Meet With Me (G) Lamont Hiebert
Jesus Is Alive (G) Jason Chollar
Jesus You’re Enough (G) Jason Chollar
Mighty To Save (C) Hillsong Live

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/2010/081510music.mp3

You can right click the links and choose “save (link/target) as …” to download to your own computer in order to listen to later, to put on your ipod or burn your own CD.  In fact,  you can access our entire library of audio files at www.cedarhome.org/mp3/

In the same way that spoken language changes over the years, so do musical styles.  We no longer speak English to one another like they did in the time of King James, nor do we speak Latin as they did in the church for a thousand years, nor do we speak the language of the original people to whom the scriptures were given.  Yes, we can read the King James Bible and some who have studied can even read the Latin Vulgate or even the original texts in Greek and Hebrew and there will always be a need for that.  But for the vast majority of people, we need to retell that most important story and it’s sub-stories again and again in every possible language, dialect and sub-dialect.  God is the great I AM, the living God and he has always interacted with people and still does today and we must make the gospel known in every tongue, including musically.  It has been said that when you sing, you pray twice – once with the words and the other with your music and melody.  People need prayers in their own mother language, both lyrically and musically.

Shifts in musical language have happened over the years, especially recently with technology, and we are still adapting to some new paradigm shifted realities.  Let’s take a look at how the microphone as a symbol for new audio technologies are still transforming the musical landscape.

Microphone and Notation.

It used to be that over long distances of time and space, the most accurate way of capturing the essence of a musical experience was by writing down various descriptions of what you heard.  We have developed in the West a highly sophisticated notation system that is slowly being replaced by the more accurate, more High Fidelity as we might say, system: audio recording.  Audio engineering is the new notation system. More and more musicians play things by ear with vague memory joggers as an aid in the form of chord charts.

Microphone and Ensemble Size.

It used to take a very large orchestra or choir to fill a large room with music.  Now a single musician with overdubs and technology can fill a stadium not even really designed for music, but rather for loud sporting events.  The economic realities of a small group of people splitting the profits has led to ensemble sizes being considerably smaller, once again eliminating another reason for the notation system, if no parts need to be doubled up on.

Microphone and Vocal Style

The Italian Bel Canto style was invented in order to allow a singer to sing with a larger than life voice that would reach the very back of giant rooms.  Now, with a microphone, the singer is freed up to be able to use a wide palette of emotional timbres, vowel shapes and colloquial accents that were impossible with the older system.

Microphones and emphasis on Time/Rhythm

Because rooms no longer need to be built to bounce sound around to help it carry to the back row, the microphone and amplifiers and speakers do all the heavy lifting, making it possible to have more complicated rhythms and more of an emphasis on tight rhythms.  Imagine the difference between the sound of a hi-hat in a modern day isolated studio and in a large cathedral.

Microphone and the Internet

Combined with the power of the internet, today’s average listener has access to more music from more artists from more ages in history than ever before.  This allows for revivals and continuation of musical styles that might have otherwise passed on.  The musical tastes and knowledge represented in an average crowd today might well be significantly more diverse than the past. What effect is that having?  What will it mean for future generations?  We’ll have to wait and see!

O God, Our Help in Ages Past (G) Tommy Walker
God’s Not Dead (G) Jason Chollar
I Waited (G) Bill Batstone
How He Loves (C) John Mark McMillan
Jesus Loves Me (C) Anne B. Warner

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/2010/071110music.mp3

You can right click the links and choose “save (link/target) as …” to download to your own computer in order to listen to later, to put on your ipod or burn your own CD.  In fact,  you can access our entire library of audio files at www.cedarhome.org/mp3/

Indescribable (G) Laura Story
Song Of Hope (B) Robbie Seay
Blessed Be Your Name (B) Matt Redman
Sweetly Broken (B) Jeremy Riddle

http://www.cedarhome.org/mp3/2010/061310music.mp3

You can right click the links and choose “save (link/target) as …” to download to your own computer in order to listen to later, to put on your ipod or burn your own CD.  In fact,  you can access our entire library of audio files at www.cedarhome.org/mp3/

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/learning%20to%20trust%20you%20-%20band%20mix%20april%2014%202010.mp3

http://cedarhome.org/chordcharts/We’re%20learning%20to%20trust%20you%20(G).doc

http://cedarhome.org/chordcharts/We’re%20learning%20to%20trust%20you%20(Ab).doc

Lord, I sure could use a hug right now
To feel your loving arms wrapped around my soul
Like a helpless little child I’m all alone
Father I hurt so bad, Father it hurts so bad
Won’t you wrap me in your arms right now
Won’t you soothe the aching deep within my soul
In my darkest hour it’s comforting to know
That you’ve been here – that you are near

To me now – be with me now
Not my will but yours be done
Father let you Kingdom come
To me now – be near me now
Not my will but yours be done
Father let you kingdom come here and now

Words & Music by Jason Chollar © 2010

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/hug.mp3

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/godsnotdeadeaster2010wHG.mp3

Brian had a ton of great things to say about the craft of songwriting.  He talked about the dance between having words with true meaning, and artistic truth and beauty as well. You want the words to be true and you want them to be creative, to fit well in the mouth, to be interesting and inspiring and captivating.  In worship songs for the church, the “truth” has to lead, but both partners have to be strong in order for the song to endure. “Musical style ebbs and flows and constantly changes, but the truth never goes out of style!”

