way? The Father has perfect communion with the Son, and through the Son and by the Holy Spirit we are allowed to be part of that communion. But how often to we acknowledge this mystery of our faith and let it shape our worship?

When we worship in a Trinitarian way, we know that our worship is not our own. If it were, it would be from sinful man and unacceptable to God the Father. Fortunately, God, in His grace, provided a way for us to worship through Jesus. Jesus' worship is perfect and acceptable to God. And by the Holy Spirit we are allowed to participate in Jesus' worship of the Father. That's just one aspect of Trinitarian worship. Not only has Jesus paid the price for our sins, offering the perfect sacrifice, but He's also led the perfect life of worship. And through Him, and by the Holy Spirit, we can join in that worship, that perfect communion with the Father.

Personally
Today has been an enormous high for me. I'm still trying to fully articulate the above thoughts. But it has also had a low point. I so missed my family tonight that I wept on the way back to where I'm staying. As soon as I got back in my room I downloaded Skype. Thank God for Skype! I was able to see my wife and my boys, to see them smile and laugh and wave, to hear Jack and Cole give ridiculous recollections of their day. I miss them so much right now. It was huge to be able to see them and talk with them.

I can't wait for tomorrow.

Days 1 and 2 (and a little from Day 0)

2010-01-06T20:59:00.003-06:00

It's Wednesday night, and today was the first official day of the January 2010 session at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies in Orange Park, FL. I've thoroughly enjoyed this experience so far, and our class time hasn't even started! But let me back up and give a quick rundown of the past few days...

Tracie, Tracie's dad and I all got up around 3AM Monday morning in Colorado Springs to get me to Denver International for a 7AM flight. Security confiscated my can of Diet Mountain Dew, I ate at Baja Burrito in the Nashville Airport, and a very small dog in a bag was on the flight from Nashville to Jacksonville. But other than that the day was pretty uneventful. I was very excited to see Bill and Laurie, two people who have prayed for and encouraged me since I was just beginning this journey into ministry. I wasn't very excited to find 40 degrees of coolness awaiting me outside the airport.

Yesterday was orientation for new students. There are around 20 Doctorate students, and 6 Masters students starting this semester. Each incoming group of students gets assigned a Hebrew or Greek letter, so before us have gone the Alpha class, the Samech class, etc. I'm proud to be part of the Khaf class. Ahem.

One of the "orientators" yesterday encouraged us to journal our experience. While I'm in Florida, I think I'll use my blog for this purpose. Hence, this post.

Yesterday was just some basic information about the school, its brief history, its progress in the accreditation process, etc. We started after lunch, they served us dinner, and we concluded for the evening. I went to a Starbucks and finished reading my 2nd of 6 books I need to read this semester before retiring for the night.

Today was busier. More orientation this morning, like how to use the online resources and how to access the IWS library. We took a quick tour of the facilities before lunch. After lunch was more orientation to help us plan how to do good research. I can't help but feel most of what we covered over the past few days is geared more for the DWS students instead of us MWS students. But it's still good information. After the presidential address, and dinner on our own (we went to Krystal, which is like White Castle but with a feminine name), we attended a worship service and finally a reception to end the day.

Now... here's the good stuff.

My heart has been lifted and encouraged to experience a "cloud of witnesses" on multiple levels.

First, there are immediate relationships I'm building. I'm meeting people from all over the country, and even a handful from other countries like Canada and Turkey. I'm loving the chance to learn their stories, to hear where they come from and what they do there. I'm blessed by the Doctorate students who are encouraging me, and I'm blessed by the friendships developing amongst the Masters students. There's a strong sense of community, of mutual encouragement and edification.

There are also those who have gone before. I don't know how many times I've heard people talk about Robert "Bob" Webber. I've met several alumni and faculty who display such an excitement about IWS that I can't help getting excited myself. Today in the library I recognized a name on a bound thesis, and pulled it from the shelf to read the words a friend wrote when he finished his Doctorate last year. I wondered if one day my name would be nearby, if God is calling me to go deeper and deeper in the study of worship, which is the language of the communion we share with the Triune God.

Then there's the amazing ecumenical environment. Ecumenical, by the way, means "representing a variety of Christian churches." I'm meeting other Baptists, but also Orthodox, Anglicans, Episcopalians, Methodists, Presbyterians. And much more than our differences, I'm struck by our commonalities, our collective yearning to know God and to make Him known!

Tonight I attended a full, highly liturgical but also blended Episcopal worship service. It took almost 2 hours, but it was an amazing experience. After reading Webber's Planning Blended Worship last week, the service took on new depth and meaning. I could see the gathering, the service of the Word, the worship at the Table, and the dismissal (see Acts 2:42) come to life in a new way. And though it was far from my worship experience and culture, I was able to appreciate and enjoy and focus on Christ throughout.

So that's where I'm at tonight. I have a feeling this will be a challenging week. But this "cloud of witnesses" has so far encouraged me to run the distance of this race. I may be tired at the end, but as I focus on Jesus, as I see worshipers from so many branches of the Church focusing on Him as well, I can't help but run. I'd be a fool not to.

A Ruinous Journey

2009-12-14T16:47:00.003-06:00

In January I'm starting something new and (for me) exciting. I've enrolled to earn a Masters degree from the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies (IWS) in Orange Park, Florida. It's their MWS (Masters of Worship Studies) degree, and it'll take me 2 years to complete.

I have been doing some basic things to get ready: buying books, looking over the assignment list, due dates, etc. But honestly, I've been so focused on Christmas on 84th Street that I haven't spent any serious time digging into my assignments just yet. Today, I began that very thing.

My first course will be MWS501: A Biblical Theology of Worship. Seems like a logical first step, don't you think? I've got two books to read by early January: Planning Blended Worship by Robert Webber, and Worship, Community, and the Triune God of Grace by James B. Torrance. I'm more interested in the second at this point, because I do notice that many churches tend to focus primarily on the Father and the Son in worship, but not the third Person of the Trinity: the Holy Spirit.

Planning blended services isn't something I plan to do in the near future. But hopefully, this book will be a stepping stone to the idea of incorporating ancient worship service elements in modern ways. Maybe that sounds like a fine line to you, but I think "blended worship" has some definite connotations that I'd like to avoid. In my mind, blended worship is attempting to appeal to as many people as possible using a wide variety of worship service elements: here's a hymn, here's a contemporary worship song, here's a responsive reading, here's a video, here's a drama, etc. Granted, I could be a little off on my picture of the blended worship service, but this is how I perceive it. I think there are two things wrong with blended services.

First, it's kind of like the couple that moves to the suburbs. He wants to move to a quiet area, to have a little space that is their own. She wants to be close to the shopping and culture of the city. The compromise is the suburbs. But what the couple finds is that he's unhappy because the neighbors afford little privacy, and she's unhappy because it takes an hour of traffic to get downtown. Neither gets what they need, and both are unhappy. I think the blended service ends up being the same thing. Everyone wishes the blended service contained more of the elements that they like, and so no one is happy.

Second, it's easy for me to fall into a trap of designing services not with God in mind, but with people in mind. I don't know how to sort this one out yet, but so many churches seem to be acting more like marketing firms: how do we attract people, how do we get them in the doors, how do we keep them here, etc. Churches have coffeeshops, book stores, welcome gifts, CDs of worship... the list goes on and on. Maybe these things aren't bad in and of themselves, but the motives behind them are what I'd question. Are we using these things to honor God, or to draw people to our building? Blended services seem like a way to pack the pews sometimes.

Fortunately, Robert E. Webber is known for using the phrase "ancient future worship." He used to say, "The road to the future of worship travels through the past." In other words, there are worship practices and models that the church has used for centuries, and we need to figure out ways to incorporate them that speak to our culture. I think what has happened recently is that when churches drop worship practices that seem out-dated, they also tend to drop the theology and reasoning behind the practice. I'm excited to dig into the theology behind worship, to hopefully see new ways to bring that ancient theology into modern worship services.

I've read alumni from IWS talk about how their education effectively "ruined" them. They were changed, forced to consider their own mindsets, biases, incorrect assumptions, etc. And they left with a Masters or Doctorate, and more importantly, a desire to help the Church worship the Bridegroom in ways that are deeper, more meaningful, more passionate.

What are your thoughts? How is the church missing the mark in terms of worship? I'll keep you posted as I read and study and discuss with other students over the next semester, and I'd welcome you to the discussion.

Final Summer Recap (via mobile upload)

2009-10-19T13:03:00.011-05:00

At some point in late July, I got a Blackberry to replace my aging Sprint 6700. I could do an entire post on why I love this Blackberry, but they're not paying me to endorse their product on my blog, and besides, who needs another product recommendation?

Instead, I'm going to post some of the many photos I've taken with my Blackberry. A picture is worth a thousand words, but I'll add a few so you know what you're looking at.

We've enjoyed taking bike rides with the boys this summer. I'm afraid next summer this cart won't fit the two of them.

There's a decent indoor playground in southwest Lincoln called Lost In Fun. Ballrooms, sandboxes, toys, huge bounce houses, swings, bubbles, etc. Perfect for a rainy day, which was why we ended up here on a Sunday afternoon.

Tracie finds the most creative ways to keep the boys entertained. Isn't she awesome?!?

We bought Cole a vest, tie, shirt, and pants for a wedding in August. Here he modeled the clothes for me, since I wasn't on the shopping trip.

My dad got a new compound bow and I wanted to try it out. These shots were done right-handed (I'm a lefty), so I was impressed with how easy it was to aim and shoot this bow.

On our way out to Colorado in August for a wedding, we followed this guy. Sheesh.

A quick picture of my lovely wife. We were at Mona Lisa, a fondue restaurant in Manitou Springs, CO. Their downstairs area is called "The Wine Cellar." There we enjoyed chocolate fondue and wine with Tracie's sister Aimee, and soon-to-be husband and wife Mike and Annie. It was kind of the "bachelor/bachelorette" party.

Prior to the wedding ceremony, Cole and cousin Gwennan fidget in their nuptial attire.

Cole nearly lost it when I wouldn't let him break into the dinner mints before the ceremony. Instead, he stared at them and held his hand within inches of them, thereby not disobeying, but coming as close as possible.

We enjoyed a fantastic reception, and the boys and Gwennan danced most of the night away. They were like little Energizer bunnies: they just kept going. Following are pictures of dancing...

