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Interview with Braille from Humble Beast

Kyle — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 15:30:22 +0000

This past Sunday night Braille from Humble Beast put on a killer show at LCC, along with our very own Lee Green. Braille was nice enough to chat with my good friend/colleague/correspondent Brett Ernenputsch and discuss the state of Christian Hip-Hop, the “rogue warrior” problems that have plagued it and some words of advice and encouragement for young artists.

“doing shows at churches becomes part of your business…but you aren’t concerned with the health of the church because you aren’t part of a church…” -Braille [speaking to unsubmitted/unsent artists]

John Piper interviews Rick Warren on doctrine

Kyle — Sat, 28 May 2011 03:10:52 +0000

What an incredible blessing it was to watch this long and rich interview. Rick has taken a lot of shots about his doctrine from the reformed side, so it was so awesome of Piper to sit with him and let him share his heart on the gospel. Rick is a solid solid guy, something tells me reformed church bookstores will probably start stocking Purpose Driven Life after Piper gave it his stamp of approval. Here are some of the takeaway quotes for me:

“Christians often want to excuses God from things he doesn’t need excusing from” -Rick on the sovereignty of God

“I wish those who believed in the doctrines of grace were more gracious.” -Rick on his observation of the reformed culture

“I believe in the five solas” & “I believe in the doctrines of grace[Calvinism]” -Rick

Enjoy.

Interview with Chris Lizotte and Marc Ford (Part 2)

Kyle — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 23:35:22 +0000

I sat down with Chris Lizotte and Marc Ford at the Burn Bright conference in Phoenix AZ to discuss worship, music and the church amongst other things. In Part 1 Chris and Marc talked about how they first met and started playing music together and Marc discussed how he’s changed as a musician since coming to know Jesus. Here in Part 2 I ask Chris about his journey of faith in his songwriting as he continues digging deeper into scripture in his life and song. Both Chris and Marc also tackle the topic of mentoring inside of the church and Marc comments on the encouragement Chris has been to him in this area.

Chris Lizotte has been a long time Vineyard worship leader and recording artist, he’s released 7 albums including his latest album Signal Hill Revival featuring Marc Ford.

Marc Ford is a guitarist as well as singer/songwriter and former lead guitarist for The Black Crowes. In addition to his solo work Ford has also played with the likes of Ben Harper and Ryan Bingham, Ford is also spending time producing out of his own studio as well as recording with Neptune Blues Club.

Interview with Chris Lizotte and Marc Ford (Part 1)

Kyle — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 22:57:07 +0000

I sat down with Chris Lizotte and Marc Ford at the Burn Bright conference in Phoenix AZ to discuss worship, music and the church amongst other things. In Part 1 Chris and Marc talk about how they first met and started playing music together and Marc discusses how he’s changed as a musician since coming to know Jesus.

Chris Lizotte has been a long time Vineyard worship leader and recording artist, he’s released 7 albums including his latest album Signal Hill Revival featuring Marc Ford.

Loops in Worship interviews me

Kyle — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 20:57:16 +0000

Loops in Worship recently interviewed me about my music background and loop work. I was humbled Will thought I might have something interesting to say or that people would be interested in hearing what I have to say. Anyway, check it out when you get a chance and make sure to browser around the rest of the site. They offer a lot of great resources for those interested in looping.

Leave a comment over there too if you are so inclined and please don’t be alarmed by my paleness in my picture.

Interview with James Duke from All the Bright Lights

Kyle — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:09:39 +0000

You may know James Duke as John Mark McMillan’s guitar player, but James has also recently released his own album under the band name All The Bright Lights. The self titled album is truly beautiful and unique. James was nice enough to take some time and talk with me about the album which I reviewed here. Enjoy.

Tell me about the band, it’s members and how you all came together on this project.

