In case you're wondering what Randy Travis thinks about 2007 (and who doesn't,) then here:

Tuesday Tavin - Happy New Year

Get Out Your Bibles, Kids...

Let me start by saying that I feel like I have one of the most cultural diverse, spiritual active, Biblically literate readerships in the land. You guys know your stuff. You have the courage of your convictions, the ability to reasonably discuss and the passion for some hardcore debate should the need arise.

This isn't just flattery...I actually want to know what you guys believe the Bible to say about a particular aspect of worship that's been on my mind lately.

DOES WORSHIP ALWAYS REQUIRE PHYSICAL ACTION?

When we read Psalms - what someone once called "the language of praise" - it seems that we find a pretty consistent message: worship is something you do. But does that translate into physical action, without question?

Singing, kneeling, clapping, shouting, praying, dancing, communion? And I would even suggest that commands to "be still" are pretty physically dependent. In fact, I think that most of us find the "getting still" to be a pretty taxing physical challenge in today's very fast-moving lifestyle.

I'm also not talking about worshipping "with our lives." We all know that our lives are to honor God and that is and act of worship to Him, but in this case, I'm talking specifically about the act of corporate worship - that thing we do when we get together with other believers.

In your opinion, is there a Biblical basis for a claim like this? Can we look at the Word and say, "Yeah, worship is always gonna' require us to do something physically." Or, is there Biblical precedent to say, "No. Sometimes, God doesn't want us to do anything during corporate worship." I'm not talking about sitting and listening to a sermon. I'm talking about the set-aside time in churches all over the world where the point is to publicly and corporately adore God and thank Him and praise Him for His goodness and righteousness.

I'd love to know what you think. (And if you could, please include Bible reference. You know, to, like, save me time...)

To those of you familiar with the Nintendo Wii, the little picture makes perfect sense. It is Ninetendo's Mii creator.

Essentially, the Wii lets you create a little character. Ideally, the character is supposed to be YOU so that you can use him or her to play games, "mingle" with other Mii characters online, stuff like that.

Well, our Wii isn't hooked up to the Internet, but that hasn't mattered much. My wife has become a Mii Artist.

Now, let me tell you something about my wife that you may not know. A lot of folks know that she's pretty artsy - she can pretty much learn how to do about any creative thing. But what most of you probably don't know is that Kristen has a soft spot in her heart for caricatures.

As a matter of fact, it's a long-standing tradition in the Wright house that if we are ever in proximity of a caricature artist, we will have one done. About six or seven years ago, Kristen decided she wanted to learn how to caricature. We bought a book, some paper, pens, whatnot, and she got pretty good. But alas, along came children and busier days and the caricatures disappeared.

But they're back...

My wife has been busy creating very realistic and charming little Mii characters of our family and friends. To date (since Christmas morning,) here are the folks she's designed:

1. Me
2. Her
3. Jonah
4. Finley
5. Kristen's Mom
6. Kristen's Dad

7. My Mom
8. My Dad
9. My Grandfather
10. My Grandmother

11. Her brother
12. Her sister-in-law
13. Her neice

14. Robert

15. Shelly

16. Ashlin

17. Her cousin
18. Her cousin's husband

19. Her cousin's daughter

20. Her cousin's son

21. Lance

22. Amy
23. Jason

In addition to that, Jonah created 2 characters named 515 abd 709 and I did my best to make a mock-up of Shooter Jennings.

If you're not on the list yet, don't worry. I'm sure Kristen will be getting to your profile soon. In addition, I found the Mii creator online today, so maybe Krist can showcase some of her folks over at her blog. (She's gotta' blog something, right?)

And if you're one of those people reading this, thinking, "THAT GIRL HAS SPENT WAY TOO MUCH TIME ON THIS STUFF."

You're absolutely right.

Got this book as a Christmas gift. I had been interested in it when it first came out, but had forgotten it.

I only just started it, but it is fantastic. I'm actually quite shocked kids don't hear more of this story in school. It's a great book, well-documented and brilliantly written.