Here is "Best Man" Tracie with the Groom, Mike. I'm so excited for Mike and his new wife Annie as they begin their lives as Dr. and Mrs. Akerley. We were blessed to be present for their wedding, and doubly blessed to have Tracie and Cole in the ceremony.

The day after the wedding, we worshipped at New Life Church in Colorado Springs. I've enjoyed their services both times I've attended here. This time Glenn Packiam led worship. He's written a few songs I love, like "Your Name," and "We Lift You Up."

Sunday night Dad and I drove a treacherous (seriously) road up to the trailhead for Grays and Torreys Peaks. We woke Monday and started up the trail, and soon the above sight of the two peaks was in view.

Here's the view of Torreys while standing atop Grays. I love, love, love to hike like this. Standing on top of a 14er is a humbling, satisfying, spiritual experience.

Dad and I atop Grays. This is the third hike for us in as many summers. If only we could get Ben to join us again!

Looking back at Grays from Torreys. Torreys was the tougher climb, but it was worth it. For anyone keeping track, Thursday morning driving into Colorado Springs, fondue Thursday night, wedding Saturday, church Sunday, and hiking Monday, back in NE Monday night. Whew!

A day later, here's a spider found in the auditorium of our church. I put a quarter next to it for scale. These things were all over the place at our church this summer! I hate spiders...

A week after being in Colorado, I was in California. Our church was visiting another church to meet with their staff and learn from them. The worship pastor took all of us to Yosemite National Park, home of some incredible redwoods.

These trees were so tall. It's hard to capture it, especially with a camera phone.

This (above and below pics) is "Grizzly Giant," the oldest Giant Sequoia in Yosemite. It stands over 200 feet tall, and it's estimated to be at least 2000 years old! Can you imagine? This tree was around when Jesus walked the earth!

This is Half Dome. I'm going to climb it someday.

We didn't know if we were going to be able to visit Yosemite because of some forest fires in the park. In the end, they opened the park (at least the area we were in). Here's a view of one of the fires across a valley.

Worship at Clovis Baptist Church. It was pretty good, but this was the second week away from New Cov, and I was missing my church family by now.

For the NU v. Florida Atlantic game, my family went to watch the victory with my Uncle Lyle and Aunt Shirley. Shirley pulled out an old recording of my Grandpa Welstead, playing guitar, singing, and even yodeling. It was amazing.

Aunt Shirley also pulled out Grandpa's old Martin guitar. I found the serial number and it was produced in 1930, just 12 years after Martin went into business. It's pretty badly broken, but I wonder if it could be restored? Anyone an expert on this sort of thing?

One night in September, Jack simply decided he was going to learn to pedal his trike. It was incredible. He kept stopping and trying to start again. He's fiercely independent right now, but eventually he let me give him a little nudge to keep starting him again. Then he started to figure out how to do it himself. But even after he had it figured out, he kept stopping and starting, stopping and starting. I think he wanted to make sure he had it figured out. And he did!

Though we didn't go to the NU v. Arkansas State game, we did go to Husker Nation for something fun to do. New Cov always sets up a booth to paint faces and spraypaint hair. Cole got his head turned into a helmet.

After Husker Nation, we went to a new favorite hangout: Rocket Fizz. They have about every variety of pop you could imagine, and a wide variety of candy, too. You should check it out! We've enjoyed Birch Beer, Chai Cola, and several different kinds of root beer, among others.

This last one just about catches us up to present. It's technically a fall picture. I rarely think, "Hey, I'd really like to fly a kite for a while." But I'm always glad when the thought occurs.

Summer Recap #4

2009-09-28T08:08:00.009-05:00

In July and August I attended what was probably one of the last two big conferences I'll attend for quite a while. Every year since I began my full-time ministry, I've attended at least one, usually two, and sometimes three conferences per year. I've been to the Willow Creek Leadership Summit 5 times, the Willow Creek Arts conference 4 times, and the National Worship Leader Conference twice.

Now, I know some of you, my friends, tend to look down on conferences -- worship conferences in particular. You've got your reasons, I'm sure, and if you'd care to share, I'd love to discuss the topic with you. For me, worship conferences have been a great source of inspiration, a place to share ideas with other worship leaders, a team-building experience (I've brought anywhere from 2 to 6 people with me at times), and a way to gain a few more "tools" for my belt. They've been a help to a guy who jumped heart-first into worship ministry without going to seminary. I think everyone in ministry should attend a few conferences that vary in what they offer, if only to see what else is out there. We can become very narrow-minded and proud of our own expression of worship if we're not careful. Worship conferences can open us to other ideas that are Biblical and God-honoring, but outside our own tradition or comfort level or experience.

This conference was no exception. In fact, it has started me on a new path that I'm so excited about. This particular conference was the National Worship Leader Worship Conference. I've been to it once before, and I've noticed some big differences between it and the Willow conferences I've attended. Por ejemplo...

Willow Creek Arts Conference. Pros: big on arts, excellence, creativity, inspiration, tools, contemporary focus. Cons: leaves many churches behind in its approach. Examples of what I've seen and heard: Dan Kimball, Sally Morgenthaler, Hillsong United, Darlene Zschech, Delirious, Don Miller, Chris Tomlin, David Crowder* Band, Josh Wilson, drum corps, dance, child prodigy violinist, and a whole lot of great breakouts.

Willow Creek Leadership Summit. Pros: big on leadership, brings in incredible speakers, simulcast so it's less expensive and easy to get to. Cons: worship component has been decreasing over the past couple of years, atmosphere at a satellite site is not as great. Examples of what I've seen and heard: Colin Powell, Bono, Andy Stanley, Patrick Lencioni, Marcus Buckingham, John Maxwell, Timothy Keller, Wess Stafford.

National Worship Leader Conference. Pros: big on theology of worship, Biblical wisdom, brings in a lot of well-known worship leaders and speakers. Cons: mostly music and speaking (not as many creative elements like dance, visual art, etc.), feels a little like a tradeshow at times, embraces the contemporary Christian music scene without exclusion. Examples of what I've seen and heard: Marva Dawn, Greg Laurie, Leonard Sweet, Tommy Walker, Paul Baloche, Big Daddy Weave, Leeland, David Crowder* Band, David Nasser, Mac Powell, Christy Nockels, Laura Story, Ross Parsley.

So, this time around, the NWLC knocked my socks off. More importantly, it reminded me of something that's been on the back burner for a while. I deeply desire to learn more of the theology of worship, the Biblical standard and model for worship in the church, the history of church worship, and the best way to approach worship ministry to help our churches follow Christ today and tomorrow. I was reminded of this hunger I have. In fact, one of the speakers that I listened to in a breakout session teaches at the Robert E. Webber Institute for Worship Studies. I've been looking at this school for a while. After hearing one of their faculty at NWLC, and after talking with him afterwards, I decided to again look seriously at the IWS program.

Long story short (too late), today I got an email from the Director of Admissions at IWS. I'm starting my Master's in Worship Studies degree in January. I'm extremely excited about this. In some ways, it's going to amp up my conference experiences: a variety of topics from a variety of faculty amidst students like me from a variety of denominational backgrounds. It should be eye-opening and challenging. In other ways, this is going to far surpass my conference experiences: from phone conversations I've had with IWS alumni, this will deepen and enrich my walk with Christ and the way I lead others to Him.

I can't wait to start this journey, and I pray God uses it for His glory and His kingdom! So long, conferences... for now.

Iron Sharpening Iron, a.k.a. The Dullness of Men

2009-09-21T11:04:00.009-05:00

Continuing the recap of my summer and absence from blogging, we move to the middle of July. Each year I get together with 8 other guys for a weekend of hilarity and stupidity, conversation and conundrum, pyromania and pyrosis. We call it The Huntin' Trip, though we never really go hunting. But the idea is to reconnect with friends, to create some lifelong memories, and to do stupid stuff that would probably embarrass our wives. One guy plans the trip and keeps it a secret until we're all about to depart, and then the adventure begins.

Adventures in Iowa, a.k.a. Idiots Out Wandering Around
This year Pete (Hunter nickname Jablooter) planned the trip, and we found ourselves heading to Des Moines, which is French for "the Moines." Here's my Huntin Trip 09 Top Nine:

#9 - We posed in front of the birthplace of John Wayne, trying to look tough. He was born in Winterset. After stopping in Winterset for gas, we noticed signs pointing to the house where he lived, a few blocks away. We walked to it, took a pic, and scared off a stray cat who thought he should be in the photo. Yup. We're tough, all right. In this shot, we're eating ice cream. Tough as nails, we are.

#8 - We stayed in yurts, which are somewhere between a teepee and a cabin. Wood floor, framed cloth walls and ceiling. They look bizarre, but it was much nicer than sleeping on the ground and much cheaper than getting hotel rooms.

#7 - We enjoyed billiards and microbrews at Raccoon River Brewing Company. My favorite was the Tallgrass Light. It had a unique punch of flavor about 4 seconds after you sipped it.

#6 - We saw David Crowder* Band in concert. They rocked, as usual. Key-tar, Rock Band controller, "witty" banter, and some great worship time. Two days later, I saw them in concert again, at the National Worship Leader Conference. More on that in my next post.

#5 - We geeked out with a game called Talisman. I almost won, but then Donnie, as the Swordsman, got through the tombs of the Vampires on the third level, and onto the Tower of Power, and, since he had more health points and armor, beat me soundly. At least I didn't end up a Slimy Toad. Or did I? Ribbit?

#4 - We made up a frisbee game that had no rules but kept us occupied and laughing for around 30 minutes. There might have been 2 teams, or not, and the goal seemed to be using the frisbees to knock a water bottle off the grill. And a member of each quasi-team was charged with crouching near the grill and retrieving frisbees for their team. We never kept score (we didn't know how), but I think it was a close game. It ended when Pete took a disc golf frisbee to the lip.

#3 - Golf. I never enjoyed golf, but when you're playing a best-ball scramble, it's pretty fun. My first drive surprised me! It got pretty near the green. The rest of my shots didn't surprise me at all. We were pretty good at losing balls, so one of the guys brought a sack of golf balls. As you might guess, nine grown men can have a field day of jokes with that one. Wait a minute... 9 guys, 9 holes of golf, 2009... it's almost 9/9/09, but sillier.

#2 - We ate barbecue at the Des Moines Ribfest. That was some good eatin'. Except the Australian booth. It was like half-boiled pork with no sauce and little seasoning. Gross. My favorite came from a group from Chicago. We tried some deep-fried twinkies for dessert. We listened to a Beatles cover band and reminisced over the Huntin' Trip of 2007, when we watched another Beatles cover band in Branson. Then, since this was the final destination/activity before heading home, we hopped in the vans and headed back west.

