Travelogue

Victory Christian Fellowship, Waverly, MO – October 28-30, 2011

I had the privilege of going to Waverly, MO, last weekend to visit our friends at Victory Christian Fellowship, and to work with the worship leaders and team, and the audio and tech guys. It was great to have Chris Wilken with me, since he’s very smart and has a lot of training in the audio/tech areas, and I…need him.

We met for dinner and conversation with the church elders, leaders, and worship leaders Friday evening to help me gain some context, and to finalize plans for the weekend.

Pastor Jerry Curry was going to take Chris and I to an 8:00 a.m. Saturday morning football game, but circumstances changed, and we wound up not going. This saved us a lot of time, as Chris and I had brought enough clothes to endure the predicted 30 degree weather that it would have taken us an extra hour to get dressed to go. We were bitterly disappointed, but recovered enough to go to the church building later in the morning to see how they operate their weekly regional food pantry. It was great to see the church family at work loving the community.

VCF Friends VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

We met with the worship team Saturday afternoon. I shared some basic definitions of worship, worshipers, worship leaders, and worship leading teams to put us all on the same page, then we talked about different aspects of flowing in a corporate worship meeting. Chris got some good time in with our new awesome friend Eddie on the sound board and computer.

The worship team got on instruments and mic’s and ran through how to do a good sound check, before going through some examples of flowing in and out of songs, free (‘costly’) worship, etc. This is a really great team, and they’re working at some disadvantage, in that they do not currently have a drummer. We talked about some possible ways to compensate for that, using other instruments to lock rhythm in. I suggested someone cluck their tongue into a mic, but I don’t think that’s really going to work.

It was a great working session, and a lot of fun hanging out with these guys.

The church came together Saturday evening for a time of worship and seeking God, which I led from the keyboard. Friends from the Countryside community, and Crown Christian Center in Odessa, MO, came to be with us. We had a great evening together in the presence of God.

On Sunday morning, I had the opportunity to visit with some of the junior and senior high kids before the corporate meeting. We talked about what Jesus said in John chapter 4 about worshiping in spirit and in truth, and what that means for our lives with God.

The worship team did an absolutely awesome job of leading us into the presence of God in the morning service. Cindy Shier led, with a team of 4 backing vocalists, 2 keyboards, and electric guitar. A brief setlist:

The Lord Reigns
Beautiful
Everlasting God

I brought a message about worship and mission, connecting the need for a life worship to the outcome of fulfilling the individual and corporate mission God’s designed for us to live in. I shared my song To Carry The Glory as Jerry led an alter call.

After the meeting, we had a carry-in lunch together. Chris and I visited around for awhile afterwards and headed home.

 

Thanks to my good friends Jerry and Brenda Curry, Tom and Bev Scopel, the Wells, Shiers, Sievers, and the rest of the family at VCF for a great weekend!

Covenant Harvest – Pittsburg, KS, July 8-10, 2011

I had the privilege of spending some time with my friends at Covenant Harvest Church in Pittsburg, KS, recently. I went there primarily for a retreat with their worship team as a followup to a visit I made there a couple of months ago. In the meantime, Mark Baker has been doing some teaching on worship, they’ve had some special rehearsals, and been seeking God to move forward in the area of worship in the church.

Here’s a brief review of what we did over the weekend:

FRIDAY EVENING

Outdoor Worship VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Jamison (Dennis and crew) hit the stage (actually the concrete floor) at an outdoor pavilion downtown in Immigrant Park, to lead the church and passersby in worship.We worshiped and praised God, and prayed for the city. This church does a lot of community outreach, and is looking to do more. I hope they will do more outdoor worship – it was very powerful.

Afterwards Jay Lotterer, Mark Maker, Chris Sterrett, Scott Squires and I retired to the Brock Ranch, where we spent the rest of the evening talking about what God was saying to us about the Saturday retreat with the worship team. It was a beautiful place, and with the exception of Scott, we spent the night there.

SATURDAY

Brock Ranch Retreat VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

Around 25-30 worship team members, including their school chapel/youth worship team, gathered at the Brock Ranch house. I don’t know if any outdoor activities had been planned, but it wound up being very hot, and so I didn’t ask because I didn’t want to go outside.

We had a great morning worshiping together, and Chris had every person share what they we seeing and hearing in God as we worshiped. This was one of the most powerful things we did, I think, as every individual acknowledged that they have the ‘prophetic’ ability to grasp what’s happening in the spiritual realm when we bring ourselves before Almighty God.

Some of the insights, pictures, words, songs were just incredible, and really helped us understand what the Lord was after in us – both for the rest of the retreat time, but also in being servants in worship at Covenant Harvest in this season.

There was some teaching, lunch together, a session on singing prophetic songs, or ‘the song of the Lord’, and a time of prayer over the worship team members before we left in the afternoon. One of the last things we did was have the youngest generation (Jr. high and high school age) prayed over and prophesied to by the generation just ahead of them (that left me out). I believe that major impartation in the spirit occurred in that moment.

SUNDAY

Jay, Scott, and Scott Parish, and Bekah Brooks led the meeting. I led worship, with a great crew of Pittsburgian worship teamers. We had plans for a message to be preached, but God showed up, and we never made it to the message.

There was a real sense of the peace and strength of God there, and we prayed over people for quite a while, to be released into the rest of God.

 

I love my friends in Pittsburg, and always enjoy spending time with them. It’s great to have lots of family away from family, and I look forward to the next time I’ll see them!

AllAboutWorship Retreat – May, 2011, KC

I had a fantastic time worshiping and fellowshipping with 30-or-so worship leader friends in Overland Park, KS, last week. I was at a retreat hosted by Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu-Saada of AllAboutWorship.com, at Grace Church, from Thursday, May 19 through Saturday, May 21.

Brenton Brown, Michael Farren and Pocket Full of Rocks, Dave Fitzgerald, and Sarah Reeves were there with us. They led worship, hung out with us, and did a free concert Friday night that was open to the community. I really appreciated the genuineness and humility these guys came to us with, and they are all very passionate about the Lord and His people.

Thanks to Wisdom, Ben, Grace Church, and all the above named artists for serving us so graciously. Here are some pictures, and then I’ll give a recap of the goings-on.