If you dig history, Abe Lincoln, or assassination stories (and who doesn't?), then MANHUNT will not disappoint.

And for those of you who don't enjoy reading, I hear there's a movie in the works based on the book. So hang in there.

Apple's Next Problem
Seth Godin, sethgodin.typepad.com / dec. 14, 2007

Walked into Starbucks two days ago and saw five people with laptops. Every single one a white Mac. Five unrelated people out of five, same machine.

When your entire culture is organized about being the other, the outsider, the insurgent, the one that's better than the masses... (like Starbucks, btw), what do you do when you are the masses?

It's a good problem to have, but it's still a problem.




_____________________________________________________________________

Tuesday Tavin

Mike Bickle Wants My Five Dollars...

Years and years ago, my wife and I were given the opportunity to attend a worship conference at a church called Metro Christian Fellowship in Kansas City. We enjoyed most of it - some parts of the conference were kinda' scary, but for the most part, we left feeling refreshed, which we needed at that time in our lives.

While there, our host kept telling us about this House of Prayer thing that Bickle had started; at that time, it was still kinda' new. Kristen and I found the whole idea intriguing and wanted to go check out during some free time, but at that time, the area was by appointment only. Pray-ers and play-ers only, I guess.

About two years ago, I read The Quest For The Radical Middle, a book about the rise of the Vineyard church. The book didn't necessarily paint Bickle in the best light, but I learned a lot from the it. In a sense, I was over Mike Bickle. House of prayer was cool, he was a bit nutty, next topic.

But early this fall, I start seeing all these ads for a girl named Misty Edwards - the exciting new worship leading talent coming out of the International House of Prayer. (Come on...they had to name it IHOP?)

As a worship leader, I have always been fascinated with the "new song," the spontaneous-worship songs that are prominent within the charismatic movement. Spontaneous singing intrigues me on a lot of levels - the idea of worship leaders operating in the prophetic (a little scary,) the ramifications of leading a band during such a time (a little scary,) and what sort of real-time, practical effects that type of worship has on the church.

So IHOP is now streaming their house of prayer stuff. I see an ad in Worship Leader magazine, so I went to the site. And guess what? They want to charge me! There are all sorts of memberships and season passes and download options and all these different "packages" of sorts.

I just wanted to watch some people pray and hear the band, you know?

Everybody's gotta' make money. I just wish they didn't keep trying to make it off me.

On a related note, I have found a way around Mr. Bickle's grasping hands. Since we got all our TVs set up here at the new house, I have a channel that - get this - broadcasts the daily devotional time from IHOP. (Not the pancakes, remember.)

Ha! Ha! Take that, Mike Bickle!

I realize of course that I'm paying for TV service, so I really haven't done anything that great. By the way...expect this new channel to prompt many more posts!

Christmas Eve Video

What we're running at our Monday night service:

Jenkees Returns...

Beatbox Puppets

As you may have seen on some of my twitter posts, thanks http://www.pandora.com/ I've been reliving my high school days with the music of Evan Dando's Lemonheads. Here's one of Dando's best lines ever:

"Patience is like bread, I say; I ran out of that yesterday."

As an fan of blogs, I read a lot of them. Not as many as Jimmy or Blake, no doubt - but I'm trying.

Over the past year, I've noticed a recurring theme among the blogs of the who's-who within the celebrities of American church growth. (STOP...nobody get loud about church growth, okay?)

There is still an overwhelming amount of blogging about Starbucks by pastors and leaders of the postmodern/new mega-church/internet-savvy American church.

Starbucks is cool. It's promotes a great, casual atmosphere that has been finely honed by experts in architecture and design. They sell a product that consistently tastes good and the same from town-to-town.

What I don't get is why so many hipster-pastors blog about it so much. I like franchises, but if you surf any of the bigger sites within evangelical blogosphere (and I'll be happy to point you toward some,) you'll find that these guys talk A LOT about Starbucks.