All The Bright Lights is James Duke, Jon Duke and Jacob Arnold. Two brothers and a good friend. I had been talking with Jon about making a record for a couple years. The Idea sort of lived in a “what if” world for a long time. We would talk about it and how it should sound and how we should make the music. It wasn’t until Jon called one day and said “let’s open our calendars and book dates right now” that it became a reality. Jacob and Jon both live in Atlanta and have played together for years. He was an obvious choice due to the musical chemistry they have together. He also recorded and engineered the album.

Where and when was the idea for a semi-instrumental album birthed?

From the very beginning Jon and I had talked about making a soundtrack style album. We didn’t really know what that meant as far as if it was going to have singing or not. As we got more into the process Jon started coming up with simple lyric lines for the songs. It all happened really spontaneously. We’d be tracking a part for a song and He would start singing something. It usually came as a response to the sounds we were creating. I think it captured the heart of the music really well.

What were your goals for this album as a band?

We wanted to get together without any rules or plans and play music. If it didn’t move us, we moved on. We didn’t spend that much time on tones. We didn’t make sure every part was perfect. Most of the tracks are first takes. If they felt good we carried on. We weren’t interested in making something perfect, we were interested in capturing something real. We wanted to make a soundtrack for people to live their lives with.

Have you been doing any live shows on this album?

We haven’t. Yet. We would like do some shows this year though. We are still working that part out.

This seems like an album you can’t play on shuffle, a story is unfolding throughout. Was that your intention?

We didn’t talk about it, but that is definitely what happened. There are endless stories in the music. Some are written for specific people. Some are written about specific thoughts but everyone can find something for themselves. I think a definite underlying theme would be hope. Hope for ourselves. Hope for others. The hope that comes from knowing we aren’t alone.

I know you guys play with John Mark McMillan and have him credited for “good vibes” on this album, where did you guys meet and what’s your collaborative relationship in each other’s bands?

I play guitar in John Mark’s band. We’ve known each other and played together for a long time. He came out and hung out with us when we were recording the album. He was really supportive through the entire process. We would have loved him to sing or play on a song, but it never ended up happening.

The textures and tones you were able to create on this album on the guitar were just incredible. Could you describe what kind of gear you were using in the studio?

Making this album was really fun for me. I just played what I felt. It was really liberating. For guitars I brought in a Stratocaster, a Telecaster, a Gretsch Hollowbody, a Danelectro, an old Gibson lap steel, and a couple of acoustics. I was using my old Matchless Chieftain amplifier, along with a Goodsell Super 17. I brought in my normal pedal board and a bag full of extra pedals. The consistant pedals used for the majority of the record would include a Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, a Boss DD-20 delay, Boss RV-5 reverb, Ibanez Tube Screamer, Paul Cochrane Timmy, Divided by 13 Joyride, MXR Dyna Comp, and a volume pedal. I used a ZVEX Fuzz Factory here and there. I used a Digitech Expression Factory. We used a pair of SM 57′s to mic the amps. On the song “Walls” I used an oscillating fan to blow on the strings on my guitar to create the drone in the beginning of the track. I think that made a really cool sound. It sort of happened by accident. I had my guitar sitting on a bench and the fan was blowing on it. I was hearing this sound and when I realized what was going on we stopped everything and started playing with it. Making pads from a fan. You can hear the fan motor through the pickups. It is a great sound. Most of the guitar sounds just happened. I don’t think I could ever do it exactly the same again. Partly because I can’t remember what I was using. That’s the story of my life though. I always say that I’m gonna make notes of my settings but I never will, because I think I’ll remember them which I never do.

What/who are some of the major influences in your life that have shaped your music?

Musically, some major influences for us would be The Killers, Daniel Lanois, Ryan Adams, Buddy Miller, Sunbears! and U2. I’m really influenced by writers like Dave Eggers and Cormac McCarthy. I’m a huge Wes Anderson fan. I could watch The Royal Tenenbaums every day.

What’s next for All the Bright Lights?

We will play shows this year. We will make more music.

