Google Reader Shared

I use Google Reader to track a bunch of blogs from people all over the world. Sometimes I come across posts that I think you’d be interested in hearing about and I wanted to share those with you!

You can see a full list of everything I’ve shared from Google Reader at this link – www.google.com/reader/shared/chrisvacher

————-

• Apple to stream video of tomorrow's live event
  August 31st, 2010
  

  It looks like Apple has decided that it's finally time to let the public in on their press events -- the company will be streaming live footage from the event tomorrow on its website. Traditionally, the company has depended on third parties (like, ahem, us -- we'll still be metaliveblogging the event here on TUAW, don't worry), but it looks like tomorrow's event is free for everyone to watch.
  
  That's assuming things all go to plan, of course -- it'll likely be tough for even Apple to keep up with the demand of streaming out live video to what must be millions of people around the world. Apple's PR release says that the stream will be up on Apple.com tomorrow at 10am PDT, and that it will be viewable on Macs with Safari and Snow Leopard installed, or iPhones, iPod touches, and iPads running iOS 3.0 or higher.
  
  So tune in tomorrow morning -- we'll see if Apple can handle the demands of its hungry customers on live streaming day. And even if not, we'll be here with all of the information you need anyway.

  Apple to stream video of tomorrow's live event originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

  Apple to stream video of tomorrow's live event originally appeared on The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) on Tue, 31 Aug 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
  

  Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments

• How panhandlers use free credit cards
  August 31st, 2010

  A reporter for the Toronto Star handed out prepaid credit cards to panhandlers and waited to see what happened.

  "Can I trust you with this?" I said, handing him a $50 card and telling him to buy what he needs, but that I need it back when he was done. He nodded and scrambled to his feet. He said he would be back in a half-hour.

  He came back right on time, slurping from a large McDonald's soft drink cup -- root beer -- and with sweat on his brow. He wanted to have pork and rice from a Vietnamese noodle joint on Spadina but they wouldn't take the card. So, he scrambled to McDonald's. Lunch was a double quarter-pounder with cheese.

  The reporter's offer was frequently declined, which seems surprising at first. But panhandlers are savvy businesspeople. They didn't want a short-term and potentially risky venture interfering with their main panhandling income stream. Eyes on the prize. (via the browser)

  Tags: business   homeless
• There is no Such Thing as Balance. Only Seasons.
  August 31st, 2010
  
  I can’t tell you how many times I have heard “God first. Family second. Work third” as the celebrated framework for responsibility.
  
  Wives use it against their husbands. Husbands use it against their wives. Children us it against their parents. Employees (especially in churches) use it against their bosses. People use it to berate themselves.
  
  I get it. It’s designed as a barometer.
  
  But it isn’t biblical.
  
  It is often a weapon against others.
  
  It is often a rebuke.
  
  It often causes guilt.
  
  But it’s only a neat notion and bumper sticker wisdom.
  
  It isn’t necessarily “evil.” But, it is wrong. And potentially damaging.
  
  I have had a few counseling meetings lately where the idea of priorities and responsibility have come up. Everyone I have counseled—EVERY one—has said something about this little triad of God, Family, and Work.
  
  The other word that gets thrown around a lot is “balance.”
  
  For instance . . .
  
  In Susie Housewife’s mind, Bob the Builder has worked too many hours at work. The job has kept him away. Out of town. He missed a baseball game. This quickly disintegrates into “he doesn’t care, his priorities are wrong, he loves his job more than the family and he is out of “balance.” Susie’s remedy is re-prioritizing. God. Family. Work. Susie looks forward to living a normal life. A balanced life.
  
  Or . . .
  
  Ken and Barbie both have jobs and work hard. Barbie is a designer and she has been super busy this summer. Ken has had to watch the kids multiple nights in a row. He is mad at Barbie. She never watches their favorite show with him anymore. It’s been 3 months. Plus, she worked on the Vacation Bible School at church and that demanded attention. Ken thinks she needs to re-prioritize. She is out of balance. He wants his wife back. After all . . .” God. Family. Then work.”
  
  There are 100 stories. You probably know a few.
  
