Hey all,
I just wanted to take a few minutes and walk you through my reading list (look on the lower right-hand part of your screen... go ahead, I'll wait... you may have to scroll down a little but you'll get there). Now that you've taken the time to read the list you'll find that that was completely pointless because I'm going to list them all again. Thanks for doing what I ask anyway. I appreciate it. Anyway, on to what I've been reading.
RECENT READS:
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years - Donald Miller - First off, I think Don Miller is a fantastic writer. There is something very subtle in his style that makes it conversational while still being able to make a point. It's a much harder balance to strike than most people realize. Don is also thought provoking. I never read any of his stuff without walking away and taking a hard look at where I am in my journey of faith. I think if Don and I were to sit down and have a deep theological discussion we would have very different views on more than a few issues, but I know I would leave that discussion with a great respect for his opinion and the seriousness with which he approaches his own examination of the scriptures and their application to his life.
Stuff Christians Like - Jonathan Acuff - This is one of those books that I can't say I learned anything from, but I enjoyed it anyway. The basic premiss of the book is to make fun of some of the stuff Christians make into borderline-doctrine. It jabs at the little stuff we do without having any real knowledge of why we do them. You have to be able to read it without taking it personally. It's like when your best friend calls you "donkey". Come on, it's funny.
Seven Storey Mountain - Thomas Merton - I love Merton. Everything he writes is brilliant. His book "New Seeds of Contemplation" is one of my all-time favorite reads. Having read many of his other works made this one that much more interesting. It's his autobiography of his journey to faith. He is VERY detailed. It's a long book. To be perfectly honest, I loved reading it, but there was about 1/5 of the book (the 4th 5th to be exact) that I struggled with simply because I was ready to move on to something else. Like I said he's very detailed, it's all really good, but if I think I would have enjoyed it more had I read half of it then put it away for a few months and come back to finish it.
Practice and Presence of GOD - Brother Lawrence - The book is actually a series of letters written my Brother Lawrence on how he lives his daily life in the presence of GOD. It's an intriguing look at how to see our service to Christ through the most mundane of daily tasks.
CURRENTLY READING
Sermons on the Cross - Charles H. Spurgeon - Spurgeon is one of my favorite church-history-personalities ever. If you want to study what the Church SHOULD be then read up on the London Metropolitan Tabernacle during the 1850's. Phenomenal story of a local church looking after "the least of these" when everyone else who could had turned their backs. As far as Spurgeon himself goes, he LOVED his cigars. A woman once asked him when he would give up his "filthy habit", he responded, "I'll quit smoking when I have done it to excess". The woman asked when that would be and Spurgeon said, "When I am smoking two at a time." Anyway, this book is a collection of 13 sermons that focus on crucifixion of Jesus Christ. Powerful stuff. Even reading the sermons brings an understanding of why Spurgeon was called the "Prince of Preachers", I can only imagine what it would have been like to hear him!
Theology You Can Count On - Tony Evans - I've actually been working my way through this book for about a year. It is essentially a systematic theology textbook, but is much more "readable" than a textbook. There are 116 chapters that are each about 10 pages long and feature some excellent review and reflection questions at the end of each, so it is a lot of reading. I try to pick it up in sections and read a chapter a day for a week or two in order to finish one topic, then I put the book away for a while and come back to the next section later. It's drawn the book out but has kept my interest fresh. I think this should be required reading of every Christian. It walks through the entirety of biblical line of thinking. Everything from the characteristics of GOD to what angels and demons are to what salvation means. Honestly, if you don't know what you believe you will never be able to defend your faith. If you read only one other book besides the Bible I would recommend you land here.
What are you reading?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Sunday Setlist / 8.29.10
Every fifth Sunday at Highland Community Church we have a "combined" service. This is a chance for both first and second service to come together and worship together. It gets a little cramped in the sanctuary and we're always happy to be bringing in more chairs, it's a really cool service.
On my end of things there's little to do. Chris Woods, our Worship Team Director on staff at HCC who leads worship for the second service, plans the worship service and we mix members of the first and second service worship teams.
Here's what the service looked like:
Welcome
Lord, I lift Your Name on High
Let Everything that Has Breath
In Christ Alone
As the Deer
Offering
Special Music - Shelli Robison)
Scripture Reading
Message (Habakkuk 1:12-2:1)
Response (Special Music from Shelli Robison)
Dismiss
Worship Team
Chris Woods - Piano/Vocals
Jonathan David Eckberg - Guitar/Vocals
Tim McDaniel - Drum
Dave Neighbors - Guitar/Vocals
Joe Szoke - Bass
Shelli Robison - Vocals
To see what's going on in churches around the country visit the Sunday Setlist at theworshipcommunity.com.
On my end of things there's little to do. Chris Woods, our Worship Team Director on staff at HCC who leads worship for the second service, plans the worship service and we mix members of the first and second service worship teams.
