A cop out...

I know it's kind of a cop out to post someone else's work after having not blogged for forever and 21 days... but... this is amazing...

from http://elevation-worship.com/blog/



Aug 26|Front-Footed Worship

Someone recently talked to me about the importance of being “front-footed” in how we lead worship. That when we lead, we should have a posture of being ready to charge the stage with a contagious anticipation that shows that we are ready to meet with God. The way that we worship and lead should communicate to our church that we will never get this moment back, so let’s make the most of every second as we engage with the our holy and mighty God.

This begs the question – does our worship of Jesus communicate a casual boredom with God? Have we become used to who He is or what He has done for us? Or does our worship overflow with the excitement of offering our lives and our love to the Savior who gave everything for us? How can we help our people continually have a heart of wonder and gratitude for the love of Christ demonstrated on the cross?

Worship leaders, let’s seek to teach our church to take hold of every moment because we aren’t just talking about a 20 minute set of songs. It is an encounter with the living God.

Wade

Again...

Here we are again... back on the blog and not sure what I want to post about... I have some "deep theological" concepts that I want to share, but my Bible is at the church and I am at the Depot. So you will just have to wait in eager anticipation and wonder.

We debut'd? debutted? We introduced our people to "God of this City" last week... That went really well... It's such a powerful song. The band is really loving it and so that helps to add energy to it when we are leading, cool stuff...

Heath and I redid the stage set for the new series we are starting - Practical Atheist. Also, thanks to a few volunteers we had three walls of our lobby repainted to match the color scheme of the series and it looks awesome. I'm really pumped about this series... I think it's going to hit a lot of people pretty hard which is both good and bad. It's going to be powerful.

Last week we were under 200 for the first time in about a month and a half... It was wierd, but I heard numerous stories that it was like that for many churches.

Tomorrow we have our first ever wedding at IgniteChurch.tv! Congratulations Shannon and Maddie! It's pretty crazy...

Anywho... gotta get back to work soon... yeeaaahhh........................

Set list for this coming week:

Marvelous Light - Charlie Hall
Glorious Day - Arranged by Jeff Johnson
God of this City - BlueTree
Amazing Grace - Arranged by Chris Tomlin

Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done!

Growing old...

So, a lot has happened as of late that has made me realize and has made reality set in on the fact that I am getting older... For starters... I'm Married! What the heck?! That's so weird and awesome! Not only am I married, but I am a full year into my marriage. Crazy!

A couple weeks ago the Casey's, R.I.P., moved away from Joplin. This was a huge deal because Lauren and I were closer to them than any other couple in Joplin. They were the first people that we were really close to that moved away because of a job... :-( We miss them dearly and await the day they return to visit!

After returning from a men's trip to Colorado I realized that I was looking forward to getting back to life - aside from the two shifts that I have now cut down to at Home Depot. The rest of my time will be spent either working at the church (which will one day be my full time job) or with the afore mentioned wife. It's odd to think that I am already mostly in the position which I will hold for many years - a full time vocational pastor. No only this, but I will not be returning to school in the fall.

Today I put Lauren's MO license plates on her jeep... We are now officially official residents of Webb City I believe. We both have MO licenses and plates. I witnessed a car making a U-turn today and my mind raced back to four years ago. When the afore mentioned Josh Casey and I prowled the streets of Joplin as Freshmen at OCC. I thought about the many, many (many) U-turns that we made as we were learning the town of Joplin. As I mentioned to Lauren earlier, I never even imagined back in those days that I would one day be a resident of this town. And yet, now my heart breaks for this town and the people that live here. I so badly want to see them reached and to show them the love of Christ.

I don't know... I guess growing up isn't so bad... I will not miss school at all. I am certainly not looking forward to the day that another dear friend must move away, or myself and Lauren move. But I guess it happens to all of us, this growing old thing. It's just a question as to whether we accept it and grow with it, or refuse to grow and stay stuck in the past.

A long long time ago

in a land far away there was once a boy who updated his blog.

So, here we are... a month and a half later... my band rocks as much as they always have! We are really growing as a band which is really cool to see! I'm pretty sure that we could go a week w/out practice (excluding the opener) and still be able to refresh on Sunday and have an absolutely rocking worship set... That fact is really exciting!

On Thursday I got back from a mens trip to Colorado. It was a pretty awesome trip. 2 parts that stunk about it 1) It was my first time sleeping away from Lauren since we got married, that stunk! 2) I don't really have two things that stunk about it. I just thought it would be better to have 2...

