If I ever again am a part of a team like the Jimmy McNeal Band, I’ll be doing ministry indeed. They truly care about the people they’re leading in worship, and that they are being led to worship the true God. They have a far-reaching ministry, but more importantly, deep-reaching.
Is inadequacy a good heart-posture for worship leading?
Two years ago, when I finally confided in a close friend that I wanted to start leading worship, I immediately felt pressure to add a counterbalancing statement. Because in my mind, a guitarist in a worship band wanting to “step up” to worship leading could only mean one thing; they must think they’re getting too…
“Where The Signs Appear” – A Transition To Worship Leading
August marked the beginning of the second year of my two-year residency at the Austin Stone. It’s the time in most residencies where we stop adding things to our plates and begin to focus it down to exactly what kind of ministry we feel “called” to post-residency. It has been an arduous season for me….
New Music (with very old lyrics) From Justin Cofield!
I got the privilege of working with Justin Cofield on a song for The Verses Project a few months back, and it is now available on their website to stream to for free! The Verses Project is an awesome endeavor to create musical and visual art that helps people memorize and meditate on Scripture. They commission artists from…
Shepherding Idle And Fainthearted Church Musicians
Last Christmas Eve, I remember setting up my guitar gear on the stage of my church right next to a row of three Christmas trees, each one shorter than the last, mirrored on the other side of the stage. I thought to myself, “Am I just the fourth and shortest Christmas tree in this row?” The church had set up these trees because they wanted the room to have a certain vibe, and they neither distracted nor particularly attracted anyone to the glory of Jesus. That sounded awfully familiar to me.
The Iron Jesus
I just had the most tear-jerking moment in fatherhood, and in my life, thus far. I talked Sarah (and Emerald after much rhetoric) into watching The Iron Giant together. It has been 18 years since I’d seen it and I didn’t remember much but figured it would be fun for the whole family. — SPOILER ALERT…
I’m In Recovery
Today was my first day to lead worship at Austin Stone Recovery. It is the highest honor to get to worship in an environment like this where Jesus is truly a felt need and the gospel is cherished in such a serious way. Many churches have a similar ministry by a similar name, but it’s…
Love What You Did With The Place, Lord
For my Birthday, Sarah surprised me with a trip to the Grand Canyon. I love traveling, especially with her, so she really knocked it out of the park here. I’m not gonna waste your time with words about the trip. I’ll just get to the pictures! P.S. If you knew, thanks for not telling me.
EVERFLOW – All the Details
As the Studio Resident for Austin Stone Worship, the focus of my attention for the last 3 months has been the new ASW album, “Everflow”, to be released next Friday, Nov 17th. I wanted to post a blog linking you to all the ways to get your hands on it, and sharing all the info…
Worship Leader Assessments
I have a lot of room to improve in a lot of areas. One specific area where I’m finding it particularly fruitful to lean into during this residency is leading worship. I’ve led worship some in the past, but the heaviest pressure of this type I’ve ever experienced has been the worship leader assessments. As…
We Collaborate Because We Are Collaborations; We Co-write Because We Were Co-written
If you’re like me, collaborating with others on a song or other work of art can feel counterintuitive, and sometimes debilitating. It can add extra weight to the already uphill battle of creation. Not far below the surface of my discomfort with co-writing though, I think my creation would be best-served if only I, the…
Theology is for War
I’m going through my church’s Men and Women’s Development Program (MWDP) for the third time right now. It’s a year-long training program so in-depth you can literally count it towards a seminary degree. In other words, this is the closest to college I’ve ever been. Every year is a different and healthy challenge for me. The…
Emerald’s First Day In Preschool
I wanted to write a blog about this, but Sarah’s Facebook post yesterday expressed how we both felt about the experience as well as anything I could say… I am SO proud of my big girl on her first day of school. She was all smiles and excitement at home this morning but started to…
The Grace to Lead Worship
Back in 2008, I used to sing some worship songs with an unplugged acoustic guitar and a rickety music stand for my church’s youth group. Today was the first time since then. I co-led worship this morning with Paul Morris at the Stone’s West Campus Students. Now, I know. Everyone on the stage is a…
2017 ERLC Conference
Today through Saturday, I’m with Jimmy McNeal and the band, leading worship at the ERLC conference in Nashville. The topic this year is “Christ-Centered Parenting in a Complex World”. Stream it live at live.erlc.com! I’m happy to have Sarah here with me too, though she’s technically with the South Campus Kids team. We’re treating the…
Whatabeauty
As a book end to my last post, I wanted to acknowledge the two biggest supporters of my ministry. On paper, it looks like it would’ve been a lot easier as a single guy raising support for this residency. It’s a lot less money to raise after all. But I’d rather raise twice as much as I did…
16 Unexpected Ways Support Raising Affected Me
It’s a bold statement, but I’d rank support raising up near marriage as one of the most formative experiences of my life thus far, and one of the primary ways I’ve witnessed the faithfulness of God. Over the last several months of emailing, calling, texting and talking to people face-to-face, and asking them to partner…
ReEngage Ministry
I have loved getting to lead worship for our married couples at our ReEngage class. It’s a curriculum borrowed by courtesy of Watermark Church in Dallas. The first round through the it is nearing the end and I’m going to feel something is missing on Monday nights once it’s over. Last Monday was a special…
FINAL Weekly REAP – God Is Not Done Suffering
R You divided the sea by your might; you broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. You crushed the heads of Leviathan; you gave him as food for the creatures of the wilderness. You split open springs and brooks; you dried up ever-flowing streams. Yours is the day, yours also the night;…
Weekly REAP – The Mass Mourning At Jesus’ Return
R John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of kings on…
Weekly REAP – Faith In Prayer
R And when they came to the disciples, they saw a great crowd around them, and scribes arguing with them. And immediately all the crowd, when they saw him, were greatly amazed and ran up to him and greeted him. And he asked them, “What are you arguing about with them?” And someone from the…
Weekly REAP – Faith Isn’t A Muscle, It’s A Need
R Nebuchadnezzar asked them, “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, is it true that you don’t serve my gods or worship the gold statue I have set up? “Now if you’re ready, when you hear the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, drum, and every kind of music, fall down and worship the statue I…
Weekly REAP – Moses’ Representation Of Christ
R By faith Moses, when he was grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the…
Weekly REAP – The Undeniable Throne Of Mercy
R The word of the LORD came to Jeremiah: “Thus says the LORD: If you can break my covenant with the day and my covenant with the night, so that day and night will not come at their appointed time, then also my covenant with David my servant may be broken, so that he shall…
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