Here's what the service looked like:
Welcome
Lord, I lift Your Name on High
Let Everything that Has Breath
In Christ Alone
As the Deer
Offering
Special Music - Shelli Robison)
Scripture Reading
Message (Habakkuk 1:12-2:1)
Response (Special Music from Shelli Robison)
Dismiss
Worship Team
Chris Woods - Piano/Vocals
Jonathan David Eckberg - Guitar/Vocals
Tim McDaniel - Drum
Dave Neighbors - Guitar/Vocals
Joe Szoke - Bass
Shelli Robison - Vocals
To see what's going on in churches around the country visit the Sunday Setlist at theworshipcommunity.com.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Jesus Loves Me, This I Know...
The great, and sometimes controversial, Swiss theologian Karl Barth was once confronted by a reporter who asked him for a brief synopsis of his twelve-volume commentary on church doctrines (his unfinished work covered over 6-million words at the time of his death in 1968) . In all profoundity, the great philosopher replied, "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
If you were raised in church or have ever been to church or have ever been near a church, you proabably learned that song. You can probably sing the rest of it without even thinking. And yet, it is one of the most difficult truths for many of us to accept.
As I think about it now I realize that as I have attempted to grow and mature in my faith I have sometimes drifted away from this simple truth. I've come to understand a lot of what the Bible teaches, I have a great deal of information in my head, I understand general and specific revelation, I've studied the positions of millenialism, I know all about the Calvinist-Arminian debate, I can tell you about double impartation. From this knowledge I understand my failings as a human being. I know that I was a slave to sin, that I was headed for certain death, but that the blood of Jesus Christ paid the ransom that I could never achieve. I know that He was the sacrifice that met the need that the blood of rams and bulls could never accomplish. But all this head knowledge means absolutely nothing without the understanding of "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
My problem is not that I don't belive those three short phrases, my problem is that I often refuse to allow them to stand on their own. I am a pharisee.
Let me explain. I believe that Jesus loves me, but I also know that because of His love for me my only proper response is to love and obey Him. This leads me to add a lot of "if", "as long as", and "when" statements to "Jesus loves me..." Although it is the acceptance of His love that yeilds the fruits of obedience, I get this backwards and I find myself working to gain his love. "If I read my Bible today, GOD will be pleased", "As long as I sing praise songs GOD will love me", or "When I pray then GOD will take care of me". This is a logical line of thought. It's so logical that it is how every other religion in the world basis their theology. If you are good and do right then you will have a better place in heaven, or you will be reincarnated to a better position, or you'll be closer to GOD. The problem in this line of thought is that it requires me to take care of myself, to clean myself up, to make myself righteous in order to gain the love and acceptance of the perfect creator, GOD. This never works. When we attempt to clean up our own mess all we end up doing in smearing it into the cracks - it's like trying to clean your kitchen floor with a dirty paper towel.
The point is not that I shouldn't read my Bible, or sing worship songs, pray, or try to be a better person, the point is that these things aren't the basis for GOD's love for me.
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..." This is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. The work is done. Christ's blood is shed. My salvation is secure. None of this is by my being good enough to warrent GOD's love, but because GOD's love is enough to conquer death and sin.
When I find myself knee-deep in my self-imposed, works-based theology I have to pull myself back to the simplest of GOD's Truth. I come back to the twelve words that remind me the work is done and that I am made righteous through Christ. I sing what Karl Barth says encapsulates the entire Word of GOD:
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..."
If you were raised in church or have ever been to church or have ever been near a church, you proabably learned that song. You can probably sing the rest of it without even thinking. And yet, it is one of the most difficult truths for many of us to accept.
As I think about it now I realize that as I have attempted to grow and mature in my faith I have sometimes drifted away from this simple truth. I've come to understand a lot of what the Bible teaches, I have a great deal of information in my head, I understand general and specific revelation, I've studied the positions of millenialism, I know all about the Calvinist-Arminian debate, I can tell you about double impartation. From this knowledge I understand my failings as a human being. I know that I was a slave to sin, that I was headed for certain death, but that the blood of Jesus Christ paid the ransom that I could never achieve. I know that He was the sacrifice that met the need that the blood of rams and bulls could never accomplish. But all this head knowledge means absolutely nothing without the understanding of "Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so."
My problem is not that I don't belive those three short phrases, my problem is that I often refuse to allow them to stand on their own. I am a pharisee.
Let me explain. I believe that Jesus loves me, but I also know that because of His love for me my only proper response is to love and obey Him. This leads me to add a lot of "if", "as long as", and "when" statements to "Jesus loves me..." Although it is the acceptance of His love that yeilds the fruits of obedience, I get this backwards and I find myself working to gain his love. "If I read my Bible today, GOD will be pleased", "As long as I sing praise songs GOD will love me", or "When I pray then GOD will take care of me". This is a logical line of thought. It's so logical that it is how every other religion in the world basis their theology. If you are good and do right then you will have a better place in heaven, or you will be reincarnated to a better position, or you'll be closer to GOD. The problem in this line of thought is that it requires me to take care of myself, to clean myself up, to make myself righteous in order to gain the love and acceptance of the perfect creator, GOD. This never works. When we attempt to clean up our own mess all we end up doing in smearing it into the cracks - it's like trying to clean your kitchen floor with a dirty paper towel.
