Germany - 2nd update

Well we are actually home now, and I will update everyone soon. But here is one entry that Lacey wrote last week and we were unable to post until now.

Hello everyone, it’s Lacey!
Well this morning we left at about two fifteen, on an awesome tour bus to Munich. We are going to Munich where we will have a few small concerts and then the big church concert on Sunday. The bus is for a team of soccer players who are going to travel around and play street soccer, video games, and some other things with the local kids and churches.
We had a great time in Obernhaof on the Lahn, we stayed at a torchbearers missions school for the first three training days and we did worship for a group of soccer guys and they actually responded really well! The only downside to the whole thing was that Joel had an interesting drum experience, or lack there of. He had a yamaha drum pad that didn’t quite work very well except for Tuesday night. But, we pulled through with out him.
All I have to say, is I am traveling with six crazy guys, Joel is saying as he lays his head down on the table “I’m not even supposed to be here”, and his new favorite word is Ausfarht. Mike is dancing around the bus, Michael is saying goodbye in German when he is supposed to be saying hello, Steven is lost in a book, and “it doesn’t taste good, but it makes him happy.” Jeremy is in his own world as usual, and John is talking in British accents and I’m trying to stay sane in the midst of it all. We are all having a lot of fun.
We are all very grateful for this opportunity and for the ability to be serving the Lord in this capacity. Thank you for your prayers, they are much needed, and we will be in touch as soon as we can. Continue praying that our health will last and that Jeremy and my voices last as well.
We miss you all,
“The Group”

Germany - 1st update

Hello everyone, here is the first entry coming to you from Germany. But that is as close as I can get you to knowing where we are. Not because of security issues…read the news, the wall came down…but because I really don’t know. After we left the airport we had to take an hour or so bus drive to the retreat center that we are staying at for the first few days. We just kept going through town after town, thinking we were going to stop at each one. Finally we started giving up hope of ever stopping and lost track of where we were.

Right now it is Wednesday morning here, our third day on this trip. Our first day here was taken up by being jet lagged, but we all seem to have gotten over that fairly quickly. We did have to lead a short worship set the same night we got here, but I am not sure any of us could tell you what songs we played. Yesterday was a nice and relaxing day. It is beautiful here and we got some time to walk around the area and recoup before we hit the road again.

For the first few days here, we are helping to lead worship for an Athletes in Action training conference. There are four or five soccer teams here (4 from North Americe and 1 from France) who will be going out all over Germany and sharing the gospel through the sport of soccer. They will be playing games, coaching clinics, visiting schools and doing whatever else they are needed to do. It has been a joy to worship with these young men, which is opposite the stereotype. When I first realized that this conference was all young men I was a little concerned because there are many times when you feel like you have to work really hard to get men to respond (we won’t get into the issue of what the worship leaders job is right now), but these men have been different. They came not only prepared for this trip, but they came with an obvious love for our Lord. It has been an encouragement for all of us.

Because it has been relaxing, and a little uneventful, I just wanted to share a quick thought. I have been thinking lately about how often we consider mission trips a sacrifice. When confronted with the idea of going on a missions trip we often think of all the things we will have to sacrifice. What will we do about our jobs? How will I eat the things I like to eat? Or many other questions. But whenever I have gone on a trip I have not felt the level of sacrifice that we worry about. Yes, I miss my family tremendously, and there are things that I am missing back home. But when you use the gifts that God has given you to further his kingdom, you don’t feel like it is a sacrifice, rather you feel very blessed. I haven’t heard one soccer player grumble about playing another soccer game. Nobody on our team as complained about playing some more music. I have not heard any staff complain about doing the things they need to do to make this trip run. There is joy and fulfillment in doing what we were created to do, and that is to live for the kingdom.

On Thursday we travel to Munich and begin the outreach side of our trip. Please pray for safe travel, health, and for people to come and hear what God has done for them. I am sure that we will have many stories as we get going in Munich, we will do the best we can to keep you updated.

Jeremy

Germany - Here We Come

Okay, so I haven't been the best blogger. This blog has sat idle for quite a while. But it is now time to put it to use again.

