be still and know

(click here to download)

I will be still
and know that You are God (repeat)

You know my longings deep within
You have the whole world in Your hands
Your whisper is worth my soul's waiting
...so I will be still and know You are God

I will be still
and know that You are God (repeat)

(You are God) You know my longings deep within
(You are God) You have the whole world in Your hands
(You are God) Your whisper is worth my soul's waiting
...so I will be still and know You are God


This song is actually a fairly personal song for me. I wrote it a couple of years ago during a period of some serious anxiety. While driving in the rain one afternoon, praying through the stress, I was reminded of the story of Elijah and God's "gentle whisper". I began singing quietly to myself. And within just a few minutes, I had written this entire song while driving in the rain (well, not the guitar part...but the rest of it).

Before Sunday, I had never led it congregationally. But it just fit so perfectly with Mark's teaching, I thought "oh, why not". Anyhoo, here it is...

the joy of knowing thee

(click here to download)

Lord, my one delight
and my greatest joy
is in knowing my Christ
and hearing Thy voice

Precious to my soul
Be my all, be my only
Chains of pride now fall
in the joy of knowing Thee

Oft affections wane
and my spirit strays
Lord, I pray for Your reins
and fall on Your grace

May this wandering heart
Lord, by Your stubborn mercy
N'er again depart
from the joy of knowing Thee

And when darkness falls
Your presence seems far
Still my peace in all
is knowing Who You are

You're a God whose close
even when silent seeming
Be it weak, still my boast
is the joy of knowing Thee

Christ unspeakable
Like nothing compare
Now my spirit soars
in blessed affair

Waves of joy now roll
like a well overflowing
Springing up from my soul
this great joy of knowing Thee


Again, this is a live, one-track recording from this past weekend. I did play with it a little...I adjusted EQ and added reverb...but there is only so much you can do.

Also, this is a fairly new song and Sunday was literally the first attempt at playing it with a band. Musically, there are a few changes I'd make (like slowing the tempo a little, going sans acoustic, etc)...but overall, in the words of my wife, "this recording is good enough to get the idea across". At least, I hope so. Enjoy...

sunday setlist 5-25-08

Here are the songs we did this past Sunday at Crossings...

pre-teaching:
"Come and Listen" - David Crowder
"O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing" - traditional
"Indescribable" - Laura Story
"The Joy of Knowing Thee" - original

post-teaching:
"Be Still and Know" - original

I am hoping to post mp3's of the two original songs later in the week. They certainly will not be great recordings (we record from one channel directly out of board)...but as long as they are halfway listen-able, I'll post them.

in the news...

I was going to post this local news piece simply because Betsy and I are in it. However, after watching it I was impressed by how simple and informative it actually is.

But I'm still just posting it because Betsy and I are in it.

sunday setlist 5-18-08

This past Sunday made 3 out of the last 4 weeks that I did not lead worship at Crossings. That is not totally by design. It has a little to do with our regular rotation of worship leaders and a little to do with Air Tran screwing up my flight three weeks ago (but let's not go into all of that again).

Robert Bennett led and did a great job; especially in the face of a little adversity. We ended up cutting two of the planned five songs because service was going long. But as I said, Robert rolled with the punches and really did great.

Here are all the songs we planned on doing...

pre-teaching:
"O Praise Him" - David Crowder
"Center" - Charlie Hall

post-teaching:
"You Alone" - David Crowder (-this was cut-)
"Holy and Anointed" - John Barnett (-this was cut-)
"I Could Run Away" - Waterdeep

church signs

...oh, church signs.

Is there any better fodder for 'blogdom' than church signs?

Its like slow-pitch softball. A church decides upon a funny little quip, appoints someone to spell it out in bold, black letters on a sign displayed for the whole world to see, and effectively lobs a big, round target for us eager and well-equipped bloggers to swing away at.

On my better days, which are admittedly few and far-between, I try and give these churches and their signs the benefit of the doubt. Apparently, yesterday was not one of my better days.

I laughed, out loud and for a long period of time, as I passed by a church (which will remain nameless) yesterday on my way home. I was alone, but that did not stop me from pondering aloud what this church could possibly have been thinking.

Here is what set this church sign apart from others...it is angled so that both sides face the very busy intersection on which the church is located. That isn't the impressive part. No, what truly makes this sign a cut above the rest is that they have taken full advantage of having visibility on both sides by displaying NOT one, but TWO catchy little slogans; one on each side.

They double the pleasure and double the fun.

So what two catchy little slogans has this church currently decided to display?

Side One: "Still breathing? There's still time."

Condescending? Sure. Callous and insensitive? Oh, absolutely. But, by all accounts, its still fairly run-of-the-mill for church signs. However...

