Friday, September 26, 2008

Ten Shekel Shirt


I've written a lot about new albums coming out this fall, but this is a great fall for good music being released.
Just a few weeks ago one of my favorite bands released their third album. The band is Ten Shekel Shirt and the album it titled Jubilee. To listen to some tracks, click here.
I think this is their best album to date. There probably isn't one corporate worship song on this album, but for personal listening it's awesome. I keep listening to it over and over. They have some deep lyrics and tight harmony.
I think you'll like it. Let me know if you pick it up and what you think.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Joe Horness - Part 2



Several weeks ago Joe Horness came to Cherry Hills to lead a worship seminar and teach on Sunday morning.

I've heard this teaching before, but it's one of the best I've heard on the importance of leading others in worship.

Joe teaches that the goal of leading people in worship is to get their hearts engaged with God. And he goes on to say that the way to do that is to paint a great picture of God!

I've written before on this blog that our worship is a response to the character, the works, and the grace of God. So it makes sense that if our worship is a response, we need to lead people in responding to God by painting a great picture of God for people.

To do that (paint a great picture of God) Joe gave some suggestions that have helped me for years while planning and leading worship:

  1. Teach well - what does it mean to see God.
  2. Bring your best offering (Malachi 1).
  3. Use the spoken word (calls to worship, ask a compelling questions, tell a compelling story).
  4. Use Scripture - anytime we can replace our words with God's Word is a good thing.
  5. Pray intelligent prayers.
  6. Pick songs that help paint a big picture of God (objective songs, not just subjective).
  7. Recapture the use of art and visuals in helping people see a big picture of God.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

New Charlie Hall CD


I picked up Charlie Hall's new cd, The Bright Sadness a couple of weeks ago, and it has taken a few listens to grow on me, but I have to tell you, this is a great cd. I'm not sure there are many corporate worship songs on this album like there was on his previous album Flying Into Daybreak, but I keep listening to this cd over and over in the car.
If you like Crowder and/or you liked Steve Fee's first release Shine, I think you'll really like this album. To check out reviews or listen to samples you can click here.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Pump You Up!

At Cherry Hills our mission can be summed up in 3 words - Reach, Build, Send.

Last week I shared a video with you that focused on the Send mission of our church. This morning, I want to share a really ridiculous video that we showed on Sunday that heats up the Build mission of our church. This video was used to promote Wednesday Night and Sunday Morning Classes coming up. We believe right now, these are the two best opportunities we can provide as a church to help build you up in your faith. We call these opportunities Next Steps.


Next Steps from James Davis on Vimeo.