The point is not that I shouldn't read my Bible, or sing worship songs, pray, or try to be a better person, the point is that these things aren't the basis for GOD's love for me.
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..." This is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion in the world. The work is done. Christ's blood is shed. My salvation is secure. None of this is by my being good enough to warrent GOD's love, but because GOD's love is enough to conquer death and sin.
When I find myself knee-deep in my self-imposed, works-based theology I have to pull myself back to the simplest of GOD's Truth. I come back to the twelve words that remind me the work is done and that I am made righteous through Christ. I sing what Karl Barth says encapsulates the entire Word of GOD:
"Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so..."
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Sunday Setlist / 8.22.10
Here’s what was going on today at Highland Community Church during the nine o’clock hour:
Praise to the LORD the Almighty (D-E) [Neander]
Scripture Reading - Isaiah 41:1-10
Message – Habakkuk 1:5-11
Let My Words be Few (Gb) [Redman]
I Stand in Awe of You (Gb) [Altrogge]
Our Great GOD (Eb) [Ortega/Powell]
Let Your Kingdom Reign (Eb) [Brown/Brock]
Offering
Amazing Things (G) [Eckberg]
Announcements
Dismiss
Worship Team:
Jonathan David Eckberg – Guitar/Vocals
NOTES:
This was a busy week for me. My full-time job is as a cross-country and track coach at Greenville College (right down the road from Highland) and this week was the start of our season. All the athletes were moving in and then we all headed out of town for a few days of team bonding, training, preparation, etc. All of that to say, we were not able to practice as a band this week. So I thought that instead of us trying to throw things together, having to pick songs that we know but don’t go with the message as well, or just HOPING things work out well that I would take this week solo and do something a little different with the service. The timing really worked out well as the guys on the worship team had played the last several weeks straight so it was nice for them to have a week to relax, not have to worry about practice, and just enjoy being in the service as a part of the congregation. I think it’s important for that to happen once in a while, it gives people a chance to breathe and sit back and really take in what GOD is doing during the mornings while they are usually on stage. It also offers a different perspective on the role GOD allows you to play in the service when you see how the people of GOD are responding from in the middle of it – and this is constantly changing as people join the church, move away, struggle through hard times, and rejoice in victories TOGETHER.
Praise to the LORD the Almighty - We turned the lights most of the way down about 10 minutes before the service started and put the passage from today’s scripture reading (Isaiah 41:1-10) up on the screen as people walked in. It gave a meditative mood to the moments leading up to the service. Then I played the song in the standard arrangement. I built up from a light finger-picked pattern in the first verse to a heavy strum pattern with a key change (move from D to E) in the fourth verse. It gave a consistent build from start to finish. The only thing I did differently was to give a longer than normal intro to allow people a little extra time to read the scripture.
Message – Pastor Wise’s message focused on GOD’s response to Habakkuk in chapter 1. The point of the message was how great and awesome our GOD is and how we should never cease to be in awe of Him and all His works even when (especially when) we don't see or feel or understand them.
Let My Words be Few – I did a standard arrangement of the song as well. As soon as Pastor told me the gist of his message I knew this was the song that would follow the sermon. I love that this song essentially says, “Shut up and realize how awesome GOD is!” I’m a guy who does a lot of talking with GOD, I try to work out deals with him all the time, so for me, this is a perfect reminder that sometimes (let’s be honest, probably all the time) I need to forget what I want to see accomplished, think about the GOD I serve, do what he calls me to and let Him take care of the outcome through His power. GREAT SONG.
I Stand in Awe of You – This is the old standard from the late 80’s but the chorus was a wonderful fit for today. It’s so simply but so powerful – “I stand, I stand in awe of You – I stand, I stand in awe of You – Holy GOD to whom all praise is due – I stand in awe of You”. I came out of Let My Words be Few by repeating the chorus and then ran straight into the chorus of this song. We sang the chorus twice and repeated a third time a capella (the third time gave me time to throw my capo on for Our Great GOD without the awkward silence and string noise of stopping one song-changing capo-starting the next).
Our Great GOD – Another straightforward arrangement (I don’t feel like you can do anything too funky with a guitar/vocal arrangement without losing the congregation or just looking like you’re trying to show off – which also loses the congregation). I made a seamless transition from "I Stand in Awe of You" to this one. It was great to keep with the theme of the day but move off of our awe of GOD to the reason for that awe. I classify Our Great GOD as a modern hymn. It is so rich in theology and yet the chorus brings you back to “Hallelujah! Glory be to our great GOD!”. I LOVE singing this song.
