Give Thanks

"When we learn to read the story of Jesus and see it as the story of the love of God, doing for us what we could not do for ourselves--that insight produces, again and again, a sense of astonished gratitude which is very near the heart of authentic Christian experience."
— N.T. Wright

"I will praise God’s name in song
and glorify him with thanksgiving."

Psalm 69:30

Video from this past Sunday's Cardboard Testimonies:



Let us give thanks to Him who has so richly blessed us in Christ Jesus!

Top 10 Do's and Dont's for Worship Drummers

For my drumming brethern...this article is both insightful and funny...worth a look

http://www.musicademy.com/2010/10/top-ten-do%e2%80%99s-and-don%e2%80%99ts-%e2%80%93-drummers/

Psalm 27:4

"One thing I ask from the LORD,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the LORD
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the LORD
and to seek him in his temple." (Psalm 24:7, NIV)

This is one of those verses with which most of us are familiar; Matt Redman's musical adaption of this verse in "Better is One Day" brings me back to my college days. I am struck by the Psalmist's singular request - to dwell in God's house. In the Old Testament the people of Israel understood that God was especially present in the tabernacle or temple. David, being a man after God's own heart, longs to be with His Maker.

I am reminded of the newer song we are singing "Just to Be With You" - "All I want, All I need/Is just to be with You, just to be with You". I can hear David singing words like this. He needed to experience God's presence firsthand. There was a sense of desperation.

How desperate are we to be in God's presence? Is there a sense of urgency in our hearts to meet with Him? What does seeing Him, sensing Him, enjoying Him mean in our everyday lives?

How thankful am I that I can be in a personal relationship with my Maker through Jesus' sacrifice and continued intercession? Whereas those in the Old Covenant went to a place to experience God, I am able to to experience His presence anywhere because His Spirit lives in me - wow.

LORD, give me a heart like David's, a heart that longs to be with you. Not just to know things about You, or to sing pretty words about You, but to really see and savor You in creation, in my children, in the Word - in all things. Amen.

Vocal Blend - The Spice Analogy

You may recall that I took a few moments at our Sept. worship team meeting to talk about the "continuum of style", illustrated by a diagram I drew on a whiteboard (actually, it's still up there, and believe me, that says a lot more about how often we use the whiteboard than the profundity of my diagram). When I say "style" I mean a genre of music, like pop, jazz, gospel, etc.


When it come to "style" each of us have different backgrounds and influences. Some of us lean more towards jazz or R&B; others more rock and independent. Clint loves drip-hop (inside joke). So the reality of being a part of a larger team is that there are any number of various styles of singing & playing "in the mix" when we come together to lead others in worship.

Why is this important to understand? Because, by definition, singing & playing as a "team" assumes that we are striving to create a unified sound on any given song/set. Not uniform (meaning no room for interpretation, personal touches, etc.) but unified. So, with the awareness that we all fall somewhere on the style continuum, you can see that achieving a unified sound doesn't just happen. It requires awareness, intentionality, and humility.

Acknowledging that we all have different influences, instincts and sensibilities, how do we come together as singers and players? At some point all of our various instincts must boil down to a blend that's appealing - much like all of the spices that go into a soup have to blend together well enough to be appetizing. Too much of any one spice will overpower the soup. Likewise, put in the wrong spices for a certain recipe and you may have a culinary disaster on your hands!

Some thoughts on achieving the unified sound:

1. Awareness - being aware of our musical influences and sensibilities is so important. Maybe you've never thought much about your own - but you have them. Having an awareness of these will allow us to appreciate what we bring vs. what someone else might be bringing. We can't assume that the other person will interpret something the same way.
   
   
2. Intentionality - with an awareness of our style, we become that much more intentional on what we will be contributing to the "mix". As the band leader communicates what he/she is looking for - something close to the original recording, or something altogether different - I need to (as a singer and player) consider how I can support that vision. For instance, I like to add the spice of a triplet piano feel (a style made popular by bands like Coldplay) - but this probably won't work on "Only a God Like You"! So, I switch to more B3 sounds to support the style that the leader is shooting for. Or, if you're a drummer, you may love tom rolls, but unless we're doing a cover of Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" it may not be appropriate. I'm having fun here :)
   
   Each band/team gravitates towards a musical center...you can see a hypothetical illustration in the above diagram. Being aware of our team's musical center - at this time and place, pop/contemporary/rock - we thus tailor our contributions to support the musical center. Does what I'm singing/playing compliment the center?
   
   ALSO - This has significant implications for those of us who are vocalists - see below.
   
3. Humility
   When we're trying to achieve a unified sound we will - if we're doing it right - be consistently asked to lay aside our own personal instincts, influences, styles for the sake of the common goal. Let me again be careful to say that it's not a matter of leaving all sense of your musical identity on the sidelines! We each have a unique musical story worth celebrating. But, if all of us think our own interpretation needs to be heard we are going to end with a sound that is, at best conflicted, at worst, schizophrenic. So we listen to what the leader is asking for. We listen to each other. Above all, we SERVE THE SONG!

VOCALS
This idea of being "unified" is especially important for vocalists. It's the difference between having 3 soloists or 1 unified voice. You can't have one person singing soulfully, the other person singing straight and the other with a folksy approach - well, you can, but it won't be a pleasant experience. We need to strive for a unified sound.

Came across a helpful video that goes into some detail on how vocalists can blend better - thinking about tone vs. breath, active listening. It's not just a matter of supporting vocalists making their voice jive with the worship leader, it's everybody being aware of their styles and adjusting to serve the song!

CCLI TV video clip