The Power of Art

Earlier this week I took Rose to see Brooke Fraser as a Christmas present. I did view the Broadway schedule and still chose the Brooke Fraser concert because it was nearer. Needless to say, she’s a big fan. We don’t get out to concerts too often. They’re expensive and time consuming and they don’t often…

The New Arrangement of a Hymn

Being that I play guitar, I’ve never been a big fan of hymns. About 95% of them are impossible to play on guitar because there are too many chord changes. However, I am a big fan of re-arranged hymns. In fact, when done right I believe it is a powerful way to bring the ancient…

Song Retirement

After church yesterday Jay and I had a quick conversation about a song we’ve done a lot of at Sunset over the past 3 years. The response from the congregation yesterday felt less than was usual in the past, and the overall feel of the song over the past few times we had sung it…

Hymns Aren't Just a Thing of the Past

Many people are of the opinion that churches should only sing the “hymns of the faith” (whatever that means). 3 funny (or odd) things about that: Most hymns aren’t really “hymns.” Hymns in a musical sense have no chorus, but a lot of “hymns” do. The Bible speaks about singing a new song, and I…

Raw, Honest Skeleton Bones

On Monday night I had the opportunity to hear John Mark McMillan and Gungor in concert. I’ve talked about Gungor before so I thought I’d talk about John Mark McMillan today. The concert was everything I had hoped for. The venue was awful, but it was great to be surrounded by the hipsters of Portland…