Worship set:

1. Let God Arise (mp3)
2. Oh Praise Him (mp3)
3. Let Me Sing (iTunes)
4. How He Loves (mp3)
5. Glory to God Forever (YouTube)

Great morning in Denton this last weekend except for a minor train wreck in 1st service.  We were using a loop for Oh Praise Him and at the beginning of the song, my right in-ear piece (I only use the right ear) went out!  So, I couldn’t hear the loop and began to veer off course pretty dramatically.  The drummer instinctfully stopped the loop and we recovered, phew!  It could’ve been much worse.

How He Loves, of course was absolutely amazing.  I linked you to the new David Crowder version, but we do the Kim Walker version from the We Cry Out CD.  As for Glory to God Forever, good luck finding that.  I don’t think it’s out yet, but I found this YouTube video that should help you get an idea of what the song is like.  It’s a pretty straight forward rock worship tune, sort of Chris Tomlin style.

Just wanted to plug a new system that I’m using to synchronize our weekend file needs at the church.  We’ve been struggling for some time with Windows Live Sync.  I don’t even know where to begin to enumerate all of the challenges that we’ve faced with the Windows product.  Perhaps a large part of the problem is that we are primarily a Mac shop in our Creative and Tech departments.  In any case, SugarSync has saved the day.

This system is flawless and the SugarSync Manager is super easy to use and modify.  What’s also great is that this is Mac and Windows compatible, though we are primarily using it in a Mac environment.  One huge plus in using SugarSync is that files are not only being synchronized between computers, but a backup is being kept on web-based storage as well.  So, every file that you sync can be accessed via the web from anywhere and sent to anyone from anywhere via the email “send” tool built-in to SugarSync.  Oh…and there’s an iPhone app that allows you to access the files that you are syncing!

If you’ve got multiple computers that need to stay synced, if you are having to deliver content to several computers, if you are on a network or even if these machines are on completely different networks, if you’re using a Mac or PC…..use SugarSync!

Homosexuality in the church has been in the local Dallas news over the last couple of weeks.  I fear this is an issue that will increasingly be in the news for some time to come.

One story is about Broadway Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX.  The church has been denominationally disassociated by the Southern Baptist Convention because of their stance on homosexuality.  Apparently, the church has taken a pro-homosexual stance by allowing gay couples to actually become members of the church.  Of course, this is in contrast to the doctrinal stance on homosexuality by the Southern Baptist Convention; consequently, the church was forced to break ties.

The other story involves the American Episcopal Church.  It is well-known that for some years now, the Episcopal Church has allowed the ordination of gay ministers and leaders within their churches.  Not only church leaders, but senior leaders, pastors and bishops.  In addition, there are some entire Episcopal Church congregations that are known to be gay-friendly if you will.  So, four dioceses of the Episcopal Church have decided to break away from the organization and form a new church denomination, the North American Anglican Church.  One of the four dioceses happens to be in Fort Worth which is why this issue hit the local news here in Dallas.

A few months ago, I attended a leadership conference where I heard Matt Chandler (one of the keynote speakers) say something that has stuck with me.  He said that he believed that over the next 20 years, churches would be defined in our culture by the way that they respond to the issue of homosexuality.  Apparently, he’s right.

This is a personal issue for me because I have had to make this same stand in my ministry experience.  In the face of a changing church culture, I had to make the decision to either “evolve” as some would call it, or remain true to what I believe the Bible has to say about homosexuality in the church.  I commend these church leaders for making that same stand and hold firm to the truth that God’s Word never changes.  What was true 2000 years ago is still true today.

So, let the madness ensue.

I just found out via Twitter that Christian Audio is giving away a free download of the audiobook version of Crazy Love by Francis Chan for the month of July.  I just downloaded it and I can’t wait to dig in.  We actually just used Francis Chan’s message for our One Prayer series this past weekend at my church and I loved it!  Francis is an inspiring communicator and he definitely issued the challenge this last week to be bold in our faith.

To watch the message, click here and then click on the ONE Prayer logo.  Choose week “4″ right underneath the video pop-up.

Here’s the link to get your free audiobook download of Crazy Love….FREE BOOK

Worship set:

1. We Stand (mp3)
2. My Savior Lives (mp3)
3. I Am Free (mp3)
4. Your Love Never Fails (iTunes)
5. Revelation Song (mp3)
6. Mighty to Save (mp3)

I’ve been leading worship at the Denton campus of Cross Timbers Community Church but I’ve forgotten to post my set lists for the week.  Sorry about that.  So, here’s this previous weekend’s set.

