25 Reasons Why I Love Robert Conn

In honor of my public honoring of my wife, Robert honored his wife. So in honor of Robert honoring Shelly as a way of honoring me for honoring Kristen, I now pay tribute the coolest kid who ever lived in Porter, Texas.

1. Robert+Djembe = pure worship flow.
2. His clothes are never wrinkled. This guy can get up at the crack of dawn, work a full day, play three-on-three basketball for an hour in the North Texas summer and still show up for a churchwide supper looking like he just stepped out of the shower into freshly pressed duds.
3. He sang what is the absolute best line of the famed "Blue Dilly Dilly." (Milkbone, he goes to town, to see them chocolate pies.) I wrote the line, but he sang it and owned it from the get-go.
4. While away in Sanger, he has been secretly honing his graphic design skills and is once again one of the most creative design guys I've met. Seriously. He's getting pretty awesome.
5. Pastor, seminary student, husband, father, friend and blogger? I'm amazed he pulls it off and pulls it off so well. His is a hard life, but he makes it look easy.
6. That whole Week of Musical Influences thing he did on his site? Genius.
7. When I met him he wore overalls and work boots. Now he's the snappiest dresser I know.
8. When given the opportunity to take a little church in a little town that most of us had never heard of, Robert obeyed the Father. He didn't think "too small," or "too far," or "too old." He followed the Father's call and now He's impacting tons of people by living out Jesus to them.
9. He lets me play his guitar.
10. He has always been such an encourager. Many of you know this - you've experienced first hand his overwhelming desire to bless and build his friends. His praise is always honest, true and freely given.
11. He and Shelly know swing dancing. At least, they used to.
12. When he and Shelly moved into the house on Fish Road, we were all over there helping him fix cabinets and he accidentally slammed his head into a hinge while working. I prepared myself to the onslaught - the cursing, hitting, whining. (The way I would respond.) Instead, he just rubbed his head and said, "Y'all wanna' go to Lowe's?" I knew right then that this was a guy I needed on my side.
13. BIG
14. Metro
15. God bless him - I watched him lead worship at Harmony Hill with some of the most "unique" drummers I've ever seen. And he did it with a smile.
16. He can play Tony Joe White songs on demand.
17. He and I experienced U2 live for the first time side by side. That kinda' thing bonds a couple dudes, you know?
18. He and I are the same person.
19. He knows scores of useless trivia about C.S. Lewis, Lord of the Rings, James Taylor and the Eagles.
20. He's the first friend of mine who had an iPod. Thank you, Robert.
21. "She may be your daughter, but she's my wife." That's hardcore, right there.
22. Once, while listening to some old rock and roll, he jumped up and shouted/sang, "My Corona!" The song was My Sharona.
23. Still makes full use of the "Fason Jullen" joke. It still kills.
24. He destroyed a beloved family tree in Maryland. Kinda.
25. The man can ski, y'all.

