Rick's Worship Blog

New album from Audrey Assad coming February 14th!!

2012-01-31T15:26:00.003-05:00

Audrey Assad is currently my favorite Christian artist. Honest words, great music, and...she plays piano!

Christmas Mania

2012-01-04T08:59:00.002-05:00

Here at St. Andrews, we had an amazing time of worship throughout the month of December.

1.We kicked off the Advent season with a two-night concert entitled , "Come Now Our King." We had piano, bass, drums, keyboard, 2 electric/acoustic. The title of the concert was inspired by the amazing song by Chris August and Dave Barnes, and each piece that we shared those 2 evenings had something to do with Christ as king.

The idea to do a Christmas concert that focused on Jesus as king came to me back in the summer while I was reading through 1 & 2 Kings. What I found is that there were consistently more ungodly, idol-worshipping kings in power than there were godly ones. Yet, inspite of that, God knew what His plans were, and He stuck to them. And though there were trying times for God's people, He never forgot them. He knew He was about to establish His Son as the King of kings and Lord of lords, and it seems He wanted people to be in a state of yearning and anticipation when His Son came into the world.

Our current-day affairs sometimes seem all too similar to what God's people were experiencing before the 1st coming. Though we haven't been deported, we know that our nation is no longer strictly Christian. We know that our leaders aren't strictly Christian, and many fear for the future. Could it be that God is allowing these events to occur, that we might long for His 2nd coming? Could it be that God is using these affairs to turn our nation back to Himself?

2. We also had a great Christmas Eve service. We had piano, bass, drums, 2 acoustic, and a string quartet. Though it's time-consuming, I love arranging for strings. They can really add alot of flavor to the music. Our Christmas Eve services are always in the Lessons & Carols format. They include familiar Christmas hymns on which we lead the congregation, as well as some performance pieces that the choir and/or a soloist will sing. As is the norm with many traditional churches, we ended the service with Silent Night while the congregation illuminated the sanctuary with their candles.

3. We had 1 combined service on Christmas Day. We chose not to hire any extra musicians as we didn't want to pull them away from their families just for our sake, so we had our usual Sunday morning band (piano, bass, drums & 2 acoustics). Without tinkering with the melodies, I arranged some familiar Christmas hymns to where they were singable and familiar, yet had a slightly different accompaniment. It was alot of fun. The choir sang a beautiful anthem by Craig Courtney called, "Murmurs in a Stable."

Easter, here we come!

Sunday October 2nd

2011-10-05T14:30:00.002-04:00

Here's what we sang this past Sunday:

"O Breath of Life, Come Sweeping Through Us" - Trinity Hymnal #341. Written by Bessie P. Head. This is one of those "keep the same melody re-write the chords structure" hymns. It seemed fitting since the sermon had to do with God "breathing into man's nostrils".

"Everlasting God" - Brenton Brown (not Chris Tomlin)

"All Creatures of Our God and King" - same as last week

OFFERTORY: "Jesus, Lover of My Soul" - Red Mountain Church version (from the Depth of Mercy album)

Salvation to the Lamb - Emily DeLoach (from the Indelible Grace album By Thy Mercy: Indelible Grace Acoustic).

Sunday September 25th

2011-09-27T09:45:00.006-04:00

This past Sunday was our 2nd week into the Genesis series. This was the lineup:

"I Sing the Almighty Power of God" - Trinity Hymnal #119. I re-arranged the chord structure. We did verses 1, 2 & 4 in A Major and the 3rd verse in F# minor. Creates a nice transition.

"Salvation to the Lamb" - recorded by Indelible Grace. This week we added a harmony for the men in our choir to sing. We had a female lead on a mic in the choir.

"All Creatures of Our God and King" - Trinity Hymnal #115. This was an extension of the introit we did last week. I added an acappella verse and some different harmonies for the final 2 verses. The congregation seemed to really sing out on this one.

OFFERTORY: "Everything is Yours" - One of my favorite Audrey Assad tunes. My favorite artist this year. I wrote some choir parts based on the harmonies I heard on the recording. Our band did a great job learning their parts, as well as our lead soloist.

"We Are Listening" - Sojourn. Great tune about valuing God's Word. Has a nice folk/country feel.

Sunday September 11th & 18th

2011-09-21T09:49:00.005-04:00

My apologies for not making a post last week. Here are the lineups from the past 2 Sundays:

Sunday September 11th (10-year anniversary of 9/11):

-INTROIT: Calmer of My Troubled Heart - this is a Charles Wesley/Clint Wells tune. Recorded by Matthew Smith. The men sang on this one with just the piano. Absolutely beautiful.

-A Mighty Fortress - We used the same traditional melody with simplified chordage

-My Hope is Built - same as above

-Be Thou My Vision - Same as above

-OFFERTORY: Abide With Me, Fast Falls the Eventide - my arrangement with the traditional melody. Choir and piano with an acappella 3rd verse.

-I Will Glory in My Redeemer - Sovereign Grace tune

Sunday September 18th:

(TJ started a sermon series on Genesis, so you'll notice that most of these tunes are geared toward creation and praise.)

-INTROIT: All Creatures of our God and King - the choir sang one verse with a small tag at the end. I arranged this as a 2-part short piece. There's really no way to get around the meter changes in this song, but we made it sound as 4/4 as possible. We sang it at about 60 - quarter note.

-Praise to the Lord, the Almighty - Travis Cottrell's version from the album "Alive Forever". Has an awesome chorus in between verses where we just sing "Praise the Lord!" Good stuff.

-Never Cease to Praise - written and recorded by Jeff Bourque (Grace Community Church, Brentwood, TN).

-Jesus, My Great High Priest - my re-write of the hymn. Isaac Watts original author.

-OFFERTORY: All Creatures of Our God and King - my piano arrangement in F#. Love that key.

-Salvation to the Lamb - Indelible Grace. Recorded by Emily DeLoach

More Audrey...

2011-09-08T11:56:00.003-04:00

Is this girl cool or what? Love her music and her heart...

Sunday September 4, 2011

2011-09-07T13:59:00.003-04:00

Wow. Is it really September already? We have our first Christmas concert rehearsal tonight. I'm so pumped. I actually got the entire concert planned before our first rehearsal this year. Still a few charts to finish, but overall, I'm excited about the possibility of having more solid preparation.

Anyhoo, here's what we sang this past Sunday:

Introit: Salvation to the Lamb - for those of you who aren't familiar with the term, "introit" is just a fancy way of saying "introduction" or "intro to worship". This particular tune is one we're going to start using during worship, so usually songs like that will be played as an introit or offertory so the congregation will have heard it a time or two beforehand. It's by Indelible Grace folks.

Come Christians, Join to Sing - Trinity Hymnal #302. We re-arranged the chord structure and harmonies to have a more modern sound.

How Vast the Benefits Divine - Trinity Hymnal #470; a hymn originally by Augustus M. Toplady and re-written by me! It's a great summary of Ephesians 1 & 2

Jesus is Our Great Salvation - a tune off of Red Mountain's "Gadsby Project" album (recorded by my friend Stokes Skellie). Very calvinistic.

Offertory: Give Us Clean Hands - the classic Charlie Hall tune

Communion Song: Grace and Peace - Fernando Ortega

Hear Us From Heaven - Jared Anderson/Ross Parsley

Sunday August 28, 2011

2011-08-31T09:36:00.002-04:00

This past Sunday we did the following tunes:

-King of Saints (From the collection of hymns by William Gadsby; recorded by Red Mountain Church)

-Lord Most High (Ross Parsley)

-Great is Thy Faithfulness (Fernando Ortega arrangement)

-OFFERTORY: Holy, Holy, Holy (my piano arrangement)

-Rock of Ages (Fernando Ortega arrangment)

Indelible Grace DVD: Roots and Wings

2011-08-31T09:32:00.003-04:00

Just found this video advertising a DVD that Indelible Grace is releasing. If any of you were curious about how the whole hymn re-write movement got started, this will probably help.

Indelible Grace Documentary Trailer: Roots And Wings from Kevin Twit on Vimeo.

Sunday August 21st

2011-08-24T10:03:00.003-04:00

Hey everyone,

I thought I'd start posting about the songs we sing on Sunday. Being that St. Andrews uses both traditional and contemporary music, and the fact that I'm constantly looking for new songs, it seemed necessary to post the names of the tunes and the authors/arrangers so you could be listening at home or in the car!

Sunday August 21st

Holy God, We Praise Your Name

-Trinity Hymnal #103

-We used the same melody with a more simplified chord structure

Never Cease to Praise

-Written by Jeff Bourque. Jeff is a music director at a church in Brentwood, TN (close to the Nashville scene).

And Can It Be

-Not the traditional Trinity melody. This one is by Bob Kauflin - my favorite of all the versions of this tune. Has a great chorus.

Jesus, I Come (offertory)

-There's a new worship gal name Shelly Moore that has a band. It's called...wait for it...the Shelly Moore band. This is her version of the tune.

I Will Glory in My Redeemer

-The folks at Sovereign Grace ministries put out a bunch of great tunes. This is one of them.

Are You Evaluating Your Sundays?

2011-08-15T09:35:00.003-04:00

We have a saying around St. Andrews that sometimes people get "shoulded" on. You "should" cater more towards this group of people. You "should" be more open to this or that. Sometimes getting "shoulded on" can leave a person feeling discouraged, like what they've done isn't good enough. That's not my intention in this post, but I do think this is a black and white issue that needs to be addressed. Think of it more as getting "needed" on (unfortunately that doesn't have the same "Oh my gosh, what did you just say?" factor as the latter).

We record our services each week. We don't have multi-track recording on our system, so it's not the best quality, but it's good enough to hear what's going on. So I occasionally (by occasionally I mean 1 or 2 weeks out of the month) spend some time on Monday morning listening back to our choir, band, and myself as we led the congregation in worship. I'm listening for things like pitch, tempo, band "togetherness", entrances and cut-offs, etc. I'm always amazed at the things I hear on the recording that weren't evident to me during the actual service. I'm not sure that I've ever listened back and not heard at least 5 things that could be better.

Put yourself in the shoes of the congregation and listen back to what's being played on Sunday mornings. Don't have a way to record your services? Invest in one. Heck, you could even start with a tape recorder on stage if that's what it takes. Find a way to evaluate what you're doing. I'm always surprised at how I think I'm holding the tempo, only to find out Monday morning I got excited during the crescendo and sped up. Other times I notice my piano playing is too busy and needs to back off some. It doesn't matter if your congregation doesn't consist of all music teachers. I'm convinced that the more we do to fine-tune our songs, the easier it is for our congregations to enter in to worship.

Teams Are Where It's At

2011-08-09T21:03:00.003-04:00

I've been working within the church walls for almost 6 years now, and this year I've had a wonderful realization - I NEED A TEAM! I'm a go-getter in terms of music. I like to produce and create and rehearse and perform, and up to this point, I haven't seen a need for a team. But as of late, and especially through prayer, that need is becoming more evident to the point that it's a necessity.

It doesn't matter how gifted someone is, one can only get so far by himself. Without trying to sound arrogant, I consider myself to be gifted in music. There are a lot of things I can do that I don't think are necessarily common to every musician. That being said, there's only so much I CAN do. The needs of a ministry always stretch beyond the capabilities of one person. Maybe this is just another reason God designed the Church to function as a body. Maybe ministry was never meant to be a one-man deal.

Think about Jesus' ministry. Did He show up and do it all Himself? No way. He had 70 disciples with 12 on a more intimate, personal level. Think about how many more people He was able to reach because of them? And because He invested in them, they were able to continue carrying the message throughout the world after his ascension.

