Sunday Setlist - 01.16.11

Week #130 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, January 16th.

- O Worship the King by Chris Tomlin
- From the Inside Out by Hillsong
- Jesus Paid It All by Kristian Stanfill
- Everlasting God by Brenton Brown

After our rehearsal on Wednesday night I was so looking forward to worship this morning musically. Wednesday night ended up being such a great time of worship just with the team. I love it when that happens. The set ended up working very well together and everyone on the team was really excited about doing Hillsong's From the Inside Out. I've always enjoyed Hillsong's music and our church seems to really connect with the ones we've done. It had been a long time since we've done this one, so I decided to bring it out and everyone seemed to connect with it this morning. I think it's going to be one that we'll have do bring out more often. We're also one week away from finishing our series in Hebrews. It's been a fantastic study. Really looking forward to the series on Acts that my pastor will be starting around the beginning of May.

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-130/

Jesus in the Present Tense by Warren Wiersbe

Warren Wiersbe has another fantastic book with Jesus in the Present Tense: The I AM Statements of Christ. This isn't just another book, this is an in-depth Bible study. Wiersbe using a wealth of scripture as he digs into these I AM statements. Now, that shouldn't be surprising as it is a study on scripture, but so many times, I've come across books that aren't backing up their statements with scripture, or at least not as much scripture as Wiersbe is in this book. This is a book in which while you're reading, you need to have your Bible right beside you the whole time. This books is really brought to a climax with the last chapter. This is where Wiersbe answers the "So what?" of the book. He says this in that chapter, "The Bible is an ancient book, yet it is always contemporary and helps us live in the present tense. The Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us on its pages and gives us the truth we need for each day." As you go through this book, you quickly come to realize that the one who calls Himself I AM throughout the pages of the Bible, is still the I AM today, not the I WAS. That should bring great encouragement to all of us that call ourselves Christ followers. We can take courage that God and His names are just as active and powerful now as in Bible times. He still is...

• Yahweh-Jireh: The LORD will provide or see to it. (Gen. 22.14)
• Yahweh-Rophe: The LORD who heals. (Ex. 15.26)
• Yahweh-Nissi: The LORD our banner. (Ex. 17.15)
• Yahweh-M'Kaddesh: The LORD who sanctifies. (Lev. 20.8)
• Yahweh-Shalom: The LORD our peace. (Judg. 6.24)
• Yahweh-Rohi: The LORD my shepherd. (Ps. 23.1)
• Yahweh-Sabaoth: The LORD of hosts. (Ps. 46.7)
• Yahweh-Tsidkenu: The LORD our righteousness. (Jer. 23.6)
• Yahweh-Shammah: The LORD is there. (Ezek. 48.35)

Special thanks to The B & B Media Group, Inc. and David C. Cook for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

Sunday Setlist - 01.09.11

Week #129 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, January 9th.

- How Great Thou Art by Paul Baloche
- It Is Well by Todd Fields
- All the Earth Will Sing Your Praises by Travis Cottrell
- O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing by David Crowder

Another great Sunday. Music set was great and the team did a great job. This Sunday our pastor also restarted our Hebrews series. We've been on a break from that since he and his wife took their trip to Israel when we had some guest speakers, then our Christmas series, another guest speaker, and then a New Years message. We're on the home stretch of the Hebrews series. This morning we began the final chapter in that book and looked at how to live out our Christianity by loving God's family, including strangers and those suffering for the Lord.

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-129/

Slave by John MacArthur

Slave: The Hidden Truth About Your Identity in Christ by John MacArthur is the latest book I read through Thomas Nelson's book review blogger program, BookSneeze. To be honest, I was completely intrigued by the title, even before I read what the book was about. I'm very glad I read this book. It causes you to completely rethink on the issue of slavery. When I think of slavery, I think of a time in history that was not very great. A time when people were bought, sold, severely mistreated, and considered of no worth to society. Now while some of that was still true in Christ's day, there were some differences. MacArthur explains that slaves then were not always mistreated. Depending on the owners the slaves came across as no different than free men; they would have jobs, property and even had the chance to own their own freedom. It was very different times back then. They may have been owned, but in some respects they lived in freedom. I love how MacArthur opens up the book with an extensive word study on the word slave. MacArthur says this early in the first chapter of this book,

"The Bible uses one metaphor more frequently than any other. It is a word picture you might not expect, but is absolutely critical for understanding what it means to follow Jesus. It is the image of a slave.