AAWR 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

DAY 1 – THURSDAY
We had a brief orientation gathering to kick things off around 2:00 in the afternoon, then broke up into small groups to have an opportunity to get to know one another. I had the privilege of leading one of the groups (Boys in the Hall – yeah!). We each shared a little about who we are and what we do, and what we were expecting from God and one another during the retreat.

When the whole group came back together, Wisdom had us begin on our knees before the Lord. We had a couple of surprise Skype visits – one from David Leonard and Leslie Jordan, of Sons and Daughters, and one from Don Moen. They each shared a song, some insights and encouragement, and each prayed for our retreat.

Dave Fitzgerald led us in worship, then Michael Farren shared his heart with us, encouraging us to approach the few days we’d have together with God as sons, rather than slaves (Romans 8:14-16). Some quotable quotes: “Anything less than full sonship is slavery”, “everyone is either a son or a slave, and every leader will be either a father or a tyrant.”

This was really an excellent word to start off with. It helped us to pause and locate our motivations to prepare us to yield our hearts to the Lord, rather than launching into the retreat in ‘going-through-the-motions’ mode. Brenton Brown led us in worship to close the session. I have to say, it’s a wonderful thing to come into the presence of God with a bunch of other worship leaders.

We broke for an awesome supper catered by Jack Stack BBQ (the prospect of this was one main reason those of us who attended last year came back!), after which there was a couple of hours of hang-out time. Wisdom and Ben provided instruments, and some jam sessions ensued. Michael Farren held out as long as he could, but finally had no choice but to share his, uh…tender love song, “Like Cornbread and Buttermilk” with us. It was a moment to be cherished (sorry, I couldn’t find a link for this one)!

At 9:00, Dave Fitzgerald led us in worship for 30-45 minutes to close out the day.

DAY 2 – FRIDAY
We started out with a couple more Skype visitors – first Daniel Bashta, who sang his song “Roaring Like a Lion” for us, then prayed for us. Jared Anderson, who was there with us last year appeared on screen next. He shared a song, “Bless the Lord,” from the New Life CD, ‘You Hold It All’ with us, and tried to help us understand what it’s like to be alone with four children when your wife’s out of town.

Sarah Reeves led us into worship, accompanied by her brother, Ben. This young lady is really amazing. She sang “Sweet Sweet Sound” among others, before Brenton Brown came to share with us about why we worship, looking at Mark 14:1-9. Some points he made:

Worship is our only legitimate response to God, like the woman who poured the costly perfume on Jesus’ head.
- Jesus said of her that "she did what she could.”
- Brenton encouraged us to do what we can with what we have, regarding
   worship and leading worship, and believe that’s enough.

Some other-than-legitimate responses to God (looking through the rest of Mark chapter 14):
- Seeing Him as a way to make money (as Judas did)
- Embarassment (like Peter)
- Regarding Him as a threat to our current life/lifestyle
- Seeing Him as an unattainable goal

Some things we’re not responsible for when we’re leading worship: 
- How people have lived all week
- What’s going on behind the scenes – the spiritual battle
- God behaving the same this week as He did last week.

We went to break-out sessions from there, one before lunch and one after. I went first to a session with Dave Fitzgerald on Prophetic Worship. He led a great discussion about what we mean when we use the term, how to introduce it to a worship team and/or church body to whom it’s a new thing, and how to build experience and skill at being spontaneous in worship.

The second session I participated in after lunch was about Songwriting with Brenton Brown (well, it was not about ‘how to write songs with Brenton Brown. It was Brenton Brown sharing with us his insights about writing songs. Just to be clear). He seems to know something about this, and I think he’ll do well…some points to ponder:

Songwriting is like:
1. Fishing – enjoying life, relaxing, is key to creativity.
2. Crossword puzzles – it all has to fit, and it’s all in there somewhere!
3. A 1-point sermon – make it a point worth making, and make it well.

Other breakout sessions available during this time were:

The Effective Worship Leader – with Sarah Reeves
Arranging Workshop – Brenton Brown
Songwriting – Michael Farren

Wish I could have gone to all of them!

After these sessions, we broke up into our small groups and spent an hour together, followed by a free hour. Another awesome meal was served, after which we had front-row seats at a worship concert by our artist friends. The concert was hosted by Sounds of Redemption, a non-profit ministry Wisdom Moon has launched to serve worship leaders and teams.

It was a really fun and worshipful evening.

DAY 3 – SATURDAY
Saturday morning started off with a song feedback panel session. I was privileged, along with two others, to have songs we’ve written reviewed by Michael, Brenton, Sarah, and Dave. They absolutely loved everything we’ve written and looked at each other desperately searching for something, anything in any of our songs to suggest we might think about doing differently. I think they did finally come up with one or two things. Ha! Actually, they were very gracious and I think very forthright as well, and their insights were really helpful, and much appreciated.

Dave led us in worship, after which there was a Q&A session with Dave, Michael, Sarah, and Brenton (the artists formerly known as “the artists”), which was recorded for an AllAboutWorship podcast.

We ended with Michael and Pocket Full of Rocks (Jody Crump and David Rollins) leading us in worship one last time. One final awesome buffet, and we were out.

Thanks again to everyone involved in hosting this event. I came home refreshed, with a clearer view of the Lord, having renewed some relationships from last year’s retreat, and feeling like I have some new friends to keep in touch with this coming year.

Covenant Harvest Church, Pittsburg, KS – April, 2011

I deeply love my friends at Covenant Harvest Church in Pittsburg, KS, many of whom I’ve been privileged to serve the Lord with for between ten and twenty years, and was glad to have opportunity to spend this past weekend there. I’ve know the pastor and his wife, Doug and Denise Kreighbaum, for thirty years, since I first became born again.

I’m realizing that the longer I walk through life together with those God’s joined me with, not only do these relationships become more meaningful to us personally, but they also become so much more powerful and purposeful in God’s hands.

Thanks to Jay and Crystal Lotterer (and Bailey, Bethany, and Ben) for your hospitality, I appreciated being able to stay with you guys. And I only hit my head on top of the bathroom door frame once. Just so you know. And Bethany, thanks for letting me play your purple Hannah Montana guitar (I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture!).

Here’s a recap of what we did over the weekend:

Pittsburg April 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

THE PURPOSE
Covenant Harvest is entering a new season of activation in the mission of God, and evangelism is a major emphasis. They are feeling that there is a real move of God coming, and that He wants to elevate the level of worship.