9

25 Reasons Why I Love My Wife (In No Particular Order)

1. She sings like an angel. Some of my most memorable worship experiences have occurred when she was by my side.
2. She has a memory unlike anything I've ever seen. She uses this power to win many arguments, debates, discussions. If I'm ever on trial for murder, I'd like to Kristen to defend me. Unless, of course, I've murdered her.
3. She's loyal. Kristen Wright is the best kind of friend to have. She loves her friends and family with a generosity and dedication rarely seen these days.
4. She's a fantastic mom. Not only is she responsible for 90% of our children's best traits, she is raising them to be independent, smart and creative little people.
5. She's a good kisser.
6. She's one of the smartest people I know. If I need to know what something means, she's the one I ask.
7. She loves reading the dictionary. She's constantly looking things up. (This may contribute to Number 6.)
8. I'm totally infatuated by her. She gets more beautiful every day.
9. She's funny. Way funnier than me, although few people know that, because I am pretty stinking funny. Her jokes are quicker, more clever and communicated with delivery I could never master.
10. She lets me take naps.
11. She doesn't freak out when I play video games late at night.
12. Over the past year, I have seen a true change in her regarding my travel schedule. Kristen's always been supportive, but over the past 10-12 month, I have been amazed at her encouragement and happiness when I able to serve the church at large.
13. She likes my songs. Years ago, I played everything for her first. She heard it all, long before the church did. Now, our schedules don't allow much time for "Here's a new song I wrote." So, now, when I debut something at church, she showers me with praise as soon as humanly possible. The prettiest girl I know likes my songs!
14. She can read my mind. She knows what restaurant I want, what show I'll pick on TV and the things I'm gonna' say as soon as I think them. How can I not love somebody who knows me that well...AND LOVES ME BACK!
15. She the Everyman. I swear that Kristen could make a fortune if she could somehow get her name out there as a research project - Krist can give you here honest opinion on something and 9 times out of 10, it will end up being the majority opinion all over the place. Very cool, baby.
16. She has believed in me from day one. When I didn't know many guitar chords (still don't,) when I couldn't write songs (up for debate,) and when I didn't know anything about the flow of worship (still working on that one,) she knew I would realize my dream one day. I'm not sure if that dream is coming soon, but Krist believes it's coming.
17. She has a true appreciation for the comic genius of Will Ferrell.
18. She loves U2. That was never one of my standards in picking a wife. Boy, did I luck out.
19. She has done a lot of stupid, silly and crazy things at my suggestion. Playing bass, for example. Can you imagine Kristen playing bass? Such a trooper.
20. She is happiest when our family is together. For all her hipness and intelligence and allure, she's one of the best Mom's I've ever seen. She's Mom, Old School.
21. She prays beautifully.
22. She can fix stuff.
23. Her blog is great. (Wish she blogged more, though!)
24. She is holy. She has a respect and reverence for God that I wish I had. She inspires me to respect and revere Him in every aspect of my life.
25. She really like it when I blog about her. I think it's cute.

Awhile back, I found an old demo tape of some of my early EARLY songwriting. Kristen and I listened to it and it was hilarious. I remember thinking, "I ought to post this," but I don't think I ever did.

So, here it is: a line from an early Todd Wright piece called "Carly's Peace"...


THEN SHE SPOKE TO ME
AND HER WORDS PIERCED LIKE CHINESE STARS

Thank you.

Virtual Praise Team

It's official. The electric guitar spot for the Virtual Praise Team goes to the late Stevie Ray Vaughn. Thank you to all who voted. Now...onto bass.




Voting will close Thursday night. Don't forget to tell us who you'd pick and why.

(Some justification: If you've been following the Virtual Praise Team thus far and you are relatively knowledgeable about music, you will notice that I'm trying to pick three radically different players with each new position. I'm not saying these are the top three players in their field. I'm not saying they'd truly work in a worship setting. Instead, I'm picking three vastly different players who, by the nature of their specific styles and techniques, say more about the people who vote for them than whether or not they would survive in a worship band. Understanding this, I'd love to know who you might like to see in the upcoming votes - what drummers, percussionists, piano players, singers, etc. would you like to see in a vote? I only ask that you get that info to me via email rather than using the post itself. Let's try to keep each post on-topic, cool?)

CD Update

TRACKING: DAY 2

Ross had called the night before and bumped back our time to 9:30. I woke up around 8, packed up, and checked out of the hotel. Grabbed some breakfast, then spent about 20 minutes in the Half Price Bookstore.

Since Brady couldn't make it on Friday, we planned on finishing drum kit stuff and then adding all the percussion. Ross wasn't there yet, but John was, so we just sort of hung out and talked. Ross showed up and we finished drum tracks for "Let It Be" and "You Gave Sight."

After that, we tore down the kit, unloaded the drums, shakers, etc. and got to work. We took lunch at about 12:30, then came right back and worked until around 2:30.

I left the studio at 3, tired and very excited.

Saturday Midgley

TRACKING: DAY 1

I got to the studio a little after 9am. Ross had mentioned that the drummer would be arriving then and that we would probably truly start recording at around 9:30am. I told him that since this was my first record, I wanted to be at everything, so I planned on arriving when they did.