#1 - Mark (Hunter nickname Trillsnog) jumped the fire. The first night we started a camp fire with the intention of roasting foodstuffs and burning things. Then the dares started up, and before long we were all jumping the fire: trying special tricks, carrying things with us, and "one-upping" each other way past the point of sane behavior. The best moment, though, was when Mark, tin suitcase in hand, jumped the fire and Chris (I think) got a picture of it. This one will go down in the books as the greatest Huntin' Trip picture of all time (so far).

So there are some highlights from a great weekend with buddies. This was the ninth (I think) trip we've taken. I skipped the first one, and skipped the 2004 trip, so I've been on 7 of these. And now it's something I won't miss. Some of these guys I've known since high school, some since college, some I've just met going on the trips. But all of us have become fast friends. I wish we lived closer together so we could hang out more often. For now, I just look forward to the trip each year. Every year I come back with a new set of memories, from fun (and sometimes dangerous) activities like sky-diving or canoeing, to great conversations over a cigar or a morning devotion, to running jokes that are funnier every year (tin suitcase, US Petrolon, and gat-a-lat, to name a few).

Guys should hang out with other guys. The camaraderie of men is something that can't be reproduced in the marriage relationship, at work, or online. These guys challenge me and make me a better man. And I hope I challenge them, too. Proverbs 27:17 says, "As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another." I find that to be true with this bunch of guys.

6:00 AM Sharpening, a.k.a. Godliness at an Ungodly Hour
Today I attended the second weekly meeting of a bunch of guys at my church. We're going through a study called Men's Fraternity. Its foundation is Biblical, but so far it's been a study focused on what authentic manhood looks like. I'm enjoying it. At the same time, it's shown a few challenges already. Sorry to be stereotypical, but I've heard over the years that women can be fickle, two-faced, and inauthentic in relationships. This might be true in many cases, but I'm seeing in this group that men also have barriers to authentic and healthy relationships: insecurity, bull-headedness, pride. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out over the course of 26 weeks.

There's around 45 guys in the study right now. How many of us will "man up" to the challenge of sticking with it? How many will actually take the material to heart to be a better husband, a better father, a better man? I'm praying for these guys, and I hope they're praying for me. It's awesome to see that many men trying to figure this out together. It'll be even more awesome (I think) to see what God does through us.

I'm sure I'll post more of what I'm seeing and learning as the study continues. If you're a man in Lincoln interested in Men's Fraternity, you're welcome to join us. Email me for more information.

By the way, the pics from this post were shamelessly copied from Trillsnog's and Jablooter's Facebook albums. Thanks, guys.

A Long Trip to Nashville

2009-09-12T00:33:00.004-05:00

In July Tracie and I drove to Nashville to spend 24 hours there. Here's the story...

“Hi, my name is – hey, look, a bird!”
What’s your favorite distraction? I like crosswords, or the jumble. Really, I like just about any good mental game. Brain teasers, puzzles, story problems, number patterns… I love any problem that requires me to think. If I can solve it, I feel the greatest sense of accomplishment, and then I can go back to whatever I was doing before, happy and full of myself. Here’s a recent puzzle I enjoyed solving:

You have 9 marbles. One weighs slightly more than the other eight, but you can’t tell it by looking at them. You have one of those old balances, with a pair of scales so you can compare the weight of two things. In order to find the heavier marble, what is the least number of times you will need to use the balance? I’ll put the answer at the end of this post.

Back on track... Near the end of May a friend turned me on to something happening on Derek Webb’s website. Or would that be Webbsite? Anyway, the normal site was down, there were these cryptic emails, and rumors of a game involving his upcoming release of Stockholm Syndrome. I’ve been a fan of Derek’s music for a long time, so it didn’t take much persuasion for me to get distracted. Lord knows I needed a distraction. I found a message board that helped me get up to speed, and dove into the game.

Stockholm Syndrome Scavenging.
Here’s how it worked: You followed a Twitter account to receive notification of instructions on another website that told you where to go and what “code words” to use to get an “artifact” which contained a 2-second song clip, a voucher for 2 concert tickets, and a picture clue for the next artifact. Confusing? It was for me, at first.

The song clips were then available online, and you could download them to create a controversial song that the label wanted Derek to leave off the album. It’s called “What Matters More” and contains a couple of choice 4-letter words, making it unmarketable to Christian bookstores, which is likely the label’s bread and butter.

Anyway, I kept hoping that Lincoln would end up being a location for one of the sets of instructions/artifacts. After all, Derek Webb’s brother Brandon lives here. So every time a picture clue was available, I’d open the file hoping to see a familiar Lincoln landmark. But it never happened.

Another aspect of the game was a set of videos that contained hidden audio clues. In some of them, Morse code was used to give dates, times, locations. In one of them, you had to pan the audio to the right to reveal an enigmatic description of an event. These clues pointed to an event at 7:00 on July 3, at a bar and music venue in Nashville.

Well, this was too much for me. I had to go! My lovely wife suggested we leave Cole and Jack with my parents and have a little road trip. Apparently my excitement over all of this clever marketing and hype was rubbing off on her. We made plans to drive to Nashville on July 2, stay with Eric and Danielle Peters that night, hang out in Nashville on July 3, go to Derek’s big event that night, and drive back partly that night and partly on Independence Day.

A Drive, A Donut, A Double Normalmstrog.
Now here’s where it got fun. Wednesday night, before we were to leave for Nashville, I opened the picture clue and I saw this. I recognized it as being a fountain near the Plaza in Kansas City. Kansas City is on the way to Nashville. Instructions usually were available sometime in the morning, so we suddenly started to see a chance to really get in on the game.

Sure enough, when we were still an hour from Kansas City, my phone told me that new instructions were available. Tracie and I were giddy with excitement, and the race was on! While I drove, Tracie looked up the instructions on my phone. We were to go to “The Filling Station” and ask for a Double Normalmstrog.

We had borrowed a GPS for the trip, but it couldn’t find a business with such a common name. After a few confusing phone calls, we found a listing through the Internet browser on my phone and called a number that worked:

"Hello?"  

"Hi. Um... is this a coffeehouse?"

  "Yes."  

"This might be a weird question, but... have you ever heard of Derek Webb?"  

"Yes!"

  "Awesome. What's the address there?"  

And then we were on our way. While we were en route the first 2 artifacts got nabbed, but we got there in time for the third. The owner, who was at the counter when I asked for the Double Normalmstrog, is good friends with Don and Lori Chaffer, so that's how the connection was made with The Filling Station. The owner was really excited to learn about the game. We were really excited to get tickets to Derek Webb’s upcoming tour. We also learned that the final set of instructions would be in Nashville the next day. “Hey, aren’t we going to be there then?” Yes, we were.

On our way out of Kansas City we spotted a Krispy Kreme (what luck!) and so after hitting the drive-thru there we headed across Missouri.

Where in St. Louis is the flippin’ Chick-Fil-A?!?
The only rough spot of the entire trip was the journey through St. Louis. We hit the gateway to the west around lunch time, and so we started looking for our favorite restaurant that is nowhere near Lincoln: Chick-Fil-A. We called it up on the borrowed Garmin. This was our first mistake. We ended up walking around a nearly deserted mall. Not a pleasant experience. Calling up the second nearest Chick-Fil-A on the Garmin turned out to also be our second mistake. This time we ended up in a very rough neighborhood, complete with bars on most of the windows around us, police sirens, and possibly a drug deal (“You have arrived at your destination”). Then we hit the Interstate detour on the far east side of St. Louis. We had to crawl through side streets with the rest of the detouring traffic. It took a LONG time.

Casa De Peters
We finally reached Nashville late Thursday night. We were blessed to be able to stay with Eric and Danielle Peters and family, which was a blast. Sure, I had to sleep on the couch while Tracie slept on a twin bed in the guest room, but nothing beats waking up to 3-year-old Ellis staring you in the face with that huge grin of his. Eric and Danielle also clued us in on some great things to check out for the day. And when the final set of instructions came in for Derek Webb’s little game, Danielle told us it was only a couple miles away! We didn’t get the first artifact, but Tracie got the second!

Here are the highlights from our (short) time in Nashville:

Gruhn Guitars. A cool guitar shop. I tried several. Joyous!
Hatch Print Shop. A very cool old-fashioned poster printer. We mentioned we were from Nebraska and they showed us a gift from a client in Murray, just miles from where my Grandpa Jacobs lives.
Baja Burrito. I’ve heard it mentioned many a time on Eric’s blog and in the Rabbit Room. It lived up to the lore.
Sputnik Studios. I had to find it, and it was difficult to do so. I know Mitch Dane and Andrew Osenga, but neither of them were there. Oh well. Another time, hopefully.
Grand Ole Opry. Just had to do it, even though I care little for country music.
Las Paletas. Delicious homemade popsicles, made fresh every day. I had blackberry lime, Tracie’s had guava in it. Unique, naturally sweet, incredibly tasty.

Paradise Is A Parking Lot
And finally, we went to the Derek Webb event. It was a viewing of a documentary film called Paradise Is A Parking Lot, made during the recording of Stockholm Syndrome. But the real show (for me) was the drama of the final stage of the game. As we watched the film, clues were coming across Twitter. “Pay attention,” the clues said. “Follow the bar code to the heart.” The bar code heart is the artwork for Stockholm Syndrome, so I didn’t think that helped. The final clue was “The bartender can see it. Make the call.” I found myself near the bar, with a couple dozen others, looking for the clue. When I found a girl wearing an armband with a heart on it, I thought I had it figured out.

“Hi. Am I… supposed to talk to you or something?”

“Did you follow the instructions?”

“Umm… I think so.”

“I’m part of the clue, but I don’t think you followed the instructions.”

Rats. Shortly after that, some guy looked underneath the bar and came up with a CD, exclaiming that he had found it! Whatever "it" was.

What we learned later was there was a poster offering English bulldogs for sale, featuring the bar code heart logo. When you called the number on poster, you were given a code, which you gave to the girl with the armband, who gave you a wristband, which was your ticket onto a van afterwards, which whisked you away to Derek’s home studio for a listening party with Derek Webb and Joshua Moore, and an advance copy of the disc. Rats.