Recently, I was at a Michael W. Smith concert in Ft. Lauderdale. I've become more and more of a fan of his because I not only see how he's influenced me spiritually and musically, but I also respect the longevity of his ministry and the people he's reached across the world. He said something that night that I'll never forget: "The reason I've been able to re-invent myself all these years is because I've surrounded myself with great people." Think about it - Smitty most likely has a HUGE team. Musicians who can play their socks off, booking manager, record company, PR, roadies, bus driver, not to mention members of his church and family, publisher, etc. Smitty's got piano chops and great writing skills, but the impact of his ministry depends on a recording studio, an engineer, and everything else I mentioned above.

Maybe if you're a worship leader like me, you tend to think you have to do it all yourself. Maybe you thought that delegating responsibility out to your volunteers would have been laziness on your part. Not the case. As a matter of fact, having a team is a great way to cast vision and to allow others to bring their unique gifts to the table (gifts you may not have), not to mention the "iron sharpening iron" aspect that we need. Do one of your volunteers have the gift of compassion? Utilize them to make phone calls to your choir members. Do one of your volunteers understand how to recruit? Get their advice and let them help you! Are any of your choir members great hosts? Let them host a get-together at their home.

I'm excited to begin implementing teams in my ministry. If you don't have a team, create one! Let your volunteers use their God-given gifts to give some flavor to your ministry!

I Might As Well Have Been Blind

2011-07-13T09:37:00.006-04:00

Our Young Adult group at St. Andrews is studying the book Don't Waste Your Life by John Piper. It's always been one of those books I assumed I would eventually read because churches and bookstores always have it out where everyone can see it. The title itself is intriguing. I have to say, though, I'm a little surprised at what first hit me as I began reading.

In the very first chapter, Piper recalls some of the influences that came into his life during his college years. One of them (no surprise here) was C.S. Lewis. He mentions that, after reading his first Lewis book, Mere Christianity, that he was hooked for life. Lewis's writings were a breath of fresh air for Piper amidst the "existentialism" that reigned in the day (basically, instead of a Creator giving us meaning, we create our own purpose and essence - sounds alot like postmodernism, doesn't it?). Existentialism suggested that there was no God "out there," but that any evidence of God or gods was to be found in us. We create who we want to become.

However, C.S. Lewis, observant and imaginative as he was, helped Piper (and now me) see that creation is evidence enough for the existence of a God who is "out there." In the quote below , Piper writes of how Lewis opened his eyes to "objective reality":

"He [Lewis] demonstrated for me and convinced me that rigorous, precise, penetrating logic is not opposed to deep, soul-stirring feeling and vivd, lively - even playful - imagination."

What I took away from it is this: I spend alot of my time thinking about what I have to do next. I'm task-driven, and on the positive side of things, it helps me get things done. The downside is that I have spent most of my life missing the "objective reality" in front of me. How often do I stop and think, "Wow! Look at all these trees! Look how they make shade from the sun! How did they get there?", or "Look at the ocean! There's no way that man could've filled the earth with that much water, let alone the fish that dwell within it!", or even more, "Look at the clouds, the stars in the sky! Who put those there? How do they hold their place?" Part of not wasting my life is looking around and noticing the evidences of the Creator. I might as well have been blind all these years, because I have grown used to these things. I take them for granted, when God put them here to point to Himself.

I live in sunny South Florida. I even ride my bike to and from the church each day. If I stop my racing mind for one minute and just look around, I'm amazed at how everything I see, no matter how technologically advanced or new they appear, all came from God. Is there anything in this world that God did not create? What hospital or office building came into being without the natural elements that God put into the earth? What architect received his knowledge of angles and mathematics without Someone first setting the boundaries of absolutes? How can these construction men in the orange vests mix and pour concrete without Someone first filling the earth with rocks and sand? These things may be obvious, logical things, but as Piper said above:

"He [Lewis] demonstrated for me and convinced me that rigorous, precise, penetrating logic is not opposed to deep, soul-stirring feeling and vivd, lively - even playful - imagination."

The obvious can awaken worship if we stop and notice it.

Voice Lessons: Helpful or Harmful?

2011-06-28T09:28:00.006-04:00

It was once said, "The worst thing you can do to a pop singer is train him." I'm not sure if I fully agree with this idea, but from my experience, I can see some truths in it.

My voice started changing when I was in 8th grade. I had a range of about a minor 7th (middle C down to D). It was awful. I couldn't sing anything. I couldn't even answer the phone without my voice cracking. But as awful as it was, I was excited about the fact that I was now changing into and sounding like a man. By my sophomore year in high school, I had 2 octaves (F-F)...sort of. I had to push my voice in probably-not-so-healthy ways to hit the higher and lower notes, but at least it was better than my 8th grade voice.

I was given solos from time to time, whether in choir or in the school musical (Oklahama!). I was able to match pitch ok, but I had no vocal control. My voice would shake, still cracking at times. My body was tense, and I didn't know how to breathe. So by senior year, I enrolled myself in voice lessons with a lady that was pretty popular around the Trussville/Clay, AL area. She worked with me on the things just mentioned, and I noticed some pretty immediate changes, though not all of them were satisfactory in my mind. There were aspects about my old voice that I missed, but the concepts she taught me were supposed to take time. Plus, my voice was still maturing, so I stuck with it through the summer.

Fast-forward to senior year at Montevallo. I had had 8 semesters of private voice (not including what I had in high school), and I'm began to notice a problem - I didn't like the way my voice sounded. It didn't sound like the artists I listened to, and as far as worship-leading was concerned, it was a distraction. It's kinda like a person who takes golf lessons once a week - instead of just going out there and enjoying yourself, you're thinking about keeping your left arm straight, your right elbow tucked, your head down, your hips moving, and your spine angle stable...not to mention your clubface rotating, your grip in the right place, and your swing plane at approximately 25 degrees (ok, yeah I've had golf lessons and they do help to an extent).

For me, that's what voice lessons were like. I was given so many things to think about, that I ended up sounding like an Italian opera wannabe. For the style of music that I was naturally the best at (pop/contemporary Christian), my vocals weren't doing me any favors. How did those artists like Steven Curtis Chapman, Ronnie Freeman, and Elton John hit those high notes so effortlessly? How come every time I opened my mouth to sing, it sounded like a college vocal major trying to audition for American Idol?

Speaking of American Idol, fast-forward to this year's finale. I'm watching Scotty and Lauren sing, and something clicked: these two don't sound like they've had voice lessons! Why? You ready??...........they approached singing the same was one would in the shower - effortless. They were just having fun! They're weren't trying too hard. A few days later, I'm watching Ronnie Freeman (one of my fav Christian artists) on YouTube. Same thing. He's not letting himself get caught up in the technicalities of singing. His eyes are closed, his body's moving, and he's just enjoying God.

So I started trying this new (but not really new) approach to singing. It's what Wicked superstar Idina Menzel referred to as singing with your speaking voice - it's supposed to sound and feel as natural as when you speak. When you talk, you're not taking in huge amounts of air or thinking too hard about voice inflections. You don't carry on a conversation sounding like an opera singer. You just talk. Could it be that, for the non-opera singers, this is the better approach? Could it be that voice lessons should be limited to what I just wrote about - coaching someone to sing like they speak, instead of trying to get them to perform a vocal golf swing???

By the way, since implementing the "speak-sing," I feel a lot more comfortable in my voice now. I actually enjoy singing again for the first time in 10 years...

VBS This Week

2011-06-20T13:29:00.004-04:00

This week St. Andrews is hosting our annual Vacation Bible School for kids in our church and throughout our community. It's really neat to see the parents who will walk in and register their children, even when they've never attended a Sunday service before. There have been some great stories in the past about how a parent would bring their child to VBS and, as the week progressed, that child start to implement what he was learning in his own home. Alot of times we think of VBS being kid-directed, but it also can have an impact on the parents as well.

This year the focus is on Jonah. This story is so good for me to hear. I often excuse my disobedience. I forget that grace isn't designed to let me continue in my old ways. It's like I can get in these ruts where I'm struggling with my sins, and instead of praying for God to help me obey, I just say, "Lord, please forgive me" and move on. That's only half of it! What if Jonah had said, "Ok, God, I'm sorry for running from you. Now will you leave me alone?" Of course not! Jonah needed to be obedient in order to preach to Ninevah. Plus, don't you think he was a lot happier being out of the belly of the fish? There is JOY in obedience, and when I do as God asks of me, I'm so much more drawn to Him and His Word.

Please be in prayer for this week, that God would change the hearts of the children and their parents!

"Songs From My Baby Years": Breathe

2011-06-13T10:45:00.005-04:00

Right now I'm training two people in our church to become worship leaders. It's kind of making me feel old, especially when I tell them that "Shout to the Lord" was a Hillsong tune (Hillsong has definitely gotten more edgy in the past 10 years). One of the things I'm doing is introducing them to worship artists and songs that helped shape me. Chances are, if you ask any worship leader, they'll be able to point to a few artists and songs that had a monumental impact on them. For me, one combination of artist/song that greatly impacted me was Christ Nockels singing the song "Breathe."

Think of the most angelic female voice you've ever heard (before the days of Kari Jobe) combined with a passionate, longing heart. Christy teaches us what a worshipper should be doing, because when you listen to her sing, you can feel her energy and desire for God. She's not a show-boat; she just sings what she feels.

Marie Barnett is the original author of "Breathe", but Christy's approach to the song is the best out there. You can find it on one of the older Passion albums (OneDay Live):

This is the air I breath (x2)

Your holy presence

Living in me

This is my daily bread (x2)

Your very word spoken to me

And I...I'm desperate for You

And I...I'm lost without You

Isn't it amazing how these few words can say so much? Is this not the core of the Christian life? Our 2 most basic needs: God's presence & God's Word. And the best part about it? This song describes the very posture in which God desires us to be: humble, broken, contrite, needy. Isn't this where we find our strength?

Expressiveness in Worship

2011-06-06T10:09:00.010-04:00

This week I'm going to veer from "Songs From My Baby Years" (check back in the future weeks for more on that series!) to bring you this video. One subject matter I've been thinking about lately is physical expression in worship. This is not something I've done nor encouraged those I'm leading to do in quite some time. Unfortunately, I've often let my intelligence out-weigh my heart. Instead of standing in awe, I stand a veteran theologian. I agree with Bob Kauflin when he says, "Although bodily expression in worship is not the MAIN issue, it can reflect an inward reality." I hope this video will get you thinking about expressiveness in worship as well.

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"Songs From My Baby Years": Lord, Light the Fire Again

2011-05-24T10:37:00.006-04:00

Stacy and I have recently discovered that our 7-week-old baby gets fussy. Thankfully, it doesn't last all day. But usually between 5 - 8pm, she will begin to cry and fuss for reasons beyond our knowing. Her diaper's been changed, she's been fed, rocked, swaddled - those comfort measures that always seem to work are all of a sudden useless. Nothing satisfies anymore. When all options have been exhausted, the only thing we can do is let her cry (in the seclusion of her nursery, of course!). It's hard to block it out. It's tempting to go pick her up. However, to do so would not only be useless, but it would rob her of a valuable lesson: she has to learn that the pain eventually subsides, that whatever she's upset about will eventually be made right. And she does. After 30 minutes of screaming bloody murderer, she calms and falls asleep.

Last week, I wrote about the song Draw Me Close. I loved feeling the closeness of God in those early days. I felt His presence all the time. It was new. Fresh. So it's only fitting that I was devastated the first time I seemingly lost that sensation. God had been so exciting to me, and all of sudden, things began to feel mundane, lifeless and dry. I thought I had done something wrong. I thought I wasn't worshiping hard enough or praying long enough. I would ask to feel His presence - nothing. I would try and sing my favorite song - nothing. I would even cry - nothing. Why was this happening? Has God left me? No. He was letting me cry in the nursery.

