Something Is Wrong With Daniel Rowe

Some of you know that Blake is designing my website. So far, it's been a pretty laid-back process: just me telling him the stuff I like and him looking for cool design options. We're not in a terrible big hurry, so it's cool, right?

Today, I get a phone call from Daniel Rowe, another friend of mine. I have a very similar relationship with Daniel - very laid back, informal and friendly. But I pick up the phone and hear this:

"Todd? Hi, this is Daniel Rowe."

I say hello.

"Listen, I've been asked to come alongside Blake Stewart as he's developing his design business to get ready for upcoming projects. So, what I'd like to do is go ahead and get your site headings and what sort of pictures you'd like on the site."

Okay, I say.

"If you can go ahead and get me that, I'll be happy to forward that over to Blake so we can get right on this project. Now, he's out of the office right now, but I'm assuming I can get that material over to him pretty quickly. Will you be in your office tomorrow, Todd?"

Uh, sure...

"Okay, great. Clay and I will probably stop by. Have a great day, guy."

Imagine Daniel saying this in a voice that landed somewhere between Telemarketer and Used Car Salesman. It was very surreal.

Gotta' go! I've got a BIG meeting with Blake's manager tomorrow...

Breaking News From MSN...

Tuesday Tavin

Great Survey (Rachel Newton Fullen)

This week, Rachel posed a great question. Rachel says that she loves music, but has trouble figuring out what sort of stuff to throw on her iPod. So, she's asking all her friends this question:

If you could only have 10 songs on your mp3 player, what would you pick?

I figured I'd help Rachel out by sending the same question out to you all. I figured we might be able to add some variety to her playlist.

Go.

So good...

Just added a new feature over at Jonah's blog called "5 Year Old Theology." It's mildy accurate and oh, so cute!

Here's that in-studio sneak peak of some of my recent vocal tracks. Love to know what you think!

Tracking Kristen

We tracked background vocals for Kristen on Thursday and Friday. It went great. She was a little nervous but did an excellent job. Here's how it went down:

THURSDAY
"I Am Glad"
"Align"
"Like The Sun"
"Beautiful"

FRIDAY
"King of Mercy"
"Let It Be"
"My Lips Will Sing"
"The Cross of Christ."


Kristen did so good. Some of the tunes featured more "invisible" parts where Krist was truly operating like a paid background vocalist - more simple parts that are intended to be present, but farther back in the mix. Other songs feature her more as a soloist or duet partner. She did great on both types.

She was really professional and funny. She came in with a great attitude and a lot of patience as we sat at the console and threw all sorts of weird ideas at her. I was reminded again what an amazing voice she has and I think this record is far better now because of her contribution.

I won't lie. Sitting there, hearing her tracks...there might just be a Kristen Wright album somewhere in the future.

From what I hear, toddwrightmusic.com is coming along and I think we've found a really good deal on artwork/duplication, which is nice. (Just think, once the website is up and running, you won't have to read all this self-absorbed blather on the blog!)

For those of you wondering what's next on the record, it will probably play out something like this.

1. More background vocals - Ross and Keith will now go out and find some vocal variety for the tracks. The Mixlab has tons of really amazing singers at their disposal, so they'll be bringing some nice additional creativity to the songs.

2. Strings - The record is going to feature violin/fiddle and some string section stuff. Not sure of the scheduling on this one, but from what I hear, it's worth the wait.

3. Extras - There are a couple of other "special" things we'll be adding/trying on the record. If it works out like we think, it's gonna' be really cool. So cool that I can't tell you.


4. Mixdown - Looking forward to this processs as we near completion. Can't wait to hear Keith and Ross smooth these tunes out and apply tons of "auto-tune" to my voice!

That's where we are as of right now! I've got a pretty cool video of some vocal stuff I did on the record. I'll try to post it Saturday afternoon some time. (A Sneak Peak!)

I find I'm enjoying reggae as of late.

Does this make me:
A. Even more cool than I already am?

B. More of a dork than I already am?

C. More aware of the massive global impact ethnic music is making both outside and inside the current mainstream music market as it relates to both album sales and the important, but recent, resurgence of the music "of causes?"

D. "I don't want to answer this, Todd, because you'll be on to a whole new genre in 2 weeks."

The Theology Blog (Always A Favorite)

If you happened to have checked out David's blog today, you'd read about an afternoon planning meeting we were a part of earlier in the day.

In September, we'll be starting a new sermon series that's tentatively entitled "God 101." It's actually a sermon series in the book of Job, but our pastor is really striving to dig into Job as a means to learn and know certain characteristics of God. The hope is that it might be engaging for those in our crowd who are spiritually mature as well as for those who are still sorta "checking this out." I think the God 101 idea will also help us to build some interest that might not occur if we were to say, "Uh, yeah...we're, uh, talking about Job."

So far, the service planning is coming along great. We're really playing with/messing with the first thirty minutes of each of these services to prepare our people for the Word by some real intentional thematic planning. (Always a challenge for a contemporary worship dude, gang!)

Okay, there's the setup. But the real reason for this post is to see where a bunch of you land on one particular contested issue that's prominent in the book of Job: suffering.

It happened quite innocently - I was talking and used a phrase that included "God tested..." which prompted a pretty quick response from our associate pastor (my boss and the dude preaching this series!)

Essentially, he and I were landing on different sides on this issue of suffering.

I stated that I believe that the book of Job seems pretty clear as to God having a very definite REASON for allowing Satan to have his way with Job. God pretty much brags on Job..."Hey, have you seen my boy, Job? He's awesome." (Paraphrase mine.) While I'm not ready to build a theology on the idea that all suffering is a "test" of God, I think we see a pretty clear picture of God having some sort of agenda here - some reason, some goal in the amazing trouble that came to Job.

