Mix music, images, and words. Stir the brain gently. Let simmer. Eat while hot.
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A cross post of an article by Joe Camenet, follow the link at the end. I’ve been doing some thinking lately. About ministry, my walk with God, and more specifically, about my relationship with this thing called worship. If I’m being completely honest… as a writer, and an all-out music lover, worship can so easily become something I never intended. There’s only one way to phrase it. For me, and many others that I personally know or have observed, there is a gravitational pole towards something I would call the “idol of worship.” No, not idol worship… That’s a little more overt. Read it all here: http://bit.ly/1in4NXe A cross post of an article by Bob Kauflin... follow the link at the end. Specifically, I haven’t learned anything from Aristotle (384 BC – 322 BC) about leading congregational worship that I didn’t learn first in Scripture. But in his day, Aristotle sought to help speakers be more persuasive by identifying three crucial areas to keep in mind. He called them logos, ethos, and pathos. Briefly, logos is seeking to persuade through truth. Aristotle was concerned that the speakers of his day, the sophists, focused too much on flowery language and not enough on actual content. Ethos has to do with the character of the person speaking. Aristotle recognized that listeners tend to be influenced most by people whose character they trust. Pathos refers to the ability to stir the emotions of your listeners. Important truths are often presented with no apparent response in the hearer. Airline attendants experience that every time they review the flight safety procedures before takeoff. When I lead people to worship God in song, I’m seeking to ... Read it all here: http://bit.ly/1in4fRm ... we send back music. The attitude of the people in the video below is something to think about in our worship. We take the trash of our mixed motivations and our imperfect abilities to give expression back to God. The inadequacy of our abilities in no way lessens the heart gift to God. Watching TV the other night, I was struck once again by the number of companies urging me to have a perfect Christmas. Every year we are bombarded. Get the perfect gift. Make your house perfectly clean. Get the perfect lights, the perfect tree, the perfect tinsel. Cook the perfect turkey. Set the perfect table. Have the perfect family. BE PERFECT.
No. Nuh-uh. Not this year. This Christmas I’ve been given the power (by the powers that be) to grant you a few permissions: More HERE At our last Thursday night practice we tried a number of things ... intercessory worship, new approaches to a song, different harmonies, etc., etc. We were "practicing worship" ... right? Or were we? Well, in the post-session conversations, a number of ideas were being thrown around, among them the idea of how we should be perfecting how we play a song. I think I need to voice a caution ... because this goes to the heart of what happens on Thursdays. Worship is, almost by definition, a creative expression. When we lead worship on a Sunday, we are leading in creativity, and not replicating a perfected performance. And so, I think there are some dimensions to this that we need to be very careful about. a) When we come together on our Thursday nights it should not be to practice, but to rehearse. Practicing is to improve a skill. Rehearsing is applying that skill. b) So when we rehearse ... we are bringing something we already do. In our case, we rehearse the collection and blending of our individual worship skills that we've practiced on our own. This leads to some questions: a) Guitarists, do you practice your playing skills and develop your theory when you're on your own? b) Vocalists, do you exercise your voice and develop harmony and dynamics when you're on your own? c) Rhythm and percussion ... are you developing those muscle memories to lock in a rock solid groove, while you're on your own? d) Keyboards, do you remember explore how you mix bass, melody, and fill in how you play a song? And all: do you practice worship on your own? Drums and percussion: have you tried worshiping alone on your drums? Guitarists, have you tried worshiping through the instrument alone? Vocalists, have you tried worshiping in song without having any prepared words given to you? If we're not doing this, our Thursdays will only be practices. But if we DO practice on our own, then our Thursday evenings will be creative rehearsals for the minor event on Sunday, in preparation for that major event when we die! Now that's a joyful thought! Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? Tired of repetition? There's long been complaints about songs that repeat, phrases that repeat, and the boring nature of repetition in worship. However, sometimes the repeat is needed because, quite frankly, we just don't "get it!" Here's a good article on the biblical basis for repetition: Here Experiences of church that make common sense: Web site, sign, and greeters.
How do we do? See Here Worth reading through to the end ... "“Well, we just don’t have the budget or the resources to make our band/singers/greeters/designs better.” Read more HERE "Here are seven tips for background vocalists that I’ve learned through years of singing in worship teams and bands. Although my advice is specific to church worship ministries, most of it applies to anyone who sings background vocals (BGV)." More HERE |
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The entries here are simply pointers to interesting resources around worship ... read and be educated! Archives
March 2015
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