Michael W. Smith Interview, Part 2
November 9, 2009 Leave a comment
Here is part 2 of an interview with Michael W. Smith, courtesy of worshipideas.com. Short but sweet.
For those who haven’t heard his classic song “Agnus Dei,” here is a clip.
A Visit to “The Journey” Church (St. Louis)
November 1, 2009 2 Comments
I had the past couple of Sundays off from my normal church responsibilities and took the opportunity to visit a couple of area churches. Last weekend I visited The Merge, a church plant led by a couple of friends and colleagues, Scott and Lisa Womble. That was a great experience (I’ll post about the visit soon). This morning while my wife was working (she unfortunately has to work Sunday morning once in a while), my son Ben and I visited The Journey, on Kingshighway near Hwy. 44 in St. Louis. We visited the 11:15 a.m. service at the main Tower Grove campus.
I wanted to visit The Journey because I’d heard some exciting things about their ministry. It’s a relatively new church plant with multiple locations in St. Louis. Lead pastor Darren Patrick founded The Journey in 2002, and the church is part of the Acts 29 church planting network.
On my way to the church I drove right past it because the building (a former Catholic church) blends so well into the neighborhood. On my way back around the block I noticed where all the people were headed and followed suit. We had to park a block away because of the number of cars parked on the street around the church (definitely a good sign).
The sanctuary was about two-thirds full when we came in, but was almost full later in the service. The congregation consisted of what appeared to be people in their 20′s and 30′s. The worship songs were familiar to me (except for one or two) and the worship band did a great job with the music (which was very guitar-driven but with more of an acoustic feel). I would guess there were about 300 people there.
After the music came the Scripture reading from 1 John 3.1-10. I found this interesting because in most evangelical churches, the preacher reads the Scripture as part of the sermon. I liked having it read separately before the sermon–this somehow conveys a bit more authority and seriousness of Scripture. The women who read Scripture concluded it with a firm “the word of the Lord” (a nice touch that reminds us it’s God’s Word). Another interesting touch was the repeated reference to page numbers in the pew Bible, which was the ESV translation. This is the first church I’ve seen use the ESV for pew Bibles (score!). Nice touch.
Lead pastor Darren Patrick delivered a great sermon on dealing with sin in our lives. I believe it was about 45 min. long. He is a great communicator and has a very down-to-earth style. He has a gift for combining great biblical content with very practical application. He is very easy to listen to, which I consider a great compliment to any teacher or preacher. The sermon ended with several application questions for personal reflection.
I really enjoyed the communion time. One of the leaders/pastors gave a few brief instructions, they we were directed to come to the front, where several people held a loaf of bread a cup of juice.Ben and I stood up to get in the line closest to us. I tore a piece from the loaf, dipped it in the juice, and headed back to my seat. I loved taking communion this way.
The only real discernible difference between what I normally experience as part of a Restoration Movement church, and the Journey is that they didn’t offer a traditional “invitation” at the conclusion of the sermon. People were instead invited to talk to a church leader or pastor after the service. I assume if someone wants to become a Christian they would take the initiative to speak with someone from the church. Or perhaps there is something I missed. This approach seems fine because the process for someone coming to faith can happen a variety of ways. Church history tells us this much. The traditional “invitation” time is an innovation that has been around less than 200 years. There’s nothing wrong with it, of course; it’s just one approach among many that Christians throughout history have used.
The thing that impressed me the most about The Journey was the seriousness with which they approached worship. You hear a lot these days about young adults (and the Gen-X crowd) being turned off by traditional Christianity, but the worship I experienced this morning took a serious, hard-hitting approach to God, the Bible, and the need for obedience. Mr. Patrick’s sermon didn’t pull any punches.
