Tim Neale and I put together a mission update on the efforts in Campo Grande, Brazil. The preaching school there is called Ser Cris. If you are interested, I've added it here from my YouTube account.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Thursday, February 22, 2007
A Range Mint (say it fast and altogether)
I suppose it's time to begin another new foray into the wilderness. This one's not so wild though. I've been arranging music for a while now. So it's not so new.
When I was in college, I spent a lot of time arranging vocal music for a new group we had formed called "Best Friends." Most of the stuff I did was luck of the draw, at best. I was more interested in following the rules of theory that were being pounded into me daily than I was in putting out good music.
But, fortune favors the foolish I suppose. Most of the arrangements worked out. I believe they were even using some of them still up to about 5 years ago. 15 year shelf life is not bad for a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants piece of music.
Later, I spent 15 years working with Acappella Ministries and did a TON of arranging there. Unfortunately most of it never made it to paper. But my ear was being perfected during that time.
Sometime around 2002 (I think), an old friend from Tyler approached me to do some arranging for his LTC choir. At this point, I was able to combine the skills of theory with the experience of the studio. Now I could do arranging and know what I was putting on paper as I was doing it. I could hear it before it went to the page. I had the arrangement done before the writing.
I could finally understand the quote by Mozart from the 1984 movie Amadeus, "It's all right here in my noodle. The rest is just scribbling. Scribbling and bibbling, bibbling and scribbling."
I have done more than 20 songs for Chuck, my friend in Tyler. And I seem to be knocking them out pretty regularly here in Midland. He and his wife Lisa have been encouraging me to publish my arrangements for years now. I suppose it's time.
So, sometime in the next six months I hope to be making my stuff available. Look for more information coming soon. For now, I've got to figure out how to go about this legally, easily and still make it worth the effort. I'm certainly no Mozart, but maybe God can use me to help other singing groups out there.
When I was in college, I spent a lot of time arranging vocal music for a new group we had formed called "Best Friends." Most of the stuff I did was luck of the draw, at best. I was more interested in following the rules of theory that were being pounded into me daily than I was in putting out good music.
But, fortune favors the foolish I suppose. Most of the arrangements worked out. I believe they were even using some of them still up to about 5 years ago. 15 year shelf life is not bad for a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants piece of music.
Later, I spent 15 years working with Acappella Ministries and did a TON of arranging there. Unfortunately most of it never made it to paper. But my ear was being perfected during that time.
Sometime around 2002 (I think), an old friend from Tyler approached me to do some arranging for his LTC choir. At this point, I was able to combine the skills of theory with the experience of the studio. Now I could do arranging and know what I was putting on paper as I was doing it. I could hear it before it went to the page. I had the arrangement done before the writing.
I could finally understand the quote by Mozart from the 1984 movie Amadeus, "It's all right here in my noodle. The rest is just scribbling. Scribbling and bibbling, bibbling and scribbling."
I have done more than 20 songs for Chuck, my friend in Tyler. And I seem to be knocking them out pretty regularly here in Midland. He and his wife Lisa have been encouraging me to publish my arrangements for years now. I suppose it's time.
So, sometime in the next six months I hope to be making my stuff available. Look for more information coming soon. For now, I've got to figure out how to go about this legally, easily and still make it worth the effort. I'm certainly no Mozart, but maybe God can use me to help other singing groups out there.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
Joyful Worship Pt. 1
Here is an article that I wrote for Family Matters, our weekly Sunday bulletin. It is the first in a series that I will be writing. I'll post each one here as they come up. Kudos to my friend Dan Morris. I got a wealth of material from his sermon of the same title.
Somewhat recently, the National Constitution Center surveyed American teenagers. The intent was to discern their level of knowledge and understanding of the Constitution and our history. The results were very interesting.
They found that only 41% could name all three branches of the government, but 50% could name all three stooges. 74% knew that Bart Simpson was from Springfield, Illinois but only 12% knew that Abraham Lincoln grew up there. 75% knew what city laid claim to the zip code 90210, but only 25% could name the city where the Constitution was written. A surprisingly high 74% knew the name of the Vice-President, but 90% knew the names of the stars in the movie Titanic.
This prompted the director of the National Constitution Center to comment, “…the Constitution does not work by itself. It depends on active and informed citizens.”
The same can be said of our worship. We need active and informed people who understand worship. How can we make it work if we don’t know what it is? Most of us would not do very well in a survey that describes and defines worship. This is a sobering thought when you realize that the Bible tells us we are created to worship. We are worshipful beings. What does that mean? Have we lost that identity?
Over the next few months, we will explore the meaning of “joyful worship.” Who are we worshiping? Why do we do it? When do we worship? And how? Let us pray that God will lead us to a better understanding of the meaning behind “worshiping in spirit and truth.”
Somewhat recently, the National Constitution Center surveyed American teenagers. The intent was to discern their level of knowledge and understanding of the Constitution and our history. The results were very interesting.
They found that only 41% could name all three branches of the government, but 50% could name all three stooges. 74% knew that Bart Simpson was from Springfield, Illinois but only 12% knew that Abraham Lincoln grew up there. 75% knew what city laid claim to the zip code 90210, but only 25% could name the city where the Constitution was written. A surprisingly high 74% knew the name of the Vice-President, but 90% knew the names of the stars in the movie Titanic.
This prompted the director of the National Constitution Center to comment, “…the Constitution does not work by itself. It depends on active and informed citizens.”
The same can be said of our worship. We need active and informed people who understand worship. How can we make it work if we don’t know what it is? Most of us would not do very well in a survey that describes and defines worship. This is a sobering thought when you realize that the Bible tells us we are created to worship. We are worshipful beings. What does that mean? Have we lost that identity?
Over the next few months, we will explore the meaning of “joyful worship.” Who are we worshiping? Why do we do it? When do we worship? And how? Let us pray that God will lead us to a better understanding of the meaning behind “worshiping in spirit and truth.”
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