Anything else you’d like to say about yourselves or the record? Sports predictions perhaps…

We support all athletics. We just don’t watch it. Thanks for taking the time on this little southern ambi-rock band. We really appreciate it.

You can pickup All the Bright Lights on iTunes and Amazon. Also checkout their Myspace.

Adam Pasion Interview Part 2 – “Gypsy Girl” story

Kyle — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:59:05 +0000

I recently sat down with Adam Pasion who’s new album “O Hear the Rattling” (iTunes) seriously impressed me. The music to me is best described as dark folk, very rich lyrically, with dark melodies and full folk string instrumentation and groove. I’ve not heard another Christian album like this at all, and by Christian album I just mean Adam is a Christian who wants to see Christ glorified in his music, but these aren’t necessarily corporate worship songs.

In part 2 of the interview we talk about the story behind the track “Gypsy Girl.”

Adam Pasion Interview Part 1 (New music)

Kyle — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 22:45:08 +0000

I enjoy shedding light on great music that many have not heard and I think this fits the bill. Adam is a great guy, incredibly humble and talented. In part 1 of the interview we talk about where Adam grew up, the vision behind the record and the story behind one of my favorite tracks “Broken Binds Us.” I also give a sneak peak of the tune in the video.

Tim Smith interviews Demon Hunter (Part 1)

Kyle — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:14:38 +0000

I know quite a few of our readers are Demon Hunter fans. Resurgence has posted part 1 of Tim Smith’s interview with the band and they talk about their upbringing, how their parents struggled with their tattoos and how the band started.

Chris Lizotte Interview Wrap-Up (All 3 Videos)

Kyle — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:32:54 +0000

I’d like to thank Chris Lizotte for taking time out of his day to talk with me. Chris’ music as he was starting out in the Vineyard gave this young man hope that there could actually be cool Christian music. Years later he’s still doing his thing, making great music and pastoring leaders to further the kingdom. I admire the humility, love and kindness Chris walks in and exudes. Thanks again Chris.

Folks remember to stay tuned and subscribe to the feed to keep up to date on the availability of Chris new album, Signal Hill Revival.

Part 1

Chris talks about how he met Jesus and how he ended up getting plugged into the church leading worship. Chris also discusses the leaders and pastors that were instrumental in shaping and discipling him as a young believer. Chris has a new album coming out in November called “Signal Hill Revival” and in part 2 we discuss the progress and what to expect from the album.

Part 2

We discuss the making of Chris’ upcoming album “Signal Hill Revival”. Chris talks about what’s behind the songs, some special guest appearances and his hope that his kids will appreciate the work.

Part 3

Chris talks about his role as worship pastor, what he finds most challenging about being a worship pastor and describes his most memorable worship experience with Kevin Prosch. Chris also bravely faces the ORS question of “What’s Next?”

Interview with Chris Lizotte – Part 3 of 3 (Video)

Kyle — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:17:59 +0000

Recently I sat down with Vineyard recording artist Chris Lizotte for an iChat interview, In our final part of the interview Chris talks about his role as worship pastor, what he finds most challenging about being a worship pastor and describes his most memorable worship experience with Kevin Prosch. Chris also bravely faces the ORS question of “What’s Next?”

Interview with Chris Lizotte – Part 2 of 3 (Video)

Kyle — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 16:24:51 +0000

Recently I sat down with Vineyard recording artist Chris Lizotte for an iChat interview, In Part 2 we discuss the making of Chris’ upcoming album “Signal Hill Revival”. Chris talks about what’s behind the songs, some special guest appearances and his hope that his kids will appreciate the work.

Part 3 will follow so make sure you are subscribed to catch those.

Interview with Chris Lizotte – Part 1 of 3 (Video)

Kyle — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 20:11:21 +0000

Recently I sat down with Vineyard recording artist Chris Lizotte for an iChat interview, In Part 1 Chris talks about how he met Jesus and how he ended up getting plugged into the church leading worship. Chris also discusses the leaders and pastors that were instrumental in shaping and discipling him as a young believer. Chris has a new album coming out in November called “Signal Hill Revival” and in part 2 we discuss the progress and what to expect from the album.

