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The Monday Mojo – Easter Songs

Jaydubbs — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 20:42:03 +0000

Jesus conquered the cross.

He defeated death.

Light overtook darkness.

Love won in the end.

If you’re facilitating or leading worship for this upcoming Easter celebration at your respective communities…what songs will you be singing to help communicate these truths?

Here’s some new (and not so new) ones that I’m thinking of….check em:

Christ Is Risen – Matt Maher

God Is Alive – Fee

Let God Arise – Chris Tomlin

True Love – Phil Wickham

The Saving One – Starfield

Thy Mercy, My God – Sandra McC…

Here Is Our King – David Crowd…

The Decision Is…

Jaydubbs — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:25:45 +0000

After several months of searching, praying, processing, thinking, and all the other “ing” words that I’m sure we took part in at some point in time, we’ve landed on where we think the Lord is wanting us in this new season.

Remember, we had 2 opportunities that were really exciting to us…Seattle or Scottsdale. Long distance or local.

Well, Jessica and I have decided to stay in Arizona and accept the Scottsdale position at Scottsdale Bible Church.

It was definitely a very difficult decision. Not that Scottsdale Bible was not a fantastic place to see ourselves at. It is. Our family has a loooooonnng history there. And the maturity, solid Biblical foundation, and vision to really see people live in Christ is practically unparalleled in the city. It was difficult in the fact that we anticipated God giving us a real discernment into where he wanted us. But God does not always work in our expectations.

We had the chance to visit the church in Seattle a couple weeks ago. To be honest, we thought the community there at Bethany Community Church was fabulous. The staff is caring and vibrant. The people are inviting and warm. Pastor Richard Dahlstrom is a real visionary, incredible teacher, and he’s at the helm of a tremendous and thriving community. Not to mention the city of Seattle is dirty sweet! Can’t wait to get back there again.

So we did a lot of wrestling.

And in the end, in the depth of our gut and heart, we felt like we needed to be at Scottsdale Bible. The truth is, we couldn’t be more excited about the future and my role at SBC. There is indeed a part of me that feels like I’m taking somewhat of a “sidestep” in my journey as a worship leader. Scottsdale Bible is more of a support role, whereas Bethany was an opportunity to be the director of the ministry. Casting the vision and steering the ship. After a decade of leading worship, I think it’s only natural to aspire to be “the guy” at some point.

But, there are opportunities this role gives me that I really felt called to. I’ll be working with a couple really amazing ministries in both a worship leader and mentoring aspect. And there are some guys I’ll be rubbing elbows with that I know are going to grow and strengthen me immensely. In this moment, God is teaching me and molding me to be humble and joyful in the small things. And I’m getting the chance to take a breath. Grow. And focus more on being the most open and loving leader that I can be.

My family and I are once again learning that we do not ever really steer the ship. And if we were to think deeply…we prefer it that way. Let’s face it, we would just screw stuff up. So we’re perfectly content in the Lord and simply riding the coattails of His leading in this season.

God’s faithfulness is found on the other side of obedience.

The Monday Mojo – Using A Click or Metronome

Jaydubbs — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 04:49:23 +0000

The Monday Mojo is a weekly posting of great resources for worship leaders. Youâ€™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 mojoâ€¦ -Jaydubbs

Lets get straight to the point here. If you are a worship leader/musician in the church and you’re not implementing a click or metronome during your music sets, you are severely limiting yourself and your ministry in terms of versatility & musicianship/talent. I will explain my thoughts on why that is below, but first, there is a prerequisite before you can begin piping in click to your players…you must have the ability to use in-ear monitors (IEM’s).

In-ears vs. wedge monitors are a whole other discussion, so I’m not going to focus on that, but the bottom line is you can’t use a click if you are only using wedges for your monitor feeds.

If you have the capability to use IEM’s, it would be ideal to have all your musicians and vocalists on click, meaning that they all have the ability to hear the click. At bare minimum, just having the drummer on click would raise the level of musicianship significantly once your players are accustomed to it a bit. Here’s 3 reasons you should be using a click:

Stability/Tightness: This is the most fundamental and important benefit of using a click in your sets. We’ve all had the song that started off at 105bpm and ended up at 121bpm by the time it was over. Or having the instrumentalist who starts the song starting it off waaaaayyyy ttooooo sssllloooooowww. Having a click allows you the freedom to assign a particular bpm (beats per minute) to the song and it will stay that same speed that whole entire time. A click will also naturally progress your musicians to a higher level of playing. Over time, your players will become tighter, tastier, and simply…better. The click makes musicians become better at their respective craft.

Versatility/Freedom: A click frees the drummer up from having to start a lot of the songs by giving tempo on the ride or hi-hat cymbals. Or from having the worship leader always start the songs. By having a click, you can let the keyboard player, the electric guitarist, or whoever start the song and be confident that they’re starting it at the right tempo. And those dramatic breaks in your songs will never be out of sync again!

Programming Tracks: One of my favorite benefits, using a click gives you the ability to incorporate programming tracks (synths, electronic beats, vocal textures, etc.) behind your music. Tracks, if used right, can give your music a beautiful secondary layer and movement that you won’t get from live instrumentalists.

Here’s a few metronome and click resources to help get you started in stepping up your game…

>Boss DB-90 Dr. Beat Metronome – This is, in my opinion, the best consumer click setup out there right now. It’s the one that I use 95% of the time.

>Music Math 4 – Great little free download for Mac’s that gives you the ability to find out the bpm’s of your songs by tapping in the tempo.