  Listen . . . there is no such thing as balance. It is a lie. Don’t buy it.
  
  There is no balance. Just seasons.
  
  If you want to do something spectacular and wise for your kids, talk as a family about seasons.
  
  Sometimes, responsibilities will require mom and dad to work extremely hard. Sometimes, this work will cause them to be distracted for a bit. Sometimes they won’t be around right at 5:30.
  
  Sometimes, emergencies happen. Beyond our control. And they need to be attended to. And it may mean we miss a game.
  
  Sometimes, because we love people and care about them, there may be someone who needs our help really badly. We didn’t plan on it, it just happened that way. And it might be best for us to attend to that need. And it may cause us to postpone a promise.
  
  Sometimes, mom and dad will dream something big to heal the world. They will make a choice to follow that dream. They have an idea to invest in the community or go on a mission trip or do something that helps others. They don’t “have” to. They want to. And, following that dream will cost. Something will have to give.
  
  Sometimes, you will have a desire to go back to school, start a side job, take up a hobby, join a club, etc. If you decide to do it, someone will have to take up the slack.
  
  Instead of God first, family second, and work third, let’s have a new barometer:
  
  “God in everything. Through every season.”
  
  Sometimes, you will need to tell your family that there are things that are demanding your attention. Explain why. Bring them in on the conversation. Pray together.
  
  Sometimes, you will need to talk with your spouse and explain the dream in your head. Invite them to dream with you. Be honest. Explain that you know what it will cost them.
  
  And this is important: talk about what it looks like on the other side. Most stress about seasons comes from not talking about it ahead of time, giving no warning, not sharing your intentions, not sharing the stress together and not talking about an escape plan. Or vacation. Or what rest looks like when it all dies down.
  
  Sometimes, you will have to fight to spend time with your family. You will need to tell your boss, “Enough is enough.” Do so with grace and respect and with a reliance on the Holy Spirit and wisdom of close friends.
  
  You WILL be out of balance.
  
  Seasons. Understand them. Talk about them. Talk through them. Work through them together.
  
  This is not a post in support of Workaholism. Not even close. If you think you have a problem, talk to someone. Stop the madness. A couple of years ago I blogged about Workaholism. If you are interested in reading that go here

  

  
• New Board Game Café Welcomes You, But Not Your Laptop
  August 30th, 2010

  
  Snakes and Lattes on Sunday evening, papered up in advance of its first day of business, which is today.

  Ben Castanie's new Koreatown café, at 600 Bloor Street West, just east of Palmerston Avenue, will emphatically not have free Wi-Fi. In fact, laptops and their attendant air of isolation are completely counter to what Castanie is trying to do. "I just don't want people sitting staring at their screens," he says. Then he starts explaining the system of categorization he'd used to organize his café's library of 1,500-plus board games.

  Snakes and Lattes, as the café is (pretty cleverly) known, opened for business earlier today.

  Owned by Castanie and his girlfriend, Aurelia Peynet—first-time entrepreneurs—the place looks similar to any other newly renovated café on its section of Bloor Street, except for the board games, which occupy a set of floor-to-ceiling bookshelves that run half the length of the room. Castanie amassed the collection over the course of two years, by diligently scouring garage sales and thrift stores. He inspected every box to ensure that no pieces were missing. A few must-have games were purchased new.

  Snakes and Lattes is Toronto's first "board game café." Customers each pay a five-dollar flat fee for unlimited use of the game collection during a single visit. There are also drinks (including lattes, of course), tarts, and quiches. A liquor license is on the way.

  The five-dollar fee, in addition to usage of the games, buys expert instruction-manual guidance.

  Castanie, who is proudly French, but speaks English with a British accent because of time spent in the UK before he and Aurelia emigrated to Canada four years ago, is a believer in the power of games to bring people together. Anyone who comes in a small group should be prepared to make new friends.

  "A game is not meant to be [played by] two," he says. "So you know what? If there's two groups, well then, we'll just make sure they play together, right?"

  "You learn a lot from people playing board games."

  
  A bookshelf holding some of the café's 1,500-plus game collection.

