The Archives
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08.24.08Worship Confessional: August 24, 2008We had our back to school crowd today, along with quite a few visitors. We started off with a pretty popular song for our folks, one written and taught to us by traveling artist/speaker David Crain. It's funny how a church seems to take ownership of songs from a visiting artist. Both rehearsal on Thursday and sound check this morning seemed a little rough, like we just couldn't get in the groove. You know those days where everyone is playing well, but separately? Yeah, it had been one of those days. However, for the gathering itself things seems to click, and ...
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08.06.08CalledI am called... to a land whose culture and language are often strange to me. to a land whose music is diverse and often foreign to my ears. to a land with many tribes whose dress and customs are so diverse they cause separation and segregation. to a land whose people worship a multitude of gods. to a land whose people by and large don't know who Jesus is. to a land whose people often despair and look for answers in all the wrong places. to a land where rich and poor sometimes live within walking distance of one another. to a land that is often divided along ...
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07.30.08Relevant lyrics, part 2Here are some more recent lyrics (2006) that are resonating with me for much the same reasons as "Rise Up." Hosanna—Brooke Fraser Heal my heart and make it clean. Open up my eyes to the things unseen. Show me how to love like You have loved me. Break my heart for what breaks Yours. Everything I am, for Your Kingdom's cause. As I walk from earth into eternity.
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07.30.08Relevant lyricsI'm all for the modern worship movement, but sometimes there are old songs that say best what is in your heart. Here are some lyrics resonating in my soul today, and they remain as relevant today as when they were written in 1911. Rise Up, O Church of God—William P. Merrill Rise up, O Church of God! Have done with lesser things; Give heart and mind and soul and strength To serve the King of kings.
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07.17.08130 Years of Sacred Song - Input NeededWe've been working on the nuts and bolts of our upcoming Fall series—something I think we're going to call "One Another." Basically, we're going to looking at and creating opportunities for our church body to put all the "one another" commands in Scripture into practice—love one another, bear one another's burdens, pray for one another, etc. For our final week of the series—rejoice with one another—we're going to do a kind of celebration service that will feature a song selected from each decade our church has been in existence. Hence, "130 Years of Sacred Song." The church was founded in 1878, ...
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07.16.08From the Feed ReaderI've been a little heavy the last couple of days, so how about something on the light side? I haven't done one of these in a while, and I've accumulated a ton of great links—too many to throw at you all at once. So, here are only the latest and greatest links pinned in my feed reader for your clicking enjoyment. • If you're not using Evernote, you should be. • Doug Heacock on Comatose congregations (not really what you think). • The idiosyncrasies of the worship leader as recounted by Los, Billy Chia, Babulife, Los again, and Los again. • Dan Wilt on ...
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07.15.08Greater sinsLet me state for the record before I start, that I'm not trying to postulate an erroneous theology of some sins being more heinous than others. I agree that you will find evidence in Scripture where there are some sins that are more "serious" in the eyes of God than others (those He lists as "abominations"). I don't think there is an unforgivable sin (other than rejecting Christ as Savior and Lord), and I agree that all sin, great and small separates man from God (for the unregenerated) and breaks open fellowship with Him (for the regenerated). Having said all that, ...
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07.14.08Worship Confessional: July 13, 2008Pretty low day in attendance yesterday, typical for a sunny July weekend I suppose. I'm going to be a little more transparent than usual with this post so hold onto your hat. This is actually going to be a confessional. Over the last five years in my current place of service, we've been working on a slow shift towards a more "contemporary" offering in our services. During the last few months, I've grown more and more certain that the shift is not working, and is not likely to work in the future no matter how much time and energy are thrown ...
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06.29.08My retirement planJust so everyone knows, my super-dooper plan for funding my retirement basically involves my children forming an awesome family rock band and making lots of cash. Well, maybe that won't work out for me, but we've got a good start. Here are my girls singing their hearts out at church today. Now if we can just get my guitar playing son to step up onto a stage.
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06.23.08The Monday Minute: What’s on your plate this week?Welcome back to the Monday Minute, in which I strive to get back to a regular posting schedule. Things have been a little hectic around the Miller household for the last few weeks, but we're settling down into a summer routine. Joy's mom is doing well in her recovery from heart surgery, and was released over the weekend. Two weeks ago saw the start of our annual music camp, and last night we began our Vacation Bible School. Now, you might think that this means another very busy week, but not exactly. My wife is the director of VBS, and so ...
recent posts
- A Prayer God Won’t Answer?
- Worship Confessional: Sunday, October 5, 2008
- Mutual Following
- Book Giveaway: Six Prayers God Always Answers
- Review: Six Prayers God Always Answers, part 3
- Worship Confessional: Sunday, September 28, 2008
- Where am I?
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