Time to Head Out
We found out there was another listening party later on, and we went for a bit, but it turned out to be kind of a bust. We started to head out of town, but decided to get some dinner on the way. Again trying our luck with the Garmin, we were this time treated to finding a nice pizza place on the way out of Nashville. I ordered the aptly named “Flamethrower Pizza.” Wow. It featured pepperoni, sausage, yellow banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, and crushed red pepper. This thing was crazy spicy! I actually had to take breaks between bites. My mouth was on fire! It was delicious.

We traveled 4 hours north to stay in a hotel that night. We had planned on camping to save money, but my parents talked me into getting a room instead. Which turned out to be a great idea. We got in after 1:00, which would have been a terrible time to set up a tent. And we woke up to pouring rain, which would have made us very wet.

Quality Time
This might sound cheesy and maybe cliche, but the best part of the trip was the laughter, the heart to hearts, the deep discussions with my wife of 8 years. This was the closest thing to a vacation we’ve taken in a while, and it being just Tracie and I (the boys with my parents) was twice as nice. We talked about the miscarriage. We talked about the boys. We dreamed about the potential for my future in music (you can’t help it when you’re in Nashville). We debated and discussed Derek’s struggle with his record label over a naughty word. We just had a fantastic time being married and together with no real agenda and tons of time to talk.

It was a great reminder how important it is to carve out that time, how necessary it is for us married people to be intentional about being married. If we’re not careful, spouses can become roommates or worse. This trip was a shot in the arm for us.

And it was a lot of fun in a new place, besides.

The answer to the brain puzzle at the start of this post is: you need to use the scale twice. Let me know if you want to know why.

Miscarried Faith

2009-09-09T09:35:00.003-05:00

Heads up, readers: this will be a dark post. I hope it doesn’t venture into being depressing. I’ve tried to be honest. As I update you on the rest of my absence from blogging the past few months, most of the posts will be fun to read. This one, not so much.

I’ve typed and deleted the first line of this post at least a dozen times now. It’s hard to get started. I tried simply setting this post apart from others with a contrasting statement: “Most of the past three months has been filled with excitement, growth, and health.” I tried jumping right into the subject: “May 15 was one of the worst days of my life.” I tried starting with a broad all-encompassing truth: “One of the things that links every single human being that ever was, that is now, or that will ever be is pain. We all go through pain in life.”

None of these beginnings feels right, though. It’s just a difficult topic, and no matter how I try, I can’t put a poetic spin on it. I can’t make this some poignant and profound story, because I just don’t know how it ends yet. I lived through it, and I’m continuing to live through it. Someday I might be able to look back and see the introduction, the characters, the conclusion, and the epilogue. But for now I’m still struggling to understand myself in light of this painful and trying experience.

In March we learned that Tracie was pregnant. We were very excited, obviously. It wasn’t planned, and we were surprised, and that made it all the more fun and thrilling. I had just had a conversation with a friend at church during which I said I thought we were probably done having kids, that I wasn’t ready for a third, and that God would have to tell me otherwise. And now God was telling me otherwise, and I couldn’t have been happier to hear from Him.

We shared the news with family, close friends, and the staff at church. The due date was early December, a terrible time for me with the annual Christmas program and plans. But somehow that made it all the more exciting. It seemed perfect: God was going to show us how to depend on Him and how to celebrate the birth of Christ in a special way.

But things changed in May.

Tracie called her midwife the second week in May; she was worried about some things that were happening. She went in to see her midwife on May 14, 2009. When the midwife couldn’t find the heartbeat, she sent Tracie to another office to do a special ultrasound on May 15. The ultrasound was delivered back to Tracie’s midwife while we waited to hear the results. I remember being at home when the phone rang and Tracie picked up. I was in another room with the boys, but I listened to Tracie’s side of the conversation, anticipating the worst but hopeful. Still hopeful.

When she hung up the phone, Tracie told me through tears that though our baby was around 9 weeks old, the ultrasound revealed growth of only 6 weeks. And no heartbeat. The midwife even used the word we feared the most: miscarriage.

The next 4 days are a blur. I met with Ben at a bar late one night to talk it out. I remember looking at my glass with vision blurred by tears. Tracie and I spent tons of time on the phone with family. I remember walking out to the garage to talk to my parents on the phone so the boys wouldn’t hear my sobs. My mom came to visit. The miscarriage happened the weekend following the ultrasound. On Tuesday, May 19, Tracie and I went to St. Elizabeth’s for a dilation and curettage. Tracie’s mom came to stay. I remember praying with Tracie before she went in for the procedure. I remember the unbearable wait until she was taken to a recovery room. I remember wanting to be out of that hospital so badly. On May 20, we began a long process of healing.

One of my deepest pains as Tracie’s husband is watching her cry. It’s a debilitating, crushing weight, a feeling of such helplessness that I want to give up. Through May and on through the summer there have been many times when Tracie has abandoned herself to tears, and I’ve felt such sorrow and pain and anger at the unfairness of it all that I could scream at God. I don’t care about myself, I don’t care if life takes twists and turns that leave me with a scar, or add a wrinkle to my brow. But seeing my dear Tracie or either of my dear sons in anguish is something that cuts me deeper than anything I’ve ever known. It’s palpable, the way it hurts.

I’ve always wondered how I would react to something this big. My fear was that something so heartbreaking as the death of a child, even if we never got to hold that child in our arms, would also mean the death of my faith, in a way. As I look over my life, I perceive a disproportionate amount of blessing. I’m grateful for them, to be sure. But it made me wonder if I’d fall away if the blessings were replaced with the opposite. Ever since I first came to faith in Jesus Christ, I have watched friends go through traumatic seasons of life and ordeals that I can’t even imagine. So I’ve worried what would happen if something rocked me to the core. Would I turn towards God, or would I take a step away from Him? How does one's faith survive when faced with such despair?

Fortunately, the death of our child revealed a renewed faith for me (and for Tracie, too). Though I sometimes wanted to question God through this, I more often wanted to run to Him. I found myself praying less for answers and more for strength, less for reasons and more for peace. And in the middle of this storm, I felt that peace. I saw God surrounding Tracie and I, weeping with us, supporting us, helping us stand up in the storm. I saw it in the faces of my family: my parents, my brother, my boys. I saw it in the nurses who served us, in the friends that wrote to us.

That’s not to say I don’t have a heavy heart as I write this. I’m still struggling, though the pain is much less now. I don’t know if I’ll ever see the conclusion or know “The End” of this volume of my life. I hope I do, someday. But I recognize that “someday” might be the day when Christ Himself wipes the tears from my eyes.

There's a song by Hillsong United that I've been praying often since I first heard it in June. I think it captures Revelation 21 powerfully, and it's reminded me that there's an end to the power of sin in this world. There's a day coming when Christ will undo every wrong and make everything new. That's the hope I rest in today. The chorus says:

No weeping, no hurt or pain
No suffering, You hold me now, You hold me now
No darkness, no sick or lame
No hiding, You hold me now, You hold me now

A New Season

2009-09-08T09:38:00.002-05:00

There’s a season for everything under the sun, according to the Scriptures.

Lately, it has not been a season for blogging.

An explanation…

During this year, 2009, and especially during the past few months, I’ve barely blogged at all. There are multiple reasons for this. Most of them will sound like excuses, and let’s be honest, they probably are. I mean, over a three-month period, there should be at least a few minutes to quickly jot down some thoughts, share what I’m learning in life. It’s funny, though, how easy it is to let a blog go. Before long, it’s just a few MB of occupied space in the vast Internet, slowly getting further and further from current, drifting away into something that people will accidentally discover while looking for posts on how to use their odometer.

So, lest that happen, it’s time for me to blog or get off the pot. Using that metaphor implies something about the quality of my posts. Hmm.

In order to get things back up to speed, I’ve got to let you know what’s happened the past three months. In one post or less? Hardly. Actually, just this morning I was reading an article in Relevant Magazine that talked about how technology is destroying our ability to just sit and reflect, think, introspect, dream, etc. So instead of rushing through the many events of the past 3 months, I will devote several posts to it this week. Because a lot has happened, and it might be good for you to know about it. It’ll definitely be good for me to reflect on it.

8 Years

2009-06-04T00:17:00.003-05:00

On Tuesday, Tracie and I celebrated our 8-year anniversary. Just before going to bed the night before -- it was actually about an hour into June 2nd -- I suddenly felt inspired to write something for Tracie, which I did while she slept. I didn't get a chance to read it to her until our anniversary was nearly over, as the clock approached June 3rd. But she loved it, and deemed it was "blog-worthy." So here it is: a sort of marriage parable. A marable. Enjoy...

Late one night I dreamed of my life as a great mountain whose peak was veiled. Each day I climbed higher, never seeing how close I was to the summit, always looking just ahead. I climbed on and on through the years of my life.

At one point I came upon a man resting beside the trail. The man was a mirror of myself, but several years older. And I sat beside him, and I said, "I am thus blessed to meet an older version of myself. Tell me, what are the next eight years of this climb going to bring me?"

He sat silent for a moment, still catching his breath. Then he said, "What would you have me tell you?"

"Is the journey hard?" I asked.

"Yes," he replied, "but each step you take will reveal more strength."

"Will I lose my footing?"

"Yes," he answered. "Sometimes you will slip. It’s often hard to get up. You’ll feel hurt and weak and clumsy."

"Is it easy to keep to the path?" I asked.

"No," he replied. "The path sometimes shifts without warning. Sometimes you’ll wander without a path, and the going is slow. You will not end up where you expect, when you are as old as I am now."

I then asked, "Is there anything I can do to ready myself for this next leg of the climb?"

The older man answered, "It would be better for you to encounter the climb as it happens, though it will be hard at times."

I then grew silent for a long time, looking up and down the path, searching for my next question. Finally, I looked at him, and carefully inquired, "Is it worth it?"

He grinned at me, and with all the confidence of a boy at the edge of a diving board, he said, "Yes."

"Why? Why is it worth the pain, the uncertainty, the trial?"

"Because of the company you keep."

"Who will go with me?" I asked.

"One of your companions you have known for several years already. He will never leave you or forsake you, and He has prepared the path for you, and He will be there each step of the way," he answered.

"If He is with me, who else do I need?" I asked. "Why wouldn’t it be just Him and me?"

"Because He knows you so well, He has known that it is not good for you to feel alone. And so He will bring along another companion for you. And she will be the reason you climb. When she falls, you will help her up, and she you. When you are tired, she will be your strength, and vice versa. When you feel lost, you two will find the path together. When the future is uncertain, you both will pray for each other. You will climb for her sake. Each step you take will be for her to take another step herself. And in this way, you will climb through life together: you, and she, and your Savior.

