Permission to Speak Freely Book Review

November 2, 2011 in Books/Magazines, Review with 0 Comments

Permission to Speak Freely
By: Anne Jackson

I am a bit late on this review because I have had the book a LONG time. Ironically though I finished this book in a day.
The books tagline is “Essays and Art on Fear, Confession, and Grace” and it is just that. Anne is a very transparent writer as well as speaker. Anybody who follows her blog knows she bares it all. She is a broken woman and seeking after the heart of God. She posed the question of ”What is one thing you feel you can’t say in church?” Hundreds responded with letters, emails and postcards.

Some of the book was inspiring and a bit of it was sad to see the oppression in the the church walls. The book is formatted much like postsecret. As a matter of fact I’m confident that was their inspiration for the style it was written.

Images and graphics are interwoven with heart-wrenching stories. There are essays and testimonies in the book that will make you want to pray harder for the state of the “Church”. The book is also sprinkled with tons of graphics and “postcard” style art with secret testimonies that will shake the brains and hearts of naive people in the church.

She does address the hope in Christ, but we also know this is an eternal journey so sometimes it seems there is not much hope on this side of death. All in all I really enjoyed reading this book and having met Anne before it just made me pray harder for her.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from Thomas Nelson Publishers as part of their BookSneeze.com <http://BookSneeze.com> book review bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 <http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html> : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

4 New albums you need that you may have not heard

October 22, 2011 in cd review, klampert, worship with 2 Comments

I have the privilege of listening to tons of new music and I wanted to showcase 4 CD’s/EP’s I am in love with right now.

1. Matthew Reed – Come and drink
Matthew sent this to me and asked that I check it out for him. I am a sucker for a well produced indie sound and when you mix that with worship I am instantly drawn in. I don’t know how best to describe this album other than it sounds very modern and yet I hear lots of things in it that I loved from the 90′s sonically. It has a Vigilantes of Love vibe to it (without the country folk rock). Wow honestly I really am having a hard time wrapping my head around the diversity and goodness of his sound and Don’t want to do him an injustice by comparing him wrong. The song “crash this place” is fantastic lyrically. “Holy spirit would you move in power and crash this place with love”. I love that image like we are inviting him to sleep on our couch or something. He as our companion and we are asking him to move in. “Emmanuel” is another stand out for me. Somewhere in my twisted brain this is what Norah Jones would sound like if she was a dude. I love this song and Really hope to be able to use it maybe even this Christmas. All in all this is a great 6 track CD that is creative, full of great stuff and does not get stuck in the rut of the “modern worship” sound with tons of delay pedals.

2. August York – This is How we Met
This is the First CD from my friends Mckendree and Rachel Tucker. Mckendree of course has had many great solo albums and played with Sonicflood as well, but after he got married this band evolved. I am a huge fan of what Mckendree does with his production, loops, and crazy digital fantastical surprises. He has a very cool raw voice. Rachel on the other hand is a stark contrast very similar to Zooey in She & Him. Somehow the two of them, much like their relationship, were meant to sing together. This CD takes you on a journey. I love what they do with all the different instruments and styles. It really has something for everybody and yet at the same time every song is “them”. It is great to hear them strip it down much like the Civil Wars, but also jazz it up like on the song “What I need”. One of my favorite songs is “no turning back”. It is just Rachel with nothing else and it is so haunting. You swear it is 1930 and you are listening to a Glass record. My one and only negative of the CD is I think Rachel could use more reverb in the production on some of the tracks. Her voice is just really cool and i would love to hear it even more echoed. I can picture these guys in a swanky throwback night club in the village in NY.

3. Nate Fancher – Surrender
I met nate in Sept at the Forge Conference in NJ. He, in passing, handed me his CD for me to listen to and I told him I would review it. I had 0 expectations because I knew very little about him, his ministry, or his “sound”. What I got was something very original and yet strangely familier at the same time. It is an amazing worship album and is starting to become easily one of my top favorites from anything I have listened this year. I love to compare artists to other artists so you can get a feel for it. So I would say it is like Owl City meets Gin Blossoms mixed with the spiritual integrity and lyrical content of Matt Redman. He is such a different and cool sounding vocalist with a Tener voice that reminds me of Ian Mcintosh. Great production, amazing instrumentation and a breath of fresh air. I can see myself doing a few tracks off this CD especially “holy Lovely”