Side Two: "Separate the church from the world"

Ahh. Simple, direct, and completely inwardly focused. Evangelism at its finest.

Now, I know that I am being a jerk. I'm sure Jesus wouldn't make fun of church signs. But, I don't know, sometimes I just see that pitch coming and my eyes get wide; I lick my lips, rear back and...

...oh, church signs.

n.k.o.t.b is b.a.c.k.

So, this happened today.

And I'm not afraid to admit that I was pretty excited about too. Not as excited as my wife, however. You can read her thoughts about it here. Of course, she left out the part about her CRYING during their first song.

sunday setlist 5-11-08

This past Sunday was my first time leading worship in a few weeks.

We did an all acoustic set and had a blast. Blake Strozyk played mandolin, melodica, djembe and acoustic (not all at the same time...but its still pretty impressive). Matthew Nelson played accordian, my wife played glockenspiel and Dane Lakin played drums/percussion.

Here are the songs...

pre-teaching:
"Behold My Weary Soul" - original
"I Saw the Light" - Hank Williams
"All Creatures of Our God and King" - traditional
"Let My Words be Few" - Matt Redman

special music(?):
"Open Road" - Alex Woodward

post-teaching:
"I Will Not Forget You" - Waterdeep

By the way, does anybody have a better term than 'special music'? We don't necessarily like calling it that, but we can't come up with anything better. It is basically just a song that goes with the week's teaching. Any ideas?

advil, afrin & neosporin

Yesterday at Crossings we started our new teaching series titled, "Sacred Pathways". The basic gist being that there isn't just one way to connect with God. And to illustrate how silly it would be to think that there is, we showed the video below.

But, before watching, you need to know that Mark has three things on him at all times...Advil, Afrin & Neosporin. I sometimes think that he really believes those three things can cure any ailment...

sunday setlist 5-4-08

This would be the second Sunday in a row that I did not lead worship at Crossings. Because I was teaching, Blake Strozyk led and did a great job, as he always does.

Here are the songs we did...

pre-teaching:
"We are Yours" - Charlie Hall
"Big Enough to Hold Me" - Waterdeep
"Surrender" - Marc James

post-teaching:
"God of Justice" - Tim Hughes
"According to Thy Gracious Word" - traditional (original arrangement)

thanks a lot greg...

Greg Adkins made me and my wife cry on Saturday morning. In all actuality, it was probably my fault. But I blame Greg.

If you are not familiar with Greg's music, you should be. He has a website, and is on myspace and virb and...

Okay. Enough hyperlinks.

I had been listening to Greg's CD "Chase the Western Sky" last week in the car. Saturday morning, as Betsy and I got ready to drive across town to Leadership Community, his CD was still in the CD player. I turned it down a little and pulled out.

Betsy and I chatted away as usual, with the Greg playing in the background. As I merged on to I-40, I heard the beginning of one of my favorite of Greg's songs...so I said, "Shhh" and turned it up.

Oops.

The song is titled "The End of You and Me". Greg wrote it when his wife was about as far along in her pregnancy as Betsy is now. Here are the lyrics...

"In the blackness of a January morning
We bundle in our winter coats and drive
To the place… that’s been prepared
Nervous hands gripping on the steering wheel
Cumberland is just a few more miles
In a minute we’ll be there

This is not the way I thought it would be
The end of you and me

Goodbye to the holly wood ending
Kissing in the twilight in the rain
And we can’t hold back the tears
Instead we stumble our way through revolving doors
And have to sit forever in the waiting room
Well at least our families are here

This is not the way I thought it would be
The end of you and me

Everything we’ve known is over now
Everything we’ve come to love will change
The way that we have been has vanished like the wind
It can never be just you and me again

On the way back home I’ll drive under the speed limit
We’ll turn around at every single stop sign
Just to see if he’s still there

And this is better than I though it would be
The end of you and me"

As I said, Betsy and I were in tears by the end of the song. I blamed Greg. Betsy blamed me. Either way, we had to take the long way to Leadership Community and try to compose ourselves, so as not to look like we'd been fighting or had just received news of someone's death.

I knew that this whole pregnancy thing made women over-emotional. I guess I didn't realize that it did the same to us guys.

sunday setlist 4-27-08

I was on an airplane at the time, but here are the songs we did last Sunday at Crossings. Nate McConnaughhay led and, I hear, did a fantastic job.

He, like everyone else involved in service last week, had to make some changes Saturday night because of my air travel issues. But he is a trooper and rolled with the punches. Thanks Nate.

Anyhoo, here they are...

pre-teaching:
"O Worship the King" - traditional (but Tomlin-ized)
"Hosanna" - Hillsong United
"In Christ Alone" - Keith Getty
"Mighty to Save" - Hillsong

post-teaching:
"Here is Our King" - David Crowder