Sunday, July 24, 2005

Hume Lake

Goin' to Hume lake this week with our High schoolers. it should be a great week. See if you can catch a glimpse of Kim or me on the Hume web cam.

Hume Lake web Cams

Have a great week!

Friday, July 15, 2005

Naming a legend

I was thinking today... my guitar needs a good name.... I mean all great guitar players name their guitars right?.... not to say that I'm great by any stretch but still.... so I started to think and came up with the name Larry..... Why Larry you ask?... well it seems to fit since it is a Larrivee guitar... that plus that name just fits it's personality... only thing is that Larry can't be a girl which tends to be the fad when naming guitars or cars for that matter... they tend to be female names right?.... anyway.... what do ya think of Larry?

Monday, July 11, 2005

What goes on in a worship leaders head on stage?

This is a cool article that I found that was written by Eric Owyoung of the band Something Like Silas. Check it out.


What Goes On In a Worship Leaders Head on Stage

• Why does my stupid guitar keep going out of tune?
• Man it's hot in here.
• Jesus, give me the right words.
• I hope I don't get something in my eye.
• We need to practice the chorus some more, we stink.
• That was a cool drum fill.
• My cable is wrapped around my leg.
• Lord, bless that girl crying in the front.
• I wonder if they're getting this song.
• I hope the band remembers how to do the transition into the next song.
• Shoot, what are the words to the next verse?!

So does that sound like a divine experience? Or does that sound just a little too familiar? That's just a few of the thoughts out of the other million going through our heads. The difference between me though and a lot of other guilt ridden worship leaders is that I don't feel that those are wrong. In fact, I think they are exactly the things I should be thinking about! But aren't we supposed to be dwelling on the presence of God? Aren't we supposed to be having an intimate moment with Christ each time? Isn't that what being a worship leader is? I suppose then, I should just drop the guitar, tell the band to put all their instruments down, and lets all have our own worship experience. How lame would that be!!! We're not helping anybody draw near to God by doing that.

Lets start with this. Worship is more than a song, it is more than words. It is more about a lifestyle, the way we live, think, act, breathe. But when we describe a worship experience, we are referring to an intimate moment, a divine connection, a time in which we put aside all distractions and give our attention to God alone. I believe that my moment of worship does not happen on stage near as intentionally or intensely as it does when I worship him off stage. If I am saving my time with God for the moments on stage, I believe that I may be taking away from others intimate moments with God. For example, if I say "God, I want to have such an intimate time with you and I shouldn't disrupt it. Even though my E string is a complete half step off, I refuse to pay attention to it." Man what disaster it would be. I'd have the worshippers praying that worship would be over soon.

Leading worship is like being a teacher. The teacher learns and discovers outside of the classroom. When he come into the class room before the students, his lesson is prepared, he is ready to focus on his lesson plan, not to have any new discoveries. It is much like that in leading worship. The worship leader is required to take the time, to study over, to pray over, and most of all to worship before walking on stage. Those moments on stage require the worship leader to be thinking about what he doesn't want other to worry about. That's being a servant. It's saying, "Hey, come here and relax. Enjoy the presence of God. Come into this place and I'll tidy things up so you don't have to focus on anything but your God right now. My band and I am going to serve you so this can all happen."

I've found the spirit of God moves not because I'm leading the charge, but because the thousand worshippers in front of me are enabled to lead the charge without distraction. I'm just in the boiler room keeping the engine running. I may throw out a few cheers or challenges and stuff, but man the spirit of God is responding to the mass of followers that are seeking after him. That's when something amazing happens.

Thursday, July 07, 2005

Why???


Lord, we cry out to You... Lord I know where I'm going but God give me a passion for the people that don't know You. I lift up the families of those that were slain and I pray Your protection on our country and those that oppose these kind of actions. Protect us Lord! Amen

Tuesday, July 05, 2005

The first thing

Well.... today was a great day!... I love being at Calvary.... it's so great!... I LOVE IT!.... funny thing is that I feel like I'm doing the same thing I did at West Coast... the first thing I did today was go to a meeting and the second?..... make delivery....... WILL THE MADNESS EVER END?

My first day

Today is my first day at Calvary.... YEAH!.... I can't wait to get there....