Let Your Kingdom Reign – This is a “tag” type of song by Elevation Worship (Elevation Church - Charlotte, NC). It’s really just a chorus that is sung over and over again. The words are “GOD let Your kingdom reign – GOD let Your kingdom reign – Let all the earth proclaim – GOD, on the earth, let Your kingdom reign”. So for us we move from our awe of GOD to the greatness and power of his Name into a prayer for His good and perfect will to take over and to see His kingdom reign in our world.
Amazing Things – We introduced this song last week, it fit with this weeks overall theme as well. It was an extremely low key morning, which was a fun change from normal, but it was nice to pep things up a little bit with this last song before sending people out into their fields of ministry. I did tame the song down a little bit from last week, but that was for the fact that it was just me playing today, plus I didn’t want to overdo the transition from a relaxed set to a higher energy song.
To see what’s going on in churches across the country check out the Sunday Setlist at the worshipcommunity.com.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Tony Robbins and My Idols
Ok, so I have to admit it. I recently got hooked on Tony Robbins' tv show "Breakthrough".
Robbins has always been a really interesting guy to me. One could argue that no one in the past 30 years has been more influential on American culture than Tony Robbins. The guy was a multi-millionaire by the age of 24. Has been a personal advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Hugh Jackman, Quincy Jones, Jeff Arch (screenwriter, Sleepless in Seattle), Brett Ratner (movie director), Pat Riley (Hall of Fame NBA Coach), Andre Aggasi, Stephen Covey (author, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), among many, many others. He sells out arenas for his seminars on business, leadership, and life-change. He has written numerous best-selling books and produced countless audio seminars and dvd's. He has been appointed to international committees for peace and negotiations. His "Basket Brigade" charity feeds over 3 million people in 56 countries every year (this in addition to his other programs that have helped in excess of 2,000 schools, 700 prisons, and 100,000 charities and service organization worldwide). Plus, the guy is absolutely brilliant in the areas of psychology and philosophy, which is what makes him such a dynamic speaker, advisor, and life-coach. I think when you look at the breadth of his impact you see how those he has worked with have gone on to influence/entertain/coach so many thousands of other people. It's quite astonishing.
I'm struck as I watch his tv show at the Biblical truth that is conveyed through his interventions with the individuals on the program. Now, the core of Robbins message is not one of Christian docrine, as the man claims to draw religious knowledge and guidence from all walks of faith. However, as a Christian, I can't help but acknowledge the Biblical truth that is revealed through the show.
What Tony comes back to, without fail, in every episode is idolatry. You see, in his shows the people he helps are always hindered by one thing, it's something they can't let go of, something that relentlessly dwells in their thoughts, something that has happened that they have placed ahead of everything else in life. It's one thing that interferes with their ability to live a full, abundant life.
I don't think any of these people, even Tony, would recognize it as such, but the problem is always idolatry. This is the same in our lives. We wouldn't necessarily call ourselves idolators, I mean, we're not running home to worship a molded golden cow, made from our old jewelry, that's enshrined in our living room, but at some point we are all idolatrous. I've heard it taught that the things we think of the most, the things we depend on for our happiness, the things we seek for security, the things we don't think we can live without are the things we most treasure. That which we treasure is that which we worship. That which we worship is our god.
I've had to do a lot of thinking on that recently as I've come to realize what I tend to allow to become my gods. Often it is music or music related, other times it's relationships, still at other times it's money. I promise the one true GOD that I'll do whatever he wants... as long as I still get to play music. I'll go wherever He calls me... as long as it leads me to my wife. I'll give up everything... as long as I can still make enough money to be comfortable. Those conditions I place on my obedience show where my heart's affections truly lie. I DO love GOD, but sometimes I love other things a little more. It's a difficult thing to face your idols. It's even more difficult to let them go. Our nature is to seek and preserve our own comfort and well-being. I think sometimes we miss out on GOD's comfort and some amazing life changes because we refuse to totally let go of what WE think is best. I'm stuggling with that now. How does one pursue the gifts GOD has given (whether that's talents, a job we enjoy, a solid income, relationships, etc.) and do so with great fervor, while still totally surrendering them to Him? How do we overcome our idols?
I have heard Pastor J.D. Greear (Summit Church - Raleigh-Durham, NC) teach on idols and I keep coming back to what he said the key to overcoming idolatry is this: Be captured by a vision of the beauty of the ONE TRUE GOD. The fact that we have desires that override our desire to please GOD is not because these desires are more beautiful than GOD or lead us to a more fulfilling end, its because we lose our focus on the power and the beauty of the ministry and gospel of Jesus Christ. We allow ourselves to be captivated by momentary gratifications that we know are followed by great emptiness. But if, in those moments of drifting, we flood our thoughts with the vision of who GOD is and of the amazing gift of mercy and grace the life, blood, death, resurrection, and victory of His Son really is then we would have no other desire than to draw close to Him in His glory, in His beauty, and in His majesty. Nothing else compares. All else is rubbish compared to truly knowing GOD (Philippians 3:8).
A vision of the beauty of the one true GOD trumps anything Tony Robbins can ever teach you. Guaranteed.
What do you think?