I think those were the moments where God said, "It's time for you to start walking by faith, Rick." Those were the moments where, instead of running to my first cry, God let me be, and I was forced to walk by faith. At the time, I wasn't sure how to do that, but soon enough, I discovered the beauty of God's Word, how it promised me that I am "sealed for eternity" and that "by one sacrifice, He has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified." When I began reading these words, I realized that God hadn't left me. He simply wanted me to learn trust and faith - and that came by leaving me in my "nursery" and forcing me to know the Truth. Do I ever feel His presence now? Absolutely. Do I feel it as often as I did when I was 17? No, but I've learned to trust in between those times. He hasn't left. He's only growing me.

Lord, Light the Fire Again was a song I connected with during these times (and still do!). It's a cry to God to renew my zeal for him (whether I feel it or not), and to discipline me. It's one of those songs that means so much in times of dryness. I need that nursery time. I need to learn trust, and when I do, God seems to return that warm feeling. This song is by the Vineyard artist Brian Doerkson. Here are the lyrics:

Don't let my love grow cold

I'm calling out, "Light the fire again!"

Don't let my vision die

I'm calling out, "Light the fire again!"

You know my heart my deeds

I'm calling out, "Light the fire again!"

I need Your discipline

I'm calling out, "Light the fire again!"

I am here to buy gold, refined in the fire

Naked and poor

Wretched and blind I come

Clothe me in white so I won't be ashamed

Lord, light the fire again

"Songs From My Baby Years": Draw Me Close

2011-05-18T09:11:00.006-04:00

Last week I started a new blog series called "Songs From My Baby Years." Lately, I've really enjoyed thinking back to some of the songs I was listening to when I first became a Christian. In Colossians 2 it says, "In the same way you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him." These songs make my heart glad and encourage me to keep running the race. They stir up my affections for God and His Word, just like they did 12 years ago. It was through the hearing of these songs that I received Christ Jesus, and I want to continue listening to them for the rest of my life.

This week, I'm featuring a song called "Draw Me Close." This song was written by a girl named Kelly Carpenter, but, at least in my world, was made famous by a group called The Katinas. The Katinas didn't have very many hits (you may also remember the song "You Are God" from this group), but their arrangement of "Draw Me Close" was enough to put them on my map. This is a very intimate song. It speaks of longing and yearning for a Father who will whisper His love to us. If an infant could express it's deepest longings to its mother or father, it would probably sound like this:

Draw me close to you

Never let me go

I lay it all down again

To hear you say that I'm your friend

You are my desire

No one else will do

'Cause nothing else can take your place

To feel the warmth of your embrace

Help me find the way

Bring me back to you

You're all I want

You're all I've ever needed

You're all I want

Help me know You are near

It's funny how the first 2 songs of this blog series have to do with feeding and cuddling. It makes sense that they'd impact me so much as a new believer: they're written as from the perspective of a helpless, 100% dependent child. Something about the lyrics and instruments of this song feel to me like a baby in a nursery - quiet, intimate, and safe. And the best part about it - there's no way you can walk away from this song feeling proud. It gets you in the correct posture before the Father.

This is my desire in worship, that I not only believe the words I'm singing, but that I feel a tangible sense of God's presence.

Act of Congress Symphony arrangement

2011-05-11T08:54:00.010-04:00

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Some of you who read this blog may have heard my brother-in-law's band Act of Congress. They came to South Florida last summer to play 2 gigs at Broward College. Our staff at St. A's was also treated to a private show in the coffee area one afternoon. Here is their latest clip of "The Well" with a live symphony orchestra backing. This song was submitted for a CD compilation called Music for Alabama, where all the proceeds go to the Red Cross to help with the impact of the tornadoes that hit Alabama 2 weeks ago.

Their sophomore album is set to be released in the summer, so I'll be sure to keep you informed. The new female lead/violinist is our good friend Connie Skellie. Mad talent. All Act of Congress music can be found on iTunes. Be sure to check out their Facebook page for music & updates.

"Songs From My Baby Years": Hungry (Falling on My Knees)

2011-05-09T09:46:00.007-04:00

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I've decided to start a blog series called "Songs From My Baby Years." This series stems from my most recent post (see below) about continuing to walk in the Lord Jesus as I received Him, and features songs or albums that impacted my walk early on in my Christian life (Colossians 2:6). For me, since music is such a big part of my life, that means pulling out those old songs from the late 90s early 2K, closing my eyes, and letting them stir me up again. You know how sometimes your mom will drag out that old box of toys she's kept in the attic all these years? Every time I see things like that, it takes me back to a time when life was full of delight, free of hardship, and Christmas came once every 10 years. That's kind of what "songs from my baby years" is about: it reminds me of how glorious Jesus Christ was to me at the time of my spiritual birth and helps me continue pressing on...

Hungry (Falling on My Knees) was a song/album that my youth pastor had recommended to me. I had made the decision that, yes, I am now a professing follower of Jesus, and I was hungry for "that thing" that all the other Christians around me had. When I bought it and started listening, Hungry was the first song on the album. I think the words impacted me the most because they described the place I was at in my life: hungry, thirsty, ready, willing, etc. (not to mention, Kathryn Scott was the lead vocalist and to this day can about bring me to tears with her worship ballads.)

Hungry, I come to you for I know you satisfy

I am empty but I know your love does not run dry

So I wait for you

I'm falling on my knees, offering all of me

Jesus, you're all this heart is longing for

Broken, I run to you for your arms are open wide

I am weary but I know your touch restores my life

The best part about it was that the entire album was live, and every song was good (some of you may recall the songs "Breathe" and "There's No One Like Our God" which also are on this album). Being able to hear all those voices express their hunger and thirst simultaneously was mesmerizing to me. If you haven't heard the Hungry album, check it out on iTunes.

In the Same Way You Received Him...

2011-05-03T11:14:00.010-04:00

"As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him..." Colossians 2:6

When I became a Christian around the age of 16, I listened to ALOT of Christian music. Passion, Hillsong, Paul Baloche, Clay Cross, Steven Curtis, you name it - I owned it. This was my milk: 3 ounces of Michael W. Smith, 3 ounces Caedmon's Call...full (can you tell I'm a new dad?). This is how I got my spiritual nourishment. Sure, I made attempts to read the Bible, but I didn't understand theology yet. Couldn't have told you what God's sovereignty was or how one sacrifice for sins was enough. Dare I say, I didn't need it just yet. The music I was listening to was enough.

I know some people might scoff at this and say, "If you can't communicate the gospel, then how could you be born again?" Sorry to disappoint, but I don't see it that way. As a matter of fact, I was more alive, more in awe, and more in love with God at that point in my life than ever before. Everything was new, everything was amazing. Even my poor attempts at reading the Bible left my heart overflowing. I look at my month-old baby girl now and think, "Does she know who her parents are? Could she communicate that we'll never leave or forsake her? Does she know that she belongs to us?" Of course not. I think God operates that way when we first become believers. He gives us life by the Spirit, and treats us like newborns for a time. He doesn't expect us to be able to communicate the meaning of life at that stage. We grasp it over time. But one thing we do know...we have new life and we're out of the womb.

I'm not downplaying the study of the Word. Let me be the first to say that Jesus is clear about our need for it (John 15:5). What I'm talking about is continuing to walk in the Lord Jesus in the same way you received Him. I need to keep listening to some of those songs I used to hear when I was a spiritual newborn. Not so I can backslide or get lazy, but so it can aid my current walk. Maybe some of you out there get a charge from reading and have to work harder at implementing the creative side of things like singing hymns or spiritual songs. Me? Listening to hymns and spiritual songs makes me want to read the Bible, so the more I implement those into my personal time with God, the sweeter the Words on the page sound.

I hope that each of you might remember what stirred up your affections for Jesus when you first believed, and that you might continue to implement it into your lives.

Recap from Last Week

2011-04-27T11:14:00.008-04:00

We had a wonderful time of worship this past week as we presented "Belong", our Passion Week Concert. The meaning behind "belong" was birthed from my own personal study of the Passion account, and the theme that jumped out at me was how, after the resurrection, the disciples still belonged to Jesus and were still used by God to jump start the spread of the gospel despite their poor performance when Jesus was arrested, beaten and crucified. It just reminds us that the death of Jesus Christ is what included them (and us), not the grade they got on their report card after Jesus rose from the dead.

We had a total of 22 choir members along with guest musicians Tom Lippincott (nylon string/electric guitars), Sandy Poltarack (acoustic guitar), Rajan Purcell (bass), and Arturo Garcia (drums). Much thanks to these guys for their solid effort in learning these tunes and performing them to a "t". Here was our set list:

God So Loved the World - arr. Benjamin Harlan

King of Glory - Thrid Day

The Gospel Song - Bob Kauflin

Nothin' - Chris Rice

O Love that Will Not Let Me Go - George Matheson/Jason Sears

He Never Said a Mumbalin' Word - arr. Lloyd Larson

I Thirst - Pamela Martin/Craig Courtney

He Was Wounded - Craig Courtney

Your Love is Extravagant - Darrell Evans

I Belong - Kathryn Scott

Jesus Loves Me - arr. Rick Barnes

We also had a Good Friday service in which we simplified the music to piano/choir. We did some traditional hymns such as "Jesus Paid it All" and "Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder" (Jars of Clay version). We also did my re-write to "Jesus, My Great High Priest."

For Easter, we sang Jesus Lives and So Shall I, Christ the Lord is Risen Today, Worship Christ, the Risen King, and My Jesus, I Love Thee. For the offertory, I found a choral arrangement of Chris Tomlin's I Will Rise which was nicely written. We also added a "bonus song" after the sermon which was James Ward's Just Like He Said - fun black gospel tune. Marie Randel (violin) joined our usual piano, guitar, bass, drums combo to add a different flavor. TJ preached from Acts where Paul was observing the idols in Athens and began debating with the locals about the truth of the resurrection. The main point of the sermon was this: "If the resurrection of Jesus Christ was a hoax, who would want to die for that? And if it isn't a hoax, then we cannot continue on with life as usual. We must face it and it's implications...

I've so much to write but will spread it out into other posts. Be sure to check out my blog list and read up the blog me and my wife share ("For Your Information"). There you can read about some details on our newborn, Fiona Joy!

Drawing Closer

2011-03-29T13:57:00.007-04:00

The Passion Week Concert and Easter Sunday services are a month away. I've been finishing up the charts for our musicians and choir. It's that time of year when just about everything else in ministry takes a back seat to these events - and rightfully so. There's a lot of things that need to be finished, and once that happens, rehearsals intensify, parts need to be tweaked, and we have to run the concert through a few times. We also have to start thinking about transitions between songs, when to sit/stand, and even what to wear! Pray for us, that we'll keep in perspective what it is we're doing and why. Pray that the Holy Spirit will be at work in us, helping us to personalize each of the songs we're singing.

Stacy is now 38.5 weeks pregnant. The baby has been dropping lower as of late, so we know that special day is just around the corner. Please continue to pray for us, that Stacy would have a safe delivery and that baby Fiona would be healthy and happy. Pray also for me, that God will help me pull past my fatigue to care for my family in this exciting time.

A Scary 36 Hours with a Silver Lining

2011-03-15T10:52:00.005-04:00

Around the time I would normally have been blogging last week, my wife's world took a wild turn. For 36 straight hours, she suffered from what is known as "Braxton Hicks" contractions. These are preparatory contractions the body performs to get ready for real labor. They began quietly around 7am last Wednesday and did not completely go away until midnight Friday morning. I can't think of anything more deafeating than going to a hospital twice in 24 hours only to be told, "There's nothing else we can do." There's nothing more excruciating than trying all you can to help your wife carry the load, only to see that she's really carrying all of it. It was scary, it was painful, and it was exhausting - particularly for her.

