BabuLife

10 More Things on Worship Leading

• Practice it all. Don't get too comfortable.  After a few successful Sunday's, you may be tempted to skip individual rehearsal. Been there done that!  Spend time alone with God prior to that Sunday.  If you play guitar, pull it out and sing the night before.  Play and talk to God as you worship privately. Practice speaking to the church.  Stand before a mirror if you have to. Practice it all!
• Get some rest. You don't need to see another Saturday Night Live.  Turn off the TV and sleep.  Be ready to lead the next day.  Nobody wants to be lead by a grumpy worship leader!
• Read your Bible. Get it in you!  It'll come out during your worship leading.
• Pray for your team. They need you. You need them.  Most importantly, God needs all of you. I make a point to pray specifically for each member of the praise team, audio team, video team, lighting and stage team.  These people put in a LOT of work without any recognition. They sacrifice coming to church with their families, many times leaving behind a spouse to deal with children on their way to church...alone. YIKES!
• Silence the noise. Turn off the radio on the way to church Sunday morning.  Talk to God.  Recognize His creation and praise Him.  I LOVE seeing the sunrise on the way to church.  This would also be a good time to pray for your teams.
• Positive attitudes. How many times have you arrived at church feeling a heavy negativity/tiredness amongst your team?  You'll be surprised to find out how much a smiling face, encouraging word, and a pat on the back can uplift your team.  Remember why you are doing this service...it's to change lives for Christ!
• Tune up. Try and tune up before arriving at church if you play an instrument.  I typically spend time the night before tuning up the guitar so I won't spend much time doing it during sound check. Tune up your voice before arriving. 
• Watch what you eat. I've tried those Mcdonald's sausage and egg buiscut runs on the way to church on Sunday.  If you're leading worship and you have eaten one of these babies, be ready for a lot of belching.  I've found myself dropping out of the audio mix during these Sundays. It's hard for people to follow a leader who is too busy burping and cleaning his/her teeth than leading. I recommend something lighter than a butter baked biscuit and substitute that Coke for a water on the way to church.
• Deal with sin. Gotta do it.  The Devil will use it against you while leading.  People look to you to lead them in worship, not just singing.  Display a holy, seperated life.  When you fall, deal with it and move forward. Don't let sin keep you from reaching the potential God has for you.
• Support your pastor. Pray for the service as a whole. Pray for your pastor who has the burden of shepharding his flock and communicating God's word each week.  Find out what his vision is for each Sunday.  Prayerfully choose songs that will enhance the messages and help people open their hearts. Don't just randomly do things based on your preferences.  The pastor sets the vision for the church, your role as worship leader is to support that vision.

The Perfect String

I started using these D'Addario EXP  light guage strings. This is the factory recommended string from Breedlove Guitars (see "A Mistress?").

Supposedly these strings should last longer than your typical $4 string set.  At a retail cost of $12 it better!  I purchased a year's worth for the praise team from Musician's Friend.  They seem to have a good price.

They do sound good on the Breedlove I play.  If you're struggling to find a great string that lasts long you may need to check on a couple of things.

• Are you stringing it up right? Click here for a helpful guide. I can't stand stringing up a guitar and many times find that strings break because I haven't done it correctly!  Thanks to two friends Brad and Scott for helping me many times with this.
• Have you tried playing with the recommended strings your guitar brand calls for? I've usually been skeptical of this since some guitar companies have contracts with string makers to use their strings exclusively.   I tried using what the Breedlove company recommended and have had great results.
• Find out the recommended changing interval. Visit your string makers website for more info.  I usually last 4 - 5 Sunday's with a set. That includes 6 hours of playing during the week.

I'd love to hear feedback on strings you play with.  For you electric guitar and bass players, what strings would you recommend? 

My Dad

My Dad is known by many around the world through his testimony and ministry to Muslims and Jews.  Through Hope for Ishmael, he has reached thousands with the message of peace through Jesus Christ.  He has an incredible story of victory from the shackels of hate, anger and destruction. Although his ministry is incredible, that's not what makes him a hero in my eyes.

Dad took the place of a father to me at a very young age.  So young that I can't even remember.  Growing up I had no clue that he was not my birth father until I accidentally stumbled upon this truth as a young married man at the age of 22.  While I was shocked and confused, a deeper respect grew in my heart for my father.  While he was not the father that created me physically, he was the man that helped create my passions, he instilled in me a character to strive to be the best that I could be.  He would be the first to tell me he failed in many areas, but even then, I learned what it meant to be a humble man and admit failures and move on.

Most importantly, he taught me about unconditional love.  Through his unconditional love that he showed this small boy, he displayed to me what the love of God truly means.  Adopting a fatherless child because he loved me.  He raised me as his own, with no thought of telling me that he was not my father because he never considered that the truth.  I was his son.  He gave me a childhood with a father.  Much the same as Christ shed His blood so that I could be adopted into the family of God. 

My Dad is a hero for the complete surrender to God that he has.  Forsaking all that he had with his muslim family, to serve the living God which is his reasonable service.  He's dodged bullets in Iraq, he's been spit upon by muslim clerics, chastised by his culture, and cut off from his family.  My Dad is the true Indiana Jones that every man longs to be.