Robbins has always been a really interesting guy to me. One could argue that no one in the past 30 years has been more influential on American culture than Tony Robbins. The guy was a multi-millionaire by the age of 24. Has been a personal advisor to Bill and Hillary Clinton, Hugh Jackman, Quincy Jones, Jeff Arch (screenwriter, Sleepless in Seattle), Brett Ratner (movie director), Pat Riley (Hall of Fame NBA Coach), Andre Aggasi, Stephen Covey (author, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People), among many, many others. He sells out arenas for his seminars on business, leadership, and life-change. He has written numerous best-selling books and produced countless audio seminars and dvd's. He has been appointed to international committees for peace and negotiations. His "Basket Brigade" charity feeds over 3 million people in 56 countries every year (this in addition to his other programs that have helped in excess of 2,000 schools, 700 prisons, and 100,000 charities and service organization worldwide). Plus, the guy is absolutely brilliant in the areas of psychology and philosophy, which is what makes him such a dynamic speaker, advisor, and life-coach. I think when you look at the breadth of his impact you see how those he has worked with have gone on to influence/entertain/coach so many thousands of other people. It's quite astonishing.
I'm struck as I watch his tv show at the Biblical truth that is conveyed through his interventions with the individuals on the program. Now, the core of Robbins message is not one of Christian docrine, as the man claims to draw religious knowledge and guidence from all walks of faith. However, as a Christian, I can't help but acknowledge the Biblical truth that is revealed through the show.
What Tony comes back to, without fail, in every episode is idolatry. You see, in his shows the people he helps are always hindered by one thing, it's something they can't let go of, something that relentlessly dwells in their thoughts, something that has happened that they have placed ahead of everything else in life. It's one thing that interferes with their ability to live a full, abundant life.
I don't think any of these people, even Tony, would recognize it as such, but the problem is always idolatry. This is the same in our lives. We wouldn't necessarily call ourselves idolators, I mean, we're not running home to worship a molded golden cow, made from our old jewelry, that's enshrined in our living room, but at some point we are all idolatrous. I've heard it taught that the things we think of the most, the things we depend on for our happiness, the things we seek for security, the things we don't think we can live without are the things we most treasure. That which we treasure is that which we worship. That which we worship is our god.
I've had to do a lot of thinking on that recently as I've come to realize what I tend to allow to become my gods. Often it is music or music related, other times it's relationships, still at other times it's money. I promise the one true GOD that I'll do whatever he wants... as long as I still get to play music. I'll go wherever He calls me... as long as it leads me to my wife. I'll give up everything... as long as I can still make enough money to be comfortable. Those conditions I place on my obedience show where my heart's affections truly lie. I DO love GOD, but sometimes I love other things a little more. It's a difficult thing to face your idols. It's even more difficult to let them go. Our nature is to seek and preserve our own comfort and well-being. I think sometimes we miss out on GOD's comfort and some amazing life changes because we refuse to totally let go of what WE think is best. I'm stuggling with that now. How does one pursue the gifts GOD has given (whether that's talents, a job we enjoy, a solid income, relationships, etc.) and do so with great fervor, while still totally surrendering them to Him? How do we overcome our idols?
I have heard Pastor J.D. Greear (Summit Church - Raleigh-Durham, NC) teach on idols and I keep coming back to what he said the key to overcoming idolatry is this: Be captured by a vision of the beauty of the ONE TRUE GOD. The fact that we have desires that override our desire to please GOD is not because these desires are more beautiful than GOD or lead us to a more fulfilling end, its because we lose our focus on the power and the beauty of the ministry and gospel of Jesus Christ. We allow ourselves to be captivated by momentary gratifications that we know are followed by great emptiness. But if, in those moments of drifting, we flood our thoughts with the vision of who GOD is and of the amazing gift of mercy and grace the life, blood, death, resurrection, and victory of His Son really is then we would have no other desire than to draw close to Him in His glory, in His beauty, and in His majesty. Nothing else compares. All else is rubbish compared to truly knowing GOD (Philippians 3:8).
A vision of the beauty of the one true GOD trumps anything Tony Robbins can ever teach you. Guaranteed.
What do you think?
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Sunday Setlist / 8.15.10
The weekend's Sunday Setlist for the 9am service at Highland Community Church looked a little like this:
Amazing Things (Eckberg)
Welcome & Announcements
Offering
Scripture Reading
O Praise Him (Crowder)
You Never Let Go (Redman)
How Great is Our GOD (Tomlin)
Message - Habakkuk 1:1-4
Amazing Things (Eckberg)
Jonathan David Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Tim McDaniel - drums
Aaron McDaniel - electric guitar
Joe Szoke - bass
I have to admit, when I saw that Pastor Wise was going to teach from Habakkuk I was slightly concerned. Although I've read the book a number of times I could not tell you anything specific about it off the top of my head. I remembered he was a minor prophet, so bad things happen to Israel, they complain, GOD punishes then restores the nation of Israel (that's pretty much my blanket explanation for any/all the books of the prophets). So, I thought it would be a good idea to study up on the book of Habakkuk before I started worrying about the worship sets. As I read through the book the song "Amazing Things" just fell out. It took all of about 15 minutes to write and it seemed like a good flow for the first week of our series. So the band spent considerable time this past week learning parts and transitions and it came together well.