3. Harvest Bashta – Make us Ready
I HATE EP’s because 90% of the time when I get an EP and sound like the church lady after listening to it “well isn’t that special!”. Sadly I find myself more times than not completely forgetting about the artist and not too excited for a full album. When I first heard of harvest of course I noticed her last name is the same as Daniel Bashta (my pick for best CD of the year). Turns out Harvest is his Sister. This EP broke the mold if you will. It is amazing and anointed. It moved me into a spirit of worship, warfare and revival right from the beginning. It is not overly complicated lyrically or musically. What it is though is a cry for God and for Him to show up, wreck us and revive the church. I love all 3 songs. I can’t wait to use them. Her sound is like what if Vicky Beeching and Misty Edwards had a baby. And since that is impossible it must tell you how cool this album is. I am praying somebody signs her ASAP because I want more of her music. Right now this EP is free on noisetrade.

Well there are 4 CD’s you may not have heard or even heard of that I think you need to go out and buy right away. I know what I am talking about so… DO IT!!

Is our worship just a drug?

October 19, 2011 in Random chatter, worship with 12 Comments

A few quotes on worship:

“it’s great… you just feel really euphoric”

“makes me feel like superman, lots of energy and a feeling like I could do anything”

“sometimes like you’re floating on the inside”
The interesting thing is that all of these are actually all quotes about what it is like to feel high. Isn’t it amazing the similarities to what we hear when there is a great worship service? People used to say they were “high on Jesus”. Some reason that always bothered me because I think there is so much more to worship worship than that.

So is worship just a drug? Is it a cheap thrill?

Modern day worship seems to have turned a corner where we have limited the holiness of God and elevated our hope for warm and fuzzy feelings every time we get together.

We treat worship Like a selfish relationship. Recently I have been involved in a multi-church prayer/worship meeting. We have moved in a direction that we feel like God is leading us to pertaining the order and flow of the monthly event. Like any event there have been amazing ones and there have been lackluster ones, but the vision stays consistent in that we Worship in unity and pray for revival in our churches and community. I have been made aware of a bunch of people who no longer got the “feeling” they were looking for out of the meeting and have chosen to not return. I wasn’t surprised by this because it happens every day, but it saddened me.

Churches lose people all the time because attendees didn’t quite get that buzz, didn’t like the sermon that week, and even have issues with the carpet color. I think the issue may be within the phrase “I attend ______(insert church name)”. When did it start being about attending a church and less about being the church.

It is the same reason why so many marriages are failing right now. People are selfish and when a guys wife no longer gives him that “feeling” it is time to go find a girl that can.

Selfish Worship is powerless worship.

We as leaders have perpetuated a culture of powerless worship. Think about that for a second….

We attempt to manipulate emotional responses from our congregations by the right formula of fast to slow songs so people can get their sunday fix. Sometimes we treat it like a spiritual Redbull, but monday comes and that high wears off. We use something designed to glorify the King and water down the power to attract the outside. Did Jesus water down the power of God? We have to be careful that we don’t confuse accessibility with seeker focused worship.

We worship God because He is worthy to be worshiped. It is because He alone is worthy and He alone is Holy. Thats it! We don’t worship so we can try to Christianize the latest Muse track. We worship because the King of Kings is Holy.

We praise God because of what He has done and continues to do.

The bible says ENTER HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING IN OUR HEARTS….ENTER HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE!

Do we come to church ready to worship?
Have we been worshiping all week?

We love to throw around terms like “worship is not music… it’s a lifestyle”.

That is great and so true.
I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth” (Psalms 34:1)

We need to be constantly praising our God and king, but Christian slogans become just that. We become desensitized to our own terms and forget the greatness of the POWER of God.

Acts 16:23-26 “And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

(24) Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

(25) And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one’s bands were loosed.”

There seems to be a divided people in the church these days. Some who want no music and some who think it should all be music.

Do you think that we would be so divided on that if we worshiped with everything we had like Paul and Silas did? Football stadiums are full of people willing to scream and yell for their favorite team and in our churches we have people who know that Jesus came and died for us to be saved and we worship His greatness with lackluster hearts. Can you imagine a worship service like paul and silas had where God shakes your church and people are released from their burdens and shackles and where “EVERY ONE’S BANDS WERE LOOSED” ?