It's fine - a blog is a blog - it's a journal and those dudes can talk about what they want. But I think there's something worth talking about there.

You see, a lot of "futurists" (STOP...nobody get loud about futurists,) social critics, and urban observers talk about a third place.

As best I understand it, the third place is some sort of community "center," some place that exists as a gathering where people retreat from their first two places: home and work. Many of these experts claim Starbucks is the best example of "the third place" we have in America. Forget that it's franchised and programmed to the degree, people gravitate there to hang-out, meet business associates, get their day started or engage in serious discussions that might not work in louder, more active locales like a restaurant or diner.

I wonder if that's why these figureheads of current church culture (STOP...do not get loud about current church culture) refer to it so much. No doubt they enjoy Starbucks, but is it possible that really they're responding to the fact that they've found a third place that suits them?

Most of you enjoy Starbucks...but have you blogged about it? Do you talk about it in conversation? It seems to me that we talk about the stuff in our lives for a few reasons:

1. We're excited; we enjoy; we want others to experience the same (simple celebration.)

2. We're actually subconsciously responding because a deeper need is being met and we want other to feel the same (profound celebration.)

3. We think it's what somebody wants to hear (marketing.)

I'm not sure why so many of these guys and gals talk about Starbucks so much. I just hope it isn't #3.

Theories...

How much longer before tasers get banned?
Love to know what you think!

And for some true comic genius regarding law enforcement and tasers, I offer this.

Check out Busy Shirts. Definitely a cool idea.

Mike Huckabee, responding to critics who complained that an TV spot running in Iowa should have said "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas"...

“I don’t know what else to call Christmas. Last time I checked that is what we celebrate. If somebody can give me a way to get around that and do it honestly, then perhaps that’s what Christmas is..."

HT: cnn.com

Will Todd Ever Stop With The Web Trends?

Was checking Terry Storch the other day and saw he was bragging on a new, very simple blog site.

I decided to give it a try and setup a very simple TWB blog site. It's way different from any other blog feature I've seen. (Much easier to upload, w/ lots of smooth options for posting.)

A lot of folks have gotten crazy with their templates, but since I don't know much (or anything) about HTML, I opted for something pretty simple.

Check it:

Also, while waiting on getting the actual Todd Wright site up, we've thrown up a picture of me playing a really cool guitar:
http://www.toddwrightband.com/

Isn't voting for Mitt Romney kinda' like hoping to elect a mayor who thinks he was abducted by aliens?

My mom just bought a laptop. She had seen the laptop that Kristen's mom bought this past summer and decided to get one for Christmas.

Mom and Dad bought a new Acer laptop. A few nights ago, I got the chance to go over and take a look at it. In addition to being really light for its size and having some pretty cool programs, I was shocked at how Mac-like it was.

First of all, the laptop featured an all-white keyboard, an iSight-type camera at the top of the screen and even program icons that automatically enlarge when you mouse over them.

In almost every other aspect it was a very nice, smooth running PC, but I wonder if we'll see more PCs adopting some of Mac's more popular features. It's interesting that so many people run XP on Macs while PCs work so hard to look like Macs.

Oh, Man...

Tuesday Tavin

Makes Perfect Sense To Me...

I'll admit it - I'm not a football fan. I understand it, I just don't enjoy it all that much. Because of that, I have to be careful that I don't let my dislike of football color my conversation regarding the sport with folks who dig it.

However, the Michael Vick situation has really intrigued me. I find it extremely odd that we convicted a man to 23 months in jail for dogfighting, when countless athletes before him have commited even more heinous crimes and received only fines and minimal game suspensions.

Did we do too much to Vick, or, not enough to everybody else?

More Proof That I'm Kind Of A Genius...

A while back, I predicted that RSB's "Love Wins" would end up on a movie soundtrack.
Well, that hasn't happened yet, but according to the band blog today,
"Rise" is now being featured in a commercial for the new season of American Idol.

When are people going to realize how brilliant I am?