"And each morning will be a new journey, walking through new beauty: beauty of your Lord, and beauty of the mountain, and beauty of your bride. She will be more than enough reason to take another step, and it will never be enough to stop climbing. You will ever long to climb together until someday you reach the apex, and look back over the journey with peace and joy overflowing."

Then I smiled in the expectation of what was to come. "Let the journey begin, then. I will walk with my God and with my bride all the days of my life."

"And you shall," the older me answered.

And so, rested and refreshed from my reflection, I took my wife’s hand, and we continued, together, to follow our Savior in the climb.

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You...

2009-05-06T16:59:00.005-05:00

Before I forget... er, while I'm thinking of it... er, since I was talking about it with someone this morning...

Movies are fun. Tracie and I watch them quite a bit at home, but we rarely go to see them in the theater for a number of reasons. But that's another post. Anyway, I get pretty excited this time of year. The studios start to build us up for the "summer blockbusters." I must admit, I get sucked in every year. Sometimes I'm thrilled when I actually see what the hype is all about (The Dark Knight) and sometimes I'm sorely disappointed (Wanted). But I try to keep my eyes open for movies I'll enjoy: those that are the season's big guns, and those that might travel under the radar a bit.

So here's a list of movies that will likely end up on our Netflix queue, all coming out this summer (for you theater-goers). First, some obvious ones...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - I've loved this movie franchise. I've read that they aren't likely to do anymore with the whole ensemble because it's getting to expensive to pay all the actors. Too bad. But this is a good solution: go with just a couple of the "main" characters and focus on their backstory. Can't wait to see Gambit make an appearance!
Terminator: Salvation - Watched the first of this series when I was way too young, but loved it. Watched the second and was just the right age to love it again. Watched the third and was too old to enjoy it (so was Schwarzennegger). But this one looks exciting: Christian Bale, lots of crazy robots bent on destroying humanity, and post-apocalyptic sci-fi.
Star Trek - I grew up looking forward to catching a late Saturday night episode of TNG. The original series was pretty cool, too, but I was more interested in Piccard, Riker, Worf, Data, Troi, and Wesley. What makes me excited about this one is J.J. Abrams. I love LOST, I was impressed by Cloverfield, and I have no doubt that he's going to do wonders in the Star Trek universe.
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince - Sometimes watching a trailer makes you so excited for that film, that you are disappointed in the feature presentation which follows said trailer. The latest trailer for the Potter series looks amazing! I can't wait.

Now for a couple of which you might not be aware, but which I'm eagerly anticipating...

Up - This is the latest Pixar/Disney offering. There's an clip on Hulu (looks like it's also on Yahoo Movies) which is silly and smart and all of the things that made me love previous films (The Incredibles, Finding Nemo, Cars) from this production team. This movie will be funny, and hopefully better than Ratatouille and WALL-E, which were good, but not as good as I'd hoped.
Where The Wild Things Are - I think it's coming out this fall, actually. But the trailer was so well done: awesome teaser shots, great setup, and The Arcade Fire. It made me smile and brought tears to my eyes. I can't imagine how great this movie will be!

And finally some I've only recently learned about. These probably won't be pushed as hard by the distributors and studios, but they might be great nonetheless. Or they could stink. For now I'm optimistic...

Moon - Set in the near future, this one stars Sam Rockwell as the only worker on the far side of the moon, with 2 weeks left in a 3-year contract. He's had almost no contact with his family and his employer due to a bad satellite connection. The only interaction he's had is with a robot that controls the station and seems a little off (sounds a lot like 2001: A Space Odyssey, I know). With 2 weeks left, some crazy stuff starts to happen. This film had great reviews at a few film festivals lately.
The Brothers Bloom - Adrian Brody, Rachel Weisz, Mark Ruffalo, and a few others in a con job film that looks like a lot of fun. Think Oceans Eleven with a better balance of testosterone and estrogen. This one also did well at a number of film festivals.
My Sister's Keeper - Not crazy about some of the cast (Cameron Diaz, Joan Cusack, Jason Patric), but the story is intriguing. Knowing that their oldest daughter would battle cancer and need a kidney, a couple has another daughter through some creative genetic engineering who is raised knowing that she'll donate her kidney to her sister one day. But the second daughter, played by Abigail Breslin, decides she doesn't want to give her kidney up, and sues her parents for rights to her body. It looks like this one explores a lot of moral ground in a short amount of time. Should be interesting.
District 9 - I'm a little sketchy on the details. It looks like a twist on segregation, in which a minority is segregated to a small section of a city. They're not accepted, they're looked down upon, they're considered dangerous. Oh, yeah, and they're not human. They're aliens, and when the mothership arrives, some very tense negotiations ensue between the aliens and humankind. I'm excited about this one (tentatively) because Peter Jackson is directing. Then again, I need to remember King Kong... bleh.

What movies are you looking forward to? Or are you not looking forward to any movies this summer?

New Song: Running Back

2009-04-27T15:35:00.002-05:00

At the beginning of the month, I mentioned that I've got a new song, called "Running Back." Listen to it here. The lyrics are below.

The cool thing is, a friend of mine took it a step further. I first met Adam Ross when I visited First Christian Church months before taking the worship minister position there. Adam was playing electric and acoustic that morning, and he had a cool tattoo on his forearm that said "FORGIVEN" and he looked like a pretty nice guy, so I introduced myself. Over the next few years, Adam encouraged me through his service and his friendship. We went to see David Crowder, we quoted Simpsons, he introduced me to The Format and I introduced him to Eric Peters. Now he's full-time at a church in Iowa, and I'm here in Lincoln, and we rarely see each other.

But thanks to Al Gore and his Internets, Adam and I can (sort of) collaborate on music. When I posted the live version of "Running Back," Adam illegally downloaded the song without my permission. Awesome! Then he added a bunch of electric guitar tracks. Double awesome! Then he must have called in The Edge or something, because the result needs Bono on vocals.

Adam is a fantastic guitarist and a big fan of U2, and it comes through on this updated version of the song. I love it, and I so appreciate Adam having a little fun with my music! You can't hear the vocals as well, but that's my fault in how I recorded the original version. Anyway, listen to the lovely guitar stylings of Adam Ross, and enjoy!

Running Back
Choose any direction, walk a straight line
I’ve never used a compass
expect I’m doing fine
Stumbled in the gutter seven hundred times
I’ll put my message in the bottle
when I’ve emptied all the wine
Don’t take Your eyes off me now
because in time

I’ll be running back
I’ll be running back to You
Where I started from
Caught up in the lie
You always knew I’d be running back

Filled up on the empty, it never seems to last
You’d think I’d know better
but there’s safety in the past
I never cut the eyeholes
so I can’t see out my mask
I’d trade the seven hundred
for a little bit of cash
I should trade my excuses in and
before you know

I’ll be running back
I’ll be running back to You
Where I started from
Caught up in the lie
You always knew I’d be running back

So long waiting underneath this atom bomb
Waiting for my weary arms to get too tired
For the blast to arrive
You are waiting for me, never far down the road
Waiting for my weary heart to rewind
To set this mess aside

I’ll be running back
I’ll be running back to You
Where I started from
Caught up in the lie
You always knew

I’ll be running back
I’ll be running back to You
Where I started from
Caught up in the lie
You always knew I’d be running back

Books

2009-04-27T10:49:00.008-05:00

I don't read as much as I should. Who of us can say that they do? But lately I've been pushing myself to read more, for a few reasons. 1) An acquaintance of mine recently started this blog, which I find inspiring, if not a little crazy. 2) I have a stack sitting on my desk of great books that I've picked up over the past 2 years but haven't really cracked yet. And, 3) I attended Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope last Thursday and was reminded of a quote by Lou Holtz that says that 5 years from now you will be the same person you are today, except for the books you read and the people you meet with (my paraphrase).

So, while I'm nowhere near the pace of John, I have been reading several books so far this year.

On The Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson. I picked this one up because I'm a fan of the man's music, I follow him and his fellow artists on a blog called The Rabbit Room, and I like fantasy. Especially fantasy geared towards kids. Since Tracie and I became parents, I'm creating a mental list of books I want my boys to read, and this is one of them. The writing is clever, the dangers are serious yet funny (beware the Fangs of Dang), and the plot is sufficiently exciting. I got through this one in 4 days at the start of the year. This is part of a trilogy called the Wingfeather Saga, and I can hardly wait for book #2.

Secrets in the Dark: A Life in Sermons by Frederick Buechner. Eric Peters will tell me I started with the wrong book by Buechner, and maybe he's correct. He tells me that Buechner writes amazing fiction, fiction that inspires song in Eric. This book was good, but it took me quite a while to get through. I actually started this one last year. But I finished it in February. It's an interesting read: a collection of Buechner's sermons arranged chronologically, outlining his life, his passions, his concerns, his faith. Incredible sermons that make me think of the church I grew up in. I can hear Buechner's voice echoing in a huge church somewhere, uninterrupted but for an occasional baby crying or someone coughing or adjusting their posture in a squeaky pew.

Just Courage by Gary A. Haugen. I expect to finish this one this week. Haugen is the head of the International Justice Mission, and I heard him speak last August. The IJM seeks to end injustice in various forms around the world: slavery, sex trade, corrupt leadership, etc. Their organization goes into some of the darkest situations, relying only on God and His truth to protect them. Each day the entire organization spends two 30-minute periods in prayer. How many churches could say the same? I'm almost done with this one. I've been reading it with a group of guys who I have breakfast with on Wednesdays.

ReThink: Is Student Ministry Working? by Steve Wright with Chris Graves. This isn't one I would have picked up on my own. Our youth pastor Troy asked the staff to read it. ReThink ask some great questions of the current youth ministry model. Having worked with middle-school youth, and in Young Life, and having seen my brother and two youth pastors living life in the trenches at 3 churches, I've seen a lot of problems with how youth ministry is done today. Most churches fill their calendars with activities, seemingly to distract the kids from getting into trouble. Most parents view church youth activities as a way to drop the kids off for an hour or two and do their own thing. Consequently, most 20-somethings are leaving the church, and only a third find their way back. Almost finished with this one, too.