I was there this past weekend, Friday, April 15, through Sunday, April 17, to work with Jay and a team of worship leaders to help strengthen worship (which is already strong) and build for the future (which will be even stronger!). Jay has been involved in worship leadership there for several years, and is now an elder who is overseeing the worship team.

I think that Jay’s recent assignment to oversee worship from a local church governmental perspective has been a catalyst for change and further development in this area (a whole other subject, but…governmental authority is VITAL in every area of church life, none more so than the area of worship – see I Chron. 15, 16, 25, then call me – let’s talk!).

Seeking God for fresh development in worship as they’re seeking Him for fresh development of activity is wise, and will accomplish several things:

1. The life of God must be IMported in order to be EXported. Power, not just principles – the real love of God - and not just good intentions - is first renewed/received and then poured out to the world around.

2. The breath of life will be breathed into the activities of men, so it’s by His Spirit, not by their power or  might.

3. As the church draws nearer and nearer to God, they’ll see Him more clearly, and proclaim Who He is and how He is more accurately. God will be lifted up, and draw all men to Himself.

4. God has His way, and gets ALL THE GLORY!

Mark Baker, who has been a real father in the church there, and especially in the area of worship for many years, is getting ready to bring a four- or five-part teaching series on the Biblical foundations of worship to the church over the next couple of months. Mark is a wonderful man of God, and an excellent Bible teacher, and I believe these teaching sessions are going to have a major impact on the understanding of, and therefore the expression of, worship at Covenant Harvest.

This weekend was kind of a kick-off for this renewed initiative in worship, which will culminate with a worship team retreat in July, which I will have the privilege of serving at as well.

FRIDAY NIGHT
I met with a team of worship leaders and their spouses at Jay and Crystal’s house for dinner and conversation. There were, I believe, eleven of us there, and we just talked about the current state of worship in the church and on the worship team in general, and what God is saying for the future.

We assessed what they have on their worship team as far as resources and the development of them, such as grace, skill, leadership, and maturity. Most of these guys have been together for some time, and so it was easy to have very honest dialogue about strengths and weaknesses, how to apply to the strengths to the weaker areas, etc.

SATURDAY  -  9:00AM-4:00PM
The worship team met together for a time of teaching, fellowship, questions & answers, and practical instruction.

• After an opening time of worship and prayer, I shared some things about serving from a place of first, foremost, and always ministering the Lord. We all know this, of course, but lose sight of it at times in the business of the activity of ministry in his House.

We looked at the example of David assigning the Levites in I Chronicles 16 at the beginning of the chapter to the sole activity of “ministering before the ark of the Lord”, to “commemorate, to praise, and to offer thanks” to Him. Then, at the end of chapter 16, he left them, released them to their work, for that singular purpose.

That’s what we’re designed to do - minister before the presence of the Lord - in our daily lives, as well as in our serving responsibilities within the church. We should always be operating from the mindset of ministering to, waiting upon, serving Him in everything we do.

We also talked about keeping our worship theologically accurate, living in the principle of worshiping in spirit AND in truth. In I Chron. 16 again, David left the Levites with a psalm laying out the worship theology of Israel. In doing so, he was not restricting them, but releasing them by giving them an authoritative context to work within (government – VITAL!).

We finished this section by talking about how this all comes together in the context of the power of the love of God.

• After a question and answer session, we had lunch together, then came back together on instruments and mic’s to practice flowing together as a team, finding the prophetic flow to leap off of at the end of and/or in between songs, etc.
• The last hour was spent with the youth group worship musicians, singers, and leaders. These guys are awesome! They participated in the whole day’s activities, then stuck around to share a couple of songs with me, receive some instruction, and have some more dialogue about developing and expressing the gifts God’s given them. I was honored to spend the time with them.

SATURDAY EVENING
We came back together at 7:00 with the rest of the church for a time of worship and seeking God. I led this from the keyboard, and we just went to the presence of God. I love worshiping with my friends, and I especially love it with friends like these, who are deeply in love with the Lord, and don’t need a ‘warm-up’ to come into the throne room.

SUNDAY MORNING
You can see a video recap of the worship time, with Jonathan Sperry leading the team. Jay, Obi, and Teresa did a great job of leading the meeting.

Doug asked me to greet the church, and to sing a song I wrote several years ago called Rend My Heart, which is about loving the lost. It’s a very personal song to me, as I wrote it when thinking about how friends of mine had been faithful to cry out to God for me before I was saved. I don’t think I have a recording of it, but here’s a lyric/chord chart.

Along with the video recap of worship, there’s a brief recap of Doug’s message on evangelism, which was helpful, inspiring, and (if you know Doug, you’ll understand) contained several stories involving locker rooms and restrooms.

 

Thanks, Covenant Harvest, for a great weekend of friendship and finding the will of God together!

Mankato, MN – March, 2011

Paul Shipman and I spent a few days with our friends in Covenant Family Church in Mankato, MN, last weekend. Thanks to Jeremiah and Keira Luntsford and Tim and Peggy Maertens for putting us up, and to everyone else for putting up with us!

We had a lot of great conversations with leaders, worship leaders, worship musicians and singers, and young people interested in worship and music.

Mankato, March 2011 VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

FRIDAY NIGHT

We rolled into town in time for supper (as is our way), and mostly just hung out and conversed with Jeremiah and Keira, also Heather Forbes, who had just returned from a 3-1/2 week trip to Ghana.

SATURDAY
Brunch at 10:00 am with the elders and leaders, worship team, and friends Carter and Cammie from Sleepy Eye, MN. We ate and fellowshipped together, worshiped, and had a roundtable discussion about worship, worship leading, and the value of just being who we are.

Paul and I both had it in our hearts to encourage faith in these guys. It was a great time, and some great questions were asked. We ended around 1:30 or 2:00.

SATURDAY NIGHT
Paul and I led a time of prayer and worship at the church building CFC is currently utilizing, in the gym, which had great acoustics for singing and preaching! Most of the church turned out, and we had a really wonderful time in the presence of God together.

SUNDAY MORNING
Heather led, with help from Jeremiah. Jeremiah and David Smith played acoustics, Tim on drums, Chris and Joey provided backing vocals. I believe audio tech Rick Pepper was playing bass from the sound booth in the back. He’s sneaky. And pretty good! Worship was great – check the video.

