From last Sunday

Just one tune for right now - i really enjoyed Jack's electric solo at the end . . . he's an incredible musician

My friend Billy . . .

wrote this post - and I think it hits it square on the head . . .

See you Sunday!

The wrath and agony of this week . . .

Bob says it often - that we should try to sanitize the scripture - and yet we do, in our readings, and interpretation of events. But how about in the realism of Christ, upon His shoulders, taking all our sin, and God's wrath/anger.

If you read through the Old Testament - you're barraged by the rules and laws that God setup for His people to follow. A friend of mine recently asked - "What in the world with all the laws . . . " and the reality is that the punishment for breaking the laws and rules was severe - and oftentimes deadly.

And to redeem us - Christ took the pain, and the wrath, and God's anger, in order that when He sees us - He sees Christ - and His righteousness.

I grew up Catholic . . . they're big with crucifixes in the Catholic church - you'll be hard pressed to find a cross that doesn't still have Christ on it - and yet it was in His resurrection that our ultimate hope lies. These crucifixes, however, always portray Christ as simply hanging on the cross - looking fairly healthy . . . not smiling - but certainly not "in pain."

We've got a cross that hangs above our stage . . . i think it weighs about 400 pounds. It's heavy. When we have to hang it, or take it down and move it - it takes a couple of us just to move it - and yet, it's life-size, and probably similar to the one Christ hung on and carried after being beaten within an inch of his life. I'm a pretty big guy - fairly strong, and it takes a couple of us to move it from one side of the stage to the other.

I wonder what it takes for us to really wrap our minds around the horror, agony, and pain of that day . . .

Monday Morning Recap for Sunday - March 28, 2010 - our Palm Sunday Spectacular

We finished our 7th Palm Sunday Spectacular yesterday - the 14th spectacular in all since coming to Oak Mountain in 2003.

The title of our program was "ALL."

The program consisted of music, narrative, and video - testimony-type videos asking people to share 1.what lies Evil whispers in their ears, 2. What it means to them that "Jesus Paid it All" and 3. What it means to them that all the old is washed away.

I started planning the service last April - after last year's Easter season. I get some initial prep and planning done, and then put it aside as I prepare for each season's Christmas program. I resume the planning about half-way through the fall - honing in on a final song list, thematic material, scripture, and other creative elements (videos, production ideas, etc)

I start charting immediately after the christmas spectacular - taking about a week off for Christmas holidays - and come back right after the first of the year to finish.

The choir resumed rehearsals on January 13 - with only 11 rehearsals until our dress rehearsal week. they work hard - and we walk a fine line in balancing the hour of rehearsal between preparation for our seasonal programs and preparation for the few times each semester that the choir leads in worship.

This year - I really wanted people to dwell a little bit more on the subtle, subversive sin-nature that we have and how it manifests itself in the LIES that we hear, and choose to believe. Will and I put together 3 different videos, as well as a line-drawing video for which I had my good friend Curt Cloninger narrate a piece written by one of our church members - Jenn Hale.

Our band this spring consisted of the exact same band as Christmas:
Jon Harvill on drums, Raymond Butler on bass, Jack Swaim on electric guitar and synth, Josh Vigneulle on electric guitar, Justin Hale and Patrick Bush on acoustic guitar, and Matt Minor on percussion.

My tech team is one of the finest volunteer tech teams in the city - Dean Tanner on Sound, David Meadows on lighting, and Vicki Carleton running all the slides. Will Giuliani is the fearless Technical Director - and also did all of our video production -which I'll post here later. My assistant Natalie Valentine did all our of graphic design.

For you tech nerds . . .

12 Crown 700's on the choir (6 configured in an x/y pattern at choir front - another 6 in single config in the back to boost guys' presence).
7 Wireless Beta 87 Handhelds for solos
1 Neumann KMS105 for my vocals
I play a yamaha P200, and run midi through Apple's mainstage for additional synth patches
Our other synth is a Korg Triton
1 D112 and two vintage neumann KM184's for percussion toys (and there were a lot of toys)
Drums - DW kit with Paiste Signature series cymbals
kik - Beta 91
snare - SM57
Toms - Beta 98
OH's - AT 4051's

Our electric guitarists use a variety of pedals, and run through a VOX amp modeler for their amp (no live amps on stage).
Bass - Avalon D5, instrument DI, after hitting a DIGItech pedal board
Acoustics run direct

Monitoring for the band is done through Aviom headphone mixers.

at FOH, we use an Innovason SY80 console, GrandMA ultralight lighting console, and SongShowPlus presentation software (incredible software. If you're using anything else, you're wasting valuable setup time and volunteer resources!)

We process FX through 3 Lexicon MPX-1 processors, and multitrack to 2 Mackie SDR hard disc recorders. The project is mixed and mastered through Protools.

Message for this coming weekend's service

Welcome to "All." All is an extreme word. There's no in between. It's as far to one extreme as you can get - the opposite being "none." Today we focus on the shed blood of Christ, and His sacrifice that "paid it ALL," "washed it ALL," "redeemed it ALL." It's as extreme as we can get. The worship ministry has enjoyed the last couple months as we've dwelt on what our "ALL" looks like - and how we so often fall into thinking that Christ's blood covered "most," or "some," or "those last few times, but not this one." We also took a different spin on "ALL." The gospel tells us to acknowledge our sin, and embrace the Savior that has removed our stains. But so often we get caught up in failing to acknowledge the LIES that we are told, daily, minute-by minute - the insecurities, the fears, the anxieties. Those lies even deceive us into thinking that they aren't even LIES, but truth. But, the TRUTH is that Christ redeemed us from needing to listen to them, needing to believe them. Today - i hope that you're reminded that He covered it "ALL."