Parts 2 and 3 will follow so make sure you are subscribed to catch those.

Kirk Cameron interview on Today: “I only kiss my wife”

Kyle — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 23:44:27 +0000

As much ribbing as I give The Way of the Master for some of their cheesy tactics, hey it’s just my opinion, I must say Kirk is a powerful man of God(even in his sweaters), full of integrity and I admire his guts tremendously. This is a great interview about Kirk’s upcoming movie Fireproof which is a story of a firefighter who is trying to win back his wife and save his failing marriage.

The headline is certainly that he doesn’t kiss his pretend wives on film, his real wife was brought in as a make-out stunt double and he kisses his real wife in the love scene. Now that’s some cool stuff, yeah it’s a bit Disney cheesy, but honestly that is some real integrity there and I admire it. Well done Kirk.

Ryan Delmore Interview Wrap-Up

Kyle — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 16:19:33 +0000

It was my great honor to interview Vineyard recording artist and 5 Cities Vineyard Worship Pastor Ryan Delmore. I posted the interview in 3 parts last week and I’ve included all of them below. Ryan’s new cd The Spirit, the Water, and the Blood is now on sale at Vineyard Music. I’ve heard a few tracks and they are amazing so please do yourself a favor and buy the cd.

Part 1

Ryan and I discuss his family background, church background, how he started leading worship and the importance of youth worship development in the church.

Download audio file (Ryan_Delmore-Interview-Pt1.mp3)

Download interview

Part 2

Ryan and I discuss more on his band experience in the church and outside the church, we riff a bit on worship band improvisation and how the Vineyard has cultivated that atmosphere in its worship bands. I also asked Ryan about his songwriting technique and if he has 2 creative avenues, one for the church and another less creatively binding avenue for songs that might not be intended for corporate worship. His answer was humble and profound and I think is something a lot of new young worship leaders should pray on.

“If I get a good melody, or some good chords, I don’t wanna waste them on something that doesn’t point people to God.” -Ryan Delmore

If you’re a worship leader that plays outside the church in other bands I think this statement is a challenging one. There’s much more to that answer in the interview so listen up!

Download audio file (Ryan_Delmore-Interview-Pt2.mp3)

Download interview

Part 3

Ryan and I talk about the origins of his new cd and how it took shape, how Marc Ford, former guitarist for the Black Crowes, got involved in the project, Ryan teases on a possible tour with Chris Lizotte following Chris release of his latest record and finally I get to ask Ryan “What’s Next?” for corporate worship in his neck of the woods.

Download audio file (Ryan_Delmore-Interview-Pt3.mp3)

Download interview

Ryan Delmore Interview – Part 3

Kyle — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 19:03:06 +0000

I had the great pleasure recently of interviewing Ryan Delmore of Vineyard Music and 5 Cities Vineyard. Ryan has a new cd coming out in October entitled The Spirit, the Water and the Blood.

In Part 3 Ryan and I talk about the origins of his new cd and how it took shape, how Marc Ford, former guitarist for the Black Crowes, got involved in the project, Ryan teases on a possible tour with Chris Lizotte following Chris release of his latest record and finally I get to ask Ryan “What’s Next?” for corporate worship in his neck of the woods.

This is the final part of this interview series and I’d like to thank Ryan for taking the time to chat. I feel like I’ve made a friend and that truly is the best part of running this site, meeting so many other great people who are so talented. For those at LCC I’m hoping we can arrange Ryan to come visit and lead in some worship so stay tuned.

Ryan Delmore Interview – Part 2

Kyle — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 14:00:20 +0000

I had the great pleasure recently of interviewing Ryan Delmore of Vineyard Music and 5 Cities Vineyard. Ryan has a new cd coming out in October entitled The Spirit, the Water and the Blood.