In my view, the contemporary evangelical church has misread this generation (which is my generation). We aren’t looking for a church that soft-sells the Christian faith or portrays it as an easy road. On the contrary, young (and young-ish) people are drawn to a faith that is deep, meaningful and doesn’t pretend to offer easy answers to life’s pressing problems. They are looking for connection, meaning, and a transcendent connection with God. This partly explains why people are increasingly drawn to the Catholic and Orthodox traditions. While The Journey is still solidly evangelical, this group of believers seems to be doing something right in reaching a generation that has basically lost interest in traditional Christianity. Surely there is something we can all learn from this.
Michael W. Smith Interview from WorshipIdeas.com
October 28, 2009 1 Comment
My apologies for my absence on the blog lately. I’m back today with a short but great clip of an interview with Michael W. Smith by Don Chapman, founder of worshipideas.com. Worshipideas.com is a great site with tons of helpful tips for music and worship leading in the church, and Don sends out a weekly email with a helpful article. This is a site that is definitely worth checking out.
I have seen Michael in concert countless times over the years and appreciate his heart for worship and the local church, despite being a superstar in the world of Christian music. He is the real deal, and you see a wonderful glimpse of his heart here. I love his comment that worship leading is all about disappearing.
Thank You, David Crowder!
September 30, 2009 2 Comments
Last Tuesday the David Crowder Band released its new CD called “Church Music.” I must say, it’s very different, even for DCB. Crowder has penned some great worship songs in recent years, although only a small number of them are really corporate-worship friendly. His music (at least in my opinion) is for the most part too difficult for the average congregation to sing.
But congregational songs have not really been his main purpose, I don’t think. The area where DCB truly excels is the marriage between cutting-edge music, creativity and lyrics filled with great theology. In this area they are basically in a league of their own.
My intent here is not to do a review of the CD, but I will say this: the more I listen to it, the more I like it. It has many layers than you can only appreciate after multiple hearings. I would describe the style as some kind of blend of techno/rock/pop/dance. This is not my normal cup of musical tea, but for this record I had to make an exception.
There is a short but great interview at Christian Music Today with David Crowder. Here is great excerpt:
Question: Are you the epicenter of the band’s creative process, or is it a collective effort?
Crowder: I make up rules for a particular project and then give assignments based on these rules. The music of the church has been most effective at articulating faith for groups of people when it has embraced the language and art of that particular group of people. So we had to embrace what is going on within pop music. Pop music has moved more urban in the last decade and yet most progressive church settings are still trying to capture U2 and Coldplay. Not that they aren’t relevant, but when you have hip-hop producers like Timbaland producing rock bands, the trend should be considered.
One of the rules this time was that all of the music must first be composed in a computer. Then the rules stated that we must destroy what we made and recreate it with organic instrumentation. I felt like this would keep us from straying too far from where we’ve been and also allow for some of our rock and indie rock influences to be audible.
A couple of other rules were that songs had to lead into each other. Also, each must contain a nod to a formative moment within the history of music in the church, and these moments must appear on the album in historical order. It’s a musical puzzle.
I love it! The whole CD is like one long symphonic composition, although in modern musical form. This is some of the best the church has to offer in its music: cutting-edge, creative, with an awareness and appreciation of theology and history, and in a form that connects culturally. Thank you, David Crowder!
Simple Worship
September 25, 2009 2 Comments
Maybe it’s just me, but worship these days seems kind of exhausting. We have vocalists, worship bands, lights, complicated sound systems, computer projection, live video, a set list of worship songs we’ve rehearsed, and many other elements to coordinate. After I play or sings at our church’s weekend services (there are four of them), I’m pretty tired. (And I’m not even the worship leader or preacher–that’s much more exhausting!) I love being a part of our worship ministry, but anyone involved in contemporary worship would agree that it’s not a simple process.
Technology, worship teams, and the other elements that accompany contemporary worship aren’t going away anytime soon. But we don’t have to see those things as distractions. Really, leading worship is quite simple. All of the things we use in the process of leading worship (bands, technology, lights, etc.) are simply tools to help us lead people in giving worship to God. It can be easy to get overwhelmed by the technology and the details of a modern worship service. But when you realize those things can be a great help in leading people in worship, they cease becoming distractions and start becoming tools.