God truly moved in the hearts of some of our men while we were out there... It's SO exciting to see that we finally have men who are ready to take the vision of our church and make it their own. To be honest, the vision that I so recently grasped myself. I love seeing in people the same excitement that I have about our vision!

God is going to continue to do amazing things through IgniteChurch.tv, I just can't wait to see what!

Set list for this week...
One by U2
Our God is Love by Lee McDerment
Salvation's Chorus by Todd Fields
Jesus Paid it All arranged by Kristian Stanfill
Sweetly Broken by Jeremy Riddle

Gonna be a rockin week!

Greater things have yet to come, greater things are still to be done in this city!

Let there be light!... or not...?!

Last Sunday we launched our second service at 9am!! It was WAY exciting for us and the life of the church!! Didn't go QUITE as planned though...

Lauren and I were driving up and I notice the first stop light by the church is out.. then I notice the stop light closest to the church is out... then I notice the marquee in our church parking lot is out... then i freak out... Thank God for my wife!! She helped calm me down from where I was!! So, what happened? We had a candle lit service!! It actually went REALLY well!! It was great!! We had 56 people there and a number of new people!! Most of whom said they would be back next week!!

10am rolls around... no power... 10:10am no power... a few of us were standing outside... 10:15am "Heath!! We have power!!!" I couldn't be more proud of our volunteers!! EVERYTHING was running as it should be literally by 10:20... If someone were to walk into our church at 10:20 they wouldn't have EVER known that we didn't have power until 5 minutes ago... Our volunteers rock!! 10:30am service went off w/out a hitch! It was awesome!! we ended up totaling 208 people on Sunday morning!

Tuesday my band was given the opportunity to lead worship in chapel at OCC... I couldn't be more proud of the band!! They rocked!!! I am so proud of how far we have come in the last few months and how we are all starting to come together... best compliment I heard was "You could tell you guys played together a lot!" That's SO exciting to hear!!

So... Join us Sunday at IgniteChurch.tv, 7th and Virginia, Joplin. Wk 2 of Supernatural "Holy Spirit"... 9am and 10:30am take your pick!!

Set list....
Not Meant To Be - Theory of a Deadman
Salvation is Here - Hillsong
Love is Here - Tenth Avenue North
Glorious Day - Jeff Johnson Arrangement
Came to My Rescue - Hillsong


Greater things are yet to come... Greater things are still to be done in this city!

Busy, busy...

Last week = AMAZING!!

God is so cool!!

6 salvations, 27 baptisms!!

See what I mean?! Isn't he so cool??!!

This week we go to two services!! Things are gradually getting crazier and crazier around IgniteChurch.tv but they are getting more and more fun!! The band is finally starting to come together and stay together!! I'm stoked about the group we have!!

We get to play in Chapel at school on Tuesday! That should be fun!!

Set list for this weekend...

Only One - Yellowcard
My Glorious - Delirious?
Salvation's Chorus - Todd Fields (our band's newest and now favorite song!)
Glorious Day - Arr. by Jeff Johnson
I Will Lift My Eyes - Bebo Norman

Fun stuff!! This is gonna be a good week! :-)

Long time no blog...

Well! It's been a while! Here's what been going on...

New electric guitarist
New drummer
Keys player on keys again
Old drummer on bass
New female vox

Lots of fun stuff!! Our band sounds awesome... It's been a crazy month... things are EXPLODING!! We had 90 in our auditorium yesterday!! It was crazy! We are considering going to two services for Easter sunday... depends on how next Sunday goes...

This saturday we have what we've called "Ignite Gives Back"... Basically, our church people have donated more clothes than JCPenny has and we are going to hand it out on Saturday!! It's gonna be way cool and lots of fun!

I pretty much created in-ear monitors for our drummer which was relatively complicated, but I got it figured out... we played around w/ a click track yesterday... who knew that playing w/ a metronome is so complicated!! I need to do it more often cuz yesterday was really frustrating!! I STINK AT RHYTHM!!! Praise God for drummers!!

Umm... yep... gotta clock back in at The 'Pot in a few minutes, so I guess that's my update for now!!





P.s. my birthday is two weeks from tomorrow!! ... Buy me something good!... Or just give me money to put towards my motorcycle!

Winds of change...

If there is one thing that planting a church teaches you it's to roll w/ the punches and take change as it's come to you... I think that I'm starting to get more used to this with every week that passes... or maybe, just being offered opportunities to roll w/ it...

2 weeks ago my electric guitarist decided to take a break... that's fine, I can deal w/ that... throw the bass player on elec... keys player on bass and we are set!

