ALM:uk | Name Above All Names

Name Above All Names by ALM:uk is a fantastic project that has come out of the worship of a church. What I love about projects like these is that the music is coming out of the hearts of those writing it and those that are using it in their worship. The worship that is happening at Abundant Life Ministries in Bradford, England can now impact the lives of others all over the world. This is a project with songs that I believe will be adopted into churches all over the world as well as people personal worship apart from Sunday mornings. These songs are full of lyrics that are completely focused on our God; His greatness, His power, and the One that never changes.

Great and Glorious: A great song for the opening of a Sunday service or a night of worship. Upbeat and very energetic with a chorus that is an anthem of a generation giving all honor and praise to our God. "My soul sings, my soul sings, Hallelujah, God great and glorious You are, God great and glorious."

My God Reigns: The days that we are in are tough, that's no lie. I think songs like this one are helping people get through the tough times. To be able to sing a song that is a prayer to the One who holds all in His hand and rules over all is a hope that we can't find anywhere else. "I have a hope so sure, an anchor for my soul, my peace in the worst of times, I trust in God alone. My God reigns, His love will never fail me, my God reigns, He's ruling over all, In all my life, in every situation I know, my God is greater, my God is over all."

Name Above All Names: Lately I've really gravitated towards songs that praise the name of the Lord. This is another great one with lyrics like these, "Yours is the name filled with power and majesty, Jesus, Jesus. Name above all names we rise and sing your praise, we sing holy, worthy is the Lord. Name above all names, the name of Jesus, forever You will reign." My only concern on this song is that the melody of the chorus sounds like that of You'll Be In My Heart from Tarzan, though I'm sure by accident, and because of that, I lose the focus of the song.

Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin

In books relating to worship and written for worship leaders, Worship Matters by Bob Kauflin is one of the best I have come across. I believe this is a must-read for any worship leader out there and I would even suggest, anyone involved in worship ministry. There is so much great content in this book, that it is going to be one of those books I'm going to have to keep re-reading. You're getting the chance to learn and hear from the heart of someone who has been involved with worship ministry for over 30 years. He breaks this book up into four different parts, four different facets that worship leaders deal with in our position.

Part One: The Leader
Part Two: The Task
Part Three: Healthy Tensions
Part Four: Right Relationship

As you read this book, Bob really conveys that being a worship leader means that we are a worshiper first and foremost. Music is one way that we express our worship. He begins the book by sharing his heart and what he hopes others will gather from this book, then he jumps right into the heart of being a worshiper, which begins with the heart.

"...you believe the joys of leading worship far outweigh the challenges. You wouldn't think of giving it up. You just want to do it better. More effectively. More skillfully. More faithfully. I'm guessing that's why you picked up this book. I hope so because that's why I wrote it. But I have to confess something. I didn't write this book simply to help you be a better worship leader. There's more at stake here. After thirty years of leading worship, I've realized that worship isn't just an opportunity to use my musical gifts. It's more than a heightened emotional experience or a way to make a living. It's way more that what we do on Sunday morning. Worship is about what we love. What we live for. It's about who we are before God."

I love the opening chapters as he deals with our heart, mind, hands and life. This is where being a worshiper lie. But some of the chapters that spoke a lot to me this first time through the book were the last dealing with relationships. Relationship with your church, your team, and your pastor. We are hopefully leading our people to encounter the greatness of God, and part of that is through the relationships we establish.

I would highly encourage others to read this book. Worship leaders for sure, but also worship team members, and anyone wanting to grow in their knowledge of what biblical worship is. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

Sunday Setlist - 06.27.10

Week #101 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, June 27th.

- All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises
- Draw Me Close
- I Am Yours (Take My Life)
- Enough

Another great morning. We had a lot going on this morning but it all turned out well. We had two of our people go through the waters of baptism as well as one of our elders bring the Word to us. It's a joy to worship with our people and the volunteers on my worship team.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-101-june-27-2010

Online Worship Leadership Training Course

This fall I am going to have the privilege of taking part in Dwayne Moore's Online Worship Leadership Training Course through his ministry Next Level Worship. This ministry is committed to providing quality worship discipleship resources to churches and believers. Dwayne has been leading worship for over 30 years and is a wonderful teacher and author. His latest book, Pure Praise: A Heart-focused Bible Study on Worship, is a fantastic resource for worship leaders and worship teams. I went through the book once with an online worship community. I plan on going through it again personally and then taking the volunteers in my worship ministry through it. I had the privilege of hearing Dwayne speak at the All About Worship Retreat this past May and you can tell of his heart for worship and his heart for building up and encouraging other worship leaders. He has also designed an online worship leadership training course. I have heard great things about it and I'm very much looking forward to taking part in this course. Here is an overview of the topics being covered:

