So, a partner in crime, Shawn Wallace, tells me that this song is blowing up in the blogsphere.  At first listen I yawn and think it is just like every other "Jesus loves me - I am the center of the universe song." 

Second time thru. 

I am almost in tears, realizing a truth that we often forget: he really does love us.

What do you think?

Easter blew up yesterday with nearly 2000 people in the building.  We celebrated the fact that we were salvaged.  In grand style, the team pulled it together.  Some highlights:

• Hundreds of pieces of junk
• Crazy scaffolding used as band risers and stage props
• Dancing to "Glory of it All"
• You are My Joy with cello and surdos
• Live painting with a beautiful twist
• Solid message on the resurrection of God in our lives
• Guitar Hero
• Tons of visitors
• Media off the chain (center screen, a dozen TV’s, and other eye candy).

We had a large hard working crew who went crazy with their time, creativity, and energy. It was a pleasure to serve with them.

I’ll post some video and pictures later. 

I had a flashback last week.  We are going paperless and are converting all our songs to Planning Center Online.  In an effort to do so, I was going through several years of songs in my files to import them into PCO.  On several occasions, I would pull chord charts from my hard file and say "We seriously sang this?"  I’m not even going to mention some of the songs we used to do.  The memories are just too brutal.   I even found a song that I wrote and had forgotten about.  Judging from the lyrics, it was just as well :>

Even worse, I have to wonder if I will be going through my files in 10 years and thinking he same thing of the songs today.

Shawn has been working like a dog to get everything converted to Planning Center Online.  Once we are up and running (soon), I will post a review here.

Photo by spierzchala

Author, musician, worship leader, theologian, and cultural diva Sally Morgenthaler recently sat down with Alan Roxburgh at the Allelon Institute and discussed the role of worship and the church.

Sally is a friend and a solid leader.  I have had the privilege of talking through life and leadership with Sally and I always come away thinking (1) this lady is solid and (2) she makes my head swim.

Grab a cup of Starbucks and enjoy this video interview.

Thanks again Sally!

Rick Newman brings us our number three thing we could learn from Bruce:  Share the credit.

There’s been a lot of hype about Springsteen reuniting with his famed E Street Band for the first full tour since 2003, but come on — Springsteen, the man, is the draw, pure and simple. Still, this is one maestro who spreads the glory across the stage. Not once during the show does a spotlight shine on Springsteen alone. He continually calls out "Steve," "Clarence" and the other band members. And when they bow at the end, they bow together.                          - Rick Newman, US News and World Report

It is a picture I still have in my mind. We were in the throws of a full-on E street experience with sold out crowd in Chicago. The band was lighting it up Jersey- style. The crowd was singing along and the focus was not directly on the Boss man.   Bruce walked over to long-time friend, Clarence.  (Note to all Boss newbies:  Clarence blows the sax for the man.  And he is baaaaaaad).  He stood beside Clarence and together they looked at the crowd.  He reached down and grabbed Clarence’s hand and together they silently stared at the crowd.  It was a brief moment that spoke volumes to me.  A simple holding of hands that said "Can you believe this?  Can you believe that we get to do this together?  Don’t forget this moment we have.  How lucky are we?"

It may have been the best part of the show for me.  Springsteen doing his genuine best to share the limelight.  We could learn a thing or two from that.

Any way that you cut it, church leadership is a team effort.  If you think you are in it alone, you are wrong.  If you think you can handle it alone, you are wronger :>

How can we share the credit?  We need to realize . . .

1. God gets the credit for this gig.  I realize that is the cliche thing to say, but it had better be true.  God gets pretty worked up when other people take the glory away from him.  It’s a dangerous place to be.  A couple years ago I was pulling into our church parking lot.  I looked at our large building and thought of our extensive ministries.  I slowed the car and quickened my pride.  I started to recount all the hard work, long hours, planning, and loss of sleep that had brought us to where we were.  My pride got the best of me.  I was proud for what I was part of building.  At that moment I sensed the spirit of God say to me "Scot, what has happened here has been because of my hand. If you start to take credit for it, I will begin to remove my blessing."  Gulp.  Check please.
2. We need to operate as a team.  I get a little sideways when I hear Pastor’s talk about "their church."  Or something that "they" did.  We can operate as a CEO who thinks that the church world revolves around us, or we can wake up and realize that this kingdom thing is based on many people doing many thing.
3. Leaders take the blame, share the fame.  My Dad once said "When something goes wrong, you take the blame.  You say "I."  When something goes right, you share the fame, you say "We.""  Smart man.
4. Life was meant to be lived together.  I would much rather gather my team around me and celebrate a job well done than drive home alone and tell myself how good I am.  When people compliment me, I state the dead-on truth:  "We have a great team, I am glad to be a part of it." 