Our associate pastor leans toward the view that bad stuff (disease, hardship, etc.) is a natural product of the Fall; that because of Adam and Eve, things are messed up...therefore life is hard and...well, junk happens.

I see his point and I agree with him to an extent, although I'm not sure that this is a fair representation of what's going on in Job.

So, my deep and eloquent brothers - in dealing with Job ( a weird book to be sure,) where do you stand? God having an agenda or God allowing the Fall's consequence to run its course? I'm still thinking on it and most of you tend to pretty smart in the things of God. Let your voice be heard!

This oughta' be good....

Snapshot of Summer Afternoon in Jonah's Wolrd

Tuesday Tavin

Hey, gang...

Jonah's got a new blog post over at his site about the fun stuff that's been happening in his life. I had to write it for him, but he wanted everybody to know some of the cool stuff he's been into lately.

Head over to his site and throw a comment or two his way. He'd love it.

19

A few thoughts upon viewing Transformers...

1. Not the greatest opening ever written. (A narration by Optimus Prime? Ouch.)

2. While it didn't make me think my car was a robot, (Which Clay claims to have experienced,) it did make me want to drive really, really fast.

3. Theatres should ban groups of 4 or more rednecks from entering any film being shown.

Blowing Their Minds...

A few weeks ago, our church hosted a U.M. Army camp from Richmond, Texas. This a "work camp" where students visit a town and do lots of home repair/improvement throughout the week. Naturally, there is a set worship time - typically a morning "wake up" sing-a-long and then an actual service at night.

On the first day of camp, I was in our editing room when the church's youth minister/worship leader came in the sound booth. He introduced himself and we talked for a few minutes about our jobs and how the camp was organized. I went back to work.

A few minutes later, he called back to the sound booth. He had opened our MediaShout software and was starting to put songs into the order for the upcoming evening service.

"Hey, man, I got a question," he said.
"Yeah, what's up?"

He was talking as he scrolled through song database.

"Is there, like, a separate hard drive or something where you guys keep your song lyrics?"
"Uh, no. Why?"
"Oh, I'm just not seeing a lot of songs that I would expect. Like, you know, a lot of the more common worship songs."

So, I explained our service and the types of songs we do. I gave him some names of tunes and artists we use a lot, then told him to add whatever he needed into our database so they could have the stuff they wanted during the service that night.

I actually have no problem with this guy. I didn't know him very well, but he seemed like a pretty cool guy who's giving his life to build relationships with students and live out his faith among them. How can I have a problem with a guy like that?

My problem is with his presupposition, which - in my mind - worked out something like this:

A. Church has contemporary worship (projection, drums, stage lighting, etc.)
B. Church must be singing "common" worship songs.

I'm not trying to slam the worship music industry again (although it still needs a good spanking,) but I do find it frustrating that so many worship leaders exhibit little or no appreciation/respect for picking songs for their congregation. When did this happen, worship leaders? When did we start adding songs to the lists because it charted well or because the church down the road did it?

We need a desperate perspective modification around here, gang. We've got to start training up worship leaders that are planning their services with a Bible in hand and a pastor's heart. We've got to stop picking just the stuff we like and start thinking about what our people need.

Notice this - I didn't say "what our people want." You see, you could take this little article of mine and abuse it's ideas. That is, you could look at this thing that I'm saying, which is essentially, PLAN FOR YOUR PEOPLE and turn it into a pandering, meandering concert of songs that people "like" for their fun wordplay or jamming electric guitar riff or even beautifully written piano parts w/ stunning vocal arrangements.

So, how do we safely PLAN FOR OUR PEOPLE? I've a few theories...

1. Think about your people. I hate that this is the Number 1 reason, but we're so bad about this, aren't we? We need to start taking time to evaluate where our people are - what are we struggling with? What does that young married couple with the mentally handicapped child need to say? What about that single girl in the college class? The men's Sunday School - where are they? I'm not saying you make a big long list of everybody's perceived "need" and then try to fill that void. But I'm saying we've (read:I'VE) got to invest into the lives of this church family, because when we (read:I) do, larger issues become evident. Maybe the church is struggling in knowing how to pray for the sick; maybe they're having trouble understanding having faith in the light of natural disaster; maybe they just don't have a fat clue what worship is... Spend some time getting to know them and think about them - like a pastor should.

2. Get weird. The only way we're going to start do a better job of planning for our people is by open ourselves up to way more resources. Listen, I love records from Integrity's Hosanna! Music, but there are times when those songs don't cut it. Passion is great for the epic lift-God-high tune, but there's not a lot of spiritual/lyrical depth in those songs. Vineyard is fantastic for those intimate times of prayer and adoration, but they can often come across as love-songs-for-Jesus. Hymns are timeless and steadfast and chocked full of wonderful, Biblical ideas, but aren't always the right dynamic for a church. We've got to be on the constant look-out for resources (creeds, prayers, dramas, scriptures, songs, etc.) that are outside the box. We've got to arm ourselves with stacks of worship resources so we can serve our people in our ways that caring and honest and not just pick the top four songs of the last CCLI top 25. (I'm not saying that we intentionally do that, but you'd be shocked how many sets end up looking like just that.)

3. Get off the stage. We've got to a better job of pastoring - getting off the stage, stop thinking about only the stage, kill this desire to live on stage. It's a hard thing to do because the simple fact is that deep inside of us there is something that loves being on stage.You can deny it all you want, but you know it's there. If we can ever disconnect from the spotlight-mentality, I think we'll go a long way toward building moments that are God-honoring and perfectly placed by His Spirit to remind His people that He is more that a Sunday morning celebration...He is a Father and a Warrior and He is big enough.

