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Do I Lead To Impress or To Serve?

By on September 8, 2014 in —Leading a Congregation, —Leading a Team, —Musicians & Vocalists, —Training a Team

One of the things I’ve enjoyed about moving to Louisville two years ago and helping to plant Sovereign Grace Church is the opportunity to train interns from Southern Seminary and Boyce College. I meet weekly with a group from each school to talk theology, focus on heart issues, and work on music and leadership skills. They also serve on Sundays and help out with Sovereign Grace Music. Young musicians and leaders are often overly self-conscious and nervous. While confidence comes with experience, we don’t want to overcome self by becoming more assured in ourselves. So one of  my goals for the interns is that they get to the place where …

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He Who is Mighty – Video Preview

By on August 18, 2014 in —Christmas, —Sovereign Grace Music

I know it’s a little early to be talking about Christmas songs, but the last few weeks I’ve been listening to the tracks of our upcoming album, Prepare Him Room. I am so excited for you to hear these songs. We’ll be releasing the digital album on Sept 29 (not Sept 1 as I previously wrote) and the physical CD at the same time. As I explained in an earlier post, this album came about through the request of my good friend, Marty Machowski. He had written an Advent curriculum and devotional, Prepare Him Room, and wondered if we wanted to record an album to accompany it. We were more than happy to do so. In anticipation of the full release …

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Songs from WorshipGod14: TRIUNE

By on July 19, 2014 in —WorshipGod Conferences

We just wrapped up the last session of WorshipGod14: TRIUNE, where we spent 3 days exploring the depths, joys, and significance of worship the God who has revealed himself to us as Father, Son, and Spirit. I’m so grateful for the folks who made it all possible as well as the people who made sacrifices to attend. We all know God better than we did three days ago. I’ll be posting a summary of the conference in the coming weeks, but here’s the list of the songs we sang. Not surprisingly, a lot of them specifically reference the Trinity in some way. Click on the title to access charts and/or original sources. Wednesday PM – Bob Kauflin …

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Who Would Have Dreamed – Christmas Album Preview

By on July 14, 2014 in —Christmas, —Sovereign Grace Music

We released our first Christmas album, Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Become Man, in 2006. A few years ago I started thinking we should do another one. After all, we can never have too many songs that help us reflect on and celebrate the wonder of Jesus becoming Emmanuel, God with us. So I was intrigued last fall when my good friend, Marty Machowski, asked if Sovereign Grace Music would be interested in producing a Christmas album to accompany an Advent curriculum he had written. After a few conversations with Marty and his publisher, New Growth Press, we decided it would be a great opportunity. The result was our next album, …

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What I’ve Been Up To

By on July 8, 2014 in —My Second Book, —My Travels, —Other Events, —WorshipGod Conferences

Not writing this blog, obviously. At some point I hope to start posting regularly again, but right now I wanted to share what’s been going on in the world of Sovereign Grace Music. The Dominican Republic and a New Spanish Album I got back last night from the Dominican Republic where I had the joy of speaking twice this past weekend at the Por Su Causa (For His Cause) conference, “Worship: The Purpose of Redemption.” The conference was sponsored by International Baptist Church (IBI) and a ministry called Integridad y Sabiduría (Integrity and Wisdom), both led by my good friend, Miguel Núñez. Jeff Purswell and Donald Whitney also …

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Songwriting Camp with Steve and Vikki Cook (and me)

By on May 28, 2014 in —Other Events, —Songwriting

Writing songs for congregational worship is a craft. While God has been known to use mediocre songs to accomplish his purposes, he doesn’t want mediocrity to be our goal. He intends that writers work hard to produce congregational songs that enable the word of Christ to dwell in people richly (Col. 3:16). That’s why I’m excited to be participating with Steve and Vikki Cook in a 2½ day songwriting camp, July 13-15, in Santa Ana, CA. It’s sponsored by Eric Turbedsky of  Sovereign Grace Church of Orange County, and will be held at Calvary Church, Santa Ana, CA. The camp will consist of classroom instruction, workshops, group exercises, …

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Ten Reasons Why You Should Come to WorshipGod: TRIUNE

By on May 13, 2014 in —WorshipGod Conferences

Last year we held our first WorshipGod conference in California, Called to Be Faithful, co-hosted with Eric Turbedsky and Sovereign Grace Church of Orange. Lots of learning, lots of giveaways, lots of fellowship, lots of laughter, lots of equipping, and lots of time to encounter God together. Due to the number of requests to come back we’ll be hosting WorshipGod: TRIUNE, July 16-19, again at Calvary Church in Santa Ana, CA. Here’s a video recap of last year’s conference. Because there are so many conferences you could attend, I wanted to give you 10 reasons why you should consider joining us for WorshipGod:TRIUNE this year. 1. …

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Will the Sunday After Easter be a Letdown?

