Blog - Beyond Sunday Worship

Dec 20 2013

My Approach To Goal Setting And Planning The New Year

Whether you want to believe it or not, a new year is upon us.

In addition to yuletide carols being sung, folks dressing like eskimos, and ox and lamb keeping time, this is a season where we think hard about what we’re working towards in the new year.

It’s a time of reflection on 2013 and planning for 2014.

I believe this is healthy. Remember what Socrates said?

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

An effective, productive life is a life that is intentional and thoughtful. You don’t just want to coast blindly through your days, hoping the best will happen. It’s important to think through all your different roles and make sure you are living out God’s best.

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Dec 18 2013

#27: An Interview With Gloria Gaither [Podcast]

It’s not every day that you have a conversation with a legend.

To say that Bill & Gloria Gaither are prolific songwriters is an understatement. I was so privileged to have a conversation with Gloria a couple weeks ago.

Our conversation went in so many beautiful directions – from talking about the humble origins of Gaither Homecoming to the creative process to raising kids to learning a foreign language to leading worship in a multi generational church.

I hope you enjoy the interview! Please come say “hi” in the comments afterwards!

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Dec 16 2013

Why Does Your Congregation Come To Church?

If you took a survey of your congregation, asking them, “Why do you come to church?”, what do you think they’d say?

For religion? For friends? For music? Out of habit? For God?

Great worship leaders study this. A powerful worship ministry is so much more than a big voice and powerful music.

But that’s often what we focus on, isn’t it? We strive for CD-quality soundscapes every weekend. We try and sing like Israel Houghton. We work hard on writing songs like Matt Redman.

But what if I told you that this was counterproductive for you?

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Dec 13 2013

The One Thing Every Worship Leader Cannot Forget

More often than I like to admit, I forget stuff.

I forget to bring what I was supposed to bring. I forget to send an email. I forget to communicate an important detail.

Sometimes, I forget the lyrics to a song while I’m singing the song (Has that ever happened to you? By the way, you might want to share your embarrassing moment over here.)

Of course, this shouldn’t happen. All I need to do is write it down and review my task list. I need to practice. But I’m just being honest…I still forget.

Maybe you do as well. But in this brief blog post I want to declare something that you simply cannot forget.

I want to shout from the rooftops a core idea for a worship leader that is essential. Without it, you’ve lost your way. Without it, you’re simply spinning wheels.

Here it is. Are you ready?

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