If a CCLI top 10 song serves your needs, do it. I'm not against CCLI. I like it. But if we're throwing songs in an order without thinking too much about it (which we all do,) we're not treating our calling and our God-given gifts with much respect in my opinion.

Best M. Night movie?

"Texas worship leaders: what's up with that?"

1. David Crowder

2. Chris Tomlin

3. Shane and Shane

4. Ross King

5. Smith Band

6. Robbie Seay

7. Todd Agnew

8. Kari Jobe

9. Paul Baloche

10. Joel Engle

I'm sure you're not nuts about every one of these folks, and some you may have not heard of, but that seems like a pretty long list of nationally recognized worship leaders/Christian musicians from a single state.

I know I may be leaving off your favorite worship leader; believe me, it's not intentional. Anybody got any thoughts as to why Texas "worship artists" are so popular?

Know what this means?
It means I won't hear from my wife for two days.

Yes, Again...

Saw this over on MSN.com awhile back...finally found it on YouTube...

Yes...

Conversation Between Me and My Son

Boundaries

Let me start off by saying that, generally, I like Leonard Sweet. I think he's a very smart guy. I think he's an eloquent guy. He also might be insane. The problem with reading Leonard Sweet for me was always the over abundance of culture-watch that seems to go on in his life. The dude's trying to make great spiritual applications from a story about an ice-cream truck or stating weird things like the broadcast volume of network television is a symptom of a large-scale psychological problem with regard to the American ego.

Okay, I made up the broadcast volume thing. But I do remember something about ice-cream trucks.

Nevertheless, every once in awhile, I have my Leonard Sweet moments. These are times when I observe something that is relatively unimportant to the world-at-large, yet feel like I'm witnessing something really profound. Lately, I've been drawn to the idea of boundaries and the disappearance thereof.

1. BOUNDARIES, THE GAME
I have been so interested in seeing the idea of boundaries in the last couple of years. And it all started with the popular game show, Deal or No Deal.

Let's think about this - for decades game shows were "set." Contestants sat in the proper chair behind the proper booth/desk/table and stayed put until they won the super fantastic fabulous prize or embarrassed themselves in front of the nation by losing it all. Once either of those things happened, contestants finally got to stand up and casually converse with the host and/or the beautiful assistants that truly give a show it's top-notch level of professionalism. Even shows where people stood (Price Is Right, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy,) we didn't see folks move from their spot.

Then comes Howie Mandel and suddenly, there are no boundaries - there's no set location for the contestant. If you want to sit on the plexiglass steps and run your fingers through your hair while deciding which case to pick, you can. If you need to pace and mumble until you decided on the Banker's offer, that's cool too.

And within months, game shows started following suit. (National Bingo Night, where you walk around and shout out numbers; 1 Vs. 100, where you can girate around that long rail as you attempt to outsmart the mob; some new show w/ Jimmy Kimmell where people are throwing things on the floor - haven't seen this one, yet.)

I don't find this upsetting or anything, but I do think its interesting that American Media is now rethinking the role of boundaries. Leonard Sweet might point to relativism or something grand like that, but I'm not sure. I just wonder what other "forms" are going to start disappearing...and whether or not that's a good idea.

2. I'M LOVIN' IT
I don't eat McDonalds very much, although I'm a sucker for a couple of sausage biscuits w/ cheese now and again. I'm not sure if you've been to McDonald's lately, but they're getting very hip - plasma screen TVs all over, wi-fi, coffee-shop style seating, larger seating areas that look like high-end sunrooms, you know the deal.

But the most interesting thing to me is the fountain drink machine. In these hip McDonald's, you can not only pick from thirty different drinks, you can also add shots of Vanilla, Cherry, Chocolate and some other flavor. (I think the other one might be Vodka.) Now anybody who knows Todd Wright knows that a Diet Coke is a non-entity without a shot of vanilla, but this little syrup additive thing seems a bit weird.

Why is McDonald's so desperate that I'm able to create the exact flavor combination to my preference. Do think I'm going to go to Sonic instead if McD's doesn't have the vanilla-shooter-machine? Is this organization afraid of boundaries? Are they afraid to say, "Hey, man, there's some stuff you can't do here."

(I wrote this joke once that Clay Walker often passes off as his own. It's about this very idea - this have-it-your-way/no-rules-just-right/thousand-drink-combination concept. It's a good joke. You should hear him tell it.)

I'm not trying to overthink game shows or breakfast, I assure you. But the heart of culture - what we really value as a nation - often reveals itself in the most unexpected ways. Sometimes it's a nice revelation, but most of the time, it reminds us of how petty and selfish we are.

Anybody else noticing the giant boundary shift? Are slowly stepping away from the idea of "form?" How? Where? What's it look like? Anybody hungry?

Here's the guy who's producing my record.

Music by the Minor Profits/Prophets...

A Moment of Silence, Please

Oprah Winfrey suffered a huge heartbreak when one of her beloved pooches died in a freak accident.

Gracie, a golden retriever who was the littlest of Oprah's three pups, was killed when Oprah's dog walker took the three dogs out for an evening stroll.

Oprah got a call twenty minutes later saying Gracie was not breathing. "I ran barefoot out of the house and found the dog walker and one of my security guys pumping her chest," Oprah says in the August issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.

"Just as I reached them, the security guard looked up... 'She's gone." Gracie had chocked on a plastic ball that belonged to Oprah's much older cocker spaniel, Sophie.

Oprah immediately felt the loss of her favorite pup. She was flooded with "tears and stabbing pain and disbelief and wonder and questions about how and why this happened."

Our hearts go out to Oprah during this time of devastating loss.