It is now 12:30am the morning that I am leaving for Germany with a band made up of worship team members from my church (Meadow Springs Community Church) as well as with Jon Jones who plays with me regularly. We are going to help out one of the missionaries that we support who is working with Athletes In Action in Germany. For the last couple of years they have been preparing for a number of outreach events that will take place during the World Cup soccer/football tournament. Now we are going to go and join with their efforts to spread the good news of Christ by helping to lead worship at various events as well as play some concerts in Frankfort, Munich, and Struttgart.

Anyways, most of you who are checking this blog already know what we are going to do. And you are interested in know how if is going. So myself, and other members of the team, will be updating you as often as we can. This way you can share in the joy's that we experience as well as know how to specifically pray as we find ourselves in some situations that I am sure Satan will not be happy with.

So check back here to see how things are going, and know that we appreciate all your prayers and encouragement as we have prepared for this trip.

Jeremy

Calling all Easter songs that want to 'party'.

So, Easter is coming and I am sitting here working on another years Easter service. However, I just noticed one thing, this years service does not look a whole lot different then the one I led last year...or the year before...or the year before...you get it. So why can't I come up with anything new from year to year, why do I keep resorting to the same songs? And, after a quick search for new songs, I am resolved to continue to use the ones I have used before.

Two thoughts come to mind for why I continue to use the same songs. One is that the old hymns really do seem to be the best songs that deal with Christ resurrection. They proclaim the truth that our Savior is alive in a strong and bold way.

Secondly, are there any good celebration songs out there about Christ's resurrection? Where are all the 'let's get this freakin' party started because Christ just rose from the dead' songs at? As I search for new, good, Easter songs I am finding that all the songs people recommend still focus on the cross. Now please hear what I am saying, I believe that everything about the Christian faith comes back to the cross, but......Christ is not on the cross anymore. Christ is not in the grave anymore. Christ is alive and well sitting on His throne on the right hand of the Father. That sounds like something to celebrate.

Easter is a day of rememberance for the Christian faith. So what is it designed to remember? The resurrection of Jesus Christ. And yet we often find ourselves reflecting on Christ's death, which did not happen on Easter. Christ's death happened on the Friday before (Good Friday). So I encourage you to think through what it is you are remembering when you come to church on Easter. Don't get me wrong, I will still be using songs that speak of the cross. You can't really tell the story of the resurrection real well without incorporating what happened on the cross. But, my point in speaking/singing about the cross will be to reiterate the miracle that happened and how exciting and worthy of celebration this miralce was.

Two quick challenges. First I would challenge you to look at the Easter week as just that, a week. So often we try to cram everything that goes on during the week before Christ's death into one service. From the truimphant entry, to the last supper, to Christ's death and then his resurrection. In my opinion, to cram all these ideas into one service doesn't do any of them justice. For the last two years my church has had a service on Good Friday. We have utilized different ideas for each of these, and are using a new idea this year. But each idea focuses on what happened to Christ on that day and causes the people to reflect on one main idea. It has also made our Easter Sunday services even more powerful and celebratory because of the reflection and time the was given to the cross. This year we went a step farther and had an evening of worship focused on some of the themes presented in the 'triumphal entry' of Jesus Christ that occurs on Palm Sunday. To spend some time recognizing the entrance of our king at the beginning of the week in contrast to what happens at the end of the week is quite powerful. In the future I would like to put together a service that focuses on "the last supper' and the communion that takes place there. All this to say, I would encourage you to think about letting the final week of Christ's life be just that, a week. How that looks in your church or youth group may be different and what forms of communication that you use may be different. But I believe that this week of Christ's life is important enough, and powerful enough, that we should allow extra time for our groups to spend reflecting and rejoicing on what has happened. Now I will confess that this challenge does come with a price, and that is your time. The last couple of weeks, and this week, have been some of the busiest for me out of my whole year. But I also believe that it is some of the most effective things that our worship ministry does all year, and it is the most important message that we have to offer.

