Down 2 Earth

How do You Deal with a Lie?

Thanks to Carlos Whittaker for this...

The song "Healer" by Mike Guglielmucci was based on his battle with terminal cancer... there seems to be just a small problem... it's not true... he doesn't have terminal cancer! The article has casued a small tornado in the Christian Music scene. Integrity Music have shutdown the site they had set up for the song (http://healer.integritymusic.com/) and I'm not sure what Hillsong are going to do about it.

Is it true, is it a lie? Not sure, but it does rock things just a little!

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The Best Songs of all Time... Part 7

Continuing sharing with you 10 songs that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... (if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share)...

"Evermore" - United

If you don't know Hillsong United, spend some time and get to know them! For me this is the best worship song, coming from what I believe is the best worship cd out there (More Than Life). Please understand, this is subjective, and while there are many great worship songs out there, this one just resonates with me in a way that I can't explain. It's not an easy song to play or to lead in worship... it's just profound. Everytime I hear the song, I feel the words are mine, not something someone else wrote.

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Being a Pastor Stinks...

(It's Watercooler Wednesday... join us)

It's not easy being a pastor... in fact, it really stinks sometimes... Here are some stats why (reference links are provided below):

50% of pastors’ marriages will end in divorce
80% of seminary graduates will leave ministry in the first 5 years
70% of pastors are grossly underpaid (compared to the amount of work they do)
80% of pastors’ spouses believe their spouse is overworked
50% of pastors feel unable to meet the needs of the job
80% of pastors say they have insufficient time with their family
56% of pastors’ spouses have no close friends
80% of pastors’ kids seek professional help for depression

80% of pastors feel unqualified and discouraged in their role as pastors

50% of pastors are so discouraged they would leave the ministry if they could, but have no other way of making a living.

85% of pastors said their greatest problem is they are sick and tired of dealing with problem people.

90% of pastors said the hardest thing about ministry is dealing with uncooperative people

95% of pastors do not regularly pray with their spouses

70% of pastors do not have a close friend, confidant or mentor

66% of pastors and their families feel pressure to model the ideal family to their congregations and communities

5 years - the average tenure of a pastor at a church

1500 pastors leave ministry each month due to moral failure, burnout or contention in their churches

Pastors who work fewer than 50 hours a week are 35% more likely to be terminated

The average church member expects the pastor to be able to juggle 16 major tasks

Approximately 4,000 new churches begin each year while more than 7,000 churches close down each year.

Doesn't sound like it's the ideal job!!! I guess we should be praying for our pastors then! 

Source:
http://www.jesuscreed.org/?p=2693
http://www.maranathalife.com/lifeline/stats.htm

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The Best Songs of all Time... Part 6

Continuing sharing with you 10 songs that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... (if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share)...

"Great & Mighty" - Planetshakers

Before Mike Gugliemucci wrote "Healer", he wrote this little gem. If you want to hear a guitar worshipping God, listen to this song! I know the riff may sound relatively simple to many of us guitarists... but sometimes simple can be beautiful. It's a great worship song... and in many ways helped me expand my own boxed view of what worship was.

The American Way...

I made this response to Anne Jackson's blog on a comment her husband made... (you can see it here)... it's been keeping me up thinking about it... how much is it that we change the way of life around us vs. the way of life around us changing us?

I’m an Australian born and bred, from an Italian dad and a Greek mother, married to an American who was born in Mexico and raised in Cleveland OH… Aside from Australia, I’ve lived in Italy, England, and now here in the States… but the American way of life is so addictive! I took our youth group to Italy & Germany this past July and all I could think of was…

I have to pay to go to the bathroom???
No free drink refills???
Where’s the ice in my drink???
Please use deodorants!!!!
You want how much for that!!!???
Don’t touch me!!!

They were not questions I would have asked or thoughts I would have had having come from living anywhere else in the world.The American way of life is truly a beast on its own. But God has called me here… and I love Americans (except when they beat Australia in swimming relays!!!)… but, as bad as one may think the American way of life is… the Australian way of life is no better nor is the Italian way of life…

There’s only one way in life, and that’s Christ’s way… all else falls short. So we strive to live His way… and change culture from within! :)

The Best Songs of all Time... Part 5

Continuing sharing with you 10 songs that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... (if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share)...

"My Own Prison" - Creed

I'm not even going to get into the argument of whether or not Creed are Christian. I don't care... regardless... the song definitely is. And it is so powerful and raw, that it makes my skin tingle everytime I hear it. I found an acoustic version of it that's even more emotionally charged. Very few songs can communicate in this way. There is hurt, there is reality and there is truth. The blending of a Christian worldview with grunge guitars and a heavy drum line... thrown into a secular music market! Wow!   