>Tempo iPhone App – This baby has saved my skin 2 times now since I’ve had it. Great resource to fall back on when you have no DB-90 or other click. You can even save set lists into the app just like the DB-90.

Are you using a click in your worship ministry? How has it affected the quality of your music programming?

Crossroads

Jaydubbs — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:11:38 +0000

I have been given two fantastic and very unique different opportunities since my family and I began our search for a new church community and/or job.

One of the opportunities is a leadership role that we know very well. We know the community. We know most of the leadership. We love the ministry that is and has been happening there for a long time. It’s here in the Phoenix area so it would keep us near family and little Cruz near his grandmas and aunts who adore him. It would allow for great freedom to be able to network and involve myself with helping other leaders and ministries create great worship experiences. And that is a very important value to me.

On the other hand, we have this other opportunity that is full of the unknown. It is uncertain, yet possibly full of adventure as well. It has the potential to open me up to new levels of leadership and influence that I’ve yet to navigate. Full of great biblical teaching and possible mentorship, the opportunity would be a definite growth experience. The role is at a community that has been around for over 100 years so there is maturity and wisdom. It is away from family, 1485 miles to be exact (give or take a couple feet or so), in the heart of Seattle. Full of green and water and texture and beauty.

They both, in the heart of our hearts, sound truly fantastic and Jess and I are extremely blessed to have the choice. But, there is a choice.

And we are praying. And considering. And processing. I am confident that God will be honored with either decision, but the husband and father in me wishes and hopes to make the “right” decision.

Would you please pray alongside us in this moment of decision for us? We are charging headlong into the crossroads and it would be nice to know there are people walking with us.

Much love.

Favorite Christmas Song?

Jaydubbs — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 17:51:01 +0000

Two simple questions. In lieu of it being Christmas, and since it will help all us worship leaders planning sets for all 482 of our Christmas events:

1) What is your all-time favorite Christmas song and your favorite arrangement of that song? (either Christian or not)

2) What are some new holiday songs or fresh arrangements of old songs that you are really diggin on lately?

Ready. Set. GO.

The Monday Mojo – Are You Being Led?

Jaydubbs — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:26:42 +0000

Last night Jess and I were leading worship up in Scottsdale at Scottsdale Bible Church’s SomaNorth service. It was the first time I had led there so I didn’t really have any expectations as to how the community would respond in worship, sing, follow, etc.

I was blown away.

These peeps don’t take their worship lightly. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a group sing that loud. The great thing is it had absolutely nothing to do with me. Or the band. Or the music.

It was just worship.

During rehearsal earlier in the day when we were going over the song “Everlasting God”, we had planned that when we got to the first chorus we would just do half of it and save the second half of the chorus for when the song picked up. Well during worship, in an amazing moment for my heart, after we had sung that first half the people of Soma just kept on singing the second half.

It’s a bit hard to explain in words, maybe you just need to have been there, haha. But in that moment, I thought about the idea of what true worship is all about. It’s not about a good worship leader or a killer band or singing beautifully. It’s about the people of God coming together in obeisance to the Father. Just as Jesus did. God calls us to worship and that’s just what we did last night.

And simultaneously I remembered something that my good friend CJ once said. Sometimes, as a worship leader, the people that you are leading need to lead you. We as worship leaders need to be led in worship as well. Does that make sense? It means a lot to me after last night.

Just remember we are all going up in worship together and there are moments when you need to step back from leading and let your people lead you. Whether it’s a verse or chorus, whatever. Let your people take the lead.

Are you letting your people lead too?

The Monday Mojo – John Mark McMillan

Jaydubbs — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:00:13 +0000

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.Â And his deep love for Jesus is forefront throughout the entire project.Â 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.Â 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 – “We’re All In This Together”

Jaydubbs — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:00:45 +0000

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?

Jesus Loves Me, This I Know…

Jaydubbs — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 12:00:46 +0000

This is the word that keeps resonating in my brain of late. The truth that God’s providence is faithful, everlasting, definite, and present in my (our) lives is what I am holding onto in this current season.

You see, in the light of the current situation of not having a job, normally I and my wife Jessica would be freaking out.

A few months ago, we were simply trying to figure out how to pay the necessary bills. So this whole job thing, from the outside looking in is scary.

But Jess and I have come to realize that we are not on the outside. Indeed we have been shown the great providence of God in our lives when it doesn’t seem like it would ever really work out on paper.

After losing my job as an assistant worship director at our home church because of budget cutbacks, God began to pave the way into what could only be described as the theme of this post. Providence. I’ve had such huge support from friends, family and other worship leaders from around the valley and even out of state that have offered up encouragement, prayer, and even new opportunities. It really has been incredible.

And I really feel like this season of fruitfulness, growth, and holding firm to God’s promises is only the beginning. It took God kicking my butt out of my comfort, but I am so excited about where He is leading us.

Holding on to the journey. Holding onto His providence…

The Monday Mojo – “Your Love Never Fails”

Jaydubbs — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 12:00:38 +0000

Ok. So if you haven’t heard this song yet, your day just became better.

Worship leaders, if you’re not leading this song yet and letting these words of hope fall on your communities…you need to.

This song, “You Love Never Fails”, came out of the friends over at Jesus Culture in Redding, CA. And boy, is this song amazing. I’ve had nothing but great feedback when leading this tune.

I’ll shut up and just let you watch the video. Turn up the volume and listen to these lyrics…