I’m working on the details now, still in planning stages. The reason I post here before anything is final is we’d like to partner with 1 or more Phoenix churches to provide a few venues for John to play at. So if any of you know of any local churches who may be interested in having John lead worship or perform then please contact me. If you’ve never heard John’s music then shame on you.

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I’ve previously posted here on Sally’s assertion that worship evangelism wasn’t working and generally agreed with her assessment. I thought she made some wonderful points and a lot of what she said is something we value very much in our church. I don’t know Sally personally but from what I’ve read and seen I believe her heart to be in the right place. That being said, there was much in this interview I found troubling, more so from Alan Roxburgh than Sally Morgenthaler. Alan is Vice President of Allelon Canada and they deal with missional church growth and strategy. I don’t really know anything about their organization beyond what their website says. Let me now link to the interview, you can watch for yourself and my comments will be below.

Let me start off with the positive. I’m fully on board with Sally’s description of “in the building” Christianity and how that’s not all we are to be. That we must move out of the building. That is the vision of our church, Life Connection Church, it’s how we are growing, it is simply doing what Jesus told us to do. Get into our culture, love them, show them Jesus, make disciples, raise them up to be leaders and to disciple others. I think her critical assessment of the church in that area is fully warranted and beneficial to the kingdom. Her worship music critique is also something I’ve agreed with in the past about us only playing “happy clapply” celebratory music. That we are missing a huge slice of humanity and the journey by ignoring what the rest of the world is experiencing and how God is relevant in it. See the previous post I linked earlier for my thoughts on that.

Now onto what bothered me. I’ll take it quote by quote, starting at 8:42 in the video Alan explains what he is experiencing in church’s:

“Here’s what I start to experience. I can now guess what’s gonna happen next in the song, like, when they’re going to slow down, when they’re going to stop, when the prayer is gonna come in and out of that when they’re going to come out loud again and go forward. You can almost script what’s going to happen…And here was my experience…I went…you know what this worship is really about, it’s about a whole bunch of people that actually have no experience of God and our desperate for it and don’t know how to get it and it’s a cry for God not a worship of God.” - Alan

Sally’s response to this:

“…we engineer these experiences which are not…they’re just engineered. It’s not the cataclysmic thing that happens when we truly meet God. Cause to meet God is to meet ourselves.”

Here’s my problem with the above. The fact that Alan has been around music to know the arrangement of songs, how they are built and disassembled in congregational worship has nothing to do with the authenticity of worship. I think his critique here is way off base, I have no problem with critique, but you have to examine your critique and see what the expected corrective response is. In this case, there is no appropriate corrective response. What should the worship band do in this case? Change the arrangement of the song everytime? Not use any dynamics at all so there is no getting louder or having softer prayer time? Never play the same song twice? All this just so he can’t script it? This will have the added benefit of confusing the congregation so they can’t follow along at all, spread dis-unity, awesome! The worship band exists to unite the body and aid in the organization of worshipping God in song.

Claiming that worship is “engineered” and not true encounters with God because you know the arrangement of a song is absolutely absurd. If a church member said they couldn’t enter into worship and thought what I was doing was “engineered” because they knew where the song was going, then I’d tell them, they need to examine their own heart because they’ve surely have missed the heart of worship and the band’s role in the church. I’m sure if the next song I played was a new song they couldn’t guess at all their complaint would be, “I couldn’t enter into worship because I didn’t know the song”. Again just as off point as the opposing complaint.

Both Sally and Alan tossed out the phrase “to meet God is to meet ourselves” without much any explanation. On face value I say I agree in one sense and disagree in another. When encountering God our sin is surely exposed and we see ourselves for the sinners we are and God for who he is. But I also believe that to encounter God is to meet Jesus Christ, how else can we approach God but by being buried in Jesus, so that God sees his son. The phrase they used was simplistic and they chose not to explain, so I’ll show grace there and say, I think I know what you meant.

The last thing I have a problem with was this confusing story told by Alan starting at about 11:25:

“I’m in Australia and I put the television on Sunday morning and it’s a huge church in Sydney…this big stage and it begins! And the curtains come back and this great big band and across the stage are the men mostly who are the band leaders. And they’re mostly in the 40’s and 50’s and kind of overweight and rolly-polly. And they got their guitars and they kind look like a 70’s rock band doing their thing and some of them are long in cheek. And then beside them are the women. What I found interesting was that all the women, there was not one over 40. Or if they were you couldn’t tell. And they all wore black turtlenecks and had mics in their hand and they began singing.