 

Paul and I tag-team preached. I talked for a while about some of our shared history, and what seems like an impending move of God as we look to the future together. What we need in order to see that come is the power of the Word of God, and the power of the Spirit of God. Paul followed up with some powerful preaching about how we live in the grace of God by faith, and how faith works by love. If we love the Lord with everything in us, and love one another, faith works, and grace appears.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON
Some of the junior and senior high-age kids had lunch with Paul, myself, Heather, Jeremiah and Keira, and youth leaders Peter and Kimberly Maertens. We talked about their musical talents and how to find outlets for their gifts and developing the grace of God in this area of their lives. These are some great young men and women, and it was a real privilege to be able to spend some time with them.

SUNDAY EVENING
Hung out, had some more very important conversations with these great friends, before heading out Monday morning. This is really a great church filled with people who love God and love one another. I have not been here for a couple of years, and I could really see the growth since the last visit.

Thanks be to God for the great family He’s raising up at CFC in Mankato!

Mission, Mandate & Mobilization Conference – Sept. 16-19, 2010

Worship Recap - Pittsburg Conference 2010 from Harold Forbis on Vimeo.

Lori and I (along with about 40 others from Life Church) went to Pittsburg, KS, last week to gather with friends from around the country for our annual leadership conference. We were joined by good friends from Salt & Light Ministries - Dave & Chris Richards, and Mike & Cath Poulton, from the UK - David "Buck" Hudson and Matts Norden, from Sweden - and Frank Anker-Wiik, from Denmark.

It's exciting to be a part of something where we have enough strength of relationship, by the grace of God, to support one another as each church goes on to fulfill their unique calling from God. We're cut from the same cloth, but not made with a mold. God's giving us the power of true family, real strength in diversity, the ability to help each other paint the full picture.

We have called ourselves the "Midwest Family of Churches" for the past few years, but that was seeming a bit narrow, considering our families in Fresno, CA, and Raleigh, NC, so a new moniker was announced at the conference - "C2C", for "Coast to Coast".

The leaders, including the European guys mentioned above, along with Doug Kreighbaum from Pittsburg, Tom Bedford from Kirksville, MO, Pat Forbes from Mankato, MN, Danny Dunn from Kirksville, Dave Limmer from Casper, WY, and others, did an incredible job of following the direction of the Spirit of God, as they lead us through each corporate meeting, adding to our understanding as we grapple with the "three M's" for each of our churches, and altogether as a family of churches.

This site being primarily devoted to worship topics, I won't get into a lot of specifics regarding the conference teaching, but here’s enough to give you an idea…

DEFINITIONS

Mission:   THE mission - the glory of God coming from heaven to earth, the extension of the Kingdom of God.

Mandate:  What we have heard from God regarding carrying out the mission in our church, and in our city, region, etc., always in line with the mission.

Mobilization: The movement, action, logistics required to carry out the mandate of God.

SOUNDBYTES

Buck Hudson:

Apostles and prophets are not here to question what God’s told you (the mandate of God), but rather to help you discern what that is and fulfill it.

A mandate from God is not YOUR vision, it’s HIS vision, it’s what He has said to you.

If the mandate you feel you have for your city seems different from the mandate you have for your church, we have a problem.

Mobilization is not a method, it’s a godly purpose.

The seed of destiny is in the mandate God’s given us. We may not understand it all up front – what it will look like, how it will all come to pass, etc., but if we’ll just water the seed (do what God said), it will grow into what HE’S determined it to be. The mandate carries the culture of God, and will produce it.

Dave Limmer:

We need to determine what’s “Fact” and what’s really “True.” The facts may be right there in front of us, but not always revealing to us the eternal truth of God about who He is and who we are in Him.

We must be ruthless with ourselves in taking whatever’s questionable inside of us and dragging it into the light – is it true that this thing is in me? Then get rid of it! Repent! If not, then silence the lie, and live in the truth. But don’t let the nagging accusation of the enemy linger in our hearts.

Not dealing with hurt in our hearts leads to the infection of bitterness – ALWAYS.

Tom Bedford: 

The best way to impact the world is to equip the saints for readiness to carry out the mandate of God.

Roadblocks to mobilization: not knowing the mandate, not being plugged into a mobilized group of people, strategy eludes us because of the press of daily practical needs (“maintenance mode”).

The idea of expansion is critical to the idea of Christianity.

Dave Richards:

The traditional idea of “missionaries” is someone who gets ‘sent off’ more than ‘sent out.’ The problem is that they wind up getting dislocated (out by themselves, on their own), dismembered (lose relationship, to the point of not having or being a joint that supplies), and eventually decapitated (separated from the purposes of Christ the Head by not being able to function in body life).

We’re not professionals in missions/ministry, we’re servants.

Chris Richards:

Big vision is great, but mobilizing a diverse group can be challenging. Some strategies:
- Revisit and review the defining prophetic words over the church often.
- Develop a suitable ‘wineskin’ to accommodate each diverse aspect of the body, while maintaining unity.
- Individuals must be released to their particular call in God.

Doug Kreighbaum:

God’s ways are always found by walking in the ‘ancient paths’ (Jer. 6:16) more than by running to the ‘new thing’ (Jer. 18:15-16). Always seeking the ‘cutting edge’ of church methodologies will not lead to fulfillment of His purposes.

Our specific mandate must be rooted in God’s timeless purposes. Our efforts to mobilize must never be for the sake of ‘doing the new thing’ before everybody else on our block gets to it.

Matts Norden:

Jesus told His disciples to ask God to send workers into the harvest. We are to be servants, workers, not consumers in the Kingdom of God.

We are to create a Kingdom culture where we serve God, not where He is primarily seen as serving us. He is a loving parent to us, but He has work for us to do, He did not create us to consume but to produce.

SONGLIST

The video just contains a few snippets of worship from five of the six corporate meetings. Stephanie White did a spectacular job leading worship Sunday morning, but, unfortunately, we did not get any clips from that service - sorry Steph, but good job!