Worship today is complex, but it’s still very simple: we use the tools of our culture to help people worship God. The tools will change, but the goal remains the same. The challenge is to focus on the purpose of what we’re doing while skillfully using the many tools at our disposal.
Mind Your Worship (Part 1)
August 3, 2009 Leave a comment
What is the key to worship? It’s not having the right style of music, the right technology, the right worship leader, or any number of things that rightly deserve some attention. I believe the key to godly worship begins with the mind. Paul says in Romans 12.1-2: “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”
They key to worship here lies with the transformation of the mind, literally a “metamorphosis” of the mind. Worship begins not with our emotions or environment, but with the state of our minds. This puts an incredible amount of pressure on us to be in right frame of mind, both during the week and when we worship corporately. While it’s true that a number of factors will affect the quality of corporate worship — including the ability of the worship leader, music, volume, lighting, temperature, culture, and about 1,000 other things — the most significant piece of the puzzle is the mind of worshiper.
If you come into church with a bad attitude, you will not be able to worship no matter how great the service. If you come into church with the right attitude, you will be able to worship even if it’s a terrible service. The burden of responsibility rests of you and I — not the worship leader, the music or other factors — and our attitude of worship. Put another way, the worship leader can lead people to God’s throne, but he or she can’t make them worship.
If you really want to have a great worship experience this next weekend, read your Bible all week, pray for the pastors and worship team, and come to church with a great attitude. You will be amazed at the difference it will make.
Killer Prayer Tips from Johnny and Chachi
June 19, 2009 1 Comment
Who says you can’t have fun on Fridays? Check out this video: “Killer Prayer Tips” from Johnny and Chachi. These guys were at the Arts Conference last week and brought down the house. Really, there’s no way for me to explain — you just need to watch.
It Might Get Loud
June 16, 2009 Leave a comment
I think I’m gonna have to see this. Especially since I’m going to see U2 live in Chicago in September. Clicking on the video will let you see an HD version.
Willow Arts Conference Day #2
June 12, 2009 4 Comments
Here’s a quick rundown of today’s events:
- Started off with a workshop by Darlene Zschech on Generational Transitions in Worship. Sometimes you hear songs people have written, see their books, CD’s, etc. and it’s easy to think it’s just an image. But I tell you, she is completely the real deal — incredibly authentic and dedicated to God, and full of Scripture. I’ve been at the conference with a couple of other guys from our worship staff at Harvester (which has made it much more enjoyable), and one of them went to a workshop by Joel Houston. He was commenting how the people from Hillsong are saturated with Scripture – they quote all these verses from memory when they teach/talk, and it’s evident they are leading and teaching from the overflow in their lives.
The most powerful thing she shared: “When men worship, women feel very safe.” Men, we have got to be better spiritual leaders at home and at church. We have been failing here. The women in our lives are counting on us to step up and set the example of humble servanthood in every area of our lives. Lots of other insights from this session, but I’ll move on.
- The second session was Creative Ideas from Windsor Crossing (Community Church – Chesterfield, MO). I’ve not visited the church, but it’s in my backyard in St. Louis. One of the pastors from their worship/arts Dept. shared a variety of great ideas they’ve used at their ministry. (I didn’t catch his name because I came in late, but he did a fantastic job with the session.) Best insight for me: We need to let go of the traditional idea of excellence and focus on “excellent-ish” — effective art is not about what I can do, it’s about what Jesus can do. Focus on being effective, not perfect, and don’t work harder on something than you need to (because artists are often perfectionists). Simple is better than slick.
Also, he spoke quite a bit about decentralization and collaboration in the arts — getting people involved in creating art. I need to give lots more thought about how this can be applied in our college setting, both in chapel services and in the classroom learning experiences.
