Merry Day After Christmas

It's the day after Christmas and, while many of my fellow Americans are enjoying a day off or out shopping, I am at work. I'm exhausted because I got 4 hours of sleep, then flew from Vegas this morning before coming straight to work. Of course, there isn't much to do here. As a matter of fact, I don't think anyone at NBCU is doing any business today. The people that aren't off for the rest of the week are just catching up on paperwork and getting organized.

So I'm going to take this opportunity to blog...yay for you.

With 2008 fast approaching, I've been thinking a lot about my plans for the upcoming year. Without a vision, the people perish and without a plan, Dionna feels lost.

Here are some questions that are guiding my 2008 planning:

• Who would I like to get to know better in 2008?
• What internal area would I like to improve?
• What life milestones would I like to accomplish this year? (international trip, apply for grad school, win the lottery, etc.)
• What areas could have been improved in 2007?
• What could I kick myself for doing/saying in 2007?
• What did I enjoy most about 2007?
• What would I like to see God do in my life in 2008?
• What would I like to see God do in the lives of my friends and family in 2008? Could God be calling me to assist in any of that in the coming year?

After using these questions to brainstorm, I'm going to focus in on the things that may have repeated themselves or stood out in the answers and put some plans down on paper.

I'd really like to know what God might be doing with this whole worship ministry in 2008. I know what I'd LIKE to see...I won't go into any detail, but maybe something involving recording a live worship album...

Merry day after Christmas!

Randomness

Hellooooooo,

I have very little to say. So it's going to be Random Thought Day! YAY!!

• I think I mentioned a few posts ago that I'm writing a new song. It's called "This is Who I Am." It's about seeing yourself how God sees you. I only have the 1st verse, the chorus and a draft of the 2nd verse finished, but I heard the song being played on the piano on Sunday and I LOVE IT! This is my first song that I'm seriously writing by myself, so I'm a little unsure how to judge my work. The lyrics could probably use some work, but I love the melody. Now I just have to write a bridge and figure out how to end the song...
• It's a sad day when it's Wednesday and you realize that you haven't seen your roomate since Sunday.
• Next week we will FINALLy have cable and internet at home! Then I won't have to watch ALL of my shows on the internet at lunch and won't have to send all of my emails between the hours of 8:30am and 5:30pm.
• I'm starting to become a fan of Shane & Shane (Shane Bernard & Shane Everett). I can't say that I like ALL of their songs, but I absolutely love some songs...When I Think About the Lord...Yearn...Hearts of Servants...Be Near...You Said...Check them out if you get a chance.
• Christmas is 2 weeks from yesterday. Can you believe that? Crazy!!! I'll be in Vegas freezing and visiting with family. Then I fly back to Burbank on the morning after Christmas and go straight to work. Thank the Lord for jobs....but dang!

It's December !!!!!!

I can't believe it's December! It seems like yesterday was January 2007.

It's holiday time so everyone smile!!! (call my cell phone if you want to experience some REAL holiday fever!)

So I know you're on the edge of your seat wanting to know what happened on Sunday. Well...let me tell you...

P. Chuck preached about worship, which I was really excited about. I definitely learned stuff that I didn't know before and it's already enhanced my worship experience.

Praise & Worship went well. I have a hard time judging my worship leading these days. I think people felt comfortable and were able to get in the presence of God, so I guess it went well. And I didn't fall, I didn't drop the mic, I didn't sing the wrong song, I didn't forget the words to the songs. Most of all, Tonee didn't have to give me any looks and Pastor Dre didn't excommunicate me from the church. So I'm happy.

In other news, I made my tv debut on Tuesday. Me, Minah, Lisa, DaJuan, Aja and Tonee were on a show called "Sunday Best" (like American Idol for gospel music). We sang in the choir for the finale. It was an interesting and semi-cool experience. I'm not at all interested in being on tv, so the rehearsal schedule and the pace of the atmosphere were a bit of a pain, but it was a lot of fun to be around the 5 of them and get to know them better. I probably wouldn't do it again, though, unless our whole choir or praise team were doing it together.

In closing, just remember Joy to the world! The Lord is come. Let earth receive her King! Let every heart prepare him room, and heaven and nature sing, and heaven and nature sing and heaven, heaven and nature sing!

Round Two

I know! I'm bad! It's been over a week since I updated, I think!