This was our 3rd week doing Your Love Never Fails.  I’ve really been trying to work this song into our repetoire and it’s a song that I really love.  But, I was expecting such a better response on this song than we’ve been getting.  From my perspective, the song is really great and I feel like we’re really pulling it off musically.  But, I’m not sure if it’s really sinking in.  The jury is still out on that one.

As for Revelation Song and Mighty to Save, those are big anthems in our church at every campus, I think.  Great tunes.  If you haven’t heard We Stand, take a listen.  It’s a pretty hard rock tune from Lee McDerment of Newspring Church.  I like some of his stuff….not your standard church music.

I’ve been really turned on to the worship of the Jesus Culture as of late.  I don’t know a lot about this group other than I think they consist of worship leaders from Bethel Church in Redding, CA and some from the IHOP in Kansas City.  Also, I think they were part of the OneThing conferences put on by Mike Bickle from IHOP.

I love this CD, but I’m not writing a review here.  The worship on this disc has caused me to think more about the church in general and more specifically the worship style in our churches.  I come from a charismatic church background.  Those are my roots.  While I still do hold to the doctrine of the the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, I would not consider myself a charismatic believer because of all of the other things that come along with that label.

My point is, however, that I certainly do miss the worship environment in the charismatic church.  There’s no doubt that worship in the charismatic church is more intimate, deeper and at times really intense.  I miss that.  In most modern, non-denominational churches, you won’t find that to be true of the worship environment.  Often times, it’s a very performance driven time in the service involving a group of individuals on a stage and a room full of spectators.  This is not always the case, but not uncommon.

This CD takes me back to the feeling of being in an environment amongst a group of believers who were there to worship, not just to “check it out.”  I don’t understand how this shift in worship in our churches took place and why.  How did worship get to be the thing during the service that made people feel good, that wet their appetite for a good show or the thing that hopefully attracted them to come back to the church next week?  How did that happen?

I’ve even heard someone once preach an entire message on the fallacy of calling the music portion of our services “worship” because in truth, the whole service is a “worship” service.  While technically, I’m in agreement with the latter part of that statement, what a misguided interpretation of what worship is all about.

I don’t know what the answer is, but I will say that I sense a shift happening in worship in our churches at large.  I’m seeing a lot more attempts at an authentic worship environment from large churches and I’m noticing that songs being written as of late are pushing past the standard “How Great Is Our God” kind of anthem and into something a little deeper (though I’m not quite sure what I mean by that).  Oh, and this is not a dig at Chris Tomlin….I’m a fan.

I’m really excited to announce that I’ve teamed up with Life Catalyst Consulting as their Technology and Video Delivery consultant.  This is something that I’ve been wanting to do for a long time, but I really don’t have any interest in starting my own business and I’ve never found a team that I really wanted to work with in the consulting world.  I really feel like I’ve found the perfect partnership at Life Catalyst.  Scotty Sanders (founder and CEO) is a phenomenal leader and I consider it a privilege to work with him and the incredible team of consultants that he’s assembled.

I am still the technical director at Cross Timbers and in no way is this a separation or a path away from the church.  Life Catalyst is simply an extension of what God has allowed me to do at Cross Timbers and I am excited about taking the things that I’m learning on a weekly basis into other churches who are facing some of the same challenges in technology that we have.

So, if you and/or your church is looking for some leadership and guidance in the area of technology (audio, video, lighting…etc), then please check out Life Catalyst.  In addition, Life Catalyst is very well equipped to help almost any area of your church or ministry take it to the next level.  Check out the website for more details.

I’ve had the opportunity over the last few weeks to be able to lead worship at our Denton campus at Cross Timber Community Church.  It’s been such a great opportunity to be able to be involved in our worship department and I’m looking forward to the coming weeks of continuing to help out as we search for a new worship leader for that campus.

Leading worship from the capacity of actually being the technical director has been interesting and almost a little revelatory for me.  It’s quite different leading worship from the perspective of simply serving in the role versus having your whole identity wrapped up in being the “worship leader.”  Somehow, being the technical director and leading worship takes the pressure off a bit in the sense that I don’t feel like I necessarily have to live up to some kind of preconceived expectation.  That’s kind of freeing.

So, not sure how long this is going to last, but I’m having a blast doing it.  You never know what’s around the corner at Cross Timbers….