Praise and worship bring us into the presence of God  “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy countenance” (Psalms 89:15)

The Bible says that God inhabits in the praises of His people (Psalms 22:3).
I love that because it says That when we praise GOD dwells in the midst of us. While praise is a reaction to His greatness it is also the gateway to ushering in the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.

Worship gives us the ability as worshipers to be creative in our expression as well. With dance, spoken word, singing, lyrics, the arts etc… We limit this creativity in worship when we limit the freedom of expression and range of emotion.

Worship in our services should be like a buffet line. It is self serve smorgasbord of all kinds of things. The church needs to stop waiting for leaders to force feed them and seek God in their own time. Sometimes just like in a buffet they are things you may not like. A worship leaders job is to not just hand you the comfortable mac-n-cheese every time or what I like to call happy meal worship. Sometimes he needs to go deeper. Sometimes he needs to break out the oatmeal and give you something sustainable. Other times he may need to break out the broccoli which he knows you may not like, but your soul desperately needs.

Worship is a Powerful WEAPON:

2 Chronicles 20

10 “And now see what the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir are doing. You would not let our ancestors invade those nations when Israel left Egypt, so they went around them and did not destroy them.11 Now see how they reward us! For they have come to throw us out of your land, which you gave us as an inheritance.

12 O our God, won’t you stop them? We are powerless against this mighty army that is about to attack us. We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”
13 As all the men of Judah stood before the LORD with their little ones, wives, and children,

14 the Spirit of the LORD came upon one of the men standing there. His name was Jahaziel son of Zechariah, son of Benaiah, son of Jeiel, son of Mattaniah, a Levite who was a descendant of Asaph.
15 He said, “Listen, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Listen, King Jehoshaphat! This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid! Don’t be discouraged by this mighty army, for the battle is not yours, but God’s.16 Tomorrow, march out against them. You will find them coming up through the ascent of Ziz at the end of the valley that opens into the wilderness of Jeruel.

17 But you will not even need to fight. Take your positions; then stand still and watch the LORD’s victory. He is with you, O people of Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid or discouraged. Go out against them tomorrow, for the LORD is with you!”
18 Then King Jehoshaphat bowed low with his face to the ground. And all the people of Judah and Jerusalem did the same, worshiping the LORD.

19 Then the Levites from the clans of Kohath and Korah stood to praise the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud shout.

20 Early the next morning the army of Judah went out into the wilderness of Tekoa. On the way Jehoshaphat stopped and said, “Listen to me, all you people of Judah and Jerusalem! Believe in the LORD your God, and you will be able to stand firm. Believe in his prophets, and you will succeed.”

21 After consulting the people, the king appointed singers to walk ahead of the army, singing to the LORD and praising him for his holy splendor. This is what they sang:
“Give thanks to the LORD;
his faithful love endures forever!”
22 At the very moment they began to sing and give praise, the LORD caused the armies of Ammon, Moab, and Mount Seir to start fighting among themselves.23 The armies of Moab and Ammon turned against their allies from Mount Seir and killed every one of them. After they had destroyed the army of Seir, they began attacking each other……
26 On the fourth day they gathered in the Valley of Blessing,t which got its name that day because the people praised and thanked the LORD there. It is still called the Valley of Blessing today.
27 Then all the men returned to Jerusalem, with Jehoshaphat leading them, overjoyed that the LORD had given them victory over their enemies.
28 They marched into Jerusalem to the music of harps, lyres, and trumpets, and they proceeded to the Temple of the LORD.
29 When all the surrounding kingdoms heard that the LORD himself had fought against the enemies of Israel, the fear of God came over them.

Worship goes before the battle.
Praise and worship is our weapon in the battle.
We rejoice in the victory by praising the VICTOR.

How amazing is that section. Do we ever lead our worship services in the knowledge that this is MUCH more than singing? Are we praying for the insight and discernment to be aware that God may be using our praise and worship on the front lines of a spiritual battle?

This past sunday I was leading worship and felt a horrible spirit in the room. I felt like God was saying to change up the set list on the fly. I followed. What happened that most likely no body noticed is I was no longer leading worship, but was fighting a spiritual battle along side angels in the room with my praise to the King.

Praise and Worship are amazing and Not only is God worthy of our praise but its amazing what He will do through us and in us when we glorify him.

