Today was much better than yesterday as far diving into the Word goes.
I read this morning Philippians 1&2, I think God knew I needed a boost. 1:6 was something I had to be reminded of, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. I mean wow, knowing that God is going to see us through everything we may face until out work is done, or Christ comes back, that just gave me a much needed boost. (Especially knowing that Paul was in prison at this point? I think,)
Chapter 2 has amazing insight on humility and unity, but what really grabbed my attention even on my first pass through, was 14-15 " 14Do everything without complaining or arguing, 15so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe" We look at society now and consider it the same as Paul did now, Steve Fee said it well in one of his songs, "In the darkest place we shine!"
Edit: did lower body today (yesterday was upper)
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Day 2
While yesterday was extra early as we had the meeting I had more trouble today getting myself up to do this. If I can make it through a solid week I think I'll manage the 21 days needed to form the habit.
Quiet time This morning took me through Galatians 4,5 and 6, The the re-occuring theme in my last (well first?) two days of quiet time seems to be that sin is bondage, slavery, a yoke around us, while Christ offers us Freedom.
Towards the end of chapter five the scripture talks about the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
My prayer is that I live my life rich with the fruits of the spirit, Lord that You would help me live my freedom without the sinful nature and that I would not deceive myself, and that my life be spent sowing to please you God.
Exercise this morning was upper body and thankfully kept short as I am on a time crunch. (I didn't hurt myself, but another 15 minutes or so and I probably would have).
Hopefully I'll have a more substantial posting here later today.
~Matt
Quiet time This morning took me through Galatians 4,5 and 6, The the re-occuring theme in my last (well first?) two days of quiet time seems to be that sin is bondage, slavery, a yoke around us, while Christ offers us Freedom.
Towards the end of chapter five the scripture talks about the fruits of the spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
My prayer is that I live my life rich with the fruits of the spirit, Lord that You would help me live my freedom without the sinful nature and that I would not deceive myself, and that my life be spent sowing to please you God.
Exercise this morning was upper body and thankfully kept short as I am on a time crunch. (I didn't hurt myself, but another 15 minutes or so and I probably would have).
Hopefully I'll have a more substantial posting here later today.
~Matt
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Day 1 (Part One)
Today's Quiet time began with John Chapter 8, a couple of quick observations....
V11, Jesus did not come to condemn, but to change lives. How often am I fast to judge and slow to help someone change their life?
V34-36 As before we were slaves to sin, but He set us free, or as it says, "Who the Son sets free is free indeed!
Everything as a Whole, I noticed that when Jesus spoke it was never timidly, I mean "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." does that sound timid to you? And it's not like He spoke it to ignorant (well I suppose that point could be debated considering) people, but to the quote/unquote religious leaders and experts of his day.
Random thought regarding earlier scripture, when they brought the woman before Jesus (vs 1-11) Scripture mentions that he was writing something on the ground while he waited for the pharisees to clear out, I can't help but wonder if he was simply writing down sins that they knew they had broken, nothing in Scripture that I know of indicates it, but I wonder.
My Prayer today is to see lives changed, and that I may boldly speak as Christ did when it came to proclaiming the Word of the Father, no matter who or how many the opposition.
Exercise post to come later I'm out of time. (As in I have to exercise later and then say that yes I did go through the routine).
V11, Jesus did not come to condemn, but to change lives. How often am I fast to judge and slow to help someone change their life?
V34-36 As before we were slaves to sin, but He set us free, or as it says, "Who the Son sets free is free indeed!
Everything as a Whole, I noticed that when Jesus spoke it was never timidly, I mean "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." does that sound timid to you? And it's not like He spoke it to ignorant (well I suppose that point could be debated considering) people, but to the quote/unquote religious leaders and experts of his day.
Random thought regarding earlier scripture, when they brought the woman before Jesus (vs 1-11) Scripture mentions that he was writing something on the ground while he waited for the pharisees to clear out, I can't help but wonder if he was simply writing down sins that they knew they had broken, nothing in Scripture that I know of indicates it, but I wonder.