And I have to confess what struck me was this was the ackro-corinth. You know Paul goes to Corinth and on top was the Acrocorinth where the vestal virgins were. And I thought, this is about sex. Only now in a nice, clean, evangelical world it’s look but don’t touch. And the whole worship thing was this kind of anti-septic, all these happy clappy, Jesus is my boyfriend songs. And everybody is an individual in the audience watching this in an experience. And that was an American Beauty[the movie] moment. The un-reality of what was going on.”

Ummmm, about sex? what??? First off, I don’t believe the vestal virgins had anything to do with the Acrocorinth beyond their Roman heritage and geography(if my history is off please tell me, you can follow the links above to read for yourself). Secondly, comparing female singers on a worship band who are wearing black turtlenecks, to those of female priests of a Roman mythology goddess, I struggle to find the correlation. And again, the only basis of this critique is the fact that the women are below 40 and wearing black turtlenecks. I mean am I the only one laughing at this point? This was just one of the craziest trains of thought I’ve heard. God bless Sally for being nice and saying, “interesting”. I don’t know what I would have done in that position since it really made no sense at all. And again what would he have the band do, what’s the expected corrective response to this critique. Only have older women? dress more modestly than black turtlenecks, like a burka? Stand on the same side of the stage? See what I mean, it’s just ridiculous, get over it Alan. If these things are bothering Alan this much I can’t imagine there’s a worship service on earth that he’d feel was hitting the mark.

But what this really exposes is the attitude, coming up with that crazy of a critique of modern worship based on age, gender and clothing is so far removed from the heart of worship. I am extremely self-critical, I look at my attitude in worship, my expression, my songs, my playing, I look at it all continuously. But I try to remain grounded in truth and scripture in my critique, am I justified in scripture by this position, or this expression and especially, judging the kingdom effectiveness of whatever I am doing and leading.

I’m curious for all of your thoughts on this interview.

 

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I had the pleasure of attending my first Ryan Adams concert this last Friday night in Tucson. I’m a huge Ryan Adams fan and have never had the chance to catch him live. He doesn’t tour out west all that often so when I saw he was playing a couple hours away I jumped on it. His latest album “Easy Tiger” is a great album and spotlights everything great about Ryan Adams. He has incredible flexibility and range in his songwriting, vocals and instrumentation. He can arrange pretty hard rocking tunes, to acoustic country and usually settles in some sort of rock-alt-country club, of which I’m a card carrying member.

His band, the Cardinals, are outstanding and I think he’s really found a groove with these guys. On stage Ryan seemed so comfortable and it’s evident in the music. There now seems to be 3 phases to his career. Whiskeytown days, solo period, and now the Cardinals. I love all 3 but am really excited about the current incarnation.

The concert started without any opening band which was cool. Their set was a very understated, just a white background with backlighting colors/patterns and a few cactus props in front of it. Their lighting was very interesting, they chose not to use the theatre’s lighting, instead went with what they brought. They just had some up lighting off the floor and some back/side lighting that hit the background as well. They were perfectly happy to be dark for extended periods of time. It created a very homey feel, there was rarely any motion lighting happening in the middle of songs. At least nothing very prominent. I’ve included a few shots from my iPhone, not the best quality but you get the idea.

Audio wise it was incredible sounding, the mix was fantastic. So much better than the Minus the Bear/Helio Sequence concert I blogged about in Nov. Vocally they were phenomenal. I love Ryan Adams voice, but thought he might fly off the handle a bit live. He definitely stretched himself but he was near flawless. The tone to his voice is just incredible live and he can do so much with it. Neal Casal was amazing on backing vocals, his harmonies were perfect. Everyone played with passion and some songs like “The Sun Also Sets” were incredibly powerful.

The overall vibe of the concert had a “come into our living room” type of feel. There was a lot of banter between songs, there were long downtimes, fun and games. It wasn’t a very tight ship, depending on your taste I guess that could be a good thing or a bad thing. I enjoyed the show but wish there was less down time between songs, I don’t think they ever stringed a few songs together.

With this laid back atmosphere I was increasingly worried Ryan might have one of his “freakouts” and walk off stage. He was throwing em back at a good pace. But he seemed happy and he was enjoying himself, so thankfully the concert wasn’t cut short. I’m stoked I got to see him, it really was musically inspiring and just plain fun. Great show boys, keep it up!