Sorry! It kinda annoys me when people tell you to read their blog and then they don't update it. So I'm sorry.

Anyway, I don't have much to say. I'm leading worship again on Sunday. I'm excited. Really, I am. But, of course, I'm getting attacked big time this week. How do I know? Let's see. I found out Monday that I would be leading on Sunday. Since then:

1. A cold came on
2. 2 friends told me things that really could be distractions for me if I let them
3. I'm having trouble focusing on prayer and Word time
4. I've been tempted to slip back into old bad habits

Ahh! Sometimes I wish I could just grab satan by the neck and shake him and say, "Leave me alone!!!!" But satan is a liar and here's what I know to be true. Satan doesn't attack anything that isn't a threat to him and his plans. I had a cold the last time I led worship and it's really not a big deal. I understand that I can't solve my friends' problems, but I can pray for them and be supportive. And I am not the person I used to be. So those old tricks are useless.

Sunday is going to be great! But not because I'm going to do an awesome job. Sunday will be great because God is great and we are going to following His leading. P. Chuck will preach and people will hear the Word of God and be given the choice to act on it. In that case, how could it not be awesome?

Community

So this post is going to have nothing to do with worship ministry, but it's on my mind, so I will share.

I talked to 2 friends last night that I graduated with from USC and then lived with for a year after graduation and they both said the same thing. Both are living in places other than LA now and enjoy what they are doing (one is in grad school and the other is working), but they both miss the community we had here.

You see, we were all in a campus fellowship called TCF (Trojan Christian Fellowship) at USC and one thing that TCF does REALLY well (or did when we were there) is gives the space to have really good community. We were taught how to have good Christian community, how to resemble the early churches in Acts and my class had that. We did ministry together, prayed together, studied the Word together and had LOTS of fun.

Now we're kinda all doing our own thing and groups of 2 or 3 are still keeping in touch, but for the most part our lives are separate.

After talking to my friends last night, I realized that I miss that too. Don't get me wrong. My Christian community right now is at HOPE's House and I love the people there and I'm getting to know people slowly. But they don't really know me. We don't all live in really close proximity, don't hang out at each other's houses, don't have random 7-11 runs. Am I too old for all that stuff now?

What makes things harder is the fact that many of the people who I'm around now went to CSUN together, were in gospel choir together, etc. They have memories together. And they aren't exclusive or anything, but I still feel the disconnect a bit.

I don't think that all Christian communities need to be like TCF. It's a college community, which makes it the way it is. But I feel like there should be a standard for Christian communities. I shouldn't be doing ministry with you and seeing you 3 times a week and know nothing about your life, if you have siblings, what some of your dreams are, your pet peeves, etc. That's sad and I'm guilty of it.

We don't exactly have to be the Acts communities of believers, but if we're around each other for just about half of the week, I should know your middle name, what you want to be when you grow up and the worse thing your older brother/sister ever did to you...

Does anyone out there agree with me?

Nothing much....

Sorry. It's been a week since I updated this blog. But that's mostly because I have nothing to say. At least, I have nothing complete to say. Here are some bullet points, though:

• I'm writing a new song. I've actually got a verse and the chorus done, so it's off to a good start. Hopefully, I'll get it done soon.
• Question of the week: If your body is the temple of the Lord, what part of YOUR body is the holy of holies?
• Israel Houghton's new album is a little "all over the place," but has some GREAT stuff on it. My favorites are "I Know Who I Am" and "I Will Search." This album is more CCM than his past albums, which are more of a gospel/ccm hybrid.

Trying Something New

Hey Readers (all 2 of you)!

I'm back after a brief hiatus. I went on vacation - a caribbean cruise. But I'm back now and ready to blog again.

So, I got back into Southern California on Friday afternoon and that night I sang at First Fridays. First Fridays is an awesome ministry that brings Christian artists (singers, musicians, poets, actors) together to share their gifts. It's not just a talent show. People actually get saved at this monthly event. It's great!

Anyway, Terri, my roomate (and agent), volunteered me and Candiss to sing our song at First Fridays a few weeks ago. My immediate reaction was "Absolutely not!" I had no interest in doing it. I mentioned above that First Fridays is a excellent ministry, but the crowd is mostly 20 something men and women who are into gospel/r&b/rap and I just KNEW my little acoustic guitar-driven song was going to be laughed off the stage and me right along with it. I was being dramatic, of course, and was talked into doing it anyway (thanks Stef), but this brings me to something I've come to learn and accept about myself.