He also talked about 3 mistakes that songwriters often have:

1) trying to do to much with 1 song, list songs where there isn’t enough focus

2) truth without beauty.  worship song must be true but also inspiring and fresh. They need to capture the imagination and roll well off the tongue.

3) beauty with fuzzy truth/questionable theology. In the quest to be creative, they lose sight of the fact that clear truth has to lead the way.

He also talked about his songwriting teaching DVDs, his book “Make Love, Make War” and his stage play “the Prodigal Father” I believe, which they are trying to come out with soon.  He and his wife Joyce have a ton of kids including multiple special needs kids, which I can identify with.  He also serves quite deeply in his local church and has times when he is so busy pastoring that he won’t write anything for even 6 months at a time.  His church is involved in reaching out to the poor and he talks about the battle and the incredible sense of the presence of God in prison ministry.  Amazing that he has time for  all that.

And at the end, I got to ask my question: “When you look over history, many if not most of the older songs had different writers for the music and lyrics, and they were often separated by decades and the writers often never met.  Today we expect both these things to come from the same person.  What are your thoughts?”

He responded that it was a good observation and that he highly encourages co-writing and maybe God is planting a seed in me to do just that.

I am still wondering if it might be a reality of the modern world we live in.  We have more free time.  It’s a smaller world.  I know a couple famous songwriters who just did a cowriting session over skype, and others have been doing cowriting over the phone for years….

Anyhow, it was a great call that gave me a lot to chew on.

Hope y’all enjoyed reading about it.  If you want to hear the recording of the call, you should be able to if you join www.worshiptraining.com.  Not sure what the cost is.  I took the online “worship essentials courses” and they were awesome and they threw in a free 1 year membership.

Thanks all!

We still have a few copies of the photo CDs, so if you need another copy, let us know.

In the meanwhile, our last few pictures are available to all on flickr:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/30021547@N05/sets/72157621979484803/

We didn’t do any written journaling today, but we did do some interviews and some of the material was used in our Grand Finale Video which you can see here:

We are hard at work getting the master video done for you all and hope to mail you out a DVD in the coming week.

Sadly enough, we forgot to record our songs on Friday morning and the computer gave us an error message on  Friday evening, so all we have is the audio from the tiny mic in the video camera.  We’ll still be taking all that audio and mixing it down as best as we can to put onto a CD for you to keep, but please accept our apologies that the quality isn’t what we were hoping for.

You can hear a few audio clips of what we did this week still at:

http://www.cedarhome.org/mp3/worshipcamp2

Woohoo!  Thanks again for coming and making it a great experience for all!

God bless

-Agent J (Jason Chollar)

Day 4

We had a great day again today.  We talked about how music is part of spiritual warfare.  We talked about how our physical posture in affects our emotions and our spiritual walk. We got an overview of church music history and how the microphone changed the world of music.  It was pretty hot, but we got some great practicing in as well.  We’re looking forward to tomorrow:

Friday: 9-12 Camp, 6:30 Sound Check, 7:00 worship concert and dessert potluck!  Don’t forget to invite your friends and family and bring something yummy to share!

Journal: Worship Camp Level II Journals Day 4

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30021547@N05/sets/72157622097576148/

(our first video had some audio copyright issues, so try this new one…)

Day 3

We had another great day today including:

• sharing time from the Psalms
• Hands on sound system trouble shooting, chord building, digital mixing and video production
• Pop Music Theory using Nashville Numbers System
• Lunch and snacks of course
• “Injury” stories
• And just some good practice time!

