Easter 2009 was probably one of the best times I’ve had.  Working on editing the whole service but here is Happy Day Enjoy!!!

Well Sunday night I got to see one of my favorite groups.  Hillsong United was at Phoenix First Assembly.  First the annoyances… There was probably 2000-3000 more people there than would fit in the facilities, fire marshall would have freaked.  So I had to stand the whole concert which I actually would have stood most of the time anyway.  They also sold reserved seats but advertised it as a free concert on their website.  I was not very happy about that.

I just have to comment that one of the worship leaders for Phoenix First looks like Lester from Chuck, down to the long hair, tie and vest.  My blackberry wasn’t working or else I would have taken pictures.

Now to the main event.

Hillsong has yet to disappoint me, both in their live shows as well as albums.  They sing with a passion that can only come from a heart completely sold out for Jesus.  Joel Houston led most of the songs and was just fantastic.  I finally got to see Brooke Fraser in person, and I think that she is a phenomenal songwriter.  I was very excited to have her lead Hosanna because it is one of my favorite songs and I love the way she leads it.  She also shared a new song called Age to Age (i think) although I don’t find it very congregationally friendly it was awesome none the less.  Sounded a little Sarah McLachlanish.  Jad Giles led a few tunes including a new one called You Hold Me Now (its single is available on iTunes) here are the lyrics, just fabulous:

You Hold Me Now

Verse 1

On the day when I see, All that you have for me

When I see you face to face, There surrounded by your grace

All my fears swept away, In the light of your embrace

Where your love is all I need, and forever I am free

Where the streets are made of gold, in your presence healed and whole

Let the songs of heaven rise to you alone

Chorus

No weeping, No hurt or pain, No suffering

You hold me now, You hold me now

No darkness, No sick or lame, No hiding

You hold me now, You hold me now

Verse 2

In this life I will stand, through my joy and my pain

Knowing there’s a greater day, There’s a hope that never fails

Where your name is lifted high, and forever praises rise

For the glory of your name, I’m believing for the day

Where the wars and violence cease, All creation lives in peace

Let the songs of heaven rise to you alone

Bridge

For eternity all my heart will give, All the glory to your name

Wow it was a rough morning from my point of view…it’s hard to come from such an awesome week like last week.  The devil was really messing with me.  My monitor was all over the map, my video wouldn’t play right, drums weren’t working right and I had to make a monitor request from the stage during worship which I don’t like cause it’s distracting for the congregation.  One of the good things that came out of the morning was our newest team member, singer and guitarist Lynette Gellner, she did a great job.

So that’s the morning I had…Here is what everyone else had to say.

“I just walked in and felt the presence of God in the building”

“It was great to just meet with Jesus”

“I think I just got a taste of heaven”

Ultimately my goal in leading worship is that the things that I do or don’t do help draw people toward Jesus.  And that they experience the presence of God and don’t miss it.  I’m mostly just bummed that I let the devil get to me like he did and I missed the awesome time that everyone else had

I tend to be on the leading edge of new worship music and so I introduce a lot of new songs to my church.  I have added 47 songs to our repertoire since may of 2007.  One of the main reasons I have introduced so many is because when I was hired there was really only 3 or 4 songs that were under 10 years old.

Q: How often is too often to introduce new songs?

A: That depends of your church, some congregations pick up on new songs really easily.  And if your congregation stays up on current christian music you will find it even easier.  The congregation at my church does neither of these things well as a group. (I’ll explain more in a later question)

Q: Where do you find your music?

A: I have a handful of artists that I follow, Hillsong, Matt Redman, Tim Hughes, Chris Tomlin, Lincoln Brewster, Israel Houghton.  I watch for new recordings, I follow many of their blogs and just general poking around on worship sites I visit frequently.

Q: Is the radio a good place to get new song?

A: In general…no.  In the music industry there are certain traits that make a song “radio friendly” and sadly for worship leaders these traits rarely translate to “worship (congregational) friendly.”  Some of the great worship song writers never see radio play: Hillsong, Tim Hughes, Paul Baloche, anything Maranatha, Soverign Grace Ministries.  I once saw a quote from Reuben Morgan where he basically said that his song I Give You My Heart he originally wrote as a ballad but to get it radio play he changed it. (Here is the original way he wrote it)

Q: How do you introduce new songs to your congregation?

A: When I am going to introduce a new song I will usually do it 3 weeks in a row so that the congregation really gets used to it.  On the first week I will teach it by playing a verse and the chorus (sometimes the bridge) with just my voice and the acoustic guitar.  This way the congregation really hears the melody and it doesn’t get lost in the harmonies of the other vocalists and the music.  On the second week we’ll just sing it normal in the service.  On the third week you can introduce another new song if you are trying to infuse a lot of new music into you repertoire.  After you have done it 3 weeks in a row you can shelve it for about a month or more so that it doesn’t get old.  Then just do it like you would do any other song.

Ask your questions in the comment area.

I can’t remember the last time I had as much fun worshipping as I did today.  For those who don’t know we had a 21 voice choir, 13 piece orchestra and the usual band.  Before the services we prayed as a team and I shared this with them (or at least the gist).

We have all spent a lot of time and energy preparing for this moment.  But unless God is totally in this our preparation is all for naught.  God will use our preparation for His glory but if we try to do this in our own strength we’re gonna fall flat on our faces.  So right now we need to put ourselves aside and allow God to take over.  We need to put our strength in Him and allow His glory to shine through us.

Musically the services were wonderful and sounded great.  In the 9am service we probably had over 400 in attendance, the worship center was packed.  Anytime the worship center is packed it elevates the energy in the room.  In the second service as we were singing Happy Day I began to feel what I sensed to be God smiling on us.  We then did Christ the Lord is Risen Today, and holy cow I had so much fun singing it.  I really felt as if the congregation was not only worshipping but having fun worshipping.  So many times we do it (worship) but don’t have fun, I mean really have fun to the point you can’t stop smiling.  That’s where I was at.  We sang the Easter song and it was amazingly clean.  My wife commented that we sounded a bit like Trans-Siberian Orchestra, to which I responded…SWEET!!!  (I love Trans-Siberian Orchestra)  Then came Mighty to Save…

I could not stop smiling, I was filled with a joy unlike anything you can find on earth.  It was a greater high then the adrenaline rush you get from a roller coaster.  I felt that God was completely satisfied and pleased with the offering we had brought to Him.  He was smiling down on us and I truly felt His joy.  I still smile as I think about the services and I probably will for weeks to come.  I can only hope that this was a beginning of God pouring more of His spirit out on our church.  Oh that we could experience that kind of intimacy with God on a weekly basis.

I’ll be editing down the video of the services this week and I hope to have it up online later this week.

Well I saw the ENT on Tuesday and he scoped me again.  He said that I am showing major improvement but my vocal chords are not quite as white as he would like to see them.  Prognosis is good but I still have to continue my training or I may end up back in the position I was in in October.  Here is the scope below.  I’ll try to put up a comparison between the two scopes later.