In Part 2 Ryan and I discuss more on his band experience in the church and outside the church, we riff a bit on worship band improvisation and how the Vineyard has cultivated that atmosphere in its worship bands. I also asked Ryan about his songwriting technique and if he has 2 creative avenues, one for the church and another less creatively binding avenue for songs that might not be intended for corporate worship. His answer was humble and profound and I think is something a lot of new young worship leaders should pray on.

“If I get a good melody, or some good chords, I don’t wanna waste them on something that doesn’t point people to God.” -Ryan Delmore

If you’re a worship leader that plays outside the church in other bands I think this statement is a challenging one. There’s much more to that answer in the interview so listen up!

Vineyard recording artist Ryan Delmore Interview – Part 1

Kyle — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:16:34 +0000

I had the great pleasure recently of interviewing Ryan Delmore of Vineyard Music and 5 Cities Vineyard. Ryan has a new cd coming out in October entitled The Spirit, the Water and the Blood. I’ll be releasing this interview in parts this week, today I bring you part 1 where Ryan and I discuss his family background, church background, how he started leading worship and the importance of youth worship development in the church.

1 Question Interview: What’s Next? by Andrew Bennet of Christian City Church

Kyle — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:59:19 +0000

What’s Next?

Christian City Church in San Diego celebrated their 3yr anniversary this past Sunday night by recording a live worship album. Andy’s band House Red was on stage leading worship comprised completely of original songs. We’re blessed to have Andy take time and respond to this important question, here is his response.

1. It’s not about “The Gig”. It’s about God’s House. It’s about the fact that Jesus carried a cross for us, so we will praise Him and worship Him with everything we have. People are always surprised that none of our musicians and singers are paid. Many of our team members have been involved in large scale recording and performing projects, but Praise and Worship at church is totally different.

We are servants way before we’re musicians. Moses was faithful in ALL God’s house, not just the parts that he enjoyed. Its the same with people in praise and worship. Whatever we can do to make church the most mind-blowing place on planet earth. That’s what God’s house should be! A lot of worship teams are comprised of “hired guns” who just come in and play at church on a Sunday, whether or not they are members of that church (or any church for that matter). Jesus pointed out the difference between hirelings and sons. We are raising sons in our church, not bringing in hirelings. Its an honor to play on the platform in the house of God, not something you need to be paid to do. People will do a lot more for something they believe in than they will for a paycheck.

2. No Compromise on Excellence. How many times have I been in church and seen a dance, “drama”, mime, song, poem, “song of the Lord”, skit etc that is of such poor quality that I would not dare bring any of my friends to see for fear of them laughing and walking out?! We go to the movies and are rocked by special effects, brilliant acting and enthralling storylines. We pay to see artworks that are masterfully painted and sculpted. We go to the theatre and see extravagant singing, dancing and musicianship. Then we go to church and the shrill, off pitch wailing of the worship leader makes you cringe. You try and push through the barrage of noise to be able to worship God in the midst of the cacophony, but struggle to feel anything but frustration at the fact that the music is so off putting. But we excuse by saying, “Its for the Lord”, as if that’s an excuse for shabbiness. Or we say, “that was so anointed”, like there’s some indefinable (more like incomprehendable) reason for having someone who cannot hold a tune to save their life lead God’s people in His glorious worship.

We only allow people on stage who are able to contribute to a sound and atmosphere that is musically excellent. Just because someone is a volunteer doesn’t mean we can’t expect something big from them. After all, they’re not doing it for us, like some kind of favor. It’s our service to the One who has redeemed us by His very own blood. God only gave us his best. He didn’t look around heaven for a shabby old angel with a busted wing and send him down to do the dirty work. He showed us His extravagance by sending us His only beloved Son, perfect in every way. We can give nothing but the very best back to Him as His awesome church!

We are constantly verbalizing this culture in our church, so people end up serving where they have some kind of strength, wherever that may be.