I beat Ross to the studio by about two minutes and the drummer showed up not long after that. John Simmons lives in Katy and is a drum teacher. He also plays drums with the Smith Band and also works with Frank Hart of FeverDream Records. (How 'bout that, Jinx? Small world, huh?) John has played stages all over the place and is extremely creative, especially with regard to percussion instruments from all over the world. (How 'bout that, Rob?)

Soon after that, Brady Redwine showed up. Brady is a grad student at A&M and has been Ross' go-to guy for quite some time. Brady plays bass, keys, guitar, mandolin, ukulele, spoons, digeridoo and the hurdy-gurdy. Sorry. Brady doesn't play all of those things. But he plays a lot of them.

Keith Sewell, the co-owner of the studio, was around, helping plug stuff in and I started getting charts ready. Ross got ProTools up and running, I strapped on my guitar, Keith fired up the click track and off I went.

I recorded scratch acoustic and vocal for "My Lips Will Sing" while John and Brady listened and looked through the chart. When I was done, John and Brady plugged up and starting tracking with the scratch. They played through once, we talked about some things, then they took a couple more takes. At that point, Ross decided to start doing more scratches at a time, so I laid down 3 or 4 songs, then John and Brady jumped in. This was a fun process - arranging the song, assessing what John and Brady were doing (brilliant) and refining builds, drops and song orders to an extent.

After a few more songs, we went to lunch. We ate quick, then sped back to the studio for more work. Brady and John finished tracking, then made a Starbucks run while I did more tunes. They came back and worked until around 5. We debated taking a meal break and then coming back, but we were all pretty beat and decided to tackle it Friday morning. John and I went and checked in at the hotel, then met Ross and his family for supper. After a nice, long meal, headed back to the hotel to eat candy and watch TV.

I

Okay, I can't get enough of this series that's going on over at youtube. It's essentially a ficitonal video blog where viewers are, in some sense, directing the flow of the show.

We're currently on Episode 15. Go check it out. It's very cool. And if you don't, I'll just start posting them here.

Virtual Praise Band

Home from Studio.

Very tired. Very excited. And yes, I have video. (Hopefully will be on the blog tomorrow night!)

(Should I change the name of my blog to "The 'Los of East Texas?"

BLAKE hooked me up. Haven't listened through it, yet. Will post my thoughts soon as I can.

The Best Description So Far...

In Los' last Ragamuffin Soulcast, Carlos called me "a Baptist guy stuck in a Methodist church singing charismatic songs."

Ha Ha! Truer words have never been spoken, Carlos!

Virtual Praise Band - Electric Guitar

Okay...here's something to pass the time. I'm calling it the VIRTUAL PRAISE BAND. Periodically, I'll post three potential celebrity musicians and ask you all which one you would want in your praise band. (Even if you're not in a band, share with us all who you would or wouldn't like to see on stage during worship.)

We'll start with electric guitar. Tell us who you would want and why!

Thanks to Daniel Rowe for passing this on. Spread the word.

7 - PM Set

Sorry, the audio is a bit out of sync...

You in, Rob?

7 - AM Set

Strange Words From A Writer

I had never truly encountered the concept of "written prayers" until I began working in the United Methodist Church. In this case, I'm not talking about special, specific themed readings as acts of prayer. (We have those, too.)

No, in this case, I am talking about what seems to be a relatively common practice of writing one's prayers out. I see ministers do this, lay people, special guest speakers, etc. In my Baptist years, I never had much contact with this aspect of worship, but I'm getting of plenty of experience now.

I don't like them. I don't like a written prayer. For some reason, it rings "hollow" to me. I'm not trying to make any negative comment regarding those who opt to pen their prayers rather than create them spontaneously, but I have to say that I seem to have trouble spiritually connecting to a moment when someone is simply reading lines on a page during a time set aside for prayer. In all honesty, I hate written prayers. I find myself thinking things like,

"Where's the passion? Where's the poetry of a human heart open and naked before the Father?"

But here's where I struggle; I am a songwriter. A songwriter, in fact, who tends to make quite a big deal when worship songwriters don't spend much time actually writing their tunes. I'm the guy standing aside saying,

"Too much passion! Poetic, but no clear line of thinking!"