  The games on offer include many old favourites, but the catalogue runs far deeper than just the basics. Castanie is particularly proud of his selection of "Euro games," so-called because they tend to be designed and produced in countries like Germany and France. Euro games are characterized by their simple rules, and their lack of player elimination. They're considered quick and easy to learn, and they lend themselves to casual play. Settlers of Catan, a German game, is one particularly popular and well-known instance of the genre.

  Castanie says the idea for a board game café originated with a French business concept known as a "toy-lending library," which is a place where customers can rent games, board games, or other types of toys.

  Board game cafés are not unheard of in other parts of the world. South Korea experienced a vogue for them, beginning about a decade ago—but Castanie, who would know, says that the fad, there, has peaked. Now, he says, board game cafés are beginning to become popular in English-speaking parts of Asia, like Singapore and Hong Kong.

  Asked if he's worried that the idea won't catch on in Toronto, he grins.

  "I don't think so," he says. "I think they're gonna like it."

  Photos by D.A. Cooper/Torontoist.

  
  
  
  
• We Will Remember (Tommy Walker)
  August 30th, 2010
  
  
  I've been asked several times this morning about the song that we sang yesterday just before the message about Remembrance.  This is a Tommy Walker song that I learned about a year ago and just now has come back on my radar.  You have to know as a Worship Pastor you are exposed to so many new songs and there are only so many "new" songs you can teach in a year.
  
  I find good ones like this and just wait for the spirit to say "now". Yesterday was the "now" moment for this song in our midst.
  
  It's just a hopeful song and I hope that it continues to bless as we sing it.
  
  What new songs are you singing?

  

  

  
• The Elephant In The Room – Should Worship Leaders Be Paid?
  August 30th, 2010

  Re-posted with permission from Brenton Brown.

  I’m sure it hasn’t escaped your notice that there’s definitely an awkward incongruity with the genre of music we call ‘worship’. My job as a worship leader, my primary purpose – really the only purpose – is to lift the name of Jesus above every other name and to help others do the same. To lift His name above all the other names and words and tasks and things and people that clamor for our attention in this world. As worship leaders this is our task. We are to simply lead others and indeed even our own souls in the worship of God.

  But as musicians who aspire to, and in fact do occasionally make a living making this kind of music, one of our important goals is to make our own names known. Obscurity does not feed a family. As working musicians our job is to sell records. And to do that we have to let people know about us. In a very real and practical way we have to lift our names above all the other names – even the other names in ‘worship’ – so that people will recognize, acknowledge and hopefully buy what we make! I think everyone who bumps into the ‘worship’ genre, even unbelievers, quickly becomes aware of it’s tricky combination of priorities. We’re people who promote our names and then go onto to say that Jesus’ name is above every other name… hmmm.

  I suppose it’s worth saying that the awkwardness is not quite as severe for CCM musicians. There, it seems, the goal is to make art that also makes known our God. But the language is clearer. They are artists. They make art. They sell art. No problems. The categories seem easier to see and recognize. But worship leaders on the other hand – a title, by the way, that does not exist in either the Old or New Testaments – are ‘afflicted’ with the reminder of our purpose every time we’re mentioned, interviewed, advertised, played on radio, pasted on a poster, tagged on a webpage. Whenever our name is being lifted up as worship leaders, we’re reminded that it’s Jesus’ name who should be lifted higher still.

  It’s definitely awkward! And for those of you who know me or maybe track what I do, I just needed to mention the elephant shuffling his feet quietly in the room. Jude tells me I should probably relax. That unless I ’speak up’ the message won’t be heard. I guess in the same way that John the Baptist spoke up to announce and make way for the (humble) King of Glory. But if you ever see me enlarging my name in a way that doesn’t make His name higher or honor Him, please let me know. This is a pretty narrow road – no doubt the same kind of road that all of us walk. But like any path walked in faith, it can be done much more easily within the safety of the community of believers…

  Maybe another answer to the awkwardness lies in that little comment I made about ‘worship leading’ not being a named category in scripture. We all know what we mean by the words ‘worship leader’. They’re shorthand for describing the person who leads the singing we do when we get together to meet with each other and worship God. Put it this way – a song leader – the ‘role’ becomes significantly less elevated or bloated. Who’s Brenton Brown or Matt Redman or Paul Baloche or Kathryn Scott etc? They’re just people in our community of believers who happen to write songs, songs that the church sometimes makes use of to worship God.