Thankfully, we have some women in our church that serve in the medical field and were able to give me some coaching on what I could do. After those 2 hospital visits, I was determined that we weren't going back unless we first spoke with people we knew. With some good breathing exercises, changing of position, and rehydration, the contractions finally faded away.

I don't believe that God enjoys putting us through painful situations, but I think he delights in what those situations produce in us. We've been through other situations where all control was lost, and we've been at our rope's end before. It seems the silver lining is always the same - where else can we run to? I mean seriously...what else or who else but God is going to be able to help in times where all control is lost? Sure, we can kick and scream. We can shake our fists and have meltdowns - but in the end - God never leaves or changes. He is the only solid Rock we've got, and maybe times like these are just reminders of that fact. So while neither of us ever wish for things like that to happen, we're always thankful for how our faith and our marriage are strengthened in the end.

Here's what Job said in the midst of his suffering: "And as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last, He will take His stand on the earth. Even after my skin is destroyed, yet from my flesh I shall see God. "(Job 19:25-26). Sometimes, that's enough to get us through.

Oh yeah...Stacy and baby are doing just fine. She just had her 36-week checkup. She measured perfect, and the doctor was even able to feel the baby's head, which means she's in the right position! Thank you for all of your prayers!

An Early Plug

2011-03-02T09:16:00.005-05:00

This year our Passion Week Concert will have a sub-theme: belonging.

Instead of just throwing together a bunch of songs about the crucifixion, I wanted to do a read-through of the entire account, from the Last Supper to the death & burial, in hopes of peeling back another layer. What I found is this:

When you think of the disciples, do you picture them as saints with halos over their heads, or ordinary men? Are they the image of the perfect Christian, or are they flawed? In my study, I discovered that these men are exactly like me: intending to pray one moment, falling asleep the next; desiring to turn the other cheek, cutting off a soldier's ear the next; promising to carry a cross, denying Him the next. These men had poor performances as followers of Jesus, AND YET...Jesus accepted them. They were the ones Jesus entrusted with the gospel. They belonged to Him. By dying on the cross, He bought their souls forever.

Do you ever feel guilty because of a poor performance as a Christian? Do you, like the apostle Paul, find yourself "joyfully concurring with the law of God" but seeing "a different law in the members of [your] body"? I struggle with this alot. Reaping rewards for good behavior is gratifying. Receiving approval for good grades from your teachers and parents keeps you going, right? What about as a Christian, when you completely mess up (because you know it happens)? How does Jesus reward/rebuke you?

He calls you back from your silly fishing boat and bids you come eat breakfast. With eternal love and forbearance, he says to you and to me, "You belong to me. I paid for your sins. Receive mercy and grace, and keep fighting the fight of faith."

Creating a Blended Service Out Of a Historically Traditional Church

2011-02-23T09:20:00.004-05:00

When I became a Christian in the late 90s, just about every church I knew was trying somehow to implement a contemporary worship service. If it was a historically traditional church, most of them (like the one I grew up in) simply added a contemporary service during the Sunday school hour while continuing to have a traditional service beforehand. You could also show up to a youth group meeting in the middle of the week to find that youth pastors and musicians had already made the more dramatic shift from "Kum-ba-ya" to "Chris Tomlin."

On the flip side, there were church plants popping up left and right whose main goal was to be "contemporary" from the get-go. That meant no hymnals, no organs, and no pews. The youth group was jammin' on Wednesday nights and the adult worship team was jammin' on Sunday mornings (much like the church I attended from 2000 - 2002). The liturgy was simple - Opening prayer, opening song, 'nother prayer, 3 songs, sermon, closing song, see ya. Nothing wrong with that...just an observation.

Enter 3rd category: The blended service. These are churches who decided they wanted to maintain some of the tradition while implementing some modern creativity. On a given Sunday, you could hear "Be Thou My Vision," "Arise, My Soul, Arise" (RUF), and "How Great Is Our God." This service probably still includes an Apostle's Creed and other corporate confessions, but the pastor may not be wearing a robe. You get a little of both worlds.

At this point in my life, I have served in all 3 of these categories. I've sung in the choir with heavy robes and stolls, I've worn jeans and a t-shirt on stage and played with a band, and currently, I wear black pants, black shirt, black blazer and play a baby grand. Of all the categories I've listed, I've found that creating a peaceful, blended worship service that meets in the same sanctuary is the biggest challenge. That being said, here are some things I've discovered that have worked when seeking to create a blended service out of a historically traditional church:

1. Take it slow: My first Sunday at St. Andrews, there was only piano. Our set list included all hymns with a contemporary offertory. I didn't attempt to change the church overnight; I simply gave a little something here and a little something there. Fast-forward a year from there, we've added guitar, bass, and rhythm and use a mix of hymns, re-written hymns, and contemporary Christian songs.

2. Establish consistent instrumentation: We still use the organ at St. Andrews - on the Doxology and the Amen following the Benediction. However, we have an introit and a 3-song set right at the beginning without a break. During this time, the instrumentation stays the same - piano, guitar, rhythm. In my opinion, this seems to help keep the congregation on the path you're wanting to go, and it establishes a flow of mood. Using the organ seems to work well after the congregation has spent some time in prayer or recited a creed. It also works well on special concerts. Not everyone may agree with me on this, but I've found it to work (see Michael W. Smith's worship albums, Passion's hymns album).

3. Find Creative Ways to Sing a Hymn - this may be as simple as Chris Tomlin's "The Wonderful Cross," or it may be Fernando Ortega's arrangement of "How Firm a Foundation." Whatever it is, find ways to enjoy these timeless texts by writing new melodies or using the arrangements other artists have written (see RUF hymnbook, Red Mountain Church, Indellible Grace music, etc.)

4. Write very specific choral music for your choir: One of the early mistakes I made was xeroxing the hymns out of the hymnal, handing them to my choir, and then expecting them to navigate their way through all the turnarounds and instrumental breaks I was taking. Now, I make sure that the choir has music that depicts every turn and angle, whether that be the intro or an instrumental break. This frees them up to worship without worrying about where their next entrance is.

5. Pray for the Holy Spirit to Move: this is always a given, but when implementing change, I've found it's easy to feel like it's up to you make your congregation like the music and want to worship God as a result. While the worship team can certainly help that by rehearsing and thinking through the transitions, the Holy Spirit is the One who changes hearts and leads us to the throne. And frankly, if it's evident that the Holy Spirit is moving in the worship team, it'll get contagious after a while and the congregation will find Him working in their midst as well.

How I Practice Piano

2011-02-09T08:58:00.002-05:00

I tried to quit piano lessons many times when I was a kid. I can remember playing basketball outside with my friends and hearing those dreadful words, "Rick, tell your friends goodbye. It's time to go to piano!" We'd hop in our white Astro van and drive 20 minutes across town. It's not that I didn't like playing piano; it's that I didn't always like what my teacher made me play - classical music. Beethoven, Bach, all that stuff. I wanted to play what I wanted, you know, stuff I heard on the radio. There was a specific time I remember making my last and final attempt to quit piano lessons. My mom saw that I was serious this time, so she called my teacher to prep him for what would be an un-motivated student at the next lesson. When the next lesson came around, he said something that would eventually propel me into my calling as a pianist: "Rick, if you can learn to play classical music, you'll be able to play whatever you want one day."

He was right.

Dont' get me wrong - I can't dish out a Bill Evans solo without any practice. I wouldn't be your first pick to sit down with a couple of locals and break out into a Latin samba. But I've got the tools and the foundation to figure it out. It might take me a year - but it's not beyond me. How? Because I studied classical music.

So when it comes to practicing piano, I work on two things: 1. My roots, and 2. developing new roots. What I mean is this: my roots is classical music. Since graduating college, I've seen that, in order to maintain the level I'm at now, I still need to practice classically. That includes reviewing my scales, playing through old Bach or Chopin pieces, and also learning new classical pieces.

When I talk about developing new roots, I practice something that will stretch me to become better - jazz. Practicing jazz has multiple benefits for the classically trained pianist. One, it forces you to learn how to play chords in your left hand. This is especially useful if you don't have a guitar player strumming along on Sunday mornings. Playing left-hand chords makes up for the missing texture of the guitar. Second, it forces me to learn new scales and theory. Most of the time, hymns and worship tunes won't have very many jazz chords, but sometimes they do. In a few months, we're going to introduce a Bob Kauflin version of "And Can It Be." Though they're subtle, there are a few jazz chords in that song that might have taken me awhile to figure out had I not been studying jazz theory. Lastly, practicing jazz has trained me to hear "melody." If I'm writing a new song or doing a piano solo, learning to internally hear melody helps me be more creative in what I'm playing, and also in what I'm writing. I'm not aspiring to be the next Oscar Peterson, but I am aspiring to stretch my boundaries...

So I practice classical music to maintain my muscle memory and technique, and I practice jazz to expand my boundaries and become an all-around better player. All this can do is help me to be more creative when it comes to leading God's people in worship.

Being Like a Bride

2011-01-24T23:13:00.007-05:00

It's pretty hard to miss all the bridal shows on television these days. My wife watches alot of them for fun. Unfortunately, I think alot of them are all about the event itself and not about what it should be - the union of a husband and a wife.

That being said, I do think there is something to be said about the way a bride is as she anticipates her wedding day. When Stacy and I were engaged, someone gave her a countdown timer that ticked away the days, hours and minutes. She spent hours looking at magazines and websites seeking to find the perfect flowers and bridesmaids dresses. She labored over the guest list and what kind of food was to be served at the reception. She even gave herself to reading and study of the Word so she could set her heart on God's will for marriage. From the time I popped the question until the day of our ceremony, Stacy's heart was set on the wedding. There was no doubting it. Her behavior showed it. Her heart showed it.

The wedding day was the best of all. Stacy spent hours putting on the finest makeup, fixing her hair, and putting on jewelry. The feast was prepared. The music was playing. The guests were present. When the doors to the back of the church flung open and all eyes were on her, there was no doubt in my mind that Stacy was ready for this day.

Don't you think when Jesus says, "Be on the alert...be ready," he's speaking in these terms? Isn't John on to something when he says in Revelation, "let us rejoice for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready"? The Church, the Bride of Christ, is called to "get ready" for the wedding day. Our salvation is the engagement ring. Our Christian life is the preparation for the wedding day. Shouldn't the reality of our engagement to the Perfect Husband leave us excited? Shouldn't we be hastening the day of His coming in our hearts? Shouldn't the reality of our engagement move us to gladly share it with others?

I pray God will help me to see my life in this way.

Audrey Assad

2011-01-18T13:45:00.007-05:00

It's been a really long time since I could say I have favorite Christian artist. Up until now, I've dreamt of what I consider to be the "glory days" of Christian music: Steven Curtis Chapman, Michael W. Smith, the early Passion albums, the early Hillsong stuff. Pretty much anything between 1994 - 2001 if I'm being specific. Since then, I've found good tunes, but not an artist that I really believe in. I'll go as far as to say that I've come across alot of artists since then that have had great lyrics, but boring music - or vice verse. I suppose the silver lining in all of it is that it's moved me to start writing more.

Desiring to find some new music, I hopped on iTunes on New Years Eve to find an artist I liked. Immediately, I saw "New Release: Audrey Assad." I listened to a few tracks and was convinced. This girl not only has a great voice, she has great music and unbelievable lyrics. If any of you enjoy Kathryn Scott, Christy Nockels, Candi Pearson, even Sarah MacLachlan, this is the one. And to be honest, I think her lyrics beat out all the rest (she does co-write with some other folks).