Sunday Setlist

Hi all, it's Sunday, as of this week I'm joining up with Fred McKinnon and his Sunday Setlist blog in sharing Southview's music setlist each week. I believe worship ministry is the toughest ministry to lead. But it is also one of the most rewarding! It will be great to get feedback from you all.

Sunday, August 17.

Worship set:

Dancing Generation - in D (Matt Redman)

Holy is the Lord - in G (Chris Tomlin)

Hungry - in C (Kathryn Scott)

Amazing Grace (My Chains are Gone) - in D (Chris Tomlin version)

Invitation:

Let it Rise - in E (Holland Davis)

Worship was great (as it always is), it was Bill's (our bass/guitarist) last day which was sad... it was also Jordan's last day (our youth intern who is an exceptionally gifted bloke and has helped us out heaps in worship). So I guess next week will be different! I had that in the back of mind as I led today. I'm a guy who thrives on change, yet spends a lot of time reminiscing! I will really miss you guys.

The Best Songs of all Time... Part 4

Continuing sharing with you 10 songs that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... (if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share)...

"You are My World" - Hillsong

Being a Youth & Worship Minister in Sydney is pretty difficult when you are only down the road from the best worship service (especially for youth) in the world. Most churches in Sydney take a real negative view towards Hillsong. Not much different to the way many churches here take pot shots at Rick Warren & Saddleback or Bill Hybels & Willow Creek. Honestly, I was one of those who was part of a church that felt we had a right to criticize every aspect of Hillsong. It was all theologically motivated of course! NOT! We were just motivated by jealousy and greed!

This song changed my whole view on worship... I remember being at Koorong (a Christian bookstore in Sydney) and hearing this song and demanding an employee there who the singer was and vowing to buy their CD on the spot... and then being told it was Hillsong! I swallowed my pride and bought it... then the next week had our worship team perform it at church... I was not big fan of Christian music (not a real good stand for a worship leader). I believed (and sometimes still believe) that we stood too long on the shoulders of others, not cultivating a personal worship of God, but developing a cold, traditional view. Songs, whose words many of us could not understand. Feelings, of which many of us could not relate to... Were we truly worshipping God? Or was worship no different to a traditional mass, repeating words that deep down were empty and meaningless.

And all may days are gifts from You

I pray I'd use them as You want me to

Use them for you...

... You are my world

You are my God... ("You are My World" - Hillsong)

The Best Songs of all Time... Part 3

Continuing sharing with you 10 songs that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... (if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share)...

"Beds are Burning" - Midnight Oil

There's nothing like Peter Garrett at full tilt. Throw in the passion of a cause and Peter will rock your world... forget about Bono and "Sunday Bloody Sunday"... Midnight Oil were unrelenting in their approach, unforgiving in their boldness... and they did it all with more energy than a nuclear reactor...

...and one thing I learnt from them... we should be just as passionate worshipping our God...

The Best Songs of all Time... Part 2

Continuing sharing with you 10 songs, that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... (if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share)

"Radio Free Europe" - REM

It was 1987, music-wise, you were either really, really good, performing in mega stadiums, or really, really bad (but still performing in mega stadiums). There was not much hope for what was at the time, a budding and very underappreciated, independant music scene. My cousin from Italy gave me a tape of a band that he thought was promising... I remember listening to the first song "Radio Free Europe"... it sounded like they had recorded it in a garage... but wow, I remember going on our school ski trip and not being able get that song out of my mind... It was then that a mate of mine, Lucas, and I decided to form a band.

The Best Songs of all Time... Part 1

I'm not a big fan of favourite lists... but I've been really enjoying the interaction on Fred McKinnon's blog regarding CCLI's top 25. It's made me stop and think which songs have shaped me as a worship leader. Now I can't really give a top 10... each song is unique in itself and I would find it hard to establish an order of importance... but I figured over the next 10 days to share with you 10 songs (both secular and Christian), that have in some way shaped my musical style and expression... if you have any songs of your own please feel free to share...

"Moon Shadow" - Cat Stevens

This was the song that made me want to play the guitar (it wasn't until years later that I actually understood how deep the lyrics were). My parents had an old Cat Stevens tape and I think I was about 7 when I first heard it... I used to pretend playing the song with my cricket bat! I wasn't born "musically" and it really wasn't until my parents bought me "Wish You Were Here" by Pink Floyd that I put my foot down and insisted on guitar lessons... I think I was about 9 at the time.

Core Mission...

The Core Mission is priority

All things must be the focused on it

if not we'll become a supermarket of

many goods but with aimless shoppers

aim for the bullseye

focus on the target

I guess we're like any other church. We'll do anything and everything... it's like what one pastor said when he introduced his church... "we run over 100 ministries!!" That just doesn't sound right! If we focused on our strengths, on the reason why God has brought us together in the place He has us in, and pruned away all the things we either feel obligated to do or that do not cater to our strengths, I believe we will become more effective... what are your thoughts?

