Back and ON FIRE!

I have been taking some time off since Christmas, just relaxing and getting some stuff done around the house. It's been good on a couple of levels, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the work of the Kingdom. I noticed some things while I've been 'away' and wanted to share them with you:

• Christmas Eve services were AMAZING! Had to be the most worshipful I've been a part of since I've been in church. God was in it like I've never seen Him before. WOW!
• We had three really good services as well. We actually went over last years numbers by a little more than 12%. Kudos to you all who invited people to come meet Jesus.
  
• When I'm not with my church family on Sunday, I'm a little empty. I can worship without you, but it's just not the same.
• People in Pocatello don't know how to drive in the snow - and it drives me CRAZY! Nearly got hit about a dozen times this week...and that was just on Monday!

The more time I spend in God's Word, the more amped up I get about what He wants me to do. I don't fully know what it all is, I just know that He is working in my heart to do some amazing things for the Kingdom. I do know this: what I (we've) been called to do is NOT easy, is NOT for the faint of heart and is NOT for wimps!

I've been disgusted by 'Christians' today who say one thing and then won't back it up with their life. There's a word for that - hypocrisy! And it has to break our Father's heart. But my biggest frustration has to come from cowardly Christians. For example, if someone were to come to your house and start calling your mom or dad all kinds of names and stuff, would you just sit there and let them? NO WAY! You would defend them at all costs, and say that it was in honor of the family. And you'd be right! But when we get challenged on our faith, or people start using God's name in vain or calling God a liar, we just sit back and say, "They're entitled to their opinion," and then we let them continue doing it. WHAT IS WRONG WITH US? That is our Father they're talking about. That is our Dad they are attacking - and we're letting them.

Not me. I'm tired of it. When I read God's Word it clearly says that we are to be standing FOR God - period. He has given us the spirit of boldness - not wimpness! He has given us the Holy Spirit to be our guide - not our excuse! So I'm going to be pissing some people off who think they are 'entitled' to come after my Dad and think they can dishonor Him. Not gonna happen! I'm going to confuse some people who think that only 'certain people' should get help if they meet their criteria. Who decided that we get to pick and choose who needs help? If you see someone in need, scripture says, HELP THEM!

Church - in Pocatello and elsewhere - we have been called BY GOD to be a light in a dark world. Put away the bickering that keeps you from being that light. Put away 'denominational' excuses and reach out to the community in your own backyard. You want to make a difference? Start by opening up your doors to help ANYONE who has a need. God will provide the resources. All you need to do is open your heart to serve.

I'll 'rant' more later. Just had to get this first part off my chest...

See ya in church...

New Sunday, New Worship!

With each passing week, I see God move in the lives of His people here at First Baptist, Pocatello. IT NEVER GETS OLD! I watch and listen to you as you lift your voices in song to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. It inspires me and excites me.

• We introduced a new arrangement/intro for "O Come, All Ye Faithful" and it went above and beyond our expectations. Our hope was to invite you in to a place where you could worship Him and celebrate Him. It was a very worshipful and inviting moment. God is Good!
• Baptisms...do they ever get old???
• 9 a.m. crowd...YOU ROCK! You get up early, battle the weather (which held off!) and make room in the 11 a.m. service for those folks who are checking things out. THANK YOU! AND, you brought your worship heart Sunday and let God know how much you love Him. YEAH!
• 11 a.m. crowd...YOU ROCK TOO! But I'm still going to keep challenging you...move to the 9 a.m. service (where all the cool kids hang out) so we can have room for the visitors at 11. We've been over 80% full several weeks this quarter and it won't let up anytime soon. So, you can see we have a problem in the making. HELP US OUT - PLEASE MOVE!

This holiday season, let God bring out the best in you by worshiping with all you have and with all that you are. Take your everyday life and give it to God as an act of worship. I love the paraphrase version of this verse (Romans 12:1-2) because it communicates so clearly what we need to do. AND, it is a good reminder that we don't want to be influenced by culture - EVER! When we let God influence our lives for His purposes and plans, life takes on a whole new meaning! And it effects our personal worship as well as our corporate worship. HE is exalted and lifted high in our lives, both inwardly and outwardly.

