Sunday, December 17, 2006

1 Week Before Xmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

the countdown has well and truley started!

its getting more crazy by the day!!

last friday night i went to my 5th delirious gig this year, once again they were on fire and its always amazing to watch the drummer, stew smith, going for it with all his heart, if only we could all play as loud as hes allowed to and get away with it!!

all of last week was spent in elim, building a new stage, and re wireing it completly, it now means we hav no cables on stage which makes the whole thing look so much more tidy and easy to use and get about on.

this morning at church we had a dedication service, which was very nice, lots of friends and family turned out so we had a good number of people, we went for a more lively and up beat kind of set, inc oh happy day (the new one), sing to the king and blessed be your name.


USING CAROLS AS WORSHIP?!?
now this is a tricky one! they are often seen as just somthing you sing this time of year, but are we worshiping if we r singing it just for the sake of it??
i had this convosation with a few ppl, but at the delirious gig on fri, matt redman supported and did a version of o little town of bethlehem, which was fantastic, and delirious even finished the whole gig with a huge rock version of hark the herold angel sing, which just exploded,so clearly worshiping to carols can be done, just in the right moment and context....just like to add we also did joy to the world this morning and it went down a storm....point proved?

NEW HIGH HAT AT XMAS!!!!!!!!! 14" a custom mastersound ziljian baby yea!!!!!!!!!!

xxx merry xmas

Friday, December 08, 2006

Worship drumming vs. Performance drumming

Being a drummer is great fun, especially in a worship team in your church. You play one of the loudest acoustic instruments in the team! When you hit those babies and they boom, people take notice! You lay the foundation, the beat, the rhythm. You get to show off those chops you worked so hard to refine. You get to be heard! The most important part of the team is you..whoa! Hang on…we’re getting carried away here. Are we talking about worshipping or performing here? It would seem, dangerously enough, to be the latter.

“Why would performing be such a bad thing?” you may ask. Well, performing isn’t a bad thing, in the right context. In the context of worship, it’s not right and, furthermore, it’s not Biblical.

You see, when you perform, you are entertaining people. They are enjoying being played for and the focus is on the performers. Adulation and edification comes from the people. It’s a thing of “I give and I expect to receive.” It’s showing off your talents and appreciating the applause from the crowd.
Performing is for the glory of man. Worship, however, is for the glory of God.

Worship, is different. You’re not there to perform. You are there to be part of a team whose responsibility it is to lead the people into a place where God is exalted, where His presence is so tangible you can feel it, where a foundation is layed for the Holy Spirit can minister. So, when you see the part a drummer plays in a worship context, it’s a huge responsibility and awesome privilege, a task not to be taken lightly.

Back in the groove

Wow my last post was all the way back in october!

The night of the CYO Celebration went really well, God was lifted up and we were able to make lots of noise (not too much obv!)

Since then we have had an Xalt in november which was a few down on numbers from October, but the right people were there and it was a great night of worshiping God!

Recently i have been a little bit challenged about the subject of performance, what is the difference between worship drumming and performance drumming. ill be able to write more about that when i can think more clearly!
Me and another member of the band have been visiting other churches on a sunday night for the past month or so, and its great to see what other people are up to!
For example we went to kingsland last sunday night, and they have done a fantastic job with how the stage and new building looks, it really does set the scene for a worship time with God.

Exciting times! in that not only have we totally re painted the inside of elim white, but we are now in the process of building a new stage, which has given us so much more room to play with! however it means im getting put in the corner, but i think we can deal with that :)

hope to write more soon!