Anybody see Duplicitous Todd in this situation? With regard to prayer, I'm all about the spontaneous, non-linear approach. As a writer, I'm all about the line of thinking, the clarity of message.

Where do you guys land on "written prayers?"

Top Five

Open up your iTunes, fire up the mp3 player, open your computer's player and answer me this:

What are your Top Five Most Played?

I checked iTunes just now and here are mine:

1. Everlasting God - Brenton Brown
2. Salvation Is Here - United
3. Hosanna - Paul Baloche
4. Everything to God - Desperation
5. Let The Praises Ring - Lincoln Brewster

What about you?

Time Is Of The Essence

For the next little bit, I'm going to start posting my worshipnotes articles here on this site. While the worshipnotes blog isn't getting a ton of hits, it is creating a sort of "second group" of readers. I figured if I've got people reading this blog and people reading that one - WHY NOT COMBINE? So, here are some thoughts I've had recently:

A few days ago, I had a great day.

There wasn't much going on in the office at the church, so I was able to sit down with my guitar and just pound out setlists. After I made setlists, I decided to burn CDs for my team. I was feeling so ambitious that I decided to go ahead and format a couple of "playlists" in my iPod with all four of my upcoming setlists. (I often have to do this in order to remember songs and keep their arrangements straight in my head.)

I went home for lunch, hung out there, and then came back to work. Once I was back, I burned more CD's, went online and shopped for some new background media for our projection and then formated our upcoming Sunday morning projection.

When it was all said and done, I felt extremely satisfied with what I had done! It felt like a full day, so I decided to add up all the time I had spent working on it. I had done so much - I was ahead of schedule, even! So, how long did it take me to do that?

4 hours.

I was shocked. It felt like I worked all day on that stuff! It struck me that maybe my job isn't as "busy" as I act. Suddenly, I realized how much time I waste sending goofy emails, checking blogs, watching YouTube and doing other frivolous things.

I'm not saying we shouldn't have some fun at work. I'm all about enjoying work. But if I can get all that done in four hours, what could I accomplish in a full-day, working as hard as I can?

Anybody feel me on this? Anybody waste time like it's in unlimited supply?

Tuesday's Tavin

Thank You, Robert!

This is Tim Hughes. He's a worship leader from England. He's written at least two songs that your church sings. As awesome as he is, I'd be lying if I said his last record lived up to his rep.

I liked the last record; I just don't think it had much to offer congregationally.

Well, guess what? That's all about to change.

This is an amazing record - it's what a Tim Hughes record should be: immediately singable and Godward while still really fun to just listen to.

Go get this record. I give it the Todd Wright Seal of Approval.

As many of you know, the last and final edition of the Left Behind series was released earlier in the month. Kingdom Come chronicles "The Final Victory" and essentially seals the deal on the whole storyline that many have been following over the years.

Here's my questions: When did YOU stop reading the series? I say this because I don't know anyone who still reads this stuff and I'd love to know when you all felt like you couldn't take anymore.

Side Note: If you haven't read any of these books, don't post anything. We got it - you're too cool for school. Just don't clog up the comments with some arrogant form of "Man, I never read that. I was too busy listening to Newsboys. 'Cause I'm cool like that."

Here's a list of the thirteen books in the series. I'm looking for three answers:
- Which book did you end with?
- Why?
- Your favorite quote from the books. (Should you remember any.)

1. Left Behind
2. Tribulation Force
3. Nicolae
4. Soul Harvest
5. Apollyon
6. Assassins
7. The Indwelling
8. The Mark
9. The Desecration
10. The Remnant
11. Armageddon
12. Glorious Appearing
13. Kingdom Come

#6

YouTube Is A Gigantic Waste Of Time, Exhibit A.

Parenthood is weird, ain't it, Rob?

At times, having a five-year old makes me feel incredibly old. All those stupid phrases come out of my mouth like,

"Just yesterday, I was rocking you to sleep" or "One year at a reunion, you would let anybody hold you except me." This sort of remembrance - the literal realization that I am thinking of the events of three-to-five years ago as only months previous - is what makes me feel old.

At other times, I feel like a clueless/punk kid/idiot. This usually occurs when I realize that 75% of the bad stuff this kid does happens because I'm an immature teenage boy with no clue on how to raise a kid.

