Since I began my sabbatical a few weeks ago, my family and I have been attending a neighborhood church. The experience has been refreshing, most of all because I am getting to experience worship again as, well, a worshiper. As we prepared to worship, I was trying to grasp onto the culture there: How many … Continue reading
One of my favorite quotes is in the movie Rocknrolla: There ain’t no school like the old school and I’m the #@$%@#$% headmaster. When I started playing guitar, playing in church was not an option. Our church was a piano/organ place, and we only did acoustic guitar on a very, very rare occasion. In fact, … Continue reading
I read this post last week… At first—because I’m slightly neurotic—I was really convicted by it, if for no other reason than I, um, often play guitar solos during worship songs. Forgive me. But the more I read it, I actually got a little tweaked (full disclosure: if it’s not obvious already, I’m a worship … Continue reading
Sorry I missed posting on Tuesday. I was catching up after a weekend away… My wife and I bought our first house 2 years ago. In the months leading up to closing, we were virtually addicted to HGTV’s plethora of design shows (Splash of Color and Divine Design in particular). There was always a moment … Continue reading
Each week, as I climb the three stairs to our stage, I have potentially a whole host of problems going through my head; here are just twenty-one: Who is on the team this week? What’s the pastor speaking on? Who’s running sound? Who is running lights? What will the graphics look like? Did I remember to put … Continue reading
Twice — I think in 2000 and 2001 — I was privileged to teach a seminar at the Willow Creek Arts Conference called something like “Towards Spontaneity in Worship.” The seminar was designed to help worship leaders safely navigate being able to have some “unplanned creativity” in worship: extended outros, “Holy Spirit” moments where the … Continue reading
Haven’t posted here in a while; I’ve been processing through so many things. By nature, I like revolution over evolution. My idea of change is an abrupt rupture. “Break it or leave it.” I also function in three-year seasons. Any intelligent person could see it in my resume. I get restless, and I want to … Continue reading