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I’ve always admired Bono for his take on many things. I as many in the Christian community are always interested in where Bono finds himself in the journey. I find his honesty refreshing and there is no doubt that God has used him in many powerful ways. Here is a great quote from him on his revelation of Christmas in a St. Patricks Cathedral:

“The idea that God, if there is a force of Logic and Love in the universe, that it would seek to explain itself is amazing enough. That it would seek to explain itself and describe itself by becoming a child born in straw poverty, in sh*t and straw…a child… I just thought: “Wow!” Just the poetry … Unknowable love, unknowable power, describes itself as the most vulnerable. There it was. I was sitting there, and it’s not that it hadn’t struck me before, but tears came streaming down my face, and I saw the genius of this, utter genius of picking a particular point in time and deciding to turn on this.”

Originally posted on blog.worship.com.

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I love that I serve a God who’s never through showing more of himself. The more I long to see something new, something unseen by myself, something for the present day, He blossoms something in my spirit. These past months have been an extremely difficult time for me personally, while being an incredible growth period spiritually. A few lines had come to me in one of my prayer times that has been on replay in my heart:

“God I know your truth, but I need it spoken in me. I know your love, but I need you wrapped around me. Give life to what’s weak, and be lifted as I speak.”

Fast forward to our discipleship meeting this past week and Pastor Aaron was leading out of 1 Peter 5, here are the first 4 verses:

1 To the elders among you, I appeal as a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings and one who also will share in the glory to be revealed: 2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, serving as overseers–not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not greedy for money, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 

The phrase “Chief Shepherd” just jumped out to me, I thought it such an interesting name for God. So I just began to search myself on it and God began to reveal some stuff to me right there. Many of you may be aware that the position of worship leader in the church is not literally ordained scripturally, although there were many leaders in worship in scripture. Now along this line there is a wide spectrum of interpretation. From churches who don’t believe any instruments should be played, to just some instruments and not others, to do whatever you want basically. My point is not to debate the validity of any point in that spectrum but to show what I believe God revealed to me about the flaw in what I had allowed to become a belief. I use the word “allowed” because I don’t think I made a conscious effort to believe the way I had, rather it was a passive and evolved view.

What had seeped into me is that in many ways what we do in ministry is a tactic of modern church and God is not concerned with the tactic but the fruit, heart and spirit of the tactic. While I believe that to largely be true I think I became out of balance in that in some aspects to the point where I felt God had left me to my own tactics, music included. That not only was God not concerned by the tactics or ministry strategy, he wasn’t really much involved at that stage beyond inspiration and some remote guidance. Almost as if God would give me a little encouraging slap on the butt in the physical and say, “I’ll meet you in the spiritual end zone”. I don’t know if I can really explain it all that well, but that’s my best attempt.

Here’s how the scripture above totally jacks that up. Peter addresses God as commander of the specific ministry, Chief of Shepherds, shepherding being the ministry or tactic. What God began to reveal to me is that there’s nothing I can do righteously in the Father’s name without Jesus already having done it and been appointed as chief. If I am sent by God then His presence does not lift until His purpose is fulfilled, as long as I don’t step outside his will. If I’m sent by the Spirit to my neighbor’s house to mow his lawn for the glory of God, then God is Chief Landscaper. He leads every blade of grass being cut and willed it as so. How incredibly arrogant and prideful for me to believe I could even mow a lawn without God. I can’t do anything.

Likewise in my music, I had cast aside my music as personal style, un-important to others, un-important to God and that God only cared about the goal of the music and that it be done in excellence. I can no longer say that. When I write worship songs, I believe and now must admit God is Chief Songwriter, when I play, Chief Musician. If he’s not leading me in the physical act, the tactic, then it’s worthless and the fruit will prove that. (I’m not claiming God writes my songs or plays my guitar…I hate having to even say that, but I know someone will read and mis-interpret this, sorry in advance)

This is important to me because I had felt somewhat abandoned in my music. That what I did physically was trivial. Now I humbly believe God is on me, within me, He’s concerned with what I say next, He’s eager to hear what I play next to him. He finds joy in my abandonment, He is honored when I practice a solo, He is moved when I write songs for His glory. He’s not waiting on the sidelines to see how it all turns out, I believe God is along for the entire journey, the messy middle part where our flesh battles our spirit. I need God there, I couldn’t continue to do this without Him in the thick of things. This isn’t a radical change or departure in belief, but rather a crucial adjustment to remain balanced. God saw me angled off course and by His grace corrected me.

