There’s a lot of worship bloggers out there. Here’s a list of ones that I read and recommend in no particular order. Some have large followings, some less audacious. These are the cats in the RSS feed of my Google Reader. All have something of value to offer.
Feels like one big happy family at the Contemporary Worship service of Hendersonville First United Methodist Church. It was a good day. Big vocal team, all eight of our very good singers participated. Two kids from the youth team joined us on bass and piano. We really enjoyed worshiping God together.
Here’s the worship recap. Continue Reading…
We were touched by a beautiful Ash Wednesday service last night. One highlight was the song “Lord Have Mercy
This is a wonderful season to grow in our connection with God. Which leads me to today’s topic.
I’ve been working on a major new project, and there is a question that keeps burning in my head.
Now quick, off the top of my head I’m going to write the first thing that comes to mind. No theological discourse, it might be incomplete or even wrong. Here goes:
“There is a real God who loves you. He has a wonderful plan for your life. You can know Him and have the most fulfilling , joy filled, meaningful life you could ever imagine through His son Jesus Christ. “
That’s my raw, unedited answer today.
Dealing with information overload? Here’s some great resources and recommendations for observing Lent (from today through Easter).
This is fun, fast, thorough. You can stop here if you want. Love this video.
Laura has GREAT links and ideas for the whole family.
… I’m enjoying studying different aspects of Christianity. Is Lent necessary? Am I going to hell if I don’t participate? No. Can it be a form of legalism? Yep. But so many things in the church can become legalistic if we let them. If used as a time to pause and reflect, to “be still and know that I am God,” I think it can be very helpful, at least in my life.
This post continues the series Practical Theology of Worship.
“God is into calendar.” - Don Finto
From the beginning of the institution of formal worship in the Old Testament, God has used the rhythms, patterns and seasons of life to engage His people. As we chose to draw near to Him, He reveals more of Himself to us.
Simple, rockin’ and wholehearted describes today’s Contemporary Worship service at Hendersonville First United Methodist Church. Our drummer Isaac Hall and bassist Curtis Anderson were tight and laying it down, it was a joy to rock with them. The rest of team was “on”, the congregation was engaged, and we really enjoyed worshiping God together.
Recently I had the honor of a GoogleHangout with artist, songwriter, and producer extraordinaire Anthony Skinner. He’s one of the most creative people I know and penned “Your Love Never Fails”, “Forever and A Day”, “Blow Mighty Breath of God” and has cuts by Jesus Culture, Rita Springer, CeCe Winans, The Newsboys, and more.
Anthony recently released his first book, “Worship SMARTBook: Actionable Tips For Real World Worship”. At the end of this post I’ll tell you how to get a free chapter and a chance to win the entire book.
This edited video (about 11 minutes) features conversation on engaging our congregations, encouraging our teams, and an overview of the book’s topics .
“I feel like when you’re leading worship … the goal is to meet people where they are, and take them as far as you can, in the time that you have. To build trust and give them a comfort zone is good.”
In our first years of marriage we performed as a music duo, "Two's Company". Yes, she's hot.
When Ivy and I were married we made a vow “to have and to hold, from this day forward”:
for better, for worse,
for richer, for poorer,
in sickness or in health,
to love and to cherish
’till death do us part.
This cute video introduced Don’s message.
It was a freezing cold day here in Middle Tennessee. “Love” was the theme at the Contemporary Worship service of Hendersonville First United Methodist Church.
There’s been a huge conversation about the Youtube sensation “Why I Hate Religion But Love Jesus” by rap artist Jefferson Bethke.
After 18 million views and a lot of buzz, NPR’s “All Things Considered” picked up the story and ran an extensive feature A Pulpit For The Masses: YouTube, Christians Click.
I just celebrated my second over-50 birthday, time to retire from worship leading, right?
When are you Too Old To Rock ‘n’ Roll, Too Young To Die ? [Totally random link to the song by Jethro Tull , 1976 performance, and a bonus link to their 2008 performance]
Time to be put out to pasture?
My favorite worship blogger David Santistevan has few posts on this topic, most recently How Do You Connect Older Musicians With The Younger? “The old and the young, can’t we all just get along?”