3 days ago my "new" elec (who played bass in the previous weeks) tell me he is not going to be able to help out... So, we are down to a three piece... i play my elec.. bass and drums...

Tonight my drummer told me that he is going to take a break (luckily, only for a couple/few weeks, but still...) So, starting tomorrow I am calling drummers to find another!!

At this point, I feel like I've been here so many times it's not really phasing me. I've realized that ultimately, God has a plan... and the cool thing... even if it ends up w/ just me on the stage, I believe God is still going to work... By NO means will it be due to anything that I have done or am doing-- but because over and over he has proven himself in our adversity and in our falling short...
w
I think I also feel more relaxed because our church is a little "older" now... albeit only a few months... our resources and contacts have grown by leaps and bounds since we launched, so I feel as if I have people that I can call now to help me out... we shall see...

Oh well.. God is awesome and that's the main part!!

Greater things!

From the Inside Out

"the art of losing myself and bringing you praise"

As we were practicing tonight, after having run through this song 50 bazillion times (equivalent of 3 or 4 in my mind) I decided that I needed to put myself back into a worship mode (yes, even during practice).  So I did just that.  Right as this line came up.

"the art of losing myself and bringing you praise"

What does this mean?  Obviously, giving of ourselves is the highest form of praise to God.  Giving all of ourselves.  But this art of losing myself... Last time I checked, losing yourself wasn't "art"... It was an excuse to wear one of those shirts that say "Out of my mind, be back soon" or something to that extent.

"the art of losing myself and bringing you praise"

But the more I think about it, the more it becomes an art.  The way I see the arts- as in a huge broad all encompassing subject covering everything from dance to drama to music to painting to whittling- is something that someone works at.  Not everyone is capable of doing "art," although, all can try, few succeed.  "Art" is something that is something practiced.

"the art of losing myself and bringing you praise"

Last time I checked, losing myself to God completely and bringing him praise isn't the easiest thing to do.  I can say I'm going to lose myself, just like I can say I'm going to paint like Michelangelo on the cieling of the Ozark Chapel.  Both are quite easy to say, but sadly, I have a tendency to fail miserably, at both! Just look up next time you walk into the chapel!!

"the art of losing myself and bringing you praise"

There have been a few times in my life that I have accomplished this whole "losing myself" thing... and just like the Sistine Chapel, it was beautiful, it was a wonderful experience.  What a wonderful place that our churches would be if we could all master this art... The cool thing, this art isn't like others... EVERYONE can do this!  Sure, it takes practice.  For some people it may take more practice than others.  But everyone is capable of losing themselves and bringing HIM praise... May we strive to perfect this art.......

A thousand times I've failed, still your mercy remains

And should I stumble again, still I'm caught in your grace

Everlasting, your light will shine will all else fades

Neverending your glory goes beyond all fame

Your will above all else, my purpose remains

The art of losing myself in bringing you praise

Everlasting, your light will shine will all else fades

Neverending your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart, in my soul I give you control

Consume me from the inside out Lord

Let justice and praise become my embrace

To love you from the inside out

Everlasting, your light will shine will all else fades

Neverending your glory goes beyond all fame

And the cry of my heart is to bring you praise

From the inside out Lord my soul cries out

Backup ain't so bad...

So, since watching the David Crowder DVD just recently released my desire to be a backup electric guitarist has increased... Seeing all the cool pedals that they get to play with... Attempting to describe how pedal A goes to B then through C if C is turned on... if C is off it goes to D... which then leads to F... then to amp 1... if C is turned off it goes to E which leads to J then actually plays through both amp 1 and 2... 

All this being said... i enjoy the thought of having loads of pedals and confusing the average watcher from the time I say "A goes into B"... but no, currently I just run three pedals, one of which is a tuner... not too incredibly exciting in the pedal area... which it's cool I guess... I LOVE my position and lead worshipper.. 

But deep down.. i want to be a backup guitarist... for our opener this sunday I get to play back up... it's fun!  There's a strange release that I experience when I don't have to worry about anything except playing guitar... 

Overall though... i just love playing guitar... i love the thought of getting to aid in the worship of a bunch of people each sunday... I'm so glad that I have found my call... I can't see myself doing anything different... I get so excited about leading worship, it's a lot of fun... I can't wait until I go full time... I love my job! It's going to be great doing it 40+ hrs a week!!

Pride and Prejudice

I haven't seen the movie (i guess it as a book first, huh? yeah, haven't read that either)... i just think it's appropriate for the title of this post... 