Thank you Father, for your truth spoken in me, your love wrapped around me, for giving life to my weakness, be lifted.

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When I first started dating my husband about nine years ago, I would write letters to him everyday, sometimes 2 or three a day. Some were for him, some were just about him. Most I would keep in a shoe box and save for a later day. I would write to him in class and leave it for him in the locker we shared. I couldn’t wait to check it after the next period to see if he’d written back yet. In the letters, I could say what I truly wanted to tell him, whether declaring my “undying love” or just letting him in on what my day consisted of while we were apart or venting to him about whatever crisis was ailing me. Those letters got me through so many days. And they kept my heart turned toward him. It sounds cheesy and childish I know, but at the end of the day, today in fact, I’ve learned an interesting truth - What is a song but a letter set to a melody? What are the Psalms but the heart of David written and sung? “Words immersed in music can touch places in our hearts that nothing else can reach.” (Excerpt from Lisa Bevere’s book, Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry).

Ephesians 5:18-19Ephesians 5:18-19
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
18 And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁹ speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;  

says this: “Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart for the Lord.”  All of a sudden, I am taken to the old movies where a lady sings about her affections for her beau to a group of her friends crowded around listening to every word.  I have experienced that. There are a lot of songs that have made me think of my husband and how much I adore him. Just yesterday I was listening to “The Truth” by India Arie. The chorus says this:                                                        Cause he is the truth
Said he is so real
And I love the way that he makes me feel
And if I am a reflection of him then I must be fly because
His light it shines so bright

Just thinking of my husband and singing these words awakened a love for him within me.  Ephesians tells us to sing our love for God to one another. Worship doesn’t only keep our eyes set on Him… it keeps our hearts turned towards Him. He is “enthroned in the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3) He is exalted to His proper place in our lives, both as King and as the object of our desire, through our songs.

This lesson has challenged me in the area of my writing. What has been my motive? To write a catchy hook with unpredictable lyrics? Obviously, those are important aspects - creatively.  But the simplicity of honest praise/worship is as easy as a letter. If I can write pages and pages about my feelings toward a man who has the ability to disappoint and cause pain, then surely I can write about a God who never fails and with whom my heart is completely safe - Whether  it be about our undying love, or whatever might be ailing me at the moment, whether to Him or about Him. And if those words can fit well in a melody with a catchy hook and unpredictable lyrics… well then, I’d say that’s a recipe for a freakin’ good song!

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So Radiohead gave away let you download their album paying whatever you wanted. Now they release a full hour video of them playing live their entire In Rainbows cd. I already reviewed the entire In Rainbows album, so you should know I’m a fan. These guys are just the coolest. Check it:

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Part of our vision as a worship band is to support the vision of our church through written song. I believe very strongly in the importance of songs written in the local church, for the local church. Where else do we expect to get God’s vision, God’s word communicated in worship if we aren’t doing it for our own body? Not to say that we should only play songs written in the house, but if we aren’t listening to God and capturing revelation in our own songs, I think we’re missing out. We’re either missing revelation, or we believe God has no revelation for our body, both of those options stink.

In Habakkuk(2:2) God tells him to “write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it”. The literal act of writing down revelation does a few things, it records God’s word and then is now able to be communicated to others. If we pray and hear God and don’t write it down, we lose it quickly and don’t place any importance on what God told us. So as a worship leader when I’m in the word, when I’m praying whatever I hear God speak I must write it down and make it plain for it to be told to others. God has not ceased to speak, but a lot of us have ceased to listen and many more have ceased to remember by giving a passing acknowledgment to revelation instead of determined, studious, laborous commitment to His word by making it plain and letting the herald run with it.

Over the last year I’ve written about 5 worship songs that are slowly getting introduced and into the normal song rotation. Each attempt to address a very specific area in our body. I always had 5 songs earmarked in my head as the magic number to start recording. So over this Christmas break I had some time to get in the studio and get to work. It’s exciting but very challenging at the same time. My recording, writing, mixing instincts don’t exactly fit the worship album mold. It will be interesting to see how this project progresses. I’ll be posting the songs on the blog as we get each song to a somewhat finished state. Stay tuned…

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