  But God’s mission, God’s church and God’s kingdom will certainly continue to grow with or without these songs! The increase of His government will know no end whether a few musicians in the 20th century throw their tunes into the mix or not. In the light of God’s sovereign plan for His people and the earth, it’s laughable to think that a few song leaders would make a difference either way in His purposes. In the end we’re just musicians – maybe we’re ‘artists’, who knows – who go about their work in this time of history and hope that it helps the cause of God’s mission and God’s people. We are no more sacred or secular than carpenters or firemen or painters or artists. We are just people who have been welcomed into the wide, wide world of God’s love and grace. And as working musicians this is what we bring when we meet.

  Brenton Brown is a worship leader/songwriter/worship mentor who travels teaching leadership in worship. With some of modern worship’s most loved and used songs, recorded by the like of Tomlin and Brewster, Brown is a very influential voice in modern worship.

  Share and Enjoy:
  
  

  ---

  

  ---

  Related posts:

  1. Worship Leaders: Play Songs Your Congregation Doesn’t Like
  2. Worship Leaders of The Bible, Part 2: King David
  3. 10 Tips for Worship Leaders: How to Enhance On-Stage Presence

  

  
• Watching Our Words
  August 30th, 2010

  This is something I found a few years ago that I wanted to pass on to you. It’s a blog post by Ray Ortlund titled “Gossip.” It is a great read on a topic that most of us struggle with at some level, I would imagine. Let’s press on to build one another up with our words, thoughts and actions, and not tear down.

  “Q: What are the duties required in the ninth commandment?

  “A: The duties required in the ninth commandment are the preserving and promoting of truth between man and man and the good name of our neighbor, . . . loving, desiring and rejoicing in their good name; . . . a ready receiving of a good report and unwillingness to admit of an evil report concerning them.

  “So says the Westminster Larger Catechism. The Bible itself is so clear against gossip, probably because we are so inclined toward gossip:

  “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?

  “He who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; Psalm 15:1, 3

  “There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are an abomination to him: . . .
a false witness who breathes out lies and one who sows discord among brothers. Proverbs 6:16, 19

  “You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand up against the life of your neighbor: I am the LORD. Leviticus 19:16

  “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. James 4:11

  “Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret. Proverbs 25:9

  “God gave them up to a debased mind . . . They are gossips. Romans 1:28-29

  “There are many biblical passages confronting gossip. The witness of God against this sin is overwhelming.

  “What is gossip? It is not necessarily false information. Slander is false. Gossip might include true information, and maybe that’s why gossip doesn’t always feel sinful. What makes it sin is, first and foremost, that God says it’s sin. But gossip spreads what can include accurate information to diminish another person. That is not how people behave when they are living in the power of the grace of God.

  “Gossip is our dark moral fervor eagerly seeking gratification. Gossip makes us feel important and needed as we declare our judgments. It makes us feel included to know the inside scoop. It makes us feel powerful to cut someone else down to size, especially someone we are jealous of. It makes us feel righteous, even responsible, to pronounce someone else guilty. Gossip can feel good in multiple ways. But it is of the flesh, not of the Spirit.

  “Adultery too is a serious sin, and one likely to be disciplined in a church. But I have never seen a church split over the sin of adultery. Gossip is a sin rarely disciplined but often more socially destructive than the sensational sins.

  “Gossip leaves a wide trail of devastation wherever and however it goes – word of mouth, email, blogging, YouTube. It erodes trust and destroys morale. It creates a social environment of suspicion where everyone must wonder what is being said behind his or her backs and whether appearances of friendship are sincere. It ruins hard-won reputations with cowardly but effective weapons of misrepresentation. It manipulates people into taking sides when no such action is necessary or beneficial. It unleashes the dark powers of psychological transference, doing violence to the gossiper, to the one receiving the gossip and to the person being spoken against. It makes the Body of Christ look like the Body of Antichrist – destroyers rather than healers. It exhausts the energies we would otherwise devote to positive witness. It robs our Lord of the Church he deserves. It exposes the hostility in our hearts and discredits the gospel in the eyes of the world. Then we wonder why we don’t see more conversions, why ‘the ground is so hard.’

