Confidence
The note ringing out from the bass in my hands was jarring and dissonant. I quickly stopped it and frantically tried to find out which key we were playing in. If you had been in my head a few moments before, it might have sounded something like this...
The Mirror
Here’s the strange thing. I ask good questions for a living. As I coach worship leaders, I listen to what they say, what they leave out, what they focus on, what their perspective of reality is, and I ask questions from the OUTSIDE. I’m not better than them; I’m not a better leader than they are; I can’t outplay them as a musician. My value is that I’m not them. I’m not on the INSIDE.
Post Conference Blues
Conferences are great! I used to be the guy who would sit in the auditorium in the afterglow. I didn’t want to leave. I had been inspired, encouraged, stretched, and poured into. What I received was not just information, it was impartation. I wanted to take many of the presenters home with me.
The Biblically Ethical Use Of AI
This is a beautiful treatment of this topic by Ad Lib coach Craig Knapp.
Something I hear constantly in conversations, especially in the tech realm, is the fear that AI is replacing human jobs. Frequently, I get asked the question, “Aren’t you afraid that (fill in the blank) job will be replaced by AI?”
The Long Game
Are you aging out of worship leadership? Are you feeling burned out or pushed out? Do you wish you had the same passion for Jesus, worship leading, and people that you once had before all those years in worship ministry? How can you rekindle a youthful, yet mature exuberance for the next season of ministry?
My Favorite Questions
Thanks for reading this year! As we prep for a new year, I want to equip you with tools for reflection. Worship leaders usually aren’t very good at reflecting. Introspection and navel gazing, yes, but real reflection, not so much.
A Really Good Lunch
I was on staff and was failing with my techs. There was constant tension. There was contempt and sarcasm. And so much passive aggressiveness. There was no life. Rehearsals were dreadful.
Outlast
It’s happening all over America. Worship leaders with twenty and thirty years of experience are “aging-out” of leading worship.
No, they’re not, but that’s what they call it.
The Five Faders Book is HERE!
Have you appreciated receiving the Worship Fertilizer or any of the many resources from Ad Lib Music?
Can I ask you a big favor?
Something’s Not Right
Did you ever feel like something was just not right in your sphere of ministry? Wade Mullen wrote an extremely helpful book called Something’s Not Right. It was invaluable to me during a very difficult time as a worship director on staff at my church.
The Berkey Water Filter and the Scarcity Mindset
“Dad, aren’t you going to use filtered water to soak the oats?” Aspen scolded.
Skeletons In Your (Head) Closet
Crack open Ezekiel 37 for a minute. It reads:
The hand of the LORD was upon me,
One Who Puts On His Armor Should Not Boast Like One Who Takes It Off
You know that verse about not saying we’re gonna do this and go there and make business happen but rather say, “If God wills, we’ll do this or that”?
Are You Battle-weary Or Battle-strengthened?
I was going to say the last several months have been quite a battle, but honestly, the last five years in Costa Rica have been a battle. What’s been the effect on me?
Minister To The Lord
But what if no one is ministering to the Lord?
The Twenty-One Mile Challenge
Seeing where you’re going is more important than you think. Ask any of us who have meandered through a dark house on the way to a bathroom break in the middle of the night only to find out just how flexible our little toe is compared to the coffee table leg. Right?
Are You Being Held In Tension?
“What if where you feel the tension you discover God’s intention for you?”
I Wish I Would’ve Known
I was a little naughty.
My college roommate, Troy, was visiting me in Pennsylvania from his home in North Carolina. I had just started getting to know a cute girl (who I later married.)
The Launch 61
Imagine this: the students who bravely stepped into high school amidst the whirlwind of the pandemic are now on the verge of graduating. Wow!
Drifting Into Ruts
I was speaking with a church that has been without a staff worship leader for nearly a year.