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More On Football...

2011-01-11T09:35:00.004-05:00

Here's a great post by a friend of mine that also deals with the male addiction to football. Congrats to Auburn University on their 2nd National Championship ('57, '10):

http://trappstr.com/2011/01/10/how-lunatic-sports-fans-are-made-the-jumping-dad-theory/comment-page-1/#comment-4847

What I Learned in 2010

2011-01-04T12:13:00.009-05:00

Happy 2011! I figured it would be fitting for me to look back on the year 2010 and briefly mention some things I learned.

Some People Can Get By Without Time Management. I'm Not One of Those People.
I can be a very impulsive guy. Whatever I seem to be "digging" that day, I'll spend alot of time on it, when in reality, there might be other things that are more important. This year, I've made a spread sheet which blocks out every 30 minutes I spend in the office. It even includes reading and writing blogs!! This approach is very freeing to me.

LMNOP. Remember what you'd do when you were a kid and you'd get to the middle of the alphabet? If you were like me, you wouldn't literally say, "L-M-N-O-P." You'd bleed it all together to say, "elemenopee." While having lunch with another worship leader back in November, he encouraged me to find ways to keep St. Andrews' worship service from becoming routine, ho-hum, or lazy - "elemenopee." Good stuff.

There's Always a Reason to Justify an Addiction. Two months ago I wrote a post about college football and how it became so prevalent in my life that I began to neglect more important things - like God...like my wife. God broke through to me and brought me to a place where I was able to admit that I needed to change. He's helping me change, but there's also an enemy who likes to whispher in my ear. Alot of times, he wins. Thank God for grace and for promising not to give up on me.

Buying a House is a Long, Hard Process. Stacy and I set out to become homeowners in August of 2009. We didn't sign our closing papers until February 23, 2010. The months in-between were brutal. Some days I felt like I spent more time faxing bank statements and affidavits than actually doing ministry with St. Andrews. Oh, and our bank representative spoke broken English...

Staying Connected.
When Stacy and I were traveling north 2 weeks ago, we stopped at one of the turnpike plazas to get coffee. As I was about to order, I looked down and noticed a newspaper which said that over 94% of American couples are connected - but not necessarily with each other. I've noticed that with every electronic, internet-surfing, app-playing gadget I acquire, it's just one more thing that competes for my attention. My high calling from God isn't to come home every night and worship my laptop or pay alms to my iPod. It's to be a husband to my wife, to give myself up for her, to set my interests on hers. Not saying that laptops are wrong. We both like to use it for entertainment. Only difference is my wife knows how to shut it down after a while...

Dates Are Worth Fighting For.
Stacy and I have had some great marital advice since being married. Last year, I was reminded again (as I was the year before) that continuing to date your wife keeps your marriage fresh. In Colossians, Paul says that "in the same way you received Christ Jesus, so walk in Him." I think the same thing can be said for marriage: in the same way you dated, so be married.

Christmas Concert Recap

2010-12-20T12:12:00.008-05:00

We had a wonderful Christmas Concert 2 weeks ago. The theme of the concert was "How Great our Joy." We have DVDs available from the Saturday night performance. We also have CDs with mixes from Friday/Saturday night. For the instrumentation we had piano, keyboard, drums, bass, electric/nylon string guitar, violin & cello. Vocally we had choir and solos/trios throughout. Here's a breakdown of the songs we did:

O Come, O Come Emmanuel - I love Advent hymns, especially this one. This is an arrangement I wrote for synth and electric guitar.

Christ is Born - great James Ward original. Full choir with rhodes/bass/drums/electric on this one. Maddy Campo solo.

Go Tell it On the Mountain - James Taylor arrangement. Full choir/orchestra. Bill Brown solo.

Kids Christmas Medley (Joy to the World, Away in a Manger, Silent Night) - Another Rick arrangmenet. Piano/bass/drums/nylon on this one. Joy to the World had hints of Bruce Hornsby; Away & Hark! had Vince Guaraldi feel.

Shepherds Echo Carol (How Great Our Joy) - title song for the concert. Classical in style. Piano/strings/choir

Star in the East - Along with my love for Advent hymns comes a love for Advent/Christmas tunes in a minor key. Full choir/orchestra. This one had a minor/Egyptian feel.

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen - mens chorus sang on this one. Piano accompaniment reminded me of Franz Liszt's "Hungarian Rhapsody."

Angels We Have Heard on High - Fernando Ortega's arrangmenet written for trio. Very fitting sound for South Florida. Kenny Pierleoni sang lead. Robin Puentes and Rob Benson sang harmony.

Infant Holy, Infant Lowly - acappella choir. Nothing too fancy with the arrangement, but some tunes are better not messed with.

O Little Town of Bethlehem - arranged by me. Anything I arrange for accappella choir is going to be influenced by Glad or Take 6. Tony Puntes sang lead on this one.

All My Heart This Night Rejoices - this is a jewel of a song I found in the Trinity Hymnal. I kept the same melody but altered the meter to make more rhythmic sense. The words are absolutely beautiful. I also inserted the 1st verse of "O Come, All Ye Faithful" in the middle. Full choir/orchestra. Melissa Scasserra sang lead.

Silent Night - Casting Crowns arrangmenet written for trio. Dwight Taylor, Katie Taylor, and Rachel Puentes sang.

Angels' Carol - this was another diamond in the rough I found. This is a tune written by John Rutter (renowned in the choral world). I can remember singing this as a soprano in a boys choir when I was younger. While searching through our church library last summer, I re-discovered it and decided to arrange it with more of a pop/R&B style. Full choir/orchestra. Theo Campo & Bobbilee Tanner sang lead.

Don't Just Stare at the Words

2010-12-14T09:43:00.009-05:00

The week before Stacy and I moved to Florida (January 2009), I had the neat opportunity to play piano for CJ Blount. Here's a great video of him doing a familiar tune "Hear Us From Heaven":

CJ was asked to assemble a worship band and lead music for a college-aged outreach event in Birmingham (more recent than the video above). If I wanted to make this post even longer, I would fill up some space ranting about how amazing the musicians in this band were, but I'll stick to my point. What was striking to me was that the students knew EVERY WORD of the songs we sang. As far as I can remember, there weren't any powerpoint lyrics, and there certainly weren't any bulletins. The students simply gathered around the stage area and sang every last word from memory. They seemed to all of a sudden forget their surroundings, or who might be watching - they lifted their hands, closed their eyes and enjoyed God.

This is my prayer for St. Andrews - that we enjoy God in our worship. One of the goals of our music team is to help create an "atmosphere" of worship, meaning that we want to prepare our music in such a way that it feels effortless for the congregation to enter in to worship. I want us to be able to worship God freely without worrying about what's proper or safe. I want each person in the pew to feel the freedom to sing for joy to God. Isn't that how David described his worship experience? "How lovely are they dwelling places, O Lord of hosts. My soul longs and even yearns for the courts of the Lord. My heart and flesh SING FOR JOY to the living God" (Psalm 84). Oh, how much more ready our hearts will be to hear the preaching of God's Word if we have entered into His presence from the very first note.

Don't worry - we won't force you to memorize all the lyrics or learn all new songs every week. But consider this: if you know the song...is there really a need to stare at the words? Don't be ashamed! Let your heart be captured by God in worship and let Him minister to you as you meditate on the lyrics. I promise you...it's a lot better than trying to be safe.

Catching Up

2010-12-07T16:17:00.005-05:00

Pardon the inconsistency you've experienced with my blog. The past two weeks have been busy as I anticipated, and I haven't had much time for blogging. However, here I am on the other side of the Christmas Concert, and I'd like to take some time to share what's been going on in various aspects of my life:

Christmas Concert -
Our choir and some hired instrumentalists presented "How Great Our Joy" for our church congregation and community this past Friday and Saturday evening. I think it's a privilege to be able to prepare an hour's worth of music and be able to minister to people by performing it. We always attempt to tell a story during our concerts, and this year we focused on the story of "joy". As I read through the account in Matthew & Luke, I was amazed at how many times the word "joy" or "rejoice" was used. It just seemed that even though the people of that time were familiar with the prophecies of the coming Messiah, they weren't any less shocked and overjoyed when He finally came. Every person in that story - Joseph, Mary, Zacharias, Elizabeth, Anna, Simeon - seems to go from ordinary to overjoyed in a flash!

College Football -
My last major post was about my addiction to college football. Since God moved in and broke me, I've learned some things:

#1 - God's call has a honeymoon phase: Just like a husband and wife who continually rediscover their love for each other, I think God continues to move in at various times and dramatically woo us - whether that be through a certain trial, a death, a new realization of sin or theology, etc. But those moments of bliss don't last. I don't think that's a bad reflection on God, I think it's the reality that Christians still have an enemy. Which brings me to my next point:

#2 - Satan WILL attack: When I first discovered my need for change, it felt easy. I was emotionally and spiritually high. Eventually those feelings came back to level, and I was left with my daily trust in Jesus and what He had called me to do. I've had times of disbelief where I've turned on a game or checked some articles on the internet (it's even harder when you find out your team is playing for a national championship). Satan never seems to shout...he's always just whispering. He plays with your conscience, and I think that's why Jesus used Scripture to battle him.

#3 - God DOES affirm Himself: Here are 2 passages I've clung to - "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything" (1 Cor. 6:12). Satan has succeeded numerous times in getting me to justify my actions - "It'll be ok just this once...everyone else seems to be ok with watching football...surely I can..." Paul's words are helpful because it reminds me that, yes, football is ok, but it's not ok for me to be mastered by it. The other helpful verse is this - "Man shall not live on bread [football] alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God" (Matt. 4:4). I often insert football in the place of bread, because for me it was the same as eating. I can throw just as much of a fit over not watching a football game as I can eating lunch at 1:00 instead of 12:00. Learning to trust God without my daily bread (football) has caused me to long for another kind of bread, the Living Bread. Please continue to pray for me in my pursuit of holiness, that I might be conformed to the image of Jesus.

Babies -
Stacy's now at 22.5 weeks. We're having a little girl. Her due date's April 9th. Cannot wait to be a dad!!

Continue to pursue Christ with me as we seek to enjoy HIM this holiday season, not just His gifts.

Christmas Concerts This Weekend

2010-12-03T08:57:00.003-05:00

The choir and orchestra will be performing "How Great Our Joy" this Friday and Saturday at 7pm. Styles range from classical to pop to gospel. This is an outreach event, so make plans to attend and invite friends!

Sometimes God Closes In On Us...

2010-11-01T20:13:00.014-04:00

Many years ago, I discovered the good music of Ed Cash. You might have seen his name on numerous Christian albums as producer, but Ed is also a fabulous songwriter and singer. One song that's always spoken to me was a tune he wrote called "Great Things Take Time." The song talks about an old man who discovers a fallen tree and wants to clean it up and carve it into a new design (hence the parallel between God and man). Here's how the bridge goes:

Some pieces of the wood were stubborn
Some just cut as easy as the air
But he didn't care how long it took
To make each part complete
Yeah, the time he took just showed
How much he cared,
How much he cared

Over the past few years, God has been doing something in me that I haven't told many people about. Like the lyrics to that song, it's been the "stubborn" part of me, and God's been working on it for a long time. It's been one of those areas that I've tried to run from and brush aside for so long but have never seemed to have the courage to face it. It started off as something fun. It delighted me. It was a source of relaxation. But about 6 years ago, this gift of God became to me like the ring to Gollum in Lord of the Rings. No longer was I just a hobbit like everyone else. Slowly, I was becoming a monster. This "ring" of mine was no longer just a nice piece of jewelry to wear on my finger. It became my "precious." And with each passing year, it became more, and more, and more precious to me. If it was threatened, or lost, or taken away, I became someone I didn't like. And through it all, God's whispers of conviction went to speaking voice, and from speaking voice to shouting.