Journals: Worship Camp Level II Journals Day 3

Pictures: http://www.flickr.com/photos/30021547@N05/sets/72157621963520731/

Video: (including the parts the students shot and edited themselves:

Day 2

Today’s Song: Talk to God (D)

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/worshipcamp2/youcantalktoGod8-18-09.mp3

That and all the other chordcharts we have can be found at

http://www.cedarhome.org/chordcharts

Talk to God

You can twitter random strangers
You can facebook all your friends
You can email all your teachers
You can text the president

You don’t need a cell phone
Don’t worry bout dead zones
There ain’t no distance too far

You can always talk to God

Woohoo!  Worship Camp in June was so successful that we are aiming at having another one in August, August 17-21.  We are going to move everything up a notch for this next one.  The age range is just a touch higher, starting this time from incoming 8th graders and up. The level of teaching will cover some more advanced topics such as songwriting, music theory, arranging and digital recording.  The most vital info is the following:

Worship Camp Level II F.A.Q.
Dates August 17-21, 2009
Times Mon-Thurs.: 9am-4pm, Fri: 9-12, Concert @ 7pm
Cost $149 per student, due Aug 17, payable to Jason Chollar
Grade 8th-12th grade
Lunch? Bring a sack lunch!
Registration Deadline:    August 9th, 2009
How many? 10 students maximum
Space is limited so sign up today by contacting jason">jason

You can download Cedarhome Worship Camp – Level 2 Brochure

If you want to see some pictures from our last worship camp go to:

www.cedarhome.org/images/worshipcamp

If you want to listen to some audio from the week, you can hear it here:

http://www.cedarhome.org/mp3/worshipcamp/

Here’s a first run at a video clip that we are working on:

We have more video clips on the way, so watch here!

Please help us spread the word!

Thanks!

-jason

Listen for yourself and let me know what you think.

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/rough%20drafts/makemetheman.mp3

Make me the man (Am)

Make me the man You’ve called me to be
Strong and courageous, tender and sweet
Ready for battle, filled with your love
Cunning as a serpent, innocent as a dove

I am nothing without you
But I can do anything through you, you, you!

In the world it’s twisted upside down
Where the strong consume the weak
Give me the strength to love like Jesus
Who gave his life for his enemies

Words & Music by Jason Chollar © Jason Chollar. May 11, 2009.

The guest speaker for the day we visited was Heather Clark and her main topic for the day was “give the little you have” and it was a moving and inspiring testimony of the journey that the Lord has brought her on.

As we were talking about some of the difficulties and joys of reaching out to the hurting in our communities, and after hearing from Heather and reading over the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000 in Matthew 14, we spent a few hours working really hard to craft a song.  It wasn’t easy, but it was a wonderful time of working out the words to this prayer and one of our first tries for all of us at a true co-writing situation.  This song includes words and melodies contributed by all of us!

Tonight I took it to the worship team and they had a couple more suggestions for making the words even better, and then we were able to make a demo recording tonight for your listening pleasure.  Enjoy.

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/rough%20drafts/jesusyoureenoughtake2june10mix.mp3

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/rough%20drafts/jesusyoureenoughtake2june10mix.mp3

http://cedarhome.org/chordcharts/Jesus%20You%27re%20Enough%20(E).doc

Jesus You’re Enough

Precious Lord, we’re answering Your call
To gather the people and bring them to Jesus
On our own, we can’t do much at all
We ourselves are bruised and shattered, so take us as we are

Jesus, You’re enough, You fill our deepest longings
You still our endless hunger, Your love satisfies
We come to you so thirsty, You open up the floodgates
Pouring out Your Spirit on our hearts so dry
Jesus, You’re enough

The crowd is so needy, the task is overwhelming
Broken people, wounds so deep
We want to push them all away
The little we have to offer, we give to You completely
Multiply these few things and turn them into plenty

Words and Music by Jason Chollar, Sam and Milena Geleynse © 2009

I had some exciting news that I wanted to share ASAP.  Will you pass this info along to anyone
you know who might be interested?  It’s coming up quick so I need to get the word out.

I have 3 or 4 slots filled already, but want to
make sure we get a full 10 in on the deal!

Have y’all heard that I have the pleasure of 7 worship arts interns
this summer?  Yes 7!  So, one of the projects our team is taking on is
a Worship Day Camp during the last week in June.

You can download the cedarhome-worship-camp-brochure, but the most vital info is below:

Food?  B.Y.O.S.L.A.S =Bring Your Own Sack Lunch and Snacks!

Why send your son/daughter/worship team member to the worship camp?

June 22 is coming up quick and space is limited to just 10 spots.

If you can’t participate in this one, don’t worry, I fully plan on
doing this again.
However, part of the reason for the exceptional prices is that this is our very
first one!  If things go well, we will probably be charging more for
the next one.

So, if you are interested in attending this weeklong worship camp,
Let me know ASAP!

Thanks y’all!

Matthew Stinson and Tyler Cutforth are continuing over the summer and we are adding 5 wonderful young ladies in random order: Michelle Scott, Siri Maier, Abby Petersen, Amy Fulcher and Celesti Shafer.

It is wonderful to see so many young people investing their lives in the Kingdom of God!

Julie Pearce, Nancy Pounds and I (Pastor Jason) will be in charge of them for the summer, so pray that we would have highly helpful wisdom and training to pass along to them, and pray that we all as a team have an impactful summer!