My Prayer today is to see lives changed, and that I may boldly speak as Christ did when it came to proclaiming the Word of the Father, no matter who or how many the opposition.
Exercise post to come later I'm out of time. (As in I have to exercise later and then say that yes I did go through the routine).
Monday, January 14, 2008
... 21 days
I suppose I could track this thought train of mine back to three or four weeks ago when I mentioned to Jeremy that my quiet time had been sorely lacking. And as anyone who's seen some of my older posts know that I'm starting to get in shape (And no, round does not count as a shape). So I'm getting fit, both spiritual and physical and to make myself accountable here's the plan. It's been kinda blah with a hit or miss, (a somewhat passive attitude about the whole thing) until...
This past Saturday I was at a Leadership Seminar and at the last session the speaker asked a question, "Are you as a leader making sure that you are growing so that you can help your teammates grow?"
Ouch, right between the eyes, now I'm fairly sure he was meaning growth in leadership skills (though one can never be sure) and I do my best to grow musically (as I am MD.... Music Director though friends tell me I have the handwriting to match the other meaning of MD), and in leadership skills, but I have very much let my spiritual and physical growth stagnate.
It takes 21 days to make or break a habit, so the next 21 days will be filled with my notes from quiet time and whether or not I managed my morning exercise routine, among my normal (though I hesitate to ever use that word in describing anything involving myself) posts, I will have daily posts regarding my progress. And as I already missed getting up on time this morning to start it correctly my 21 days will begin extra early (love those staff meetings) Tomorrow morning.
In time I hope to get a LifeJournal something that Pastor Daniel recommended to me yesterday but we were out at the resource table, so until I get one I'll be working through... well you'll have to read the post tomorrow to find out.
~Matt
Post Script Edit: I just wanted to make one point clear, I'm not doing this to say hey look at me I'm blogging my quiet time, because I feel that it's a personal and intiamte time with God, what I'm doing for now is posting thoughts about my Quiet time, and only for the next 21 days as I make this a daily habit and not a once-in-a-while thing.
This past Saturday I was at a Leadership Seminar and at the last session the speaker asked a question, "Are you as a leader making sure that you are growing so that you can help your teammates grow?"
Ouch, right between the eyes, now I'm fairly sure he was meaning growth in leadership skills (though one can never be sure) and I do my best to grow musically (as I am MD.... Music Director though friends tell me I have the handwriting to match the other meaning of MD), and in leadership skills, but I have very much let my spiritual and physical growth stagnate.
It takes 21 days to make or break a habit, so the next 21 days will be filled with my notes from quiet time and whether or not I managed my morning exercise routine, among my normal (though I hesitate to ever use that word in describing anything involving myself) posts, I will have daily posts regarding my progress. And as I already missed getting up on time this morning to start it correctly my 21 days will begin extra early (love those staff meetings) Tomorrow morning.
In time I hope to get a LifeJournal something that Pastor Daniel recommended to me yesterday but we were out at the resource table, so until I get one I'll be working through... well you'll have to read the post tomorrow to find out.
~Matt
Post Script Edit: I just wanted to make one point clear, I'm not doing this to say hey look at me I'm blogging my quiet time, because I feel that it's a personal and intiamte time with God, what I'm doing for now is posting thoughts about my Quiet time, and only for the next 21 days as I make this a daily habit and not a once-in-a-while thing.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Advanced Drum Theory
Well, I suppose I should say Advanced for me, drum theory.
Something I was thinking of on the way to work this morning as I was listening to Change (By Justin King and the Apologies) and was probably influenced by Gavin Harrison's explanation of Polyrhythmic theory (see previous post for explanation).
Anyway this is something of a poly-rhythm idea (something I wouldn't have imagined a year ago). Right now it's mainly theory for me, I've tried it on my practice pads, but it doesn't really fit the style of music we use in praise team, so practical application will probably have to wait until the next Jam session. Okay here's the concept, say you've got a song in 4/4 a quarter note gets one beat, and there are four beats per measure, fairly basic stuff, here's where the theory comes in. Now phrasing has several definitions, but the general acceptance is that a phrase in music is a group of measures that seem to complete itself within a song. (A good example of a two bar phrase is Phil Collin's I don't care anymore. Eric Clapton's Change the world has a very present 4 bar phrasing. The Eagles Hotel California has a good 8 bar phrasing in it too).