The way the message is communicated often becomes a bigger message than the message itself. Shabby communication – unimportant message. Excellent communication – a message that’s worth hearing.

John Mark McMillan Complete Interview Wrap-up

Kyle — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 14:45:30 +0000

John Mark has been amazing to speak to, humble and hungry to see God move. I hope you enjoy hearing these interviews, John Mark has a lot of great insight. Here is our four part video interview series with John Mark McMillan that was recorded in late April 08 when he performed a concert at Life Connection Church.

Recently I talked with John Mark about his upcoming cd The Medicine and discussed what to expect from his latest album. John Mark also responded to the What’s Next? - 1 Question Interview blog series.

The Medicine Interview:

Download audio file (John_Mark_McMillan-The_Medicine-Interview.mp3)

What’s Next Interview:

Download audio file (John_Mark_McMillan-Interview.mp3)

John Mark McMillan interview Parts 3 and 4

Kyle — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 18:46:27 +0000

In late April John Mark McMillan did a concert at our church and he was nice enough to sit down for a video interview with us. I’ve previously posted part 1 and part 2 of that interview and now, finally, here are the remaining 2 parts.

In part 3 we discuss deeply theological issues like, can you be saved if you use a PC and how bad was I going to woop up on him in Guitar Hero. Incidently John Mark was too scared to pickup the axe(you know that’s true JM). We also discuss all his musical influences.

Part 4 we get a little more serious and discuss what the church is getting right or wrong in our worship, how John Mark remains grounded doctrinally in his writing and what some of the ground breaking worship songs were in his view.

Video: GMA interview with Steven Curtis Chapman and family

Kyle — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 18:03:14 +0000

Yesterday Good Morning American interviewed Steven Curtis Chapman and family to discuss how they are dealing with the loss of their daughter Maria. They are truly an amazing family and this interview is a testament to the power, faithfulness and love of Christ in their lives.

[via jesusneedsnewpr]

Audio: John Mark McMillan Interview on upcoming cd “The Medicine”

Kyle — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 23:05:42 +0000

I recently talked with John Mark McMillan about his upcoming cd titled “The Medicine” which is now available for pre-order and cds start shipping on September 9th, 2008. Our discussion is very informal with a fair amount of music tech talk, so please excuse the informality, I’m not exactly Larry King. We discuss everything from fatherhood, to some recording techniques he’s using in the studio, to what God was doing in him during this latest record, to how How He Loves almost didn’t make the last record.

1 Question Interview: What’s Next? by John Mark McMillan

Kyle — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 15:40:22 +0000

What’s Next?

John Mark is currently finishing recording on his follow-up album to “The Songs Inside the Sounds of Breaking Down” which is best known for the song “How He Loves.” John Mark has led worship across the country and for many large conferences including The Call. I spoke with him about his new album “The Medicine” and this audio portion of the interview is his response to “What’s Next?

1 Question Interview: What’s Next? by Joe Day of Mars Hill

Kyle — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 15:00:05 +0000

What’s Next?

Joe Day is husband to Jentry, father to his 9-week-old twin daughters Brynn & Chloe, and is a worship pastor at Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA where he leads his band The Northern Conspiracy. By day he’s a designer at CrashShop.com and is known to destroy Otter Pops with astounding regularity. He can be found at:

www.doxologist.org (which is in the blog roll)
www.marshillchurch.org
www.twitter.com/thejode
www.virb.com/tnc

We’re blessed to have Joe respond to this important question and his response is below:

While I can’t really say with any authority what is next on a grand scale I can share what’s next at Mars Hill Church in Seattle.

Making Worshippers

This really is the essence of the gospel as it plays out in people’s lives. The reality is we were made to worship and we never cease worshipping. We worship Jesus or we worship things Jesus created (idolatry). Since we are fallen, it’s quite likely that we will not worship perfectly, rather from time to time, season to season idolatry will creep in.

What’s next? My prayer is simple: that Jesus will will be the sole occupant of the throne of our hearts. For us, idols are not generally statues of gold on a shelf, but idols are anything that occupies a seat of power in the throne room of our affections.