Sell Outs

I'm a sucker for country music, okay? I love Montgomery Gentry's recent single, "Lucky Man." It's great and when it came on yesterday, I cranked it up.

Imagine my amazement when the dude sang a different lyric. Instead of "last Sunday when my Bengals lost," he sang "when my Astros lost."

Come on, record label/radio market - we've been hearing this song one way for about three months now. It's not cool to change the lyric now...it's just sad. (Almost as sad as this CD cover.)

Hilarious!

Penelope
Uploaded by merugo

Anybody else think that Jeff and the boys in Wilco are trying way too hard to sound like the Beatles?

Anybody know who Wilco is?

New mystery film from J.J. Abrams coming out January 2008. Yeah, LOST is lousy, but this trailer already has me hooked. Anybody know anything about this?

Seven Random Facts

John Simmons "tagged me." I've seen this sort of viral blog thing before, but never done it before. But John Simmons is way cool and I want him to tell people that I'm awesome. Am I sellout? Perhaps...

The rules: each player should list seven random facts about themselves on their blog as well as the rules to this little game. At the end of their post, they need to tag seven people. Let those folks know they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

1. When I was teenager, I could freestyle rap very well. Maybe it was the songwriting bug struggling to find its way out. I could flow, people.

2. When I was fourteen, I received an FCC license to work as an "on-air personality." I was a 15 year-old DJ with my own show.

3. One time I was up at the church working late, I swear I saw a woman sitting in the dark of the church's front office. I think she was a demon. But I didn't hang around to find out.

4. One time while leading worship, I was sorta sing/praying over an instrumental break. It was this powerful moment - everybody was crying and confessing and sang these words: Lord, You have no idea how thirsty we are. (Still makes me cringe!) I think He actually DOES know that, don't you?

5. When I was dating my wife, the first lie I ever told her was about buying a Third Eye Blind CD.

6. Once, in a fit of charismatic fervor, I destroyed every secular CD I owned. I'm still trying to rebuild that collection. (Well, just the U2 section.)

7. At one point in my life, I think I could have seriously gotten my boss fired. And maybe prosecuted.

TAGS
1. Robert
2. Romack
3. Blake
4. Daniel
5. Clay
6. David
7. My Wife

Tuesday Tavin

Tuesdays With Ross...

Left Lufkin at around 7:50, got gas and some breakfast and heaed to the land where everybody bleeds maroon.

Ross and I pulled into the studio at exactly the same time: 10 minutes late.

We embraced, greeted each other with a holy kiss, then began rubbin' the funk all over some sweet tasty vocal trax. (Side note - Mr. King did not bring his laptop for fear that I would steal away and "hack" his blog in an effort of retaliation.)

We talked about random stuff, then I climbed into the vocal booth to listen back to some vocal stuff from last week. I took a few more passes at "Align" and "Glorify," then we moved on to "Beautiful." It took me a couple of passes to loosen up, but I was still struggling with the melody in the second line of the chorus. We muted the piano track and I sang to just acoustic, which help. Then we went to "You Gave Sight," which is fast becoming my favorite track on the CD. From there, I slaved my way through "Search and Know," a song I suddenly forgot how to sing. Ross was very patient and encouraging, and in the end, I think we got enough takes to make a decent vocal out of it.

Ate lunch at Koppe Bridge. Made many amazing plans for collaboration and creation the likes of which the American church has yet to see!

Drove back to the MixLab and jumped on "Like The Sun," which went pretty fast. Then to "King of Mercy," which was quick and fun. Even goofed off w/ some ad lib junk. (Channeled a little Baloche at the end...didn't think anybody would notice. Ross did.)

From there, we went to "Let It Be," then to "Cross of Christ."

Threw off the headphones, laid on Ross' couch for a few minutes to recover from the Holy Ghost anointed inside the vocal booth. Talked about next session, vocal processing and then headed for home. I desperately wanted some new music to listen to, so I stopped by Hastings before leaving. They had a pretty decent Christian music section, but didn't have the disc I was looking for. Instead, I listened to TobyMac all the way home. Seriously.

Got home, hugged the wife, played with the kids, bathed them (the kids, that is,) put them in bed, visited blog world, then heaeded outside to clean up garage for impending garage sale this weekend.

Some phrases I recently heard when watching Joel Osteen preach a sermon.

1. "It's not enough to just pray...you've gotta' put actions behind those prayers."

2. "You've got to make preparation to succeed."

3. "If you'll do what you can, God will do what you can't."

I don't watch this dude very often, but everytime I see him, I think, "Oh, I've seen this sermon before."

But I haven't. It's the same stinkin' sermon every time.

Survey...

Best Adam Sandler movie?

Met with a photographer today regarding photo shoot for CD cover and website.

Guess I better start practicing my scowl.




........

Let's Name This Thing...

Okay, now the CD is starting to sound like a real album with all the instruments and better vocals and post-production sweetness, I'm trying to decide what to call the record. I'd love to know your thoughts! Here are the names I've thought of.

1. Todd Wright - simple, yet so distinguished
2. Songs for Singing
3. Sings Songs (so the spine of the CD would read: "Todd Wright Sings Songs.")
4. Sixsteps Records Presents...

Of course, there's always the option of naming the record after one of the tunes. Here they are:
1. My Lips Will Sing
2. Like The Sun
3. Align
4. Part of Your Story
5. The Cross of Christ
6. Glorify
7. Let It Be
8. King of Mercy
9. Beautiful
10. I Am Glad
11. You Gave Sight
12. Search and Know
13. All The Freed

What do you think? Maybe you've got a suggestion of your own. (Please don't try to be funny - just give me your ideas, okay?!)

rubbin the funk

I know i've already posted about my sessions with Ross King (who, by the way, is basically the greatest producer in the world, and my personal idol; i mean, i have a serious guy-crush on this giant of creativity and coolness), but i just wanted to write in and say a little more about how the singing time went.