-jason

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/rough%20drafts/make%20me%20the%20man%20rough%20draft.mp3

Make me the man

Make me the man You’ve called me to be
Strong/Bold and courageous, tender and sweet
Ready for battle, filled with your love
Cunning as a serpent, innocent as a dove

I am nothing without you
But I can do anything through you, you, you!

In the world it’s twisted upside down
Where the strong feed on the weak
Give me the strength to love like Jesus
Who gave his life for his enemies

Words & Music by Jason Chollar © Jason Chollar. May 11, 2009.
—

Comments?  Suggestions?  Come on my fellow song writers.  Give me some good feedback.  Obviously needs some more words.  What else?

-jason

Enjoy

http://www.stanwoodfoursquare.com/images_editable/Worship%20Workshop%202009.mp3

http://www.stanwoodfoursquare.com/general/gen02.php?pageId=261

Stanwood Foursquare Church Worship Workshop 2009

2 Corinthians 5: 20
“20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God”.

Romans 12: 1-2
“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will
is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (NIV).

“1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday,
ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and
place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best
thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit
into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed
from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly
respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level
of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in
you” (MSG).

Hebrews 10: 24-25
“24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day
approaching” (NIV).

Psalm 9:11
“Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what
He has done” (NIV)

Psalm 30:4
“Sing to the LORD, you saints of His; praise His holy name…” (NIV)

Psalm 32:11
“Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in
heart!” (NIV)

Exodus 15:1
“[ The Song of Moses and Miriam ] Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to
the LORD : “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted” (NIV).

2 Chronicles 5:13
The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and
thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments,
they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; His love
endures forever.” Stanwood Foursquare Church Worship Workshop 2009

2 Corinthians 5: 20
“20We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal
through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God”.

Romans 12: 1-2
“1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as
living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the
renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will
is—his good, pleasing and perfect will” (NIV).

“1-2 So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday,
ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and
place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best
thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit
into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed
from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly
respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level
of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in
you” (MSG).

Hebrews 10: 24-25
“24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good
deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day
approaching” (NIV).

Psalm 9:11
“Sing praises to the LORD, enthroned in Zion; proclaim among the nations what
He has done” (NIV)

Psalm 30:4
“Sing to the LORD, you saints of His; praise His holy name…” (NIV)

Psalm 32:11
“Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in
heart!” (NIV)

Exodus 15:1
“[ The Song of Moses and Miriam ] Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to
the LORD : “I will sing to the LORD, for He is highly exalted” (NIV).

2 Chronicles 5:13
The trumpeters and singers joined in unison, as with one voice, to give praise and
thanks to the LORD. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments,
they raised their voices in praise to the LORD and sang: “He is good; His love
endures forever.”

For The institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.

Here is a rough draft with the whole band

http://cedarhome.org/mp3/songs/rough%20drafts/leadmetoyourheart-may14roughdraft.mp3

Lead me to your heart

You’ve called me on a journey
To leave behind the sinful valley
To let go of the bitter pleasures
poisoning my soul
The road ahead is narrow
With twists and turns, it’s steep and winding
But Jesus with your hand in mine there’s
nowhere I can’t go!

Lead me to your heart
Help me climb your holy mountain
There is more to you
than I will ever know
I fix my eyes on You
Step by step, your path I follow
Though the way is long
I’m pressing on!

Words & Music by Jason Chollar April 23, 2009.

Lead me to your heart (D)

—

The Story

I sat down tonight to do my final creative project for my final class towards my music BA.  As you have probably read, this module has been about worship values and spiritual formation.  I was reading through and thinking about the Psalms of Ascent (120–134) sung by the Jews on their trips up to the city on the hill: Jerusalem going to the temple to worship. This is one of my favorite illustrations of congregational worship, a group of people heading up the mountain to worship the Lord. I was also thinking of Lot escaping from Sodom and Gomorrah.  Also, notice the candles in the video shot, for mood.

What do y’all think? I’d love some feedback!

-jason

Greetings everyone.  This week’s class was astoundingly rich.  I am like a jukebox on TILT.  It is going to take me a while to be able to distill and process the information and turn it into experimentation, action and practice.  We read a few excerpts from classic books on Christian spirituality from authors such as C.S.Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, John of the Cross, Jonathan Edwards, …

I would say that overall it is very clear to me that our spiritual maturity is a journey, and I have a long way to go, but many have gone before and offer their advice and guidance and I would be a fool to ignore it all.