I'd like to mention a brief word about the videos you'll watch today. We shot footage of over 20 people, and asked them all the same three questions. 1. What are the lies that Evil whispers in your ear, 2. What does it mean to you that "ALL the old is washed away," and 3. What does it mean to you that "Jesus paid it ALL." We were amazed at how similar the answers were. Please know that these were not scripted, and the thoughts expressed are the genuine true feelings of the subjects on the screen. I hope it becomes an encouragement to all of us this morning to step out of our insecurities, and embrace the fact that we hear the same lies - but they are just lies - and every bit of it has been redeemed by His blood.

Monday Morning Recap for Sunday - March 21, 2010

Yesterday marked the 2nd to last Sunday of lent, and the start of Spectacular week. Today we start a week's worth of rehearsal and preparation for "All" which we'll present on Sunday the 28th at 9 and 10:30. It's been a great winter, and the preparation that the choir's been through over the past 10 weeks have certainly been exciting and transforming. Sunday simply marks the opportunity to worship through these songs one more time - as every Wednesday night at 6PM is transformed into a worship time as we consider the text and tunes of these great songs.

Yesterday we opened with All Who Are Thirsty.

After our call to worship, we sang Hosanna (Baloche), Immortal Invisible, Nothing but the Blood, and You Gave Your Life Away.

Our offering song was The Power of the Cross (Townend).

Be sure and join us Sunday for 'All'.

Monday Morning Recap for Sunday - March 14, 2010

Spring break Sunday is always a lower-attended sunday than normal - and couple that with spring forward sunday . . .

We opened yesterday with You Lifted Me Out - great tune. Lots of energy, and I like the "oh's"

After our call to worship, we sang Because of Your Love, No Other Name - a newer song from Todd Fields, Breathe, and How Deep the Father's Love For Us.

Our offering song was a "re-introduction" of a newer tune by Fee called Glory to God.

Palm Sunday Program is in 2 weeks. Come join us. 9AM and 10:30.

Bono on "Christians" and grace . . .

Love it

Bono and Justice/Mercy

I saw this last night . . . Blown away by Bono on this interview, his knowledge of the scriptures and his heart for the least. It's an excellent use of 8:38

From last Sunday

We opened with this song last Sunday . . . we're opening with this song again this sunday. It's called You Lifted Me Out

Worship Ministry Spring Schedule

I was just relaying to a friend the things we have going on over the next few weeks. i thought it may be helpful to post that info up here.



March 28 - Palm Sunday Worship Service: "ALL"








April 4 - Easter Sunday













April 11 - The Kids Choir presents "Good Kings Come in Small Packages"








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April 16-17 Mens Conference: Man-UP: Redefined.









April 18 - Choir sings again.

Monday Morning Recap for Sunday - March 7, 2010

If you missed the sermon this morning - you need to get it here!

We opened this morning with a new song off Chris Tomlin's latest album, called You Lifted Me Out. Great tune. Lots of energy. And I like the chanting.

After our call to worship we sang Our God Saves, Awesome is the Lord Most High, Draw Me Nearer, and Never Let Go (Redman).

For our offering song, we sang Come Quickly by Tommy Walker.

If you missed the 80 this week - it was one of the most ridiculous things we've ever done. Check it out here.

Only three more weeks until ALL - our Palm Sunday worship service.

Announcements 03-07-10

Join us March 28

Coming up at the end of the month is our Palm Sunday program - All. Both services - 9 and 10:30 . . . no sunday school that day.

Video Production for Palm Sunday

Will and I have been shooting some video for our Palm Sunday program - which now has a title, and graphics.

It's been amazing, exciting, emotional, and humbling as we've asked the same three questions to over 20 people now, and to hear the personal and vulnerable responses coming back. I'm amazed at the work of the gospel as it's penetrating the lives of folks at oak mountain, where they're willing to look into a camera and share where they struggle, but more importantly, where their hope is found . . .

I'm excited to share these with you - i look forward to the worship service we have together on the 28th of this month. Mark your calendars, and join us - 9AM and 10:30.

The Blind Carbon Copy

I love the blind carbon copy (not really). We've all done it, or had it done to us . . . it's the practice of sending an email and blind copying someone else - so your original recipient doesn't see that you've also sent the message to a friend, a boss, a co-worker . ..

It's deceitful. It's lying . . . It's bad practice.

But here's the thought - don't we do the same thing on Sunday morning with the Savior? We put on our "sunday best" - whether that be a face, or clothes, or expectations for our kids, or consumer-driven desires about what we need to "get" out of the worship service - and we come in pretending . . .

We come pretending that our lives are perfect, and we've got it all together - instead of coming acknowledging that we've all got the same broken, messed-up lives and the only "fix" lies in resting in God's grace, and our standing in Christ. We've tried to blind copy our friends, and the rest of the congregation on the email that says "Doing great! Nothing's wrong here!"

Announcements 02-28-10

Monday Morning Recap for Sunday - Feb 28, 2010

Bob finished up his series on Jonah yesterday. If you haven't subscribed to the Oak Mountain iTunes podcast yet, you can do so here

We opened yesterday with a "new to oak mountain" song called No Other Name, by Todd Fields.

After our call to worship, we sang All Because of Jesus, Shelter (an oldie but goodie), Come Ye Sinners, and When all is said and done.

We didn't have an offering song this week - as we commissioned Phil Chambers and his new church planting team.