Basically, Ross re-wrote all of my songs to be way cooler and more gooder than they were. He's such and artisticulate writer (and quite the acoustical guitar player also, but that's another story for another blog). He seriously, seriously rubbed the funk on my lame tunes. And then, when i sang them, in their newer, way more gooder ways, I too, rubbed the funk on 'em.

I guess you could say that we were rubbin' the funk on em. holy moley i love that phrase. it rolls off the tongue like a super sweet United Live lyric.

oh, also, check out ross king's blog, where i commented, tried to be funny, and then forgot that i never logged out of blogger when i used his laptop the other day. what an idiot i am! thank goodness ross isn't the kind of guy to take advantage of my rudeness and stupidity.

Finally, have i mentioned that i have a guy-crush?

Don't Mess With Todd

Made a little change to the link list below. Why don't you stroll down and see who's missing?

This is what happens when you disrespect Todd Wright, DR.

Tracking 2nd Day

Chris and I got to the studio around 10am and geared up to finish final acoustics. Par for the course, it took me about an hour to get my hands to work. We started with "Part of Your Story," which isn't a difficult song, but gave me fits on tempo.

Then we tackled "You Gave Sight," which has turned into something way cooler and way different than I ever played it. Because of this, it was almost like playing it for the first time. Again, tempo problems, but Ross and Keith at the MixLab will turn on their giant SOUND GOOD MACHINE and make me sound like a good acoustic player. Like, Chris Tomlin good.

Third, we did "Search and Know," which is has become even bigger and better than I imagined it. We went to lunch, I complained about how bad I did with the click, Ross busted my chops and told me to stop whining, we came back to the studio and tracked "Beautiful." And it was.

Were we done? NO! Then it was off to the vocal booth for final vocals! Here's what we did:
1. I Am Glad
2. My Lips Will Sing
3. All The Free
4. Part of Your Story
5. Align
6. Glorify

I've decided make a 1-day trip next week to hopefully finish vocals so that the tracks will be ready for Krist when we go in two weeks.

After we were done, Keith tells me that I look like his dad, who happened to be in the other room. Keith introduced me to his dad. Then he took a picture of us. It was weird.

It has been a strange combination of fun and stress these past two days. One benefit is that the band backing up these songs has created some really memorable musical moments. My little guitar will sit somewhere in the mix, but they are the dudes who make it rock. I can't wait for you guys to hear this record.

Jason says the links at the bottom of my list aren't working? They work for me - do they work for you?

Humble Yourself In The Sight of The Lord...

Remember yesterday when I was being stupid about how awesome I am as a guitar player?

This just in: I SUCK.

LIVE REPORT FROM COLLEGE STATION, TEXAS...

First, head over to Ross' blog to find out about this guitar. Now, when you read the part about the guitar not really working for Ross, imagine this fantastic creation of wood and steel in the hands of true master - ME.

That's right, friends, I tracked today with this really nice guitar. Ross is right in his assessment that this is certainly a finesse instrument, but for some reason, it just worked with what I was tracking today.

Here's what we did today...
1. My Lips Will Sing
2. I Am Glad
3. Like The Sun

4. King of Mercy
5. Align
6. Glorify
7. The Cross of Christ
8. Let It Be
9. All The Freed

It was a great day - we worked fast and got a lot of guitar stuff. Here's what's on tap for tomorrow.
1. You Gave Sight
2. Part of Your Story
3. Beautiful

4. Search and Know

The previously planned songwriting session did not occur, but it was totally cool. Chris and I had ate chicken wings and went to see this:
Maybe the most fun movie I've seen in awhile.

After guitar is done tomorrow, I will attempt to sing a bit...didn't bring the camera this go around so most of you will have to settle for a late night call on Friday to tell you awesome the tracking went. In addition to getting a lot done, I was able to listen to full mixes of the songs 95% of the band parts done. Will I be coming home w/ a reference CD of the tracks? You bet. Will I let you hear it? No....

Guys, I'm so excited about this record! Can you tell?

Finally figured out what draws me to all those United records...


Definitely a record worth having...check her out...you won't be disappointed.

Special thanks to Blake Stewart for giving me this record. (Which he did not pirate.)

It's 11:34 pm and I'm watching this.
Help me...I'm turning into Susie Moore.

Next On The Chopping Block - CHRISTIAN RADIO!

This is Brian Littrell. He used to sing for the Backstreet Boys and now he's a solo artist in the Christian music industry. I don't know much about him - he sings very well, and, from everything I've seen, seems to be a pretty devout dude.

The only problem is this - his new songs sound like a straight-up love songs.

Think somebody dug into the Backstreet Boys demo pile to stock this new album? Huh?

Matisyahu...continued

Okay...everybody's making some good points here. Let me add a bit more (or maybe a lot.)
Relevant is a Christian magazine. I don't care how trendy it is or how trendy you are or how cool it is that they talk about non-church stuff, one only has to look through the magazine to see that it's run by Christians.

While there is certainly something to be said regarding Jeff's idea that Matisyahu is relevant to the culture and some of us should know that, I still think there's a problem with this article.

I called Blake and we argued for ten minutes. I talked to him an hour later and we're still friends, so I'm going to assume that it's okay for me to rage a little here.
I've read the article and, in my opinion, they didn't cover "both sides of the story."

Some quotes from the article:

"Talking to Matisyahu is not unlike talking to a Christian artist working int he mainstream. Hassidic Judaism bears striking similiarities to evangelical Christianity with its focus on personal spirituality, belief in miracles and desire to spread God's truth. Matisyahu seems to face the same challenges and share the same passions as many Christians struggling to balance their faith with their work in the mass market."