Still with me? (Really? Even I got lost for a while there!) Okay so the concept of my poly-rhythmic theory works off of a phrasing, let's say you've got a 4 bar phrase of 4/4 that means there's 16 beats in the phrasing, a standard rock groove would place emphasis on two and four of every measure, now you could cause what GH refers to as a rhythmic illusion by taking the 16 beats, and then subdivide the counts, let's say two measure of 5 and then two of three, just an example.
I know it's nothing earth shattering, it's just something I'm working on myself.
Something I was thinking of on the way to work this morning as I was listening to Change (By Justin King and the Apologies) and was probably influenced by Gavin Harrison's explanation of Polyrhythmic theory (see previous post for explanation).
Anyway this is something of a poly-rhythm idea (something I wouldn't have imagined a year ago). Right now it's mainly theory for me, I've tried it on my practice pads, but it doesn't really fit the style of music we use in praise team, so practical application will probably have to wait until the next Jam session. Okay here's the concept, say you've got a song in 4/4 a quarter note gets one beat, and there are four beats per measure, fairly basic stuff, here's where the theory comes in. Now phrasing has several definitions, but the general acceptance is that a phrase in music is a group of measures that seem to complete itself within a song. (A good example of a two bar phrase is Phil Collin's I don't care anymore. Eric Clapton's Change the world has a very present 4 bar phrasing. The Eagles Hotel California has a good 8 bar phrasing in it too).
Still with me? (Really? Even I got lost for a while there!) Okay so the concept of my poly-rhythmic theory works off of a phrasing, let's say you've got a 4 bar phrase of 4/4 that means there's 16 beats in the phrasing, a standard rock groove would place emphasis on two and four of every measure, now you could cause what GH refers to as a rhythmic illusion by taking the 16 beats, and then subdivide the counts, let's say two measure of 5 and then two of three, just an example.
I know it's nothing earth shattering, it's just something I'm working on myself.
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Reviewing a Sunday
Hmmm that's not that creative of a title, how about... Weekly Reflections? Nah already done. I suppose the most appropriate name for this post might be creating an environment Pt 2.
If anyone were to ask me about our Church being quote/unquote "Contemporary" I would probably (well taking in consideration the amount of caffeine in my system at that moment) respond that I think of Lifepoint to be more seeker sensitive, I suppose someone could argue semantics, but from my point a view a contemporary church is a church that aims to keep a younger generation from leaving the congregation, a seeker sensitive church is one that looks more to bring those who are far from God into a relationship with Jesus. (A point that Pastor Daniel nailed on Sunday).
Back to the topic here, as part of creative planning/programming team means we look for ways to help connect the message of Christ to people, (Or to borrow one of Lifepoint's catch-phrases, bring the message of Christ in a real relevant and relate-able way). I'll do a post later on some of the process of the creative planning, but for now let me focus on the part of the process includes looking back every week and analyzing how well the service worked. We categorize elements of the service into four categories, What was right, What was Wrong, What was confusing, and What was missing.
What was right:
What seemed to work out and really connect with people, did someone do an extra good job, making sure that the media (visual) fit the service. While the focus is usually on Service elements, we also look at Foyer environment, by foyer I mean everything that's going on before the service kicks off, like the greeter team helping to get everyone where they need be, etc... Like the title states it's what went right that week.
What was wrong:
Usually things that didn't flow smoothly in the service, were the lights late? Did the slides not match correctly? Was the sound to quiet? (I'm not saying that those are usual issues just as examples) Were the drums to loud? (now that is a re-occurring issue, our drummer just needs to learn how to player with a softer touch![for those wondering, I am said drummer]), we approach this section not as who/what's at fault but by how can we fix/improve on it.
What was missing:
As they say (and just who is "they" anyway?) Hindsight is 20-20 and we're no exception to this. We try to spot things that we missed, (could have done/normally do but didn't) occasionally things like special announcement for events go here, but really anything that's missing.