Let me give you just 1 little tidbit that might even be provocative.  One of the suggestions for growing in maturity is to light a candle during your time with the Lord.  Why?  Is this superstitious? Is this giving in to the flesh?  In the eyes of some, it is simply recognizing that we are physical creatures, and are affected by our environment.  In the same way that it might help to tune my guitar before leading people in worship, because an out of tune guitar can be distracting, enjoying the act of lighting a candle, drinking it in with all my senses, basking in the intimate glow  that a candle offers, can be helpful to me as a physical creature.  It was also suggested that I pray, as I am lighting the match: “Lord I know you are fully devoted to me.  I am fully devoted to you.” So, why not try it?

In my house, I am going to have to be extra careful, beause I have an autistic son who LOVES to play with matches and candles and fire and smoke.  Still, it’s worth a shot.

Anyone want to give it a try with me?

I’ll report back in a week or so after I’ve had a chance to experience it for myself.

Until then,

May God bless you on your spiritual journey.

-jason

For The institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.

Week 3 – Kingdom Expectation

When we gather as a church family to meet with our King Jesus, do we believe He is there and expect him to interract with us, or are we just going through empty motions?  Father, we say we want to hear from you.  Do we expect then that You’ll speak and are we listening, ready to hear and obey?  We say we need healing and restoration.  Do we expect God to bring it?  In the same way that James tells us to ask God for wisdom and then fully expect God to give it to us, I think the same holds true for worship in so many ways.  Lord, teach us to not be disrespectful and ask but not listen, hear but not obey.  We believe that you are at work among us, and in a special way when we are gathered together in your name.  Teach us to approach these times with eyes and ears of faith, looking to see how indeed you will choose to interact with us.  You are alive and close to us and long to reveal your love to us.  I pray that we are open to receive it!

We cannot force God to show up at our meetings or determine how He will choose to work.  Sometimes He works in big, bold, tangible ways and other times his Presence is more subtle and less easy to discern.  If we say that we are meeting with God, though, and we act as if He isn’t there and we have to do all the work ourselves, then we are playing a pathetic, shameful game and we should stop.

Lord, teach us to listen and respond to your voice.

May Your Kingdom come and your will be done, right here in us, among us and through us.  Make Your Kingdom tangible through us.  We surrender and lay our lives down to you, King Jesus.

Amen.

—

Question:  How can we help people to come with true Kingdom Expectation, not just come to play the religious game?

-jason

Jesus is alive .mp3 audio

Jesus is alive

Jesus is alive, risen from the grave
With a blast of light the stone was rolled away
No more guilt or shame, death where is thy sting?
He’s the ruler over all, he has conquered everything

When darkness filled the sky
It seemed all hope was gone
Death could not crush his life
The Ever–Living-One!

He’s alive! And He’s here with us!
He’s alive! So very near to us!
He’s alive! Yes, he lives in us!
Jesus, fill us with your life!

Words & Music by Jason Chollar © 2004

Jesus is alive (G) chordchart

(for more keys, look in cedarhome.org/chordcharts)

jesus-is-alive.ppt

Story behind the Song

Easter and Christmas have such a rich tradition of music to draw from, but every year I struggle to be able to include both ancient songs, and brand new songs communicating the same ancient truth.  Just a few weeks before Easter of 2004, I gave up looking for a new song.  I just couldn’t find any.  We had already done “Arise my love”, Don Francisco’s “He’s alive”, Third Day’s “Thief”  Delirious “Did you feel the mountains tremble” … recently and I just couldn’t seem to find new one.  When a few of my music students called and canceled, I ended up with an unexpected pocket of time, and thought I’d try writing a song, and this is the result.  We ended up teaching it to the congregation and have sung it quite a few times since.  May the message of hope continue to ring out from generation to generation.

Week 2 – Accessibility & Cultural Relevance

For The institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.

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Accessibility & Cultural Relevance

This is a huge priority here at Cedarhome.  We truly value the participation of our every day people in our services.  We want everyone to be able to come in and truly engage with God. We don’t want God to remain hidden behind a cloud of ancient churchy language.  God is enough of a mystery as it is!  We want to build bridges and allow people to truly connect with God and love him with heart, soul, mind and strength.  That’s why we only do one new song a month.  That is why we do some of the songs in the keys we do them.  That is why we are very careful about choosing songs that are helping people connect.  That is why we do a spread of songs, aiming to engage everyone from the youngest to the oldest, from those who have grown up in church, and especially to those who may have never set foot in a church before.  That is why we have such practical teaching.  That is why we have words on the screen and are careful with the background images and also print out songsheets whenever we can.  That is why we turn the music up loud enough to excite and engage, but not so loud that is overpowering.  I could go on and on.  We want all to feel welcome and loved and understand what is going on and be able to fully participate.

I believe this is an area where Cedarhome is particularly strong, but there is always room for improvement!  What more can we do to help make God accessible, especially to someone who has never been to church before?

Hit me with your ideas people!

-jason

Week 1 – Intimacy & Integrity

For The institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.

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This week’s readings and videos were about 2 values in god pleasing worship:  intimacy and integrity.