This phrase essentially sums up what the point of the article. I disagree with Blake that the article provided a resource regarding Hassidic Judaism. In addition to the small one sentence description in the quote above (personal spirituality, belief in miracles and desire....,) the only other information that I learned about Hassidic Jews is that they are not allowed to touch any other women besides their wives and mothers. I guess this is something I need to know...doesn't feel much like a resource, though. The overall theme of the article is something akin to IT'S HARD OUT THERE FOR A HASSIDIC JEW WHO'S A REGGAE RAP STAR. And to be honest, I can appreciate someone who's willing to be devout in an industry that cares little for devotion. Now another quote:

"But the similiarities end when Matisyahu is asked about Jesus. 'A lot of times amongst religious Jews there's a negative feeling toward Jesus, and I think the reason for that is because, no matter how pure or good (a philosophy) is, you have to look at what's the result down the line, 100 years down the line,' he says. 'If you look down the road 1,00 years or 500 years or whatever, the basis of what came out - whether that's what He wanted or not - what resulted was, in my eyes, not necessarily a positive thing. I don't think it's truth, and I think, therefore, you see how it led to all kinds of destruction and violence.' In many ways, he seems dismissive of Christ's teachings on the basis of how people have twisted them, comparing it to the way philosopher Friedrich Nietzsce was misinterpreted. 'Nietzsche was coming up with all types of philosophical ideas, but then later on down the line, those ideas formed the basis of Nazism, even though he was against Nazis,' Matisyahu says. 'So his ideas at the end of the day didn't really work.'"

Okay...definitely learning something now. I've never heard Jesus compared to the early beginnings of Nazism, so I guess that's score one for Blake - I did learn something pretty important about his guy.

The article ends with:
"Matisyahu's music, ministry and spiritual journey all seem to be themed around an earnest search for truth, and his ideas about the Messiah and redemption seem to stem from this searching. In Matisyahu's descriptions of the Messiah, one can sense both parallels to the ministry of Christ and Matisyahu's earnest yearning. 'I think that maybe this Messiah will come, and people's perspective on the world will change, and they'll somehow get to some redemptive place in themselves and feel how there's this unifying force behind this fragmented world we live in,' he says. 'At that point, people will really feel connected, and they'll really feel present, and it'll be a real change. People will perceive the world differently, and that will be the time of redemption.'"

I think Relevant dropped the ball here. I think they put a popular dude on the cover, and interviewed him without really initiating any sort of worthwhile dialogue. I think they glossed over the fact that he believes that what Christians believe is a lie. I think they're so desperate for anything about faith - any kind of faith - that they'll slap it on the cover. I think this could have been a fantastic article, a real investigation, rather than a simple promotional piece the likes of which I might read in Rolling Stone.

I hated the article and I think its bad form for a magazine that is normally so clearly focused on empowering Christians to apply their faith in today's culture to take such an easy way out of a dialogue that could have been really cool.

But I am really glad that Ben Folds believes in God.

Does it bother anybody else that Matisyahu is on the cover of Relevant?
The guy doesn't believe that Jesus was Messiah...

First Ben Folds, now this? I love the magazine, but they're so intent on being cool that they're wasting my time.

18

I'd like to submit a new song for all Guitar Players to Play When They Pick Up A Guitar...

"Slow Dancing In A Burning Room" by John Mayer.

Good grief...another Mayer tune murdered by the Wannabe Contingent.

ADDICTED...

Spending way too much time on this little game right here.

Fantastic graphics, a story line longer than the last three Zelda games combined and easy enough that I can progress normally through the levels and mindlessly enjoy myself. (Something you can't get from a game based on the writings of Tom Clancy.)

You've Come A Long Way, Baby...

Many of you know that I've been involved in our church's 125 Anniversary project. My role, specifically, has entailed video taping our monthly "History Moments" and working to make them fresh and entertaining. (No small feat, I tell you.)

During the process of putting together the video we're running next Sunday, I happened on an interesting thought with regard to our church's decision to move its location in the 1950's.

Sometime near 1950, the decision was made to move our church, located in Lufkin's Downtown area, to an area on the outskirts of, what was then, "town." It was heated debate, apparently, with many upstanding members of the congregation being very vocal about why the church should or shouldn't move.

During the process of interviewing church members who were teenagers during that time, one of our staff members asked,

"Why did the church want to move?"

The elderly lady responded casually...

"We was running out of room. There's wasn't any parking, the sanctuary was filled and we didn't have enough space for everybody. We just had to move."

I find it interesting that a few decades ago, churches moved when they got full. They didn't add services. How many churches today look at their overcrowding problems and think, Well, I guess we gotta' move, now.

It's as if those churches of old cared way more about worshipping TOGETHER than enduring a little financial stress in moving into a bigger space.

Do churches today care about fellowship in that same way? I don't think so. I understand this sounds weird coming from a guy who leads a "second service," but I think it's an honest assessment. I believe alternative services have their purpose and place, but I do think the creation of extra services and video campuses and other assorted multiplication moves speaks of a potential problem in our houses of worship. How important is community, really?

What do you think? Are extra services a bad idea? Always? Sometimes? Make your voice heard.

Do any of you do this?

Yes, I am fully prepared to be made fun of, but I don't care.
Bon Jovi's new record is fantastic.

Okay, let me have it...

The Herb Report

Okay, the writing on TBS' hyper-promoted House of Payne is really, really bad. It's almost like they opened up the Big Book of 1990's Sitcoms and lifted every predictable punch-line every penned. However, this dude...is hilarious. Definitely worth 22 minutes of drivel. Almost.