  “What should we do when a conversation starts slipping into gossip? We should immediately challenge the sin: ‘Hey friend, sorry to interrupt, but this is gossip. So here’s the deal. This conversation is now on hold until you go get _____________, and then you can start over and say whatever you feel you must say right to his face. I am willing to be a witness to that conversation, but I will not participate in gossip. What do you choose to do?’ Amy Carmichael established this rule at her mission station: ‘Never about, always to.’

  “’Let all things be done for building up’ (1 Corinthians 14:26). Therefore, let’s always ask ourselves, ‘These words about to rise up out of my mouth or go out through my keyboard – do they build up? Am I being constructive? If the person I feel like discussing were here with me right now, how would his presence change what I feel like saying?’

  “’Do not be deceived: . . . revilers will not inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.’” 1 Corinthians 6:9-11

• the BRAINS ON FIRE book
  August 30th, 2010
  
  

  My friendship with the marketing agency Brains on Fire began in March of 2005. That’s when I heard Geno Church, word-of-mouth practitioner from Brains on Fire, share the Rage Against the Haze case study. Instead of a multi-million advertising campaign to convince teens in South Carolina to stop smoking, Geno showed how building a grassroots marketing movement was able to make a significant difference in reducing teenage smoking rates in the state.

  From there, Brains on Fire built another grassroots marketing movement for Fiskars, the makers of the well-known but not necessarily talkable orange handled scissors. This movement was and still is led by thousands of scrapbookers known as The Fiskateers.

  I’ve been fortunate to work directly with Brains on Fire and each time we work together, my fondness grows deeper for what they do — build marketing movements.

  Writing in their just-published book, BRAINS ON FIRE: Igniting Powerful, Sustainable, Word of Mouth Movements, we learn exactly how they define a marketing movement.

  “No, we’re not going to pull out the dictionary. We’re just going to let you know that—for the purposes of what’s ahead—we have developed our own working definition of what a movement is: A movement elevates and empowers people to unite a community around a common cause, passion, brand, or organization.”

  “So let’s take it a step further, since we’re talking about sustainable movements here: A sustainable move happens when customers and employees share their passion for a business or cause and become a self-perpetuating force for excitement, ideas, communication, and growth.

  Throughout the book, we learn of ten lessons Brains on Fire follows to ignite and fan the flames of customer evangelism. It’s a worthy read for any marketer, especially marketers rooted in the evolutionist marketing mindset.

  Robbin Phillips, the courageous leader of Brains on Fire as well as a co-author of the book, answered a few of my questions about the book and her company's approach to igniting marketing movements.

  ---

  In the book you talk about the “quiet leaders” of movements. Why is this and where can a marketer find, among its brand fans, these silent leaders.

  ROBBIN PHILLIPS [RP]: “First of all, let me back up and say this out loud: Movements need inspirational leaders. If no one is expected to lead, no one will.

  With the rise of social media, companies and organizations all too often seem to get focused on finding and reaching out to the “influencers.” We don’t buy it. Many times, those folks are driven by ego and a desire to create more influence. They are not necessarily motivated by the desire to move a passion or a cause forward."

  
  

  "Quiet leaders leave ego by the wayside. Diversity of leadership is important - it creates a quilt of inspiration. You need some folks who can make some noise and comfortably stand on the rooftops and shout. But the quiet leaders are important because often times they are the do-ers.

  They also elevate those around them instead of always elevating themselves. And when you elevate others they never forget it. They stay engaged. They are loyal and often happy to return the gesture."

  ---

  You write, “One of the secret sauces we’ve discovered igniting movements is that barrier of entry is vital. Yes, we want to keep people out of the movement; in fact, it’s a key to success, growth and sustainability.” Explain what you mean.
  RP: “The barrier of entry notion gets a lot of push back from traditional marketers. But it is just so logical. A barrier of entry calls us to know what we don’t know.