I won’t swear that this is a complete list, in fact I’m sure it’s not, but here are several of the songs used at the conference in the corporate worship meetings, with YouTube links where available:

The Stand (Joel Houston)

Be Magnified O Lord Of All (Harold Forbis)

Mighty To Save (Reuben Morgan & Ben Fielding)

Power Of Your Name (Lincoln Brewster)

Happy Day (Tim Hughes & Ben Cantelon)

In Christ Alone (Keith Getty & Stuart Townsend)

Only You Are Holy (Donnie McClurkin)

Reign In Us (Starfield)

Closer/Wrap Me In Your Arms (William McDowell)

For Your Name (Jadwin Gillies, Joel Houston & Reuben Morgan)

Everlasting God (Brenton Brown & Ken Riley)

Hosanna (Paul Baloche)

What Joy Is Found (Jeremy Riddle)

You’ll Come (Brooke Fraser)

Take My Life (Chris Tomlin & Louis Giglio)

 

WRAP-UP

It was a great time of hearing from God together for the future, and a wonderful time of seeing each other and encouraging each other. On the worship side of things, I love being able to work together with my friends from all over the place to lead worship in times like this. Many thanks to everyone who served in every capacity during the conference.

 

Raleigh, N.C. - August 4-10, 2010

DAY 1 - WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 4
Lori and I arrived in Raleigh around 8:30 this evening, and went to Eric and Amanda Davis's home, where we'll be staying this week. Eric is the worship leader at Raleigh Christian Life Fellowship, and Amanda teaches in their school and helps with administration.

Jon and Bethany Shipman and D'Markus Thomas-Brown came in from Kirksville earlier in the day, and made it to their host homes.

Jeremiah and Keira Luntsford and their son Toby, from Mankato, MN, are staying with us at the Davis's. They had a some flight delays and changes, and didn't get in till around 1:30 a.m. Jeremiah and Keira lead worship in Mankato.

We are blessed to have sons and daughters in the faith to be hanging out with, and we're really looking forward to spending time with the worship team and other friends in the church here over the next few days!

DAY 2 - THURSDAY, AUGUST 5

 

   Breakfast and lively conversation!

 

 
    Eric and Toby doby

We had a great day today, resting and visiting with the Davis's and the Luntsfords in the morning.

We spent the afternoon with Scott and Angel Woodard and their sons, Kenan and Josiah. It was great to see these guys, it's been a long time. Scott and Josiah were injured on July 4 in a fireworks accident, and it was good to see them doing well. We've all been praying for them, and although they have been through a very difficult time as a family these last few weeks, and have many months of healing ahead, they are recovering and really doing great. Truly miraculous healing has taken place in this situation. Praise God!

Scott, Angel, Josiah, and Kenan Woodard

Tonight we met with the main CLF worship team, and their youth worship team, around 30 people altogether. CLF's pastor, Paul Kidd, was there to open the meeting and along with Eric, make some introductions. Paul and Kim are doing well also, and I couldn't believe how big their son Alex, now 13, is. He was just a young boy when they lived in Kirksville, and I've seen Alex once or twice in the past few years. Great to see him!

We worshiped together for a while, then I taught on the Levite Principle, laying a foundation for why we serve in worship ministry, who we serve, and how we serve. Here's an outline - there's some other information and video's on this blog about the Levite Principle --

Levites - Serving Families
I. Why do Levites Serve?
   A. Passion for the Honor of the Name of the Lord.
   B. Identity and Calling - it's who we are, not just what we do.
   C. Anointing - God equips to carry out the calling.
   D. Appointing - God appoints us to service, and men echo that, setting us in place to serve. 

II. Who do Levites Serve?
   A. God - always our first & highest ministry, as sons and daughters, not as 'ministers.'
   B. Leaders - we help them prepare a place for the Lord to have communion with His people.
   C. People of God - Levites were assigned to minister on their behalf, so are we.
   D. Each other - we're family, we serve and help one another in life and in ministry.

III. How do Levites Serve?
   A. In Consecration - separation, submission, and sacrifice.
   B. With Preparation - individual and corporate, spiritual and practical.
   C. By Working - serving and leading is work, we come to do the work each day requires.
   D. As Family - families serving together, not gifted ministers connecting when scheduled.

Eric had us get together one-on-one or in small groups to pray for each other at the end of the meeting. We prayed for each others' cities and churches, that worship would increase in each house. It was a great time of prayer. We believe God's connecting us family to family, and it's great to have come here with a team to minister to and receive from the Raleigh team.

DAY 3 - FRIDAY, AUGUST 6
Another great day visiting with friends. Got to see Rich and Janet Markeson and their family today, including Janet's parents, Mike and Linda Floyd, who were visiting from Tucson. Lori and I have many good memories of being at the Floyd's house when visiting the church in Tucson several years ago. It was great to see them.

Lori went shopping with some of the ladies in the afternoon, and met with a couple of the teachers to talk about language arts stuff, while I had some good dialogue with Eric D. and Kim Kidd about worship team leadership and the dynamics of team development (wow, that made it sound like a really official conversation, huh?).

On Friday evening, the main worship team came over to Eric and Amanda's house, and we had what turned into a 4-hour fellowship time centered around a Q & A / discussion. There were around 20 of us there, and I was really thankful for the team who came with me, as we fielded the questions together. It was great to have the other guys there to help this time be a real discussion, an exchange among family. It blessed me to hear the insights and encouraging words shared by everyone.

DAY 4 - SATURDAY, AUGUST 7
Today was a day full of investing in the worship life of the team and the church here. In the afternoon, we had a 3-hour practical session for the main and youth worship teams. In the first hour, I shared briefly about the goal of God being to glorify Himself in all the earth, and our role in life and meeting by meeting of working towards that. Then Keira did an excellent job of teaching a quick music theory refresher course, highlighting chord numbering.

In the second hour, we moved to sectional sessions. Jeremiah and D'Markus took the guitar/bass/drum session, Keira and I worked with the singers, and Jon and Bethany did a great job with keys. We were trying to focus on development of flow rather than teach specific music or instrument skills. It was a great time to encourage people to put the music theory we'd just been reminded of to work in practical ways, experimenting with finding the flow of the Spirit in chord progressions, etc.

For the last hour, we brought everyone back together, and had a couple of the singers take turns leading the team, starting with a song then "jumping off" into a worship flow, or just experimenting with dynamics within the song itself. These guys have all done this, but we were working to stretch them beyond their comfort zones. This team is very talented, and very anointed, and they have a lot of 'headroom' to work with. God has genuinely blessed CLF with a powerful team of servants.