Dear Confessors...

Hey, if you're a worship leader who does video confessionals...let's stop giving people obvious information like this...

"Hey, it's Number ____, I'm in my car."
Oh, yes. I see the traffic and trees flying by your car window. Got it now. Thanks for the clue.

"Coming to you from my office."
I don't care. You got CDs, books and a computer. Why tell me? I'd rather let my imagination run wild.

"I'm in the church courtyard in between the Education Building and the new construction of the PlayZone Funland for the Children's Ministry."
You mean that giant Twisty-Slide? And that steeple above the tree-line. Okay, I believe you now.

I'm also not a big fan of us telling each other what time it is. Let's just be honest, we all stay up too late, right?

I'll try to do better on mine if you'll do the same...

The Burden

I was talking to Romack a few days ago and our conversation turned, of course, to worship.

Specifically, we were talking about the abundance of really bad songs that the big-market-mega-hit-worship-machine keeps churning out.

Then, Justin says it. I don't want him to say it, but he does, and he's right.

He says something akin to: "You know, I just don't think most congregations even think that hard about the songs they're singing."

It's true. Let's be honest, a lot of us would love it if our congregations would be a bit more discerning about the songs we're teaching them. It may feel great every Sunday afternoon, but is it really a healthy thing if your people just open up and swallow whatever you feed them?

It makes me wonder about the burden we worship leaders carry. Sure, I want to help pastor my people into a sound, Biblical understanding of what worship is supposed to be. (As best as I can tell myself!)

But if they don't...if they love everything I do...then what kind of responsibility do I bear?

Don't I shoulder the gargantuan responsibility now of making sure that the prayers that I put into their mouths are worthy and honorable ones? I think so. And I think that there are scores of worship leaders all over the world who never even give 1 thought to this concept. I think there are thousands of us out there with little to no appreciation for the staggering privilege and risk we have in leading these children of God in worship and fellowship.

It's not about plugging four Passion songs into a song list. It's not about learning an Integrity record cold so your band sounds like the house band for Bishop T.D. Jakes.

It's about thinking long and hard before you make a song list. It's not about praying "O, God, please magically appear and tell me what songs to do..."

It's about walking with the Father, understanding the doctrine of worship and the language of praise and then applying that stewardship to your catalog of tunes, prayers, creeds to pick those which will best communicate truths about God that His children must hear.

Come on, WL's...get in the game. We need you using your head, not just your headphones.

The War Within

It was inevitable, I suppose. And it started so innocently.

I'm talking about the daily struggle I find myself in - the decision I've made.

I will not be a bitter worship leader.

Bitterness as innocent beginning, you say? Certainly.

You see, I love the ministry of worship. Some might say I love it too much. Regardless, I've devoted my life to studying it, watching it, learning it, trying it and talking about it. I've done so because I've always believed God's wants all of us - our best energies and thoughts and chord structures, etc.

That's the innocent beginning - the desire to know God's thoughts worship as fully (or as incompletely) as one futile finite human mind can. But it's starting to turn on me, gang.

You see, once one forms rather solid convictions about theology or doctrine or scripture, regardless of his her specific "field," one become hyper-sensitive to any and all others who don't hold the aforementioned rather solid convictions.

The very thing that started it all - the quest for more information and experience about the ministry of God's praise - now begins taking me to places I don't want to go. To hear song selections that are all wrong and to see worship leaders who don't think about the sets other than whether or not the guitar lead is going to kill or not.

And it can turn me bitter. It can turn me into a snob of varyious colors - theological, musical, pastoral. And I hate that. I hate that the search, the pursuit of honor God as sincerely and as Biblically as I can, now threatens to turn me into somebody who holds grudges, someone who quickly "writes people off," someone who's way to smart for their own good (or the good of the church in general.)

So I fight the bitterness. I pray for humility. At times, I pray for the strength to shut up, just as I've prayed for the courage to speak up. I look for the ways to speak my peace when God opens those doors and not just when the other person gets quiet enough for me to respond.

Maybe you've been a victim of this egotistical little storm in my head. If so, I'm sorry. I'm trying here, and if you see it rising up in me...

squash it.

Happy 4th of July....

Please go read Johnny's post called "Worship God in His Temple." It's short, but pretty intense.

Another Small Glimpse of Glory

I have a lot of favorite sounds, but one of my absolute favorite things to hear is my wife as she sings to our kids before bed.

It doesn't happen always. Most nights, I put Jonah to bed w/ a story and prayer while Kristen puts Finley to bed down the hall, so I'm unable to hear her singing to Finley. But on occasion, Jonah will call her into his room and I can hear her softly singing to him.

Everybody knows my wife is a great singer, I'm just not sure everybody knows why. I do.

Kristen is one of those rare singers that can't help but reveal what's in her when she sings. You'll find no pretense in her melodies. If she's not feeling it, you'll know; and if she is feeling it, everybody in the room is enraptured because she literally sings her love.

It's another testament, these late night lullabies. It's another glimpse of God's goodness right here in my house and one more reason to honor Him with all I have. It's one of the things to remember as the Psalm directs me to "declare His goodness to the generations."

I give thanks to God for this woman, her love and her songs.

Time To Vote

In an effort to save money on the CD project, I've decided to handle the artwork design myself. What do you think..."Todd Wright: Songs for The Lion."

I like it. 'Cause you know, God isn't safe. He's not safe. He's good. Not safe. Good. God's not safe. Doesn't that sound exciting? That God's not safe? That's what I'm going for, you see...

I was taken to task today by Daniel Rowe because I didn't give him the credit for this picture. I apologize. I didn't realize that Daniel himself had taken these photographs himself. I just thought he got them from some other site and didn't credit THEM. That was foolish of me.
Thank you, Daniel. You do excellent work.