For a long time I've been telling folks how truly talented David Runnels is in the ministry of graphic design. However, there seems to be some disconnect between his print work and other forms of design. Unfortunately, I assumed that all graphic designers could design all things and asked David to design our brand new Todd Wright Band hoodies for 2008.

At some point in the middle of the night, Jonah ended up in bed with us. I remember hearing him yell and when I stood up to head down the hall to his room, I saw him bolting down the hall in his underwear. He looked terrified

At 6, I heard Krist closing our door. It woke Jonah up so he was ready to start his day. I heard Finley crying so I got up to get her. Kristen took the kids for about an hour while I prayed and studied my Bible.

Okay, that's not true. I slept for an hour.

The kids watched cartoons while I laid on the couch. I woke Kristen up a little after 8.

We all started getting ready, which still takes WAY too long for four people, but it was Friday, so who cares, right? We took Kristen to work, then the kids and I ran errands.

Ran by the movie theater to check on times for Alvin and the Chipmunks, then dropped off "Angel Tree" presents at the Salvation Army downtown. I was glad to have the kids with me, Jonah really liked handing over the toys and clothes to the lady running the center today. After that, we ran to the church to get my check and then to the bank. Stopped at Target for diapers and hair gel and a new shirt for Jonah and chocolate-flavored bubble gum. (Jonah's idea, and not a very good one.)

Drove out to pick up Kristen, where Finley fell asleep in the car. Got home about 12:30, threw some pizza in the oven and chilled. We played video games, visited with Kristen's mom and generally just laid around for a few hours. Jonah and I left at 4 to meet my Mom at the movie theater.

As we pulled into the theater, we saw a huge line of people waiting for tickets. After a quick glance at the crowd, I deduced that this wasn't an Alvin and the Chipmunks crowd. (Too many hoodies, piercings and scarves.) I quickly assumed that I Am Legend was the reason for the mob. I call my mom to tell her we're there. She's in line and says..."There's no manager here..."

We get to the line and my mom tells us that, apparently, a manager showed up that afternoon. After a half-hour wait, some other manager shows up and apologizes. He then lets us in the movie for free AND awards everybody additional free movie passes. That calmed everybody down right quick...

The movie was good - lots of funny stuff that Jonah really dug. We got home at 7. Jonah ate some supper, got in his PJs and headed up to bed. He was very tired.

Kristen watched "It's A Wonderful Life," while I ate. I blogged, checked some emails and watched a little West Wing while Kristen talked on the phone with her cousin.

About to grab a shower and go to bed.

TODD OUT.

LifeChurch.tv's OPEN Gets a Makeover
from Collide Magazine, Issue 02 November/December 2007

"At the recently redesigned open.lifechurch.tv you'll find message series resources created by the LifeChurch.tv staff and made freely available to churches worldwide...Click on (a) series and you'll find that you can watch webcasts of the four messages and then download Photoshop files...invite card and a promotional poster, as well as Quicktime files that include a...video loop and three teaser videos. In no time, your church has high-quality media that match the theme of your sermon. Best of all, it's completely free for church leaders using the material non-commercially. Other churches making their resources available for free include NewSpring Church (www.newspringonline.com,) The Vine at Southeast Christian Church (www.southeastchristian.org/vine/resources,) and Seacoast Church (www.seacoast.org/allaccess.) Wouldn't it be a shame to let all those free resources go to waste?"

Thoughts?

The Website That Wasn't (But Kinda' Still Is)

Back in July, I bought a website. I went to the place my pal recommended. Bought the hosting and the domain.

My pal gets to work on the website. Truth be told, he's not the fastest designer in the world, but he's really good. So I was patient. He looked over all my receipts from the hosting company and said it all looked okay.

Fast forward to last week, when I mailed off the master and art files so that the duplication company could get to work. 5-7 days they say...