  
 On Saturday evening, I led worship with the team who came with me for anyone in the church who wanted to come seek God with us. One thing I know about worship teams is that, on a weekend like this where there are special meetings, the worship team gets hammered. They are there early, work hard at every meeting, stay late, etc. We wanted to minister to them as well as to the rest of the church, by doing the work of leading a worship meeting where they could all just come in and find the presence of the Lord. Most of the church was there, and we had a wonderful time worshiping together.

DAY 5 - SUNDAY, AUGUST 8
You can take a look here at the Sunday Setlist video I posted for details on the Sunday morning service. Our team was available to help the Raleigh team lead worship if they needed / wanted us to (D'Markus wound up covering for a bass player who called in sick), but we really wanted to experience the expression this local team brings. It was great, as you can see briefly in the video.

Scott and Angel Woodard and family were back in church for the first time since they experienced a fireworks-related accident on July 4th. It was great to see the church family's response to them. Scott brought a prophetic word / exhortation later in the meeting, in addition to a couple of others, all of which were very powerful and incredibly helpful to opening us up to experience the presence of the Lord.

I preached about living an Ascended Life, a life of devotion to the Lord where He has His way, and all the things He's asking of His people can be perceived and acted on by His grace and not in our own understanding or strength. Paul closed the meeting, doing an excellent job of summing up the message and opening an altar for people to consecrate themselves to the Lord as we left.

The rest of the day was spent eating sushi (thanks Paul!), visiting friends, praying with a friend who learned of the loss of a loved one, and having a great time with the Kidds. The evening brought us back to the Davis's for an impromptu time of fellowship with...well, a LOT of people! It was great!

DAY 6 - MONDAY, AUGUST 9
I know - it just goes on and on! Well, I won't bore you with the details, but Lori and I hung out with the Davis's all day, and said goodbye as we flew out Monday evening. We stayed in Kansas City overnight, as we got in after midnight, and came home Tuesday.

Thanks Raleigh CLF, for all the wonderful hospitality, love, friendship, food, and conversation. We love you guys, and were greatly encouraged to see the grace of God in action in your lives through your love, your faithfulness, and the genuine joy you expressed. God bless you richly in the coming days!

 

All About Worship Retreat - Overland Park, KS

I had the privilege of meeting with 50 other worship leaders from a wide variety of backgrounds from all around the country from Thursday, May 20-Saturday, May 22nd, at Grace Church in Overland Park, KS, at the All About Worship Retreat, put on by Wisdom Moon and Ben Abu Saada of allaboutworship.com. Darrell Evans, Jared Anderson, Michael Farren, and Tommy Walker were guest artists at the retreat, who led us in worship during the sessions, and did a concert open to the public on Friday night.

 

Rich Kirkpatrick, who was one of the breakout session leaders at the retreat, told me about it last November, when I had the opportunity to meet him in Temecula, CA. I was very interested in that they were looking to keep it small and relational.  It was a great time to get to know some new friends, and meet several people I've had contact with online this past year.

 

DAY ONE
After a brief opening/registration/orientation, we split up into small groups (8-9 people) for about an hour, to have some personal introductions, talk about expectations for the retreat, etc. My small group leader for the weekend was Troy Kennedy, worship pastor at Westside Family Church, Lenexa, KS, who I'd met online earlier this year, and just recently found out was close friends with my pastor when they were both in college in CA twenty years ago. Big Kingdom - small world! This was a great time of hearing each others' stories briefly, and getting acquainted.

 

Next, we came back together with the whole group for supper, which was some great Kansas City BBQ - YEAH! We ate together in the main meeting room, which was a very intimate setup, with round tables for 7-8 people each, and a small stage up front/in the corner. Great to have the time to share with each other, and hear about success, failure, frustration, victory, confusion, revelation, etc. from other perspectives!

Our first general session of the retreat began after dinner, with worship led by Darrell Evans, author of songs like Trading My Sorrows and Let the River Flow (oh, and he's just a regular guy!) The main speaker in the general sessions was Dwayne Moore, who is the author of the book, Pure Praise, and the founder of Next Level Worship. In the Thursday evening session, he talked to us about characteristics of next level worshipers:

1. Passion to GIVE worship.
2. Surrender to LIVE worship - inward, upward, and outward.
3. Burden to SHOW worship to others - next level worship leads us to witness.

 

After Dwayne shared with us, Michael Farren of Pocket Full of Rocks led us in worship. They have written songs like Let It Rain, and Let The Worshipers Arise (oh, and he's just a regular guy!). Michael participated in the retreat with the rest of us, sat at the tables during dinner, and made it clear that his group's primary function is still to lead worship at their church. Refreshing! We finished Day 1 with a time of prayer and reflection led by Joanna May from the International House of Prayer in KC.

 

DAY TWO

Fred McKinnon, founder of TheWorshipCommunity.com, and the Sunday Setlist blog a lot of us participate in, led worship in a devotional time first thing Friday morning. After this, the morning's general session began with Ben Abu Saada, who is the Worship Pastor at Grace Church and co-host of the All About Worship podcast. Ben did a great job of leading us in worship. All the corporate worship times during this retreat, though led by someone different each time, were really powerful and really precious. I really appreciated the attitude of each one leading to minister to the Lord and bring us along. You know, leading worship leaders in worship can be intimidating! But no one was interested in showing us how talented they were, they just wanted us to be refreshed in the presence of God, and we were.

 

Dwayne Moore spoke to us about hitting the target in daily worship. I won't give you all the details, but he used an analogy of the process of aiming a dart, which was very good. Here were the main points:

1. Align with God's Word.
2. Discipline your thoughts - police them, prioritize them, inspect them, seize them, standardize them.
3. Rely of the Spirit.
4. Surrender completely.

 

We ended being led in worship by Jared Anderson, who is one of the worship pastors at New Life Church in Colorado Springs and is a part of Desperation Band (oh, and did I mention he's just a regular guy?). I like the title of Jared's latest CD, Live From My Church.  