Happy Father's Day Dad!  Thanks for being my pops!!!

Church can be Entertaining? GET OUT!

Thank you Perry Noble! There's some great stuff on this blog site.  Scroll down to his blog on Should Church Be Entertaining?  Great stuff!

Baby Update...

Addie went to the doctor today.  Baby is dropped, still no change otherwise.  We were hoping to have the doctor induce if possible, but no go.  Her due date is June 25, the same day as our second daughters, Carys', birthday. Hoping she'll come before that!

Friends of His

We're coming up on the fourth anniversary of the assemblance of the group Friends of His.  Our first experience playing in front of people was a couple of weeks after 9/11.  Seems like a different decade!  We've been through a lot of growth as a group and a few set backs.  This ministry has been an awesome release for me creatively as we spend time writing music apart from our weekly rehearsal for the Grace worship services.  Brad, James, Kevin, Andy and Janna - Thanks for being a part of this group and sharing your hearts and music with me! Chickie, J-Luv and Leevy - I'm looking forward to finishing another CD!   

Check out some of our audio clips from our worship CD "Meet With Me" here.

My Little Gladiator

This is my oldest daughter Maelee.  Man I love my kids!

10 Things On Worship Leading...

If you are interested in becoming a worship leader, here are some things I've discovered on my journey...so far!

• Learn to worship with your life.  It's not all about the music. It's about an exchange of life. Read my prior post "Called to Lead Worship?".
• Learn to become a leader.  You will have to lead a team of people. Read as much as you possibly can about leadership. Read, read, read. Get your hands on material and ask questions of others.  The first key to becoming a leader is understanding that you DON'T have all the answers.
• Learn to get organized. Usually a difficult thing for the creative mind. But this is essential if you are going to lead a group of people and assemble worship services week in and week out. And stop being late to everything!
• Learn to keep commitments.  When you say you are going to do something, do it!
• Learn to say no. Better to just say "no" up front than let people think you will fulfill a commitment.
• Learn to step up. Don't just say "no" because you're afraid to fail. Challenge yourself. Leadership demands people who will fill a gap when the going gets tough.
• Learn to find solutions. Don't point out problems without solutions. No one likes it when someone drops a bomb and walks away without sticking around to help solve the problem. When you lead people, there will be many bombs dropped in your lap, learn how to diffuse them carefully.
• Learn to take risks. You can't please all of the people all of the time. Don't make decisions based on offending a few. Also learn from your mistakes, then move on.
• Learn to review. It's never fun to hear people tell you what you did wrong. If you want to lead worship or any ministry, you will have to accept criticism.  Taking things personally will not get you far in the worship leading world.
• Learn to prioritize. Your relationship with God is key to bringing genuine worship each Sunday.  Your relationship with your family is also key. Maintain a balance with your priorities. When one area seems to be broken, don't assume you should quit all other responsibilities. This is NOT called prioritizing your life. This is called bailing out. If you need to quit, don't leave a ministry hanging...invest in someone you can disciple in leading worship and give them the reigns.

These are just a few of the things I've learned so far! I'm sure another list will come as I grow in my role as a worship director.  I'd love to see your leadership lists.  Please share what you have learned in your ministries.  Thanks!

IPOD Noise

Where my clickwheel is landing...

R.E.M./Automatic For the People: This is one of my classic faves.  I haven't listened to it in probably 2 years or so.  Every once in a while it makes a comeback in my playlists.

Released in 1992, Automatic For the People fed my desire to be an acoustic guitar playing singer.  With folky songs like "Sweetness Follows" and "Find the River" it inspired me to play and sing. 

I was 18 years old when this album came out.  Three months after it's release, I became a christian.  Automatic For the People has a special place in my life musically and personally.  The songs on this album were constantly playing on my car stereo as I would drive from my home in Blue Springs, MO to my new church at the time in KC, Mo.  Not really worship music, but when I listen to it, I am always reminded of that time in my life when God sought me out and changed my life. 

It's a classic in my music catalogue. 

Starfield/Starfield: From the first notes of the first and second track, you can hear that this is going to be a great worship rock album.  The song "Filled With Your Glory" has that great anthemic chorus singable to congregations around the world.  I heard this song at the Fellowship Church Creative Pastors Conference back in January 05.  They led right into this after playing a U2 song to open their worship set. 

Starfield seems to be a great band with singable grooves and hooks that can draw you into the songs.  Not every worship band has that ability.  I think the last song, "Cry In My Heart" is one of my favorites along with "Can I Stay Here Forever".  You can tell how genuine a band is in their worship through their lyrics.  Theirs are wonderful words that can be prayed back to God in worship easily.

Crank this one up as the first track swells around you then pumps the electric guitar riffs of the second track, reminiscent of The Edge from U2, and rock out.  You'll be hooked by the first chorus!

Starfield site

Blogging is Neato!

I've been blogging now for about two weeks.  I gotta say that I'm lovin it!  If you are interested in starting one of your own, I highly recommend taking a look at this link for "Building a Better Blog".