Two nights ago, I'm thinking about the CD and decide that I ought to check the site, just to see what's there. You know what's there? This:

That's right...the site I bought is now showing a site by a musician named Todd Wright from Virginia. He a great writer. (Tons of videos on YouTube. His stuff is pretty good.)

I then spent the next hour and a half emailing and texting my pal to see what was going on. We eventually, bought another domain (which shall remain nameless until ready) and got word to the duplicator to change the artwork before going to print...crisis averted, but what the heck happened in July?

Today, I finally found two receipt emails from the hosting company that verified that I had, in fact, purchased http://www.toddwrightmusic.com/ back in July.

My pal is currently going into detective mode to try to figure out what happened. Stay tuned...this could get interesting.

This Looks Pretty Great...

Hillsong (London, I think) has new remix album.

And it is awesome.

Essential Christmas Listening...

Click It...

Tuesday Tavin

Cloverfield...

Okay, I was already in at the first trailer...but this just keeps getting better.





Any theories?

How To Be Cool, Step 1

I'm beginning to formulate some theories as I travel from place to place leading worship for students. I hope to chronicle my observations in a segment I'm calling How To Be Cool.

Step 1 - Look Like You're Cold
I'm fairly confident that this is the perfect first step to embracing power of trend. I'm also convinced that the "inner cold" should be enacted regardless of any actual temperature. Examples:
1. Hoodies
2. Scarves
3. Jackets covering mutliple layers of other clothing

4. All manner of winter head coverings

Perhaps it started out in groups of tiny hipster boys with waifish figures and a wardrobe budget...I'm not sure. But the fact remains that layering your clothing is a great start to being cool. Or at least current.

Under The Sun

A few days ago, in the parking lot of Target, I saw a teenager girl heading in with a bag bearing the insignia of a band called Green Day.

As many of you know, Green Day did very well with their 2004 album, "American Idiot."

What I find fascinating is that this band is still being embraced by students when they actually broke onto the mainstream music scene when I was in high school. (What's more...they were already moderately successful as an indie band even before that!)

Do all of these kids toting around bags or wearing t-shirts or going to concerts have any idea that they're actually listening to old men?

Regardless of your opinion on their abilities (and I'm sure you ALL have opinions,) I think it's fair to acknowledge the fact that these three dudes have done a pretty good job of fooling teenagers into believing that Green Day is "one of them."

Sure, the hardcore fans will know the bands' history, but in days where pop music is starting to resemble sports (careers being over by the age of 30,) Green Day is hanging in there. Maybe they're really "indie" after all.

Love This!

I love Tim Hughes' and Ben Cantelon's "Happy Day." I want to play it soon, but now that I've seen this video, I don't know if I can do it justice:



HT: Brian Hale

Jonah woke up at 6:20. I had been up really late the previous night, but alas, it was my turn to get up. I went up to his room and lay by him for a few minutes, grabbing a few more minutes of sleep. By 6:30, we were downstairs in the living room. Jonah watched “My Fairly Odd Parents,” a cartoon I’ve yet to really understand.

Finley woke up soon after that, so I got her and brought her into the living room so she could drink her morning cup. Surprisingly, I stayed conscious during this whole affair, making a concentrated effort to avoid dozing on the couch. Okay, there were a couple of times I closed my eyes, but for the most part, I behaved like a – well, you know – a real dad.

I woke Krist up at 7:10 and collapsed for the remainder of the hour. Kristen woke me up at 8, but it took a few minutes to get my arms, legs and brain to begin functioning as a team. Krist laid down for another thirty minutes or so. While she did, I colored with Jonah at the kitchen counter. Eventually he grew tired of it and went back to TV. I finally convinced Kristen that she had to get up, but rather than hit the bed for another round of sleep, I opted for the treadmill. As I walked, I worked on finishing "The Departed."

After the treadmill, I came in to watch kids while Kristen got ready for work. We played an oh-so-mature game of chase/tag with a rubber ball, which the kids loved. Not long after, Dad got a bit tired, so we took a break. I grabbed a quick shower and threw on some lounge-wear. Jonah read comic books while Finley and I shared some peanut butter toast. I checked some email and made plans for the day with Kristen.