Session 1: Developing Your Team to Be Ministers Through Music
Session 2: Preparing for and Leading Weekly Rehearsals
Session 3: Dealing with Conflicts, Negativity and Immorality in Your Group
Session 4: Developing Your Personal Leadership and People Skills
Session 5: Understanding the Five Goals When Leading Worship
Session 6: Planning Effective Worship Sets that Flow
Session 7: Teaching Your Team Proper Stage Presence and Presentation
Session 8: Communicating Well With Your Pastor and Your Worship Teams
Session 9: Teaching Your Congregation about Worship and Worship Styles
Session 10: Understanding the Keys to a Long and Successful Ministry

I would encourage anyone involved in worship ministry to sign up for this course. It lasts for 10 weeks on Tuesdays from September 7 through November 9. You can find out a little more about the course and register here.

Sunday Setlist - 06.20.10

Week #100 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, June 20th.

- Holy is the Lord
- O Worship the King
- It Is Well (Todd Fields' version)
- Glory to God Forever
- Mighty to Save

A very Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. We had a great time of worship this morning. Three weeks ago we switched to one service and I'm really enjoying the switch. It's nice to have a full room and the energy is great. It's also really nice to hear everyone lifting their voices in praise. We began Hebrews 10 this week. This has been a great series in a wonderful book. Here is the video we used this Father's day.



Also, a great thanks to Fred McKinnon and TheWorshipCommunity.com for the Sunday Setlists blog carnival! In television, reaching the 100th episode is a great milestone, and I believe this deserves an even greater recognition for reaching its 100th week! I began participating 41 weeks ago and I have enjoyed being a part of this. I pray that these posts from my blog and others has been a blessing to many people. I know for me, it's great to see what songs and creative ideas others are using in worship. It's also been great to make connections with others.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-100-june-20-2010/

Chord Chart Help - No One Higher

I'm in need of a little help. Ever since listening to Awake: North Point Live, I have been trying to find a chord chart for the track "No One Higher/The Stand." I have been able to find one for the chorus of "The Stand" by Hillsong that they use, but I can't find one for "No One Higher." So I decided to put my college classes in Aural Skills to the test and figure it out. I believe I have it right, but thought I would check with others and see if I actually did or if anyone else has a chord chart for it. Here is what I came up with. It's recorded in B so I used those chords though I would play capo 4 and in the key of G. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! You can listen to the track here.

E------------------B/D#
There is no one higher
---------G#m
No one greater
---------F#/A#--B
No one like our God
E-----------------------B/D#
There is none more able
-------------G#m
Christ our Savior
-------------F#/A#--B
Great and glori-----ous

A Man's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines by Patrick Morley

What a fantastic book to read. A Man's Guide to the Spiritual Disciplines by Patrick Morley is a wonderful resource for men who want to strengthen their walk with Christ. Morley tackles twelve disciplines that we as men should start to make a habit in our lives. It says this on the back of the dustcover of the book, "To become the kind of man who walks with God and wields Christ's influence in your world, you'll want to begin a consistent regimen of spiritual exercises." These disciplines are exactly that, exercises. These are things that we will have to work at, though some more come easier than others, or there are some that we are currently doing well. This book is written in a very easy way to understand with some great examples on how to work at these disciplines. The disciplines that Morley challenges men with in this book are:

1. A Man and Creation
2. A Man and the Bible
3. A Man and Prayer
4. A Man and Worship
5. A Man and the Sabbath
6. A Man and Fellowship
7. A Man and Counsel
8. A Man and Fasting
9. A Man and Spiritual Warfare
10. A Man and Stewardship
11. A Man and Service
12. A Man and Evangelism

Morley presents these as a challenge for men to further their walk with God and grow in their relationships with their families and other men. He also presents this as a book that could be used in a men's group study. This book was great to read and go through on my own, but adding a small group of men would add an even greater depth; a practical application of the discipline of fellowship. This is a great read and resource for any man wanting to grown and learn about what it means to be a Godly man.

Special thanks to Moody Publishers for providing this complimentary book to read and review.

Sunday Setlist - 06.13.10

Week #99 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, June 13th.

