YouTube Video Of The Week - 09.21.07

I'm a big fan of Mute Math. Love their stuff. The other day, I found a worship CD that they made called Elevator Music. Great stuff.

Anyway, if you missed Jimmy Kimmel Live a couple of nights ago, you missed an amazing thing. I've never seen Jimmy Kimmel Live before this. Mute Math performed live, yet backwards. Confused? Yeah, it's confusing. I really don't know how to explain it, but it is in my Top 10 Most Amazing Things I've Seen.

Here is the live performance of their song Typical...backwards.

Here is their video of Typical that they reproduced live.

It's amazing when you think of how much work had to be done to do everything backwards, but yet be able to make it look like they're singing the song forwards.

Jon McLaughlin

I really like Jon McLaughlin.

This guy - Jon McLaughlin:


Not this guy - John McLaughlin:



Jon is a musician from Anderson, IN. Someone was talking to me the other day about a guy coming out of Anderson who was getting pretty big in the music world, but I didn't know who they were talking about until I saw his video on one of those Youth Leaders Only DVD's (I'm not a Youth Leader. Uh-Oh.)

His latest CD is called Indiana, and if you go to Jon's MySpace page, you can listen to four songs off that CD. I downloaded the whole thing off of iTunes for $7.99. I would describe him as kind of a Ben Folds type sound, but more poppy. The piano playing on his songs are great.

Anyway, check him out. If you like that kind of music.

Organic Church Quotes

I've been slowly digesting a book by Neil Cole called Organic Church, and it is an amazing book. (I'll get it back to you, Rochelle - I promise) I've been writing down some quotes from the book, and I thought I would share.

- "We want to lower the bar of how church is done and raise the bar of what it means to be a disciple."

- "When church is so complicated, its function is taken out of the hands of the common Christian and placed in the hands of a few talented professionals. This results in a passive church whose members come and act more like spectators than empowered agents of God's Kingdom."

- "Most of the metaphors of the kingdom of God and the Church in the Bible use natural concepts. We would do much better as leaders in the church to learn at the feet of the farmer rather than study with the CEO of a corporation."

- "We spend so much time building nice barns...yet we have neglected the fields. We are as foolish as the farmer who builds a barn and then stands in the doorway calling all the crops to come in and make themselves at home. It is time for the Church to get her hands dirty in the soil of lost people's lives."

- "A true Seeker Service is one that focuses on the Father who is seeking His worshipers in Spirit and in truth. He alone is the Seeker."

- "The only time worship and service are put together in Scripture has nothing to do with sound systems, pews, sermons, or worship bands. It is a 24 hour a day, seven day a week expression of Christ's life in us."

- "The temptation is to define church according to our own experience."

- "I believe we need to learn to sit still and wait for God before we launch out with our strategic plans and demographic studies."

- "In many of the churches in the West, ministry is done for Jesus, but not by Jesus, and therein lies a big difference. If we evaluated our church, not by attendance or building, but by how recognizable Jesus is in our midst, our influence would be more far-reaching and our strategies would be far more dynamic."

- "In most churches in the Western world, the presence of the pastor is more noticeable than the presence of Jesus."

- "One of the most remarkable things of the church I am a part of is that people expect conversions and transformations of lives every week."

----

That's all I've written down so far, but it is an amazing and inspiring book.

The Ultimate Worship Dictionary

I thought that this article on Vertical Music's website was pretty darn good. This was actually given to me by my friend Chad two years ago, but I'm trying to delete old email (I have 6000 messages in my inbox) and came across this again. Here are my favorites from the dictionary:

ALTOS and BARITONES: (ahl-toez and behr-i-toenz) People who complain that the songs are too high until they learn to harmonize.

BALLAD SALAD: (ba'-lud sa'-lud) A worship set of quiet songs intended to foster a gentle flow of worship and meaningful encounter with the Lord. The Ballad Salad generally follows the up-tempo moments of celebration (see also Rocking the Flock).

BLACK HOLES: (blak-hoelz) The dark vacuum around people in the congregation who steadfastly refuse to connect with God during worship. Sometimes accompanied by contemptuous facial expressions. If you can intercede for these individuals during worship, do so, but otherwise avert your attention to avoid being sucked into their gravitational pull. (See also Super Novas)

BLANDED WORSHIP: (bland'-dud wur-ship') The uninspired result that comes when we approach corporate worship with the pathetic goal of avoiding any criticism.