(note:  today’s post is a part of the “Watercooler Wednesday” collaboration on Arts & Culture at Randy Elrod’s place)

Who Are We? Insights from the Leadership Conference... Part 2

Leadership begins with leading yourself. I am making a commitment to lose weight, not because of a need to lose it, or a need to look or feel better... Before I can call myself a leader of people, I must be able to lead myself.

Before I can lead people to places that may make them feel uncomfortable or uneasy... I must be prepared to go there myself.

Who Are We? Insights from the Leadership Conference... Part 1

What will people say of us 50 years from now? We're singing the words of others... in a specialised language that most of us don't even understand... and yet we cling to them as though they are ours... we've allowed ourselves to stop the train of change and rejuvation, and relegating outreach to a minor inconvenience.

What happened to the uniqueness of a God who broke down all barriers, only to see His people rebuild those barriers...? Barriers of safety through the inposition of tradition and self satisfaction...

what I want...

what I want...

Who are we? Have we lost the heart of God...?

We're Back!!!

We made it back... and all in one piece!!! Apart from the crazy flight travel we endured, the trip was awesome! Leipzig, though a small town, really grew on us, especially after experiencing the craziness of Rome. The Baptist Youth World Conference exposed us to what I believe was the best worship I've experienced in a long while. Thanks to Matt & Juls Hollidge and the band for truly bringing us closer to the heart of worshipping our awesome God. We made new friends and bonded closer as a group. I'm sure it is not something we will ever forget.

I was truly blessed to have travelled with 20 brothers and sisters, who all in their unique way, have shown me a glimpse of what heaven will be like. Thank you.

First Week in Rome

Well, we made it and we are surviving!!! The weather has been incredibly beautiful and so far we've averaged over 8 miles walking each day! But let me start from the beginning!!!

It was not a good start. We arrived at check in only to find out that our connecting flight from Munich to Rome was cancelled... so we were rerouted thru Frankfurt... After quite an eventful trip with the group making themselves well acquainted with just about everyone (in a good way! It included Rob being screamed at by a German security officer... it had something to do with the bald head and taking photos in secured areas!), we finally made it to Rome!

Italy is like another world (lost in the twilight zone!). Airport security was so lax that we all somehow ended up in the wrong place to pick up our luggage (the national airline area)... so we went through customs and security, walked around to the right place, went through security, picked up our bags and went through security again... we were actually checked only once, and everytime the buzzer went off when one of us went thru the metal detector, the guard just waved us through!

From the Spanish Steps to Villa Borghese, from the Coliseum to the Trevi Fountain, from the Catacombs to Rob's uncle's gelato store... we've been pretty busy. This evening we're heading back downtown to Piazza Navona to experience the sites of Rome by night. Tomorrow Rob will be preaching at a local Evangelical church followed by a pasta lunch and time planned with Bill Quinert. He will be talking to us about the difficulties of being Christian and the challenges of outreaching in Italy.

So, apart from the daily 8 mile walks, the little bit of sunburn and the occassional mosquito bite... we are all fairing well! It's been great to see the kids and their reaction to the so different environment  they now find themselves in. Especially the historical factor... you cannot hide the significance of Christianity in this place. The dominance of an ancient world power that could not stop a movement that began from a lowly Jewish man from a small, insignificant town, in a small, insignificant provence. The sacrifice those Christians made to further God's word, not only prepared to suffer for their faith, but also die for it... this is one thing that as a teacher, you hope the teaching and the talking will help people understand. But it is something else when you experience it, touch it, and physically see the place where so many gave their lives!... and our kids are experiencing that here and now.

Departing Rome!

This is what it will look like leaving Rome. The aircraft has just left Rome's Fiumicino airport. You can see the airport below...

Driving in Rome

Thanks to Max for this! He's driving his BMW 525D, if you listen close enough you can hear the diesel engine. This is basically where I lived for close to 6 years! For those of you that are Rome savvy, this is close to St John's basilica just off Via Appia Nuova. 

Departing DC for Rome...

For those us leaving for Europe this year, this will be your view from the starboard side of the aircraft, facing east. Just a note, our home is just behind the large, twin office buildings that you can see just as the aircraft becomes airborne.

Promise of Tomorrow - Revive

Ok, so Revive are doing this cool thing. Their new album is out, "Chorus of the Saints", and they've come up with this innovative way to introduce us to their new songs. Every week you can listen to one of the songs from the new album at this link. This week Ty Hall (he is the guitarist of Revive) introduces "Promise of Tomorrow"... check it out