  Think back to the number of online communities you’ve signed up for. You go there, create a user name and password, click around a bit and never return. Often you can’t even remember your user name or your password. We call it password amnesia. If you’ve done any kind of social networking you’ve probably experienced it.

  On the other hand, If you want to join the Fiskateers, one of the movements we highlight in the book, you have to be wiling to read the bio of a lead and connect with one of them personally. They usually ask you a question about your interest. We lose 50% of folks right there. Which is great."

  
  

  "That’s why large numbers don’t impress us. We’d rather go for engagement and participation. Jay Gillespie of VP of Brand Marketing at Fiskars says it well, ‘For me it’s not about the numbers, it’s about growing even deeper relationships.’”

  ---

  Outside of the work Brains on Fire has done with its clients, share a marketing “movement” that someone else has ignited that you wish Brains on Fire had been a part of.

  RP: “I picked up INC. magazine the other day while traveling. And I stumbled on an interview with Leslie Blodgett, the CEO of Bare Escentuals. I got so excited, I wanted to call her on the spot. She understands the passion conversation (Lesson #1). It’s not about product, the makeup. Women just want feel pretty.

  She also understand that movements live both offline and online (Lesson #8). When her products were first being sold they were different and often women had questions. She didn’t have time to answer everyone online and she began to notice that other women were answering for her. She embraced them and started to hold training events and sharing knowledge (Lesson #5) at her salons. That led to cruises or “giant slumber parties” as she calls them. Her success validated some very important lessons we have learned.

  She also cherishes her love letters. And says, ‘I read these letters before I go to sleep at night. They remind me of what we do. It's powerful. I don't want to be a business. I want to be a community.’"

  
  

  "So that is just one example I’m recently happy to have found. I also hope this book introduces us to even more successful movements and new lessons learned. We have a Lesson 11 in the book and genuinely hope that others will help us write the rest of the story. And that the learning will go on and on and on.”
  

  
  

• Volunteer Cards on Display
  August 30th, 2010
  
  
  

  I borrowed an idea from my friend Tadd Grandstaff and put a new display in our lobby this weekend.  We have three main volunteer areas in our church (family ministry, guest services, and production) and we created small cards for five different volunteer areas in each ministry.  The card has a short description of the opportunity and contact information.  If someone is interested, they can just grab a card, and a bunch of people did that over the weekend.  Here’s a picture of the simple wall display (metal to match the look of our building; simple clips to hold the cards), and a closer look at three of the fifteen cards.

  

  

  

  

  
• That’s Quotable [Dan Pink]
  August 28th, 2010
  
  
  

  “If you think people in your organization are predisposed to rip you off, maybe the solution isn’t to build a tighter, more punitive set of rules. Maybe the answer is to hire new people.”

  Dan Pink, author of Drive, as quoted on Telegraph.co.uk (August 14, 2010)

  ---

  • 

  

  Related Posts:

  • Leadership Summit | Dan Pink

  

  
• Around the Interweb (08/29)
  August 29th, 2010

  Martin Lloyd-Jones on Family Worship

  If you love your children; if you would bring down the blessing of heaven upon your families; if you would have your children make their houses the receptacles of religion when they set up in life for themselves; if you would have religion survive in this place, and be conveyed from age to age; if you would deliver your own souls—I beseech, I entreat, I charge you to begin and continue the worship of God in your families from this day to the close of your lives… Consider family religion not merely as a duty imposed by authority, but as your greatest privilege granted by divine grace.

  From Donald Whitney’s book Family Worship

  HT: The Resurgence

  In Other News

  Parenting: My wife was interviewed on the How to Be Awesome podcast. The subject? How to be an awesome mom.

  Writing: Tim Challies shares about latest writing projects, including The Next Story (coming in 2011 from Zondervan)

  Pastors: Piper’s desire for his church during his sabbatical:

  

  In Case You Missed It

  Here are a few of this week’s notable posts:

  A review of Anne Bradstreet by D. B. Kellogg

  A Precise God

  Sermon audio: Be Heavenly-minded

  The Bible’s Not About You

  Spurgeon encourages us to see Jesus as our greatest object of astonishment

  
  
• How to Find Great Worship Songs
  August 27th, 2010

  I am always looking for great songs.