Keep pursuing Him this season and look for how He will use you for the Kingdom!

Merry Christmas!

Building A Worship Team - Part 4

Okay -
...We're in tight with our Senior Pastor and have a solid relationship as well as a clear understanding of worship and the vision.
...We've outlined, CLEARLY, the expectations for our worship team so as to avoid any prima-dona syndromes.
...And we've taken a hard look at who and what we have to work with and provided some resources for them to become skilled at their instrument.

Whatever you do, don't let anyone tell you that you don't need to pray before your rehearsals. And don't be afraid to have a brief devotional along with it. Your team needs to not only sound good and blend together, they have to be bound together in Him and with Him. Otherwise, you will have a mess on your hands that you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy.
Encourage them to pray together either as a whole team or in groups of 2 or 3 (depending on the size of your team). This also helps them to know how to pray for each other during the week...what a concept!

Now it's time to get to work - time to make some MAGIC!

1. REHEARSAL STRUCTURE

Worship Leader - you have to be prepared yourself! Don't come to rehearsal and just wing it. Even the best of us at this don't do that. Know what needs to be done, how it needs to be done and then do it!

For the rehearsal time:

• Make certain that you allot enough time for your prayer/devotional.
  
• Make sure you have adequate copies of music (lead sheets, sheet music, rhythm charts, etc.) to hand out. If you are using Cd's or MP3 files to help the team practice, same thing - have them ready and have enough.
• Pick one song for the upcoming weekend service and work it. Take a dry run all the way through, just to make sure folks have an idea of the song.
• Break down the instrument parts. Who comes in at the beginning? Everybody? If not, who and when do the other instruments come in? Talk about instrumental 'solo' parts and how they will be laid out in the song. Listen for odd rhythm patterns that clash with the main one. For example, listen to the strumming pattern of the guitar compared to the rhythm being laid down by the drummer. What is the keyboard player doing? Does it clash with other instruments? KEYBOARDIST: You DON'T have to play ALL THE NOTES! Less is always better!
• Break down the vocal parts. Who is singing lead, if not the Worship Leader? How many parts do you need to have? When do parts actually come in and when do you sing unison? Can the song be led by more than the Worship Leader? Perhaps there is a piece of the song that sounds really good for a male voice, or a female voice to lead out. Switch it out and try it. CAUTION: Worship Leaders - the more you lead every Sunday and are the main voice, the more chance of people expecting you to always be there. Not a good thing. This can lead to the congregation putting you on a pedestal that you don't want to be on!
  
• A great question I get is how many singers should a Praise Team actually have? Here's an easy answer: for every 75-100 people in the congregation you need an additional vocalist. That means for a church of 100 you would have 2 vocalists' - one lead and one harmony. If you're a church of 300, 2-3 vocalists' and a lead vocal will be more than enough. Now, the bigger you get, this 'rule' breaks down. You wouldn't want to be a church of 600 and have 7 people leading. You might as well have a worship choir (which isn't a bad thing!). We helped out a church with some worship stuff and they had 4 part harmony with an additional lead vocal on top of the Worship Leader. They actually defeated the purpose of the harmony with so many voices that the mid-range of the speakers sounded muddy and distorted. It wasn't a great sound. Too much is not the answer when it comes to vocals.
• Take the same approach with vocals as you do with instruments. Who needs to be singing? What and when? Is what they're singing clashing with the instrumental parts? Sometimes we can make a song sound way too busy by adding all the voices. Mix it up. Have one person sing in one section, then add one or two voices. It's called layering and it's extremely effective.
• Once that's all figured out and understood, play! Start putting it together and find out what needs tweaking, eliminated, adjusted, etc.
  
• Work it again and again until it feels comfortable and smooth. Then put it away for a moment. Come back to it before you go home, but for now let it rest. Pick another song and do the same thing. This process will help stretch your musicians and help them to focus.
  