God has chosen to be vulnerable and reveal himself to us, risking our rejection and all the pain from it.  He is taking the first step of love towards us, and he wants us to do the same.  Lord, teach us how to be honest and vulnerable with you in our worship.  We don’t want to fake it.  We don’t want to pretend that everything is ok, when it isn’t.  You give us permission to relate to you as our heavenly Abba, Daddy, Father.  Lord, help us to not just sing songs and sit through a sermon, but to truly engage with you.  And Lord, help us as church leaders to model it ourselves and make space and time available for your people to do just that.  Lord, we want to be real with you and have our lives reflect the prayers and priorities that we sing about in church, that we read about in the scriptures and that we say on Sunday morning that we hold dear.  Lord, cause our lives to be in line with our prayers, and lead our prayers to reflect your heart more and more.

Question to anyone reading this from Cedarhome: How can we encourage intimacy and integrity at Cedarhome in our worship?

I would love to hear your ideas.

-jason

http://www.musicademy.com/2009/02/13/moving-images-behind-the-words-on-worship-songs-a-help-or-a-hindrance/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter0902c

Are Moving Visuals during worship Distracting or Helpful? Discernment and Yet freedom of expression: I agree that moving visuals behind images requires discernment. Not  using them at all, though, in order to focus on the words, … Why even sing them at all?  Indeed, there have been movements to restrict singing, or restrict it to a cappella, or to just familiar tunes … all so that the music doesn’t distract from the message.  All of these seem to contradict the basic spirit of Psalm 150 … “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord!” There are layers of meaning and expression that singing offers us that just can’t be achieved in any other way.  The same holds true for using instruments.  There is an atmosphere that can be created with instruments that is hard to achieve any other way.  There are things that I can say with the guitar or piano, or bass, or drums or lyre or harp or…. that are hard to express with the human body alone. That same thing is true of lighting, decorating and visual imagery.  There is an emotional difference between an office flourescent tube and a candle lit dinner.  They communicate, express, set the tone for different things.  You may very well be able to read better in bright office lighting, but is that the atmosphere you want for reading a love poem to your wife? In the same way, we need to use all of the creative arts at our disposal in glorious extravagant worship of our King and Savior and Lover of our Souls! A few more thoughts though: Newness We are commanded to sing a new song. (Psalm 98:1)  It is always distracting at first to do so.  However, singing and doing something new speaks of the very character of God.  He is the Great I AM.  While we certainly should not be slaves to the “keeping up with the Jones’s” modern infatuation with the “new and improved”.  We need a healthy balance.  What are we saying about God if we only sing songs that were written hundreds of years ago?  We certainly don’t want to lose our heritage either, which is why we aren’t told to “Only Sing New Songs!”  We need a healthy influx of the new, and if at all possible Local!  How cool is it to have a local testimony through song, even if it isn’t quite “AS GOOD” as the professional nashville songwriters or the tried and true classics.  The content of the songs is NOT the only thing we need to be aware of.  Singing a NEW song, says something about God. Singing a PERSONAL testimony of God’s work in our lives communicates something to the community too.  Everything new is distracting at first.   Every classic song was once a new song.  Every classic instrument (guitar, piano, organ, drums, …) was once looked on with suspicion as that “new” instrument.  Let us not be fearful or infatuated with the “new”, but walk a healthy balance. Context There are communities and contexts where I am sure it is wisest to simply sing from the hymnal or songbook, and times to just speak the words out loud together.  Let us pray to God for wisdom to fit every situation, and yet the grace to allow others to do the same! Our situation At our church we put moving backgrounds behind most of the songs.  We are careful to try to match songs with the right “atmosphere” kind of like you would the right lighting, or the right musical groove.  This is art, not science, so it’s often a subjective thing with layers of  better, even better, best of the limited choices we have.  We usually provide printed song sheet handouts for those who have trouble reading.  Sometimes we miss and there’s too much motion and it’s distracting.  Sometimes we have people who are moved as much by the background as they are by the song.  All talking about the same song even!  As leaders we can’t and won’t make everyone happy.  Let us ask God for divine wisdom as how to best make use of all the tools at our disposal in each situation with skilled hands and servant’s hearts. Solo Deo Gloria (To God alone be the glory) -jason So… Question Time: Tell me about a time that the visuals during worship were helpful or distracting, or your general opinion!  Give me some feedback here! -jason

Almighty King

Almighty King, Royal Majesty
Lord, you are glorious, Clothed with splendor and light
Matchless, ageless one, High upon your throne
Your servants are crying out, Glory and Honor to You

All the angels cry, Holy, Holy, Holy!
All creation cries, Worthy, Worthy are You
To receive glory, honor and power forever
To God who was and is, and is to come