And it's in that mix that we live. The constant battle to balance one's life between responsibility with spontaneity. To be Dad and Buddy without doing psychological damage to your offspring. It's a tough job...at least, for me.

My friend Jason says that our kids have a unique advantage over their parents (the understatement of the new millenium.) Jason says that our kids are going to be the first generation with an almost limitless access to the previous lives of their parents. The Internet, the entire field of digital storage media, blogs and the like all serve as digital monuments to who we are (and who we became.)

So here's another testament, Jonah and Finley. Here's one more glimpse into the guy who was lucky enough to be given the gift of being your dad:

I don't have any idea what I'm doing. But I love you, both, and cannot imagine a life without you. I believe you were both destined to be mine, and I thank God everyday for that grand destiny.

BBL resumes talk regarding upcmoing reunion tour.

Double Decker Taco - JASON FULLEN STYLE

BlogFriends

Just added Tony to the links. Tony and I share a few things in common.

1. Both just got props by Los.
2. Both seriously adore the Prayer Chain.

Add these to the fact that he showed me a little link love.

So, Tony, if you're out there, you're now part of the Texas family! Maybe if I ever get any gigs up Columbus way, you can throw down the electric business.

Eureka!

Crowder without jacket.

Do they make I LOVE MATT CHANDLER t-shirts?

On Don Imus...

My Liberal Response

1.Idiot. I can think of a few statements more offensive or stupid than the quote about Rutgers...but not many. Come on, Don. What a stupid, insensitive non-funny thing to say. (The only humor is that you sound like a fool saying it.)

My Conservative Response

1. Why is it that we sit idly by while Howard Stern parades all sorts of offensive material through his studio on a daily basis but erupt in rage at Imus? I don't remember seeing Al Sharpton up in arms about two women making out with each other on Stern or any other degradations that have become the staple of Howard's syndicated radio show.

I think it proves that in today's society, even offense is relative, huh?

Spring Picnic (Tavin and Cricket)

BIG DAY

Monday night, during his before-bed reading time, Jonah and I started reading The Chronicles of Narnia.

And right after that, Kristen and Jonah started in on Little House on the Prairie.

I'm not gonna' lie to you - I've been looking forward to this night ever since the little man was born.

5

Even though I'm in the process of recording an album, writing/leading worship, buying a home, being daddy and husband, etc., I've decided to take on a brand new project.

I'm calling it the Worship Leader Cooperative. Essentially, it is a monthly meeting of worship leaders around here. (Think "the Net," without the need for planning events...and a lot more creativity.) It will be commonly known as The WLC. (Sounds like a prime-time drama about rich, young high school kids doesn't it?)

So far, I've got four or five guys on board and our first hang-out will be Wednesday, April 18th. I'm really excited to get to hang out with other folks in worship ministry. My prayer is that we can encourage each other and provide resources for making worship better and better.

If you want to stay updated, you can check out www.wlcoop.blogspot.com.

Good Friday

Today was quite Good.

Woke up pretty early w/ Jonah but didn't mind it. I've been gone so much and I couldn't wait to chill out on the couch with him before everybody else got up. Krist and her mom went for pedicures while Finley napped and Jonah played Gamecube.

I got all our clothes ready for the big Easter shindig at Kristen's grandparents. My parents visited, Krist got home, and we eventualy made it to MawMaw's House.

We were there for a few hours, then came home. Jonah wanted to play outside, so he and I grabbed our lightsabers and went to battle. His next idea was to "kick the ball." This isn't normal kicking - this is our new game where Jonah swings on his swingset and I try to lob a ball in rhythm to his movement so that he can send the ball sailing across the yard.

Today, though, the game somehow evolved into "peg," which then turned into a giant wrestling match in the back yard. Jonah jumped up and said, "Let's play wrestle grass." I said okay, and waited for instructions.

Wrestle-Grass, as it were, is actually just a wrestling match on grass. It was so much fun. Eventually, Wrestle-Grass turned into Daddy Tower where I would sit on the ground and Jonah would run straight into me and try to knock me down.