Pride (according to Mr. Webster)- 1a: inordinate self-esteem (conceit) 1b: a reasonable or justifiable self-respect 2: proud or disdainful behavior or treatment. 3a: ostentatious display 4: a source of pride: the best in a group or class 5: a company of lions 6: a showy or impressive group

I never really considered myself a prideful person, but a proud person.  I did not have a lot of pride in my life, but was proud of much in my life. get it?  These last few weeks though, wow they have been rough.  I was proud of my past ministry experience, but never realized how much pride I had because of it.  I think that because of how deep I am in Ignite it's totally different from other churches I have served at.

Victory- I showed up on Sunday's... pretty much end of story.

Cornerstone- I was there a little throughout the week, attended the staff meetings and did my thing on Sundays. But really, I was just a fill in until their music minister came back.

Ignite- This is "my" (God's ultimately, but you understand) ministry.  I am not just showing up on Sundays.  I'm not just a fill in.  It's "all about me"  (but really, all about God.)  I'm into this ministry so much deeper than any other ministry I have ever been in.  I have put in hours on my knees for this church, in prayer, and tearing up a floor.  Everything about my life- time, money, knowledge, sweat, blood- goes into this church.  I live and breathe this place, my thoughts are consumed.  If I'm at school, I think about the church.  At Home Depot, I think about the church. This all comes after thinking about my wife much more of course! (I Love you Lauren!)  but still, I long to poor everything I am out for the people of Ignite.

With this depth, has come new types of relationships.  Different expectations than my pre-conceived ideas of ministry.  It could also be because every other church I had ministered at was an "established" church.  Ignite is 2 1/2 months old.  Everything else I have been a part of was pretty much already sailing smoothly, I just jumped on the boat.

With Ignite we have all the challenges of a new marriage... It's weird, everyone has said that the first year of marriage is the hardest.... Really so far Lauren and I have had it pretty easy. We have jobs that pay the bills, friends that love us and have been incredibly blessed by God.  I'm getting a better idea of what people talked about the first year of marriage from my church than I am from my marriage!

I've learned that sometimes I just need to shut up.  I've learned how truly immature I am as a minister.  Luckily, I have people that are willing to say, "Hey! You screwed up! Let me walk along side you and lets get this thing fixed!" I've also learned to ALWAYS put the seat down-- ok, this one refers to my marriage mainly, but now I put the seat down at the church too! Which is good because we don't have men's and women's bathrooms! We do have two bathrooms though, they just are "sexually designated."

Anyway- back to this whole pride thing... As of late I have found myself having pride more than being proud. As previously mentioned, I have people that are willing to point that out in my life, and because of that, I'm fixing it.

The whole prejudice thing... well, according to Mr. Webster once again

Prejudice - 2a: Preconceived judgment or opinion

That's exactly what we are about at Ignite.  Taking the opinion of what church is as it has been known for the last however many years and breaking that opinion so we can be the church that God has called us to be.  A church that leads people to become fully devoted followers of Christ.  Not half devoted, FULLY.  And most important, not followers of a church, a denomination, a religion, but of CHRIST.  And, I guess while we are fixing everyone else's idea of how "uncool" church is, we might as well fix my preconceived ideas of what ministry is.

This post in a nutshell:

I am prideful- this is bad, and I need to learn to be more proud in what I have and who my friends are.

I am immature as a minister, but luckily, I have much wiser men helping me along the way.

Ignite changes everyone's thoughts about church, including my own.

God is awesome.

Greater things are yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city!

Another late night...

So, as of like, Dec 30th I have been staying up probably way later than I should! I don't know what the deal is! Things come up or something and for some reason I don't end up getting to sleep until 1am or better... Granted, New Years Eve was understandable... but all the other nights I'm just like "What am I doing?!"

Tonight is by far the latest... 

I was shown an amazing DVD "yesterday" (10:30pm, Jan 4) by my good friend Mr. Joshua Casey.  It's the new David Crowder Band dvd... I have plans of buying it... prob w/in 8 hrs... I would like to buy it before work at 10am... It has a CD w/ the musica... and also a DVD with their concert in NYC.... it's sweet... but cooler is the fact that you can "sit down" with each member of the band and they tell you exactly what they are doing during the song... it's stinkin sweet... I'm going to thoroughly enjoy it... anywho... umm... oh.. church this morning!

5 decisions... 4 of which were salvations!! Wooohooo!! God is stinking awesome!! Over all the service ran really well... no major mess ups or anything that I could tell... it was pretty sweet... having those decisions just gets me all the more pumped for next Sunday and to see what amazingness God will pull off! Ok... waking in less than 6 hrs... should probably stop blogging! Adios!

Greater things.....