 

After this general session, we had the first of four breakout sessions. I attended a songwriting discussion with Darrell Evans (seriously - me and 14 other people sitting around a table talking with Darrell Evans about writing songs. Maybe you have to be me to know what that means, but - COME ON!). It was great to hear him talk about his process, which, as a songwriter, you realize is...well, pretty much the process! He had some great things to share from Psalm 45:1 that really help bring scriptural definition to the purpose as well as the process. Darrell shared very openly and was very encouraging.

Lunch on our own - I went with new friends, the Showalters from Red Oak, IA, and Devin Didier, from Republic, MO (I love this guy! Does anyone else think his stage name should be D-Diddy?). After lunch, the afternoon's general session began with worship led by Mike Kim, who is the worship pastor at Church of the Living God in Manchester, CT. I talked to Mike during a break, and he mentioned that our old friend Kent Henry was his mentor several years ago. Mike taught a breakout session I didn't get to attend about worshiping in spirit, that I heard was really good. I would like to have gone to each of the 12-16 sessions, but there were only 4 time slots, so had to pick. This was good planning, however, because it meant each group had only 8-16 people, which facilitated discussion. 

Dwayne Moore then spoke to us about Developing Ministers Through Music (this is covered in his book Pure Praise) - he identified four levels of effectiveness in worship leading, which he gave more detail on, but generalized into these titles:
1. Song Leader
2. Music Director
3. Minister of Music
4. Minister through Music

Dwayne gave us steps to developing this, in ourself and others we lead:  
1. Exemplify - Passion, calling, discipline, integrity, servant's heart.
2. Examine - know our people, be friends, know their lives, capabilities, etc., outside of rehearsals.
3. Exhort - encourage by every means: face-to-face, e-mail, call, text. Teach every chance possible.

Tommy Walker, worship leader at Christian Assembly, LA, CA, who's written songs like He Knows My Name, and Only A God Like You and keyboardist Michael Fash finished this session out by leading us in worship. After which, we met in our small groups again, which was a great way to have some debriefing time with the same folks from the day before.

 

Then it was time for more connecting together around the table, with a meal catered by Zio's Italian Kitchen. Yum. Our table had some very interesting conversations about culture, leadership, and things like ministry by employment verses ministry by relationship. And cigars, although we didn't have any.

On Friday evening, Grace Church and All About Worship sponsored an Acoustic Night of Worship with Darrell Evans, Jared Anderson, Tommy Walker and Michael Farren. It was a great evening of worship with the retreat attendees (retreaters?), and 600 or so others in attendance. It was also podcast online I believe. Again, all these artists really have hearts to worship first and foremost, and it was great to see that even in the 'concert' setting.

DAY THREE
Rich Kirkpatrick led devotions Saturday morning. I hear he did a great job. Devoted as I may be, I was fighting bronchitis during the retreat, and slept in (sorry Rich!). Always a great way to start the day.

The morning's general session began with worship led by Troy Kennedy, who did a great job (I was both awake and in attendance at this point). Dwayne Moore spoke on brokenness, which was not what he'd prepared to talk about, but followed the leading of God. He talked to us about how Jesus prunes us through difficulties and trials, and the brokenness of our hearts is really what the world needs to see, in order to know we are genuine.

Dwayne shared a very personal and compelling story of a family from his worship team who had a young boy who battled and beat cancer on two different occasions, before being diagnosed with leukemia and passing away a short time later. At the memorial service, one of the songs they asked Dwayne and the team to do was Blessed Be Your Name. Dwayne said that when they got to the bridge, "You give and take away, You give and take away, my heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name," the father stood up with his arms reaching out towards heavens and sang for all he was worth. 

At that point, Michael Farren came up and led us in an absolutely awesome time of worship, picking up the song as Dwayne was singing it acapella. It was a very moving time, and I felt like God was receiving us as we came humble and broken before Him, and having His way with us. It was a great time of worship, confession, thanksgiving, and prayer for one another.

After this session (which ended nearly 30 minutes late - hey, it's like a real conference!) we had another breakout session. I went to one Troy Kennedy led titled, Lessons From The Trenches. Troy did a good job of giving us some practical tips on how to keep worship ministry moving forward. Here are some example one-liners:
"Direction, not intention, determines destination."
"Excellence is what's effective, as opposed to what's impressive." (I really like that one).
"Why is always more important than how."
"Members should own the team, not the chair." (another personal favorite).

More lunch, with more new friends - the Showalters and "D-Diddy" (can't help it now, sorry Devin!), Bob Kilzer of Crestwood, MO, Ryan Rotman of Santa Rosa, CA, and Eric Frisch of Columbus, OH. Isn't it amazing how quickly you can have deep, meaningful conversations when you're all primarily interested in the will of God, and you recognize He's bringing you together for His purposes and glory?

Got back late from lunch, and went to Rich Kirkpatrick's breakout session on Culture Wars-Do We Fight Culture Or Create It?  In knowing Rich for just a few months, even from a distance, I think this issue is the guy's heartbeat. As he was doing a fantastic job of leading us in a discussion on what Christians' roles should be in influencing the culture around us, I was thinking that I'd like to spend an entire day (or maybe a week) with Rich sometime and talk this through further. There's a lot more in him on this subject than we were able to get to here. I appreciate his honest heart to be unreligious (as opposed to irreligious?) and to bring heaven to earth in each and every package God's given us, rather than trying to 'repackage' God accoring to what we think others' expectations would be. 

One final, wonderful time of worship with Jared Anderson, then Darrell Evans shared his heart with us and gave us an opportunity to ask questions, and give some closing comments.

This was a really great experience, and I made what I hope will be some lasting friendships. God is good!

Temecula, CA - November 24-30, 2009

This week's Sunday Setlist comes to you from sunny Southern California. I'll try to get a post up later from Life Church in Kirksville, MO, for the locals and others who are interested!

What a great Thanksgiving week Lori, Evan, and I have had in Temecula, CA, with Lori's parents, Bob and Shirley Cash. We've eaten too much, talked a lot, seen Lori's aunt Janet, uncle Bob, and cousin Brad for the first time in many years, rested, talked some more, ate some more, etc. We drove down Tuesday from Fresno, where we spent last weekend with the family at Bread of Life Church. 

I had the privilege of meeting Rich Kirkpatrick this week - we enjoyed a couple of hours of conversation over lunch. Rich is the worship pastor at Sunridge Community Church here in Temecula. What a great guy. I hope to be able to keep in contact with him.