Amazing Things - the lyrics are taken straight out of Habakkuk and follows the book's progressions of "Habakkuk complains, GOD answers, Habakkuk complains, GOD answers, Habakkuk rejoices and worships". We played it as the opener/call to worship, because people didn't know it (obviously). This gave them a chance to listen and pick up on it, which they did as it's a very simple chorus.
O Praise Him - we keep this one pretty straight from the Crowder version. I cut out all the "oh la la la la la la" parts and condense the song a little. I always feel like that whole part of the song loses the congregation so I avoid it every chance I get.
You Never Let Go - kept with the theme of the day - GOD answering in our time of question/frustration. This is another song we do pretty straight forward.
How Great is Our GOD - the GOD that continues to answer us and lift us up when we need it most is indeed a great GOD. I could sing the chorus to this song ALL DAY LONG. We sing the last chorus of You Never Let Go almost a cappella (there's a little light acoustic guitar to keep us on track) and we roll straight from "LORD, You never let go of me" to "The splendor of our King/Clothed in majesty". It's an absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring thought that the the King of Splendor is the GOD who never lets go of me. I love it. This is a very theatrical song for us (the lyrics lend it to that), we start low and we build to a rock-anthem high before we drop out the we come back in heavy for a couple choruses at the end before doing the a cappella chorus to end. A little over the top? Maybe, but it works.
Amazing Things - again this fit perfectly with the sermon because that's the reason it was written, so we reprised it as the response song. Normally our response song is a slow, reflective song, but we went a different route because of the fit of the lyrics and the sermon.
-jde
Amazing Things (Eckberg)
Welcome & Announcements
Offering
Scripture Reading
O Praise Him (Crowder)
You Never Let Go (Redman)
How Great is Our GOD (Tomlin)
Message - Habakkuk 1:1-4
Amazing Things (Eckberg)
Jonathan David Eckberg - guitar/vocals
Tim McDaniel - drums
Aaron McDaniel - electric guitar
Joe Szoke - bass
I have to admit, when I saw that Pastor Wise was going to teach from Habakkuk I was slightly concerned. Although I've read the book a number of times I could not tell you anything specific about it off the top of my head. I remembered he was a minor prophet, so bad things happen to Israel, they complain, GOD punishes then restores the nation of Israel (that's pretty much my blanket explanation for any/all the books of the prophets). So, I thought it would be a good idea to study up on the book of Habakkuk before I started worrying about the worship sets. As I read through the book the song "Amazing Things" just fell out. It took all of about 15 minutes to write and it seemed like a good flow for the first week of our series. So the band spent considerable time this past week learning parts and transitions and it came together well.
Amazing Things - the lyrics are taken straight out of Habakkuk and follows the book's progressions of "Habakkuk complains, GOD answers, Habakkuk complains, GOD answers, Habakkuk rejoices and worships". We played it as the opener/call to worship, because people didn't know it (obviously). This gave them a chance to listen and pick up on it, which they did as it's a very simple chorus.
O Praise Him - we keep this one pretty straight from the Crowder version. I cut out all the "oh la la la la la la" parts and condense the song a little. I always feel like that whole part of the song loses the congregation so I avoid it every chance I get.
You Never Let Go - kept with the theme of the day - GOD answering in our time of question/frustration. This is another song we do pretty straight forward.
How Great is Our GOD - the GOD that continues to answer us and lift us up when we need it most is indeed a great GOD. I could sing the chorus to this song ALL DAY LONG. We sing the last chorus of You Never Let Go almost a cappella (there's a little light acoustic guitar to keep us on track) and we roll straight from "LORD, You never let go of me" to "The splendor of our King/Clothed in majesty". It's an absolutely beautiful and awe-inspiring thought that the the King of Splendor is the GOD who never lets go of me. I love it. This is a very theatrical song for us (the lyrics lend it to that), we start low and we build to a rock-anthem high before we drop out the we come back in heavy for a couple choruses at the end before doing the a cappella chorus to end. A little over the top? Maybe, but it works.
Amazing Things - again this fit perfectly with the sermon because that's the reason it was written, so we reprised it as the response song. Normally our response song is a slow, reflective song, but we went a different route because of the fit of the lyrics and the sermon.
-jde
AMAZING THINGS
V1:
How long? How long?
Will You let injustice rise and triumph over me?
Will You let injustice rise and triumph over me?
How long? How long?
Will we see the wicked rise and reign abundantly?
Then You say, You say...
CH:
I will do amazing things
I will be your source of strength
I will be your source of strength
And nothing of the schemes of man
Can ever stand
When I do amazing things
V2:
How long? How long?
Will you rest Your eyes upon the deeds of evil ones?
