Tips to Keep Your Voice Healthy

Tim Carson is a vocal coach whose warm-up CDs I've used for several years. I've attended one of his vocal workshops and have appreciated his instruction.

Tim just posted a video on keeping your voice healthy during the holiday season. Check it out!

Why We Should Celebrate Christmas

On celebrating Christmas, by George Whitefield: "Let us celebrate and keep this festival of our church with joy in our hearts: let the birth of a Redeemer, which redeemed us from sin, from wrath, from death, from hell, be always remembered; may this Savior's love never be forgotten! But may we sing forth all his love and glory as long as life shall last here, and through an endless eternity in the world above!"

It Could Always Be Worse

As musicians we know there's always the potential for a "train wreck" on any given Sunday morning - of course we do our best to minimize the potential, but things happen. And when you're involved in one of those not-so-beautiful musical collisions, you just wish there was a drop door somewhere where you could go MIA for a few hours. Been there.

Well, in this Christmas season, take heart - it could always be worse! Check out examples A & B at this MUSICADEMY link!

Oh man, the video is a riot but I think the audio of the "Hallelujah Chorus" is more painful to hear!

When Do You Feel Most Alive?

Happened across an interview with John Stott, the Englishman well-known for his teachings, writings and influence within the evangelical world. One of his most classic books is The Cross of Christ. Stott went to be with Jesus on July 27.

What struck me about this interview was Stott's response to the following question: "When do you feel the most alive?" Note especially the first part of his reply:



For Stott, the experience of corporate worship made him feel ALIVE. Being with fellow believers, adoring, thanking, extolling, magnifying God was brought his spirit to life. To quote a line from the interview: "Almost nothing convinces me more of the reality of God than in public worship".

As regular folks called and gifted by God to help lead others in worship we ought to be encouraged by Stott's comments! What a privilege it is to be a part of something transcendent, something that will continue into eternity.

Being Happy in the Lord

From George Mueller:

It has pleased the Lord to teach me a truth, the benefit of which I have not lost, for more than fourteen years. The point is this: I saw more clearly than ever that the first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, or how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished. For I might seek to set the truth before the unconverted, I might seek to benefit believers, I might seek to relieve the distressed, I might in other ways seek to behave myself as it becomes a child of God in this world; and yet, not being happy in the Lord, and not being nourished and strengthened in my inner man day by day, all this might not be attended to in a right spirit… I saw that the most important thing I had to do was to give myself to the reading of the Word of God, and to meditation on it, that thus my heart might be comforted, encouraged, warned, reproved, instructed; and that thus, by means of the Word of God, while meditating on it, my heart might be brought into experiential communion with the Lord…. How different, when the soul is refreshed and made happy early in the morning, from what it is when without spiritual preparation, the service, the trials, and the temptations of the day come upon one.

He's Alive!

Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;
His steadfast love endures forever.
The Lord is my strength and my song
And he has become my salvation.

The right hand of the Lord has triumphed,
The right hand of the Lord is exalted!
The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone;
This is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes.

This very day the Lord has acted:
Let us rejoice!
God’s name be praised!

From Psalm 118

For the Guitar Players...

Given that I've been playing guitar way less than I've been playing piano, I'm always looking to further refine and develop my skills on the six-string. So whenever I come across a helpful article I want to pass it along to my fellow guitar playing brethern.

Bob Kauflin recently posted an interview with Greg Hagan, a session player and worship leader. The article was posted in two parts:

http://www.worshipmatters.com/2011/01/25/interview-with-greg-hagan-on-becoming-a-better-guitarist-pt-1/

http://www.worshipmatters.com/2011/01/26/interview-with-greg-hagan-on-becoming-a-better-guitarist-pt-2/

Take a few moments to read over Greg's comments...without stealing his thunder, there was a few things that really stood out to me:

• The importance of keeping good time - we tend to think of this as more the drummer's role, but anyone playing a rhythm instrument needs to keep the groove steady. You'll tire of me saying this, but working with a click is THE best way to keep it locked in.
• This is a great quote: "If you play acoustic guitar, you really need to make sure your strumming pattern very closely resembles the kick and snare pattern of the song and make it your goal to not get ahead of the drummer. Ease up on the intensity of your strumming and focus on groove."
• Record (audio and/or video) yourself playing - we grow through intentional evaluation and adjustment

A.W. Tozer and Our View of God

"What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us….Worship is pure or base as the worshiper entertains high or low thoughts of God. For this reason the gravest question before the Church is always God Himself, and the most portentous fact about any man is not what he at a given time may say or do, but what he in his deep heart conceives God to be like." - A.W. Tozer

I came across this Tozer quote in the first chapter of Francis Chan's Crazy Love (the book my small group will be chewing on the next few months). If you're not familiar with Tozer, he was a pastor in the Christian Missionary Alliance church and well-known for his two devotional classics, The Pursuit of God and The Knowledge of the Holy. I can remember reading through Pursuit in college and highlighting a ton of things. It had an impact on me.

