Beyond Sunday Worship

Worship Podcast & Blog

Christmas Music I am listening to

A few glimpses of pure awesomeness:

Future of Forestry Advent Christmas EP – This is really fantastic. If you have not bought this yet, you need to. My only complaint may be that they didn’t include any originals. Then again, do you need original Christmas songs? With music this good, I don’t think so. My #1 holiday pick this year.

Sufjan Stevens Songs for Christmas – Pure genius. This music captures the wonder of childlike simplicity, love for Jesus, and hilarious randomness. Lots of music to keep you occupied here. This will become a great tradition for you. Nobody is making music like Sufjan. Go download a few free songs.

The Violet Burning Divine – For fans of the VB, this is a treat. Two words sum up the VB for me – rock and honesty. This is beautiful rock n roll. They’re giving it away for free on their website, or you can support them for $10. I’m a fan of that.

Sojourn Advent Songs – This is a beautiful recording. Sojourn is making great worship music that is very theological, stirring, and well done. Very fresh. Head to their site and download a few free songs as well.

Sleeping At Last – For the past few years SAL has been offering a free Christmas song around Christmas time. Head over here to listen and download. Sleeping at Last makes some of the best music out there. These Christmas tunes are gentle, nostalgic, and beautiful.

Depth or Breadth?

I just finished reading a great book on endurance. One of the authors, John MacArthur, poses a great quote. In the early years of his ministry he adopted this life posture:

“If you concentrate on the depth of your ministry, God will take care of the breadth of it.”

This is convicting. Before I was ever involved with full time ministry, I feel I focused hard on depth. I went after God. I studied His word. I took steps to witness to the lost and reach out to people. Somewhere along the line I feel I subtly began pursuing breadth at the expense of my depth with Christ. Ministry can too easily become a to-do list and go no further. When you think about it, trying to expand ministry in human strength is completely worthless anyway.

Over the last few days I have been asking God to challenge my heart. If the breadth of my ministry is up to Him, I want to focus my energies on my walk with Him and my faithfulness in the secret place.

Do you feel the same?

Practical Pointers for Bass

I have a bass joke I like to throw around (please don’t get offended).

Bass players are guitar players who never applied themselves.

Such a statement couldn’t be further from the truth. Well, it may be true for some, but a true bass player is of such importance to a band. Bass is what gives music its punch, power, and deep feeling. A bass player may not get noticed as much as a drummer or a lead guitarist, but without the bass, those other guys don’t sound very good.

  • Work on a deep, thick tone. Many amateur bass players simply plug in and go. Take some time and refine the sound you’re looking for. A deep, penetrating bass tone is wonderful.
  • Lock in with the drummer. This is of paramount importance. It baffles me when I see a bass player and a drummer ignoring what the other is doing. My brothers and sisters, this cannot be. While the bass guitar and kick drum don’t have to play the exact thing all the time, be sure and establish the groove of the song.
  • Less is more, but play melodically. I love it when bass players have a knack for melody. They don’t just play notes, they play lines that speak. Be simple most of the time but add creative melodic lines to your grooves.
  • Feel it. The best bass players I’ve seen look like they are writhing in pain when they play. That is to say, they are feeling the groove. Engage your whole body in what you are playing. You don’t have to look stupid, but great stage presence is central to great playing.

Any added thoughts?