• WARNING: Know that you will have some down time for both the vocals and the instruments as you 'work' the songs. Let them know this ahead of time so they don't go postal on you!
• Work through your Sunday set at least once. Focus on transitions, key changes, tempo changes, etc. If you are using other elements - scripture reading, sacraments, video, live drama/sketch, etc. - share with the team where these go and how it impacts flow. DON'T SURPRISE YOUR TEAM ON SUNDAY!

This will get you started. Have fun working with different songs, styles, patterns, arrangements, etc. And when you work on a song, don't try to do it just like you've heard it. Learn it first. Then make it your own by trying different instrument mixes, vocal parts, even the tempo can make a song more like your own. Whatever you do, find the voice of the song that moves you and your team to worship. If that happens, chances are you're going to be leading others into the presence of the Almighty!

More later...

12 Days-o-FUN!

The Invitation

For a snowy and cold day we had a good turnout for services. In fact, as I looked at the same weekend last year, we were running the same. Makes me wonder what would have happened if we didn't have the snow...

• Really missed being here last week, cause when you get your worship hearts on...it reminds me that this is the place God has called me to.
• LOVE celebrating volunteers! This Sunday I got to thank my teams for what they do (all 97 of them) and got to thank our Administration teams as well. As I said yesterday, it doesn't just happen by itself. It takes 30 of our Creative Arts volunteers EACH SERVICE to make Sunday happen. Can't wait til next week when we get to celebrate some more folks!
• One other group that has made a HUGE impact in the life of God's people is our Connection Group leaders and hosts'. We now have 22 groups - and GROWING!
• 11 o'clock service - you guys RAISED THE ROOF with the worship music! THANK YOU for taking me with you. Thank you for opening yourself up to let God see how much you love Him and want to praise Him.
• 9 0'clock service - you catch a break just because it was COLD at that hour. AND the heater in the Worship Center stopped working overnight. When I arrived after 7 a.m. it was a balmy 50 degrees in there! Our instruments did NOT like it, that's for sure.

I promise that we will have the heater fixed and ready to go by this next weekend. Even if I have to light a fire in the middle of the room to heat it up, we will be ready for you to bring the people that you want to bring to church. DON'T LET ANYTHING GET IN THE WAY OF INVITING SOMEONE TO CHURCH! EVER!

I look forward to seeing what God is going to do in this season of Christmas here at FBC. It's never the same - but He is! And that's what really matters!

See ya in church...

Father and son - JOY!

As of now, I have no voice! I just got to see my Steelers take out the Cowboys in an incredible and cold game. By the time the 4th quarter started, they said it was 17 degrees with a wind chill of 7 degrees. Sweltering!
I had the joy of being at Heinz Field on this cold December day with my son, Austin. This was his first ever trip to Pittsburgh, and obviously to Heinz. What a joy it was to see him get excited, overwhelmed, over joyed, amazed, anxious - all at the same time! It was intense, in a GREAT way!
We ate good, had fun with the crowd, and froze our toes off.

In a sense, I got to get an idea of what it must be like for God to look at us and see us enjoy life, especially those things that are important to us. My life verse is Ephesians 2:10. It says, "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepares in advance for us to do." God has called each of us to do something great for Him. In that same breath, I believe that He grants us opportunities to experience those things that bring us joy - just so He can see us enjoy life.

It got me thinking - how much do we enjoy God Himself? How much do we look forward to meeting Him day after day, looking to enjoy His company?
How often do we look forward to spending time with Him?

I have had this day marked on my calendar for months, looking forward to spending it with my son. It was nothing less than fulfilling in every way. Even if we had lost, it was still all I'd hoped it would be. Dad got to spend some quality time with his son - and it brought me great joy.

I'm looking forward to next Sunday to spend time with the Father and His family. I hope you'll look forward to the joy as well!

See ya in church...

No More Neat and Tidy - Just Foolish!