After Kristen left, the kids and I played ball and chase, each resorting into giant tickling matches. Somewhere in the playing, Finely found one of those old Christmas movies on DVD. You know, something like Frosty the Snowman, as narrated by Jimmy Durante. It's twelve minutes long, so I popped it in in between tickle attacks from my son.

They watched the movie, I messed with Google reader for a bit, then Jonah decided he was going to "build" a TV. This involved taping construction paper to the TV screen and cutting strips of paper to be our remote. Apparently the movie we watched was called "School Glue." I'm not exactly sure of much more than that.

Krist got home about 12:30 as the kids were finishing up lunch. We put Finley down for a nap at about 1 and Kristen and I ate as Jonah played in his room. I tried calling Blake to locate my CD artwork for the mail out as I got ready. Just as I was about to start getting dressed, Jonah wanted to play spies. So he and I spent about fifteen minutes stalking Kristen, getting the key for the computer, accessing pictures of Mt. Rushmore, (he had just seen the new National Treasure trailer,) then getting to our airplane were I was shot in the shoulder as we left. Once in the plane, I suddenly turned into a bad guy because of some poison that had been injected into my body during the mission. I tried to kill my partner, but he quickly shot a missile of antidote into my tummy.

After the playing, I got ready and began printing out all my order forms for the CD and email my customer service rep at the duplicator. Grabbed the family and we headed into town. Went and put money in the bank, packed all my stuff and went to the post office. I don't have the words to express how cool it felt to mail that stuff off. The making of this record has been an amazing journey and I can't wait for you all to hear it. In addition to all of the amazing work by the producers, engineers and musicians, I must tell you that Sean Dupre and Blake Stewart truly outdid themselves on the photos and CD design. I'm really proud of the work they've done.

After the mailing, I dropped the family off at home and then headed to the church to pick up some sound gear for the church's "Evening In Old Bethlehem." This is my second year as a full-time staffer during the event, but this was the first year I worked the whole evening. I setup a sound system in the entryway with a reading from Luke 2 along with some instrumental music, spread sawdust around slippery entrances and walked around helping out wherever needed. (Tomorrow night, I video everything.)

Kristen and the kids showed up around 7, so we walked around the city awhile. They went home and I got everything shut down. Stopped off at Sonic for a late-night, high-fat meal and came home. Krist was shopping online and watching The Santa Clause 2. I tried to change it over to CMT Crossroads for the Joss Stone/Leann Rimes special, but Krist wasn't having it. I ate, blogged, bathed and then went to bed.

That's my Friday..

Stuff You See On The Sidewalk...

When leaving the church this afternoon, I noticed a white truck as it whipped into a parking space. Our church houses 2 after-school programs: 1 for middle school students that we manage and another for younger children that's managed by an outside business. (They rent our buildings, so to speak.)

This particular truck pulled into the "younger" program parking, and I wouldn't have normally noticed, but because I was about to leave, I was watching out for after-school traffic.

I see a guy, a "dad," get out of the truck and head into the building. From the passenger seat, his son gets out and starts following. I was too far away to hear the exchange, but my six years as a father allowed me the unique ability to immediately comprehend the situation.

I watched as the dad's shoulders slumped and spoke through a sigh:

"Get back in the truck."

The son made some sort of retort, something like I-want-to-come-too or I-have-to-go-to-the-bathroom, to which Dad again spoke, this time with exasperation all over his face. This time he pointed, too.

"GET back in the truck."

The son, fearing grounding or worse, darted back to the truck, but I couldn't help feeling for them both.

I saw a tired dad. A guy who's had to wear that stupid tie all day and who's looking at another hour or so of running errands, picking up groceries and getting kids home in time for dinner. A guy who probably isn't paid enough to justify the hours he puts in. I saw myself in that guy.