Questions:

Are you creating a culture of “surface worship” happy meal worship?

Are you teaching people to worship and the amazing power in it?

Is your churches time of praise centered around attracting people or Christ?

During the weeks that the Spirit doesn’t fall on the church like it’s pentecost does your team consider that their failure or do you teach the ebb and flow of the movement of God?

Rita Springer: the playlist Review and Formal Apology

September 20, 2011 in Review with 2 Comments

Before I write a review on this CD I want to publicly come on record with an apology to the worship community at large and Rita Springer. Rita has been one of the great worship leaders of our time and prolific writer as well. Some reason I wrote her off years ago by just not listening to her music even though people around me raved about her. Somewhere along the way I put my head under a rock prematurely.

It is interesting because a worship leader who also plays bass with me at a multi-church prayer meeting told me a month ago that he was going to new jersey to play bass for Rita. That same week Integrity sent me her new CD to review. Was it a sign? I don’t know, but I pulled it out of drop box and ignored the possible sign.

Finally my thick head said listen to that thing and I complied with it’s command.

What i heard was the first track “Come in”. A brilliant and rich call to worship. It starts off slow and then ushers in the Holy spirit with such amazing power. You can hear here screaming out… crying out for God. I was instantly hooked and at the same time kicking myself for taking so long to become a Rita fan.

The next track “in this forever” along with a few others have sonic nuances reminiscent of Jenn Johnson and Vicky Beaching. She has such beautiful vocals that are so versatile and more accomplished than most of the worship leaders out there.

“Make You Happy” reminds me so much of Christy Nockels Watermark CD’s, but amped up. It is such a well written song.

One of my favorite tracks is “I call You”. Which is so full of lyrics that glorify God. I can see using this song right away in my services.

Just when you think you have pegged Rita’s sound you are handed “Made for this” which sounds like what if Joss Stone, Kim Walker and Mellissa Etheridge had a baby. Rita just belts out from her soul and you know in your “knower” that she believes what she is singing.

The whole CD is capped off with a brilliant song “this blood” which has a johnny cash/Hymn type of feel.

Ultimately from first listen there was not a song on this CD I did not like. It is a must buy.

There is nothing better than a “believable” worship leader. Nothing better than listening to somebody who is obviously not just going through the motions and then worshiping right along side them.

I am a fan of Rita Springer and so glad to have this CD.

Gungor Ghosts upon the Earth review: Are we finally returning back to artistry?

September 20, 2011 in Review with 0 Comments

Gungor has been ingrained in my world of music since the days of his collaborations with Israel Houghton. Back then we knew he was brilliant and had crazy guitar chops, but when “Beautiful Things” came out we found out he was a kindred spirit of the creatives.

Don’t shoot me for this if you loved that CD, but I was not in love with every song. I felt like Gungor as a band was on a journey. A path of finding their place musically, artistically and spiritually.

I did however love much of it which is why I was chomping at the bit to get a hold of “Ghosts upon Earth” which released a day or so ago.

WHAT IS GOING ON!! Seriously, what is happening to Christian music? Are we finally getting that it is about creating for our king and not creating for a fictitious person listening on the radio and buying CD’s? Praise God artists are still out there and willing to be creative for Christ. I have seen too many brilliant artists start on the journey only to be squashed and then create art for many other things besides God.

This is but a piece of Gungor’s journey, but it such an amazing CD. There are so many layers of creative genius and heartfelt worship. I am a sucker for haunting melodies and this CD does not disappoint.

I hate going song by song because honestly who really reads that any way.

This is not a corporate worship CD folks. It is worship 100% through and through though. The production is just perfect. It is simple and lets the gutsiness of the music come through. It reminds me so much of what was coming out in the 90′s like michael knott, adam again, lost dogs, and at the foot of the cross from the Choir.

In Psalms we have so many nuances of worship. There is joy, sorry, battle, silence, lament and more. Why do we choose to only worship God in our happiness? I think one thing that creative albums like this do for us is show that we can worship God with “Everything” we have and are. We don’t have to fabricate a “new” us to present to God.

In conclusion Gungor is just 1 of the many new artists out right now bringing creativity and artistry back into the church where it needs to be.

Buy this beautiful CD, let it soak in and pray that it spurs you to use your soul to create like God created you to.

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