I arrived in Los Angeles today for the 2011 Taxi Road Rally. I’m here with 2,000 other songwriters, musicians, producers, poets, and dreamers. I’m also here with grammy winning songwriters and producers.
In early spring of this year, I was praying in the church before leaving for the day, and clearly heard the Lord asking me to write songs for the church.
I have all the tools, all the skill, and all the encouragement of my family and friends. Now, all I need is the discipline to get to work…
Here is the setlist of songs the band and I used on the St. Brigid Confirmation Retreat “Emmaus”. If these songs led you into prayer, I encourage you to pick them up at iTunes and continue praying them over the next several weeks. The band and I were blessed to be with you at Covecrest. Peace to you my friends…Greg
Friday night…
Lean on Me- Bill Withers; Fires – Theme song from Matt Redman; Your Grace Is Enough – Matt Maher; Marvelous Light – Charlie Hall; How He Loves – Mark McMillan; The Stand – Hillsong; Open My Eyes – Jesse Manibusan
Saturday morning…
Days of Elijah – Robin Mark; Holy Is The Lord – Chris Tomlin; Everlasting God – Brenton Brown; Mighty To Save – Hillsong (Fielding); Open My Eyes – Jesse Manibusan
Saturday afternoon…
Big House – Audio Adrenaline; Our God – Chris Tomlin; I Will Follow – Chris Tomlin; Fires – Matt Redman
Adoration…
He Is Exalted – Twila Paris; Worthy – Matt Redman; Revelation Song – Phillips Craig and Dean (written my Jamie Riddle); How He Loves – Mark McMillan; Dwell – Casey Corum; How Great Is Our God – Chris Tomlin; Tantum Ergo (Traditional); Divine Praises (Adapted by Matt Maher)
Sunday morning…
I Saw The Light – Hank Williams; I Will Follow – Chris Tomlin; Your Grace Is Enough – Maher;
Two years ago I was at a conference for Whole Community Catechesis, where I got to hear Steve Angrisano present a musical workshop. One of the takeaways from his session was the expression “Near Faith Experience”. You know, it’s where you are at a retreat, or at mass, yet not really present to Christ and what is happening. I think NFE’s happen occasionally when you work in full time ministry. I find myself, after three masses and four rehearsals this weekend, having had a NFE. I know what the Gospel was about, I barely remember the second reading. The First reading from Ezekiel escapes me completely, and I heard it three times!
Lord, grant us the grace to enter completely into the liturgy when we serve You there, to remove the distractions, and love You with everything we have. Lord, I know that when I play and sing, it’s for an audience of One (Three, in Trinity). I love you, and I can’t wait to meet You in the liturgy again. Greg
Next Wednesday, I will be embarking on a new undertaking. The youth minister I work with at Holy Trinity is a great friend, and we have decided to start a Podcast. It’s going to be fabulous, so stay tuned for the details… “The G.O. Summit” is coming soon…
I’m back on the blogging trail after a few weeks of events. As I drove in this morning the one consistent thing about the last few weeks has been how awesome the hospitality has been wherever the band has played. Back in early August, I was invited to play the appeal mass at Queen of Angels Catholic School in Roswell GA. The entire staff was a joy to work with. The best part is that two of my dearest friends, Ken and Terry Kenan, are staffers at the school and greeted us with an amazing spread of food and treats. The food was amazing, but the part that stands out was how it was made. You see, I know that they made all that food with love. They used eggs from their chickens, tomatoes and veggies from their garden. In addition to all that they had prepared for us, they sent us away with care bags full of more goodies. I know that when we left for the drive home, the guys reviewed the day and overwhelmingly felt loved and appreciated.
Two weeks ago, we were asked to play over in Griffin GA at New Life Church for their weekly Rock The Block session. Every Thursday, the church gathers in the parking lot and welcomes everyone in the community for food and music. The band and I loaded up with minimal equipment, and no expectations for the night. We were just on an adventure to pray, sing, and enjoy an evening of ministry. Here’s a photo of Lenny working with an interesting kick drum setup…
After we got set up and sound checked, one of the parishioners came up and led an opening prayer for an anointing on the evening’s worship. Just as we began our worship set, we could really feel God moving through our hearts. Just as we began, our host Ronnie took this photo…
I am convinced that it’s God reaching down to us. During our dinner break, we were treated to a spaghetti dinner with the best sweet tea Griffin GA has to offer. At the end of the night, the guys and I were loading up the truck and we were approached by different people that live in the neighborhood that heard the music and came out to enjoy the evening. This was the second night after the brutal GA heat subsided to a cool snap that made the evening perfect. We received many hugs as we packed up our gear and said goodbye to our new friends.
This past Saturday, the band and I played the Wide Open Worship event for the Southside of Atlanta, and were once again offered a dinner with the community. The guys and I had a chance to sit down and enjoy each other’s company before beginning the music sets for the evening.
I am blessed by the hospitality that has been extended to me and the guys in the band. Those that we have served have received us and been Christ to us. My heart is grateful…
Who are the people speaking words into your life, and what are they saying to you? Are they building up your gifts, your talents, your potential, or are they planting seeds of doubt, uncertainty and fear?
Last night I had the opportunity to attend an evening with Frank Kelly. Frank has gifts from the Holy Spirit that include discerning word of knowledge and healing. Google that for more info! When Frank prayed with me, he spoke words into my life. What he shared with me could only have come from God. It was a message of love, of hope, and of peace. What he shared was a very personal glimpse of my faith walk right now. He encouraged me to reach out to specific Saints and ask for their intercession.
My challenge to you is to take the next 7 days and pay attention to what words people are speaking into your life and determine if they are leading you where you want to be. If you find that people are speaking words of doubt and fear into your life, there’s a reason they are planting those seeds and you need to discern the value of that relationship. The good news is that you get to choose if those seeds land on fertile soil or rocky ground.
Everyone has great ideas. Everyone has opinions. Ideas and opinions are nice because there is little to no effort in formulating them. They come naturally to us.
We need ball carriers. The ball carrier takes an idea/opinion, and DOES something with it. Ball carriers MOVE the ball forward. Every individual, organization, household, and society can output millions of ideas in a day. I believe that people are scared of being the ball carrier, because there’s a risk of getting tackled. Everyone wants to knock down the ball carrier. Thee are people that make a lifestyle out of knocking people down, and smashing the dreams of others. You should eliminate these people from your life. Unfriend them on facebook, and stop returning their phone calls.
My challenge to you…Take one, singular idea you have, and move it forward to make you, your organization, your household, or your society a better place. Do it today. Take the hit. It’s worth it.
Last summer, we started a new music ministry team made up entirely of high schoolers. Their purpose was to serve their high school peers and our middle school EDGE program. Yesterday, we held our last rehearsal for their inaugural year. We talked through what worked well, and what could work better. Here’s where we think we are…
The band an I agree that they were successful in accomplishing what they set out to do in their first year, which was to form as a small group in prayer, learn (some number) of modern worship tunes, and be the house band for our yearly youth group beach trip and weekly middle school program. They did it, and I am really proud of these musicians. Here’s the roadmap of best practices for you if you want to develop a teen music ministry.
What worked well for us…
What we are going to improve for next year…
These teens are a blessing to me, and I am thrilled that they are serving our church with their gifts and talents. The church needs more songwriters, leaders, musicians, audio techs, and people with hearts of service. It’s not going to happen unless someone develops them. I encourage you to pray about how you can get teens involved in your worship ministry, or develop a group of them to start their own. Be a blessing, Greg