I never wanted to admit to myself how horribly addicted I was to the great sport of college football. I found ways to justify it as something fun, something relaxing, something masculine, something I deserved. And for a good portion of my life, that's all it was - fun. It's much more complicated now. I can't turn it off. I can't say no. I can't give it up for anyone, not even my wife. It's my precious, and I have to have it. Don't ask me to help clean the house. Don't ask me to run an errand. Don't ask me to change the channel or go out to a movie. This is my precious. I can't miss a play, and I can't not watch...I can't...not...watch...

You know how sometimes God will close in on you? I mean in a way that you can't even know how to pray for? It's like you notice something in your life that's competing with God, and you try and cheat around it for so long that you just get worn out? You get tired of trying to justify it in your prayers, until finally, you just give up? That's how God closed in on me. I got tired of justifying my addiction. I got tired of continually ignoring my wife because "the game was on." I got tired of worrying about who was going to plan an event on a Saturday. I got tired of waking up on Sunday mornings and not even being able to worship because I was so enthralled with last night's game. This is the stubborn part of me on which God has finally broken the padlock. I give up. I simply cannot serve the two. But this act of surrender, of which God has enabled me to do, is the most freeing thing I have experienced in a LONG time. I'm really glad that God is this committed to me...and I'm even more glad that He moves in for action when I'm completely helpless...

To God be the glory.

Isn't The Gospel Beautiful?

2010-10-13T09:42:00.002-04:00

Lump from Emi Gheorghe on Vimeo.

Do What You Are

2010-10-06T13:52:00.009-04:00

Our college group is currently studying a book by Os Guiness entitled "The Call." The perspective from this author - who by the way is in the same family as the Guiness beermakers - is eye-opening. Os was one of those guys who, maybe like some of you, was urged to go into ministry without really ever asking the question, "Is that what I really want to do?" Because he was a Christian, he thought that's what was best. But after having a conversation with a gas pump attendant (it was in the '60s), he realized that he would much rather spend time amongst people in the world rather than be confined to the walls of the church. He admits that, while he loved his pastor and co-workers, church ministry just wasn't him. He wanted to be what God created him to be.

I've been through that. When I was in my early 20s I was urged to take part in mission trips and cross-cultural projects that, initially, I didn't want to take part in. Looking back, I wouldn't trade those experiences for anything. I believe God intentionally provided a way for me to attend those events, and I literally will never be the same because of those experiences. At the same time, I felt an overwhleming pressure from the people that urged me to go to become a missionary after I graduated college. I wrestled with that for a long time. While I learned alot about relational ministry and really developed a heart for those people, I wasn't passionate about being a missionary for the rest of my life. For years, I wrote it off as sin or as "not really pursuing God with all my heart." Now, in my later 20s, and with this book helping confirm it, I don't believe it's sin or a lack of commitment to Jesus that I want to do something else besides being a missionary. If life is lived forward and understood backward, then I can look backward and see God molding me and gifting me in a much different way...

Here's some food for thought: if every Christian became a full-time missionary, we would not have policeman, firefighters, bankers, doctors, lawyers, chefs, delivery guys, secretaries, veterinarians, plumbers, architects, writers, governors, presidents, senators, naval officers, army generals, photographers, electricians, lifeguards, tailors, musicians...This is what "ruling and subduing" the earth looks like in modern day. It's not that Christians who do every-day jobs aren't following Jesus, but it's because God has called the lawyer to exercise justice. He's called the chef to cook so man can eat. He's called the president to rule the nation and bring order to the land. He's called the musician to create art and express the glory of God through it. How can our world function without these people?

Thank God for the Christian missionary. Thank God for the Christian policeman. Both can make disciples. Both can rule and subdue the earth.

Slow Down - Updated 9/28/10

2010-09-20T09:25:00.008-04:00

I work really well under pressure - especially when it comes to writing and arranging. When I was at Montevallo, I took part in our school's homecoming show - College Night. Each year, the university divides itself into "purple" and "gold," and each side writes its own musical. Students are recruited to write a script, act, stage-manage, play an instrument, buy snacks, etc (I met my wife during College Night - she was the hot stage manager). I was the composer for the "gold" side my junior and senior year. I didn't really have time to write 7 or 8 chorus pieces, but somehow I cranked them out (all while balancing preparation for major junior and senior piano recitals). I wrote on various themes from love songs, to aliens (the outer-space kind), to Cognac. I had the neat experience of pulling something out of the air, trying it out, revising it, trying it again, and ultimately performing it with a full cast. For the experience and skill level I was at, I think I did a pretty good job. I learned in those 2 years that writing and arranging for vocalists and choirs was something I was good at.

There are times in my job where I get to function like I did during College Night. We have big Christmas & Easter concerts at St. Andrews, and even though I can spread out my planning and arranging, there's always that sense of urgency to get it done. Or, on a weekly basis, there may be a change in sermon text, and I have a good song for the choir to sing, but no music. I write it out and print it as quickly as possible so I can teach it by Wednesday night. God's given me the ability to function like this...when it's necessary.

When it's necessary? The follow-up question should come naturally. Should all of my life be a rush? No. I need to slow down sometimes. Sometimes I get so used to the rush of cranking out a new arrangement that EVERYTHING I do becomes that way. Hurry up and plan the music for this Sunday so I can start charting. Hurry up and get the songs ready for the bulletin so I can start on another Christmas tune. Hurry up and do the dishes so I can watch tv...while working toward a deadline is fun, my whole life doesn't need to be a deadline. Sometimes it's good to say to myself, "Self - this is what you're working on right now, and whatever is supposed to come next will come when this is finished," or "hey you, slow down with that dishwashing so you don't find crusted food on the side of your plate next time you eat." Maybe all of this is because I tend to miss the forest for the trees. Maybe some of you are like that.

God has a calling for each of us. He holds our lives in his hands. If that's true, then what's the rush? Just do what He's called you to do. Don't live your life in fear of not getting it all done, but trust that your Caller is in control and that He will enable you to fulfill what He's called you to do. "Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow has enough trouble of its own. Today's troulbe is enough for today." -Jesus

Act of Congress Coming to SoFlo!!!

2010-08-30T09:22:00.003-04:00

A few posts ago, I posted a video of my brother-in-law's band "Act of Congress." Please go and review that video, because they are coming to South Florida!! Here are the dates:

Tuesday September 7th
Broward College (Coconut Creek)
7:00pm

Wednesday September 8th
Broward College (Davie)
7:00pm

PLEASE MAKE EVERY EFFORT TO GO AND SUPPORT THIS BAND!!! I'm not only saying that because my best friend/family member is involved, but the musical experience/message is worth your while! Adam and I grew up making music together, and I've been heavily influenced by his music. Go check out their MySpace page at www.myspace.com/actofcongress to hear some tunes. When I find out if there's a cover charge or not, I'll let you know.

Jesus, My Great High Priest

2010-08-17T18:45:00.004-04:00

I'm very excited about a new hymn re-write I'm working on. The text is from "Jesus, My Great High Priest," found in the Trinity Hymnal. While on vacation this past week, I was able to play it for my brother-in-law (who, by the way, is the best musician/writer I know - also my best friend), and he not only gave me the green light, but asked for a recording when I'm through laying down a demo for our choir. Here's the text:

Jesus, my great High Priest
Offered His blood and died
My guilty conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside
His powerful blood did once atone
And now it pleads before the throne

To this dear Surety's hand
Will I commit my cause
He answers and fulfills
His Father's broken laws
Behold my soul at freedom set
My Surety paid the dreadful debt

My Advocate appears
For my defense on high
The Father bows His ears
And lays His thunder by
Not all that hell or sin can say
Shall turn His heart, His love away

This song is absolutely rich in gospel truth, particularly Christ's office as Priest. I wish I could have written this new tune last year when TJ was teaching through Hebrews, because the doctrine of Christ's Priesthood is all over that book. Nevertheless, it's a text - as any gospel text is - that's appropriate for any season.

That's all for now. Christmas is on the horizon...

Current Events

2010-08-02T14:39:00.002-04:00

Not much time to post a blog this week. St. Andrews is hosting our annual Vacation Bible School. It's a space theme, so I'm referred to as Choral Commander. Many of our youth and adult volunteers built a replica of a space ship control center which is sitting on the stage. Looks really cool. It has a bunch of Christmas lights strung throughout to make it look more realistic. I'm getting to use my keyboard alot - spacey sounds, trumpet sounds, loops. I'm having fun with it.

In other news, the septic guys came out to our house this morning to start laying a new drain field. Our back yard is completely demolished. I think they had to dig a trench about 5 or 6 feet deep just to unearth the old drains. Good news is these drain fields are supposed to last about 20 years, so hopefully we won't be having another backup anytime soon.

Karma vs. Grace

2010-07-29T18:46:00.003-04:00

The following is a conversation that was recently shared between my pastor, TJ Campo, and a woman in Starbucks:

WOMAN: "Ah, I see you're reading a spiritual book. I'm really into spiritual things, especially karma."

TJ: "Actually, what I'm into is the opposite of karma."

WOMAN: "Oh really? What's that?"

TJ: "Grace."

Below is a note that TJ wrote on Facebook as a follow up to that conversation:

Comments on Karma, Grace and Sow OnShare. Today at 3:47pm
Beloved,

Karma is very different from the basic law of “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” – sure, Christians believe that if you eat too much, you’ll get fat and if you lie to people, you’ll lose your friends and if you care about people and help them, you’ll probably find friends and if you work hard you’ll probably get more money than people who don’t or can’t. That’s not Karma; it’s cause and effect. And there’s even a place in our thinking about God rewarding us (though, even that is all about grace). A few years ago I preached on the “sowing and reaping” passage and wondered if there was a connection to the previous verse (CONTEXT!!)
“And let the one who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches. Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh shall from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit shall from the Spirit reap eternal life” Galatians 6.6-9

The idea is: you need someone to tell you the Good News over and over again (“him who teaches”) so take care of that person. If you invest your time in the Good News - hearing it, learning it, receiving it and believing it - it will bear fruit in your life. This isn’t Karma it’s grace received by faith.

Sorry to get all verbose on you but it really is THE big deal. All religion and human systems of morality are forms of Karma, quid-pro-quo (this for that – you do for God and then God responds by blessing you, saving you, protecting you). The Gospel turns that upside down – God raises you from the dead, gives you new life, a new destiny and you respond by walking toward that new destiny.

Hey, sometime read Martin Luther’s introduction to his commentary on Galatians; it’ll blow you away. Written 500 years ago, it still sounds so contemporary and relevant and LIBERATING! I guess that’s the thing: liberation. Karma imprisons people. In Hinduism people are imprisoned to the endless cycles of death and rebirth in reincarnation – the fruit of Karma. In all other religion people are trapped in fear (“If I’m honest I must admit that I don’t measure up to God’s expectations…I’ll be judged!”) or flight (“Forget God and morality – I’m my own judge – I live by my own standards – don’t judge me and I won’t judge you!”). Grace leads to liberation: “Cheer up – you’re more screwed up than you know and yet in trusting the doing and dying of Jesus, you’re more cherished, embraced and secure than you’ll ever imagine!”

TJ

(Here’s the commentary, Luther’s Introduction starts on p. xv -- http://books.google.com/books?id=ABjfNE4HzsIC&dq=luther+introduction+to+galatians&printsec=frontcover&source=bn&hl=en&ei=usFRTMjDBsSAlAfv5o3oBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCQQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=luther%20introduction%20to%20galatians&f=false

(Here’s the topic addressed by a less-than-famous, modern theologian:
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/music/interviews/2005/bono-0805.html )

Theory Class

2010-07-27T13:49:00.004-04:00

Theory Class starts this Wednesday at 7:45pm in the sanctuary. Dates are as follows:

July 28th
August 4th
August 18th
August 25th

If you're attending St. Andrews and are interested in joining the choir/band or are just curious about how to read music, come join us! This is a beginner level class. Just bring a pencil and a hungry mind.