There are unsung hero’s on your staff.  There are people on your team who deserve some recognition.  Share the love.  Spread around the credit.  Don’t be afraid to grab a few hands, take a look at the landscape, and say "Can you believe this?" 

And when you bow, bow together.

Photo by luiginter

Happy New Year! The 1st day of 2008 finds me in the studio finishing the guitar tracks for the new CD.

As a follow-up to Simple Worship 1, I am excited to get Simple Worship 2 finished up. This will be my 4th worship CD and has more originals than any other project.

I have been getting some great feedback on a song called “Tired.” You can view and listen to a rough cut of it here.

Keep your eyes open and I will let you know when the CD becomes available. In the meantime, if you would like to order Simple Worship 1, just drop me a note at the contacts page.  Take a look at both Tired and Simple Worship 2 at www.scotlongyearmusic.com.

Back to the studio

In part 3 of the Springsteen series, we explore another thought from Rick Newman and US News and World Report. Rick’s third observation from the Boss is that he gives the people what they want. Here are Rick’s own words:

Experiments get a more welcome reception when mingled with something familiar. Throughout the show, Springsteen deftly blended unembellished hits such as “Badlands” and “Born to Run,” performed pretty much the way everybody knows them, with darker, topical music; after appeasing his conscience, he quickly reverted to happier songs such as “The Promised Land” (irony intended, I presume) and “Dancing in the Dark.” The result: His message of protest got across without turning anybody off.

I know what you are thinking here. “The church can’t give people what they want. We would compromise or values and morals.” Hmmm, not sure I buy into that objection. To me, it is an issue of relevance.

Someone once said that “The church has historically been answering the questions that nobody is asking.”

Ouch.

Jesus always looked beyond the obvious. He looked into the lives of people. What were they struggling with? What were the things locking them up? What were their dreams?

Somewhere along the way we have to be able to answer the question of what people are looking for. Every year the people of exchange volunteer to work one of the biggest musical event in town. Bluesfest draws people from all over the Midwest. Several thousands come to enjoy some good blues with some great friends. Last year I stood in the middle of the crowd and again had to ask myself:

Is the church being relevant? Are we addressing the questions that these people are struggling with? Is the song we are singing familiar to people outside of Christ?

I never want to stop asking those question. As a church, we better wrestle with it. I am not asking that we compromise the message or the values. I am asking that we look at the questions that people are asking and begin to address those in relevant ways. Jesus did it, why should we do any different?

The heart of Christ beats for those who have yet to know him. Find out what they are asking and you have an inroad to the familiar in their life.

Photo by Sister 72

I think I just got schooled.

I’ll be honest, I am not impressed with most Independent artists (A.K.A. “Indies”). Yes, I realize I am an Indie artist :>

Last year Dave Frey (a former youth group kid of mine), sends me a copy of his latest project. At Anderson University, Dave teamed up with Ben McDonald. Together they formed Sidewalk Prophets. Expecting to be less than impressed, I gave it an obligatory spin. Sha-zam!! I was impressed big time. The vocals are tonally wonderful and the song writing is as fresh as Grannies homemade pie. One of my favorite songs, Where I Stand, hits me hard every time. Not only is it a beautiful picture of hope to a struggling young woman, but I hear it as a song of hope to the church. I get fired up every time I listen.

Still not impressed? These guys have opened for some big names in the biz and shared the stage with Audio A (among others). Not long after there last US tour, Sidewalk Prophets packed up and headed overseas. They recently released an EP and are heading back to Europe in a few weeks.

Keep these guys on the radar.

This is a must have CD. Check out all the details on the Sidewalk Prophet’s Website, or at Myspace.

Thanks once again to Rick Newman from U.S. News & World Report for the article on what the Boss can teach CEOs. Crossing it over from Business to church leadership, we explore Rick’s #2 observation: Innovate. In Rick’s own words,

Springsteen’s knack for turning old material into something completely new seems like a magic touch compared with all the lame efforts to create hip, modern variations of old TV shows or movies. Instead of copying success, he creates it all over again.

Can somebody testify? I must admit, when my pal Glen Baldwin offered to take me to my first Springsteen concert a few years ago, I figured I would be watching a washed up old man playing the same tunes for the millionth time so he could get enough money to pay his back taxes (tip of the hat to Willie).

I was wrong. Dead wrong.

The reason people flock to a Springsteen show is that you never know what this cat will do, but you know this: he takes old tunes and makes them new. Brand new.

Read the rest of this entry »