My favorite part of Daddy Tower occured when Jonah slid off of me onto the ground and hurt his arm. I turned around to see him holding up his right arm and he asked in a very soft voice.

"Did I crack my bone?"

That kid. Good Friday indeed.

So, I was little stressed this week after so much time in the editing room. This is how I chilled out.

Yes, her duet with John Waite is amazing. Yes, she does duets with James Taylor and Brad Paisley to boot. Yes, she's as cool as can be.

So why does her music make me so sleepy?

Two Hilarious Comedians

Holy Week Recap

One of the things I like about working within the Methodist church is the celebration of Holy Week. In fact, I think the "high church" has a serious leg-up on more modern fellowships in it's observance of both Lent and the week leading up to Easter. I think the Methodists (and others) do a good job at protecting the reverence of this particular season.

The only problem with a church that celebrates Holy Week is that it celebrates it A Lot. It literally is one of the busiest times of year for us. And as such, too often the week ends up losing it's power over staff members like me as it becomes a list of obligations and requirements rather than a week of worship.

This year, I decided to keep track of my hours to see how much time Holy Week has required of me. This is not meant to slight my church (or any church) for it's observation of Holy Week - it's actually intended simply as journal of my week.

Monday, April 2nd / 8 hrs., 45 min.
9:30am-12:30pm: Edit video, post audio of Palm Sunday sermons to web, meet with associate pastor to discuss video selections for "Holy Thursday" service.
12:30pm-1:45pm: Lunch with family.
1:45pm-4:30pm: Finish posting audio to web, meet w/ program staff to go over service order for "Holy Thursday" service, update worship website with Easter info.
10:30pm-1:30am: Start work on tech sheet for Thursday night service, clean up some folders on computer, do preliminary editing work on both clips for Thursday night.

Tuesday, April 3rd / 8 hrs.
9:30am-11:30am: Edit clip of Passion of the Christ; work on voice-over for video; check lights in worship center; work on projection for Thursday and Easter; double check lights in worship center.
11:30am-1:-00pm: Grab guitar and get over to First Christian for Holy Week services; soundcheck, sing, listen to sermon, come back to office, blog a bit, wait on meeting at 1pm.
1:00pm-2:30pm: Meet w/ guy about summer camp at church; meet w/ electrician regarding no power in sanctuary sound system rack;
2:30pm-3:30pm: Pick up Jonah, grab a couple of Cokes and some brownies, home to see family for a bit.
3:30pm-5:00: Back at work...more projection for Holy Thursday and Easter Sunday morning; attempt to convert videos to mpeg to see if they run in projection. (No Go) Goof off a bit with the editing system - everybody needs a little break now and then.
5:15pm-5:50pm: Teach guitar lessons.
6:00pm-8:00pm: Home with family.
8:00pm-9:00pm: Guitar lessons.
9:00pm-11:15pm: Home w/ Krist.
11:20pm-1:00am: Work on hymns for Thursday service, edit video.

Wednesday, April 4th / 6hrs.
9:10am-9:30am: Check emails, go over to-do list, check blogs.
9:30am-10:45am: Staff meeting
11:00am-12:30pm: Clean up stage, add voice-over to video 2 for Thursday. Burn videos to DVD. (Post secret Todd-mix Video to YouTube.
12:30pm-1:50pm: Go pick up speaker cables, lunch at home.
1:50pm-2:30pm: Begin charting hymns, pick up Jonah for school.
2:30pm-3:00pm: Get Jonah, get a snack, go home.
3:00pm-5:00pm: Back in the office. More chords, more setup, more video.

Thursday, April 5th / 5 hrs.
9:50am-12:00pm: Check emails, play through hymns (AGAIN,) hook up some DI's, change 9 volts.
12:15pm-1:00pm: Go to Jonah's Easter Party at school.
1:00pm-4:00pm: Grab lunch with Krist and Finley, shop for floor covering, pick up Jonah at school, take Jonah to get haircut, back home for shower. Back to church.
4:00pm-5:00pm: Guitar lesson. Student is running late.
5:00pm-8:00pm: Do final check on Thursday service, soundcheck performers, do service.

Worship Confessional 4