Being a ‘creative’ is an odd vocation.  My job is to come up with ideas.  Some are good.  Some are not.  But what is the response you get when you throw out ideas.  Lately, for me, they fall into two categories:

It’s either:

‘We can’t do that!’

or

‘How can we do that?’

The difference is subtle, but clear.  The first question is actually an answer – NO.  The second question is actually a question.  Basically the person is asking for more information.  ’What would it take to accomplish what you are proposing?’

So I turn the question back on myself.  When someone comes to me with an idea, what is my first response?  Is it a resounding – NO! We can’t do that!  Or, is it – ‘I don’t quite see it yet, but explain to me how can we do that?’

I think this has application for all areas of life, church, job, family, etc.  What if, the next time someone asked for your input on a creative idea, you chose to say, ‘Ok, how can we do that?’  Instead of saying, ‘No.’

Food for thought,

Matt

Just came across this artist – Matt Wertz - and so far I dig his rocking acoustic stylings!

AND he’s giving his album away!  You can download it HERE.

or here

or Here

Peace!

-matt

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

I found out today that our Worship Facilities team at Grace won several awards this year from Worship Facilities Expo!  These awards included:

Best Technical Director for our own Daryl Cripe!

Best Technical Production Team for Grace’s Production Team!

Best Facilities Manager for our own Dave Wagner!

For our new auditorium we were also awarded:

Best Church Design - New Project, 801-2000 Seats – Meyer Sounds Labs, Grace Community Church, Noblesville, IN

HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to all those who are involved with the Facilities and Production ministries at Grace!

Read the full list HERE.

This is one of the coolest duets I’ve ever seen.  Especially since its only one guitar!

Oh Yes!    And drums too!

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.

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!!!

‘True worship is

the celebration of being in covenant fellowship with the sovereign and holy triune God,

by means of

the reverent adoration and spontaneous praise of God’s nature and works,

The expressed commitment of trust and obedience to the covenant responsibilities, and

The memorial reenactment of entering into covenant through ritual acts,

all with the confident anticipation of the fulfillment of the covenant promises in glory.

-Allen P Ross

If you have been with me for any amount of time you know that I am a HUGE Crowder fan.  This is an interesting album for me.  Like ‘A Collision’ it is meant to be played from start to finish and it comprises the History of ‘Church Music.’  It is a very eclectic mix of sound, but it definitely is slanted towards the Reason Loops and programmed tracks.

From a worship leader perspective, I’m really not sure if there are any tracks I will be able to use in a corporate setting.  Still I really love the album for my own personal worship time.  It is a bit weird that my favorite tracks are the covers of ‘How He Loves’ and ‘All Around Me.’

Overall, this is one of those albums that I LOVE to crank up in my car and rock out to while I drive around.