Great Quotes

2010-07-27T13:45:00.004-04:00

"Missions is not the ultimate goal of the church. Worship is. Missions exists because worship doesn't. Worship is ultimate, not missions, because God is ultimate, not man. When this age is over, and the countless millions of the redeemed fall on their faces before the throne of God, missions will be no more. It is a temporary necessity. But worship abides forever.

-John Piper

Yesterday and Today

2010-07-19T09:37:00.005-04:00

Last week we introduced a Sovereign Grace (see link on the right) tune called "Oh the Deep, Deep Love." We sang it again yesterday. I really, really, really like this song. The verses have rich thoughts about the work of Jesus, and the chorus is a response to that great work. I love songs that give you some room for reflection. That's why I think Chris Tomlin's re-write of "When I Survey" ("The Wonderful Cross") works so well. It's the same melody and the same old hymn, but it's got a great chorus that allows you to reflect on the verses. I think that's why it takes me a little longer to fall in love with old hymns - I have to memorize all the words before it really sinks in.

I just finished a study of 1 & 2 Samuel. To me, these 2 books are like a musical: The 1st act is upbeat and climaxes to the end. The 2nd act is darker, sometimes even depressing, but usually with an ending of hope. What's helpful to me about the Old Testament is that you get to see how God intercts with people in their day to day life, good times and bad. You get to see how he brings about his good and perfect will even when the world seems to be falling apart. It's helping shape my theology about who God is. Even though it's not always as easy of a read as the New Testament, I'm learning to love it.

This morning, I began a reread of Max Lucado's "In the Grip of Grace." It's been 10 years since I last read it (I was 17 years old then). I'm one of those people who doesn't like to admit their need for help. I'm quicker to give advice than to ask for it, so naturally, I struggle with grace and the acceptance of God's forgiveness. When I saw this book on the shelf, I knew right away I needed to read it again. Having been a Christian for 10 years now, I'm optimistic that I'll be able to understand it better, and hopefully, be more amazed at grace by the end. In all the moves Stacy and I have made and of all the things we've thrown away, I'm glad we've kept all of our old books.

Act of Congress

2010-07-12T15:38:00.005-04:00

My brother-in-law and long-time best friend Adam Wright has an excellent trio/quartet called "Act of Congress." They have stupid good arrangments of familiar tunes, but also write a good deal of their own stuff as well. This is a video of their arrangement of "My Country 'Tis of Thee", performed at Church of the Highlands in Birmingham, AL. The band is as follows:

Adam Wright - mandolin, vocals
Bethany Bourg - violin, vocals
Chris Griffin - acoustic guitar
Tim Carroll - upright bass (not pictured in video)

Enjoy.

July Fourth - Act of Congress from Church of the Highlands on Vimeo.

The Choir

2010-07-07T22:17:00.004-04:00

So I've been watching this reality series called "The Choir" for about the past 20 minutes. It seems to take place somewhere in England. The synopsis is as follows:

"Choirmaster Gareth Malone searches for the talent to create a high school's first competitive choir. New. Series Premiere."

I really like it. It's better than American Idol because it's more down my alley - people trying out for a choir as opposed to trying out to be "a star". So far, it looks pretty good. It's Wednesday night from 10 - 11pm.

Here's a quote that Gareth made that's pretty cool:

"Singing in a choir is like swimming with a school of fish: you just get caught up in the stream."

Isaiah 53 Exercise

2010-07-06T09:37:00.003-04:00

Isaiah 53:5-6 is one of the most comforting and assuring passages to me. It's a great reminder that I don't have to pay for my sins. Jesus did. It's even more comforting to be on this side of it, that I can look back and know that the work was already done. Imagine how much more difficult it must have been for people to try and believe the prophecy that a Savior would one day wash away sins for good, but still find themselves going to Passover year after year with no change. Imagine that child whose father and mother would tell him the prophesies of the coming Savior, and next thing you know, that child is now 60 years old and still hasn't seen his Messiah. Belief by faith...not by sight. Looking at it from that angle is very eerie but amazing, too. It's a great testimony to a. God's faithfulness, and b. Don't put God in the dock just because he's making you wait.

Sometimes I read through Isaiah 53 as a reminder of where my atonement comes from. Most times, instead of using our and us, I'll insert my own name. Sometimes I need to remember that Jesus died not just for sins in general, but for all my personal, real, tangible, everyday...sins. It goes like this:

"But He (Jesus) was pierced through for Rick's transgressions, He was crushed for Rick's iniquities; the chastening for Rick's well-being fell upon Him, and by His scourging Rick is healed. Rick like a sheep has gone astray, Rick has turned to his own way; but the Lord has caused the iniquity of Rick to fall on [Jesus]."

Maybe you need to be reminded that Jesus paid your penalty, and that your guilt is needless. Insert your name in the blanks.

Redeem the Weekend

2010-06-28T09:10:00.005-04:00

I love the weekend. I love being able to sleep in, take it easy, watch a little golf, play a little golf, go on dates with my wife, and if we're really in a sunny mood, go to the beach together. I love sitting with Stacy and watching our favorite NBC shows on Thursday nights (the beginning of my weekend). It's a mentally relaxing time for me and for her.

My weekends have been lacking personal time with God, though. I've found ways to keep busy. And when the thought about spending time with God crosses my mind, I'm pretty good about juistifying it: "I need a break," "It's the weekend, it's ok." "God wants me to take a break." "I don't like reading on the weekends." It's not that I think God is going to punish me if I don't spend time with him on Fri or Sat. I'm just finding that going through the weekend without any personal worship time leaves me dry and thirsty come Sunday morning. I always allow myself some time with God before I arrive at church, which I should. I've got a pretty decent routine throughout the week as well. But my worship experience as a music director is much different on Sundays when I've been meeting with God throughout the weekend.

My repentance is this: I have not viewed God as my ultimate source of rest on the weekends. I've allowed my fun to become my object of affection, and it never lives up to its appeal. I'm not trying to condemn fun. Fun will always be fun. But I enjoy fun alot more when I'm satisfied in God.
I don't hear God saying to me, "Rick, why haven't you had you're quiet time? I'm angry with you." I hear Him saying, "Rick, if you need rest, rest in me. If you're burdened and tired, rest in me. If it's fun you're looking for, come dance and sing in my presence, where you won't be let down, and your greatest longings will be quenched. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

Recap from Sunday 6/20/10

2010-06-21T16:14:00.010-04:00

Yesterday was a unique day of worship. Mens chorus led us in music. I especially enjoyed the offertory - "Calmer of My Troubled Heart." Last Wednesday, we discussed during our rehearsal the broad spectrum of emotion this song covers. In the verses, you find yourself praying out of distress and pain. In the chorus, you find yourself singing, "Hallelujah!" I think we see this theme in the Psalms, too, where David offers up his pain...then he worships.

Calmer of my troubled heart
Bid my unbelief depart
Speak and all my sorrows cease
Speak and all my soul is peace

Hallelujah...

What a comfort it is to be able to confidently bring our pain to our Father!

Another unique part of our worship service was that a good friend of mine, Caleb Gundlach, got his very first preaching opportunity. Using Ephesians 4:17 - 5:2 as his text, he shared with us that the Holy Spirit is always building something, and that something is ultimately the church. So if that's the case, it doesn't make sense for a Christian to try and function apart from the church. We need each other. How silly would it be for a leg to say, "I don't need the rest of the body. I can walk, run and kick all by myself." Same with the Body of Christ. The song Stacy and I sang last week dealt with this issue:

I haven't come for only you
But for my people to pursue
You cannot care for me
With no regard for her
If you love me you will love the church

-Derek Webb

I think Caleb is already a talented teacher, so I look forward to watching him grow and mature in his craft. Great job, bro!!!

I watched the US Open yesterday. I've always pulled for Tiger Woods, so obviously I was disappointed he didn't win. However, I am proud of the guy that did win, Graeme McDowell. Graeme is Irish by birth, but he is an alum of UAB (University of Alabama at Birmingham). Before we moved to Florida, Stacy was employeed there as an admissions counselor. We also have multiple friends who have either attended or work(ed) there, so it's kinda cool to have a hometown guy win the US Open. I'm sure that'll be a big pitch from the coaches for future freshmen who are interested in playing for UAB.

Incredible Story...

2010-06-17T12:29:00.001-04:00

http://www.jasonsears.com/2010/06/my-nicu-baby-turns-9-today.html

Can a Classically-Trained Pianist Learn to Play Chords?

2010-06-14T09:32:00.009-04:00

Yesterday after church a middle-aged woman who was visiting our church approached me to express her enjoyment of the music. I told her thank you and that I was glad she was able to attend. She mentioned that she was a music teacher and piano player. She also mentioned something that I hear alot: "I really want to learn to play chords, but I'm stuck in my classical background." This is something I think about alot, so I thought it was time for me to blog about it.

Like this woman, I was also trained classically. I remember going through all the kiddie piano books with the art work of animals and children frolicking around. I remember graduating up to Bach, Mozart & Beethoven. I also remember the first time my teacher bought me a "pop" song to add to my repertoire. It was "A Whole New World" from the Aladdin movie. I stunk at it! By the time we got done with it, my teacher had written in every single beat (1, e, &, a, 2, e, &, a) and even drew lines to the notes that the beats went to. I could fly through my Beethoven, but when it came to syncopated pop music, I was not very good...at all.

Yet during that time of my life (age 5 - approx. 14), my ear was developing. My mom kept our car radio tuned to Magic 96 which was the adult contemporary station. They played anything that was 70s, 80s or 90s, so that included Elton John, Billy Joel, Bruce Hornsby, Richard Marx, Mark Cohn, Michael McDonald, Rod Stewart, Toni Braxton, All 4 One, Mariah Carey, etc. Although I didn't yet have a concept of chord theory, listening to these artists over and over and over began developing my ear for pop piano. As my interest in piano and music continued to grow, I started buying more pop song books (I still have alot of them at home, including Boyz II Men, Pop Chart Hits '96 Michael Jackson's "You Are Not Alone"...). Slowly but surely, I began to learn what it felt like to switch over from classical piano to pop piano.

Once into high school & college, my life as a Christian had come in to play, and I had opportunities to take part in worship bands. These guys required less and less of note-reading and more and more of chord reading, and they showed alot of patience with me. I began listening to "Christian pop", which had a very similar piano style to "secular pop," so the switch was pretty natural. Although I was still taking classical lessons, the technique and performance experience I gained from that aided me tremendously when it came to chords and church music (contrary to popular belief, classical music is made up of all chords - they're just broken up). The more opportunities I had to try out the things I was hearing on my cds and playing from my pop books, the more I started sounding like them.

So here's my observations from my own life as to how a classical pianist can also switch over to pop/contemporary Christian styles:

listen to piano players that play the way you want to play.
Play from the songbooks (Fernando Ortega, WOW Worship, others)
Try it out, mess it up, try it out again.

I'm an advocate for chord playing AND note-reading, classical training AND pop training. Both are valuable and both have relevance in church music.

Solitude

2010-06-07T11:51:00.004-04:00

Great day of worship yesterday. I really, really like Fernando Ortega's version of "How Firm a Foundation" we've been doing, especially the end where we draw out the line "that soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I'll never, no never, no never forsake." It's almost like, "Hey, if you didn't get it while we were singing it on eigth notes and quarter notes, maybe you'll get it when we try it on half notes! What a great hymn to compliment TJ's series on Ephesians.