I am NOT a performer. I wouldn't even call myself a singer. I couldn't get too excited about singing at FF because I have no desire to be on stage wowing an audience. And the only reason I did it (other than the fact that Stef/Terri/Kelvin told me to) is because "I Wait" (the song Candiss and I wrote) has a great message and it is a pretty good song. I wanted to share that message. If I were just asked to sing any old random song, I probably wouldn't have done it.

I am not a performer. I am not a singer (meaning, I'm not good enough nor am I striving to be winning any Grammy's). I am a worshipper. I'm not knocking performers or singers. Many of the Christian artists I like give good shows and thank God they are amazing vocalists. But I know me. My heart is for worship. I enjoy leading worship in front of a congregation of people. But I'm also fine standing behind the leader or with the choir.

All that being said, singing at First Fridays with Candiss was a lot of fun (after I got over the nervousness) and people actually did seem to accept the song and the message we were trying to share. The conclusion? Though, I'm not a singer or a performer, God can still use me in a performance setting. And that's pretty cool.

Kid's Church Worship

So for the past couple of months, I've been leading worship for Kid's Church at H.O.P.E.'s House and that's been a really fun experience. Here are some fun quotes:

Me: What do you guys want to sing today?
Jarin: Can we sing "When I Worship"?
(Jarin is about 4 or 5 years old. Can you tell that his mom is in the choir?)
Kid: Itsey, Bitsey Spider!
(What about a song about Jesus?)
Kid: Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star!
(I guess we're getting closer)
Sydney: Yes Jesus Loves Me
(Sydney is 2 years old)

Me: Okay, it's time for praise and worship!
Kid: I don't want to sing. I want to play.
Kid: Do we have to?

Me: What can you tell me about Jesus?
DJ: God
Kid: He put bones in my body.
Kid: He died for our sins.
(sophisticated answer for a 4 year old)

Me: (setting up for singing "Oh be careful little (eyes)...") Sometimes we say things that we aren't supposed to.
Kid: I said a bad word when I was sitting over there on the couch.
(after that confession, I prayed with her and she asked for forgiveness)

Me: (to the kid who is standing still while I'm making a fool of myself) Hey! You are NOT too cool for Father Abraham!

Yep, these kids are funny and REALLY good at testing my patience. But God has taught me things about leading worship through these kids. It's a whole new set of skills that I'm learning. I guess one of the biggest things it has taught me is to not be offended/hurt/confused when I'm leading worship and someone is blatantly uninterested. Adults and children alike do that all of the time in worship. So I'm developing a thicker skin for it.


Tip of the Day for Worship Leaders: (straight from the mouth of P. Chuck) What's done is done! Don't spend too much time dwelling on mistakes or perceived mistakes. It's over! People still come back to church, don't they?

It Takes Wisdom

...Forgive me as I play with the font...

Last night at Mid-Week Service, Pastor Charles Humphrey (affectionately called P. Chuck) taught on a really interesting topic. His topic was "How to get from the Promise to the Possession." You see, on Sunday, Pastor Dre preached on the same topic, but spoke about how complaining can actually keep us from possessing the promise (among other things). So P. Chuck expanded on the subject and his main point was that it takes wisdom to get from the promise to the possession.

Great topic! It's funny that the topic of wisdom doesn't seem to come up more in the church. It's not one of those awkward subjects like tithing and suffering. But whatever. (btw: that was a joke)

So as he was talking, I started thinking about how I could apply what he was saying to leading worship, which will be important as I dive more deeply into developing as a worship leader. I will definitely need some wisdom. This is especially true as P. Chuck made the point that sometimes Holy Spirit giftings are not enough (ref. Acts 6).

Example:
The congregation you are leading worship for doesn't seem to be "getting into it" that day. Praise & Worshiip is blah, they don't really laugh at the jokes cracked during the announcements, offering time is like pulling teeth. Now it's time for the Word to go forth. It's a really powerful, life-changing word. Your job as the worship leader is to do something (usually special music) right before the pastor gets up to get them in a place where they can receive that word. What to do you?

See? That takes some wisdom. At that point, it's not enough to know all of the Worship Leader hand motions or all the words to the song you were planning on singing. Do you call it out? Do you ignore it and go ahead with the agenda? Do you pray?

