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Today is a day we remember our veterans – those who have served as well as those who are serving actively.  THANK YOU.

Last night we went out to Oglethorpe Point Elementary School to watch my oldest (Jon Michael, 9) son in their Veteran’s Day program.  The kids did an incredible job.

They did this medley of all the songs of the Armed Forces.  My heart was stirred as the veterans would stand when their song was played.  As I scanned the gymnasium I saw so many of my friends …. men and women from church, from the school, from the soccer field, from the restaurants … and I realized that they were veterans.  I had no clue.

During one song, all the veterans came forth on the stage to receive a special card the 2nd and 3rd graders had made for them.  They were singing.  We were standing … applauding … whistling … and crying.

Maybe I’m getting soft … but my heart was stirred to the point where tears were welling up in my eyes as I watched them … young and old … marching across that stage.

Veterans, you have given your lives, your time, your energy, your freedom, your families, your dreams … for us.  For our freedom.

Today, let’s honor you.

I can post this blog … because of you.
I can worship freely … because of you.
I can have as many children as I want … because of you.
I can do so many things … because of you.

God bless you!

Hey Everybody,

Here we are – the 68th consecutive week of “Sunday Setlists” – the blog carnival where we share our songs, creative elements, sermons, and recaps of our worship services.

For more details on the “Sunday Setlists” program, click here.
To receive a reminder email each week to post your setlist, click here.

Here’s a recap on how to participate: Read more »

I think it’s a wonderful thing when somebody stops long enough to consider the lyrics of a song we sing in church.  That tells me they are “getting it”.  They are aware of the importance of singing songs that have good theology and that express Scriptural truth.

I recently received an email from a person in our church who had some questions about one of my favorite new songs, “Glorious Impossible” by Carl Cartee.  She basically said “if with God ALL things ARE POSSIBLE”, the lyrics don’t make sense .. what did I miss, please explain”.

Well, Carl is a super guy, an incredible songwriter, and best of all – he’s accessible. I’ve known Carl for a few years, and even had him in my old church several years ago.  He replied to my email about the song within 24 hours.

Here’s his reply:

Happy to comment on the song. I guess stuff hits people in various ways…especially poetry which is what Glorious Impossible is.

Nothing is impossible with God, that’s true, but the song is intended to be a celebration of God stepping into what was impossible for us and making it glorious through his overcoming power. The verses try to set up pictures of things that seem impossible for us, the incarnation, walking on water, the resurrection and then invite us to believe beyond ourselves and look for miracles that move us to worship. Poetically using two words that don’t really go together normally, sets the listener up to have one word redeem the other…other songs that do that are “Beautiful Mess” by Diamond Rio or “Broken and Beautiful” by Mark Schultz (I think)

Outside of the verses, the chorus does not make sense, or stand alone. It’s a response to the truth in the verses. Full context is best and especially important for this song.

I am so glad you asked and thank Eileen for the question. I wish more people asked questions like this. It makes me want to be a better writer and work harder than ever to communicate truth for people.

Man … I love it when you can get info on a song directly from the songwriter.  Thanks, Carl.

Below are the lyrics:

Hey Gang,

Worship Leader magazine has invited me to teach my “Worship + Web 2.0″ class on their live “webinar” next week.  Here’s the details – please consider tweeting this, sharing it on Facebook, etc.  It’s basically the same class that I’ve taught the last two years at the National Worship Leader Conference.  To register, click here.

Worship + Web 2.0
taught by Fred McKinnon

Monday, November 9, 2009
11:00 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time (duration 1 hour)
(that’s 2:00 PM EST)

Facebook, Twitter, Blogs – can all these web-based technologies really enhance our worship services? Do you ever hit a creative “dead end” in your efforts to plan an impacting worship service? Join Fred McKinnon as we discuss how worship leaders and service planners are using the web to network, share, and collaborate on service planning through these tool

(Fred McKinnon is the Worship Pastor at St. Simons Community Church on St. Simons Island, GA. He is the founder of TheWorshipCommunity.com and blogs daily at FredMcKinnon.com about worship, leadership, faith, and ministry. Fred has been using social media as a tool in worship ministry and has been a guest speaker at the National Worship Leader Conference for the past two years.)

If you haven’t attended a Worship Leader Webinar yet, this is a great place to start. Offering the most accessible high-quality training available in the skills worship leaders need to lead their congregations, all you need is an Internet connection and a telephone. For only $39.00 a session, individuals or entire teams can attend.

REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR
(limited to 100 attendees)

I’m being challenged every day as I read through the Book of Mark.  This morning I encountered the story in Mark 2 where the religious leaders challenged Jesus and His disciples because they “plucked heads of grain” on the Sabbath.  Jesus responded by saying “27 And he said to them, The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.28 So the Son of Man is lord even of the Sabbath.”  (Mark 2: 27-28, ESV – YouVersion.Com)

It seems that Jesus’ response wasn’t challenging the existence of the “sabbath” so much; rather, He was challenging the layers of legalistic rules and regulations that the religious leaders applied to it.

Fast-forward to New Testament, modern-day Christianity.  What is our view of the “Sabbath”?

Immediately all of the church lingo comes to mind “every day is now a Sabbath”, “Jesus has become our Sabbath”, “the Sabbath was fulfilled on the cross”, etc. Blah, blah, blah – you see, I’ve been in church since I was steaming up my own diapers … I can quote all of the religious responses.  (and let me interject that I’m not trying to suggest that all of those responses are wrong!)

But this is my confession.  “I’m not sure I really understand all of those religious responses and how they truly apply”.

“Remember the Sabbath, and keep it holy” is one of the Ten Commandments.  That means it’s important.  If that no longer applies, how about murder and adultery?  Are they no longer relevant?

I am not trying to wander back into the legalistic rules of the Old Covenant – God knew we could never keep those to begin with.  We needed the “Law” so that we could see our sin.  I do wonder if we carelessly throw it out completely, though.

I’d like your input.  What do you believe about “keeping the sabbath holy”?  Do you practice “sabbath” – and if so, what does it look like?  If you scroll down a bit, you’ll see “Leave a Reply” …  and that’s where YOU come into this discussion.