Posted September 9th, 2010
Our very own Jeff Bourque has posted a couple of helpful articles for worship leaders over at congregationalsongs.com
Myths about Leading: My Heart Is Not Right
Jeff diagnoses several of the spiritual and emotional states leaders find themselves in as they prepare to lead worship.
Myths about Leading: It’s All Up to Me
Jeff discusses a common response when it appears that people just "aren't getting it" - to be anxious, fearful, or manipulative and try to influence people by the way we lead, not the Savior we're leading them to
Posted September 8th, 2010
To celebrate the release of our first album, we're going to give a bunch of them away! There will be 10 winners chosen, and while all will receive a digital copy of Merciful to Me, the top five winners will receive:
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Posted September 8th, 2010
Wow - that was fast! Our new album, Merciful to Me, is now available in the iTunes music store. If you've already listened to the album, please add a rating or review, otherwise feel free to pick up a digital copy from iTunes or from our own store. It will be another couple of weeks before we have the physical CDs in hand.
The album is also now available at the Amazon.com Music Store
Posted September 7th, 2010
I thought it might be helpful to share seven values for public worship that have been articulated for my local church, Redeemer Bible Church, where I serve as Director of Worship Ministries. These values have arisen from my understanding of what the Bible teaches us about the priorities and role of public worship.
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Posted August 14th, 2010
We've been pretty busy over the last few months (which is one reason we haven't not been posting much) with the summer album project. For those who haven't received updates on our supporter list, here's a brief overview of how the project is coming along.
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Posted April 8th, 2010
Friends,
Earlier today I wrote an update about a new album that we're going to be working on this summer. If you read that post you'll get a glimpse of the scope of what we're hoping to accomplish musically and it's pretty ambitious. The Lord has allowed us to work with a producer and recording engineer who runs one of the top studios in town, and has given us a huge collection of musicians who are willing to help, some who aren't in a position to participate w/o compensation. We're estimating the cost of the album to be $12k. That number might shock some of you, but for the scope of the project, the facilities and equipment involved, and the musicians and arrangers, it's not astronomical.
I'm writing this follow-up to the project description to ask for your help in a very concrete way. If you believe in what we're doing or have enjoyed our first CD, would you prayerfully consider donating to our project before the CD is released? (target is this fall) We are a very small group of independent songwriters and all of the funds for Reformed Praise come either from...
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Posted January 13th, 2010
I had the privilege of preaching this sermon to my local church family on Sunday, January 10th, 2010
Like Father, Like Son
John 1:18
I would like to start off by thanking those who serve us by taking care of our children on Sundays and Wednesdays. Those who have spent any time with my son Benjamin actually have a lot of insight into my personality, even if they don’t know
me very well. Here’s a concrete example of how to know Ben is to know me. Last month I took him on a daddy-date to a monster truck show in Minneapolis for His fourth birthday. He absolutely
loved it, but if you were with us you might have been hard-pressed to discern that. When I took him to his seat, the trucks were already “warming up” and were making a lot of noise. He managed to remain almost motionless – possibly even without blinking His eyes – even as I unbundled him from his winter gear and put his earplugs in. As I repeatedly shouted questions and explanations to Him, I realized that He was engrossed in the monster truck world as He sat completely stone-faced....
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Posted November 30th, 2009
Pardon the silence here for the past month or so. I've been putting most of my non-worship-leading-non-father-of-five focus on a top secret software project (well, I like to think it's top secret). Eric and I have met a couple of times this fall to work on our Hymns on God's Attributes project, and we have drafts of all 15 hymns completed (though several of them might not deserve the term "draft"!). We need to revise them and are still looking and praying about whether we can publish them as a small book with a "real" publisher. Here's one of my favorite verses from our recent trip, verse 2 of "The Lord is Merciful" which explains how God's mercy is demonstrated in the gospel:
The Lord has saved us from sin's pow'r according to His mercy;
When we were helpless and oppressed He looked on us with pity.
The merciful High Priest approached the mercy seat
And through His sacrifice paid our redemption's price
To demonstrate His kindness.
I've also been busy the past couple of weeks preparing for a
free concert at my home church. If you're anywhere near Minneapolis, MN and are free for a couple of hours...
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Posted November 6th, 2009
Through my blog, I'm giving away a couple copies of Russ Moore's book, Adopted for Life, to those who link to our song "Though I Was Born an Orphan" or pass it along to their pastor.
For entry details, go here. The contest is open through November 15.
Posted November 5th, 2009
The audio from my hymn-series sermon on "How Firm a Foundation" is now up:
How Firm a Foundation: Standing on the Word of God