The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Timothy Keller. Keller is a Presbyterian pastor in an urban church in New York City. He's also a gifted logician. The first half of the book boldly answers skeptics' questions, the second half boldly makes a case for Christianity. The book reminds me of one of my all-time favorites, Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. The difference is that Keller writes to us today, answering the accusations of athiests like Dawkins and Hitchens, defending Christianity to a modern audience. I love this stuff. It reminds me that my faith is stronger than I sometimes think. I have a God Who is real, Who really exists, Who really came down as Jesus Christ, Who really is with me each moment, and Who really will come back one day. I've been reading this one with a friend, but it's quickly become a book I recommend to almost anyone.

Some of the books I hope to read this year:

Vintage Jesus by Mark Driscoll and Gerry Breashears
The Faith by Charles Colson
Finding Our Way Again by Brian McLaren (Started this one once but never finished it.)
Emerging Worship by Dan Kimball
The Shack by William Young (What's the fuss about?)
North! Or Be Eaten by Andrew Peterson (The second Wingfeather Saga book.)

I figure if I can get through the books on my desk (the above plus 4) then maybe I can start thinking about a Kindle as a good investment. Ha, ha.

What better day?

2009-04-01T14:03:00.004-06:00

I haven't posted in almost 4 months. And here's why: I have been captured by a green monster who plays world music, eats large quantities of pancakes, has forgotten where he's from, is trying to get involved in the alternative country scene, and has nightmares about Little Red Riding Hood. He wouldn't let me go until I wrote a song that used the phrase 'atom bomb' and featured a capo. Weird, I know.

Anywho, I've been thinking about some changes to this blog. The layout, the format, my own criteria for what to post and what not to post. It's still pretty up in the air, but one thing is certain: I want to narrow the purpose of this blog. It will probably mean a new blog that will be about my family, my life, what's new, etc. Which will leave this one to be about my thoughts, creative endeavors, ideas, etc. Why do I want to narrow the scope or add another blog? Because after a long period of waiting on God, I feel a new hope and excitement for where I am. Not that I've been mired in self-loathing or feeling lost or anything. But for some reason things are different lately.

So there you have it. I'll post more soon, and in the meantime I'm going to start changing the layout, color scheme, etc. If you read my blog, thank you. And happy April Fools' Day. None of the above is a joke, but the links in the first paragraph are all pretty fun. Enjoy.

Twitter scam?

2009-01-03T17:44:00.002-06:00

Watch out, Twitter friends! I think there's some fake Tweets going around.

I just got a Tweet from Carissa (I don't think it was really from her), a friend of mine. It said:

"hey! check out this funny blog about you... http://jannawalitax.blogspot.com/"

When I went to the address (don't go to it), it looked exactly like the Twitter login page, but the address had now changed to something like twitter.access-login.com. Smelled fishy at this point. When I clicked on the Twitter logo, which usually takes Twitter users home, it went to a page that looked exactly like the Facebook login page, but again with a weird address.

Keep your eyes out for suspicious looking tweets, or redirected pages, and pay attention to whether or not the page you're viewing is secure.

December Photo Project: Day 19

2008-12-19T23:56:00.000-06:00

Not for Santa.

I love that Tracie bakes cookies for our family from time to time. It communicates love to me that she takes the time to mix up a batch of sugar cookies with almond-flavored icing, or a double batch of my Grandma Welstead's famous monster cookies. Cookies are much more than little indulgences when they're homemade: they're more like that little bit of extra care and thought and effort, that makes marriage and family life so very sweet.

December Photo Project: Day 18

2008-12-18T23:52:00.001-06:00

Clinging.

This is just about the only leaf in a tree near Firth, NE. I sat in a tree stand this afternoon, patiently waiting to see a deer that never showed.

I did see a coyote, but he had no time for photo opps.

December Photo Project: Day 17

2008-12-17T12:45:00.000-06:00

Most Wednesday mornings you can find me spending an hour at the 28th & O Street Village Inn with a few other guys, talking about life and Scriptures over breakfast. We fairly randomly picked 1 John to start with, and we're now through 2 John as well.

All of us are in totally different phases of life, facing different challenges but also different opportunities. It's great to share a common denominator of Christ in our lives. And it's good for me to spend time with three older men (I'm the youngest by at least a decade and a half).

December Photo Project: Day 16

2008-12-16T23:41:00.000-06:00

Clean Jack.

I'm late posting these next 4 photos. This one is of Jack after bath time. It's a little fuzzy, but it captures Jack's silliness. He's always in a great mood after some rub-a-dub in the tub.

December Photo Project: Day 15

2008-12-15T23:09:00.000-06:00

Cole at bedtime. Tonight he read this entire book by himself. Words like "coyote" and "because." He amazes me everyday.

December Photo Project: Day 14

2008-12-14T23:22:00.000-06:00

This is Kate. She's pretty funny. And when we're cleaning up after a final Imagine Christmas performance, and there's some polyester batting that resembled snow for the production, she's been known to don a Santa-styled beard, which looks ridiculously hilarious, and kind of creepy at the same time.

I am so grateful to work alongside such wonderful people from New Covenant and the other two churches involved in Christmas on 84th Street. Kate and 13 other young actors delivered great performances. Five soloists sang beautifully. Five dancers lit up the stage. Eight instrumentalists played their hearts out. Two actors set the scene. And countless people offered their talents and time to make this the best production of Imagine Christmas to date, and one heck of a fun 4 months to boot. I love each and every one of them, and I consider it a blessing to work with them and create something wonderful that points others to Jesus Christ, whose birth we celebrate this season.

I hope and pray we made an impact in the lives of those who heard the Gospel presented through the music, drama, dance, and beauty that is Imagine Christmas. As a friend said tonight during the cast party, "Handel's Messiah is great, but the Gospel is presented so clearly in Imagine Christmas. We're just glad to be a part of it."

December Photo Project: Day 13

2008-12-13T23:19:00.000-06:00

Part of this year's Christmas on 84th Street was 4 performances of an abridged version of Handel's Messiah. We had around 75 people singing, and a 17 person chamber orchestra. The music was great, and the solos were fantastic. This is a holiday staple, I suppose, so I wasn't surprised to have a full house at each of the Saturday night shows.

December Photo Project: Day 12

2008-12-12T23:15:00.000-06:00

I'm late posting this picture of the Christmas tree in our Gathering Space at New Covenant Community Church. I love having the church decorated for Christmas.

December Photo Project: Day 11

2008-12-11T23:13:00.000-06:00

Mmm.... cookies.

Christmas on 84th Street. Come check it out. Tomorrow night is Imagine Christmas at New Cov (which I've been working on like crazy for the past few months) at 6:30 and 7:30. Or you can check out Once Upon a Village, an interactive first-century Bethlehem with living nativity. And at both locations you can check out our Gifts With a Mission, where you can buy, wrap, and give gifts specifically picked out for people in need in Lincoln.

More pictures from "CO84" tomorrow.

December Photo Project: Day 10

2008-12-10T22:57:00.003-06:00

This is a homemade harpsichord. Yeah, that's right. Someone made this. I'm told he made it for his wife while simultaneously going through dentistry school! But that's another story...

This harpsichord is in our church's auditorium. Tomorrow night and Saturday it'll be part of a presentation of Handel's Messiah, along with a chamber orchestra and a 75-person choir. It's really pretty impressive. On alternating nights I'm directing a presentation of Imagine Christmas. Imagine Christmas is a more contemporary production, featuring dance, music, and drama. It's all part of Christmas on 84th Street: 3 churches, 2 venues, 1 purpose.

December Photo Project: Day 9

2008-12-09T23:50:00.000-06:00

These hands belong to a friend of mine, Gary Stephens. Gary is an incredible guitarist. The guitar also belongs to Gary. He recently bought this used Ibanez semi-hollow electric, then took it to a place in town called London's to have it primed to his specifications. The result is one sweet-sounding blues machine.

Tuesday night is rehearsal night at New Cov. I love hanging out with Gary and the rest of the musicians (we've got about 4 teams of people).

December Photo Project: Day 8

2008-12-08T23:26:00.000-06:00

Had to go to Target and Super Saver for a few things tonight. If you have young kids, you might agree with me when I say that running errands can be a great excursion out of the house, or they can be a miserable ordeal. Target was actually our third stop, and by this time neither boy wanted to be anywhere near the cart, and we were getting closer and closer to bedtime. Fortunately, a King Size M&M's in the impulse section of Super Saver gave us the ability to provide Jack here with a diversion. Unfortunately, Jack eats M&M's like he eats just about everything.

December Photo Project: Day 7

2008-12-07T23:00:00.001-06:00

"After."

We installed a laminate floor that looks like stone tile. We love it! It looks so much nicer than the linoleum. It's hard to see, but we also installed some baseboard that looks a lot nicer than the mop board.

This whole thing started when some friends replaced their kitchen appliances. These friends are great people, and they decided to offer their old appliances to us. All white, all newer than ours. We couldn't believe it, and we were overwhelmed by their generosity. I even asked them, "Are you sure you want to give these to us? You could probably sell them." They assured me that they wanted us to have them. Someone had blessed them in a similar way years ago, and they wanted to bless someone else.

So, when we started talking about replacing the appliances, we decided it was time to replace the floor. And it's not like we have anything else going on this time of year. Oh, except that I'm less than a week from presenting our Christmas program. We couldn't have picked a busier time of year, honestly. But I'm a sprinter when it comes to work: I can go at a hard pace for short periods of time. At this point I'm running on adrenaline, but I've only got a week to go. What better time to pack in a home improvement project?

So we replaced the floor, we replaced the baseboard. We installed the new appliances and put the old ones on Freecycle. I need to finish the baseboard, sand and repaint the walls above the baseboard, stain and install some kickboard under the cabinets, caulk a few edges so it looks a little nicer, and put flooring on a stair and a landing that lead from the kitchen to the garage. That'll be tricky.

I'll post some other pics of the process. Props and many thanks to my dad and my brother who helped Saturday, and to my parents for coming down and making Saturday a work day. We love you guys.

And props to the guy who invented laminate flooring. Awesome stuff.

December Photo Project: Day 6

2008-12-06T23:47:00.000-06:00

"During."

We tore up the linoleum, and the underlayment with it. We found it worked really well to just pull up huge sheets of underlayment at a time, so it went quick. Tracie seemed to revel in the joy of ripping out the hated linoleum. She scared me just a little.

December Photo Project: Day 5

2008-12-05T20:18:00.002-06:00

Let's just call this one "Before."