  Oftentimes I am invited to play for an event, I try to find particular songs that speak to the theme of that event.  When I play for liturgies, I try to find exceptional, congregational-friendly songs that coincide with the readings, the seasons, and the antiphon texts.  When I play for a worship event, I try to find the recent songs that are fitting for those in attendance.  Even when I look for songs to adorn my own MP3 player, I now search for songs based on specific themes that compliment those characteristics that I wish to embody: growing in courage, in patience, in familial love.

  The best research utility on the Internet for these types of songs, hands down, is Christian Copyright Licensing, Inc., (www.ccli.com).  CCLI is a company that specializes in granting copyright reprint permissions for churches and ministries.  But it has emerged as the most important resource for finding these sorts of songs.  They have a powerful search engine that finds songs based on lyrics, themes and/or Scripture passages, and they periodically tally up the most requested songs.  And they currently employ a listing of over one-hundred-thousand songs, from every style of music, from every denomination.

  Think about that for a minute.

  Great Lyrics

  All of the complaints about current roster of contemporary Christian songs fall woefully apart at that last staggering statistic.  You are now free to find those very songs that befit the most stringent of lyrical requirements.  Want to find vertical songs (directed solely to God)?  Check.  Songs that the community can sing (“We, and not I-centric”)? Check.  Songs that employ the specifics of a particular Biblical passage, that do not use archaic English (“Thee/Thou”), and that refer to God as “Bread of Life”?  Check, check, and check.  Whether an undiscovered public domain hymn, or a contemporary repetitious, one-word praise-chorus, or an entertainment-oriented song that addresses a contemporary issue (such as pro-life concerns), CCLI carries them all.

  Incidentally, this is one of the reasons why it is mandatory that all independent worship songwriters ought to have their songs registered under CCLI.  Having their songs available in their search utility makes their songs stand out.  Contact CCLI’s customer service desk to sign up.

  After running a stringent set of requirements on their search utility, I come up with a list… sometimes it’s a long list of hundreds, maybe thousands of possible entries, sometimes it’s a short list of a mere dozen.

  I eyeball the authors.  Do I recognize any names?  Any songwriters that I want to support?  Any CCM artists whose work I admire?  Any public domain songs that are worth revisiting?  It’s a quick cursory glance, but I take note of such songs, and I revisit my personal music collection before I continue forward.

  Greatly Embraced

  A great way to whittle down a long list to a workable one is to focus on “Greatly Embraced” songs—only those songs that a lot of churches use.  If many churches use a particular song, it is highly likely that this song will work for your congregation.  It is also likely that a number of your own congregants are already familiar with the song, whether through the many venues that a particular song is made available today—Christian radio, CD compilations, conferences, rallies, etc.

  CCLI makes this easy by making the very top songs available.  The Top 25 song lists are available at no charge, but it’s the lists that contain as many as one-hundred, five-hundred, or even two-thousand songs that are most worthwhile to me.  They even make a list that compares the songs’ placements over a period of years.

  These lists cost money, but they are worth every penny.  I upload these songlists into a homemade database (i.e. Microsoft Access), and then tally all the songs that made a Top 2000 List over the last ten years, even if it made the list only once.  A song in the top 2000 stands within the top 87 percent of all songs logged for the current time period, and in the top 2 percent of all songs in the CCLI database.

  Oftentimes I see people take a woeful shortcut, and focus entirely on the songs off the Top 25 list, assuming that such songs that grace the very top of these lists are worthwhile additions to any song repertoire.  This is a mistake.  Some songs rise to the top on the basis of their simplicity, or their popularity on radio, or in catering to specific youth movements—but popularity is never a good criterion for orthodoxy.  Many songs were written outside of a grounded theological perspective—and I don’t fault the songwriters for this—but that doesn’t mean we need to employ such songs in our repertoires.  Lyrical integrity must always precede popularity.