How long? How long?
Must we wait to hear your voice proclaim salvation’s come?
Then You say, You say...
Bridge:
LORD, we know Your fame
We stand in awe of Your works and Your name.
LORD, we shout Your fame
We stand in awe of Your works and Your name.
May Your glory cover over all our shame.
CH2:
You have done amazing things.
You have been our source of strength
Nothing of the schemes of man
Can ever stand
For you have done amazing things.
Friday, August 13, 2010
Until We're Kings - "Heirs"
I was extremely excited to get my hands on the final mixes of the new Until We're Kings worship EP, "Heirs" yesterday. It's been a four month process from the start of recording to where we are now.
For those who are not familiar with Until We're Kings (which is 99.9% of you), here's a little background: It's a worship project I was fortunate to be a part of with my buddy Jordan Muck, who is the Associate/Youth Pastor at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN. Jordan and I had a few songs laying around and we worked up a couple new ones together and decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and throw them down for posterity-sake. Jordan called in his college roommate Justin Long, who now works out of Washington, D.C., to come to southern Illinois for a week in late March to produce the songs for us. We then enlisted the help of Cory Done to play percussion. Cory played with us on the worship team at Highland Community Church, so he was an easy pick (the dude is a fantastic musician, he's like a machine on the drums). On top of that we convinced Jordan's wife, Bethany, to help us out by laying down some vocals, which was crazy impressive as she was like 6+ months pregnant at the time. Once the songs got back to DC we got even more vocal help from Anna Long and Jessica Long.
We spent a solid week doing basic tracking and vocals. Then Justin took the tracks back to the Powder Mill (his studio in DC) and cleaned them up by adding some more piano/synth/bass/vocal/etc. parts to the songs. That was followed by Justin and I passing tracks back and forth over the internet for me to put some finishing touches on some guitars, piano, and vocal tracks at Papa's Place Studio (Erie, IL). Now he has finished with the mixing process.
Next step for us is to have the mastering done by Mike Kalajian (30/30 Club Studio) and the actual production of the disc and we should be ready to roll this puppy out. Our goal is to have the physical copies of this 6-song EP ready for sale by October 1, with digital copies available on iTunes soon after.
In honor of the impending release here is a video of me leading worship through the title track of the "Heirs" EP. Enjoy.
Until We're Kings.
-jde
For those who are not familiar with Until We're Kings (which is 99.9% of you), here's a little background: It's a worship project I was fortunate to be a part of with my buddy Jordan Muck, who is the Associate/Youth Pastor at Community Gospel Church in Bremen, IN. Jordan and I had a few songs laying around and we worked up a couple new ones together and decided it would be a good idea to go ahead and throw them down for posterity-sake. Jordan called in his college roommate Justin Long, who now works out of Washington, D.C., to come to southern Illinois for a week in late March to produce the songs for us. We then enlisted the help of Cory Done to play percussion. Cory played with us on the worship team at Highland Community Church, so he was an easy pick (the dude is a fantastic musician, he's like a machine on the drums). On top of that we convinced Jordan's wife, Bethany, to help us out by laying down some vocals, which was crazy impressive as she was like 6+ months pregnant at the time. Once the songs got back to DC we got even more vocal help from Anna Long and Jessica Long.
We spent a solid week doing basic tracking and vocals. Then Justin took the tracks back to the Powder Mill (his studio in DC) and cleaned them up by adding some more piano/synth/bass/vocal/etc. parts to the songs. That was followed by Justin and I passing tracks back and forth over the internet for me to put some finishing touches on some guitars, piano, and vocal tracks at Papa's Place Studio (Erie, IL). Now he has finished with the mixing process.
Next step for us is to have the mastering done by Mike Kalajian (30/30 Club Studio) and the actual production of the disc and we should be ready to roll this puppy out. Our goal is to have the physical copies of this 6-song EP ready for sale by October 1, with digital copies available on iTunes soon after.
In honor of the impending release here is a video of me leading worship through the title track of the "Heirs" EP. Enjoy.
Until We're Kings.
-jde
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Sunday Setlist / 8.8.10
Hello all,
This is my first post on the Sunday Setlist. I have found this grouping of worship leaders and service orders to be an invaluable tool in my own construction of worship sets. It's always a tremendous encouragement to see what my brothers and sisters are doing around the country and how the Spirit moves in so many different ways, but moves powerfully in all of them. So, I thought it was only fair that I add my two cents. Here goes:
I Have Decided (S.Sundar Singh) [C]
Welcome & Announcements
Offering
Let Everything That Has Breath (Matt Redman) [E]
Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson) [E]
Take My Life and Let it Be (Frances R. Havergal) [G]
Scripture Reading - II Cor. 5:17-21
Message
GOD of Justice (Tim Hughes) [E]
Worship Band:
Jonathan David Eckberg - Acoustic Guitar/Vocals
Tim McDaniel - Drums
Aaron McDaniel - Electric Guitar
Joe Szoke - Bass
Guest Teacher:
Jason Reichert
Notes: This Sunday Pastor Larry Wise was on vacation so we had Jason in to teach. He taught on our reconciliation to Christ and how that effects our ministry to those around us. It was a wonderful call for each of us to fulfill our duties of evangelism and discipleship. As a result of pastor being gone our band led worship for both services. This was a great experience as we did both services exactly the same. In planning I tried to put as much cross-over as possible which made the first service a little more traditional than normal and rocked out the second service more than they are accustomed to. The band has been the same set up for the past month or so, which is the first time we've ever had that amount of consistency in the lineup. This is not by choice, as we've lost several members of our worship team over the summer due to job changes and relocations. It has been difficult to deal with losing some really talented folks, but the guys in the band have stepped up and have really come through. I can't say enough good things about the talents and hearts of Tim, Aaron, and Joe.