What was Confusing:
Sometimes things happen either audio, visual that just don't quite connect the way we mean them to. Like an illustration that somehow doesn't quite match the message, the end result? It's confusing and it ends up here.
Summing this up as part of our creative process we always review the results of the week, as a Seeker sensitive church our goal is to see people who are far from God experience His plan for their (and our) life, our weekly review is just a way to help ensure that we are moving in the direction of our goal and not away from it.
Hopefully this will help someone out there.
~Matt
If anyone were to ask me about our Church being quote/unquote "Contemporary" I would probably (well taking in consideration the amount of caffeine in my system at that moment) respond that I think of Lifepoint to be more seeker sensitive, I suppose someone could argue semantics, but from my point a view a contemporary church is a church that aims to keep a younger generation from leaving the congregation, a seeker sensitive church is one that looks more to bring those who are far from God into a relationship with Jesus. (A point that Pastor Daniel nailed on Sunday).
Back to the topic here, as part of creative planning/programming team means we look for ways to help connect the message of Christ to people, (Or to borrow one of Lifepoint's catch-phrases, bring the message of Christ in a real relevant and relate-able way). I'll do a post later on some of the process of the creative planning, but for now let me focus on the part of the process includes looking back every week and analyzing how well the service worked. We categorize elements of the service into four categories, What was right, What was Wrong, What was confusing, and What was missing.
What was right:
What seemed to work out and really connect with people, did someone do an extra good job, making sure that the media (visual) fit the service. While the focus is usually on Service elements, we also look at Foyer environment, by foyer I mean everything that's going on before the service kicks off, like the greeter team helping to get everyone where they need be, etc... Like the title states it's what went right that week.
What was wrong:
Usually things that didn't flow smoothly in the service, were the lights late? Did the slides not match correctly? Was the sound to quiet? (I'm not saying that those are usual issues just as examples) Were the drums to loud? (now that is a re-occurring issue, our drummer just needs to learn how to player with a softer touch![for those wondering, I am said drummer]), we approach this section not as who/what's at fault but by how can we fix/improve on it.
What was missing:
As they say (and just who is "they" anyway?) Hindsight is 20-20 and we're no exception to this. We try to spot things that we missed, (could have done/normally do but didn't) occasionally things like special announcement for events go here, but really anything that's missing.
What was Confusing:
Sometimes things happen either audio, visual that just don't quite connect the way we mean them to. Like an illustration that somehow doesn't quite match the message, the end result? It's confusing and it ends up here.
Summing this up as part of our creative process we always review the results of the week, as a Seeker sensitive church our goal is to see people who are far from God experience His plan for their (and our) life, our weekly review is just a way to help ensure that we are moving in the direction of our goal and not away from it.
Hopefully this will help someone out there.
~Matt
Monday, January 7, 2008
Good to Great
Right, I read this book a while back, a long while back, then at Saturday morning's Staff meeting Pastor Daniel referenced it several times, and I reminded myself that I really need to re-read it.
Then that evening I was at a Christmas/New Years/Kick off party with the Team, and two of the speakers there referred to it, I think someone is perhaps trying to send me a message?
I remember hearing Danny Cox speak a few years ago, same principle, but his take on it was that good is the enemy of Best, but best can be the enemy of better; Or in summary (or perhaps explanation, I can't see 14 words needing summing up) how many people settle for good instead of reaching for best. Then once they reach there "Best" how many people get complacent and stop there, never reach for better? This applies to people, talents, churches, businesses, or any organization for that matter.
So looking toward 2008, how about a year of growth and change, with a resolve to not fall into complacency?
Then that evening I was at a Christmas/New Years/Kick off party with the Team, and two of the speakers there referred to it, I think someone is perhaps trying to send me a message?
I remember hearing Danny Cox speak a few years ago, same principle, but his take on it was that good is the enemy of Best, but best can be the enemy of better; Or in summary (or perhaps explanation, I can't see 14 words needing summing up) how many people settle for good instead of reaching for best. Then once they reach there "Best" how many people get complacent and stop there, never reach for better? This applies to people, talents, churches, businesses, or any organization for that matter.