Good Morning! Here's a Tuesday Tavin!

17

A classic from larknews.com

LEAVENWORTH — A sound man who played a cruel game with church soloists has been suspended from his post.

Chuck Tiff of Cornerstone Community Church, who served at the sound board for 14 years, was found to have taken sadistic satisfaction in finding a soloist's breaking point, then raising the pitch on the sound board so the climactic note in a song caused her voice to crack. He reduced countless women to tears and abject humiliation on Sunday mornings.

Tiff was discovered this past Sunday turning the pitch knob up several notches as Jennifer Hazlet began her rendition of "We Shall Behold Him." The head usher saw Tiff's subtle action, confronted him and led him away from the board, returning the pitch to its proper setting. At a closed-door meeting, Tiff was unrepentant and refused to talk. One entry in his journal, found under the sound board, read, "Broke another one tonight. What glee! She left the platform in tears. I could barely keep from laughing. She deserved it. They all do. They're not singing for God's glory, no matter how much they point heavenward when people applaud. Looking forward to next Sunday. They've got a duet lined up. Double whammy."

Tiff's victims are considering legal action, charging him with emotional distress and humiliation. "He made me question my very salvation," says one woman. "He was supposed to be a partner, but he hung us out to dry for his own amusement." •

Communal Script

Here's what I'm going to do - I'm going to begin some sort of scripted dialogue. I'll stop at a particular point in the script and you will all submit your ideas. I'll pick one, add it to the mix, then re-post further down the road.

Who knows what can happen? Here we go.

LIBRARY
a script by Todd Wright and Thousands of Other Bloggers

Scene 1
(A woman is seated at desk in a large library. She is leafing through a large reference book. Scattered around the room are college students, a few teenagers and one other adult man. The man walks over.)

MAN
Were you followed?

WOMAN
I don't think so.

(Man sits down and sticks out his hand.)

MAN
I'm Adam. Are you Eve?

WOMAN
I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about...

MAN
Cut the chit-chat, lady. You and I both know there's not a lot time to waste. Gabriel said you'd have it. If something's gone wrong or you're opting out, that's fine.
Just tell me so I can let Gabriel know and we can pursue the other option.

WOMAN
(Loses the look of shock and leans closer.)
You tell Gabriel that nothing's wrong and I haven't opted out.

MAN
Hey, nobody talks to me that way, okay? You think you earned the right to be here?

WOMAN
I don't think I've earned anything, "Adam," but I also don't think it makes much difference. The way I see it, I'm holding all the cards here. Get Gabriel on the phone.

("Adam" pulls cell phone from jacket and dials. Miles away, Gabriel's phone rings.)

NOW, YOUR TURN! WRITE IT!

You know, a big part of my "Methodist" journey over these past couple of years has been the slow and steady knowledge of what works personally for me with regard to worship.

I say this knowing that many folks will pipe up that worship is not about what works for me "personally" and that (GASP) "it's not about me."

However, we would be fools if we ignored the fact that our personal preferences don't play a part in the worship experience. For example, I don't like Southern Gospel songs. I don't personally enjoy them. However, I can worship to them. I can appreciate what they're saying and how it relates to the honor that God deserves.

That's a very brief background to say this - I typically don't enjoy liturgy. Now, before everybody gets all loud about how "EVERY CHURCH HAS A LITURGY, JERK!" (See, I've had lots of these discussions before...I know what a lot of you are going to say...) let me explain. In actuality, I am trying to communicate that I don't enjoy many facets of traditional Methodist liturgy. For example, I usually don't particularly/personally enjoy congregational responses - I do them and I do my best to respect and receive from them, but personally, I don't dig it.

And such has been my journey - discovering what I think is cool, what I think isn't cool and still being a mature follower of Christ regardless.

I say all of that to say this - that I am beginning to form some relatively concrete opinions about worship and it's due in part to my Methodist experience over the years. I don't mean to say that the Methodists have the corner on anything; rather its a case of the United Methodist Church being relatively traditional regardless of worship style.

One opinion that's becoming pretty solid is the fact that I have real problems with a worship space that doesn't include a cross.

You have to understand, I'm Mr. Modern Worship Guy, okay? I've always been the guy wanting the multiple screens and the light show and the "produced" service. It's a big step for me to start vocalizing what I see as problems within the modern church movement that I've been so excited about in my life.

Do I need to explain why I think churches should have a cross somewhere in the worship area? How is it that churches and ministry so intent on "reaching the lost" have completely removed the very symbol that represents the redemption of mankind?

I don't get it. I don't understand how God-fearing, God-honoring church leaders and elders can draw up plans for a building and decided not to have a cross! I'm not trying to make it all about icons, but come on, church! I don't know many evangelical churches (in the South at least) that would shy away from preaching the cross - so why aren't we showing it?

I need the cross. I need to hear about it, sing about it and look at it. I need it as a reminder not only of what Christ has done, but what His sacrifice is still about. I need to remember the cross, because I too often forget that God's passion for redeeming and restoring and saving has not waned. We've got to get the cross back, guys.

Questions for Discussion:
1. Is the "symbol" of the cross as important as I've made it? Should every Christian church have a cross located in the worship space? Why or why not?

2. Why do you think churches have moved away from having an actualy physical cross on the premises?

Fear Factor I

Why I would be scared to do a gig with John Simmons:

Because the whole time I'm leading, he'd be back there thinking,

"Well, that tune reeks of dispensensationalism!"
"This guy ought to read the Bible more."

"If he asks me to play four-on-the-floor one more time, he's going down."

Stay tuned for more info on who I'd be scared to join on stage!