  That said, after I upload the popular lists into my database, I immediately use customized database queries to find only those songs that had made both lists.  Most of the time the list whittles down to around thirty songs to choose from, fitting both my stringent criteria for lyrical integrity, and that are also used a lot.

  Great Music

  Once this list is whittled into a manageable size, it is then that I finally listen to the songs themselves.

  Thankfully, the Internet has made this all-too-easy.  I go to iTunes or YouTube to see if the song is available there.  At iTunes I can listen to a thirty-second snippet; if I like it, I purchase it for around a dollar.

  If iTunes doesn’t carry it, I run google searches on the artist’s name, the song title, or the publishing house.  Oftentimes I would find a myspace page or a personal website that offers a free listen to such songs.  I read about the author, what his/her background is, and where they are coming from.  Sometimes I contact the songwriter directly, to strike a relationship with them, and ask where I could listen to the song.

  It is only after then, that I can hear the song for myself, that I judge whether I like the song or not.  Is the melody beautiful?  Do I think that my congregation can pick it up easily?  Does it fit within my range, using the instruments I have at my disposal?  Is the music easily available?  Can I get behind this song one-hundred percent, as if it were my own?

  I cannot tell you how many times I have found the absolute “perfect” song for an event through this type of legwork.  Many times I have been introduced to a spectacular artist through this, one whom I will return to, time and again.

  Is CCLI perfect?  Not quite.  A lot of the songs in a number of publishing houses have yet to make themselves available through CCLI.  Many local songs that I have embraced have yet to make it on CCLI, because the songwriters are too intimidated by the process to upload their songs.

  Further, these lists are only as good as the entries of the songs themselves.  Not all of these songs have lyrics attached.  And to search for specific Scripture passages, I would either search for the Scripture reference in the “Title or AKA” section, or type in specific phrases (from multiple translations) in the Lyrics section.

  That said, the thrill in discovering, and introducing a great song makes the search incredibly worthwhile.  The power of great songs is the power to inspire you and your audiences to greatness, to holiness, and to a deeper conversion.  Such songs become the soundtrack to your life.

  One of my favorite songs for Communion was discovered through this process… Ross King’s You Alone Can Satisfy, in which the chorus goes

  My Bread of Life, You’re my provider
  You fill me up, with Living Water
  Beneath Your wing, there is a shelter
  Where I hide
  You alone can satisfy

  Copyright © 2002 by Ross King

  This is first in a series of posts where he will share the results of his extensive searches, using the methods described above.  Nick does not work for www.ccli.com (but wishes he did!)

  Share and Enjoy:
  
  

  ---

  

  ---

  Related posts:

  1. Good to Great: Onscreen Lyrics and Notes – Part 1
  2. Good to Great: Onscreen Lyrics and Notes – Part 2
  3. What Are Your “Go-To” Songs?

  

  
• Hold Up, Wait a Minute. Eminem’s ‘Not Afraid’ Remixed
  August 27th, 2010

  I thought this was exceptionally good.

  I think Eminem’s recent tracks have been awesome and for Gary, from Central Christian Church in Vegas to rock his story through it was inspirational.

  ---

  We are powered by Media Temple.
  
  Want to Advertise Here? Contact Us!

  

  
• No one is looking…
  August 27th, 2010

  I love finding hidden talent.

  Entire television shows are dedicated to finding the next big hit.
  Someone who can eat electricity and poop a lightbulb.  (made that up)

  For the most part – the ones that stand out to us are people who take normal objects or skills – and make them extraordinary.  Such is the case with this video of Jensen Kimmitt.  He’s got mad skills with a YoYo…but as you watch this – think about something:

  How crazy is it to think that he stood in his bedroom or garage for years when no one was looking…and he practiced?
  He probably talked to himself while he was doing it.
  Told himself that he was nuts.
  Closed the curtains so no one would see him.
  But he did it – he practiced and got better when no one was looking.

  What you do when no one is looking – defines what people see when everyone is watching.

  blah blah blah

• What is the Bible Basically About?
  August 26th, 2010

  

  www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkNa6tLWrqk

  
  
  

  

  

• Click this link to see more shared posts
• Plugin by C. Murray Consulting