Bob and Shirley are the pastors of Lifeline International of Temecula. I led worship there Sunday morning, with Jean on the organ, and Irma on the piano. Thank you ladies - awesome job! These folks really love to worship the Lord, and I always enjoy coming here to minister to the Lord with them. Today we did:

1. Lord I Life Your Name on High (Rick Founds, Maranatha, CCLI #117947)

2. Open the Eyes of My Heart (Paul Baloche, Integrity, CCLI #2298355)

3. Here I Am To Worship (Tim Hughes, ThankYou Music, CCLI #3266032)

4. Revelation Song (Jennie Lee Riddle, Gateway Music, CCLI #4447960)

5. To You (Harold Forbis, OneVoiceWorship.Org, CCLI #2742856) This is one of my songs that I taught this group today. It's pretty easy, and they picked it up really well and worshipped with it.

6. We Consecrate Our Lives To You (Harold Forbis/Dan White, OneVoiceWorship.Org, CCLI #3451809)  This is another song of mine that I sang as a special, accompanied by a track! Seriously! It was just like having Dan White there on the keyboard! Actually, this really was the first time I've ever sung with a pre-recorded instrumental track. Before we left for California, I had mix-master sound engineer Darin Rihanek back out my lead vocals on all the songs I just recorded on the "To Carry The Glory" CD, for just this very purpose, so I thought I'd give it a whirl.

I had the honor of bringing the Word of God to the family at Lifeline this week as well. I talked about pursuing a life in the presence of God, where He gives us value and purpose. Lori, Evan, and I all prayed for people at the altar after the Word. We primarily felt the Lord wanting to minister to people who feel they have no worth, and don't see themselves with the value He's given them, just by being sons and daughters of God.

We enjoyed a fellowship lunch at the church facility with everyone, then headed to Bob & Shirley's to pack. We will make the long journey home tomorrow morning, flying out of Ontario and into Kansas City, hoping to arrive in Kirksville by midnight.

I hope wherever you are, that you had an awesome day in the Lord as well. Read about what went on all over the place at Fred McKinnon's worship blog.

Fresno, CA - November, 2009

Lori, Evan, and I have had a great time with Gilbert and Ann Delgado, and the precious people of Bread of Life Church in Fresno, CA., this weekend. We got in Friday evening, and it's been great catching up with our friends here. Lori and I were here in March of 2008, and Evan wasn't able to come with us on that trip, so it's really great to be here together this time. I have pictures up in an album over on the right column - take a look.

On Friday evening, we flew into San Jose, and Gilbert and Ann picked us up, took us to dinner, and brought us to Fresno. We're staying in their home, so we just hung out till late and talked.

On Saturday, we hung out with Gilbert and Ann, and also with Sean and Megan Conner. Megan's the worship team leader, and she is very, very pregnant. She was determined that she was going to have her little girl before we got here, so we could see her, but it has not happened yet! We really love this couple, and even though we've only known them a couple of years, they've become a son and daughter in our hearts.

On Saturday evening,  we had a fellowship gathering with the worship team at Branden and Brittney Sanchez's home. This is another really wonderful young couple that God's using to build and strengthen worship in this church. Branden's a very gifted songwriter and worship leader. We ate and fellowshipped for a bit, then came together and had a conversation about how worship is going. These guys have really become a worshiping family over the last couple of years. Sean and Megan have led the team with great humility, and it's made a place where everyone can come together and offer their gift to the Lord. He's woven their hearts together, and they flow together in worship in a very precious way - it reminds me of I Corinthians 14, "when you come together, each one has a psalm, a tongue, a teaching...". They make way for each other, and so the Lord's able to use the whole team to paint the full picture.

On Sunday morning, the church service was really Spirit-led. An elderly gentleman who pops in occasionally with a word from the Lord came, and he really did bring something from the Lord to us. The Spirit of God came while he was speaking and exhorting us, and it actually caused the wind to shift in the service to the point that I changed what I was going to preach. Branden led the team in leading us in worship, and they did a wonderful job, starting with one of Branden's songs that is now my personal favorite song, "I Don't Have To Worry".

We moved on with worship and prayer and more songs which I now cannot remember, but the worship really brought us to a place of deep awareness of the presence of God. I preached on how a worship life, both as individuals and corporately, is absolutely necessary to fulfilling the purposes of God. Living in His presence is the only place we can see clearly what His purposes are, and how we to fulfill them, to the end that He gets His way fully in our lives, and fills the earth with His glory, which is His ultimate goal.

On Sunday evening, we came back together for a fellowship meal at the church, and then we had a blow-out worship night. Branden and I led the team, with Jason on keys - this is a wonderful young man that I hadn't met before, who's very talented, and very humble with a real heart to serve the Lord and His people. I love this guy! Chris was on drums, Branden and I on acoustics, Valerie, Megan, Alejandra, and Brittney singing. We went through a setlist of about 8 songs, which included Blessed Be Your Name, How Great Is Our God, You Alone Are God, Here I Am To Worship, and Revelation Song, among others.

We went off the map several times, as we'd get into a place of great rejoicing when we had a nice quiet worship song ready to go next, and so we had to switch up to follow the Spirit. It was a ton of fun, and the whole church came out. We touched God, people were really released and free - we danced, we shouted, we had people from the congregation lead us in a song of the Lord, shouting out praise, exhortations - it was awesome!

I mentioned that my son, Evan, is with us. For those of you who don't know him, he's 21, has Down Syndrome, and is a worshiper through and through. He has just absolutely loved the folks here, and they've really loved him as well. He prayed for and prophesied to one of the ladies on the worship team Saturday evening, just really blessed her, and he led us in shouting out some praise Sunday evening in the corporate meeting. It's so much fun to have him with us, enjoying the people of God here.

The church here is doing great. They have not grown a lot in number, but, as my wife said it, their roots have really gone down deep. They are becoming a real family - they love God, and they have a deep love for worshiping Him. They love and serve one another, and we really feel like part of the family here. They love the interaction they're having with other churches in our family, and some of their young folks are planning to come to the Interchange event in Omaha in January.

We will hang out here in Fresno Monday and visit around the church a bit more, then head out Tuesday to Temecula to see Lori's parents and their church, and meet some new friends down there  as well. We'll spend Thanksgiving in Temecula, and head back home next Monday. God is good!