From Blue Fish TV.  This was brought to my attention from my friends at blogworship.com.  Enjoy.

Kyle just brought it to my attention that Delirious will end their tour and call it quits as a band.  Many fans (including myself) are saddened by the news.  However, let me say thanks to a band that rocked my world with the whole worship scene.  When I was a kid, Petra was the a band that had a dramatic effect on me.  Years later, Delirious gave me a re-birth and (for me) redefined worship music.  Cutting Edge 1 and 2 may still be the best worship project in my collection.  It effected me in ways I am unable to express here.

Thanks boys, for a great ride. Thanks for following Christ among the critics, and pushing the boundaries.  Here is to a new and better season.

Click here for the press release from the band.

Mike Jones asked if there was a site which posted the songs some of the One Prayer Churches were doing.  As far as I know, there is not. Let’s create one.

Here is the deal: As we get our worship sets together, I will post them here.  If you send me your worship sets, I will post them here and link to you.  Make sure you indicate which One Prayer video you are using.  Try to have them to me by Wednesday at 5PM for the following Sunday.

Here is a look at exchange for July 8.  Our video is Make us Dead (me teaching in the form of a short film).

iPod pre-gathering
Countdown Video?
My Glorious [A]
Welcome and Announcements
Rob - pray for graduates
Pray for NO Team
Teaching- One Prayer video (01) - Make us Dead
At the Cross [E]
Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) [D]
Once Again [D]
Glory In The Highest [A]
Sweetly Broken [B]
Everlasting God (New Life Worship) [G]
Baptisms?
Your Love Oh Lord [G]
Beautiful The Blood [Db]
iPod post-gathering

Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart
is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather or pouring vinegar in a wound. - Proverbs 25:20

We sing cheerful songs. We celebrate the things that God has done. God is good all the time, and we sing about that. But, what about the guy whose wife just left him? What about the woman who just found out she had a lump. What about the kid who is living with struggles to fit in? What about that person who carries a heart of pain? By how I lead, do I sometimes say “Just sing a happy song and it will all be OK.”

Sunday night a guy I knew from high school showed up at church. His life was crashing. His wife and he were separated and he was incredibly lonely. He was broken. He knew he had made a mess of things. His heart was heavy. Anybody could see that. He had no use for happy-clappy songs. We talked for a bit after the worship gathering. He is not ready to make a commitment to Christ. More than anything I wanted to sweep him into a community that would connect and love him and show him Christ. At a critical life-changing moment, he came to the church. He is looking for connection and answers. Will we be able to offer what he needs? My hope is that we will. My fear is that we will not.

But we do have some great happy songs.

photo by: darren copley

Wow. I have received some great feedback on the worship leading essentials articles. For our convenience, Shawn has set them up as a  PDF here.

If you would be interested in a fully expanded audio version (available on CD or mp3), please let me know. I am considering putting this together if there is enough interest.

photo by Gaetan Lee

That’s right.  Exchange is looking for a full-time associate with responsibilities in worship and programming.  Exchange continues to grow and I will be moving out of full-time worship leading to investing the bulk of my time in weekly teaching, vision casting and staff development.  Want to work with one the best ministries around?  Check out all the details here.

If you know of someone who would fit what we are looking for, please send them the information!

Burnout.  We all face it as worship leaders. Some times there comes a point where you are tired of chord charts, playlists, arrangements, themes, and people.  If the thought of putting together a worship set makes you sigh and want to run far away, you may be getting a little crispy. Here are some ideas to prevent burnout.

• Make a list of things that fill your tank.  What do you love to do?  Go crazy with the list.  Dream.  Dream some more.  Pick something selfish off the list, take an afternoon (or day, or more) off and DO IT.  Don’t feel guilty about it.  Do it.
• Stop listening to music.  Sometimes I just have to get away from music.  Maybe God will be best found in the silence.  Go find out.
• Get to another church for a Sunday and be totally anonymous.  Tell them you are Hank from Montana and just passing through on the way to your summer job on an oil rig.  Oh, and don’t critique the worship gathering.  You are not a worship leader, you are an oil rig worker (have you forgotten already?).
• Play your instrument for no other reason than just to play.
• Write a new song (unless that stresses you).  Write the song just between you and God.  Don’t write it to be the next song that your congregation sings.
• Take a real sabbatical day and just relax.  Give yourself permission to rest.
• Connect with a friend that builds into you.
• Fast from media.  That includes internet, cell phone, iPod, and crackberry.  

If your burnout runs deep, you may need to take some extended time off.  Don’t feel guilty about this.  Your congregation needs you healthy.

The difference between song leaders and worship leaders is that worship leaders lead from the overflow.  A good worship leader will make it seem like you are  eavesdropping on their deep personal worship.  You owe it to God, your family, and yourself to get some refreshment to gain some depth. 

For a look at how I combat burnout before it starts, check out this post.

What do you do to de-stress?

picture from Library of Congress Photostream

I had an interesting conversation today with Scott, our media guy. It all revolved around the use of live shots used during worship songs. We are in a 1400 seat room with great lighting, sound, and good (but limited cameras). We do not yet have the ability for clean overlays of words on images. When we use live shots we cut away from the words.

Some people say that video during the worship songs are distracting. Others say that they are engaging. I have my own thoughts but would love to hear yours. So, the question is: What engages you more - live camera shots or none?

Comment here!

Anne Jackson is a blogger and honest follower of Christ.  Anne posted some great thoughts on the Hypocrisy of Worship.

Seems like we are all wrestling with the same thing; is God as tired of our songs as we are of singing them? Aside: check out the Tired/Orphan Blood song here.

Don’t get me wrong: corporate worship has a place. Hey, I make part of my living leading worship :> It is biblical, but I don’t think God’s dream is getting lullabied (is that a word?) while fellow humans are suffering. Are we singing and doing nothing else with our lives? That’s not called worship, that’s singing songs.

At exchange, we are contemplating a new series called “Live Like We Sing” (thanks Shawn). So, my question to you:

What phrases do you feel like we keep singing in our songs? We may take some of those and address what it would really mean to live like we sing. Please comment below!

photo by hiddedevries

Jan Springer from North Metro Church wrote me a couple months ago.  His question:  What about paid musicians?  Where do you draw the line?  Jan, I’ll give you my thoughts but let me first apologize for the delay in writing.  Bad Blogger :>

I can’t speak for others, but I can speak for what we do in exchange (and at MCC).  We do not pay our musicians.  Fortunately, we don’t have to.  I do not mean that to sound arrogant.  We just have a group of musicians who love to play.  Seriously, I think some of them would pay to play.  Hmm, maybe I should try that :>

Here are some additional thoughts:

• I can see paying a worship leader if you are requiring substantial time, have high expectations, and warrant many hours per week.
• Get a clear answer on why you pay musicians.
• If you pay one musician, you have to pay them all.
• If you pay musicians, you should treat them like employees (or contractors at least).  What I mean is this: you are paying for a service.  If they don’t deliver or show up on time, that should be reflected in their compensation.
• The worship leader goes from leader of volunteers to manager of contract employees.  No thanks.   
• It could muddy the waters for serving.  Where do you draw the line between serving and a paid job?  Tough one to walk.  Why not pay nursery workers? 
• Once you start, it is probably hard to stop.

I know some churches that feel they need to hire musicians.  They may be small or young and need to hire each Sunday.  Others may be large and want to run it like a business with union and/or professional musicians. 

All that to say this:  If I had to use paid musicians, I would set an end date and keep expectations as clear as possible.

Other thoughts????

photo by zzzack