I haven't really read any Tozer since my college days - but stumbling upon this quote made me stop and think: How well can I love God (with all our heart, soul, mind, strength) if my knowledge of Him is shallow, stale, secondary?

How well can we love someone if we really don't know them - know what they're like, what their heart beats for, what they're for and what they're against?

I think about my wife Beth. I can tell you facts about her - where and when she was born, the color of her eyes, what she studied in college, etc. But I can also tell you what she is passionate about, what inspires her, what gets her upset, what she dreams of doing. That kind of knowledge can't be gleaned by just reading a simple bio sheet or resume. It comes through the day-in, day-out process of “doing life” together as husband and wife.

God is God, so any analogy we make is by definition qualified and limited. However, just as knowing our spouse goes beyond reading some facts about them, so knowing God does as well. I love my wife for who she is, but the depth of my love for her grows as we walk through life together.

I think this is how it works in our relationship with God. After crossing the line of faith we discover more and more about God’s character, ways, work in the pages of Scripture. Any of our thoughts about God must be measured against what is revealed in the Bible.

But what we find in Scripture is meant to deepen our love, trust and commitment to the God who saved us. We know Him as we pray, as we worship in song, as we serve. Through the power of the Holy Spirit we walk in increasing obedience and faithfulness. We ask Him for forgiveness when we have wandered from His ways.

What we conceive God to be like comes from our time in the Word, but it also comes from living out our relationship with Him on a daily basis. The more we know God, the more our affection for Him should grow. Pure worship – offered up daily (Rom. 12:1) as well as on Sundays – is the overflow of a genuine relationship with the triune God.

Parable of the Talents & Calling

Recently I've been thinking a lot about the idea of calling, and how we can more fully live into the things into which God has called you and me.

It began with P. Steve's message the first Sunday of the new year when he talked about the Parable of the Talents (Matt. 25:14-30). The way I interpret this story can be summed up in the statement "to whom much is given much is required." P. Steve pointed out that in the NT, a "talent" was a monetary measurement roughly equivalent to a million dollars. The master was entrusting a very large sum of money to his servants.

Although the parable speaks in terms of monetary wealth, I do think it's OK to interpret "talent" more generally, in the sense of special skills and gifts we've received from God (who is the Ultimate Giver - James 1:17). In our culture we think of talent more in terms of specialized abilities - such as, he has a real talent for playing football, or she is a talented teacher. If you are on the worship team you possess a certain talent, or perhaps multiple talents. You play an instrument(s), or you sing (maybe both). You've developed this talent to a point where it can be used to lead others into God's presence.

As P. Brian put it in his message this past Sunday, you "feel God's pleasure" when you use your talent in music to lead others in worship.

So how does this fit in with calling?

Jesus expects His followers to be faithful stewards of the "talents" that his Father so freely distributes. I believe He wants us to be maximize these talents to 1) glorify God and worship Him, and 2) minister to those around us. If you think about it, this is the essence of our calling. Sure, we each have specific "roles", be they vocational (to be a stay-at-home mom, or counselor, or investment banker), relational (to be a father or mother, husband or wife) or in ministry. But in each of these roles the calling is the same - to glorify God and minister to the people He's surrounded us with. Or, to put it another way, to live out the two greatest commandments: to love God and love others as yourself (Matt. 22:34-40).

So the question is, how well are we living out our calling with a capital C? How well are we stewarding the gifts, abilities, resources, influence that God has given us?

Here are some thoughts to ponder - particularly in the realm of continuing to grow as worship musicians:

• What area do I need to grow in from a musical standpoint?
• What skill would I like to improve in the coming year?
• What areas are showing signs of rust or are beginning to stagnate?
• How can I better connect my singing/playing with the goal of leading others in singing and worship?
• Is there a way I can my musical gift outside of Sunday morning?

That's just a short list...and by no means do I want to make talents & calling all about your singing and playing on the worship team. That's just one way God has specifically gifted and called us - but there may be - there are - many others.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this subject!

Gordon's Dad Went to be with Jesus

Hi everyone,

I wanted to thank you all for praying for my dad over these past few years. At approximately 2:01 pm today Henry Gordon Carpenter was added to the great cloud of witnesses and is face to face with Jesus. This is his coronation day! I was able to say goodbye to him over the phone right before he died. He will be greatly missed. He was truly part of the Greatest Generation. But most of all he was a man who deeply loved God, his family, his friends, and others. He left a real legacy. When he died I could hear Jesus say “Well done good and faithful servant. Welcome home.” So please celebrate with me in knowing that we serve a faithful and loving God who fulfills all of his promises to us. Let us rejoice in knowing that he who began a good work in Henry Carpenter has completed it today and we look forward to the time when we are all with Jesus for eternity. “To the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen” (Jude 25).

Gratefully yours,

Gordon