Holy Obedience

“As worship begins in holy expectancy, it ends in holy obedience. Holy obedience saves worship from becoming an opiate, an escape from the pressing needs of modern
life.” – Richard Foster

Digital Music Stand – iPad in Worship

I’ve had my iPad (version 1 just in case you were wondering) for a while now and I have been testing it out as a digital music stand.  Well, it works.  It just plain works.  I don’t have to print out charts any more and I feel good about that.  Plus, on songs with multiple pages, it couldn’t be simpler than a swipe or tap instead of trying to arrange the charts just right on a music stand and then scrambling to change to the next song, etc….

I’ve tried several apps, pdf readers and websites to see which is the best and I still feel that the perfect one is yet to be found.  That said, however there is one that stands out above the rest.  I use OnSong because of it’s ability to load songs from Dropbox and to create Setlists as well as some cool annotation features.  It also includes the ability to link the chart to the mp3 so you can listen as you practice and get that guitar lick right.

 

Of course you also need a stand so you don’t accidentally swipe your iPad onto the ground.  I choose the X Clip.  It’s easy and it works.

 

Anyway, hope this helps anyone who was thinking about either grabbing up the old model now that the new one is coming out or in fact diving into the new iPad 2.  Either way, I think it is a great solution for a digital music reader.

 

Peace!

-Matt

Hallelujah!

And HE shall reign FOREVER and EVER!!!

Merry Christmas!!!

Shine!

“Shine Your light so all can see it

Lift it up ’cause the whole world needs it

Love has come what Joy to hear it!

He has overcome! He has overcome!

EDIT:

Here’s Crowder’s POST about this video

Focus

The Pearl Jam concert last night was incredible!!! I am honestly not the biggest fan, or at least I have not been since the album ‘Ten’ came out more than ten years ago. Even so, the band was solid. The guitar tones and solos were epic. The drummer’s fills were awesome and the vocals ranged from grungy to soaring.

However, in the midst of all of this, two things were again confirmed for me:

–People love to raise their hands and sing together in one voice.

–Most people seem to miss the point of raising their hands and singing together in one voice – to worship. And not just worship anything, but worship God.

All this brings me back to a question I’ve had for a while: Why will tens of thousands of people show up, and raise their hands, and sing at the top of their lungs for a group like Pearl Jam, but when we gather for church it’s a struggle to get a few hundred, or if we are fortunate to be part of a ‘mega’ church, maybe a thousand or two? And even then, often the church gathering feels so wooden and stiff and un-engaged.

It just seems sometimes like we church leaders have led the people down a path that gave them the idea that church worship is, or should be, only from the head, but it seems so clear that humanity was made to worship from the heart.

Contemporvent and Growtivation

I know I haven’t posted in a while.

It’s just that season of life.

I hope this helps:

Sunday Morning

Thanks to North Point for putting this together!

and @CurtisHoneycutt for showing me!

The Future of Worship!

This video is a bit long, but one of my favorite worship leaders, David Crowder, talks about some ideas on the Future of Worship.

It is not only informative, but also hilarious!  He even uses an overhead projector, I’m not sure what an overhead projector is, but he definitely uses one!

Check it out here

If you have less time, start the video at around 13:40.

Seriously, friends, this is good stuff here!

Free Christmas Tunes!

Aaron Hale is giving away a FREE Christmas EP entitled, brilliantly,

Hark! the Christmas EP

So far I really like it.

It’s a gentle, mellow, folky Christmas caroling experience.

 

Go download it.

It’s free!

 

HT: @CurtisHoneycutt

Phil Wickham sings about Heaven and Earth

I have been a long time Phil Wickham fan.  He would lead worship occasionally at the church I attended, The Flood San Diego.  I truly enjoy the way he composes melody and harmony.  He is vastly different from the current worship leader/artist/nashville mold.  Perhaps it is because we are both from the San Diego, California area, but I like his style!

This lastest release (technically PRE-Release as it drops on NOV 17th) does not disappoint!  From soaring guitars to razor synth sounds it is a solid follow-up to Cannons.   I appreciate the variation from a seriously full-on ‘rock’ sound to almost completely acoustic, just him and the guitar.  (Though I did hear a banjo on The Time is Now, which I LOVE!)

I definitely need to spend some quality time with this album.  So far I really dig a few of the tracks and expect that I will hear and appreciate some of the other ones as I listen to it again and again.

As a guitar player, I like that he uses alternate tuning and different chords.  It makes me want to be more creative in my own playing and writing.  As a worship leader, his lyrics are very heartfelt and hit at the center of a lost and hurting culture.

Here’s my iTunes review:

I definitely recommend the album for personal and potential corporate worship.  You can get the download HERE now or buy it on iTunes or Amazon on Nov 17th.

Matt Papa – Album Review – Your Kingdom Come

I randomly came across Matt Papa when he followed me on Twitter a week ago.  I thought, hey, a cool songwriter.  I clicked through his website and listened to the album preview and was BLOWN AWAY!!!

Not only are his lyrics straight out of scripture, his melodies are super creative and original.  It is also the most eclectic album I’ve ever heard.  It goes from driving rock, to what sounds like orthodox Russian, to  pseudo-punk, to instrumental hymn.

I am going out on a limb here to say this is my favorite album of the year so far!!!