At Mars Hill, our idol has been indie cred and the result has been worship services that feel more like a rock show than a gathering to praise our Lord & savior Jesus Christ. What’s next for us is walking in repentance and recovering the joy of adoring Jesus individually and when gathered as the church in corporate worship.

1 Question Interview: What’s Next? by Aaron Dailey

Kyle — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:59:28 +0000

What’s Next?

This one question I am asking various worship leaders and pastors. The context is what’s next in corporate worship but beyond that no guidance has been given for appropriate response. Our second installment is brought to you by Pastor Aaron Dailey of Life Connection Church in Phoenix AZ. I have the utmost respect, admiration and love for this man of God. Aaron is an amazing teacher and disciple of Christ and I’m honored to be under his leadership. He recently started blogging at www.aarondailey.net so check that out. Let’s see what he thinks is next….shall we?

Churches with massage chairs for seats so the “future saint“(we can not call them sinners) can come in and get a massage while a Barry White type “worship leader” leads music that is smooth and sexy. Instead of ushers we have waitresses that are walking around taking orders for various teas and the communicator whispers the message so as not to wake up those who are “meditating“. The key to all of this is only those who can pay the membership fee can come to the church service. As stupid as that sounds, if it happens I want a cut of the royalties for the idea.

We are living in a culture where church and worship has become self-centered and not Jesus centered. In efforts of raising up our attendance we have not called people to follow Christ or worship Him we have deceived people into thinking church and worship where about them and they where the most important piece of the church. The essence of worship is to exalt and glorify Jesus and that will call us to get out of our massage chairs, humble ourselves, pray, turn from our wicked ways, and then we will hear from heaven.

My prayer for what is next is a John the baptist generation who is wild and radical. Their breath is smelling of locusts and honey. They are discipling Jesus followers. They have a calling to prepare the way of the Lord and a cry of, “repent the kingdom of God is at hand.“

All you stanky breath people, this doesn’t give you permission to come to church without brushing your teeth.

1 Question Interview: What’s Next? by Scot Longyear

Kyle — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 18:17:03 +0000

What’s Next?

Up first we have Scot Longyear, Lead Pastor of a community called eXchange which is part of Maryland Community Church where Scot serves as the Sr. Associate Pastor. Scot is also a worship leader and songwriter and currently has a worship cd entitled “Simple Worship” available on iTunes. He blogs at www.reson8.org which has been added to the blogroll. Here is Scot’s response to What’s Next?

What’s Next? We live like we sing.

I think God is getting tired of hearing our songs. I know I am getting tired of singing them. OK, maybe that is a bit harsh. Rephrase: I think God is tired of us singing on Sunday and living shallow on Monday.

Sunday: “Man, worship was good today. The kick drum was totally in my chest and that one song is anointed. Did you see everybody praisin’?”

Monday (same guy): “Man, my girlfriend and I always wake up late so I can never get to devotions. And don’t ask me to give any time or money, I don’t have either one to give. I might have some money if my idiot friend gave me the money he owes me. Yea, I know what God says about all this, but . . .”

If the church is only a good sing-along time with a rockin’ band, count me out. I want to be a part of a movement that changes the world. I want to live in community, follow Christ, and serve in his cause. When we do that, Sunday AND Monday rocks with worship like never before.

What’s next? A church that lives like it sings and sings like it lives. The result: All hell breaks lose. That’s my hope and prayer.

For a song along this thought, check out Orphan’s Blood.

Tim Smith interviews Lecrae – lyrical theology in hip hop

Kyle — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 00:07:21 +0000

Hearing a talented rapper talk about the need to fuse systematic theology and hip hop and train church leaders who have poor theology is just mind blowingly awesome. Lecrae discusses the difficulties in reach a hip hop culture so rooted in idolatry and sin. These are the kind of interviews that make me excited to be in the church. I posted video from Mars Hill Church a few weeks back showing Lecrae leading a song in the actual worship service which was amazing and powerful. I could tell from his lyrics he values scripture, doctrine and real hard truth and this interview is just tasty tasty icing. What a great interview, enjoy.