This is our kitchen floor. It's got this ugly, old, cracking, stick-on linoleum tile. Tracie hates it. Seriously. Bring it up in coversation with her then watch out. :-)

Also notice the shiny mop-board along the far wall.

December Photo Project: Day 4

2008-12-04T23:30:00.000-06:00

Cole and Jack race trucks around the coffee table at least a few times a day. One cool thing about this one is that I used to play with this truck when I was his age.

December Photo Project: Day 3

2008-12-03T23:34:00.002-06:00

Connect the dots.

December Photo Project: Day 2

2008-12-02T23:30:00.001-06:00

Ralphie and Old Blue.

Our family decorated our tree last night. We get a real tree each year, and the living room smells wonderful. As we decorated, we watched the story of Ralphie and his pining for a Red Ryder carbon-action Range model air rifle with a compass in the stock and "this thing which tells time." Classic.

December Photo Project

2008-12-02T23:25:00.002-06:00

My sister-in-law is an incredible photographer. Just check out a few of the pics she took of my family here or here. I regularly check out her blog to see the latest cute family or engaged couple or high school senior who have passed before her lens, and I'm rarely disappointed by her work.

Consequently, my brother is becoming an incredible photographer. Just check out this cool pic he took the other night at an Eric Peters concert. I'm impressed by what he's been able to glean from his wife in their 5 years of marriage. I've also got some other very talented photographer friends: Crystal, Kris, Ali, Carissa, Heather, Don, and several others.

Consequently, being around these people a lot, I would like to be a great photographer. Between you, me, and our computer screens, I don't think that's going to happen. But I can dream, right? And strive? Or at least dabble. Thus, I find myself trying a project that sounds like a lot of fun: the December Photo Project.

I don't have a fancy camera. Just a 4.0 megapixel Canon digital A520. But I like to take pictures with it. And I thought this might be a creative outlet over the next few weeks, while I'll have little time to write music. These photos might not turn out spectacular, but it feels like a challenge to me, and I enjoy that. Hopefully you'll enjoy the results.

Confession: I'm posting this on December 2, which means I've already missed the first day of the project. So I'm going to retro-post a pic for December 1.

December Photo Project: Day 1

2008-12-01T12:49:00.000-06:00

Jack fell sideways against my parents' stone hearth over Thanksgiving. It's not a great photo, but it's the only one I took. He's fine, and the ear is healing quite well. Jack's our little scrapper. Also notice the nice bruise across the cheek. It recalls the scene from Tommy Boy: "It doesn't hurt so much here or here, but right through here."

Retro-posted...

New Song - Old Enough to Know

2008-11-11T11:13:00.004-06:00

I'm excited to post another song I've written recently.

You can listen to it here. Once the page loads, click the play button next to the title of the song to bring up a flash player. If you've got a slow connection, you can select the Lo version.

By the way, Facebook friends, you can look me up through the iLike application to listen to these songs, too.

I started writing the music for this song back in February and it just sat for a while on my Macbook. Every once in a while I'd listen to the scratch tracks but I couldn't come up with any words for the song for the longest time. In July, though, I just sat down and started typing. Sometimes it helps me to just get the words flowing, so I type whatever I'm thinking about. In this case, it led to the current lyrics. I thought you might like to see exactly what came about as I was typing. None of it is particularly insightful. In fact, it's unusually plain for a creative writing exercise. But it did lead me to Ecclesiastes in the end. And that's exactly what the song is about.

I don’t know what to write for this song.

Is it about growing up? Is it about going into the world? Is it about serving the world? Is it about justice? Is it about peace? Is it about war? What’s on my mind?

I’m tired. I want to get this song written, because it’s been in my head and under my fingers since February or so. Plus, I think it’ll round out a nice set of songs that I might be able to call an album.

There’s “Hope Fulfilled” that’s a fun one to strum. There’s “Heaven Open Up” that could be more bluesy or gospel sounding. There’s “Shine Upon You” that I don’t know, it kind of would be the outcast of the group, but it might work, still. Then I’d like to record “A Thousand Tears” and “Home” from way back. So that’s 5 songs. This would be 6. I guess I’d prefer a 7th song in the mix, as well.

But this one should definitely be in there.

The verse is a simple but quick-moving 4 chord progression that leads with the major I for the first bit then switches to the minor vi for the second half. Then there’s the chorus part, which I hear harmonies on and held notes.

Write! God, what do You want this song to be about? What do You hear?

What have I been reading lately… Proverbs… Song of Songs… Isaiah… Ecclesiastes… and Brian McLaren.

There’s nothing new under the sun
There’s nothing that’s never been done
So what’s the point when all is meaningless
I’m gonna write another song
I’m gonna smile and just move on
I wonder what my boys will think of me
When they’re old

Lost the meaning
In between and I
Can’t remember
Where I left her
Told myself I was just a young soul
But I’m old enough to know

You might as well work for the wind
We never quite fill up our hands
Our days are numbered and we all fall down
And when we fall who picks us up
And when we drink who fills our cup
Everything we do now until the end
Will be known

One day born and one day I’ll die
Keep my mouth shut until it’s time
To speak the words that could heal or kill
To tear it down or to help rebuild

To find what’s lost or to give up the search
As wars rage on, to cry peace on earth
There’s a time to love and a time to hate
To gather stones or throw them away

Tears fall down but before too long
I’ll be laughing, dancing to another song
Do I take her hand or do I refrain?
To keep this love and not waste it away

By the way, I added drum and bass tracks using my Macbook. I'm no audio tech, so they sound a little generic. Still, I tried doing this one without the tracks and it lacked some punch. Let me know what you think of "Old Enough to Know." Thanks. More coming soon.

"Old Enough to Know"

Why I'm Voting for John McCain

2008-11-01T14:07:00.004-06:00

Election Day is here.

Are you ready? I think I am, finally. I've spent the last several months researching the candidates, learning about where they stand on issues that are important to me, listening to their speeches, digging into their voting records. Oh, yeah, and praying.

Speaking just in terms of the presidential race, never before have I known so many Christians on both sides of the fence, who are passionate about the candidate they believe will lead our country well. Which seems strange, at times. "We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord" seems to hold new meaning lately. I am not calling anyone's faith into question, not in the least. But there is such passion for either candidate, and such division, even among brothers and sisters in Christ.

I have one friend who almost sneers when he mentions McCain or Palin. I have another who was in tears the other day, so worried that Obama would be our next president. I have some friends who fly the flag over Obama's voting record on abortion. I have other friends who calmly discuss Obama's grasp on health care and the economy. I know people who believe that McCain has led a 100% negative campaign. I know others who feel that the only way Obama is in the lead is that he's spent more than Bush and Kerry combined 4 years ago. Some friends think Palin is a joke. Others think Biden is an idiot.

I've listened to many opinions from many close friends.

I've read pages upon pages of voting records and "fact check" articles. I've learned about William Ayers, tax laws, abortion procedures, the Bridge to Nowhere, the Keating Five, campaign funding, ad spending, health care plans, foreign policy, and top down versus bottom up. I've tried to discern a fact-filled article from just a good headline. I've tried to learn about those writing about the candidates, and how their experiences and background might affect what they're writing.

I've read more on these two candidates than I've ever read in previous elections.

I watched all 4 televised debates. In the first, McCain seemed almost disrespectful of Obama, rarely looking over at his opponent. In the second, Obama seemed fake to me, smarmy at times. In the third, I felt they were finally talking with each other, and it really affected who I've decided to vote for. In the VP debate, I didn't see the claws I expected, and honestly, I was dumbfounded that Obama and McCain chose these two as their running mates.

I've watched carefully, sifted what I believe to be fact from fluff.

Finally, I have prayed a lot. I've found myself time and time again going to God and saying, "What is Your desire here, God? What is our responsibility as Christians when it comes to voting for our next president?" I've reminded myself that God is in control. I've remembered that I need to follow Him, no matter what the consequences. I've realized that many of the complex issues become much simpler in the light of God's word. And I've recognized that the words of Derek Webb are true: "We'll never have a Savior on Capitol Hill." Neither man is going to save us. Only one man ever has or ever will, and He's not running for office. Until He comes into power someday, we can only do our best to follow His example, to love the least of these, to protect the innocent, to love those God puts in our lives, and to continue to draw nearer to Him.

As I've prayed, I've tried to keep an open mind to hear God's word clearly.

And so I've arrived at the conclusion that I need to vote for John McCain. It may be a losing vote, but I feel he's the right man to vote for. And if you're really interested, here's why I think this:

Voting Record - When I look at the voting records of Biden, Obama, and McCain, I most identify with the values and reasoning that McCain has demonstrated. McCain is the only one who never approved appropriations in the now famous "Bridge to Nowhere" proposals. Regardless of Palin switching stances on this issue and saying she stopped it, McCain has been on the right side of that issue from day one. Conversely, I'm disappointed in the voting record of Obama, particularly when it comes to late-term abortion procedures. And on other issues, he almost always votes the party line. That's not leadership.
Government Spending - McCain is the only candidate talking about stopping government spending. Both candidates are making enormous promises, and I'm sure they won't be able to keep them all, but McCain has talked often about reigning in spending.
Broken Promises - One of the things that impressed me early this year with Barack Obama was his promise to use public financing. One of the things that disappointed me was that he went back on that promise, and has spent more campaign money than George W. Bush and John Kerry combined. Another thing that I've heard radio pundits talking about is that Obama or Biden have mentioned different definitions of "rich" on different occasions. At times, tax cuts were promised for anyone making under $250K. But Obama has also used $200K as the defining point. Biden has stated that $150K is the magic number.
Experience Factor - Originally, I thought Obama having little experience would be a good thing. He might bring change in the form of someone free from the corruption of politics. But in listening to him talk about foreign policy in the recent debates, I've determined he doesn't have what it takes to lead our country and interact with other world leaders. McCain has been at this for a long time and understands more of what it takes to be a leader in the global economy.
Lack of Details - I'm alarmed at the lack of details in Obama's plans. He talks a big talk, but I don't think he has a plan for carrying it out. His plans for education, health care, foreign aid, sound great, but I don't think he can carry them out, and if he becomes our next president, we will soon see if he really has meant all that he's said.
Celebrity Endorsements - This has always been a huge turn-off for me. True, this has little to do with why I should or shouldn't vote for a candidate, but it irritates me. :-)
Fundamental Differences - When it comes down to it, I believe that the party lines on both sides are still ruling. I recently registered as non-partisan, because I'm tired of hearing the same old story from the Republicans and the Democrats. But when forced to choose, I find that I agree more with the Republican voice: less government is better. And that's what I hear from McCain's promises: less government, more control by individuals. Obama wants to regulate, and I don't think it's the right approach.