CHORD CHART: (kord’-chart) A document that contains lyrics and a few vague musical suggestions. May or may not indicate the proper key, time signature or even exact moment of the chord change, but it does give musicians something to look at while the song goes by. Particularly frustrating to pianists, who prefer being told exactly what to do. Ideal for guitarists. (See also Sheet Music)

DRUMMERS: (Druhm-merz) Terrific people who worship God by hitting things. Churches often keep them in Plexiglas cages.

EARLY SERVICE: (ur-lee’ surv-us’) A service in which attendees may appear zombie-like. While unnerving to worship leaders and teaching pastors alike, the event is generally harmless.

FRISBEE STYLE: A deliberate approach to worship leading in which the leader’s role is “handed off” from song to song. A good way to mentor new worship leaders.

HAND-BURGER: (hand-ber-ger’) The painful result of carrying musical gear through a narrow doorway and not paying attention.

HUMILITY: (hew-mil-ih-tee’) The beautiful quality in a talented artist of considering others more important than him or herself. Closely associated with servanthood. Rare.

HYMNS: (himz) Historic praise music. Usually boiled down to 4-part arrangements on a single page with normal rhythmic flow extracted. Lyrics are often stunning, and many of the melodies are almost as powerful as the timeless truths they carry. These songs are infused with the heart-cry of a billion Saints and should be treated accordingly. Ignore at your own loss.

SEVEN-ELEVEN MUSIC: (7-11 mew’-sik) Praise songs that repeat the same seven words eleven times, or some similar configuration. These are generally enjoyed by youth, but annoying to older adults.

SUPER NOVAS: (soo'-pehr noe-vuz’) People in the congregation who visibly connect with God during the worship events. Not a dependable indicator of their maturity, but impossible to miss and a joy to observe. (See also Black Holes)

VIBRATO: (Vi’-brah-toe) A technique used by singers to help hide pitch problems.

R.I.P. Madeleine L'Engle

I just now heard the sad news that the author Madeleine L'Engle died today at the age of 88.

Her book A Wrinkle In Time was one of the big reasons I started reading Science Fiction/Fantasy stories. I remember in high school in a reading class, I read A Wrinkle In Time, and my teacher, after I read it, told me it didn't count because it was a children's book. I found an interview with her in a magazine where she said that she didn't consider her books as children's books and gave it to my teacher. She let me use it. :^)

The entire Wrinkle In Time trilogy is amazing - A Wrinkle In Time, A Wind In The Door, and A Swiftly Tilting Planet. (Although I just found out that there is actually a fourth book.) I also recommend her book Walking On Water, which is a very good book on the impact of faith on art and culture.

40

I can't remember if I put this up on my blog or not when I first created it, but I took a great set of graphics based on the story of Jesus' temptation in the desert, and put them to an Explosions In The Sky song. We used this for Element, and I think I might use it sometime soon on a Sunday morning. It's a good reminder of what Jesus went through even before the cross. One of my favorite frames of this video is when Jesus is looking at the foxes coming out of their hole. It gives a whole new meaning to the verse in the Gospels when Jesus says "The birds of the air have nests, and the foxes have holes, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."

Here is the video.

Actions That Take Courage

This is from a great "bathroom reading" book called "Lists To Live By". I've been thinking a lot about the character trait called courage, and I think this is an interesting list.

Actions That Take Courage:

- Admitting you are wrong.

- Doing what is right when everyone else isn't.

- Speaking to someone you don't know.

- Saying "no" when people are trying to get you to do something you know you shouldn't.

- Telling the truth and accepting the consequences.

- Standing up for something you believe in even though it might mean rejection or ridicule or even physical harm.

- Defending someone who is considered unpopular or unacceptable.

- Facing a limitation and giving it your very best regardless of pain or discomforts.

- Confronting a fear without running away.

- Giving sacrificially to protect or promote either someone you love, someone who has been wronged, or someone who is in need.

- Being the only one.

- Taking a risk.

- Sharing your heart honestly (including your feelings and fears and failures).

- Living your faith with all your heart, mind, soul and strength regardless of the cost.

YouTube Video of the Week - 09.04.07

If you're not in a football watching kind of mindset yet, this video will most certainly put you in the mood.

Is this team an actual football team? When you look at the lead singer, it's hard to believe.

Well, they could probably still beat the Michigan Wolverines - I mean, it seems like anyone can these days. ;^)