Words & Music by Jason Chollar © 2009
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One of the things that really struck me in my Worship Essentials Theology class was the picture of God as King.  God as King. Professor Dan Wilt would repeat it for emphasis!    Also, N.T.Wright really emphasizes the pictures found in Revelation 4 and 5 as central to understand what worship through song should be like. I know there are a number of songs in this vein, but I wanted to have a fresh way to worship God as majesty, so I did some brainstorming of words that I wanted to use and then opened up Revelation chapter 4 for reference:

Revelation 4 (New International Version)

The Throne in Heaven

¹After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ²At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and carnelian. A rainbow, resembling an emerald, encircled the throne. ⁴Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. Before the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits^[a] of God. ⁶Also before the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” ⁹Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, ¹⁰the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
¹¹“You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

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And so… I wrote this song!  Hope you enjoy.

Creative Project – Worship Essentials Blue – Winter 09

For The institute of Contemporary And Emerging Worship Studies, St. Stephen’s University, Essentials Red Online Worship History Course with Dan Wilt.

Once upon a time God created the heavens and the earth.  God made the earth a special garden and put inside of it, his most prized creation, the one that most bears his image – humankind.  God gave him a free will with the capacity to truly choose love him back.  And so the man and woman did.  They laughed and danced and sang and played in the garden everyday.  Sadly, the serpent Satan broke into the story and convinced Adam and Eve to turn against their Father and smash the peace and harmony in all their relationships.  Worship, The free expression, the creative exchange, the response of love that man was meant to have with God was now marred by selfishness, self consciousness, self servingness.
But God sent his one and only Son to set things right again and so after the fall, recreation began again at the resurrection.  And now his church, the children who have chosen to return and be loyal to him, are again experiencing the healing and restoration back to right-relatedness that they were meant to have, which can’t help but lead to a continued transformation of all mankind’s relationships.
Communication is at the very heart of every relationship.  Speech is organized sound.  Music is organized sound.  Speech is often concrete, you can use the word rock as a metaphor, but you can also be describing an actual physical thing.  Music is abstract. Like intonation of a spoken phrase, it deals with emotion, with they why, with the subtle or not so subtle WAY you say something.  Humans, being like God, are quite creative in their modes of communication, just as they are with all sorts of things from problem solving to organizing to dreaming.
God has not only invited his family to return to a loving relationship with him, both individually and as a family, but he has sent us on a mission to blow away the fog of deception that Satan continues to pour out on lost souls.  What they need is the light of the truth.  They need to hear THE True Story.  They need to hear it told in a thousand ways, from a thousand angles.  We all do.  Bringing life to the truth, bringing body to the truth, bringing not just bland facts, but exploring the living, powerful, inspiring Story is what both the lost and the found need.  Salvific Storytellers, as Dan Wilt would call them.
As worship leaders, we are called to gather God’s people and help them to connect with God through music and the arts.  We are called to help people engage, pour out their love, yell and whisper, dance and bow, cry and be silent before their wonderful King and Best Friend – YHWH – Yeshua.
Lord, draw us closer to you!

Amen!

Listen up all you God wrestlers! YHWH – the great I AM – is our God, YHWH alone. He is the one and only true, living, everlasting God. And what does Yahweh want? He wants you to love Him with all that you are!

Let me tell you the story…

In the beginning, or “Once upon a time” as we say in storybooks, God created the heavens and the earth. He is more powerful than we are able to imagine and is a creative, expressive being. If you ever doubt that, just look at creation! Since the creation of the world God’s invisible attributes-his eternal power and divine nature-have been understood and observed by what he made. And this creative, powerful God not only created the universe we see around us, He also put in it one creature that was to be his image bearer. Somehow this creature especially shows the nature of who God is – the human. Like God we were meant to rule and become masters and caretakers of all of creation. Like God, we are creative, from songs to paintings to gardening or nuclear science, our creative imaginations are expressions of our Creator. Humans also uniquely reflect God’s nature in their desire for love, for relationships. Just as God is at heart a loving relational Trinity, we long for deep relationships and love as well. And that is the very thing God wants most from us – our Love! The most important commandment is to Love God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength, – all that we are! And to then extend this same love to all the rest of our relationships. God meant for us to be completely fulfilled in a loving relationship with Him, each other and this playground he built for us – The Universe.
But all of that came crashing down when Satan, one of the angels, chose to set up his own Kingdom and convinced a third of the angels and humankind to join him in his rebellion. War has now broken out and the battleground is the Universe and our human hearts and minds. The right relationships between God and humans, between humans and the rest of creation and amongst ourselves were shattered. Instead of knowing only good, humans now know both good and evil and taste of it every day.
Even before the war broke out though, God had a plan to bring peace. He knew humans would not be able to save themselves, so He would come and save us. Even while humans were still his enemies, he sent His one and only Son, Jesus, to save them. And the only was to be both Just and Loving, which is His nature, was to inflict the punishment that we all deserved, upon himself and He did that at the cross! The rebellion started with Adam and the counter revolution began with Jesus.
Jesus is still gathering together all those who want to be a part of bringing this Creation back under the rule of his Father – his church. His Spirit is searching the earth for humans who are ready to give up their rebellion and pledge their allegiance to the rightful King! He is calling his Church to be the image bearers that humans were meant to be, bringing His Rule and His Kingdom Reign here on earth, just as it already is in Heaven. Not rule based on power and Justice alone, but filled with sacrificial love for those who don’t deserve it.
Someday soon, the King will return and gather up all who love Him to live happily ever after with Him in the freshly healed and restored universe, while all those who chose to be his enemies spend forever banished from Him and His loved and His goodness.

