The same thing happened back in May.  I got that feeling that something just wasn’t right.  I was doing everything I was “supposed” to do.  Quite times, worship, prayer, fellowship, but it was all just religion.  Then I went on assignment and wa la the real reality hit me in the face – God is real, He loves me, He wants to walk with me, He’s cool as crap, and He wants me to point others to him. 

So, I’m back.  Back to reality.  Time to let the world be the world with their kings & presidents & CEOs.  Time for me to focus on His kingdom and The King.

I just got done writing a weekly update for some of my friends & supporters and thought I’d share part of it with you.  I had the opportunity to chaperone my school’s homecoming dance Saturday night and wouldn’t you know God showed up in a strange, but very cool way.

To finish off the week, Sarah, Jesi, & I chaperoned the dance on Saturday night. Chaperoning a dance is always a surreal experience, because the kids are not experiencing fun at Young Life Club as we are used to seeing. They are at a dance with their friends experiencing the “fun” the world has to offer. It always makes me a little sad to see, but helps me know we are doing ministry exactly where we need to be doing it.

That’s how I went to the dance on Saturday night, a little down, just wanting the night to be over. I was assigned to the dance room from 10:00 – 11:00, walking around, being a presence, making eye contact with my Campaigner guys to hold them accountable. Little did I know God was about to give me a huge sign of encouragement.

Believe it or not, 80’s music is back. The DJ played Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” and the kids just belted it out – I’m still not sure how you dance to that song (I’m thankful for songs they can’t dance to, btw), but they were definitely singing at the top of their lungs. A few of my friends came over to me as they yelled the lyrics, “Hey, Storms, this is a Club song. This is just like Young Life.” Yeah, I thought, just like Young Life.  I hoped not.

I smiled and sang along without moving my lips (not sure if Chaperones are supposed to sing or dance). Then, the very next song was Sweet Home Alabama, a song we literally do every other week at Club. As the song started playing, I couldn’t help but think how cool it was that 2 songs in a row were Young Life songs. I got my camera out and started walking among the kids, figuring there wouldn’t be much inappropriate dancing to Sweet Home Alabama.

So, there I was in the middle of about 300 kids all singing one of our favorite Club songs, snapping pictures, thinking how neat this was, and the chorus started. “Sweet Home Alabama” they sang. Then, I would say about 90% of the kids shouted out “Bama Bama Bama, Wooooo”. That’s a little thing we add to the song at Club to make it more fun and here all these kids were at their Homecoming Dance singing just like they were at Club – and it was almost all of them. Now that was surreal. What a blessing for me to hear.

I don’t want to sound like a pansy, but I almost started crying.  In my defense, I was tired and had endured watching Georgia almost get beat by Auburn earlier in the day, so I was emotionally spent.  But it was one of those things where you’re just like “Wow”.  I didn’t want the song to end, just to hear them keep singing.

One of the things we’ve always said is that we want to reach every kids at our school.  While that seems nearly impossible, one of those things we say but don’t really “really” believe, God showed me that it is possible and it is happening.  I’m so thankful for being able to witness what God is doing in the lives of kids.

More to come…

The one I’ve come to trust for lyrics is A-Z Lyrics Universe.  Just copy, paste in Word, resize the text, and make your transparency.  It’s that easy.

For chords I use the Ultimate Guitar website.  They even have an Auto Scroll feature so you can set the screen to scroll while you practice the songs.  And, if you’re like me and don’t know any chords except G, D, & C, you’ll love the mouse over feature on the chords.  Just put your mouse over the letter of the chord & a popup shows you how to play it.

But, I’ve recently realized that I don’t go far enough.  Take for instance the song Crank Dat by Soulja Boy.  Simple song about Superman & dancing?  Not quite.  Like a lot of songs, words might have a much different meaning to a different audience.

Before we start just playing songs that sound okay, it’d be a good idea to not only listen to the words, but to ask what those words might mean.  The Urban Dictionary is a great resource for that.  You might be surprised!

Since all I do now is listen to Z88.3 (cause it’s “safe for the little ears in the back seat”) or talk radio, I’m not exactly an expert on what kids are listening to and what would be appropriate to sing at club, so here’s what I do.  First, I go to the Billboard music charts.  Just so happens, they recently came out with all the top songs of 2007 (2007 The Year In Music) .  Then, I cross reference the songs with the lyrics at A-Z Lyrics Universe.  They’ve got almost everything your kids would want to sing.

As a side note, it’s probably a good idea to screen the songs you’re playing for mixers, skits, and before/after club.  Or better yet, just ask kids what they’re about.  I can’t understand half the stuff they’re saying, but the kids can and playing an inappropiate song at club is something that’s just not acceptable.

http://www.televisiontunes.com/index.html

They’ve got a live bluegrass feed.

From Christianity Today…

Matt Redman may not be a hugely successful “Artist of the Year” type like Chris Tomlin with a Gold-selling album or a headlining tour to his credit, but the British worship leader is a true pioneer in modern worship, and his songs are at least as influential as those of his American counterpart, if not more so. Yet while Tomlin’s music is still relatively new, mostly written in the last five years, he has consistently introduced new material to the church in that span. Redman started strongly in the mid-’90s with several classics (“Better Is One Day” and “The Heart of Worship,” to name just a couple) and remains an essential songwriter ten years later. But aside from “Blessed Be Your Name,” his songs have generally failed to ignite in recent years.

As soon as it’s up and running, you’ll be able to get bible studies, chords, instructional videos & more.

My desire is for you to find this space a worship resource home.  A place to help you serve God and his people in worship.

I’m excited to see what shows up when the site becomes fully functional.  I’m sure there will be plenty for me to use in my ministry.

Sign up here.

I came up with a 4 song sheet that can be made into a half-sheet front & back that we’re going to use.

Here’s a link to it, if you’d like to use it, too.

If you’re familiar with how a wiki works, please feel free to make any changes or additions.

If you’re not sure how to help us create a great wiki, you can learn how.