7 1/2 years ago I moved our family from Southern California to the booming metropolis of Pocatello, Idaho. Talk about your contrasts in cultures. Both Sue and I knew what to expect, culture-wise, because we had gone to school at Idaho State University. Our kids, however, had only visited on a couple of occasions. Luckily for us, they adapted well and really haven't desired to go back there since. (Praise God!)

But the journey to get here was not blessed by many people in our circles, including some of our family. In fact, I even heard the words, "it seems a little foolish" uttered by some. We didn't have a home to move to before we got here, and Sue didn't have a job or even an interview lined up. We left good jobs, a solid church, a roof over our heads - all to follow a 'dream' to come on staff at FBC, Pocatello. Foolishness! Absurd!

Unless you have faith and are willing to be obedient.

See...we, as Christians, think things have to be neat and tidy for us to be able to serve God. We think that things have to all be lined up in a neat little pile and THEN God can use us. The reality is that's what WE think it needs to be. All God wants is our hearts, fully obedient and sold out to Him. He'll take us however we are, wherever we are and use us to do His work.

As artists, we really fall into the 'things-have-to-be-neat-and-tidy' category more than most. We are, to a point, perfectionists. HOWEVER...when we do this, it doesn't leave any room for God to do a miracle in our own lives.
When we, my wife and I, made the decision to follow God to Pocatello, it was seen by some as reckless abandon - and not in a good way. But we didn't care what others thought. We were more concerned about being faithful to Him than anything else. And so we came... and the rest is His story. I believe that reckless abandon for the Kingdom leads to incredible faith building events in our lives.

How long will you continue to live a neat and tidy life YOUR WAY? What will it take for you to suck it up and take that big step of faith that you keep putting off until 'just the right time'? SHUT UP WITH THE EXCUSES! He's heard them all before! I even used some myself. IT GOT ME NOWHERE!

• God, I can't afford to give a full tithe, because I have all this debt. DUH! Get out of debt! You're wasting HIS money, not yours!
  
• God, I can't afford to give my whole life because I like living this way. Besides, I can come to you and be forgiven as often as I need to. "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." (Prov. 26:11) By the way, God does NOT like to be mocked. (Galatians 6:7)
• God, I've been so bad for so long there's no way you could accept me, let alone forgive. "For God so loved (put your name here), that He gave His only Son...so that (put your name here) may NOT PERISH but have EVERLASTING LIFE." (John 3:16 - Karl paraphrase)
• God, if I do this what will other people think? "The foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom..." (1 Corinthians 1:25a) Two words - WHO CARES? You'll be spending eternity with Him, not necessarily all of them!
  

Only when I completely surrendered my life, my family, my future to Him - only then did I really FULLY understand who He is and what He wants to do with my life.

Stop making excuses for why you won't be obedient to God. Start taking your relationship with Him seriously today. Get on your knees in prayer right now and ask Him to move you to a new place. Ask Him to give you another chance to be used MIGHTILY for His work. And, commit to do it whatever the risk is. It may seem foolish - GOOD. It won't be neat and tidy (not always) - GOOD! It will be scary - GREAT! He is a BIG God and He won't ask you to do more than He knows you can handle.

So get up, get on your knees, and get after His life for you. It will be foolish to those who don't know Him. I can't think of a better compliment than that!

Being a FOOL for Christ right beside you...

Building a Worship Team - part 3

Now that you and your Senior Pastor have had a great lunch and gotten a good start on the commitment thing, where to from here? First of all, know that your commitment guidelines will change as your church and ministry grows. That's a good thing! We need to be constantly reviewing our goals and expectations, especially in times of growth. Look at what other churches in your area are doing. As you do, look at churches that are similar in size to where you are, and the next size up from where you are. Always keep an eye toward growth!

As for building the people part of your team...once they know what to expect,

1. START WITH WHAT YOU HAVE!

• What instrumentalists' do you have?
• What vocals (parts and lead) do you have?
• What is the skill level of those people?