Tip of the Day: Pray for wisdom.

Baby Steps

Hey All,

So I guess this is Update 1 for The Vision.

Yesterday, I led worship for the first time at HOPE's House Sunday services. OMG. How exciting! I hate to sound like an amateur cuz I've been been leading worship for a few years now at campus fellowships and conferences. But leading for my church was like a totally NEW experience for me. I've even led on Wednesday nights and it wasn't the same as yesterday. Maybe because it was the first time leading since God started to speaking to me about this ministry. I don't know.

But it went well. Iris threw her shoe at me. If you weren't there, that sounds kinda random and inappropriate for church, but it isn't that crazy. I definitely saw a side of myself that I've never seen before as a worship leader. I might have thrown a shoe at me too if I wasn't afraid of knocking me out or worried about how my feet smelled.

I was a little nervous because I had been sick all last week and my voice still sounded kinda nasally. But I listened to the recording and it didn't sound horrible, so that's good.

One of the biggest things for me was that worship leaders that I look up to and respect A LOT (Tonee, Darnell, P. Chuck) all had great things to say. And I know it wasn't perfect and I'm waiting for the constuctive criticsm (looking forward to it actuually), but the kudos meant a lot coming from them and I feel comfortable with how yesterday went (for the most part).

We sang "Let it Rise," "Breathe" and "Trading My Sorrows." Yes, all CCM, but all done with a gospel twist. I even wrote a little vamp to "Let it Rise."

Anyways, gotta get back to work.

Tip of the Day: When leading for 2 services in a row, don't expect the 2nd service to be the same as the 1st. Different people, different temperments, different life circumstances, different problems - DIFFERENT WORSHIP EXPERIENCE.

The Vision

Hey Everyone,

I'm going to start off by saying that I have no idea if I'm going to be able to keep updating this blog, but I'm going to give it a try and see how it works.

The purpose of this blog is to start to share my vision (or ministry) with anyone who is interested in learning. I'd like to keep it updated as to the progress and how God starts to move. I guess it would make sense to start off by sharing The Vision.

The Background:
I have a heart for introducing people to new styles of worship. Particularly, I love to show people there is no 1 way to worship God. I'm a worship leader, so I'll explain this in terms of musical worship. God doesn't value 1 style of worship music, 1 language of worship or 1 action (dance, lifting our hands, laying prostrate) over others. He loves them all. And since He loves them all, we might as well put all into practice. It keeps our times of corporate as well as private worship fresh and not stale.

With that said, I love music. I've always been around it, especially christian music. I grew up in the church, my dad is a worship leader/choir director, most of my family (on my dad's side) either sings or plays some type of instrument. Growing up, I went to choir rehearsals and concerts and workshops. I was so excited when I was able to join our church's praise team. Because of this background, I am no stranger to gospel music or gospel artists. It's what I was immersed in almost all my life.

Then I went to USC. I wanted to join a Christian fellowship and the ones I ended getting involved in mainly worshipped to Contemporary Christian Music (from now on, I'll refer to this as CCM). Wow! CCM was different. "Shout to the North"..."Did you Feel the Mountains Tremble?"..."Here I am to Worship"..."Shout to the Lord"..."Better is One Day". And I LOVED IT! It was new to me but I felt the power in the lyrics and passion behind the singing.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't throw off gospel altogether. I joined the USC Gospel Choir (Saved by Grace) and even ended up being President of the choir. But I also ended up leading worship for Intervarsity (TCF), which was primarily CCM. Two VERY different styles of worship and I loved them both.

Got taught me so much about worship through both of those experiences and did some major reshaping of my life.

What I don't love is that there is a division in the church. People who worship to gospel music and people who worship to CCM seem to be in 2 different worlds. It's gone so far that people have started saying "black music" (equals gospel) versus "white music" (equals CCM). Not only is this inaccurate, but it's exclusive.

Okay, long story short...?

The Vision:
God has given me a vision. He's allowed me to imagine that I (under His leadership and guidance) can work to bridge the gap between the two groups. The idea is to take CCM songs (which, as I mentioned before, I love because of the powerful lyrics) and rearrange them by adding vamps and making the music sound more "gospel." Then sharing that music - most likely by putting out an album.

So there it is. I'll keep you informed about what happens next. Maybe I'll try to implement a song of the day or tips for worship leaders or something...