MacArthur says that the Greek word for slave, doulos, has been mistranslated in English versions of the Bible; being translated servant instead of slave. He goes on to say that "while the duties of servants and slaves may overlap, there is a key distinction between the two; servants are hired and slaves are owned." It is a very different metaphor to think about. One that I had never thought of before, but one that makes sense. As we put our faith in God and call ourselves Christians, we are now owned by God. Brings to light a whole new way to think of I Corinthians 7.23, "You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of men." The verse right before that says, "For he who was called in the Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called is a slave of Christ." True freedom through Christ happens because we become slaves of Christ.

Special thanks to Thomas Nelson and BookSneeze for providing this complimentary book to read and review. You can purchase the book here on amazon.com.

Sunday Setlist - 01.02.11

Week #128 of Sunday Setlists. Here is our setlist for Sunday, January 2nd.

- Open the Eyes of My Heart by Paul Baloche
- Glorified by Jared Anderson
- Mighty to Save by Hillsong
- Glory to God Forever by Steve Fee

Time for the first Sunday Setlist post of 2011. I have to say it has been great to participate in this series of blog posts. It's been great to reflect over the worship services at Bethel and get to connect with other worship leaders and their churches as they reflect on their own services. So many thanks to Fred McKinnon and TheWorshipCommunity.com for this ministry.

We had a great first service of this new year. The team did great with the music. I gave them a break from rehearsal this past week, so we met a little earlier than usual this morning. I had chosen familiar songs so they didn't take too long to put together. Then my pastor brought us a message on following Jesus. A very fitting message as we begin a new year.

This wasn't part of this morning, but this year, I'm participating in another one-year reading plan through YouVersion; the OWNit365 plan. We began the reading yesterday in the first chapter of Genesis, and another fitting reminder for the new year is completely rely on God. He was there in the beginning and He'll be with you throughout 2011. "In the beginning, God..." Genesis 1.1 (ESV)

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-128/

Books Read: July - December 2010

This post continues the series of posts on the books that I have read. The first post on books read in 2009, the second post on books read in January - June of 2010, and now this post on books read in July - December of 2010.

• Forgotten God by Francis Chan
• Leaders Who Last by Dave Kraft
• Sweat, Blood & Tears by Xan Hood *
• Rise Up & Sing by Lex Buckley *
• True Religion by Palmer Chinchen *
• Stuff Christians Like by Jon Acuff
• Be Compassionate by Warren Wiersbe *
• Outlive Your Life by Max Lucado *
• Spiritual Leadership by J. Oswald Sanders
• Nudge by Leonard Sweet *
• The Grace of God by Andy Stanley *
• The God You Can Know by Dan DeHaan
• Sun Stand Still by Steven Furtick *
• Surprised by Worship by Travis Cottrell *
• Facedown by Matt Redman
• The Unquenchable Worshipper by Matt Redman
• Here I Am to Worship by Tim Hughes
• Beyond Opinion by Ravi Zacharias *
• Living the Cross Centered Life by C.J. Mahaney
• Radical by David Platt *

Who has some great books out there they would recommend? Leave a comment and let me know what they are.

Special thanks to BookSneeze/Thomas Nelson, Blogging for Books/WaterBrook Multnomah, and Zondervan for providing some of these books to read and review (marked by a *).

Completed Reading Plan!

Throughout this past year, I have been reading through the Bible using YouVersion's M'Cheyne One Year Reading Plan. What a wonderful year it's been. By doing this plan, during the course of the year I have read the Old Testament once and the New Testament and Psalms twice. And this morning I completed the 365th day of reading! This is the first time I've ever done anything this. YouVersion has been a fantastic resource with everything online! With their mobile apps, it makes it that much better. I've got the app on my iPad which allows me online and offline access. The app is also available for my BlackBerry. Now I'm not trying to take anything away from the bound Word of God that I have with me as well. There is however a lot of times I'm in places that I don't have my Bible with me. With this resource in so many places, I pretty much always have access to the Bible; I could keep reading and keep up with my reading plan.

If you've never done anything like this, I would encourage you to do so. There's all kinds of plans out there, so I'm not saying you have to use YouVersion. I've just had a great experience using their resource. They have many reading plans available. You can check them out here if you're interested.

Tomorrow as we start the new year, I will also be starting a new one-year reading plan. I have chosen to do the OWNit365 plan. This plan has a reading from the Old Testament and one from either the Wisdom books or the New Testament (the acronym "OWN") for each day. This plan has readings six days a week and allows for a day off. I'm really looking forward to this one, as my wife and I are going to do it together. It's my prayer that this will be a year where we can grow together in our knowledge of the Word and in our relationships with God. It's also my prayer that you would consider going through a plan and continuing in the Word consistently through 2011.