DISQUS

The superbowl is tomorrow?

Thanks for pimping TWC so well. Good tips.

<abbr>Chris Moncus’s last blog post..How to Properly Wrap a Cable (the Over and Under Roadie Wrap)</abbr>

And for kicks, why not link to the products you use: hosting, software, theme in case anyone is interesting in using them as well?

<abbr>Chris Moncus’s last blog post..How to Properly Wrap a Cable (the Over and Under Roadie Wrap)</abbr>

Very nice. Sounds very similar to our workflow in creating and managing our website except I AM a world renowned web guy. (Listen closely, you can hear people laughing)

Just kidding. You guys did a great job on it and proved thrifty can still win souls!

Dude that's hot.

Dude that's sweet. I'm totally ganking it.

<abbr>Chris Moncus’s last blog post..What is it?</abbr>

On the other hand there is http://www.wethechurch.org/ that doesn't require signup but someone does read each prayer before it's posted to make sure it is actually a prayer.

Not to get too deep into these waters...

I agree with you. Really well-written response.

And you just got points for your MxPx poster. They helped me break out of stuffy Christianity.

<abbr>Chris Moncus’s last blog post..Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty and the Momentum Box Project</abbr>

Good post Fred. I love seeing new angles on well-known verses like Romans 12:1! We also sponsor a child but through World Vision. It's crazy to know that what would normally be the price of a meal at Outback is changing a child's life.

Thanks for joining in the discussion.

<abbr>Chris Moncuss last blog post..Blog Action Day 2008: Poverty and the Momentum Box Project</abbr>

Looks good on you. *snickers*

Haha. But on the serious side, I'm not a worship leader but I somewhat get the spotlight regarding the graphics and such I make for worship times. Though I do enjoy comments (that's the rock star in me I guess), I would really just like to hear "That helped me engage with God because it showed me _____ and helped me focus on Him." It's the reason why I do it and have such a passion for seeing it done right.

For worship leaders and musicians, I wonder if the comments and praises to us are at the core directed to God or if many people are missing God for the sake of the music(ians). If you take the band to a different setting and they record a CD, not many of us ever think "That producer did a great job with the band helping them tighten up. Wow that guy in the mastering studio really knew what he was doing." Instead we all praise the frontman and forget about all the people that work behind the scenes.

It's funny that the most behind the scenes person in musical worship is God. He doesn't have a mic but He want's to have our hearts. He said it himself that the first will be last and the last will be first. His behind the scenes work gets Him the glory if we as musicians step aside and let the real star take the stage. He is the unseen source of the power to worship. If we really focus on Him and not the guy singing the experience is so much better.

At the Night of Worship last Sunday night I took off my glasses and thus rendered myself blind to the world and its distractions. I was able to lean back against the wall and sing with nothing to distract me visually. When I took my eyes off of you and the band, where they never should have been, and put them on God something changed. It was like the doors to my heart got opened and He came in. It was amazing.

I learned that night once again that worship is not about singing or music. Its about God getting our hearts.

May we never ever stand in the way of that.

So how do we help our congregations get past these distractions and get God?

Guess it doesn't post images...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismoncus/281940...

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Now here's a rock star worship leader! (J/K Fred.)

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrismoncus/281940370/" title="Fred McKinnon by ChrisMoncusPhoto.com, on Flickr" rel="nofollow">

Thank you kind sir.

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Chris from Canada's website showed up on that Google listing... did anyone notice?

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Yeah. Gonna website it.

2 years, 2 months, and 5 days. She is the best friend I've ever had.

I'm going to design one but I'm not sure of the theme if there is one. It is a Ragamuffin Soul shirt isn't it? So it needs to say that on it as well as the URL, correct? Any direction with style? Haha. This is me basically asking for a creative brief.

Balance. That's the word I forgot to use.

Even the Psalms. Many were to God. Many were about God. I really like songs that lead us from "about" to "to" like Tell the World. It's both.

Balance.

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Forgive me for my last comments as harsh as they were.

Is there a correlation between easy/old songs and harder/new songs and the amount of or passion during singing?

Is there a correlation between songs to God and about God and the amount of or passion during singing?

Could it be that the past few weeks at church most of the songs are about God? For instance...

July 27 - All about God
-All I Have
-No Other Name
-Jesus Paid it All
-How Deep The Father's Love For Us
-Mighty To Save

July 20 - All about God
-Again I Say Rejoice
-The Solid Rock
-I Will Never Be
-Hosanna
-I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever

July 13 - 2 about God. 3 to God. 2 are to and about God.
-We Shall See The King
-For All You've Done
-Mighty To Save
-All Who Are Thirsty
-What A Friend We Have in Jesus
-Here I Am To Worship
-The Heart Of Worship


In comparison, I "get into" songs more that are to God. They become a prayer. They remind me of the things I need to talk to God about and I sing them to Him. For some people instead of singing they are spoken in a prayer.

On the flip side, sitting a service that is 100% fact - including music, announcements and sermon - there is no scheduled time to engage with God. I think that might have been a huge oversight on our part if what I'm asking is true?

What do you think, Fred or others? Might we need to weight our songs toward those TO God instead of only ABOUT Him?

Thanks for calling me out, Fred.

Let me rephrase...

Singing is one of many natural outcries to God. Among them are singing, praying, shouting, dancing, and silence. I wonder if someone who does not respond to God's goodness is out of touch with God and doesn't fully love Him.

Chris Moncuss last blog post..The Design Process

Show me a person that doesn't sing and I will show you a person who doesn't love a Jesus a whole lot.

Doesn't the new heart... the new life we are given as Christians... create in us a desire to know God more? I know this for a fact that the more I read my Bible and pray the more I HAVE to sing. People over and over in the Bible - after experiencing God - sang, danced, shouted, played instruments, and got naked.

I think it's a lack of experiencing God that causes this lack of stirring in our hearts. Given, some people are wired different but let's change the display of worship from singing to praying and see if we feel the same way.

I would expect to be called a liar or crazy if I stated that I could love God and not talk to Him. Or can you love God and not read your Bible?

So why is singing treated like the stepchild of worship? Worship is a word that encompasses all of these expressions and more.

I hate the fact that so many of us learned worship the wrong way. Some of us were taught worship was ONLY singing. Some of us were taught worship was works.

So how do we solve it? It's obviously a flaw in the system somewhere. Sign me up for whatever it takes to fix things.

Wow, Scott. How'd you hear about SSCC? Thanks for mentioning it BTW. I just wanna know how it came to be "one example off the top of my head". It's an honor to be featured here.

Good article to you as well! I guess I should have ripped some of this off for my Worship Community article. :)

Blackberry user here. Twitterberry is a good app. Better than trying to use Blackberry's web browser.

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