Basically, I believe that McCain has been more forthright in his campaign, more honest about what he plans to do as president, and has more experience and connections to take our country forward. I think he's the better man for the job. Obama is a great speaker, very motivational, very inspiring, but I don't believe he will be an effective president.

Today we go the polls, and we'll decide who will be our next president. I'm excited to see what happens, honestly. And I'm excited to place my vote. I hope you have prayed and thought through your vote, that you have confidence in your candidate, and that you are voting for the right reasons.

See you at the polls!

Listening to...

2008-10-29T09:11:00.003-06:00

JJ Heller. Her music is delicate and beautiful. She's got this sort of bluesy way of singing that sets her apart from other stuff I'm listening to lately. Her latest album, Painted Red, is my first encounter with her music. It's mostly acoustic stuff, tender and endearing.

If you haven't heard JJ Heller, you can download it free through the end of October. Follow this link and check it out.

Song - Hope Fulfilled

2008-10-14T12:48:00.005-05:00

A few months ago when I mentioned that I had written a new song, several of you asked how you could hear it. My answer: with your ears, silly.

Of course, unless you have the aural capacity of a bat times 10, you probably can't hear it from where you are when I'm playing it miles away. There has to be a simpler way...

Oh, yeah: the internet.

I've put up a page on GarageBand.com for myself. I've also put the first of several songs on my page there. The link below should take you right to the song, titled "Hope Fulfilled." Before you listen to it, though, let me tell you that this is a rough recording. It was one take, it was live, and I didn't have anyone mixing for me. I simply set my MacBook in the middle of our church auditorium, plugged into the sound system, and hit record. So it sounds a little messy. Still, you'll get to listen to the song without developing a super-human sense of hearing. Enjoy, and let me know what you think.

Also, let me know if you have trouble listening to the song. Right now, I just have it set to stream, not download. There's a high bandwidth and a low bandwidth version, so even you dialer-uppers should be able to listen.

"Hope Fulfilled"

Halloween Costume Ideas

2008-10-12T00:15:00.002-05:00

In her obsession to find the perfect costume for Cole and Jack, Tracie ran across this site. These costumes all use a small assortment of ordinary objects, but they're far from ordinary. Very creative.

I don't think you'd want to do most of these for a party or door-to-door candy-grabbing. Still, you should check them out.

http://unix.rulez.org/~calver/pictures/homemade_animal_costume/index.html

The Lie of Politics

2008-10-08T14:02:00.006-05:00

Two posts within a few minutes of each other? Unheard of, but I wanted to share one other article with you.

I frequent The Rabbit Room, a site created by Andrew Peterson, and a great community of artists and art enthusiasts who discuss everything under the sun. Matt Conner's got a great post that just came up minutes ago called The Lie of Politics.

Please read it.

Last Night's Debate = Huh?

2008-10-08T13:34:00.006-05:00

I found myself really frustrated by last night's debate. The format was not conducive to great answers, Brokaw was irritating, and both candidates seemed smarmy and squeaky clean with statements that made me feel like neither knows what they're talking about, and both are simply interested in statements that'll get them votes.

They didn't cover much new ground. Every answer brought up tired campaign points and twisted itself around to arguing a previous response from their opponent. McCain still thinks that his bipartisan record (Did you count the number of times he mentioned Joe Lieberman?) will save us all. Obama still thinks that McCain = Bush: The Sequel.

I'm just frustrated that in less than a month I will vote for one of these two candidates, and I feel like I'm trying to pick the lesser of two evils. One of the most frustrating parts of the debate for me was the health care discussion. Both candidates presented their plan. Both candidates misrepresented their opponent's plan. And neither plan sounded like a good idea.

If you're like me, it's hard to know what's rhetoric, what's politics, what's outright lie, and what sliver of what they're saying is actual fact. Fortunately I came across an AP article that seems to strip the smarm and talk truth for a change. Read it if you'd like some insight into translating last night's debate.

Another resource that I'm checking out lately is FactCheck.org. Are there other great unbiased sites that you use? Comment and let me know.

Why people around the world now know Bret Welstead...

2008-10-01T13:26:00.004-05:00

Crazy to think about, but now people in places like Beijing, England, and Mexico know who I am and some of what I believe.

Kind of.

Here's the story. I listen to the RELEVANT Magazine Podcast on a weekly basis. It's highly entertaining, sometimes thought-provoking, and always worth the listen. I found out about it shortly after I got a subscription to RELEVANT Magazine, which I'd also whole-heartedly recommend. RELEVANT Magazine covers a variety of topics from an 18- to 30-year-old (I barely fit in there) Christian perspective. They'll have articles about people making a difference in the world, politics, music, entertainment, culture, injustice, justice, theology... it really runs the gambit and I look forward to every issue. While some parts of the magazine are funny, the feature articles tend to be more serious.

The Podcast has a lot more levity. The crew (Editor Cameron Strang, Website Guru Lloyd Kinsley, and Operations Manager Mya Strang) is hilarious. Each week they'll go through entertainment releases, some slices of funny or note-worthy news, and usually an in-studio performance by a band or artist. Sometimes they'll have an interview, and sometimes the entire Podcast is off format. But most weeks they'll end with the "Editorial Question of the Week."

I usually don't, but two weeks ago I decided to write in a response to the EQOTW. On this particular Podcast, Adam Smith, a long-time member of the Podcast crew, had just left the Podcast because he was moving to New Zealand. But someone suggested they use Skype to bring him in each week. Excellent move, by the way. Adam regularly causes me to crack up in my car, or at the gym as I'm listening on my headphones, drawing stares from the huge guys on the bench press.

Since Adam would be Skyping in each week, the Podcast crew decided he'd need a new segment. So I suggested the following:

Podcast crew,

Thanks for the fun podcast. You guys rock! I’m always happy to see the little spinning arrow in iTunes next to the Relevant podcast. It makes my week. By the way, I for one prefer the audio podcast to a video podcast. I listen to you guys while I’m driving and working out, neither of which are conducive to watching a video podcast on my Macbook. Anyway, thanks for the quality podcast week after every other week! :-)

Adam’s new feature...

Maori Moment: Each week Adam teaches the Podcast crew a new phrase in Te Reo Maori, the native language of New Zealand. Adam can translate commonly used phrases into Maori, such as:
“I’d like a fruit punch, please.”
“My whale-shark would like some plankton.”
“Can you direct me to the Shire, please?”
“No, I am not a Colts fan.”
“I would like a room for two adults and one pet monkey.”

Later, gators.

Bret Welstead
Lincoln, NE

Last week, I tuned into the Podcast at the gym, as usual. I made it through about half the Podcast. Later, on Facebook, Nick Flora wrote on my wall, "Did I just hear your name on the Relevant Podcast? I think I did." I immediately tuned into the remainder of the Podcast and indeed, heard my name.

But the bigger surprise came this week. After last week's advent of my name on an international Podcast, the crew asked for listeners to 1) write in to tell the Podcast where they're from, and 2) to come up with a new slogan for the RELEVANT Podcast. The current slogan is something like "The audio companion to RELEVANT Magazine and relevantmagazine.com." I wrote in this:

(Subject Line: Listening from...)
Lincoln, NE

Thanks for a great Podcast! Everybody dance now!

Bret

I chose to sign off with "everybody dance now" because the Podcast actually played the C&C classic to close their Podcast that week. I hadn't heard the song in a while, and I thought it funny, so I included it in my email.

Well, apparently they thought I meant it to be the new RELEVANT Podcast slogan. I didn't. And I don't. I think that would be a serious mistake. :-)

But it did mean that they read my name a second week in a row, which I enjoyed. I wonder if I should try for a third?

Concert cancelled...

2008-09-04T16:36:00.002-05:00

Wow, I'm sorry to let you know the Andrew Osenga/Nick Flora/Bret Welstead concert has been cancelled. I guess I started promoting just a bit too soon. :-) I apologize for the confusion.

I and a friend in town have been talking this week about how to promote the show, which we've been planning for about a month. I emailed Andrew Osenga last night, and got a reply message, and the show was on. So earlier I posted invites on Facebook and Myspace, and a blog entry (below). A few minutes ago, though, I got an email from Nick Flora, letting me know that there was some confusion with Andrew's booking agent and manager, and they'd have to cancel the show.

Again, my apologies for sending out invites. I'll let you know next time Andrew Osenga and/or Nick Flora is coming to Lincoln. Their music is outstanding, and I'd recommend you check out their websites when you can.
http://www.andyosenga.com/
http://www.myspace.com/coinlaundryloser

Sincerely,
Bret

Concert coming up! Andrew Osenga in Lincoln!

2008-09-04T13:58:00.009-05:00

(click on the pic to see it large and in charge)

Andrew Osenga of Caedmon's Call is coming to Lincoln! This show will be a lot of fun. It's Sunday, September 21, at 6:30 in the evening, at Grace Chapel, which is on the corner of 40th & Sheridan.

Andy is bringing a band with him, so they'll be rockin'. If you've never seen or heard Andy, I'd recommend you check him out. He's a great songwriter. And he's a great guitar player, besides. I always enjoy watching and hearing him. When he came to Lincoln last spring with Caedmon's, it was such a treat. I think he's been a great addition to their sound.

Opening for Andy is Nick Flora. I'm not sure if Nick will play with the band behind him or not, but either way the music will be incredible. Nick's songs are funny and serious at the same time. He's got a great stage presence, and has some very funny stories about sticking his foot in his mouth on stage. Nick was last in town with the group Deas Vail, who also rock. Nick rocks whether he's on acoustic or electric guitar.

And opening for Nick is yours truly. I've been writing a bit lately. I'll post the lyrics for the latest, called "Old Enough to Know", but I actually have a handful of new songs, and I'm excited for the chance to play some of them for you. So you need to be there. Otherwise I'll feel all lonely and out of place.

It's $5 for the show, which starts at 6:30 at Grace Chapel (40th & Sheridan in Lincoln). I really hope you can make it!

One other note: can you help us get the word out for this show? If you know of some avenues to let others know, please email me. We love bringing in guys like Andy, Eric Peters, Andrew Peterson, etc, but we find it's hard to promote the shows. The better the turnout, the more likely we are to see these talented singer/songwriters come back again. So help us promote this show. I really appreciate it!