By on April 23, 2014 in —Easter, —Emotions and Worship, —Worship and Christ, —Worship and Music

Many pastors, music leaders, and production personnel are breathing a deep sigh of relief after this past weekend. After all the planning, strategizing, prayer, preparation, and practice, the Easter weekend service(s) finally happened. Everything (for the most part) came together and people were well served. The music was moving, the preaching powerful, and the effect exhilarating. And throughout the world, thousands of people were baptized and saved for the glory of God. But you may be starting to wonder what you’re going to do next Sunday. Maybe you’re even asking yourself, “How do I keep this coming Sunday from being a major letdown?” …

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Resources and Reflections from WorshipGod UK: Called to be Faithful

By on April 14, 2014 in —Free Messages, —WorshipGod Conferences

It’s been over a month ago now that we finished up our first WorshipGod UK conference, Called to Be Faithful. This has been one of my favorite themes for a WorshipGod conference because it speaks so directly to how we should approach ministering the gospel in song. We aren’t called to be amazing, or popular, or cool, or technologically savvy, or better than the church down the street. We’re called to be faithful. God has revealed the mystery of the gospel to us and he now calls us to faithfully steward the unsearchable riches of Christ. You can download the main sessions by clicking the titles below. Session 1 – Faithful To Receive (Craig …

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And the Winners of “30” Are…

By on April 1, 2014 in —Sovereign Grace Music

Yesterday people had an opportunity to win a pre-release copy of 30: Three Decades of Songs for the Church by leaving a comment describing their favorite Sovereign Grace Music song. When we’re writing songs and putting albums together we always pray God would use our music to magnify the glory of Christ and the gospel to strengthen the church. As I read through the comments I was moved to hear how God has been doing just that in specific ways. It was difficult, but I picked 5 winners based on content and then chose 5 at random. Here are the 5 stories I picked, with a few thoughts on why I chose them. Caleb Mathews – All I Have is Christ I …

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Win a Pre-Release Download of “30”

By on March 31, 2014 in —Album Giveaways, —Sovereign Grace Music

We’re pretty excited about our new album, 30, available for pre-order tomorrow for only $7. It’s a collection of 14 more well known Sovereign Grace songs that some of our friends have recorded for us, including Paul Baloche, Kristyn Getty, Austin Stone Worship, Aaron Keyes, Matt Papa, Matt Boswell, and more. You can find more details here. The official release is next Tuesday, April 8, at the Together for the Gospel conference. CDs will be available from the Sovereign Grace Online store starting Tuesday, April 15. But you can enter to win a free download today and hear it before anyone else! All you have to do is: 1. Leave a comment …

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Coming Soon – 30: Three Decades of Songs for the Church

By on March 26, 2014 in —Sovereign Grace Music

30: Three Decades of Songs for the Church is the newest album from Sovereign Grace Music. The idea for this album came as we were talking about how we might celebrate God’s faithfulness to Sovereign Grace Music for the past thirty years. It was in 1984 that we released our first project, a live cassette, entitled Mighty God. Since that time we’ve recorded over 60 projects and over 500 songs.  Those include 3 kids CDs, 1 rap album, 4 Spanish CDs, a remix album, and a slew of worship albums. Neil DeGraide, a member of Sovereign Grace Church of Louisville, a great musician, and a good friend, suggested we ask musicians we’ve come to know and …

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St. Patrick’s Bad Analogies

By on March 17, 2014 in —Worship and God, —Worship and the Trinity, —WorshipGod Conferences

  For many, mentioning the Trinity can bring to mind words like abstract, unimportant, strange, illogical, and distant. To make God more relevant we’ve come up with analogies that try to explain him. Steam, water, ice. Father, husband, employee. Flame, light, heat. A clover. Etc. St. Patrick’s Day seemed to be the right time to post this video that shows how our attempts to explain God can inadvertently be rehashes of past heresies. To be clear, I’m not aware that Patrick actually used these analogies, but the video is hilarious. I remember learning and using many of these analogies as I grew up (and as an adult). I never …

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WorshipGod 2014: TRIUNE – Registration Now Open!

By on February 28, 2014 in —WorshipGod Conferences

We’re getting ready to head over to WorshipGod UK in Bath next week, but planning is in full swing for another event, WorshipGod West 2014: TRIUNE , July 16-19. The location will be the same as last year, Calvary Church in Santa Ana, CA. The folks at Calvary were stellar and we’re thrilled to be holding the conference there again. Why WorshipGod: Triune? Many Christians think of the Trinity as something like an appendix. We know it’s there but we’re not quite sure what it’s purpose is. And if we had it removed, nothing much would change. Nothing could be further from the truth. The Trinity is at the heart of our faith and at the heart of …

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Redeeming Valentine’s Day – A Story of Grace

By on February 14, 2014 in —Family

On February 14 of 1972, I gave a Valentine’s day card to Julie, who is now my wife. It sounds like a fairy tale romance. Two people find each other in high school, get married, and live happily ever after. That’s what happened, but the story didn’t start so well. And once you hear it, you’ll think more of Julie, less of me, and be more amazed by grace. I made the card at home. The front said, “Joy is not in things, but in us…” and on the inside, “And especially in you.” It was a moving sentiment, meant to encourage a girl I thought was a little withdrawn. I was the choir accompanist and senior class president and I figured any girl …

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