So looking toward 2008, how about a year of growth and change, with a resolve to not fall into complacency?
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Drummer Resources
For any Drummers out there here are a few really handy resources that I've picked up the last few months.
Well first of, one of the (at least in my opinion) best websites for drummers out there is Bernhard Castiglioni's Drummerworld (I know I've linked Vic Firth, Promark, and Vater's Websites in previous posts) But Drummerworld has video, audio, transcription and an active forum for drummers, it's also directly responsible for introducing me to several new drummers one of which I'll mention later.
Why a sudden drum post? Well my copy of Gavin Harrison's Rhythmic Visions & Horizons just arrived and I've been enjoying it immensely. However I would rate it for more advanced drummers, the very concepts of poly-rhythms and rhythmic illusions would have scared me off in my earlier days. (Gavin Harrison is the Drummer for the Progressive Rock Band Porcupine Tree, and voted the #1 prog drummer in the Modern Drummer 2007 poll). Honestly the real reason I bought this (Though the education part of it is really well don't don't get me wrong) but it comes with the loop for 19 days, (which you can watch him perform live at music messe on drummerworld) and it's an amazing song in 19/8 time.
Also picked up Tommy Igoe's groove essentials, this is a great resource for new and veteran drummers alike, it comes in three formats (that I know of) The Book/Cd, The DVD and the combo (both the book/CD and the DVD) I personally recommend the latter. The CD that comes with the book has all the loop tracks for the songs that are performed on the DVD (See how neatly it all fits together?)
Finally Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer. For those of you who don't recognize the name, Jojo is a phenomenal drummer who I first found out about on drummerworld... oh 2 years ago? (Look at his earlier videos) he's been big in the Drum and Bass world, especially with his group NERVE, but if there are any drummers out there who don't know who he is, that'll end now that SWFTMD is out. (I bought the first copy release at my local Guitar center. It's an encyclopedia of technique, exercises and tips. Perfect from the beginning drummer (showing proper grip) to the advanced drummer (with the shops workshop portion).
Well first of, one of the (at least in my opinion) best websites for drummers out there is Bernhard Castiglioni's Drummerworld (I know I've linked Vic Firth, Promark, and Vater's Websites in previous posts) But Drummerworld has video, audio, transcription and an active forum for drummers, it's also directly responsible for introducing me to several new drummers one of which I'll mention later.
Why a sudden drum post? Well my copy of Gavin Harrison's Rhythmic Visions & Horizons just arrived and I've been enjoying it immensely. However I would rate it for more advanced drummers, the very concepts of poly-rhythms and rhythmic illusions would have scared me off in my earlier days. (Gavin Harrison is the Drummer for the Progressive Rock Band Porcupine Tree, and voted the #1 prog drummer in the Modern Drummer 2007 poll). Honestly the real reason I bought this (Though the education part of it is really well don't don't get me wrong) but it comes with the loop for 19 days, (which you can watch him perform live at music messe on drummerworld) and it's an amazing song in 19/8 time.
Also picked up Tommy Igoe's groove essentials, this is a great resource for new and veteran drummers alike, it comes in three formats (that I know of) The Book/Cd, The DVD and the combo (both the book/CD and the DVD) I personally recommend the latter. The CD that comes with the book has all the loop tracks for the songs that are performed on the DVD (See how neatly it all fits together?)
Finally Jojo Mayer's Secret Weapons for the Modern Drummer. For those of you who don't recognize the name, Jojo is a phenomenal drummer who I first found out about on drummerworld... oh 2 years ago? (Look at his earlier videos) he's been big in the Drum and Bass world, especially with his group NERVE, but if there are any drummers out there who don't know who he is, that'll end now that SWFTMD is out. (I bought the first copy release at my local Guitar center. It's an encyclopedia of technique, exercises and tips. Perfect from the beginning drummer (showing proper grip) to the advanced drummer (with the shops workshop portion).
Thursday, January 3, 2008
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