Pastor Tim Interviews Lecrae from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

John Mayer interview, live performance and Q&A

Kyle — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 20:15:54 +0000

Here’s a great video interview of John Mayer on Z100. There is some PG-13 content so put ear muffs on the children. Some of the highlights include:

Live acoustic performance of “Say”
Does some brief club remixes of his tunes
Talks about his inspiration in music
The gossip highlight is he talks about his “post concert hookups”, but I’m not TMZ so I’ll leave it at that.
He is absolutely hilarious throughout

Warning Mac users: This is a .wmv file so make sure you are using Flip4Mac.

Should we not demonstrate musical excellence in church?

Kyle — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 20:17:43 +0000

Yesterday I posted the video of Tim Smith’s interview with Bob Kauflin and I must say how blessed I was by listening to the interview. I respect both of those men and value both of their insight. I mention in the same post some of the wonderful things that were brought up and I’ll blog more on those in a bit. The first follow up I have though is a disagreement in application of musical gifting in the church.

Around 34:50 of the interview. Bob says,

“…in the church I’m never going to achieve, or want to achieve the degree of musical excellence that I’m probably capable of, because I don’t think all that musical excellence will serve the glory of Jesus Christ in the gathered church.”

I would simply ask, “Why not?” The implication here is musical mediocrity will serve the glory of Jesus in the gathered church and I just don’t buy that at all. I think we’re all grateful Michelangelo didn’t have this attitude when he painted the Sistine Chapel. Surely those in worship would be distracted by the beauty of his art and the level of excellence he demonstrated. Surely it would have been better for him to paint in a more mediocre way so as not to draw attention to the art. Of course not, I don’t think there are many who would make that argument. The Sistine Chapel is one of the world’s greatest artistic expressions of worship ever created, if not the greatest. It’s easy to see the folly in this logic with other forms of art, but for some reason many make this argument when it comes to music.

Bob goes on to refer to something John Piper calls “an undistracting excellence.” Which states that “you are so excellent at what you do that no one really notices” but instead notices how great God is. Before I get rolling here I want to point out, I’ve never read John Piper’s thoughts on this, I’m only commenting on what Bob communicated in the interview. I love John Piper, and Bob Kauflin for that matter, and will certainly look for some text or audio on this topic to see what John has to say.

Now, while I agree fully that our focus should be completely upon the greatness of Jesus I disagree that the better you are musically the more of a barrier you become to that purpose. I also disagree that art is in someway a “distraction” from worshiping God. Our art should be a reflection of good, great and loving God just as our lives should be a reflection of Christ as the image bearers of God. Art is an expression, and to pick a point on a the scale of excellent artistic expression and say, “beyond this point you’ve expressed too well and now you’re a distraction” I think is pretty silly. Quite honestly I find mediocre and poor expression much more distracting than excellent expression and I think most would agree.

Looking at a crappy painting on a wall doesn’t reflect anything of God to me. Looking at the Sistine Chapel however reflects the beauty and majesty of God, not of Michelangelo. Listening to a bunch of mediocre musicians lead worship music by playing an uneven time, singing out of key, and writing terribly boring and poorly crafted melodies does not “better serve the glory of Jesus Christ.” Now I’m not saying Bob is saying this, but what other option are we left with?

We either strive to improve, play our best and craft the most beautiful music we can in response to God giving us the best of himself in his Son, or we stop working at our craft and say this is good enough for God and the body of Christ. I say the latter is not a good option as Malachi 1:7-10 warns, we must offer our best sacrifice of praise. This also means using all wisdom in crafting beautiful but singable songs for the body to unite in. It’s possible folks, we don’t have to sound like Grade C musicians in the church to unite the body, please believe me…please!

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