I feel for the guy - I think most moms and dads can totally identify with that exasperated state wherein all we want is simply for the kids to obey, but I also ended up for feeling sorry for the kid, too, because his dad just looked bothered. He looked as if he didn't want anything to do with his son.

I suddenly remembered all those times in my life when I speak out of my exhaustion - times where I'm tired and I seemingly want everyone to know it...even the people I love the most.

As I pulled out of the parking lot, I told myself not to over analyze, not to try to color that scene with my emotions. But I couldn't help it.

All I could think of was how horrified I would be if folks saw me acting like that to my kids. I don't mind disciplining my kids (even in public) if need be, but I hope to never communicate in any shape, form or fashion that I'm tired of them.

These two little ones are absolute gifts from God. Both of them protected through stressful and life-threatening illnesses; both of them granted with intelligence and humor and eyes that shine like nothing I've seen before or since; both of them God's and loaned to Krist and me for a time. I may grow tired, but they'll not ever think they've somehow sunk in importance...that they're bothering me...that they are a nuisance.

So, thanks to you, Dad and Son. Your little exchange on the church sidewalk today might have been kinda' ugly, but it was just the reminder I needed. I hope you both get some sleep tonight and end up playing together very soon.

Kellie Pickler

Since December ends up being Andrew Peterson month, (And let's not forget WHO turned all of you on to Behold the Lamb, by the way...)

I give you this!

Another moment to acknowledge how great this record is...

Who's with me?

Who doesn't care at all?

Tuesday Tavin

Thanks, Carlos. There's a lot to digest in this little video...I bet Buckhead will buy these in bulk.

The Countdown

I must say that I was very interested to read all of your responses to my post that countdown videos were "lame." As I mentioned in the comment thread, I have a theory about countdown videos, and truth be told, many of you hit on the exact same thoughts I have about this recent cultural trend.

1. Countdown videos often serve as even more evidence of a the American church's fascination with "event." Say what you will about these little videos helping a service to start on time or making sure a crowd gets in their seat promptly, but I believe that's not the principle reason we use them. We use them to build excitement...we use them so that there's a level of expectation in the room. But like my buddy Robert said, we do a really bad job of living up to the excitement promised by a countdown. In almost every instance I've seen a countdown used, it's countdown to....a song. I've never seen a countdown video lead up to a drama or a video or a pyrotechnic display. And for those of us who use them every week, we lose a little surprise when we countdown to the same thing every week.

But it's not just an issue of dynamics. Not only do these things to to fall short from a purely theatrical standpoint, but I'm not sure it's ever a good thing to support a concept that worship - this holy, sacred, powerful thing - is JUST ABOUT TO START!

I realize that there are certain demographic groups, churches and regions of the country where church almost has to be an event to compete for the attentions of its congregants, but as a worship leader, I hate the idea of "counting down" to worship. Personally, I feel that my job as a worship leader is not to blow people's minds, but rather pastor them and lead them in a corporate time of focusing on the Father. I like the idea of being a rock star as much as anybody else; I guess I'm not just totally convinced I'm supposed to be doing it when I lead worship.

2. I think countdowns are being used poorly, but I think they can still work. I think by eliminating the "zero" factor (i.e., counting down all the way to zero,) we can do a better job of getting people into their seats (which is why most of us SAY we're doing them) and build some excitement without turning church into a show.

Imagine a countdown video stopping at a minute out. Would that be so terrible? Or would it be a balance of both worlds - the anticipation of something good alongside the recognition of the fact that we're just normal folks gathering to honor God with our praise?
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'll be honest - I'm always gonna' be the guy who's apprehensive of things that the church-at-large simply swallows whole from the coolest conference, website or magazine without really thinking it through to make sure it's going to bless the people. Big shocker, huh? Imagine it!

I've got to approach this calling, this job one element at a time. I've got to use the mind God gave me, the words He said and the awareness of my people to judge these things - not to just accept them, not to reject them outright, but to dig into them, see what it is they're supposed to do and whether or not I can make that happen.

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