I love this video they created:
- Third session was led by Jud Wilhite and Michael James from Central Christian Church in Vegas. Jud is the senior pastor and Michael leads the worship and creative arts dept. The workshop was mainly on communication, and I was hoping to get some insights that would be helpful in the classroom. Jud is a great communicator and I found it interesting that he hit on the same point made in my previous workshop — reaching for effectiveness instead of excellence (defined as “perfection”). Why do something 100% if doing it 80% can be just as effective? I liked his insight into art: the purpose of art is to communicate God’s truth to people, not to showcase your talents. Well said. In addition, he emphasized that in dealing with music, art, creativity, video, etc., the message trumps everything else. “Content is king.”
- Finally, Willow held a film festival that featured short films submitted by churches. (There was also a concert by Charlie Hall which I really wanted to attend, but you can’t do everything…) They selected the best ones and showed about 30 total films in less than 2 hours. The films were in various categories, and after each category of films were shown, you could vote for your favorite by text. Lots and lots of creativity from many churches out there. Video is an emerging sort of art form in the church, and it will only become more important and more excellent over time.
Here is the winning video of the night, from Granger Community Church:
A Visit to St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church
March 1, 2009 4 Comments
This morning I drove about 35 minutes to St. Louis’ Central West End for my first experience in a Greek Orthodox church service. Since my wife and son were out of town and I had no responsibilities at our church I thought I’d take the opportunity to do something totally out of the ordinary. Plus, this fall I’m teaching a course on worship history and theology, and it’s important that I experience worship in other traditions firsthand rather than just reading about them.
St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church is located a couple of blocks from Barnes-Jewish hospital, so it’s easy to find. The building is pretty nondescript on the outside, but once you’re inside there is no doubt you’re not in a typical evangelical church setting. I had some idea of what to expect, but honestly I was quite nervous because I didn’t want to stick out like a sore thumb. Orthodox worship is very participatory, and I wanted to blend in. However, I probably wouldn’t be able to follow the service precisely, and I knew I wouldn’t be allowed to take communion (which is only open to Orthodox). I asked two things of God before I went: “First, please meet me in this setting this is very unfamiliar. And second, help me not to stick out and embarrass myself!” I wanted to honor their process of worship and see if I could learn something.
God answered my prayer as soon as I left the parking garage. I saw a man with his two sons heading toward the church, so I fell in step behind them and went inside. Based on a previous visit with a class a couple of years ago (we only toured the church; we didn’t attend a service), I knew it was customary to take a candle into the area outside the sanctuary. So I dropped a $1 bill into the box, took one of the long, thin candles and headed up the stairs. Following their lead, I lit the candle and placed it upright in the long box that was filled with sand. This was not a large room but it was also filled with icons and some other items. I knew that in order to blend in I would have to make the sign of the cross multiple times and need to venerate icons before going into the sanctuary. Again following the lead of others, I stood before three different icons, made the sign of the cross and bent down, pretending to kiss them.
Let me say a couple of things about this. In my mind, I thought it was better to go through these motions and blend in rather than walk right in and make it obvious that I was an outsider. These particular actions are not part of my tradition, but I figured if I was going to worship with them I should do as they do. I recall doing similar kinds of things many years ago when I spent the summer in Ukraine on a missions trip. We visited several Orthodox churches and did not want to stand out from the nationals.
In addition, Orthodox Christians do not worship icons. These are visual representations of Christ, and also various saints who have gone on before. The veneration of icons is simply a way to show honor and respect to the person(s) depicted in the icons. We do the same kind of thing when we hang pictures of loved ones in our home, or even kiss a picture. Orthodox Christianity is all about signs, symbols and visual elements, and actions such as making the sign of the cross and bowing to icons are ways they express spiritual realities through physical means. They venerate icons but do not worship them.
Before I went, I was glad I did some reading on how to properly make the sign of the cross, because Catholics do it differently. (If you know your church history, you’re aware that Catholics and Orthodox have had disagreements for only about 1,000 years). To the best of my understanding, this is an act of dedication to God because it makes a literal cross (committing to mind, heart and actions to God) while recognizing the Trinity through the placement of your fingers. It’s a small gesture that contains quite a bit of neat symbolism. Read more of this post
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