This post is somewhat of an extension of my last post. Yesterday, TJ spoke about solitude, specifically in the realm of getting alone with God so that we not only know about Him, but experience Him (Eph. 3:17-19). The demands of our American society have made it difficult to have solitude. It's so fast-paced that slowing down and getting quiet takes effort. In my last post, I spoke of the struggles to keep my quiet time (solitude) fresh. This post, I want to expand on one of the solutions I've found to that...worship tunes.

When I first became a Christian (age 16), the contemporary music movement was at it's peak. Passion Band, Hillsong, Vineyard and others were cranking out great new songs. These songs were what I relied on to have solitude because I didn't yet know how to study the Bible. Whether in my room, in my car, or at church, I was constantly thinking about these tunes, and more importantly, God. Here are some albums that deeply impacted my solitude as a new Christian:

Hungry (Falling on My Knees) - includes a compilation of artists such as Kathryn Scott and Brenton Brown. The absolute best worship album I've ever owned.

Hillsong: Shout to the Lord 2000 - this is back in the days of Darlene Zchech. This album was high energy, covering every emotion possible.

Passion: OneDay Live - a compilation of old and new worship tunes by the Passion Band. Includes Chris Tomlin, Charlie Hall and Christy Nockels.

Now-a-days, I'm listening to the full range of it all (hymns, contemporary, other). Yet, over the past 5 years, I've stopped using worship tunes to help aid my time alone with God. Yes, I went through the phase where I felt like my quiet time wasn't complete unless I had studied the Scriptures with a 5 lb. concordance and a notebook. I had pushed out using music to aid my solitude because I figured it wasn't "the best way." Now, I'm beginning to remember how rich those times were. To think of the deep communion I could have with God if I combined the music from my "spiritual birth" with the theology of my "spiritual maturity." Wow...

I think I might need to pull out that Hungry cd again...

Have You Had Your Quiet Time Yet?

2010-06-01T09:28:00.005-04:00

Seven years ago, I was sitting down with a group of men who were interviewing me to come on staff with their church as a part-time worship leader. I was a 20-year-old college student at the time. Due to the demands of being a music major, I turned down the offer, but one moment from that interview has stayed with me these past 7 years. A moment that has slowly evoled in my mind. During the interview, the pastor looked at me and said, "One thing we expect from you is that you be spending time with God." "Perfect!", I thought. "I'm a pro at that. I spend time with God every single day!" The pastor continued, "This can look several different ways, Rick. It can be anything from reading the Bible, spending time in prayer, or even listening to a few Christian songs that mean something to you." "WHAT! How dare he take personal devotions so lightly! There is one way and one way only to spend time with God! That's Bible and notebook open, mister! You can't spend time with God by just praying or listening to music! You gotta have the WORD!!!"

Fast-forward a few years. I'm tired of the same ol' routine of getting out my notebook and Bible. It's beginning to feel like homework. I'm struggling to believe that God isn't just a little frustrated with me because I missed a day or two. I want to revive my quiet time but am afraid to change my system. Was that pastor on to something?

As a church staff member, I spend 5 days a week in an environment where the Bible is constantly talked about. Every bit of work I do is centered around it. It's no wonder that after 4 1/2 years of being staffed in a church that my personal devotions begin to feel like an extension of my office hours. It's no wonder that my mind is looking to escape theology for a day or two. I think about it alot. I've found myself pondering that pastor's words more and more and more over the past few years, and I think I'm beginning to understand why he listed more than one option for spending time with God - you gotta keep it fresh.

I've always been a stickler about things. I find a system that works, and I stick with it. Yet, as I've stayed with the same system of quiet time over the years, I've found more and more that I wanted to change my approach, but was too afraid to do so. Why? Because when I was first shown how to have a quiet time, it was a 1-2-3 process, and it worked for me. Like I said, I'm a stickler, and you show me a system that works, and I'll stay with it. Yet over time, I grew bored with that method, but I stuck with it because "that's the way you're supposed to have your quiet time." But by God's grace, I'm beginning to see the benefit of switching things up a little. On those days where reading the Bible feels like pulling teeth, I can make a 5-song playlist on my iPod, close my eyes and listen. I'm much better off doing that then hurrying through a Bible passage and being frustrated the rest of the day. Oft times, worship/Christian songs help me desire God's Word again. Even fellowship with other believers can help me desire the Word. Jesus simply said, "Abide in me." While I still beleive that God's Word is the best way to abide in Jesus, I think He's also given us prayer, music and fellowship to help aid in that process.

Currently, I'm reading through 1 Samuel - no notebook or pencil. I love it.

Playing Hymns Like Fernando

2010-05-24T14:43:00.005-04:00

In my last post, I mentioned that I've been re-writing some hymns. In this post, I'd like to focus on hymns with timeless melodies. Consider the following:

Be Thou My Vision
When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Come Thou Fount
Fairest Lord Jesus
Rock of Ages
Abide With Me: Fast Falls the Eventide
Amazing Grace

One of the cool challenges I've had in the churches I've worked in is seeking to preserve timeless hymns while playing them on the piano in a way that an 80-year-old and an 18-year-old can relate to them. Most hymns are written in choral format, so if you were to play them exactly as they are written, you'd be duplicating the vocal parts (i.e. soprano (melody), alto, tenor, bass). For my ears, I find this to be mechanical. Instead of duplicating the vocal parts, I like to use the piano as accompaniment, not as a vocal-part reinforcer.

Fernando Ortega has mastered this. If you're someone who really wants to learn to play hymns with a contemporary accompaniment style, but your ear doesn't seem to allow it, listen to Fernando. Check out his arrangements of "O Sacred Head Now Wounded," "Give Me Jesus", and "Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence." Fernando's style is very simple, but his chord-voicings are lush. He's got some song books with the accompaniment written out exactly like you hear it on the recordings. Learn to play his songs note-for-note, and you've got yourself contemporary piano accompaniment!

Take caution! If you re-write the piano part, you'll need to tweak the vocal parts, too!

5 things I’m doing to be more productive these days

2010-05-19T10:33:00.001-04:00

My friend Brett Trapp has an excellent blog called TRAPPSTR. Brett is a thinker, and he's got some great thoughts on life, God, work, etc. Here's a recent post:

5 things I’m doing to be more productive these days

How Vast the Benefits Divine

2010-05-17T08:35:00.007-04:00

So this morning I found some leftover doughnuts in the church refrigerator. They're the Publix brand (which, by the way, buying Publix brand is just as good as a commercial item). I've become anti-microwave pro-toaster oven these days, so I popped one in the toaster oven and made myself a latte from the church espresso machine. Within minutes, that kitchen smelled like a dougnhut shop. What a great start to a Monday!

This month, we introduced an old hymn with a new melody to our congregation - "How Vast the Benefits Divine". One long-term project I've been working on is finding some good texts from the Trinity Hymnal and re-writing the melody. This is one of them. It's really neat to be living in a day-and-age when people are re-writing hymns. For people like me with a slight case of A.D.D., hymns take a little longer to catch on because they're "wordy". As one who became a Christian during the contemporary Christian music explosion, I've had to train myself to see the beauty of hymn-writing (I still love contemporary music, too). Yet over the past 5 or so years, I've begun to compile a list of favorites.

Here's the 1st verse to "How Vast the Benefits Divine":

How vast the benefits divine which we in Christ possess
We are redeemed from guilt and shame and called to holiness
But not for works which we have done, or shall here-after do
Hath God decreed on sinful men salvation to bestow

I'd love to post an mp3, but I haven't figured out how to do it yet. If any of you experienced bloggers know how to do this, please let me know.

In other news, Stacy, my dad and I went and saw the new Robin Hood movie yesterday. I'm a HUGE Russell Crowe fan, but director Ridley Scott bombed this one. It's basically "Gladiator Returns." First off, the movie is extremely slow in developing a plot, and when it finally does, it doesn't go anywhere. The action is fantastic, but for me, if good action scenes aren't coupled with a good plot, I won't be buying it on DVD.

Is It The Worship Songs or The Choral Anthem?

2010-05-10T16:22:00.001-04:00

I grew up in a traditional church. It's about 15 minutes outside of the heart of Birmingham, AL. We had a pretty active music ministry - adult choir, youth choir, childrens choir, handbell choir, pianist, organist, etc. The adult choir, robed in white & green, consisted of approximately 20-25 members on a given Sunday, with a few extra for the special events. When I came in to 8th grade, the adult choir director (who was also my high school choir director) invited me and two of my buddies to join the choir. My voice was just starting to change, but somehow I sang bass. Because I had already taken 9 years of piano lessons and had sung in a boy choir for 5, my ear was already very well-trained, and the men were happy to have me sing.

Our choir rehearsals consisted of choral anthems that were sung during the offering. That's all we worked on, and I enjoyed it. We usually had no idea what congregational hymns were going to be sung until approximately 15 minutes before the service started, but it really didn't seem to matter to anyone. We all enjoyed singing the hymns with the congregation, but the choral anthems were what we worked for every week.

When I was entering into 12th grade, I attended a different church. It was the complete opposite of the church I had been attending. The music was as contemporary as you can get. Hillsong and the Passion Movement were spreading like wildfire, and this church was the place to go if you wanted to hear that kind of music. Within two weeks of my first visit, I was playing keyboard/synth for the youth worship band and the adult worship team. We had bass, electric guitar, 2 acoustic guitars, drums, percussion, praise team, choir and a worship leader. All-in-all, there were about 40 people on stage each week. It was a big, upcoming church, and today has a sanctuary that seats approximately 1500.

Our rehearsals at the new church had a completely different focus. Not only did choir/band rehearse together, but we spent our time on the worship songs that the congregation would be participating in each week. I can hardly remember us spending any time at all on music to be sung while the offering plate was being passed around. Usually, it was some choir or church member singing to a track. The focus here was on the worship songs, not the choral anthem.

So you have 2 choirs with 2 different goals: one spent its time on choral anthems, the other on the worship songs...is one more important than the other? People have made cases for both (i.e. "anthems are more musically challenging," or "it's easier to worship when there aren't so many notes to learn"). But I'll ask this question first: what is the role of a choir in worship? At its core, a choir exists to help the congregation worship. A choir is (hopefully) a group of singers using melody, harmony, rhythm and text to guide the congregation through a creative art experience that God supernaturally uses to help us experience him. Music is universally understood, and God uses it to speak to us, to humble us, to draw and woo us, and to encourage us. It's powerful stuff. So a choir is assembled to help create this powerful thing called music. And that music is part of a worship service where the end result is God's glorification.

My answer to the other question: Both the worship songs and the choral anthem have good use in a worship service. Like I said, God uses music to draw us to himself. However, I think in order for the choral anthem to work, the choir has to help the congregation get started from the get-go. Our goal at St. Andrews is to put together a complete worship service from start to finish. If the choir has no idea what the worship songs are until Sunday morning, we'd be sight-reading, and from my experience, it's VERY DIFFICULT to worship God from the heart when you're on stage, under the lights, sight-reading. The mind is just too distracted by notes and unfamiliar lyrics. And if the choir doesn't know the worship songs, they won't be doing any favors to the congregation by sight-reading. In this case, helping the congregation worship means knowing the songs they'll be singing and being able to express them in worship. So when I'm rehearsing our choir, we learn the songs the congregation is going to sing first, then the we work the piece(s) the congregation will be listening to for the offertory. When the choir is familiar with the worship songs, even impacted by them, it keeps our heads from being buried in our folders and allows us the freedom to "get lost" in God's presence. If this happens, a choral offertory will simply be a continuation of praise and worship. If not, it's just a nice performance.