The second challenge is for songwriters. Write some songs that celebrate that fact that Christ is alive. Is this not the biggest, physical, miracle that we have seen. I have taken this challenge for myself and I hope that you will to, maybe we can compare notes down the road. Often as I think about this story and what an appropriate response would be, I find myself being stunned. I imagine that if I saw Christ after his death I would probably stand there, with no expression, not sure what to think or do. But after a moment, my expressionless face would have the biggest smile on it while I was shouting to everyone around me that I just saw this guy dead, and now he is standing in front of me as alive as can be. And for proof he even has nail holes in is hands. This is the attitude that I wan't to capture as I try to put together some songs reflecting on Christ resurrection. And this is the challenge that I throw to you. Celebrate Christ's life, the life that he now has because of his resurrection, and the life that He now can offer us because of His victory over death.

P.S. Feel free to offer any ideas of celebratory congregation songs that you know dealing with Easter. I am sure that we are all pulling from the same song pool, but you never know when somebody has found something that I missed. Thanks!

Traditional vs contemporary...Not again!

I know it is a conversation that worship leaders like to have. It gives us something to debate, it gives us some kind of drama. So what do you think is better, traditional or contemporary styles of worship?

To be honest, I couldn't believe it when I opened up my email, saw one of the worship newsletters that I receive and began to read another article on traditional vs. contemporary worship. First of all, this argument was big when I was growing up. Will this argument ever die? In fact did it even have a beginning? For all I know we have been having this discussion since the world began. Secondly, you would be hard pressed to come up with a good definition of traditional or contemporary worship these days. My perception of what traditional and contemporary worship looks like is definitely different than what those words actually mean. And I know other people whose perceptions of these styles are different then mine. I know that there are many characteristics of these styles that we would agree upon, but to really define this in a way that we would all agree upon could be a challenge. Most importantly, I have always felt that this argument has taken away from the real issue. The real issue has to do with what is relevant for the congregation or group that you are leading worship for, not which church is doing the right worship style. Unfortunately that is what this argument really produces between many leaders, an attitude that suggest that one church is doing worship right while another church is not. It also seems like many times when this conversation is being discussed there are pride issues involved. The different generations are trying to figure out how their generation and style is relevant in the church and they want to be heard regardless of the consequences. And unfortunately there are many examples of churches who have split over musical style.

Now, I am not asking you to avoid a discussion about the various worship styles that we have seen over the years, as well as new trends that may be coming. There are many valid points to be made within a conversation about traditional and contemporary worship styles. Rather I wanted to encourage you in a few a couple of ways before you enter into this conversation. First, check your motives before entering this age old debate. If you are entering with an agenda that you want to be heard, and you are not open to hearing others opinions, the conversation will very quickly become a defensive one. This will create an atmosphere in which no one will be open to listening to others, defeating any purpose that there was in having the conversation in the first place. Second, remember that each style, or trend, in worship music was just that for a reason. Be open to learning from past trends. They all have positives and negatives in which we can learn from. Remembering this will allow us to have a positive conversation about various styles of worship music in which can all learn something from, and we can move forward while incorporating the principles that we learned from the best.

Now to get back to what I feel is the real issue. When entering a conversation about whether traditional or contemporary or blended or progressive or meditative or emerging worship styles are better, you had better know the congregation or group that you are leading for. If you do not have relationships with the people in the groups you are leading for, you will have no basis for having this conversation in the first place. Even those of you who are starting a church plant or a new group that focuses on a specific culture or age bracket do your research to find out what styles would help you target that group. If you do not have relationships with the people you are leading you may find that even though you have the best emerging worship sound around, you are not encouraging or effectively leading your churches. You may have the best pipe organ player in town, the strongest version of "A Mighty Fortress", and still find your self wondering where your younger generations went. When we lead our people in worship we are also presenting a picture of our God. We need to use the tools that we have been given wisely with the groups and congregations that God has given us to lead. The only way to know which tools (styles) are effective is to know your people. And knowing your people will allow you to effectively introduce new styles, trends, or tools in worship more effectively and relevantly (is that a word?).

I know this wasn't the most concise entry, but I think that you probably still get the point. There are many issues that come up when discussing styles and trends in worship and I would love to discuss those issues with you as we all continue on learning how to be more effective worship leaders. But for today this is my main thought:

To know what style of worship music is right for your situation, you have to have relationships with the people that you are leading.