One of the main things that hit me in our studies this week was the balance that we need to have of our place in the universe.  On the one hand, man is limited and tiny compared with our infinite God.  And after the fall, of course, we all have sin marring our record.  On the other hand, humankind is the crown of God’s creation, the creature that even at it’s worst still is an image bearer of God.  We can’t help but show the same attributes as humans that God has.  Just as God rules as King, humans hunger for power and that isn’t always a bad thing.  We make tools, we overcome, we are in charge.  We can’t help it.  Just as God is Creative, so are we.  We aren’t nearly as proficient as He is, but even the most evil cult can’t help but write songs and do art.  Just as God isrelational, we are relational.  Even at our worst, when we try to ruin relationships over and over again, it is still about relationships.  We can’t get away from it.  We have a need to be a part of a community, even if it’s as the antagonist.  I suppose on the last one, maybe not everyone tries to Save the way that God does, but if you look at all the stories of pagan Hollywood, they can’t seem to help but tell and retell the redemption story over and over and over again.  It is written into our core.  We can’t help but be image bearers.  We can be distorted, twisted image bearers. Or we can ask for his restoration, his redemption, his resurrection, his recreation to start in us now so we become worthy image bearers, accurately reflecting our Creator’s character.

Lord, grant us mercy to reflect your nature well to a world that so desperately needs to know the real YOU.

Amen

4 Essential Attributes of God

God is Creator.  Genesis 1 starts with that very description. God makes things. He is inventive, passionate and a God of action.  All of creation shouts out it’s testimony to God’s creativity.

God is Master.  Again, in this first chapter of Genesis we see that God makes man in his image and tells him to therefore rule over all of creation.  God is in charge, he is the all powerful King of Kings.

God is Love.  Once again, we get hints of this in Genesis 1: Let us make man in OUR image.  And the one thing that is pronounced “not good”, is for man to be alone.  So fixes it immediately and gives us not just a man, but a woman too.  Inside the Godhead is an eternal exchanging of sacrificial love between Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

God is Savior.  The ultimate act of love… to choose to lay down your life for your enemies.  This is what Jesus shows us about the nature of our wonderful heavenly Father.  God rescues!  Yeshua. O mystery of mysteries!

We had a great time at rehearsal this past week, just spending time considering God’s nature as KIng.  We all got down on our knees and on our faces in submission before Him.  It is so healthy for the soul to be able to have a chance to outwardly express this attitude that should always be in our hearts.  If you’ve never tried it, you should.  Get down on your face before him, and notice what effect it has on you.

Keep up the great work!

-jason

PS, the really good pictures are at the end… wait for it…because I wanted to make sure and have people imagining the story of the father and son on the beach and not thinking about how cute my autistic son Aaron is.

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It matters to this one

A father and son were taking a walk on the beach
Enjoying the sun and the warmth of the sand on their feet
When suddenly they came upon – as far as the eye could see
A thousand starfish drying out – the ocean just out of reach

So the boy knelt down and picked one up
And threw it back in the sea
Then another and another were saved

Till the father had had enough
And he said, “Son, you can’t save them all.
It doesn’t really matter anyway”
But the son said

It matters to this one, I can change a life
Even one tiny act of kindness Can make the world more bright
I may not save every one, But I can do my part
You can call me crazy, But someone’s got to start

It’s a great big world out there with lots of problems to be solved
At times it seems an overwhelming task
But we can’t afford to give up
We can’t be cynical and hopeless
We dare not lose sight of what’s important
Or forget the power of love
We need our children to remind us to think small

It matters to this one, We can change a life
Even one tiny act of kindness Can make the world more right
We might not save everyone But we can do our part
Let the world call us crazy, But someone’s got to start

It matters to this one, you can change a life
Even one tiny act of kindness Can make the world more right
You might not save everyone But you can do your part
Let the world call you crazy, But someone’s got to start

Let the world call us crazy, We can each touch one heart

Words & Music by Jason Chollar (c) January 2009