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Caught a hold of this super sweet music video starring Alison Sudol from A Fine Frenzy today over on Blaine Hogans bloggity.

Creative. Inspiration.

Pretty much the best commercial…oh I don’t know….ever.

The Monday Mojo is a weekly posting of great resources for worship leaders. You’ll find anything from album highlights and releases, introspective articles on worship and the church, helpful media, tips on instrumentation and sound, sites and applications to boost the organization & structure of your respective teams, even simple words of encouragement. Click the Monday Mojo category above or come back every Monday to stay in tune with the mojo… -Jaydubbs

One of the facets of worship leading that I am being challenged with lately is pushing myself to think outside the proverbial box when it comes to creating set lists and the songs that I am using to help form a creative and strong environment for worship. As worship leaders who are somewhat immersed in the modern worship movement, we are all well versed in the ways of Tomlin, Crowder, & Hillsong.

But have you ever thought of Foreman, Maher or Seay?

These names may be new to you. For some of you they may be familiar, you’re just not thinking of them when it comes to planning your sets.

Jon Foreman of Switchfoot has a tremendously brilliant solo project where he has compiled four different EP’s with songs that are all very folk-based and circled around the seasons of the year (hence the 4 EP’s; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter).

Matt Maher is an absolutely astounding songwriter and his songs have been stirring an amazing revival within the Catholic church. He’s also great people and part of the network of worship leaders here in the Phoenix valley. Although he’s rarely here because of the success he’s having with his latest projects! Matt is the writer of the ever popular song “Your Grace Is Enough” (Chris Tomlin made this song huge, but Matt wrote it), and you can find some more of his craftings here. The best two albums are Overflow and his newest Alive Again, with some of my favorite tunes being “Canticle of Zechariah” (what a name right?), “For Your Glory”, “Behold the Lamb of God”, “As It Is In Heaven”, “Remembrance”, & “Alive Again”.

Robbie Seay of the Robbie Seay Band is one of my all time favorite songwriters. The way he molds the truths of who God is into the dirtiness and reality of creation and who we are is magical. Truth is I cheat off of him a lot in my writing. He’s a genius. His most recent release Give Yourself Away, which came out a couple years ago now, is chocked full of creative and fresh ways for your community to engage in worship. The song “Song of Hope” has just now begun to really make a move forward in the modern church, but there are amazing songs of his to yet be discovered by the church. Check out “Rise”, “Shine Your Light On Us”, “Eternal One”, “Hallelujah God Is Near”, “Rescued Ones”, “Jesus Garden of My Rest”, and “Faith of Our Fathers” (a song I’ve with a subject I’ve yet to hear anyone else attempt to write about).

Some other names to have on your radar when it comes to creating worship sets, whether they’ve been around for a while or are up and coming, are Tim Hughes, Jesus Culture, Desperation Band, Parachute Band, Delirious, & The Embers. I love finding new artists who are incorporating great new songs into the fold of modern worship. If you have any that you love, please comment below and share with everyone!

To leave you with some music (since we’re talking about music) here’s a song by Jon Foreman off his Spring EP called “Your Love Is Strong”. You know those great songs that are full of truth and simply beautiful? Well this one is directly based out of the Lords Prayer…and…well…listen for yourself…

The Monday Mojo is a weekly posting of great resources for worship leaders. You’ll find anything from album highlights and releases, introspective articles on worship and the church, helpful media, tips on instrumentation and sound, sites and applications to boost the organization & structure of your respective teams, even simple words of encouragement. Click the Monday Mojo category above or come back every Monday to stay in tune with the mojo… -Jaydubbs

Today, the mojo takes us clear across the country to North Carolina where John Mark McMillan hails from. An absolutely amazing songwriter, John’s music has pretty much been the soundtrack of my life for as much as the past year.

I keep returning to his album The Medicine over and over again. It’s simply that good.

But what I love most about John’s songwriting and attitude towards his music is his honesty and his heart. Every word that is sung is truly transparent, bringing hope and sorrow, tragedy and celebration with each turn of the melody.  And his deep love for Jesus is forefront throughout the entire project. He makes no mistake in doing so. John describes himself on his blog, The Promenade, as a “North Carolinian songwriter who makes music for human beings and God to listen to.”

With a mix of folk, rock, soul, country, and ambient layerings, this album simply jams.

The main reason for this post is that I keep running into worship leaders and worshipers alike who have never heard John’s music, besides the popular song “How He Loves” which most people assume is a Jesus Culture song.  And yet his music will encourage you and inspire you. Truly some of the best worship music I’ve had the chance to dive into in a while. The Medicine is on my top 5 albums of all last year.

Take a few minutes to check out John’s music and support him. You’ll be super glad you did, especially if you’re looking for music outside of the usual worship channels from Passion and Hillsong. But before you do check out this sweet video of John and his boys (and girl) at their finest. Here’s a live “acoustic-y” version of the song “Skeleton Bones”…

The Monday Mojo is a weekly posting of great resources for worship leaders. You’ll find anything from album highlights and releases, introspective articles on worship and the church, helpful media, tips on instrumentation and sound, sites and applications to boost the organization & structure of your respective teams, even simple words of encouragement. Click the Monday Mojo category above or come back every Monday to stay in tune with the mojo… -Jaydubbs

On November 4th, in theaters all over the country, Hillsong United will be screening their much anticipated documentary regarding worship and justice, “We Are All In This Together”. For this one night only, there will be a special intro from Joel Houston of United, followed by a live time of worship from the United team at their church in Sydney, concluded by the release of the new film.

You can see previews, get info on the screenings and tickets, and other details here.

I think this could be an amazing, resourceful event for your respective worship teams, bands, even church staff. The United peeps have been living out the relationship between worship and justice in the world in huge ways over the past couple years.

Are you going?

With television and media these days spilling over at the brim with anything and everything “reality” based, I have to say that I am very interested and excited to see what the new Halogen TV network will be offering.

The new project that is launching in about 9 days, describes their platform as “a socially conscious television network and website that empowers it’s viewers to make positive changes in the world around them”.

They have a show guide on their site including programs like the documentary-esque “Tainted Love” poised at helping expose the darkness of the sex trafficking underworld.

The other programming looks pretty sweet as well. There is definitely a faith-based subtlety to the vision of the small company. (Their Halogen Field Guide, has great quotes from A.W. Tozer and N.T. Wright)

You can visit the Halogen site here. Check it out and let me know what you think. Will it be successful?