I Have Decided - This is the traditional song, but it's a very rocked out version. You will soon be able to hear a recording of it on the worship EP called, "Heirs" by Until We're Kings. I think it will be released late in the fall, but no official word on that yet.
Let Everything That Has Breath - This is a song that both services are comfortable with so it was easy to throw in there. We push the Tempo on this one a little and give it a solid rock feel in our arragnement.
Come Thou Found - We made a seamless transition from LETHB in to Come Thou Fount. Coming into it from a more uptempo tune lent this one to more of a soulful-bluesy vibe. I love singing of the praise of GOD in LETHB into the blessings of GOD in Come Thou Fount. It's a really natural flow.
Take My Life - The message in this song ran in line with what Jason was teaching. It's a tune about submission and offering all that we have for all that we are called to.
GOD of Justice - I led this one with just the acoustic. It was a fitting response song to the message. This is one of my favorite worship tunes. The chorus us "Move us into action / Keep us from just singing / We must go" is absolutely perfect. for myself it's crazy easy to sit and sing songs and live my life the way I think I need to. It gets real tough when I start to think about the time, even in this past week, when I failed to go.
That was long. I apologize. I'll try to be more succinct in the future.
-jde
This is my first post on the Sunday Setlist. I have found this grouping of worship leaders and service orders to be an invaluable tool in my own construction of worship sets. It's always a tremendous encouragement to see what my brothers and sisters are doing around the country and how the Spirit moves in so many different ways, but moves powerfully in all of them. So, I thought it was only fair that I add my two cents. Here goes:
I Have Decided (S.Sundar Singh) [C]
Welcome & Announcements
Offering
Let Everything That Has Breath (Matt Redman) [E]
Come Thou Fount (Robert Robinson) [E]
Take My Life and Let it Be (Frances R. Havergal) [G]
Scripture Reading - II Cor. 5:17-21
Message
GOD of Justice (Tim Hughes) [E]
Worship Band:
Jonathan David Eckberg - Acoustic Guitar/Vocals
Tim McDaniel - Drums
Aaron McDaniel - Electric Guitar
Joe Szoke - Bass
Guest Teacher:
Jason Reichert
Notes: This Sunday Pastor Larry Wise was on vacation so we had Jason in to teach. He taught on our reconciliation to Christ and how that effects our ministry to those around us. It was a wonderful call for each of us to fulfill our duties of evangelism and discipleship. As a result of pastor being gone our band led worship for both services. This was a great experience as we did both services exactly the same. In planning I tried to put as much cross-over as possible which made the first service a little more traditional than normal and rocked out the second service more than they are accustomed to. The band has been the same set up for the past month or so, which is the first time we've ever had that amount of consistency in the lineup. This is not by choice, as we've lost several members of our worship team over the summer due to job changes and relocations. It has been difficult to deal with losing some really talented folks, but the guys in the band have stepped up and have really come through. I can't say enough good things about the talents and hearts of Tim, Aaron, and Joe.
I Have Decided - This is the traditional song, but it's a very rocked out version. You will soon be able to hear a recording of it on the worship EP called, "Heirs" by Until We're Kings. I think it will be released late in the fall, but no official word on that yet.
Let Everything That Has Breath - This is a song that both services are comfortable with so it was easy to throw in there. We push the Tempo on this one a little and give it a solid rock feel in our arragnement.
Come Thou Found - We made a seamless transition from LETHB in to Come Thou Fount. Coming into it from a more uptempo tune lent this one to more of a soulful-bluesy vibe. I love singing of the praise of GOD in LETHB into the blessings of GOD in Come Thou Fount. It's a really natural flow.
Take My Life - The message in this song ran in line with what Jason was teaching. It's a tune about submission and offering all that we have for all that we are called to.
GOD of Justice - I led this one with just the acoustic. It was a fitting response song to the message. This is one of my favorite worship tunes. The chorus us "Move us into action / Keep us from just singing / We must go" is absolutely perfect. for myself it's crazy easy to sit and sing songs and live my life the way I think I need to. It gets real tough when I start to think about the time, even in this past week, when I failed to go.
That was long. I apologize. I'll try to be more succinct in the future.
-jde
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