- Joyful, Joyful, We Adore Thee
- Come Thou Fount, Come Thou King
- Beautiful the Blood
- How Great Thou Art
- Sing to the King

What a wonderful time of worship this morning. A great setlist and a great message on the ending of Hebrews chapter 9. Our pastor focused his message on verse 28, which reads, "so Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him." Christ will come again and we need to eagerly await his revival. So, I was trying to look for songs having to do with the return of Christ. I added the last verse of the hymn How Great Thou Art to the contemporary version, so that set up the message, but I was still looking for a closing song. I found myself sing the lyrics to Sing to the King, which I had done quite often through college, but never at our church. I was a bit reluctant to do it, because it was new and it was going to the be the closing song of the service. I decided to do it anyway, because of the lyrics of verse two:

For His returning we watch and we pray
We will be ready the dawn of that day
We'll join in singing with all the redeemed
'Cause Satan is vanquished and Jesus is King

I was also intrigued by the word vanquished, so I looked it up on dictionary.com and here is what it said:

1) to conquer or subdue by superior force, as in battle.
2) to defeat in any contest or conflict; be victorious over: to vanquish one's opponent in an argument.
3) to overcome or overpower: He vanquished all his fears.

I thought this song's writer chose an excellent word as he's giving us this picture about all that God did to crush Satan. To allow people the chance to hear it at least once before we did it in the service, we did it as a prelude number. It actually went across very well. The worship team picked it up really quickly and some of them knew the song. Also I believe some of the congregation knew it as well. Luckily it is not too difficult of a song, so it seemed like those that didn't know it, picked it up pretty quickly. It was a great way to end the service.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-99/

Great Leader, Great Teacher by Gary Bredfeldt

To be honest, I originally had a really hard time getting into this book, Great Leader, Great Teacher by Gary Bredfeldt. Wanting to grow more in my own leadership abilities, I was all excited to read it, but as I began reading I kept finding myself thinking that I'm not the teacher at my church, so what is this saying about my leadership? Am I not actually a leader? I was quite disappointed and ready to put down the book. However, I pressed on and very glad I did, as it turned out to be very eye-opening for me. I was getting the premise wrong. I was thinking that since I wasn't a teacher (which is actually not the truth as I've thought about it) therefore I wasn't a leader, but instead I should have been thinking that as a leader I also need to be a teacher. I was viewing teaching as a stand-alone profession, not as an aspect of my leadership.

I said above that as I thought about it, my thinking that I wasn't a teacher, wasn't true. I can say that now, because even though my profession is not a teacher, I am called to teach in my profession. I am currently the worship leader at my church. My job is to lead worship, but that encompasses a lot more than just singing and strumming my guitar. I need to have a lifestyle of worship outside Sunday morning. My leading is an outpouring of my personal time with God Monday through Saturday. Though it even goes deeper than that. I have to teach the body of Christ that He called me to lead to worship. I also have to teach my worship team. I may not be in a classroom day after day or preaching a sermon from the pulpit but I am called to teach.

I was especially drawn in to the chapter on "The Competencies of the Leader-Teacher." Bredfeldt gives us eight, four on the teaching side and four on the leading side. Though he separates them this way, I believe you could also separate them the opposite way, which makes these eight competencies even that more essential for those that are called to lead.

The Competencies of the Teacher:

• Message that is clear
• Methods that promote learning
• Model the message
• Minister to people

The Competencies of the Leader:

• Establish the team
• Equip the team
• Empower the team
• Encourage the team

As I looked at my position as the worship leader, I realized that all these competencies are exactly what I need to accomplish what God has called me to do in the local church. I've dealt with some of these better than others, but I can say that this book will be a wonderful resource as I continue to grow as a leader and a teacher.

Special thanks to Moody Publishers for providing this complimentary book to read and review.

Sunday Setlist - 06.06.10

Week #98 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, June 6th.

- Revelation Song
- Hosanna
- How Deep the Father's Love for Us
- You Are My King (Amazing Love)
- Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)
- Happy Day

This morning we switched to a new schedule of only having one service. It's nice to have our whole church together in one service and the change also allowed us a little more time in the service so we can do more music. It was a fantastic morning of worship with everyone. I'm also thankful for the switch because it gives my team who have been so faithful to the music/worship ministry at Bethel a little bit of a break. They don't have to be there as long and they even get to sleep in. I've even had some who have said that since it's only one service now that they would be willing to serve more often. So very thankful for a wonderful team. I definitely couldn't do this without them. So we'll see what the future brings.

To check out what others are doing in their services and learn more about what Sunday Setlists is all about, check out TheWorshipCommunity.com at http://www.theworshipcommunity.com/sunday-setlists-98/