Have a night where you just come together and 'work' a worship song or two. Start with something simple, something basic. For some of the more experienced people, this may seem redundant. However, you need to remember you are building a TEAM not an 'act'.

• Teams need exposure to one another, which means they spend time together.
• Teams aren't teams until they can master the basic mechanics of playing together.
  
• Teams require working together as one unit.

Get everyone together and play through a familiar, fairly simple song (Amazing Grace).

• Start with instrumentation. Who will play what? When? How much? Make sure every instrumentalist understands what you expect of them. Not everyone has to play at the same time. (Keyboard players in a band setting: LESS IS BETTER!)
  
• Then add vocals. Who will sing lead? What parts will be sung? When will you sing in unison and when will you have parts? NOT ALL SONGS NEED TO BE SUNG IN 3 or 4 PART HARMONY! Try only adding one part. Instead of singing the 3rd, try adding a harmony sung in the 2nd or 4th range of the scale. You never know until you try!
  
• Now, do it all TOGETHER.
  
• Do it again....and again...and again. Spending time going over a song together also helps you, leader, see where the ability level is of each of your people. Use that to encourage and educate your team.

2. GET YOUR TEAM RESOURCES TO LEARN FROM!

There are a bunch of good resources out there to help build a team. Let me recommend what I think is one of, if not the best resources out there. Paul Baloche has put together a series of GREAT training DVDs for praise and worship teams.
Start by going to his website and picking up "Worship Band Workshop". This is a great resource for your team to see what a team playing together looks and sounds like. DON'T TRY TO COPY THEM! Learn from them and apply what you can to your situation. Topics include "band dynamics and tempo", "creating an atmosphere of worship", "mapping out a song", and more. All done in a very basic, easy to learn setting.
For your vocalists, let me recommend that you also pick up the "Worship Vocal Workshop" from Paul's' site. They cover "modern blending", "proper warm-ups", "harmonizing" and more. Great lessons on singing as a team. This also includes some time with microphone basics that is invaluable.

• Find resources and get them into the hands of your people as often as you can.
• Get your team to conferences when you can. Getting them exposed to other teams and leaders will help them understand where you really want to go with them. Check out Integrity Musics Seminars4Worship.
  
• Find people who will come to you and teach. You'd be surprised at how many artists will come and do workshops for you and other churches. Some just ask you to provide a hotel and charge a fee for their workshop. Guitar, keyboards, even some vocal teaching is available this way. You just have to do some research. Email me and I'll share with you the folks we've had come and the impact they have had. (karl@fbcpoky.com)

Playing together as a team and resource sharing are the two keys to our success here at FBC, Poky. If you were to ask some of our folks they would tell you that it sometimes gets old working over a song the way we do. But when we take our place on Sundays, when it's time to lead God's church in musical worship, the distractions of timing, tempo, pitch, parts, etc. aren't there because the music has been internalized and now is coming out as worship.

Good luck in this part of the process. Be patient...look toward what you're hoping to accomplish in the end, not the junk in the front. It will be worth it!

Continue later this week with the next steps...

"Hungry" by Kathrynn Scott Clip

Sunday Lessons

It NEVER ceases to amaze me how God works on any given day, let alone on Sundays!

• Thought Aaron and Bill did a great job leading us in a service of communion. It was a good reminder for me to see communion this way.

• Really appreciated the worship team for hanging out all service(s) on the platform. Felt like the music connected well to the spoken word and helped drive the point home. I love my team!

• Had a GREAT time watching my Steelers pummel the Patriots! Great way to end the afternoon for me!

• Ended the day with my men's group - Gary, Tom, Scott, Tait - where we just got to be guys for a couple of hours. These men encourage me, challenge me, let me challenge them, and they really help me get perspective on stuff. I am truly blessed!

• As a special treat yesterday, I got to do a duet with my beautiful wife, Sue. It just doesn't get any better than that!
  

I love serving God in this place! I know without a doubt that God has called me to this place and that He has wonderful plans for me and my family in the future. I trust Him with my life!

See ya in church...