I wanted to make mention of Sovereign Grace’s February sale.  (I know it’s halfway through February already, but I just now saw it).  If you don’t own any of their music or resources, you really should, and for books and music for no more than $7 - there’s no excuse to pass up incredible resources for that price.

I ended up seeing that Planning Center Online had a light, free, version.  “Cool,” I thought.  “Let’s check this out.”  I was instantly hooked.  Even with the free version there are powerful planning features available.  After using the free version for a couple weeks, I quickly convinced my pastor that we should upgrade one level.  Then, after using the first level for a couple weeks, he suggested that we upgrade to the next level.  It is very much worth it.  Here’s a quick run-down of the great features available:

• All your services, people, songs, and media in one place that is central to everyone.  There are a lot of planning tools that have a database of people and songs that are available on a computer at the church, but with this, everything is available for everyone online which is very handy if you have multiple volunteer leaders.
• CCLI reporting.  Planning Center is able to do your CCLI reporting for you, which is awesome.
• Confirm, decline, and blackout date scheduling.  Everyone involved has the option to black out dates on their calendar, as well as confirm or deny positions scheduled right in their email.
• Facebook Integration.  Planning Center just added this.  For the post-email generation - they don’t even have to leave Facebook if they don’t want to - it integrates perfectly.
• Comments and subscribing to comments.  It is so helpful to have a section for comments and the ability to subscribe to comments so communication is made a bit easier.

I really enjoy this tool and would highly recommend it.  I’m so glad we decided to go for it and am looking forward to how it wil help us even more in the future.

Life is good.  We’re experiencing growth as a congregation, I’m definitely seeing growth within the worship ministry at our church (especially much growth within myself - more on that to come), and I actually have some things to write about.  So, without further ado, what the week will look like:

• Thoughts on Planning Center Online.  Yes, I finally decided to give it a go and boy, I wish I would have sooner.
• I have read two fantastic books recently and I’m halfway through a third.  I’d love to share my thoughts on those.
• Christmas and Choir music - what are your thoughts (more detailed questioning coming soon)

Enjoy the week ahead and remember, “Those who look to Him are radiant.”

But, big news has come! Our church building is finally about ready for us to move into. The asphalt has been poured as of today and that was pretty much the final piece of the puzzle that was necessary to move in.

We’re so excited to more than likely be having our first service in our brand new facility on Sunday, August 9th.

The album starts out with an upbeat, catchy groove on the song “Almighty Creator.”  The song speaks of all that God has created, including the fantastic line of the chorus that kids (and adults) can declare: “You created me to worship You.”

Several of the songs on this album have the same bluesy, rock groove that “Almighty Creator” has, giving the whole album a fantastic energy that isn’t cheesy at all.  On the flip side, there are several tender, worshipful, beautiful anthems on the album as well.

“Who is like You?” and “For You are Holy” make use of beautiful melodies and proclaim eteranal truths, still while being completely singable.

Probably the most powerful track on this album, though, is “The Gospel Song,” a four-line summary of who God is, what He did through Jesus, and how it affects us, sung beautifully by a child vocalist.

The vocals are another refreshing thing about this album.  With many chidren’s albums, it can be hard to listen to children’s voices over and over if they aren’t quite “right there.”  This album offers a wonderful blend of children’s choirs, middle school soloists, and adult lead vocalists throughout, giving the listener a pleasant experience, full of variety and the pleasure of listening to fantastic singers of every age.

I would highly recommend this album, first for something to listen to if you have little ones that will fill them with God’s truth while making them move and dance to wonderful music (I know this firsthand, as I just watched my 18-month old daughter loving this CD in the last week), second for music for your children’s ministry, and third, as a great collection of songs that are just plain well-written and great to listen to, whatever age you might be.

Have you thought about the fact that everything you do is a reflection of the God that created you, the One you worship, and the One you say you follow?

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.” Colossians 3:17

And that includes tweeting and updating your Facebook profile.

John Piper has just posted some great thoughts about this.  Think about his words as you think about how to be an offering while you use Twitter and your Facebook status update as well.

Consider  Acapella

Especially if you have several good singers that are very comfortable with harmony, consider dropping all or some of the instruments out and just having the vocals.  It is so powerful for the church to hear each other sing, and sometimes we just need to get rid of the noise and hear each other’s voices loudly and clearly.

Go Acoustic

If you’re use to a full band sound with full drum-set and several layers of instrumentation, pull it back.  Have your drummer just play a djembe and some shakers and take out the keyboards and electric guitars and replace them with piano and acoustic guitar.  You’ll be amazed at how the mood changes.

Again, do you have any other basic tips that would benefit others?  Share them by leaving a comment.

Add variety.

The most important thing not to do in music to do the same thing over and over again.  If you’re singing a song with several verses, change how each verse is done.  With a full band, start with one instrument, add another on the chorus, add more on the next verse, add the entire band on the next chorus, then drop out to one instrument again on the third verse, chorus, or bridge; then bring the full band back in for the last verse.

If you just have a piano or guitar, change the rhythm.  Start with muted strumming on the guitar or quarter notes on the piano for the first verse, then add more rhythm on the following verses.  Even something as simple as changing octaves on the piano can make a world of difference.

Layer your vocals.

Just as important as adding variety in the instrumentation of the song is adding depth to the vocals.  Start with a solo vocal on the first verse.  Add one harmony singer on the chorus.  Add all the vocalists on the next chorus.  Don’t always have everyone singing all the time.  Create and build energy with your vocals.

Tomorrow we’ll look at two more ultra basic arrangement tips.  In the meantime - do you have any tips you’ve found helpful?  Leave a comment!

Family Update.

The last few months have been quite the roller coaster ride for our family.  Our daughter ended up taking a two-week visit to the hospital, brought on by a stomach virus combined with allergies messing up her system.  Turns out she’s allergic to milk, eggs, and soy.  She ended up with an NG (nasal) feeding tube that was extremely difficult to deal with at first.  We finally got into the routine of all the extra attention she needed when, of course, things decided to change.

The doc’s mentioned that they don’t like to have children go more than three months with an NG tube, and our appointment was fast approaching.  My wife and I were fully expecting that she would need surgery to get a permanent tube placed.  Much to our shock, the appointment came and the doctor decided to take her feeding tube out!  The only catch was that she was getting thrown into deep water and she was either going to sink or swim for the next two weeks.  She’s never been a good eater (one reason for the tube), so we were very concerned.

The first week was a little rough, but at the end of it, things started to look up.  She’s been seeing a speech and an occupational therapist to help her eat better and something they’re having us try seems to be the perfect trick that she needs.  She’s begun to eat better and our days are becoming much less stressful.  Now, the next thing to work on is getting her to calm down for sleep at night.  That, coupled with the business of a new job out of town, has been one major reason for me not blogging.

God is Good

Through all of this, we have learned to truly trust God, even in doubt and pain.  We have learned to not let circumstances determine our emotions.  We have learned that God truly has a plan in place, even if we can’t see it or understand it.

Moving Forward

Because of our daughter’s health issues I’ve had to take a step back from leadership in worship ministry at our church, as well as not blog nearly as much as I used to (hence the obvious lack of posts lately).  I am eager to get back in the blogging community and dive into leadership in worship ministry again.

I have a fantastic new job as a graphic designer that is going really well.  However, I really, really miss doing worship ministry at the church.  My job is a half hour out of town and our family situation is still a bit demanding.  So here’s the question: What are some things I can do to help continue to encourage and build the worship ministry at our church that can take five to ten minutes a day?  I know you don’t know our whole situation - but any thoughts you might have would be helpful.